Search results for ""Springer Verlag, Singapore""

This open access book introduces cloud computing and related technologies from the concept, technology, and architecture of cloud computing, combined with typical application cases of cloud; provides students with a more complete knowledge framework in the field of cloud computing; and lays the foundation for future research, development, and further study in cloud computing, big data, and other related fields. As the world's leading provider of ICT (information and communication technology) infrastructure and intelligence terminals, Huawei's products are already available in a number of areas, including connectivity, security, wireless, storage, cloud computing, intelligent computing, and artificial intelligence.

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This book delivers essential skills in “spoken” professional communications, presenting theoretical and applied frameworks for business talk using English as a lingua franca. Adopting a role-playing approach mimicking various professional settings, it assesses the strength of the well-reasoned argument, the logical links that convince the audience of the coherence of the speaker’s argument and the necessary linguistics competencies. This book centers on a variety of situations that commonly take place in business organizations (such as relational talk; call center talk; job application talk) and addresses key skills such as conflict resolution and collaborative problem solving through communication, which are key for both students and practitioners. In addition it analyses spoken business discourse data with the four main sources of communicative competence: grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence and strategic competence in order to highlight how they are used in business speaking practices.

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The book explains strategic issues, trends, challenges, and future scenario of global economy in the light of Fourth Industrial Revolution. It consists of insightful scientific essays authored by scholars and practitioners from business, technology, and economics area. The book contributes to business education by means of research, critical and theoretical reviews of issues in Fourth Industrial Revolution.

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This textbook is for those who want to learn linear algebra from the basics. After a brief mathematical introduction, it provides the standard curriculum of linear algebra based on an abstract linear space. It covers, among other aspects: linear mappings and their matrix representations, basis, and dimension; matrix invariants, inner products, and norms; eigenvalues and eigenvectors; and Jordan normal forms. Detailed and self-contained proofs as well as descriptions are given for all theorems, formulas, and algorithms. A unified overview of linear structures is presented by developing linear algebra from the perspective of functional analysis. Advanced topics such as function space are taken up, along with Fourier analysis, the Perron–Frobenius theorem, linear differential equations, the state transition matrix and the generalized inverse matrix, singular value decomposition, tensor products, and linear regression models. These all provide a bridge to more specialized theories based on linear algebra in mathematics, physics, engineering, economics, and social sciences. Python is used throughout the book to explain linear algebra. Learning with Python interactively, readers will naturally become accustomed to Python coding. By using Python’s libraries NumPy, Matplotlib, VPython, and SymPy, readers can easily perform large-scale matrix calculations, visualization of calculation results, and symbolic computations. All the codes in this book can be executed on both Windows and macOS and also on Raspberry Pi.

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This Open Access book carefully examines the legal and historical bases of the territory of Japan as a modern State from the Meiji period to 2002. A new preface summarizes key developments in the situation up through 2022.Japan’s current territory is stipulated by the Potsdam Declaration (1945) and the Treaty of Peace with Japan (1951); it includes the Northern Territories, the Senkaku Islands, and Takeshima. Japan has demanded the return of the Northern Territories, comprising the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai, which are occupied by Russia. China has claimed sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands, which are validly controlled by Japan; Japan has claimed sovereignty over Takeshima, which is occupied by the Republic of Korea.This book analyzes the current status of these territorial topics, drawing on historical documents and international legal precedent, and it suggests peaceful methods to address them. In discussing territorial land, sea, and air space, this work touches upon postwar concepts defining modern international law and relevant rules on these subjects—exclusive economic zones (EEZs), continental shelves, and air defense identification zones (ADIZs)—found in international treaties, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and related domestic laws.

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This book discusses the journey of Dr. K Kasturirangan, who shares his experience during his long tenure at ISRO including the Chairmanship of ISRO, subsequently membership of the Rajya Sabha, the Planning Commission and many other responsibilities. Over the past five decades of public and professional service to the nation, Dr. Kasturirangan has graduated from a young researcher in astrophysics working under Vikram Sarabhai to leading India’s space program (ISRO), being entrusted by five successive Prime Ministers, besides dealing with several other domains of responsibilities beyond space, all of which have significantly impacted India’s development. This book centers around select 12 public invited lectures, Dr. Kasturirangan delivered ranging from developing hi-tech space systems, to managing an organization as intricate as ISRO which was guided by the wisdom of mentors, including Vikram Sarabhai, M G K Menon, Satish Dhawan and U. R. Rao, to tackling multi-faceted socio-economic issues, including India’s nuclear deal, report headed by him on the Western Ghats ecosystem, and the new National Education Policy 2020. Scientists, historians, policy makers, management strategists, journalists, or anyone with a keen interest in understanding the processes behind such large-scale science, technology and socio-economic endeavors – right from planning, creating appropriate institutional mechanisms, working with multiple stakeholders to ensure that these programs deliver tangible benefits to society, articulating these benefits with clarity to political leaders to assure public support – will find this book deeply instructive and illuminating. It will be of interest to the scientific, education and management community as well as to policy makers and researchers affiliated with multifaceted developmental issues.

