Search results for ""Springer International Publishing AG""

There is a foundational crisis in financial theory and professional investment practice: There is little, if any, credible evidence that active investment strategies and traditional institutional quantitative technologies are able to provide superior risk-adjusted, cost-adjusted return over investment relevant horizons. Economic and financial theory has been in error for more than fifty years and is the fundamental cause of the persistent ineffectiveness of professional asset management. Contemporary sociological and economic theory, agent-based modeling, and an appreciation of the social context for preference theory provides a rational and intuitive framework for understanding financial markets and economic behavior. The author narrates his long-term experience in the use and limitations of traditional tools of quantitative asset management as an institutional asset manager in practice and as a quantitative analyst and strategist on Wall Street. Monte Carlo simulation methods, modern statistical tools, and U.S. patented innovations are introduced to redefine portfolio optimality and procedures for enhanced professional asset management. A new social context for expected utility theory leads to a novel understanding of modern equity markets as a financial intermediary for purchasing power constant time-shift investing uniquely appropriate for meeting investor long-term investment objectives. This book addresses the limitations and indicated resolutions for more useful financial theory and more reliable asset management technology. In the process, it traces the major historical developments of theory and institutional asset management practice and their limitations over the course of the 20th century to the present, including Markowitz and the birth of modern finance, CAPM theory and emergence of institutional quantitative asset management, CAPM and VM theory limitations and ineffective iconic tools and strategies, and innovations in statistical methodologies and financial market theory.

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Data has become an indispensable success factor for every company. However, the road towards a data-driven organization is paved with numerous challenges. This book presents a process model for the path to a data-driven company and provides recommendations for the design of all relevant fields of action: Which structures need to be created? Which systems and processes have proven beneficial? How can the quality of the data be ensured and what requirements exist for a data-driven organization in the areas of governance and communication? And last but not least: How can employees be brought along on the journey and what implications does the data-driven organization have for our corporate culture? The book presents an orientation and action framework for the strategic and operational design of a data-driven organization and is valuable for managers who are involved in data management in companies and organizations.

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Rapidly developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems hold tremendous potential to change various domains and exert considerable influence on societies and organizations alike. More than merely a technical discipline, AI requires interaction between various professions. Based on the results of fundamental literature and empirical research, this book addresses the management’s awareness of the ethical and moral aspects of AI. It seeks to fill a literature gap and offer the management guidance on tackling Trustworthy AI Implementation (TAII) while also considering ethical dependencies within the company. The TAII Framework introduced here pursues a holistic approach to identifying systemic ethical relationships within the company ecosystem and considers corporate values, business models, and common goods aspects like the Sustainable Development Goals and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Further, it provides guidance on the implementation of AI ethics in organisations without requiring a deeper background in philosophy and considers the social impacts outside of the software and data engineering setting. Depending on the respective legal context or area of application, the TAII Framework can be adapted and used with a range of regulations and ethical principles. This book can serve as a case study or self-review for c-level managers and students who are interested in this field. It also offers valuable guidelines and perspectives for policymakers looking to pursue an ethical approach to AI.

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After a major disaster, when investigators are piecing together the story of what happened, a striking fact often emerges: before disaster struck, some people in the organization involved were aware of dangerous conditions that had the potential to escalate to a critical level. But for a variety of reasons, this crucial information did not reach decision-makers. So, the organization moved ever closer to catastrophe, effectively unaware of the possible threat—despite the fact that some of its employees could see it coming.What is the problem with communication about risk in an organization, and why does this problem exist? What stops people in organizations or project teams from freely reporting and discussing critical risks? This book seeks to answer these questions, starting from a deep analysis of 20 disasters where the concealment of risks played a major part.These case studies are drawn from around the world and span a range of industries: civil nuclear power, coal, oil and gas production, hydropower energy, metals and mining, space exploration, transport, finance, retail manufacturing and even the response of governments to wars, famines and epidemics.Together, case studies give an insight into why people hesitate to report risks—and even when they do, why their superiors often prefer to ignore the news. The book reviews existing research on the challenges of voice and silence in organizations.This helps to explain more generally why people dread passing on bad news to others—and why in the workplace they prefer to keep quiet about unpleasant facts or potential risks when they are talking to superiors and colleagues.The discussion section of the book includes important examples of concealment within the Chinese state hierarchy as well as by leading epidemiologists and governments in the West during the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in 2019-2020. The full picture of the very early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear, and further research is obviously needed to better understand what motivated some municipal, provincial and national officials in China as well as Western counterparts to obfuscate facts in their internal communications about many issues associated with the outbreak.

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Around the World in 80 Ways offers a (sometimes opinionated) discussion of 80 data-driven maps of our planet. But the origins of the deceptions are explained, the data sources are signposted and referenced, and the readers are shown how to create their own maps using freely available software.

