Search results for ""Springer Nature Switzerland AG""

This open access book provides teachers with approaches to strengthen reading comprehension instruction based on scientific research and evidence-based didactic principles. In this volume, the Progress in International Reading Study (PIRLS) framework is used to inform teachers about the skills and knowledge that students need to comprehend certain texts. The book gives practical guidance on how a teacher can help students to learn these skills, specifically, when teaching reading to multilingual students. Good practices from schools in five participating PIRLS countries—Chile, Chinese Taipei, England, Georgia, and Spain—are shared. A description of the schools’ education in reading comprehension is provided with practical tips and example lessons. These insights into daily reading education in multilingual classrooms across the globe can be an inspiration to teachers all over the world.

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This study guide is designed for students taking courses in feedback control systems analysis and design. The textbook includes examples, questions, and exercises that will help electrical engineering students to review and sharpen their knowledge of the subject and enhance their performance in the classroom. Offering detailed solutions, multiple methods for solving problems, and clear explanations of concepts, this hands-on guide will improve student’s problem-solving skills and basic and advanced understanding of the topics covered in these courses.

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This book provides an update on recent clinical practice and an in-depth view of selected topics relevant to hospital medicine. It is divided into four sections that explore clinical, administrative, systems and ethical issues. Each section places an emphasis on the opportunities, challenges and potential directions of this bourgeoning subspecialty. This new edition expands on topics covered in the previous edition, including the COVID-19 pandemic, racial disparities in healthcare delivery and providers, and pediatric hospital medicine. Other chapters explore worldwide practice patterns and practical application of philosophical tools in daily practice. This up-to-date resource provides hospitalists, advanced nurse practitioners, medical students and administrators with the latest research, trends and issues in hospital medicine.

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The SCIP manual will introduce a new assessment tool designed to be compatible with 21st century advances in measurement-base care (MBC) and personalized medicine in psychiatry (PMP). The SCIP includes 18 clinician-administered and 15 self-administered reliable and validated scales covering most adult symptom domains: anxiety, obsessions, compulsions, posttraumatic stress, depression, mania, delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thoughts, aggression, negative symptoms, alcohol use, drug use, attention deficit/hyperactivity, and eating disorders. Mental health professionals (psychiatrists, psychiatry residents, psychologists, therapists, clinical social workers, counselors, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, professors, students, and mental health researchers) are the primary audience of the manual. These professionals will be able to implement SCIP scales in their practice and use the SCIP psychopathology glossary as part of the emerging science of personalized medicine psychiatry (PMP).Existing books on measures and rating scales, such as the two books above, describe different scales developed by different authors at different periods. Each scale has its own rating guidelines and training requirements, which must be followed by clinicians in order to use the scales. This demands a considerable amount of time for clinicians and can be a barrier to using the scales in practice. Even within the same psychopathology domain, many published measurement scales exist. For instance, the book published by Waters and Stephane includes 120 scales for psychosis. Among the 120 scales for psychosis, which scale(s) should the clinician choose? Our proposed manual will remove these barriers by creating simple and universal principles which allow readers to use the 33 reliable and validated SCIP scales with most adult psychiatric disorders. There will be 15 videotaped interviews available online for readers who buy the book. Readers are expected to watch the interviews in conjunction with reading the manual.

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This edited volume brings together international research that explores children’s creativity in STEM inquiry. It takes the position that creativity is relevant in all aspects of life and is essential for adaptable and innovative thinking. The research informed content of the book, highlights both challenges and opportunities for growing children’s creativity. The book focuses on fostering children’s creativity and natural curiosity in the world around them through STEM inquiry. Through STEM inquiry, children are learning through a cross- disciplinary approach where they apply concepts from multiple fields as they are thinking creatively, problem solving and constructing solutions. Educators play a critical role in encouraging children’s creativity by modelling creativity, providing creative projects for children and importantly, establishing rich culturally connected environments where children have the resources, conditions and opportunities for acting and thinking creatively. The book provides a lens for looking at children’s creativity in a range of different cultural settings. It offers insight and guidance to future research and will build educators’ capacity for developing children’s creative practices.