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Agronomic crops have been used to provide foods, beverages, fodders, fuels, medicines and industrial raw materials since the dawn of human civilization. Today, agronomic crops are being cultivated by employing scientific methods instead of traditional methods. However, in the current era of climate change, agronomic crops are subjected to various environmental stresses, which results in substantial yield loss. To meet the food demands of the ever-increasing global population, new technologies and management practices are being adopted to boost yield and maintain productivity under both normal and adverse conditions. Scientists are now exploring a variety of approaches to the sustainable production of agronomic crops, including varietal development, soil management, nutrient and water management, pest management, etc. Researchers have also made remarkable progress in developing stress tolerance in crops through different approaches. However, achieving optimal production to meet the increasing food demand is an open challenge. Although there have been numerous publications on the above-mentioned problems, and despite the extensive research being conducted on them, there is hardly any comprehensive book available. In response, this book offers a timely resource, addressing all aspects of production technologies, management practices and stress tolerance in agronomic crops in a single volume.

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The book covers vigorously debated controversial topics in the field of critical care medicine over the years. It provides the reader with a balanced approach and guidance based on historical and currently available evidence in dealing with contentious clinical scenarios. The book reviews the most relevant, contemporaneous evidence on each topic and provides practical guidelines for clinical practice. The book includes chapters that follow a structured approach to controversies related to specific organ systems. The topics covered provide a summary of the most relevant, practice-changing studies in the field of critical care medicine. Each topic describes the basic applied physiology, points of controversy, the evidence base, and summarizes the key points at the end. It includes brief description of landmark studies on each controversial topic. The book serves as an important clinical guide to practitioners of critical care medicine when confronted with challenging clinical scenarios. Besides, it is a useful source of information to postgraduate trainees in various medical specialties. The topics addressed are among the most widely discussed during postgraduate examinations. It is also relevant for practitioners in general medicine and specialized areas of practice, including pulmonology (respiratory medicine), cardiology, neurology, nephrology, gastroenterology, and surgical specialties.

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This book brings together research on multilingualism, identity and intercultural understanding from a range of locations across the globe to explore the intersection of these key ideas in education. It addresses the need to better understand how multilingual, identity, and intercultural approaches intersect for multilingual learners in complex and varied settings. Through global examples, it explores how identities and multilingualism are situated within, and surrounding intercultural experiences. This book examines the different theoretical interpretations as encountered and used in different contexts. By doing so, it helps readers better understand how teachers approach multilingualism and diversity in a range of contexts.

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This book covers the essential aspects of prevention of childhood statelessness focusing on norms governing the subject through the rights to acquire a nationality and to birth registration, two vital safeguards to prevent statelessness among children. Its unique feature lies in its exposition of the international legal norms focusing on prevention of childhood statelessness and systematic analyses of domestic legal frameworks on nationality and birth registration of the 10 ASEAN Member States. This book is designed for a wide range of readers comprising academics, advocates, students, policy makers, and other stakeholders working on statelessness affecting children, especially in Southeast Asia.

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This volume covers digital design techniques, exercises and applications. The book discusses digital design and implementation in the context of VLSI and embedded system design. It covers basic digital design techniques to high speed design techniques. The contents also cover performance improvement, optimization concepts and design case studies. It includes pedagogical features such as design examples and illustrations. This book will be a useful guide for hardware engineers, logic design engineers, professionals and hobbyists looking to learn and use the digital design to develop VLSI based algorithms, architectures and products.

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This book covers state-of-the-art topics covering evidences indicate that the gut microbiota can be harnessed for cancer prevention as well as to modulate the efficacy of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. This book includes: 1) characterization of the dysregulated microbiome in gastrointestinal cancers (Chapters 1-6); 2) the molecular mechanism of action of gut microbiota via microbial metabolites and direct interaction with host cancer or immune cells (Chapters 7-11); 3) key methodologies for studying the role of gut microbiota in cancers (Chapters 12-13); and 4) the potential application of gut microbes for the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal cancers (Chapters 14-17). The contributors are international experts in molecular and cellular biology, microbiology, metabolomics, bioinformatics and physician scientists to provide in-depth reviews of this subject. This book provides a rich resource of information on this important topic for graduate students, basic researchers and physicians.

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The Persian Gulf 2021-22 is the ninth in the annual Persian Gulf Series published by MEI@ND. It is a detailed analysis of India’s bilateral relations with the nine countries in the Persian Gulf region and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and focuses on the developments of 2020 and 2021. It offers a comprehensive account of the internal politics, economic situations, foreign policy, security challenges and social developments in the Persian Gulf countries and India’s strategic, political, economic and cultural engagements with the region. The book also offers policy recommendations for India based on the current state of affairs.

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Today, the development of robots is making steady advances. In particular, the Robot Operating System (ROS) offers a unified platform that greatly facilitates the development of robots and has become a new hotspot for learning and application in the field of robotics research.This book introduces readers to the key technologies and development methods for ROS-based intelligent robots. Covering both the development history of robots and various aspects of programming robots, it offers effective support for beginners.The book is divided into three parts, the first of which introduces the basics of robots, including their definition, development, composition, and key technologies. In turn, the second part covers the hardware and software components and the implementation of functions such as vision, speech, grasping, and autonomous navigation. These functions need to work together to provide user-friendlier and more intelligent service. The third part shows how to develop robots with different functions in different application scenarios.Combining theoretical and practical aspects, with a strong focus on application, this work can be used as a reference book for robotics-related courses. Moreover, it will benefit all readers who are interested in intelligent robot development, sharing essential insights into developing service robots based on ROS.