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Jonathan Ward takes the reader deep into the facilities at Kennedy Space Center to describe NASA’s first computer systems used for spacecraft and rocket checkout and explain how tests and launches proceeded. Descriptions of early operations include a harrowing account of the heroic efforts of pad workers during the Apollo 1 fire. A companion to the author’s book Countdown to a Moon Launch: Preparing Apollo for Its Historic Journey, this explores every facet of the facilities that served as the base for the Apollo/Saturn missions. Hundreds of illustrations complement the firsthand accounts of more than 70 Apollo program managers and engineers. The era of the Apollo/Saturn missions was perhaps the most exciting period in American space exploration history. Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center were buzzing with activity. Thousands of workers came to town to build the facilities and launch the missions needed to put an American on the Moon before the end of the decade. Work at KSC involved much more than just launching rockets. It was a place like none other on Earth. Technicians performed intricate operations, and hazards abounded everywhere, including lightning, fire, highly-toxic fuels, snakes, heat, explosives, LOX spills, and even plutonium. The reward for months of 7-day workweeks under intense pressure was witnessing a Saturn V at liftoff.For anyone who ever wished they had worked at Kennedy Space Center during the Apollo era, this book is the next best thing. The only thing missing is the smell of rocket fuel in the morning.

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This textbook is aimed at readers who have little or no knowledge of computer programming but want to learn to program in Python. It starts from the very basics including how to install your Python environment, how to write a very simple program and run it, what a variable is, what an if statement is, how iteration works using for and while loops as well as important key concepts such as functions, classes and modules. Each subject area is prefaced with an introductory chapter, before continuing with how these ideas work in Python. The second edition has been completely updated for the latest versions of Python including Python 3.11 and Python 3.12. New chapters have been added such as those that consider where and how Python is used, the use of Frozensets, how data can be sorted, enumerated types in Python, structural pattern matching and how (and why) Python Virtual Environments are configured. A new chapter ‘The Python Bites back’ is introduced to present the fourteen most common / biggest gotchas for someone new to Python. Other sections have been updated with new features such as Exception Groups, string operations and dictionary operations. A Beginners Guide to Python 3 Programming second Edition provides all you need to know about Python, with numerous examples provided throughout including several larger worked case studies illustrating the ideas presented in the previous chapters.

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This textbook is an introduction to the methods needed to solve partial differential equations (PDEs). Readers are introduced to PDEs that come from a variety of fields in engineering and the natural sciences. The chapters include the following topics: First Order PDEs, Second Order PDEs, Fourier Series, Separation of Variables, the Fourier Transform, and higher dimensional problems. Readers are guided through these chapters where techniques for solving first and second order PDEs are introduced. Each chapter ends with series of exercises to facilitate learning as well as illustrate the material presented in each chapter.

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The purpose of this book is to show the essential and indispensable role of prokaryotes in the evolution of aliving world. The evolutionary success of prokaryotes is explained together with their role in the evolution of the geosphere, the biosphere and its functioning, as well as their ability to colonize all biotopes, including the most extreme ones. We consider that all past and present living beings emerged from prokaryotes and have interacted with them. Forces and mechanisms presented in the various theories of evolution apply to prokaryotes. The major stages of their evolution and biodiversity are also described. Finally, it is emphasized that prokaryotes are living organisms that provide indisputable evidence of evolutionary processes. Many examples of ongoing evolution in prokaryotes, observable at the human scale, are provided.

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Britain faces huge challenges: inequality, public services under constant pressure, climate change - and in the long term, the impacts of automation and artificial intelligence. At the same time, the political and economic elite seem to have reached an impasse: there is a sense that things can only get worse. In Why Capitalists Need Communists, Charles Seaford demonstrates that this need not be, that radical, progressive change is perfectly possible and that the polarisation and nostalgia afflicting us is not inevitable. History shows that it is precisely when the ruling elite loses confidence – which it has – that significant change happens and that new alliances are formed to take over. Tackling the challenges will take planning, redistribution, re-fashioned business and finance, and a new ideology – one which confirms that we really can create the conditions for more people to flourish. But this is not a pipe-dream. This book sets out just how this can come about, based on interviews with over 50 business people, politicians, analysts and activists. Everyone with an interest in the future should read it.

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A non-technical (but serious) treatment of those parts of Earth history leading up to human history, as well as some pre-historical aspects of humanity. Many “events” in Earth’s history necessarily preceded the emergence of human beings (and intelligence). Geology has provided us with a great deal of information about these various steps on the way to intelligent life, and how and why they were important. Some of these events were on a cosmic scale (no universe – no life!), some were planetological/astronomical (no Earth – no life), some were essentially chemical (how did life emerge in the primordial ocean and why do we have oxygen in the atmosphere?), and some were details of evolutionary history (how did life colonize the land and how did mammals develop?). In this book an enthusiastic professor of geosciences presents a broad introduction from the Big Bang to the present and into the future, lucidly explaining aspects from various disciplines to interested, non-specialist readers.

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This practice- and research-based book caters to the needs of executive managers who see customer satisfaction as their primary goal. The authors identify the need for an effective complaint management strategy that prevents the loss of dissatisfied customers. Dissatisfied customers are at risk of migrating; accordingly, neglecting professional complaint management poses a considerable threat to customer relationships, sales and profits. The book offers a comprehensive management concept, which emphasizes direct contact with the complainant by employing complaint stimulation, acceptance, processing and reaction. Further, it discusses the relevant ‘backstage’ tasks involved in using complaint information to achieve quality improvements and cost reductions through complaint analysis, controlling and reporting.