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Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) teams in the US and around the world receive performance reports that locate their particular value for selected process and outcome measures within the range of values from all reporting NICUs. Understandably, many providers focus primarily, if not exclusively, on their particular value. When a value appears undesirable, providers often justify it in an apparent reflex response rather than critically analysing their data. Exceedingly few reflect on the width or implications of the range within which their performance lies. Standard medical education does not include these skills, yet unwarranted practice variation necessarily compromises a population’s overall quality of care. Researchers report wide variation in health care resource use with little connection to patient outcomes, challenging the belief that directing incrementally more resources at certain healthcare problems necessarily produces better results. This book provides requisite knowledge to enable readers without research expertise to understand the notion of unwarranted practice variation, how to recognize it, its ubiquity, and why it is generally undesirable – why narrowing is pervasiveness improves quality. The book begins by describing practice variation, its prevalence, and why it matters. Next, it examines alternative conceptualizations of NICU work. One view is task-oriented, while the other is aim-oriented. NICU teams rarely articulate their aims explicitly, so this book offers examples that guide thinking and action. Finally, this book asks, “Which rate is 'right'; what is the performance target?” The answer entails identifying the lowest resource use rate associated with desirable outcomes. This requires data describing efficient and predictably performing provision of current evidence-based care, along with relationships to a variety of outcomes. Provider conceptualization of healthcare quality also is often vague. The challenge lies in defining this notion operationally. This book does precisely that and gives readers tools to think critically about process, outcome, and quality measures, via some understanding of systems, risk-adjustment modelling, and discriminating signal from noise in process data.

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This book is an up-to-date compendium of knowledge on the secret language of close relationships, namely nonverbal routes of communication. In close relationships, as everyone learns sooner or later, the usefulness of words can be somewhat limited, because people (a) mean different things by the same words, (b) mean the same thing by different words, (c) sometimes find it hard to express their feelings in words, and (d) lie. Nonverbal signals therefore often provide the best means of communication. The book points out how decoding (interpreting) nonverbal signals is a major key to success, because often what people say wholly belies how they feel—nonverbal signals reveal their true feelings rather than what they want other people to think their feelings are. This book helps decode those secret signals. The book is written by the leading worldwide experts in the field of nonverbal communication to ensure accuracy, comprehensiveness, and timeliness.

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This book offers a comprehensive overview of the use of platelet rich plasma (PRP), typically by injection, and its usage across medical disciplines. This multi-authored, multi-institutional, and multi-specialty based text is designed to guide health care providers in the varied uses of PRP -- starting from its history and preparation and moving through a variety of disciplines to illustrate how PRP can help healing. Clinical Applications of Platelet Rich Plasma in Medicine is divided into three sections: The first gives an overview of the basic science of PRP; the second provides a detailed overview of the clinical indications of PRP; and the third section discusses potential complications in conjunction with relevant case studies. It will feature a wealth of images and diagrams to illustrate best practices in using PRP.Written to be used by oral and maxillofacial surgeons, plastic surgeons, cosmetic surgeons, otolaryngologists, dentists, orthopedic surgeons, and general surgeons to name a few, this book will provide an evidence-based approach to using PRP in practice. The editors have extensive academic experience and have authored multiple scientific publications, while the contributions included in the text have been written by experts and leaders in the fields touched upon in the book.

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This book increases undergraduate and graduate students' awareness of, interest in, and preparedness for academic health professions careers. It includes invaluable chapters that emphasize the importance of developing self-efficacy, knowledge, skills, and experiences not just for their resume but to build a foundation to strengthen students for the rest of their professional careers.The book provides the reader with basic information, tools, and a competitive edge through inspirational narratives from diverse graduate students and faculty, self-assessment exercises, and case-based discussion. These invaluable, authentic narratives will inspire, hearten, and encourage readers to pursue their health professional and academic careers confidently. Additionally, chapters outline the necessary tools for getting the most out of one's educational, research, service and leadership activities and optimize their competitiveness for graduate school and as pre-faculty.Unique, timely, and comprehensive, Health Professions and Academia provides undergraduate and graduate students with content to develop as competitive applicants to health-related graduate school and build a foundation from which they can establish successful careers in academia as future faculty, senior administrative leaders, and change agents.

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Listening to Sicarios presents new insights into the lives of paid assassins of Mexico’s drug trafficking syndicates from the perspectives of the assassins themselves. Based on an extraordinary series of ethnographic interviews carried out in the wake of the record levels of narcoviolence experienced in Ciudad Juárez between 2008 and 2012, this study analyzes the ways in which these young men interpret their actions across four key thematic axes: border infrastructures, youth and responsibility, masculinity and sentiment, and ethics: good vs. evil.It argues that sicarios follow a career path within a criminal corporate infrastructure that is especially robust in Mexican border cities. It also explores how sicarios understand youthful innocence in relation to adult accountability in the realm of violence that is frequently meted out by young men on other young men. It then analyzes sicarios’ expressions of feelings of power that may boost their sense of virility, as well as feelings of fear and regret that imply weakness. Finally, it examines how sicarios defend their personal integrity in the face of a public discourse that views their acts as savage.

