Search results for ""springer verlag, singapore""

This book provides essential insights into the various pathogeneses, diagnoses and therapies for patients with gastric cancer. Special attention is given to trending topics: endoscopic diagnosis, cancer screening and eradication of H. pylori as prevention of the disease. A dedicated section focuses on risk classification and cancer screening/diagnosis, and is intended for practical use in clinical doctors’ day-to-day management of patients. Since cancer screening and prevention is currently only practiced in Japan, this book is intended to disseminate new findings and serve as a point of departure for further research. Abundant color illustrations of the enhanced endoscopic imaging are also included, making it a valuable resource for GI medical doctors, medical students and those seeking detailed information on H. pylori.​

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This book provides an essential overview of the rapidly advancing field of circular RNAs – newly discovered RNAs that are generated by back-splicing precursor mRNA and perform regulatory functions in many biological processes. Although many aspects of circular RNAs’ biology and mechanisms of gene regulation remain unclear, they have been found to be abundant, evolutionally conserved, and stable in cells; further, they have numerous potential functions. The book consists of eight parts:1) An overview of circular RNAs, 2) Bioinformatics for circular RNAs, 3) Biogenesis of circular RNAs, 4) Molecular mechanisms and gene regulation of circular RNAs, 5) Circular RNAs as potential disease biomarkers, 6) Circular RNAs and human diseases, 7) Circular RNAs in Plants and in Archaea, and 8) Future prospects. Given its focus, the book will be especially useful for researchers and students in the fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, and medicine.

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In this book, leading architects and landscape architects provide their perspectives on the design of dense and green building types in high-density urban contexts that can support higher population densities, higher standards of environmental sustainability and enhanced liveability in future cities.

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Around the globe, there is a growing awareness of the importance of addressing students’ social and emotional development and wellbeing during schooling. Although the bulk of the work in this area has been conducted in North America and Europe, there is now a burgeoning interest in this topic in Australia and the wider Asia Pacific. This book is the first ever to provide a timely and important collection of diverse perspectives on and approaches to social and emotional learning in the Australian and Asia Pacific context. Adopting a broad view of social and emotional learning, the book explores positive psychology, belonging, teachers’ professional development, pre-service training and post-initial training in Australia and in neighbouring communities such as China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, Fiji, and other Pacific nations. "Frydenberg, Martin, and Collie have provided an incredible service by bringing together in a single well planned scholarly volume an incredible and well balanced group of senior and early career cutting edge researchers from Australia, Asia and the Asia Pacific area tackling approaches and key issues of social and emotional learning. Their much needed volume links research on key factors, such as differing perspectives, measurement issues, the identification of at-risk children, teachers' social and emotional development, and these and other across the cultures of an increasingly vibrant and developing geographic region. It is indeed encouraging to gain the sense of depth and breadth of ongoing research that the volume gives. " John Roodenburg PhD FAPS MCEDP MCCOUNSP, Monash University Melbourne"Social and Emotional Learning is understood to be a crucial part of the school curriculum. This book covers the field, with a refreshing focus on work being done in Australia and in neighbouring countries. For school psychologists, the book helps us to understand how SEL can help at every level – from working with individuals, small groups, whole classes, or with the entire school. Our work with vulnerable students, individually or in small groups, is always more effective when embedded in the broader context of Social and Emotional Learning." Paul Bertoia FAPS MCEDP, Senior School Psychologist“This collected volume of researchers from Australia and the Asia-Pacific provides a thorough review of important educational, social, and emotional development issues for practitioners and researchers around the world. Readers will greatly benefit from the breadth and depth of treatment in each of the topics covered.”Kit-Tai Hau, PhD, Choh-Ming Li Professor of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

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This book introduces important results and techniques in property testing, where the goal is to design algorithms that decide whether their input satisfies a predetermined property in sublinear time, or even in constant time – that is, time is independent of the input size. This book consists of three parts. The first part provides an introduction to the foundations of property testing. The second part studies the testing of specific properties on strings, graphs, functions, and constraint satisfaction problems. Vectors and matrices over real numbers are also covered. The third part is more advanced and explains general conditions, including full characterizations, under which properties are constant-query testable. The first and second parts of the book are intended for first-year graduate students in computer science. They should also be accessible to undergraduate students with the adequate background. The third part can be used by researchers or ambitious graduate students who want to gain a deeper theoretical understanding of property testing.

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This book adopts a methodology-focused approach, concentrating on quantitative techniques for transportation. The prevailing research features three key research categories: cross-sectional regression models, simulation (forecasting) methods, and causal inference models.

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This book vividly portrays the past, current, and future development of Yokohama Chinatown through the context of its Cantonese residents, grounded through a family history. It is useful for both academic and non- academic readers who are interested in migration history, transformation of urban spaces, anthropological perspectives of integration of immigrants, diasporic studies and overseas Chinese studies. It is informative when considering the role of immigrant communities in the world today in the context of globalization stimulating cross-border movements and anti-globalization forces that act as push and pull factors for migration. It is also a study of harmonious integration of the overseas Chinese community in Yokohama and its ability to retain its own cultural traits, rights, rituals, traditions and dialect language in one of the most homogenous countries in the world. This increases the attractiveness of Yokohama City in terms of ethnic diversity, cosmopolitan multiculturalism and urban space renewal.