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This Palgrave Policy Essential maps and assesses key changes in the Whitehall model over the last two decades. It argues that the traditional Whitehall model is being replaced by a system of ‘New Political Governance’ (NPG) centred on politicised campaigning; the growth of political advisory staff relative to the permanent civil service; the personalisation of bureaucratic appointments; and the creation of a government machine that is ‘promiscuously partisan’. It provides a snapshot of the institutional changes that are unfolding at a critical moment, as Whitehall prepares to support Ministers in carrying out the Brexit process while addressing a series of long-term structural challenges from the demographic pressures of the ageing society to the impact of climate change. Austerity since 2010 has had a further transformative effect on Whitehall, with drastic reductions in the civil service workforce, the restructuring of government agencies, and a reconfiguration of the traditional roles and responsibilities of the permanent civil service.

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This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. It presents the results of the ComBoNDT European project, which aimed at the development of more secure, time- and cost-saving extended non-destructive inspection tools for carbon fiber reinforced plastics, adhered surfaces and bonded joints. The book reports the optimal use of composite materials to allow weight savings, reduction in fuel consumptions, savings during production and higher cost efficiency for ground operations.

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This case-based book illustrates and explores common cognitive biases and their consequences in the practice of medicine. The book begins with an introduction that explains the concept of cognitive errors and their importance in clinical medicine and current controversies within healthcare. The core of the book features chapters dedicated to particular cognitive biases; cases are presented and followed by a discussion of the clinician's rationale and an overview of the particular cognitive bias. Engaging and easy to read, this text provides strategies on minimizing cognitive errors in various medical and professional settings.

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The authors stress the relative simplicity, efficiency, flexibility of use, and suitability of various approaches used to solve difficult optimization problems. The authors are experienced, interdisciplinary lecturers and researchers and in their explanations they demonstrate many shared foundational concepts among the key methodologies. This textbook is a suitable introduction for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and professionals in computer science, engineering, and logistics.

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Macroeconomics is the application of economic theory to the study of the economy’s growth, cycle and price-level determination. Macroeconomics takes account of stylized facts observed in the real world and builds theoretical frameworks to explain such facts. Economic growth is a stylized fact of market economies, since England’s nineteenth-century industrial revolution. Until then, poverty was a common good for humanity. Economic growth consists in the persistent, smooth and sustained increase of per-capita income. A market economy shows periods of expanding and contracting economic activity. This phenomenon is the economic cycle. The price of money is the amount of goods bought with one unit of money, in other words, the inverse of the price level. Determination of the price level, or the value of money, is a fascinating subject in a fiat money economy.

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This book elucidates a number of new concepts on P-wave evaluation and QRS depolarization properties, and reports on several repolarization findings never covered in previous ECG books. The content is primarily based on case reports, some of which are compared in order to reveal their ostensibly small but significant differences. The book addresses a significant and lingering gap in ECG interpretation, which is the actual cause of many poor decisions in the diagnostic and therapeutic contexts. Further, the book has an interdisciplinary appeal, and will be of equal interest to professionals and scholars with an interest in cardiology and ECG interpretation.

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With an evolutionary advancement of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, a rapid increase of data volumes and a significant improvement of computation powers, machine learning becomes hot in different applications. However, because of the nature of “black-box” in ML methods, ML still needs to be interpreted to link human and machine learning for transparency and user acceptance of delivered solutions. This edited book addresses such links from the perspectives of visualisation, explanation, trustworthiness and transparency. The book establishes the link between human and machine learning by exploring transparency in machine learning, visual explanation of ML processes, algorithmic explanation of ML models, human cognitive responses in ML-based decision making, human evaluation of machine learning and domain knowledge in transparent ML applications. This is the first book of its kind to systematically understand the current active research activities and outcomes related to human and machine learning. The book will not only inspire researchers to passionately develop new algorithms incorporating human for human-centred ML algorithms, resulting in the overall advancement of ML, but also help ML practitioners proactively use ML outputs for informative and trustworthy decision making. This book is intended for researchers and practitioners involved with machine learning and its applications. The book will especially benefit researchers in areas like artificial intelligence, decision support systems and human-computer interaction.

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This book offers an introduction to photochemistry for students with a minimal background in physical chemistry and molecular quantum mechanics. The focus is from a theoretical perspective and highlights excited state dynamics. The authors, experienced lecturers, describe the main concepts in photochemical and photophysical processes that are used as a basis to interpret classical steady-state experimental results (essentially product branching ratios and quantum yields) and the most advanced time-resolved techniques. A significant portion of the content is devoted to the computational techniques present in quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics.With its short summaries, questions and exercises, this book is aimed at graduate students, while its theoretical focus differentiates it from most introductory textbooks on photochemistry.

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This textbook is a step-by-step guide for high school, community college, or undergraduate students who are taking a course in applied statistics and wish to learn how to use Excel to solve statistical problems. All of the statistics problems in this book will come from the following fields of study: business, education, psychology, marketing, engineering and advertising. Students will learn how to perform key statistical tests in Excel without being overwhelmed by statistical theory. Each chapter briefly explains a topic and then demonstrates how to use Excel commands and formulas to solve specific statistics problems. This book gives practice in using Excel in two different ways: (1) writing formulas (e.g., confidence interval about the mean, one-group t-test, two-group t-test, correlation) and (2) using Excel’s drop-down formula menus (e.g., simple linear regression, multiple correlations and multiple regression, and one-way ANOVA). Three practice problems are provided at the end of each chapter, along with their solutions in an Appendix. An additional Practice Test allows readers to test their understanding of each chapter by attempting to solve a specific statistics problem using Excel; the solution to each of these problems is also given in an Appendix. This book is a tool that can be used either by itself or along with any good statistics book. Includes 166 illustrations in color Suitable for high school and community college students.