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This Open Access book explains ASEAN’s strategic role in managing great power politics in East Asia. Constructing a theory of institutional strategy, this book argues that the regional security institutions in Southeast Asia, ASEAN and ASEAN-led institutions have devised their own institutional strategies vis-à-vis the South China Sea and navigated the great-power politics since the 1990s. ASEAN proliferated new security institutions in the 1990s and 2000s that assumed a different functionality, a different geopolitical scope, and thus a different institutional strategy. In so doing, ASEAN formed a “strategic institutional web” that nurtured a quasi-division of labor among the institutions to maintain relative stability in the South China Sea. Unlike the conventional analysis on ASEAN, this study disaggregates “ASEAN” as a collective regional actor into specific individual institutions—ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, ASEAN Summit, ASEAN-China dialogues, ASEAN Regional Forum, East Asia Summit, and ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting and ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus—and explains how each of these institutions has devised and/or shifted its institutional strategy to curb great powers’ ambition in dominating the South China Sea while navigating great power competition. The book sheds light on the strategic potential and limitations of ASEAN and ASEAN-led security institutions, offers implications for the future role of ASEAN in the Indo-Pacific region, and provides an alternative understanding of the strategic utilities of regional security institutions.

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This book increases the accessibility of philosophical concepts to a wider audience within medical education, translating ‘knowing’ to ‘doing.’ It prompts health professions educators and researchers to consider the dynamics and structure of contemporary issues within health professions education in new, philosophical ways. Through considering the practical implications of applying philosophical concepts to contemporary issues, the book recommends avenues for further research and pedagogical change. Individual educators are considered, with practice points for teaching generated within each chapter. Readers will acquire practical ways in which they can change their own practice or pedagogy that align with the new insight offered through our philosophical analysis. These practical recommendations may be systemic in nature, but the authors of this book also offer micro-level recommendations for practitioners that can be considered as ways to improve individual approaches to education and research.

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This open access book systematically explores the statistical characteristics of cryptographic systems, the computational complexity theory of cryptographic algorithms and the mathematical principles behind various encryption and decryption algorithms. The theory stems from technology. Based on Shannon's information theory, this book systematically introduces the information theory, statistical characteristics and computational complexity theory of public key cryptography, focusing on the three main algorithms of public key cryptography, RSA, discrete logarithm and elliptic curve cryptosystem. It aims to indicate what it is and why it is. It systematically simplifies and combs the theory and technology of lattice cryptography, which is the greatest feature of this book.It requires a good knowledge in algebra, number theory and probability statistics for readers to read this book. The senior students majoring in mathematics, compulsory for cryptography and science and engineering postgraduates will find this book helpful. It can also be used as the main reference book for researchers in cryptography and cryptographic engineering areas.

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Machine learning (ML) has become a commonplace element in our everyday lives and a standard tool for many fields of science and engineering. To make optimal use of ML, it is essential to understand its underlying principles. This book approaches ML as the computational implementation of the scientific principle. This principle consists of continuously adapting a model of a given data-generating phenomenon by minimizing some form of loss incurred by its predictions. The book trains readers to break down various ML applications and methods in terms of data, model, and loss, thus helping them to choose from the vast range of ready-made ML methods.The book’s three-component approach to ML provides uniform coverage of a wide range of concepts and techniques. As a case in point, techniques for regularization, privacy-preservation as well as explainability amount to specific design choices for the model, data, and loss of a ML method.

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This book serves as a textbook in real analysis. It focuses on the fundamentals of the structural properties of metric spaces and analytical properties of functions defined between such spaces. Topics include sets, functions and cardinality, real numbers, analysis on R, topology of the real line, metric spaces, continuity and differentiability, sequences and series, Lebesgue integration, and Fourier series. It is primarily focused on the applications of analytical methods to solving partial differential equations rooted in many important problems in mathematics, physics, engineering, and related fields. Both the presentation and treatment of topics are fashioned to meet the expectations of interested readers working in any branch of science and technology. Senior undergraduates in mathematics and engineering are the targeted student readership, and the topical focus with applications to real-world examples will promote higher-level mathematical understanding for undergraduates in sciences and engineering.

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This open access book addresses the multiple health dimensions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in India and other countries including nine in Asia, five in Sub-Saharan Africa, and New Zealand. It explores the impact of the pandemic on mental health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, health financing, self-care, and vaccine development and distribution. The contributing authors discuss its impact on vulnerable populations, including interstate migrants and female sex workers. The significant role of media and communications, rapid dissemination of information in social media, and its impact during the COVID-19 pandemic era are discussed. It closes with lessons learned from the experiences of countries that have contained the pandemic. With contributions from experts from around the world, this book presents solutions of problems that relate to COVID-19. It is a valuable resource appealing to a wide readership across the social sciences and the humanities. Readers include governments, academicians, researchers, policy-makers, program implementers, as well as lay persons.