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This book is a collection of papers compiled from the conference "Algorithms and Computer-Based Solutions" held on June 8-9, 2021 at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU), St. Petersburg, Russia. The authors of the book are leading scientists from Russia, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Portugal, and Poland.The reader finds in the book information from experts on the most interesting trends in digitalization - issues of development and implementation of algorithms, IT and digital solutions for various areas of economy and science, prospects for supercomputers and exo-intelligent platforms; applied computer technologies in digital production, healthcare and biomedical systems, digital medicine, logistics and management; digital technologies for visualization and prototyping of physical objects.The book helps the reader to increase his or her expertise in the field of computer technologies discussed.

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This textbook will familiarize readers with some of the most pressing solidarity and social justice issues in contemporary societies. Ongoing and emerging inequalities along the lines of gender, age, socio-economic status, ethnic background, and sexual orientation challenge the solidarity underlying societies, resulting in complex questions of social justice. Moreover, several global challenges, such as digitalization, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic challenge solidarity and social justice in new ways. How do societies respond to these enduring, growing or changing inequalities? Do these challenges lead to an expansion or an erosion of solidarity, in an 'us versus them' rhetoric? And to what extent do societies differ in their social justice values and hence the acceptance of social inequality? Taking a sociological, psychological, and political philosophical approach to these topics, this book offers state-of-the art theoretical and empirical contributions from globally-recognized scholars in sociology, psychology, and political philosophy, providing a unique interdisciplinary approach to understanding solidarity and social justice in response to social inequalities in contemporary European societies.

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Information and communication technologies have provided great advances in fields such as medicine, industry, telecommunications, education, environmental protection, and more. The first edition of DSICT presents researches, advances and new challenges for ICTs in the above-mentioned fields through a collection of selected articles. All these contributions have been presented during the Doctoral Symposium on Information and Communication Technologies that brought together experts from various parts of the world to discuss and share what will be the starting points for new lines of research and working groups in the field of ICT. Professionals and researchers in the field of ICT will find in this book significant contributions to their research. Because of the breadth of the application of ICT, this book will also be useful for businessmen and entrepreneurs in the field of technology. They will be able to learn about the latest ICT applications and their future projections.

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This book is a concise practical guide designed to facilitate the clinical decision-making process in the management of pediatric skin cancers. Dermatologists, oncologists and general pediatricians who offer primary care to children must be knowledgeable in identifying and managing dermatological cancers, and this title provides insightful reviews of a number of common and rare dermatologic cases. Clinical cases are a key component in modern medical education, assisting the trainee or recertifying clinician to work through unusual scenarios using best practice techniques. Pediatric dermatology is a particularly important discipline in this regard since it is a highly visual subject requiring the reader to describe often very subtle differences in the presentation of patients and define accurately the diagnostic and management criteria on which to base their clinical decision-making. Clinical Cases in Pediatric Skin Cancers concisely covers how to approach diagnosing and managing skin cancers in pediatric patients. Each chapter focuses on a particular case and emphasizes how to make an appropriate choice when deciding which diagnostic tool or management strategy would be most suitable. Potential complications are detailed and management tips provided to enable the reader to develop a deep understanding of how approach the care of these patients within their day-to-day clinical practice. This book therefore represents an ideal up-to-date resource for all practitioners who encounter these cases as part of their everyday practice.