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This book traces the development of exorcism in Catholic Christianity from the fourth century to the present day, and seeks to explain why exorcism is still so much in demand. This is the first work in English to trace the development of the liturgy, practice and authorisation of exorcisms in Latin Christianity. The rite of exorcism, and the claim by Roman Catholic priests to be able to drive demons from the possessed, remains an enduring source of popular fascination, but the origins and history of this controversial rite have been little explored. Arguing that belief in the need for exorcism typically re-emerges at periods of crisis for the church, Francis Young explores the shifting boundaries between authorised exorcisms and unauthorised magic throughout Christian history, from Augustine of Hippo to Pope Francis. This book offers the historical background to – and suggests reasons for – the current resurgence of exorcism in the global Catholic Church.

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Leading researchers are specially invited to provide a complete understanding of a key topic within the multidisciplinary fields of physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology. In a form immediately useful to scientists, this periodical aims to filter, highlight and review the latest developments in these rapidly advancing fields.

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This book is intended to help advanced undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students in their daily work by offering them a compendium of numerical methods. The choice of methods pays significant attention to error estimates, stability and convergence issues, as well as optimization of program execution speeds. Numerous examples are given throughout the chapters, followed by comprehensive end-of-chapter problems with a more pronounced physics background, while less stress is given to the explanation of individual algorithms. The readers are encouraged to develop a certain amount of skepticism and scrutiny instead of blindly following readily available commercial tools. The second edition has been enriched by a chapter on inverse problems dealing with the solution of integral equations, inverse Sturm-Liouville problems, as well as retrospective and recovery problems for partial differential equations. The revised text now includes an introduction to sparse matrix methods, the solution of matrix equations, and pseudospectra of matrices; it discusses the sparse Fourier, non-uniform Fourier and discrete wavelet transformations, the basics of non-linear regression and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test; it demonstrates the key concepts in solving stiff differential equations and the asymptotics of Sturm-Liouville eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Among other updates, it also presents the techniques of state-space reconstruction, methods to calculate the matrix exponential, generate random permutations and compute stable derivatives.

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This book is the first full-length study of the Soviet Constitution of 1936, exploring Soviet citizens’ views of constitutional democratic principles and their problematic relationship to the reality of Stalinism. Drawing on archival materials, the book offers an insight into the mass political culture of the mid-1930s in the USSR and thus contributes to wider research on Russian political culture. Popular comments about the constitution show how liberal, democratic and conciliatory discourse co-existed in society with illiberal, confrontational and intolerant views. The study also covers the government’s goals for the constitution’s revision and the national discussion, and its disappointment with the results. Outcomes of the discussion convinced Stalin that society was not sufficiently Sovietized. Stalin's re-evaluation of society's condition is a new element in the historical picture explaining why politics shifted from the relaxation of 1933-36 to the Great Terror, and why repressions expanded from former oppositionists to the officials and finally to the wider population.

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This volume collects the proceedings from the International Congress of Polymers in Concrete 2018 (ICPIC), held under the theme “Polymers for Resilient and Sustainable Concrete Infrastructure.” ICPIC 2018 provides an opportunity for researchers and specialists working in the fields of polymers to exchange ideas and follow the latest progress in the use of polymers in concrete infrastructure. It also showcases the use of polymers and polymer concrete in sustainable and resilient development, and provides a platform for local and overseas suppliers, developers, manufacturers and contractors using polymers, polymer concrete and polymer composites in concrete structures to develop new business opportunities and follow the latest developments in the field. The International Congress of Polymers in Concrete is an international forum that has taken place every three years for the last 40 years with the objective of following progress in the field of polymers and their use in concrete and construction. Following 15 successful congresses held in London (1975), Austin (1978), Koriyama (1981), Darmstadt (1984), Brighton (1987), Shanghai (1990), Moscow (1992), Oostende (1995), Bologna (1998), Honolulu (2001), Berlin (2004), Chuncheon (2007), Funchal (2010), Shanghai (2013) and Singapore (2015), the 16th ICPIC will take place in Washington, DC, from April 29 to May 1st, 2018.

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This book offers an in-depth overview of Turkish history and politics essential for understanding contemporary Turkey. It presents an analysis on a number of key issues from gender inequality to Islamism to urban regeneration. Based on interviews with leading intellectuals and academics from Turkey, the book’s theme follows the dramatic transformations that have occurred from the 1980 military coup to the coup attempt of 2016 and its aftermath. It further draws attention to the global flows of capital, goods, ideas, and technologies that continue to influence both mainstream and dissident politics. By doing so, the book tries to unsettle the assumption that Erdoğan and his Islamic ideology are the sole actors in contemporary Turkey. This book provides unusual insight into the Turkish society bringing various topics together, and increases the dialogue for people interested in democratic struggles in 21st century under neoliberal authoritarian regimes in general.