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This third of the three-volume book is targeted as a basic course in algebraic topology and topology for fiber bundles for undergraduate and graduate students of mathematics. It focuses on many variants of topology and its applications in modern analysis, geometry, and algebra. Topics covered in this volume include homotopy theory, homology and cohomology theories, homotopy theory of fiber bundles, Euler characteristic, and the Betti number. It also includes certain classic problems such as the Jordan curve theorem along with the discussions on higher homotopy groups and establishes links between homotopy and homology theories, axiomatic approach to homology and cohomology as inaugurated by Eilenberg and Steenrod. It includes more material than is comfortably covered by beginner students in a one-semester course. Students of advanced courses will also find the book useful. This book will promote the scope, power and active learning of the subject, all the while covering a wide range of theory and applications in a balanced unified way.

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This open access book consists of essays written by Kishore Mahbubani to explore the challenges and dilemmas faced by the West and Asia in an increasingly interdependent world village and intensifying geopolitical competition. The contents cover four parts: Part One The End of the Era of Western Domination. The major strategic error that the West is now making is to refuse to accept this reality. The West needs to learn how to act strategically in a world where they are no longer the number 1. Part Two The Return of Asia. From the years 1 to 1820, the largest economies in the world were Asian. After 1820 and the rise of the West, however, great Asian civilizations like China and India were dominated and humiliated. The twenty-first century will see the return of Asia to the center of the world stage. Part Three The Peaceful Rise of China. The shift in the balance of power to the East has been most pronounced in the rise of China. While this rise has been peaceful, many in the West have responded with considerable concern over the influence China will have on the world order. Part Four Globalization, Multilateralism and Cooperation. Many of the world’s pressing issues, such as COVID-19 and climate change, are global issues and will require global cooperation to deal with. In short, human beings now live in a global village. States must work with each other, and we need a world order that enables and facilitates cooperation in our global village.

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In today’s workplace, computer and cybersecurity professionals must understand both hardware and software to deploy effective security solutions. This book introduces readers to the fundamentals of computer architecture and organization for security, and provides them with both theoretical and practical solutions to design and implement secure computer systems. Offering an in-depth and innovative introduction to modern computer systems and patent-pending technologies in computer security, the text integrates design considerations with hands-on lessons learned to help practitioners design computer systems that are immune from attacks. Studying computer architecture and organization from a security perspective is a new area. There are many books on computer architectures and many others on computer security. However, books introducing computer architecture and organization with security as the main focus are still rare. This book addresses not only how to secure computer components (CPU, Memory, I/O, and network) but also how to secure data and the computer system as a whole. It also incorporates experiences from the author’s recent award-winning teaching and research. The book also introduces the latest technologies, such as trusted computing, RISC-V, QEMU, cache security, virtualization, cloud computing, IoT, and quantum computing, as well as other advanced computing topics into the classroom in order to close the gap in workforce development. The book is chiefly intended for undergraduate and graduate students in computer architecture and computer organization, as well as engineers, researchers, cybersecurity professionals, and middleware designers.

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This textbook is for biologists, to conduct quantitative analysis and modeling of biological processes at molecular and cellular levels. Focusing on practical concepts and techniques for everyday research, this text will enable beginners, both students and established biologists, to take the first step in quantitative biology. It also provides step-by-step tutorials to run various sample programs in one’s personal computer using Excel and Python. This volume traces topics, starting with an introductory chapter, such as modeling, construction and execution of numerical models, and key concepts in quantitative biology: feedback regulations, fluctuations and randomness, and statistical analyses. It also provide sample codes with guidance to procedure programming for actual biological processes such as movement of the nucleus within a cell, cell-cycle regulation, stripe pattern formation of skins, and distribution of energy. Written by a leading research scientist who has a background in biology, studied quantitative approaches by himself, and teaches quantitative biology at several universities, this textbook broadens quantitative approaches for biologists who do not have a strong background in mathematics, physics, or computer programming, and helps them progress further in their research.

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This book provides a comprehensive knowledge of linear algebra for graduate and undergraduate courses. As a self-contained text, it aims at covering all important areas of the subject, including algebraic structures, matrices and systems of linear equations, vector spaces, linear transformations, dual and inner product spaces, canonical, bilinear, quadratic, sesquilinear, Hermitian forms of operators and tensor products of vector spaces with their algebras. The last three chapters focus on empowering readers to pursue interdisciplinary applications of linear algebra in numerical methods, analytical geometry and in solving linear system of differential equations. A rich collection of examples and exercises are present at the end of each section to enhance the conceptual understanding of readers. Basic knowledge of various notions, such as sets, relations, mappings, etc., has been pre-assumed.

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This book investigates the study of World Englishes from the perspective of Cultural Linguistics, a theoretical and analytical framework for cultural cognition, cultural conceptualisations and language that employs and expands on the analytical tools and theoretical advancements in a number of disciplines, including cognitive psychology/science, anthropology, distributed cognition, and complexity science. The field of World Englishes has long focused on the sociolinguistic and applied linguistic study of varieties of English. Cultural Linguistics is now opening a new venue for research on World Englishes by exploring cultural conceptualisations underlying different varieties of English. The book explores ways in which the analytical framework of Cultural Linguistics may be employed to study varieties of English around the globe.