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This book provides a friendly introduction to the paradigm and proposes a broad panorama of killing applications of the Infinity Computer in optimization: radically new numerical algorithms, great theoretical insights, efficient software implementations, and interesting practical case studies. This is the first book presenting to the readers interested in optimization the advantages of a recently introduced supercomputing paradigm that allows to numerically work with different infinities and infinitesimals on the Infinity Computer patented in several countries. One of the editors of the book is the creator of the Infinity Computer, and another editor was the first who has started to use it in optimization. Their results were awarded by numerous scientific prizes. This engaging book opens new horizons for researchers, engineers, professors, and students with interests in supercomputing paradigms, optimization, decision making, game theory, and foundations of mathematics and computer science.“Mathematicians have never been comfortable handling infinities… But an entirely new type of mathematics looks set to by-pass the problem… Today, Yaroslav Sergeyev, a mathematician at the University of Calabria in Italy solves this problem… ”MIT Technology Review“These ideas and future hardware prototypes may be productive in all fields of science where infinite and infinitesimal numbers (derivatives, integrals, series, fractals) are used.” A. Adamatzky, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Unconventional Computing.“I am sure that the new approach … will have a very deep impact both on Mathematics and Computer Science.” D. Trigiante, Computational Management Science.“Within the grossone framework, it becomes feasible to deal computationally with infinite quantities, in a way that is both new (in the sense that previously intractable problems become amenable to computation) and natural”. R. Gangle, G. Caterina, F. Tohmé, Soft Computing.“The computational features offered by the Infinity Computer allow us to dynamically change the accuracy of representation and floating-point operations during the flow of a computation. When suitably implemented, this possibility turns out to be particularly advantageous when solving ill-conditioned problems. In fact, compared with a standard multi-precision arithmetic, here the accuracy is improved only when needed, thus not affecting that much the overall computational effort.” P. Amodio, L. Brugnano, F. Iavernaro & F. Mazzia, Soft Computing

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This book shows latest research on artificial intelligence for sustainable technology. ICGER 2021 was organized by the Accounting, Finance and Banking Department at Ahlia University, Bahrain, and was conducted on the 15th and 16th of September. The strategic partners included the University of Jordan, the Bahrain Economists Society, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants: ACCA, Al-Barka Banking Group and the International Computer Auditing Education Association: ICAEA . The theme of the ICGER 2021 centered around artificial intelligence for sustainable finance and sustainable technology. Accordingly, the papers presented at the conference provided a holistic view of sustainable finance, sustainability, AI, financial technology, cybersecurity, blockchain, CSR, and governance. This book, unlike ever before, brings together intelligence applications of new technologies and the sustainability requirements in the era of the digital economy, with special attention given to the opportunities, challenges, for education, business growth, and economic progression of nations which will help societies (economists, financial managers, engineers, ICT specialists, digital managers, data managers, policymakers, regulators, researchers, academics, and students) to better understand, use, and control AI applications and financial technologies to develop future strategies and to achieve sustainable development goals.

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This book highlights cutting-edge research in the field of network science, offering scientists, researchers, students, and practitioners a unique update on the latest advances in theory and a multitude of applications. It presents the peer-reviewed proceedings of the X International Conference on Complex Networks and their Applications (COMPLEX NETWORKS 2021). The carefully selected papers cover a wide range of theoretical topics such as network models and measures; community structure, network dynamics; diffusion, epidemics and spreading processes; resilience and control as well as all the main network applications, including social and political networks; networks in finance and economics; biological and neuroscience networks, and technological networks.

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This book is the first comprehensive compilation of the most up-to-date research in the genomics, transcriptomics, and breeding of pine species across Europe, North America, and Australia. With chapters on the state of the reference genomes, transposon function, genome-wide diversity, functional genomics, genomics of disease resistance, genomics of abiotic stress, and genomic selection, this book is a must-read for scientists, breeders, and students of plant genomics. The book contains 12 chapters over 300 pages authored by a group of world-renowned scientists in the field of pine genomics. Pines (Pinus) are the world’s most economically important forest tree species. The recent genome sequencing of several important pine species has paved the way for understanding their complex biology and helps future management and breeding efforts.

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This edited volume highlights cascading effects of the pandemic and lockdown on informal economies of varied countries in the Global South. Uneven development after colonization, imperialism, and externally influenced conflict have caused many countries in the formally colonized or semi-occupied countries in the world to lag behind in wealth accumulation, investments in manufacturing, and technology. The fact that these countries were dragged into world market dynamics on an equal footing with already developed countries exacerbated these inequalities and saw the rapid burgeoning of informal economies. COVID-19 and the lockdown of western countries unravelled global production chains, resulting in hordes of workers in the Global South losing their livelihoods. Even people engaged in traditionally locally-bound economic activities, such as domestic work and sex work, found their livelihoods disappear. This volume brings together case studies from India, Brazil, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka to analyze global economic disruptions as they affected informal sector workers who were already largely invisible within state development policies. The chapters question whether existing models of neoliberal development are still conducive within the post-pandemic Global South as it grapples with rebuilding economies, livelihoods, institutions, and systems of governance.