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This book discusses the past, present, and future of migration in the Arctic. It addresses many of the critical dynamics of immigration and migration, and emerging challenges that now confront the region. What can be learned from the past? What are the challenges and solutions of tomorrow?Migration in the Arctic is a fascinating and topical - but less studied - phenomenon that influences various societal levels, such as education. The book introduces research on economic, social, and educational perspectives of migration in the region. It provides analysis of minorities immigrating to the North without neglecting the viewpoint of indigenous people of the Arctic.Contributors comprise researchers from various Arctic countries. Multidisciplinary research provides a unique viewpoint to the theme. The book is suitable for researchers and teachers of higher education as well as anyone interested in Arctic studies and (im)migration.

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This book presents essential insights on the interaction between rising risks and raising the bar for resilience during the climate crisis. Its timeliness lies in applying important findings on risk and resilience to runaway climate change. When risk and resilience are brought together in the context of climate catastrophes, three key messages emerge.The first is that accounting for the root causes of these calamities, and not just their symptoms, is essential to slowing the spike in these events. It is therefore vital to link carbon emissions from human activity to the sharp rise in climate disasters globally. The second is that growth economics and policy must factor in the failure of governments and businesses to tackle spillover harm from economic activities, as seen dramatically with global warming. With climate risks rising, this calls for a fundamental revision in the teaching and practice of business and economics. And third, prevention must become a far bigger part of resilience building, with greater preparedness for more intense destruction built into interventions. This emphasis on prevention deems disaster recovery as not just returning to how things were but building back better.

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This book presents a sociological study of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of India. It invites readers to understand disasters and crises as triggers of radical transformations in society, changing the very nature of every day and the meaning of normal. It discusses the processes through which society accepts, internalizes and reinvents a new way of life. It provides insights into its impact on the individual, family, economy and the state and the relationships not only between them but also within them. The chapters draw attention to the concerns of the vulnerable sections of the population – the aged, children, women, the disabled, migrant labour and the economically backward classes. The chapters are written in an engaging style, and each chapter investigates the way societies think about the risk, threat and harm and the ways to navigate crises of all kinds. As such, the book provides a key read for academics, students and administrators, as well as general readers confronted by an existential crisis caused by the pandemic.

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This book addresses the contributions of design thinking to higher education and explores the benefits and challenges of design thinking discourses and practices in interdisciplinary contexts. With a particular focus on Australia, the USA and UK, the book examines the value and drawbacks of employing design thinking in different disciplines and contexts, and also considers its future.

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This book showcases current thinking on social work in the field of mental health and illness from a bio-ecological and spiritual framework reflecting the transition in mental health care from institution to community. The book presents a valuable tool for understanding theories on aetiology and social work interventions in mental health from varying socio-cultural, economic and political contexts. Topics covered include: the values and ethics of social work practice in mental health; psycho-social theories on mental health and illness, including psychological perspective and the structural/ social development perspective; social work approaches in working with individuals, families and communities; contextualized social work practice in mental health with a specific population group or community; structural factors such as legal provision and financial challenges in mental health and illness; and new directions in social work and mental health.

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This open access book presents the diagnosis, investigation and treatment of neurovascular diseases, and offers expert opinions and advice on avoiding complications in neurovascular surgery. It also covers complication management and post-operative follow-up care. The book is divided in to three parts; the first part discusses common approaches in neurovascular surgery, describing the steps, indications for and limitations of the approach, as well as the associated complications and how to avoid them. The second part addresses surgical treatment based on pathology, taking the different locations of lesions into consideration. The third part focuses on the technological developments that support neurovascular surgery, which may not be available everywhere, but have been included to help vascular surgeon understand the principles. This book is a guide for young neurosurgeons, neurosurgery residents and neurosurgery fellows, as well as for medical students and nurses who are interested in neurosurgery or are associated with this field in any way. It is also a useful teaching aid for senior neurosurgeons.

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Targeted to graduate students of mathematics, this book discusses major topics like the Lie group in the study of smooth manifolds. To serve this purpose, this book contains a sufficient number of examples and exercises after each section in every chapter. The book also contains hints to difficult exercises.

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This open access book thoroughly investigates the domain of policy design tailored specifically for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with a central emphasis on harmonizing these policies with the preexisting social capital inherent to these enterprises, consistent with the mandate of Bank Indonesia to guard price stability and to promote financial stability, inclusive, and sustainable growth. The study, grounded in the context of Indonesia, underscores the paramount importance of a systematic approach, necessitating social planners and stakeholders to engage in a preliminary phase of active listening, empathetic understanding, and comprehensive knowledge of the diverse mental frameworks prevalent among MSMEs across the nation before embarking on the formulation of bespoke interventions. Readers of this scholarly work can anticipate gaining insightful perspectives into the nuanced policy preferences of both MSMEs and government officials. The methodologies employed, includin

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This book acts as a valuable quick-access resource on the challenges and opportunities that the digital age presents to organizational leadership. Balanced, comprehensive, and thought-provoking, the book will be useful to professionals and practitioners. The book broadly follows a macro, meso, and micro approach to argumentation and is best read from beginning to end. The book synopsizes the historical context of technological revolutions and reflects on first-order results from enhanced use of information and communication technology in organizations; considers second-level impacts from information and communication technology on economy, society, work, and the very act of organizing; maps out core concepts of agility and principles that leaders should honor to exploit agility in newfound workforce ecosystems; showcases emerging leadership behaviors and mindsets; and specifies the good practice needed to plan and lead digital strategies. The book invites reference to the author's popular Knowledge Solutions: Tools, Methods, and Approaches to Drive Organizational Performance (2017) and the more recent Leading Solutions: Essays in Business Psychology (2021), which it both rests on and extends.