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This book focuses on the current tension between China and the US on trade imbalance and discusses China’s opening-up strategy in the context of this trade conflict. The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, the author presents a detailed analysis of the current state of the China-US trade relationship and describes the potential impacts of China-US trade conflicts. The topics covered in this section include the re-estimate of US trade deficit with China, China’s non-market economy status, the impact of China-US bilateral investment treaties on China’s manufacturing sectors, and the estimated welfare losses and gains resulting from the China-US trade war. Part II explores China’s possible response and development strategy in the context of de-globalization. Based on an overview of China’s three stages of economic reform and opening-up policy in the past four decades, the author discusses the future tasks that would move the country into a new stage of all-round opening up. Lastly, the book comprehensively reviews the role of processing trade, trade liberalization, and firm performance in promoting China’s miraculous economic growth so as to foster a better understanding of China’s experience of opening up over the past 4 decades.

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In this book, Professor Anatoly Buchachenko gives a brief and informative description of the most striking achievements and discoveries made in the major natural sciences at the turn of the century – in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The author has a rare ability to describe scientific discoveries so that these achievements and their significance are understandable not only by professionals and scientists of all specialities, but for any reader interested in modern science, its role in the existence of mankind, and its impact on human society. Originally published in Russian, Professor Buchachenko’s book describes the interaction of natural sciences with social ones—philosophy and history—as well as the part played by the human factor in the development of science, especially the role of the great scientists.

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This open access handbook, the first of its kind, provides a comprehensive and carefully curated multidisciplinary and genre-spanning view of the state of the field of Critical Menstruation Studies, opening up new directions in research and advocacy. It is animated by the central question: ‘“what new lines of inquiry are possible when we center our attention on menstrual health and politics across the life course?” The chapters—diverse in content, form and perspective—establish Critical Menstruation Studies as a potent lens that reveals, complicates and unpacks inequalities across biological, social, cultural and historical dimensions. This handbook is an unmatched resource for researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and activists new to and already familiar with the field as it rapidly develops and expands.

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Phytochemistry is the branch of science that deals with the study of plant-derived chemicals or compounds, which are also known as phytochemicals or plant-derived secondary metabolites. Plants are known to produce phytochemicals that are essential for their growth and reproduction, as they protect them from insects, pathogens, and herbivores. Some of the major groups of plant-derived secondary metabolites are phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, tannin etc. Plant-derived phytochemicals are pharmacologically active and have the potential to cure various human diseases and disorders. Natural plant products have been known for their medicinal properties for untold years, and form the basis of several medicinal systems such as Chinese, Unani, and Ayurvedic Medicine. This book offers an essential introduction to phytochemicals and their synthetic analogues. It discusses various in silico approaches used to identify pharmacologically active phytochemicals and their biological activities, as well as in vitro and in vivo models/assays that have been utilized for the pharmacological profiling of plant-derived products to combat cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders. The intended audience includes upper-level undergraduate and graduate students; researchers and scientists from the pharmaceutical/food chemistry/nutrition sciences/biochemistry, and clinical biochemistry fields; and medical students. Sharing the latest findings, the book will familiarize these readers with the concepts, chemistry, and tremendous potential of phytochemistry.

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This book discusses the various critical dimensions of the Qatar Crisis as a development that has fundamentally reshaped the nature of regional integration for the near future. It represents the first academic attempt to challenge the commonly propagated binary view of this conflict. Further, the book explains the Gulf Crisis in the context of the transformation of the Gulf in the early 21st century, with new alliances and balances of power emerging. At the heart of the book lies the question of how the changing global and regional order facilitated or even fuelled the 2017 Crisis, which it argues was only the most recent climax in an ongoing crisis in the Gulf, on that had been simmering since 2011 and is rooted in historical feuds that date back to the 1800s. While contextualizing the crisis historically, the book also seeks to look beyond historical events to identify underlying patterns of identity security in connection with state and nation building in the Gulf.

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This book reveals the structures of poverty, power, patriarchy and imperialistic health policies that underpin what the World Health Organization calls the “hidden disease” of vaginal fistulas in Africa. By employing critical feminist and post-colonial perspectives, it shows how “leaking black female bodies” are constructed, ranked, stratified and marginalised in global maternal health care, and explains why women in Africa are at risk of developing vaginal fistulas and then having adequate treatment delayed or denied. Drawing on face-to-face, in-depth interviews with 30 Kenyan women, it paints a rare social portrait of the heartbreaking challenges for Kenyan women living with this most profound gender-related health issue – an experience of shame, taboo and abjection with severe implications for women’s wellbeing, health and sexuality. In absolutely groundbreaking depth, this book shows why research on vaginal fistulas must incorporate feminist understandings of bodily experience to inform future practices and knowledge.