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Options traders rely on a vast array of information concerning probability, risk, strategy components, calculations, and trading rules. Traders at all levels, as well as portfolio managers, must refer to numerous print and online sources, each source only providing part of the information they need. This is less than ideal, as online sources tend to be basic, simplified, and in some cases incorrect. Print sources, on the other hand, are mostly focused on a very narrow range of strategies or trading systems. Up until now, there has been no single source to provide a comprehensive reference for the serious trader.The Complete Options Trader is that much-need comprehensive reference, a compilation of the many attributes options traders need.Thomsett lays out a rich and complete guide to 100 strategies, including profit and loss calculations, illustrations, examples, and much more. A thorough evaluation of these strategies (and the rewards and risk involved) demonstrates how a broad approach to analytically using options can and does enhance portfolio profits with lower levels of risk.The book also features a complete glossary of terms used in the options industry, the most comprehensive glossary of this nature currently available.All too often, the attributes of options trading are poorly understood; risk is ignored or over-simplified; hedging is not folded into a strategic evaluation; and options traders shun the value of holding equity positions. No longer—if options traders rely on this comprehensive guide as the reference for the industry.

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This volume provides integral knowledge of all aspects of stroke care and rehabilitation after stroke, and is therefore highly relevant for nurses who work in rehabilitation centers. It outlines the several phases after stroke, for example the type of care patients may receive in the chronically phase at home. Nurses will obtain knowledge about treatment, importance of observation and caring with a special focus on communication problems, swallowing problems, activities of daily living, urinary and defecation problems, shoulder and hand issues. Thanks to photographs, nurses will learn to transfer patients in the adequate positions. Several chapters provide nurses with examples of effective and efficient collaboration with multidisciplinary professionals, informal caregivers and patients themselves. There is also an emphasis on behavior and cognitive functioning. And lastly, in the final chapters authors highlight the organization of rehabilitation and integrated care issues. Nurses play a very important role in rehabilitation, education, counseling, prevention, and caring for patients with cerebrovascular accident (CVA). In caring for stroke patients, nurses need specific competences and abilities that go beyond the general neurologic knowledge and experience. Nurses need to collaborate in an efficient and effective manner with multidisciplinary team members in their organization and across organizations. This book discusses medical aspects and specific symptoms of a stroke, as well as the limitations that patients experience, and which interventions are indicated for recovery.

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This comprehensive text focuses exclusively on the management of metastatic spinal disease, evaluating the most recent literature and providing patient-centered treatment algorithms. Beginning with initial imaging, classification and clinical decision-making, the spine is approached anatomically from the upper cervical to the sacrum, describing the unique considerations and approaches appropriate to each region, such as laminectomy and stabilization, en bloc spondylectomy and resection and reconstruction. Less invasive and minimally invasive approaches are discussed throughout the text. Radiation therapy modalities and other adjuvant treatments are also discussed, as well as reconstructive flap coverage and the management of complications. The spinal column is the most common site of metastatic cancer, and a multidisciplinary approach is required to provide patients with reasonable management options to prevent and treat the disabling symptoms caused by this debilitating condition. This compendium of experience from thought leaders in the treatment of metastatic spine disease will provide spine surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists, physiatrists and palliative care specialists with up-to-date information to guide their patients through the multidisciplinary management of metastatic spinal disease.

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This book explores how integrated management of environmental resources via a Nexus Approach can help to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It takes a process-oriented view on what should or needs to be done to implement a Nexus Approach and how this relates to SDGs. After sketching the background and conceptual outline, contributions to the book explore key aspects of monitoring and implementation. Specifically, they: focus on the importance of monitoring resource use and how to advance it at the international level to support SDG implementation, exemplify the resources perspective on the nexus approach by exploring how to close the nitrogen cycle and stay within planetary boundaries, elaborate on proven and emerging strategies for nexus implementation, highlighting means to enhance, monitor and analyse stakeholder participation, explain how the horizontal and vertical nexus dimensions interact and can support SDG implementation. The book sheds new light on key aspects of the interrelation between SDGs and the Nexus Approach and provides specific recommendations how to advance it.

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This study guide aims to make European trainees in forensic psychiatry and psychology and young forensic psychiatrists and psychologists aware of the differences and commonalities in forensic psychiatry and psychology in different countries within Europe and to enable them to learn from the approaches adopted in each country. The guide is divided into five main sections that address legal frameworks, service provision and frameworks, mandatory skills, teaching and training in forensic psychiatry and psychology, and capita selecta. In addition, recommendations are made with respect to the practice of teaching and training across European countries. It is anticipated that the guide will provide an excellent means of improving specific skills and that, by learning about the offender/patient pathways in the different jurisdictions of Europe, the reader will gain a deeper understanding of the principles that govern methods and practices in their own work with mentally disordered offenders.

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This book examines the deep and lengthy crisis of legitimacy triggered by the death of Prince Juan of Castile and Aragon in 1497 and the subsequent ascent of Juana I to the throne in 1504. Confined by historiography and myth to the madwoman’s attic, Juana emerges here as a key figure at the heart of a period of tremendous upheaval, reaching its peak in the war of the Comunidades, or comunero uprising of 1520–1522. Gillian Fleming traces the conflicts generated by the ambitions of Juana’s father, husband and son, and the controversial marginalisation and imprisonment of Isabel of Castile’s legitimate heir. Analysing Juana’s problems and strategies, failures and successes, Fleming argues that the period cannot be properly understood without taking into account the long shadow that Juana I cast over her kingdoms and over a crucial period of transition for Spain and Europe.