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This study focuses on Empires, from an economic historical perspective. In doing so, it relates current debates in international relations (IR) and politics to the vexed legacy of empires in the past.The book includes analyses of the comparative scholarly literature on Empire in Antiquity, and Empire in the Early Modern and Modern Ages, asking the question if the United Sates is an Empire, and if China an emerging Empire.It contributes to the field given its interdisciplinarity, bringing together both historical and IR insights into world systems in times past. In addition it draws out four key points of separateness between pre-modern and modern empires, and emphases specific economic data. Further to that, the book advances the notion of the emergence of “empires from within” in the 21st century, that is nation-states becoming more multi-ethnic while often stepping back from globalization. And finally it offers future scenarios for the evolution of empires in a Schumpeterian post-industrial world.

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This textbook provides an introduction to the study of digital signal processing, employing a top-to-bottom structure to motivate the reader, a graphical approach to the solution of the signal processing mathematics, and extensive use of MATLAB.In contrast to the conventional teaching approach, the book offers a top-down approach which first introduces students to digital filter design, provoking questions about the mathematical tools required. The following chapters provide answers to these questions, introducing signals in the discrete domain, Fourier analysis, filters in the time domain and the Z-transform. The author introduces the mathematics in a conceptual manner with figures to illustrate the physical meaning of the equations involved. Chapter six builds on these concepts and discusses advanced filter design, and chapter seven discusses matters of practical implementation. This book introduces the corresponding MATLAB functions and programs in every chapter with examples, and the final chapter introduces the actual real-time filter from MATLAB.Aimed primarily at undergraduate students in electrical and electronic engineering, this book enables the reader to implement a digital filter using MATLAB.Deliver the conceptual knowledge of digital signal processing with extensive use of the illustrations from practical viewpoint. Also, the digital signal processing is initiated from the digital not from the continuous domain.

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This Monograph is a compilation of clinical experience and basic research by the author on the function and anatomy of the shoulder joint, with particular emphasis on biomechanics. The book provides deep and comprehensive knowledge about the shoulder based on the author’s over forty years of career. This book is unique in that it emphasizes the process of discovering new knowledge through searching for clinical questions or “whys” and solving them. The author shows how he tackled various problems with a great deal of medical curiosity. The chapters place much space on anatomy, function, and pathology, for correct treatment through an accurate understanding of the pathology. The first part of this book explains the basic examination methods as clearly as possible, with abundant figures taken during patient consultations. Part two through four describes some diseases of the shoulder joint, including rotator cuff tears, instability, frozen shoulder, biceps disorders, and throwing shoulder, all of which are frequently encountered in daily practice. In part five, biomechanical research related to suture anchors is presented, and correct insertion angles and intervals are described. It is crucial to understand the surgical method correctly and question the commonly used techniques for better patient care. A clear explanation of long-standing debates, such as the deadman theory, is explained based on the evidence from his research. The last part presents two cases that are rarely encountered but are interesting from the perspective of functional reconstruction of the shoulder. Shoulderology - Searching for “Whys” Related to the Shoulder invites shoulder surgeons, fellows, residents, and medical students to read the thought-provoking collection of evidence and interpretations of the common knowledge. It will be of interest to orthopaedic surgeons specializing in other areas. The author places a strong emphasis on educating young researchers and provides valuable guidance apart from the basic research and clinical practice and hopes that the book will motivate the subsequent generations to pursue further study.

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This book explores a range of prospective avenues, models, and operational and strategic approaches to Lean Six Sigma (LSS), a contemporary Continuous Improvement (CI) practice for achieving a quality-based competitive edge in organisations. Lean Six Sigma project case studies from banking organizations help to illustrate the operational dimensions of LSS, while the case-specific and cross-case analyses presented here demonstrate its strategic value. While the case data used to arrive at the findings come from the Banking firms, it allows generalizability beyond the Banking and Financial Services sector. The book contends that LSS is not merely a CI practice, but a higher-order organizational capability, more precisely a dynamic capability, that allows firms to gain a competitive edge based on quality. Addressing the interests of practitioners and researchers alike, the book strikes a balance between theory and practice. For practitioners, it offers guidance on using LSS to gain a competitive advantage, and on evidence-based practice in quality management and operational excellence. For researchers, it presents a wealth of literature and expands the body of knowledge on quality management. Accordingly, the book is of immense value to both practitioners and researchers, helping the former unlock the value of LSS as both an operational and strategic resource, and highlighting potential research directions and applications for the latter.“This book provides a deep understanding of Lean Six Sigma applications. It inspires by transferring the principles of the concept into uncommon areas of operations and management behind the usual quality and project management. While reading the book I got hit by a great idea of applying Lean Six Sigma in my digital business as well. My impression at the end of the book was that sky is the limit for the right employment of Lean Six Sigma, especially while viewing it from a dynamic capabilities’ lens. Readers of this book will surely receive insights for improving their business processes both operationally and strategically. Although the book is focused on banking, it is actually suitable for a really wide audience. This is a brilliant piece of research as a book that will serve as a guide for transformation by the prism of Lean Six Sigma.” - Professor. Dr. ZornitsaYordanova, Chief Assistant Professor of Innovation Management, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria “Lean Six Sigma needs to be understood from a systems perspective and there exists a huge knowledge gap in this area of finding holistic solutions to business problems. This book is a very welcome work that addresses this call. It integrates quality management resources and dynamic capabilities view towards practice. Banking and Financial Services was aptly chosen as it has the most direct applicability for social enterprises. Anyone interested in creating more impact with less will surely benefit from reading the book” -Alex Abraham, Chief Executive Officer, Lean Success Partners, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada “The book is a refreshing booster to the world of Quality Management especially in the context of Banking and Financial Services. Concepts and terms like “Rapidness of Lean & robustness of Six Sigma to solve operational problems” “Hybrid methodology” resonate very well with what we do in the industry today. Another interesting fact about the book is applying “Dynamic Capabilities approach” to Quality Management, that sets a fresh Quality Oven and ensures this book is definitely a good investment of authors’ intellect.Best part – Even if a reader is new to the world of Quality,this book will be appropriate and resonating. For Researchers and Practitioners, both being leaders orfresh entrants, this book stands out to be a must-read, as it demonstrates the success of the Lean Six Sigma methodology via case studies and practical applications.” -Udit Salvan, Director, Global Transformation & Engineering Network,An American Multinational Financial Services Corporation, New York, USA