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This book is an important contribution to our understanding of food in China through an ethnographic case study of an alternative food movement in Shanghai and the surrounding countryside. Cody examines a group of middle-class urban residents who move to the countryside to establish small-scale and independent organic farms. The book explores the complex relationships movement protagonists have with customers in the city, rural neighbours in the countryside, volunteers on their farms, intellectuals involved in rural reconstruction initiatives as well as the organic items they produce. In doing so, Cody provides valuable insights into the urban/rural dichotomy and questions of morality in China today. This book speaks to several concerns associated with the accelerated modernization China and other Asian nations are experiencing, including food safety and class relations. It will appeal to scholars and practitioners across a range of fields including anthropology, food studies, rural development and China Studies.

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This book provides an undergraduate-level introduction to discrete and continuous-time Markov chains and their applications, with a particular focus on the first step analysis technique and its applications to average hitting times and ruin probabilities. It also discusses classical topics such as recurrence and transience, stationary and limiting distributions, as well as branching processes. It first examines in detail two important examples (gambling processes and random walks) before presenting the general theory itself in the subsequent chapters. It also provides an introduction to discrete-time martingales and their relation to ruin probabilities and mean exit times, together with a chapter on spatial Poisson processes. The concepts presented are illustrated by examples, 138 exercises and 9 problems with their solutions.

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This book is for people who want to understand modern trade theory, particularly the Melitz model. It lays out Melitz theory from first principles and relates it to earlier theories of Armington and Krugman. For trade theory specialists, the book produces some significant conclusions. It identifies conditions under which Krugman and Melitz models produce essentially the same results for the welfare effects of trade liberalization as those obtained from Armington, and conditions under which this is not true. These findings will be of interest to academics and policy advisors who need to understand critiques of Armington by proponents of Krugman and Melitz.For computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelers, the book shows how Melitz-style CGE models can be calibrated, solved and interpreted. A major practical contribution of the book is to show how large-scale Armington models such as GTAP can be converted to Melitz by the addition of a small number of equations and minimal alteration of the original Armington model.The book describes computational experience in solving Melitz CGE models using GEMPACK software. This experience will be of interest to researchers currently attempting to solve Melitz-based CGE models. Almost all previous Melitz studies have used GAMS software. Authors of these studies have reported computational difficulties. These difficulties did not occur in this book’s GEMPACK-based computations. The book concludes that: (a) CGE modelers can embrace Melitz while retaining their Armington-based models as powerful interpretive devices; and (b) via GEMPACK, large-scale CGE models incorporating Melitz specifications can be solved with no more difficulty than similar-dimensioned Armington models.

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This book sheds new light on stochastic calculus, the branch of mathematics that is most widely applied in financial engineering and mathematical finance. The first book to introduce pathwise formulae for the stochastic integral, it provides a simple but rigorous treatment of the subject, including a range of advanced topics. The book discusses in-depth topics such as quadratic variation, Ito formula, and Emery topology. The authors briefly addresses continuous semi-martingales to obtain growth estimates and study solution of a stochastic differential equation (SDE) by using the technique of random time change. Later, by using Metivier–Pellaumail inequality, the solutions to SDEs driven by general semi-martingales are discussed. The connection of the theory with mathematical finance is briefly discussed and the book has extensive treatment on the representation of martingales as stochastic integrals and a second fundamental theorem of asset pricing. Intended for undergraduate- and beginning graduate-level students in the engineering and mathematics disciplines, the book is also an excellent reference resource for applied mathematicians and statisticians looking for a review of the topic.

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This book provides a concise introduction to China’s electricity sector, suitable for university students and business analysts. It is business focused, combining an introduction from an established regional electricity consultancy with five academic chapters covering governance, market stakeholders and reform, wind and solar power, environmental regulation, and developments in financing. It is written in an accessible but rigorous style for people with limited knowledge of the topic, with minimal jargon but full referencing throughout the academic chapters. Each academic chapter starts with a summary and three key points to guide the reader’s understanding.

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This book provides unique insights into the issues that drive modified dosing regimens for antibiotics in the critically ill. Leading international authors provide their commentary alongside a summary of existing evidence on how to effectively dose antibiotics. Severe infection frequently necessitates admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Equally, nosocomial sepsis often complicates the clinical course in ICU. Early, appropriate application of antibiotic therapy remains a cornerstone of effective management. However, this is challenging in the critical care environment, given the significant changes in patient physiology and organ function frequently encountered. Being cognisant of these factors, prescribers need to consider modified dosing regimens, not only to ensure adequate drug exposure, and therefore the greatest chance of clinical cure, but also to avoid encouraging drug resistance.

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This book focuses on the future of China and its sustainable development, and summarizes the implications, forms, causes, countermeasures and related rules of the main costs generated during a country’s period of development, so as to provide a theoretical reference and decision-making consulting tools for institutions and scientific governance and management professionals. Combining China’s national situation and development characteristics with the country as a unit, it uses case studies to propose the concept of cost theory and the theoretical system of national development cost. Focusing on the goals of innovation in nation building, common development and prosperity, as well as enhancement of people’s net welfare, the book summarizes and draws conclusions about various aspects of national development, including economic development cost; political, social and cultural development cost; foreign opening-up development cost and nature development cost. It primarily establishes an indicator system of national development cost for promoting full-factor productivity and reducing development cost, and provides a theoretical basis for implementing the scientific political-achievement view.