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This text in multivariable calculus fosters comprehension through meaningful explanations. Written with students in mathematics, the physical sciences, and engineering in mind, it extends concepts from single variable calculus such as derivative, integral, and important theorems to partial derivatives, multiple integrals, Stokes’ and divergence theorems. Students with a background in single variable calculus are guided through a variety of problem solving techniques and practice problems. Examples from the physical sciences are utilized to highlight the essential relationship between calculus and modern science. The symbiotic relationship between science and mathematics is shown by deriving and discussing several conservation laws, and vector calculus is utilized to describe a number of physical theories via partial differential equations. Students will learn that mathematics is the language that enables scientific ideas to be precisely formulated and that science is a source for the development of mathematics.

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This book presents a practical framework for the application of big data, cloud, and pervasive and complex systems to sustainable solutions for urban environmental challenges. It covers the technologies, potential, and possible and impact of big data on energy efficiency and the urban environment.The book first introduces key aspects of big data, cloud services, pervasive computing, and mobile technologies from a pragmatic design perspective, including sample open source firmware. Cloud services, mobile and embedded platforms, interfaces, operating system design methods, networking, and middleware are all considered. The authors then explore in detail the framework, design principles, architecture and key components of developing energy systems to support sustainable urban environments. The included case study provides a pathway to improve the eco-efficiency of urban transport, demonstrating how to design an energy efficient next generation urban navigation system by leveraging vast cloud data sets on user-behavior. Ultimately, this resource maps big data’s pivotal intersection with rapid global urbanization along the path to a sustainable future.

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"This text is a valuable new resource that we recommend for all of our professionals and are proud to incorporate as part of our AFC® certification program. With expertise representing the breadth and depth of the financial counseling profession, the content in this text provides you with a rigorous foundation of knowledge, considers critical theoretical models, and explores foundational skills of communication, self-awareness, and bias. This type of comprehensive approach aligns with our mission and vision—providing you with the foundational knowledge to meet clients where they are across the financial life-cycle and impact long-term financial capability." -Rebecca Wiggins, Executive Director, AFCPE® (Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education®)This timely volume presents a comprehensive overview of financial counseling skills in accessible, practical detail for readers throughout the career span. Expert financial counselors, educators, and researchers refer to classic and current theories for up-to-date instruction on building long-term client competence, working with clients of diverse backgrounds, addressing problem financial behavior, and approaching sensitive topics. From these core components, readers have a choice of integrated frameworks for guiding clients in critical areas of financial decision-making. This essential work: · Offers an introduction to financial counseling as a practice and profession · Discusses the challenges of working in financial counseling · Explores the elements of the client/counselor relationship · Compares delivery systems and practice models · Features effective tools and resources used in financial counseling · Encourages counselor ethics, preparedness, and self-awareness A standout in professional development references, Financial Counseling equips students and new professionals to better understand this demanding field, and offers seasoned veterans a robust refresher course in current best practices.

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The focus of this book is on open conformal dynamical systems corresponding to the escape of a point through an open Euclidean ball. The ultimate goal is to understand the asymptotic behavior of the escape rate as the radius of the ball tends to zero. In the case of hyperbolic conformal systems this has been addressed by various authors. The conformal maps considered in this book are far more general, and the analysis correspondingly more involved. The asymptotic existence of escape rates is proved and they are calculated in the context of (finite or infinite) countable alphabets, uniformly contracting conformal graph-directed Markov systems, and in particular, conformal countable alphabet iterated function systems. These results have direct applications to interval maps, rational functions and meromorphic maps. Towards this goal the authors develop, on a purely symbolic level, a theory of singular perturbations of Perron--Frobenius (transfer) operators associated with countable alphabet subshifts of finite type and Hölder continuous summable potentials. This leads to a fairly full account of the structure of the corresponding open dynamical systems and their associated surviving sets.

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From the ampersat and amerpsand, via smileys and runes to the ubiquitous presence of mathematical and other symbols in sciences and technology: both old and modern documents abound with many familiar as well as lesser known characters, symbols and other glyphs. Yet, who would be readily able to answer any question like: ‘who chose π to represent the ratio of a circle’s diameter to its circumference?’ or ‘what’s the reasoning behind having a ⌘ key on my computer keyboard?’ This book is precisely for those who have always asked themselves this sort of questions. So, here are the stories behind one hundred glyphs, the book being evenly divided into five parts, with each featuring 20 symbols. Part 1, called Character sketches, looks at some of the glyphs we use in writing. Part 2, called Signs of the times, discusses some glyphs used in pol­itics, religion, and other areas of everyday life. Some of these symbols are common; others are used only rarely. Some are modern inventions; others, which seem contemporary, can be traced back many hundreds of years. Part 3, called Signs and wonders, explores some of the symbols people have developed for use in describing the heavens. These are some of the most visually striking glyphs in the book, and many of them date back to ancient times. Nevertheless their use — at least in professional arenas — is diminishing. Part 4, called It’s Greek to me, examines some symbols used in various branches of science. A number of these symbols are employed routinely by professional scientists and are also familiar to the general public; others are no longer applied in a serious fashion by anyone — but the reader might still meet them, from time to time, in older works. The final part of the book, Meaningless marks on paper, looks at some of the characters used in mathematics, the history of which one can easily appreciate with only a basic knowledge of mathematics. There are obviously countless others symbols. In recent years the computing industry has devel­oped Unicode and it currently contains more than 135 000 entries. This book would like to encourage the curious reader to take a stroll through Unicode, to meet many characters that will delight the eye and, researching their history, to gain some fascinating insights. ​