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This is an introductory-level text on fractional calculus and fractional differential equations. Targeted to graduate students of mathematics and researchers, it contains several new definitions of fractional integrals and fractional derivatives. With interesting applications of the subject in several areas of physical sciences, life sciences, engineering, and technology, the book helps the students understand the importance and developments of this topic. The book is enriched with a list of useful references to published literature, and the presentation of the book is entirely new and easily comprehensible to the students. Some of the topics are refined, and new examples are included to supplement theories to help students understand the concepts easily and clearly.

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This book examines how the early twentieth-century Irish Renaissance (Irish Literary Revival) inspired the Chinese Renaissance (the May Fourth generation) of writers to make agentic choices and translingual exchanges. It sheds a new light on “May Fourth” and on the Irish Renaissance by establishing that the Irish Literary Revival (1900-1922) provided an alternative decolonizing model of resistance for the Chinese Renaissance to that provided by the western imperial center. The book also argues that Chinese May Fourth intellectuals translated Irish Revivalist plays by W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, Seán O’Casey and Synge and that Chinese peasants performed these plays throughout China during the 1920s and 1930s as a form of anti-imperial resistance. Yet this literary exchange was not simply going one way, since Yeats, Lady Gregory, Synge and O’Casey were also influenced by Chinese developments in literature and politics. Therefore this was a reciprocal encounter based on the circulation of Anti-colonial ideals and mutual transformation.

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This book systematically covers MRI imaging findings of a spectrum of gynaecological diseases, including ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, cervical cancer, and endometrial cancer, etc. All chapters are arranged in the same format: simply clinical history is firstly presented in order to help readers mimic the real clinical scenario, and then untypical features in many common diseases and typical features in many uncommon diseases are interpreted. In the end of each chapter, tips in differential diagnosis were summarized by analysing a class of cases with similar imaging performance. All cases in the book have the detailed pathological results, and the pathological specimens are also shown in some cases. It will be an ideal reference for physicians involved in the diagnosis and treatment of gynaecological diseases.

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This open access book defines happiness intuitively and explores several common conceptual mistakes with regard to happiness. It then moves on to address topical issues including, but not limited to, whether money can buy you happiness, why happiness is ultimately the only thing of intrinsic value, and the various factors important for happiness. It also presents a more reliable and interpersonally comparable method for measuring happiness and discusses twelve factors, from A to L, that are crucial for individual happiness: attitude, balance, confidence, dignity, engagement, family/friends, gratitude, health, ideals, joyfulness, kindness and love. Further, it examines important public policy considerations, taking into account recent advances in economics, the environmental sciences, and happiness studies. Novel issues discussed include: an environmentally responsible happy nation index to supplement GDP, the East Asian happiness gap, a case for stimulating pleasure centres of the brain, and an argument for higher public spending.

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This open access book brings together research on the planning, design, governance and management of schools as community hubs—places that support the development of better-connected, more highly integrated, and more resilient communities with education at the centre. It explores opportunities and difficulties associated with bringing schools and communities closer together, with a focus on the facilities needed to accommodate shared experiences that generate social capital and deliver reciprocal benefits.This book discusses the expanded roles of schools, and investigates how schools may offer more to their communities—historically, currently and into the future—with respect to the role of the built environment in situating community activities and services.Organised around four sections, it showcases important areas of development in the field via an interdisciplinary approach, which weaves together empirical research with theoretical insights and practical examples. This book not only highlights the challenges associated with the development of schools as community hubs but offers evidence-based insights into how to overcome such hurdles to develop community-facing schools into the future.