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This book presents the theoretical bases and the application tools for using the 'convergence-confinement' method which is a rational method largely used in design engineering for tunneling. Until recently, the stability conditions of underground works and the choice of support methods were essentially defined on the basis of good practice or empirical methods. The progress made, on one hand on the knowledge of the constitutive laws of soils and rocks and, on the other hand on the numerical modeling of the interaction between the ground and the structures have led to the development of robust design tools for tunnels supports. The convergence-confinement method makes it possible to simulate the excavation of a tunnel and the installation of the support using a simple plane strain model. The book presents the theoretical bases of the method and its most recent developments. Closed-form solutions for stress and displacement fields around tunnels are provided for elastic, viscoelastic and elasto-plastic behavior of the ground. More generally, the principles for applying the method in numerical models are presented.

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This book presents a unified approach to the problem of inequality, combining results from a variety of research fields – the human life cycle, group dynamics, networks, markets, and economic geography. Its main message is that inequality emerges as the natural result of mechanisms operating both in individual human development and in social interaction. It posits that inequality is not an anomalous deviation from a naturally egalitarian social structure; quite to the contrary, inequality is to be expected as part of the human condition. The author states that the growth of inequality, on the other hand, is not a natural law – the level and character of inequality can be affected by collective decisions. This perspective on human inequality has potentially far-reaching consequences both for the political philosophy of inequality and for public policy-making.This book is of interest to a wide interdisciplinary social science readership, including public policy, decision sciences, economic geography, and life course studies.

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As new technological challenges are perpetually arising, Artificial Intelligence research interests are focusing on the incorporation of improvement abilities into machines in an effort to make them more efficient and more useful. Recent reports indicate that the demand for scientists with Artificial Intelligence skills significantly exceeds the market availability and that this shortage will intensify further in the years to come. A potential solution includes attracting more women into the field, as women currently make up only 26 percent of Artificial Intelligence positions in the workforce. The present book serves a dual purpose: On one hand, it sheds light on the very significant research led by women in areas of Artificial Intelligence, in hopes of inspiring other women to follow studies in the area and get involved in related research. On the other hand, it highlights the state-of-the-art and current research in selected Artificial Intelligence areas and applications. The book consists of an editorial note and an additional thirteen (13) chapters, all authored by invited women-researchers who work on various Artificial Intelligence areas and stand out for their significant research contributions. In more detail, the chapters in the book are organized into three parts, namely (i) Advances in Artificial Intelligence Paradigms, (ii) Advances in Artificial Intelligence Applications, and (iii) Recent Trends in Artificial Intelligence Areas and Applications. This research book is directed towards professors, researchers, scientists, engineers and students in Artificial Intelligence-related disciplines. It is also directed towards readers who come from other disciplines and are interested in becoming versed in some of the most recent Artificial Intelligence-based technologies. An extensive list of bibliographic references at the end of each chapter guides the readers to probe further into the Artificial Intelligence areas of interest to them.

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This book offers an insight into climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and discusses energy justice issues within this framework. The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development have become popular among local communities, international policymakers, and researchers. In addition to these important topics, themes such as climate justice, environmental justice, global energy justice, ecological justice, sustainable justice, and procedural justice remain attractive to scholars and researchers internationally. In this book, scholars elaborate on various responses to human-induced climate change, calling for action, mitigation, and adaptation, and encouraging further thorough analysis and research in the field.

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This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of populism on the European democratic polity. In the last two decades, European democracies have come under strain amid growing populism. By asserting the superiority of the majority over the law, of direct democracy over representation, and claiming the necessity to defend national sovereignty against foreign interferences, the populist conception of democracy is in stark contrast with the longstanding Western notion of liberal democracy. This volume investigates populist attempts to radically change what Bobbio called the “rules of the game” of democracy from an eminently legal perspective. Weaving together normative and empirical analysis, the contributions focus on the institutions that have suffered the most from the rise of populism as well as those that have better resisted the populist tide. Special attention will be paid to the Venice Commission’s opinions and documents, as they represent the best European standards to evaluate the extent to which populism deviates from constitutional democracy requirements. The book also considers the responses of European States to the explosion of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed been an accelerator of known and studied trends in most constitutional systems, such as the concentration of powers in the executive hands and the consequential loss of parliament's centrality. Various forms of populism across Europe have thus found an ideal breeding ground to implement their agenda of granting the executive broad regulatory and decision-making powers while loosening parliamentary and judicial checks. Against this backdrop, the book analyses how European democracies should adapt to the challenges posed by the pandemic, as this reflection can help respond to populist threats and propose a way forward for liberal democracy.