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Presenting a selection of recent developments in geometrical problems inspired by the N-body problem, these lecture notes offer a variety of approaches to study them, ranging from variational to dynamical, while developing new insights, making geometrical and topological detours, and providing historical references. A. Guillot’s notes aim to describe differential equations in the complex domain, motivated by the evolution of N particles moving on the plane subject to the influence of a magnetic field. Guillot studies such differential equations using different geometric structures on complex curves (in the sense of W. Thurston) in order to find isochronicity conditions. R. Montgomery’s notes deal with a version of the planar Newtonian three-body equation. Namely, he investigates the problem of whether every free homotopy class is realized by a periodic geodesic. The solution involves geometry, dynamical systems, and the McGehee blow-up. A novelty of the approach is the use of energy-balance in order to motivate the McGehee transformation. A. Pedroza’s notes provide a brief introduction to Lagrangian Floer homology and its relation to the solution of the Arnol’d conjecture on the minimal number of non-degenerate fixed points of a Hamiltonian diffeomorphism.

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This interdisciplinary proceedings book addresses highly relevant topics in urbanization and its environmental impacts and presents case studies revealing the negative environmental consequences of the anthropogenic and technogenic pressures. Urbanization is an important trend in current land-use change, with up to 70% of the world population projected to live in cities by 2050. How will this rapid urbanization alter the face of Europe? What are the environmental consequences of the expansion of megacities? These and other important questions are addressed in the Megacities 2050 Proceedings of the VI International Conference on Landscape Architecture to Support City Sustainable Development. Megapolises are complex ecosystems, and their air and water quality, vegetation and soils are exposed to anthropogenic influences. The book discusses advanced approaches and techniques to monitor, model and assess environmental consequences and risks in megapolises and offers solutions to the environmental problems of modern megapolises. It also presents successful, sustainable urban-development projects from Europe and beyond, including the management and design of green infrastructure, waste management, run-off purification and remediation of urban soils. Focusing on urban soils and ecosystems, the book is intended for experts in various fields of geography, urban studies and planning, and environmental sciences, including those in the scientific and research community, municipal services, environmental protection agencies, stakeholders working in urban management and greenery, landscape architects, civil engineers and policy-makers.

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This volume provides an overview of recent advances in our understanding of the biology of marburg- and ebolaviruses. It focuses on four essential areas: 1) ecology, outbreaks and clinical management, 2) disease, pathogenesis and protection, 3) virus replication inside the cell, and 4) molecular tools for virus study and taxonomy. For 50 years, these viruses have spilled over sporadically and without warning from their wildlife reservoirs, often causing major outbreaks and high fatalities. The consequences can be devastating, with a clear potential for global reach, as demonstrated by the 2013 West African outbreak of Ebola virus, which led to over 28,000 reported cases across three continents and more than 11,000 deaths. Given the international threat posed by these viruses, the pace and scope of basic research have also greatly intensified, ranging from studies of virus emergence, epidemiology, antiviral countermeasures and human disease to detailed mechanistic studies of virus entry, replication, virion assembly and protein structure. Written by internationally respected experts, this book will appeal to a wide audience and be a valuable resource for basic researchers, clinicians and advanced students alike.

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In this book the author argues that the basis of what we consider computer intelligence has algorithmic roots, and he presents this with a holistic view, showing examples and explaining approaches that encompass theoretical computer science and machine learning via engineered algorithmic solutions.Part I of the book introduces the basics. The author starts with a hands-on programming primer for solving combinatorial problems, with an emphasis on recursive solutions. The other chapters in the first part of the book explain shortest paths, sorting, deep learning, and Monte Carlo search. A key function of computational tools is processing Big Data efficiently, and the chapters in Part II of the book examine traditional graph problems such as finding cliques, colorings, independent sets, vertex covers, and hitting sets, and the subsequent chapters cover multimedia, network, image, and navigation data. The highly topical research areas detailed in Part III are machine learning, problem solving, action planning, general game playing, multiagent systems, and recommendation and configuration. Finally, in Part IV the author uses application areas such as model checking, computational biology, logistics, additive manufacturing, robot motion planning, and industrial production to explain how the techniques described may be exploited in modern settings.The book is supported with a comprehensive index and references, and it will be of value to researchers, practitioners, and students in the areas of artificial intelligence and computational intelligence.