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This book introduces readers to critical ethical concerns in the development and use of artificial intelligence. Offering clear and accessible information on central concepts and debates in AI ethics, it explores how related problems are now forcing us to address fundamental, age-old questions about human life, value, and meaning. In addition, the book shows how foundational and theoretical issues relate to concrete controversies, with an emphasis on understanding how ethical questions play out in practice. All topics are explored in depth, with clear explanations of relevant debates in ethics and philosophy, drawing on both historical and current sources. Questions in AI ethics are explored in the context of related issues in technology, regulation, society, religion, and culture, to help readers gain a nuanced understanding of the scope of AI ethics within broader debates and concerns. Written with both students and educators in mind, the book is easy to use, with key terms clearly explained, and numerous exercises designed to stretch and challenge. It offers readers essential insights into the evolving field of AI ethics. Moreover, it presents a range of methods and strategies that can be used to analyse and understand ethical questions, which are illustrated throughout with case studies.

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Machine learning algorithms allow computers to learn without being explicitly programmed. Their application is now spreading to highly sophisticated tasks across multiple domains, such as medical diagnostics or fully autonomous vehicles. While this development holds great potential, it also raises new safety concerns, as machine learning has many specificities that make its behaviour prediction and assessment very different from that for explicitly programmed software systems. This book addresses the main safety concerns with regard to machine learning, including its susceptibility to environmental noise and adversarial attacks. Such vulnerabilities have become a major roadblock to the deployment of machine learning in safety-critical applications. The book presents up-to-date techniques for adversarial attacks, which are used to assess the vulnerabilities of machine learning models; formal verification, which is used to determine if a trained machine learning model is free of vulnerabilities; and adversarial training, which is used to enhance the training process and reduce vulnerabilities. The book aims to improve readers’ awareness of the potential safety issues regarding machine learning models. In addition, it includes up-to-date techniques for dealing with these issues, equipping readers with not only technical knowledge but also hands-on practical skills.

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This book provides a highly practical introduction to Bayesian statistical modeling with Stan, which has become the most popular probabilistic programming language.The book is divided into four parts. The first part reviews the theoretical background of modeling and Bayesian inference and presents a modeling workflow that makes modeling more engineering than art. The second part discusses the use of Stan, CmdStanR, and CmdStanPy from the very beginning to basic regression analyses. The third part then introduces a number of probability distributions, nonlinear models, and hierarchical (multilevel) models, which are essential to mastering statistical modeling. It also describes a wide range of frequently used modeling techniques, such as censoring, outliers, missing data, speed-up, and parameter constraints, and discusses how to lead convergence of MCMC. Lastly, the fourth part examines advanced topics for real-world data: longitudinal data analysis, state space models, spatial data analysis, Gaussian processes, Bayesian optimization, dimensionality reduction, model selection, and information criteria, demonstrating that Stan can solve any one of these problems in as little as 30 lines.Using numerous easy-to-understand examples, the book explains key concepts, which continue to be useful when using future versions of Stan and when using other statistical modeling tools. The examples do not require domain knowledge and can be generalized to many fields. The book presents full explanations of code and math formulas, enabling readers to extend models for their own problems. All the code and data are on GitHub.

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This book provides lucid and instructive information about waste biomass, its potential, and the methods employed in energy generation. Topics covered include the basic principles, applications, recent advances, and the technical and economic considerations of waste-to-energy (WTE) technology. It highlights and elucidates essential concepts, mechanisms, applications, and useful outcomes of WTE technologies. In addition, it also provides a few example problems with design data for energy generation from waste biomass which will help the readers to understand the basics of WTE technologies. The book is structured with an overview at the start of each chapter presenting an outline of its content and a list of relevant discussions targeted toward readers. To illustrate the types of waste biomass, principles, and process of various thermal and biochemical process technologies, over 90 illustrations including graphs, diagrams, and photographs are provided. To help the readers improve their knowledge of the subject and to increase the utility of this book, the characteristics of waste biomass, operation conditions of different processes, and global status of WTE technologies are provided in tabular format. For that purpose, over 50 tables are provided. Selected references are also provided for this book. This book is primarily intended for researchers and professionals working in the area of bioenergy. It can also be used as a primary or secondary text for graduate courses and professional training programs.

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This book focuses on improving reading comprehension by targeting the jargon, idiomatic language and academic expressions used in the business world. A Student’s Guide to the Language of Finance is a reference textbook designed to unlock the jargon of the business and finance world for international students, improving the reading comprehension and writing skill of English language learners by targeting the jargon, idiomatic language, and academic expressions employed in the business, finance, and banking fields. Covering terms not always captured in business dictionaries or workbooks, the resource also contains sections on spoken business English, key academic terms found in textbooks and journals and useful expressions to employ when writing an academic paper. It is specifically targeted at students whose first language is not English.

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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 presents the use of ABAQUS software in a simplified manner, for use in welding-related issues. Increasing human needs leads to the creation of complicated scientific problems. In the majority of these problems, it is necessary to join different parts and geometries together. Classical methods such as elasticity theory of stress distribution and governing equations of temperature distribution are not appropriate for solving these complicated problems. To overcome these challenges, finite element methods are proposed in order to solve different processes using differential equation. ABAQUS is a user-friendly commercial finite element software for modeling different processes in mechanical, civil, aerospace and other engineering fields. This book contains unified and detailed tutorials for professionals and students who are interested in simulating different welding processes using the ABAQUS finite element software.