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This book presents various theories and algorithms to create a quantum computer. The concept of the classical and quantum computers, and the concept of circuits and gates are reviewed. The example of the Deutsch and the Deutsch-Josca algorithm is discussed to illustrate some key features of quantum computing. The Grover algorithm, considered to be of major milestone of the subject, is discussed in detail to exemplify the techniques used in computer algorithms. The role of quantum superposition (also called quantum parallelism) and of quantum entanglement is discussed in order to understand the key advantages of a quantum over a classical computer.

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This monograph represents a historic breakthrough in the field of linear programming (LP)since George Dantzig first discovered the simplex method in 1947. Being both thoughtful and informative, it focuses on reflecting and promoting the state of the art by highlighting new achievements in LP. This new edition is organized in two volumes. The first volume addresses foundations of LP, including the geometry of feasible region, the simplex method and its implementation, duality and the dual simplex method, the primal-dual simplex method, sensitivity analysis and parametric LP, the generalized simplex method, the decomposition method, the interior-point method and integer LP method. The second volume mainly introduces contributions of the author himself, such as efficient primal/dual pivot rules, primal/dual Phase-I methods, reduced/D-reduced simplex methods, the generalized reduced simplex method, primal/dual deficient-basis methods, primal/dual face methods, a new decomposition principle, etc.Many important improvements were made in this edition. The first volume includes new results, such as the mixed two-phase simplex algorithm, dual elimination, fresh pricing scheme for reduced cost, bilevel LP models and intercepting of optimal solution set. In particular, the chapter Integer LP Method was rewritten with great gains of the objective cutting for new ILP solvers {\it controlled-cutting/branch} methods, as well as with an attractive implementation of the controlled-branch method. In the second volume, the `simplex feasible-point algorithm' was rewritten, and removed from the chapter Pivotal Interior-Point Method to form an independent chapter with the new title `Simplex Interior-Point Method', as it represents a class of efficient interior-point algorithms transformed from traditional simplex algorithms. The title of the original chapter was then changed to `Facial Interior-Point Method', as the remaining algorithms represent another class of efficient interior-point algorithms transformed from normal interior-point algorithms. Without exploiting sparsity, the original primal/dual face methods were implemented using Cholesky factorization. In order to deal with sparse computation, two new chapters discussing LU factorization were added to the second volume. The most exciting improvement came from the rediscovery of the reduced simplex method. In the first edition, the derivation of its prototype was presented in a chapter with the same title, and then converted into the so-called `improved' version in another chapter. Fortunately, the author recently found a quite concise new derivation, so he can now introduce the distinctive fresh simplex method in a single chapter. It is exciting that the reduced simplex method can be expected to be the best LP solver ever.With a focus on computation, the current edition contains many novel ideas, theories and methods, supported by solid numerical results. Being clear and succinct, its content reveals in a fresh manner, from simple to profound. In particular, a larger number of examples were worked out to demonstrate algorithms. This book is a rare work in LP and an indispensable tool for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, practitioners, and researchers in LP and related fields.

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This open access book addresses self-care on sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV prevention and treatment in the most marginalized and vulnerable communities. Case studies and personal narratives are used to share their perspectives and experiences, sources of information for self-care products, motivations for self-care, and challenges and outcomes. Self-care provides the way to reach the last mile in achieving universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. Issues related to stigma, discrimination and violence among these communities are highlighted. Changes in policies and programs to improve their sexual and reproductive health, education and employment are discussed. The last chapter in the book examines how the agenda on self-care can be advanced in the years ahead. The audience for this publication includes health professionals, researchers, those managing health institutions and service providers.

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This book presents a detailed study on the vibration analysis of functionally graded piezoelectric actuators excited under the shear effect. Two types of actuator geometries viz. beam and annular plate are considered, where the material properties are assumed to have a continuous variation in accordance with a power law distribution. The generalized differential quadrature method is used to obtain the solutions, and is compared to exact analytical results. The methodology reported and the numerical results presented will be useful for the design of devices utilizing functionally graded piezoelectric actuators under the influence of shear.