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This textbook for graduate students in statistics, data science, and public health deals with the practical challenges that come with big, complex, and dynamic data. It presents a scientific roadmap to translate real-world data science applications into formal statistical estimation problems by using the general template of targeted maximum likelihood estimators. These targeted machine learning algorithms estimate quantities of interest while still providing valid inference. Targeted learning methods within data science area critical component for solving scientific problems in the modern age. The techniques can answer complex questions including optimal rules for assigning treatment based on longitudinal data with time-dependent confounding, as well as other estimands in dependent data structures, such as networks. Included in Targeted Learning in Data Science are demonstrations with soft ware packages and real data sets that present a case that targeted learning is crucial for the next generation of statisticians and data scientists. Th is book is a sequel to the first textbook on machine learning for causal inference, Targeted Learning, published in 2011.Mark van der Laan, PhD, is Jiann-Ping Hsu/Karl E. Peace Professor of Biostatistics and Statistics at UC Berkeley. His research interests include statistical methods in genomics, survival analysis, censored data, machine learning, semiparametric models, causal inference, and targeted learning. Dr. van der Laan received the 2004 Mortimer Spiegelman Award, the 2005 Van Dantzig Award, the 2005 COPSS Snedecor Award, the 2005 COPSS Presidential Award, and has graduated over 40 PhD students in biostatistics and statistics.Sherri Rose, PhD, is Associate Professor of Health Care Policy (Biostatistics) at Harvard Medical School. Her work is centered on developing and integrating innovative statistical approaches to advance human health. Dr. Rose’s methodological research focuses on nonparametric machine learning for causal inference and prediction. She co-leads the Health Policy Data Science Lab and currently serves as an associate editor for the Journal of the American Statistical Association and Biostatistics.

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This book illustrates effective surgical techniques for treating glaucoma in a practical and easy to follow format. Within the various chapters the different steps for all surgical procedures are clearly described to guide the reader through each clinical presentation. There are many drawings with detailed explanations regarding incisional surgical techniques such as trabeculectomy, shunts and non perforating techniques, canaloplasty and modern Microinvasive Glaucoma Surgeries (MIGSs). Surgical anatomy, different anesthetic techniques, medical therapy, laser treatments and choice of treatment to contrast glaucoma are also explained throughout the book. Finally there are three chapters on the most modern and effective surgical procedures, drawn up by leading internationally renowned ophthalmologists. This book will be an essential clinical resource for a wide range of readers including ophthalmologists in training, experienced surgeons and glaucoma specialists.

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This book uses a functional programming language (F#) as a metalanguage to present all concepts and examples, and thus has an operational flavour, enabling practical experiments and exercises. It includes basic concepts such as abstract syntax, interpretation, stack machines, compilation, type checking, garbage collection, and real machine code. Also included are more advanced topics on polymorphic types, type inference using unification, co- and contravariant types, continuations, and backwards code generation with on-the-fly peephole optimization. This second edition includes two new chapters. One describes compilation and type checking of a full functional language, tying together the previous chapters. The other describes how to compile a C subset to real (x86) hardware, as a smooth extension of the previously presented compilers.The examples present several interpreters and compilers for toy languages, including compilers for a small but usable subset of C, abstract machines, a garbage collector, and ML-style polymorphic type inference. Each chapter has exercises. Programming Language Concepts covers practical construction of lexers and parsers, but not regular expressions, automata and grammars, which are well covered already. It discusses the design and technology of Java and C# to strengthen students’ understanding of these widely used languages.

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This book chronologically analyzes thirteen key US Presidents, from Washington to Trump, to highlight how religion has informed or influence their politics and policies. For years, leading scholars have largely neglected religion in presidential studies. Yet, religion has played a significant role in a number of critical presidencies in US history. This volume reveals the deep religious side to such presidents as Truman, Eisenhower, and Reagan, among others, and the impact that faith had on their administrations. Now in its third edition, this work also provides a fresh look at the legacy of Obama’s faith-based administration, as well as a new chapter on the 2016 Trump campaign’s dependence on religious voters to provide a timely update to a key text in the study of religion and the presidency.

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Keeping in mind that we can only see the universe from the comfort of our home galaxy, Bascom begins his text by meticulously laying the necessary groundwork to understand the Big Bang’s mathematics without using any equations. He then paints a freeze-frame picture of our universe as if we had taken a three-dimensional picture with a giant camera. Within this picture, he traces forces beginning with the smallest (a single atom) to the biggest (the cosmos), keeping in mind that in this frozen moment everything further away from the observer spatially is also further away from the observer in time; that is, older. Soon a very real and very vivid image of the Big Bang appears (especially in things that are loud or hot), echoing down through time and into our everyday lives, reflected in every atom during every measurement. Then, slowly but deliberately, Bascom unfreezes this picture, ratcheting each moment from one to the next, showing us how and why quantum particles are constantly in contact with the Big Bang and why that allows the particles to pop in and out of existence from moment to moment, what a photon is, and what exactly we mean when we say that free space has energy. Whether you’re interested in the Big Bang, the weirdness of quantum mechanics, or simply enjoy thinking about the biggest, loudest, and oldest things in our universe, this book will help you question your deepest notions about time and space, while staying firmly rooted in empirical observation. Throughout the text, Bascom sidesteps traditional non-fiction modes, using colorful explanations and vivid imagery to place the reader in simultaneous contact with both the Big Bang and fundamental particles. As a result, Bascom provides the tools and language necessary to contemplate the strangeness of our universe.

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The purpose of this textbook is to enable a Neuroscientist to discuss the structure and functions of the brain at a level appropriate for students at many levels of study including undergraduate, graduate, dental or medical school level. It is truer in neurology than in any other system of medicine that a firm knowledge of basic science material, that is, the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the nervous system, enables one to readily arrive at the diagnosis of where the disease process is located and to apply their knowledge at solving problems in clinical situations. The authors have a long experience in teaching neuroscience courses at the first or second year level to medical and dental students and to residents in which clinical information and clinical problem solving are integral to the course.

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