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This book is intended to establish a bridge between the GB 50010, Fib MC2010, BS 8110 and ACI 318 or EC2. The respective pros and cons of different theories and methods according to various standards are compared or analyzed. Undergraduate and graduate students, foreign exchange students of international classes at Chinese universities who desire to work in China, or who are willing to work abroad in the field of civil engineering can benefit from the book. As such, this book provides valuable knowledge and useful design methods based on the different theories or guidelines.

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This book presents a detailed description of the most common nondestructive testing(NDT) techniques used for the testing and evaluation fiber-reinforced composite structures, during manufacturing and/or in service stages. In order to facilitate the understanding and the utility of the different NDT techniques presented, the book first provides some information regarding the defects and material degradation mechanisms observed in fiber-reinforced composite structures as well as their general description and most probable causes. It is written based on the extensive scientific research and engineering backgrounds of the authors in the NDT and structural health monitoring (SHM) of structural systems from various areas including electrical, mechanical, materials, civil and biomedical engineering. Pursuing a rigorous approach, the book establishes a fundamental framework for the NDT of fiber-reinforced composite structures, while emphasizing on the importance of technique’s spatial resolution, integrated systems analysis and the significance of the influence stemming from the applicability of the NDT and the physical parameters of the test structures in the selection and utilization of adequate NDT techniques.The book is intended for students who are interested in the NDT of fiber-reinforced composite structures, researchers investigating the applicability of different NDT techniques to the inspections of structural systems, and NDT researchers and engineers working on the optimization of NDT systems for specific applications involving the use of fiber-reinforced composite structures.

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“This book provides the first book-lengthy study focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Chinese characteristics, in line with China’s open ambition of becoming an AI superpower by 2030. China’s unique domestic politics has developed distinct characteristics for its AI approach. By analysing national strategy, security and governance aspects of AI in China, this book argues that China’s AI approach is sophisticated and multifaceted, and it has brought about both considerable benefits and challenges to China. First, many characterize China’s AI approach as a nationally concerted top-down geopolitical strategy to advance Beijing’s unified objective. This book argues that this view is mistaken. It shows that China’s AI politics is largely shaped by economically rather than geopolitically motivated domestic stakeholders. In addition, China’s national AI plan is an upgrade of existing local AI initiatives to the national level, reflecting a bottom-up development. Thus, China’s AI strategy is more of a political manifesto rather than a concrete policy plan. The second part of the book discusses how the Chinese central government has been securitizing AI in order to mobilize local states, market actors, intellectuals and the general public. This security discourse is built on China’s historical anxieties about technology, regime security needs and the growing tension caused by great power competition. Despite its help in convincing domestic actors, however, this securitization trend may undermine key AI objectives. The third part of the book studies the Chinese governance approach to the use of AI. It argues that China’s bold AI practices are part of its broad and incoherent adaptation strategy to governance by digital means. AI is part of a digital technology package that the Chinese authoritarian regime has actively employed not only to improve public services but also to strengthen its authoritarian governance. While China’s AI progress benefits from its unique political and social environment, its ambitious AI plan contains considerable risks. China’s approach is gambling on its success in (a) delivering a booming AI economy, (b) ensuring a smooth social transformation to the age of AI, and (c) proving ideological superiority of its authoritarian and communist values. This book suggests that a more accurate understanding of AI with Chinese characteristics is essential in order to inform the debate regarding what lessons can be learnt from China’s AI approach and how to respond to China’s rise as the AI leader if not superpower.”

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This book presents recent advances in nanostructured biomaterials. It covers the structures and applications of advanced nanostructured biomaterials. The topics covered include overview on biological activities of thiazole derivatives, imidazole derivatives, pyrazole derivatives, tetrazole derivatives, benzimidazole derivatives, oxazole, isoxazoles, etc. The book also covers the topic of nanocarriers as drug delivery vectors. Given the contents, the book will be useful for students, researchers and professionals working in the area of biomaterials and nanomaterials.

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This open access book presents the novel concept of plaston, which accounts for the high ductility or large plastic deformation of emerging high-performance structural materials, including bulk nanostructured metals, hetero-nanostructured materials, metallic glasses, intermetallics, and ceramics.The book describes simulation results of the collective atomic motion associated with plaston, by computational tools such as first-principle methods with predictive performance and large-scale atom-dynamics calculations. Multi-scale analyses with state-of-the art analytical tools nano/micro pillar deformation and nano-indentation experiments are also described. Finally, through collaborative efforts of experimental and computational work, examples of rational design and development of new structural materials are given, based on accurate understanding of deformation and fracture phenomena.This publication provides a valuable contribution to the field of structural materials research.

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This textbook, which is the first volume in the series Microbial Zoonoses, provides a comprehensive overview of the diagnosis, treatment and control of zoonotic parasitic diseases. The book is divided into two sections; the first section discusses the classification of parasitic zoonoses and includes general information on the diagnosis, treatment, epidemiology, prevention, and control of parasitic zoonoses. It also describes the biological features of these organisms, host-parasite interactions, and the disease spectrum, as well as the importance of public health control measures, such as surveillance, and prophylactic measures in controlling these diseases.The second section explores the important zoonotic diseases caused by ectoparasites, protozoan and helminths parasites. It also reviews the life cycle, pathogenesis, pathology, immunology and clinical manifestations, modern diagnostic methods, treatment regimen, prevention, control, and epidemiology of these parasites.Cutting across the disciplines, this book serves as a guide to postgraduate students, faculty members, public health experts, and medical administrators who are interested in the management of these parasitic zoonotic infections.