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This book provides a readable and thought-provoking analysis of the issues surrounding nuclear fuel reprocessing and fast-neutron reactors, including discussion of resources, economics, radiological risk and resistance to nuclear proliferation. It describes the history and science behind reprocessing, and gives an overview of the status of reprocessing programmes around the world. It concludes that such programs should be discontinued. While nuclear power is seen by many as the only realistic solution to the carbon emission problem, some national nuclear establishments have been pursuing development and deployment of sodium-cooled plutonium breeder reactors, and plutonium recycling. Its proponents argue that this system would offer significant advantages relative to current light water reactor technology in terms of greater uranium utilization efficiency, and that separating out the long-lived plutonium and other transuranics from spent fuel and fissioning them in fast reactors would greatly reduce the duration of the toxicity of radioactive waste. However, the history of efforts to deploy this system commercially in a number of countries over the last six decades has been one of economic and technical failure and, in some cases, was used to mask clandestine nuclear weapon development programs. Covering topics of significant public interest including nuclear safety, fuel storage, environmental impact and the spectre of nuclear terrorism, this book presents a comprehensive analysis of the issue for nuclear engineers, policy analysts, government officials and the general public. "Frank von Hippel, Jungmin Kang, and Masafumi Takubo, three internationally renowned nuclear experts, have done a valuable service to the global community in putting together this book, which both historically and comprehensively covers the “plutonium age” as we know it today. They articulate in a succinct and clear manner their views on the dangers of a plutonium economy and advocate a ban on the separation of plutonium for use in the civilian fuel cycle in view of the high proliferation and nuclear-security risks and lack of economic justification." (Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (1997-2009), Nobel Peace Prize (2005))"The 1960s dream of a ‘plutonium economy’ has not delivered abundant low-cost energy, but instead has left the world a radioactive legacy of nuclear weapons proliferation and the real potential for nuclear terrorism. Kang, Takubo, and von Hippel explain with power and clarity what can be done to reduce these dangers. The governments of the remaining countries whose nuclear research and development establishments are still pursuing the plutonium dream should pay attention.” (Senator Edward Markey, a leader in the US nuclear-disarmament movement as a member of Congress since 1976)"The authors have done an invaluable service by putting together in one place the most coherent analysis of the risks associated with plutonium, and the most compelling argument for ending the practice of separating plutonium from spent fuel for any purpose. They have given us an easily accessible history of the evolution of thinking about the nuclear fuel cycle, the current realities of nuclear power around the world and, arguably most important, a clear alternative path to deal with the spent fuel arising from nuclear reactors for decades to centuries to come." (Robert Gallucci, Chief US negotiator with North Korea (1994); Dean, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (1996-2009); President, MacArthur Foundation (2009-2014))

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The 13-volume set LNCS 14425-14437 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th Chinese Conference on Pattern Recognition and Computer Vision, PRCV 2023, held in Xiamen, China, during October 13–15, 2023. The 532 full papers presented in these volumes were selected from 1420 submissions. The papers have been organized in the following topical sections: Action Recognition, Multi-Modal Information Processing, 3D Vision and Reconstruction, Character Recognition, Fundamental Theory of Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Vision Problems in Robotics, Autonomous Driving, Pattern Classification and Cluster Analysis, Performance Evaluation and Benchmarks, Remote Sensing Image Interpretation, Biometric Recognition, Face Recognition and Pose Recognition, Structural Pattern Recognition, Computational Photography, Sensing and Display Technology, Video Analysis and Understanding, Vision Applications and Systems, Document Analysis and Recognition, Feature Extraction and Feature Selection, Multimedia Analysis and Reasoning, Optimization and Learning methods, Neural Network and Deep Learning, Low-Level Vision and Image Processing, Object Detection, Tracking and Identification, Medical Image Processing and Analysis.

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The 13-volume set LNCS 14425-14437 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th Chinese Conference on Pattern Recognition and Computer Vision, PRCV 2023, held in Xiamen, China, during October 13–15, 2023. The 532 full papers presented in these volumes were selected from 1420 submissions. The papers have been organized in the following topical sections: Action Recognition, Multi-Modal Information Processing, 3D Vision and Reconstruction, Character Recognition, Fundamental Theory of Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Vision Problems in Robotics, Autonomous Driving, Pattern Classification and Cluster Analysis, Performance Evaluation and Benchmarks, Remote Sensing Image Interpretation, Biometric Recognition, Face Recognition and Pose Recognition, Structural Pattern Recognition, Computational Photography, Sensing and Display Technology, Video Analysis and Understanding, Vision Applications and Systems, Document Analysis and Recognition, Feature Extraction and Feature Selection, Multimedia Analysis and Reasoning, Optimization and Learning methods, Neural Network and Deep Learning, Low-Level Vision and Image Processing, Object Detection, Tracking and Identification, Medical Image Processing and Analysis.

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The 13-volume set LNCS 14425-14437 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th Chinese Conference on Pattern Recognition and Computer Vision, PRCV 2023, held in Xiamen, China, during October 13–15, 2023. The 532 full papers presented in these volumes were selected from 1420 submissions. The papers have been organized in the following topical sections: Action Recognition, Multi-Modal Information Processing, 3D Vision and Reconstruction, Character Recognition, Fundamental Theory of Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Vision Problems in Robotics, Autonomous Driving, Pattern Classification and Cluster Analysis, Performance Evaluation and Benchmarks, Remote Sensing Image Interpretation, Biometric Recognition, Face Recognition and Pose Recognition, Structural Pattern Recognition, Computational Photography, Sensing and Display Technology, Video Analysis and Understanding, Vision Applications and Systems, Document Analysis and Recognition, Feature Extraction and Feature Selection, Multimedia Analysis and Reasoning, Optimization and Learning methods, Neural Network and Deep Learning, Low-Level Vision and Image Processing, Object Detection, Tracking and Identification, Medical Image Processing and Analysis

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This open access book provides a comprehensive review of technological innovation in China, focusing on some existing challenges and the debate on the role of public policies in promoting innovation.

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