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The purpose of this book is to explain linear algebra clearly for beginners. In doing so, the author states and explains somewhat advanced topics such as Hermitian products and Jordan normal forms. Starting from the definition of matrices, it is made clear with examples that matrices and matrix operation are abstractions of tables and operations of tables. The author also maintains that systems of linear equations are the starting point of linear algebra, and linear algebra and linear equations are closely connected. The solutions to systems of linear equations are found by solving matrix equations in the row-reduction of matrices, equivalent to the Gauss elimination method of solving systems of linear equations. The row-reductions play important roles in calculation in this book. To calculate row-reductions of matrices, the matrices are arranged vertically, which is seldom seen but is convenient for calculation. Regular matrices and determinants of matrices are defined and explained. Furthermore, the resultants of polynomials are discussed as an application of determinants. Next, abstract vector spaces over a field K are defined. In the book, however, mainly vector spaces are considered over the real number field and the complex number field, in case readers are not familiar with abstract fields. Linear mappings and linear transformations of vector spaces and representation matrices of linear mappings are defined, and the characteristic polynomials and minimal polynomials are explained. The diagonalizations of linear transformations and square matrices are discussed, and inner products are defined on vector spaces over the real number field. Real symmetric matrices are considered as well, with discussion of quadratic forms. Next, there are definitions of Hermitian inner products. Hermitian transformations, unitary transformations, normal transformations and the spectral resolution of normal transformations and matrices are explained. The book ends with Jordan normal forms. It is shown that any transformations of vector spaces over the complex number field have matrices of Jordan normal forms as representation matrices.

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This open access book shines a light on how and why academic work became entwined with air travel, and what can be done to change academia’s flying habit. The starting point of the book is that flying is only one means of scholarly communication among many, and that the state of the planet now obliges us to shift to other means. How can the academic-as-globetrotter become a thing of the past? The chapters in this book respond to this call in three steps. It documents the consequences of academic flying, it investigates the issue of why academics fly, and it begins an effort to think through what can replace flying, and how. Finally, it confronts scholars and scientists, students, activists, research funders, university administrators, and others, with a call to translate this research into action.

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This festschrift volume presents discussions on contemporary issues in international economics and finance. It is aimed to serve as a reference material for researchers. There are two broad sections of the book -- International Macroeconomics and International Finance. The chapters in the International Macroeconomics section discuss critical topics like aggregate level macro model for India with a new Keynesian perspective, balance of payments, service sector exports, foreign exchange constraints for import demands, foreign direct investment and knowledge spill over, the relationship between forex rate fluctuation and investment, Institutional quality-trade openness-economic growth nexus, currency crises and debt-deficit relationship in the BRICS countries in the backdrop of COVID-19. Apart from these, various analytical issues related to macroeconomic policies are also covered in this section. The topics discussed includes the nature of forex market interventions, the issue of disinvestment and privatization, changing nature of fiscal policy, the inflation-growth nexus, macroeconomic simulation modelling, measuring core inflation, central bank credibility, monetary policy, inflation targeting, Infrastructure, trade, unemployment and inequality nexus. In the International Finance section, topics such as COVID-19 induced financial crisis, commodity futures volatility, stock market connectivity, volatility persistence, determinants of sovereign bond yields, FII and stock market volatility, cryptocurrency price formation, financialization of Indian commodity market, and a Keynesian view of the financial crisis are discussed. Overall, thirty two chapters in the volume discuss cutting edge research in the areas of the two sections. A tour de force... a lucid guide to some of the diverse and complex issues in International Macroeconomics and Finance. This collection of scholarly works is a fitting tribute to respected Prof. Bandi Kamaiah and his enviable academic contributions.- Prof. Y V Reddy, Former Governor, Reserve Bank of India This volume comprising thoughtful essays by our leading scholars on some of important policy issues that India is facing is indeed a rich tribute to Professor Bandi Kamaiah . This book will greatly benefit the academic community as well as our policy makers.- Prof. Vijay Kelkar, Chairman, 13th Finance Commission of India; Chairman, India Development Foundation, Mumbai, India Noted economists from India and abroad gather to apply the rigorous searchlight that Professor Bandi Kamaiah used so effectively in his career. Major current topics in macroeconomics and international finance are effectively explored in the volume.- Prof. Ashima Goyal, Emeritus Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India; and Member, Monetary Policy Committee of Reserve Bank of India This volume of 32 papers in macroeconomics, international economics, and international finance is intended as a tribute to the eminent econometrician , Prof B Kamaiah. Post-graduate students and researchers will find much valuable literature in the volume, which is a fitting tribute to Prof Kamaiah. The editors and authors deserve rich compliments.- Prof. K L Krishna, Former Director, Delhi School of Economics, New Delhi, India I am so happy to hear that Dr. Kamaiah's colleagues and ex-students are bringing out a special volume of articles in his honor. Nothing can be more appropriate. Dr. Kamaiah, being a man of tremendous publications, deserves this tribute. I wish all the luck and success to the new book. - Prof. Kishore Kulkarni, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Metropolitan State University of Denver, USA

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This textbook is intended as a textbook for one-semester, introductory computer science courses aimed at undergraduate students from all disciplines. Self-contained and with no prerequisites, it focuses on elementary knowledge and thinking models. The content has been tested in university classrooms for over six years, and has been used in summer schools to train university and high-school teachers on teaching introductory computer science courses using computational thinking. This book introduces computer science from a computational thinking perspective. In computer science the way of thinking is characterized by three external and eight internal features, including automatic execution, bit-accuracy and abstraction. The book is divided into chapters on logic thinking, algorithmic thinking, systems thinking, and network thinking. It also covers societal impact and responsible computing material – from ICT industry to digital economy, from the wonder of exponentiation to wonder of cyberspace, and from code of conduct to best practices for independent work. The book’s structure encourages active, hands-on learning using the pedagogic tool Bloom's taxonomy to create computational solutions to over 200 problems of varying difficulty. Students solve problems using a combination of thought experiment, programming, and written methods. Only 300 lines of code in total are required to solve most programming problems in this book.

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The book highlights the importance of prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics in the signalling mechanism between gut microbiota and brain, also referred to as the gut-brain axis. A stable gut microbiota is essential for normal gut physiology and overall health, since it assists in proper signalling along the brain–gut axis. The book describes how the cross talks between gut microbiota and brain, not only regulate gastro-intestinal functions but also ensure proper functioning of cognitive behaviour and immunological functions. The various chapters describe probiotic microorganisms that colonize gastrointestinal tract and provide an array of health benefits to the host. It further elaborates about certain non-digestible oligosaccharides (prebiotics) are easily fermented by specialist microbes in the gut, to produce health-promoting metabolites and inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria. This book is useful for students, researchers and scientists in the field of microbiology, food science and nutrition. It is also meant for industry experts involved in developing nutraceuticals.

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This book explores how religious groups work to create sustainable relationships between people, places and environments. This interdisciplinary volume deepens our understanding of this relationship, revealing that the geographical imagination—our sense of place—is a key aspect of the sustainability ideas and practices of religious groups. The book begins with a broad examination of how place shapes faith-based ideas about sustainability, with examples drawn from indigenous Hawaiians and the sacred texts of Judaism and Islam. Empirical case studies from North America, Europe, Central Asia and Africa follow, illustrating how a local, bounded, and sacred sense of place informs religious-based efforts to protect people and natural resources from threatening economic and political forces. Other contributors demonstrate that a cosmopolitan geographical imagination, viewing place as extending from the local to the global, shapes the struggles of Christian, Jewish and interfaith groups to promote just and sustainable food systems and battle the climate crisis.

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The most crucial ability for machine learning and data science is mathematical logic for grasping their essence rather than knowledge and experience. This textbook approaches the essence of machine learning and data science by considering math problems and building Python programs. As the preliminary part, Chapter 1 provides a concise introduction to linear algebra, which will help novices read further to the following main chapters. Those succeeding chapters present essential topics in statistical learning: linear regression, classification, resampling, information criteria, regularization, nonlinear regression, decision trees, support vector machines, and unsupervised learning. Each chapter mathematically formulates and solves machine learning problems and builds the programs. The body of a chapter is accompanied by proofs and programs in an appendix, with exercises at the end of the chapter. Because the book is carefully organized to provide the solutions to the exercises in each chapter, readers can solve the total of 100 exercises by simply following the contents of each chapter. This textbook is suitable for an undergraduate or graduate course consisting of about 12 lectures. Written in an easy-to-follow and self-contained style, this book will also be perfect material for independent learning.

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This book provides readers with a guide to both ordinal analysis, and to proof theory. It mainly focuses on ordinal analysis, a research topic in proof theory that is concerned with the ordinal theoretic content of formal theories. However, the book also addresses ordinal analysis and basic materials in proof theory of first-order or omega logic, presenting some new results and new proofs of known ones.Primarily intended for graduate students and researchers in mathematics, especially in mathematical logic, the book also includes numerous exercises and answers for selected exercises, designed to help readers grasp and apply the main results and techniques discussed.

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This book is a collection of texts on one of China's boldest social experiments in recent years: the rural reconstruction project in Bishan. The Bishan Project (2011-2016) was a rural reconstruction project in a small village Bishan, Anhui Province, China. The writings describe and criticize the social problems caused by China’s over-loading urbanization process and starts a a contemporary agrarianism and agritopianism discourse to resist the modernism and developmentalism doctrine which dominated China for more than a century, answering a global desire for the theory and action of the alternative social solution for today’s environmental and political crises.This practical utopian commune project ran for 6 years and caused a national debate on rural issues in China, when it was invited to be exhibited and presented abroad. This collection of writing will be of interest to artists, China scholars, architects, and the cultural community at large.

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This open access book presents how Open Science is a powerful tool to boost Higher Education. The book introduces the reader into Open Access, Open Technology, Open Data, Open Research results, Open Licensing, Open Accreditation, Open Certification, Open Policy and, of course, Open Educational Resources. It brings all these key topics from major players in the field; experts that present the current state of the art and the forthcoming steps towards a useful and effective implementation. This book presents radical, transgenic solutions for recurrent and long-standing problems in Higher Education. Every chapter presents a clear view and a related solution to make Higher Education progress and implement tools and strategies to improve the user’s performance and learning experience. This book is part of a trilogy with companion volumes on Radical Solutions & Learning Analytics and Radical Solutions & eLearning.

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