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This volume discusses the concept of The Spatial University as part of the broad growth of spatial science and the need for spatial infrastructure in colleges and universities. The book centers on the development of U-Spatial, the spatial science infrastructure at the University of Minnesota that offers a range of spatial activities and services, including data access, training, and community building. Against a backdrop of the changing nature of research, teaching, and service in higher education, the story of U-Spatial anchors a broader discussion of what it means to be a spatial university. This narrative framing demonstrates—with specific examples—the importance of institutions offering dedicated spatial research infrastructure. In six chapters, the text explores the importance of spatial thinking, learning, and research for student and researcher success. The volume offers lessons that are applicable far beyond the University of Minnesota to apply to a broad array of domains and institutional specializations. The book will be useful to students, researchers, and policymakers concerned with how institutions can encourage spatial research, teaching, and service. It will also appeal to researchers and practitioners interested in broader uses of spatial science.This book shows how GIS can transform a university, speaking to the need for leadership in higher education around the power of bringing everything together using spatial and geographic concepts. Jack Dangermond Co-Founder and President, Esri

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This book reflects on the various ways in which intelligence can manifest itself in the wide range of diverse contexts in which people live. Intelligence is often viewed as being tantamount to a score or set of scores on a decontextualized standardized intelligence test. But intelligence always acts within a sociocultural context. Indeed, early theorists defined intelligence in terms of adaptation to the environment in which one lives. The tradition of decontextualization is old, dating back to the very beginning of the 20th century with the development of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scales. This tradition is not only old, however, but obsolete. Because people live in different sociocultural as well as physical environments, intelligence can take somewhat different forms in different places and even at different times. The chapters in this edited volume show that intelligence viewed in the abstract is a somewhat vacuous concept - it needs to be contextualized in terms of people’s physical and sociocultural surroundings.

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This book commemorates Eric Goles’s achievements in science and engineering. Eric Goles is one of the world leaders in the field of automata and complexity. His groundbreaking discoveries are in the theory and analysis of complex systems, particularly in the field of discrete systems dynamics such as neural networks, automata networks, majority networks, bootstrap percolation models, cellular automata, computational complexity theory, discrete mathematics, and theoretical computer science. Topics include cellular automata, complex networks, models of computation, expansive systems, sandpile automata, Penrose tilings, Boolean automata, models of infection, Fibonacci trees, dominos, reversible automata, and fungal automata. The chapters are authored by world leaders in computer science, physics, mathematics, and engineering. The book will be a pleasure to explore for readers from all walks of life, from undergraduate students to university professors, from mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers to chemists and biologists.

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The book focuses the latest endeavours relating researches and developments conducted in fields of Control, Robotics and Automation. Through more than ten revised and extended articles, the present book aims to provide the most up-to-date state-of-art of the aforementioned fields allowing researcher, PhD students and engineers not only updating their knowledge but also benefiting from the source of inspiration that represents the set of selected articles of the book.The deliberate intention of editors to cover as well theoretical facets of those fields as their practical accomplishments and implementations offers the benefit of gathering in a same volume a factual and well-balanced prospect of nowadays research in those topics. A special attention toward “Intelligent Robots and Control” may characterize another benefit of this book.

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This book is the first volume of a two-volume monograph devoted to the study of limit and ergodic theorems for regularly and singularly perturbed Markov chains, semi-Markov processes, and multi-alternating regenerative processes with semi-Markov modulation. The first volume presents necessary and sufficient conditions for weak convergence for first-rare-event times and convergence in the topology J for first-rare-event processes defined on regularly perturbed finite Markov chains and semi-Markov processes. The text introduces new asymptotic recurrent algorithms of phase space reduction. It also addresses both effective conditions of weak convergence for distributions of hitting times as well as convergence of expectations of hitting times for regularly and singularly perturbed finite Markov chains and semi-Markov processes. The book also contains a comprehensive bibliography of major works in the field. It provides an effective reference for both graduate students as well as theoretical and applied researchers studying stochastic processes and their applications.

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This book presents scientific results of the 22nd ACIS International Fall Virtual Conference on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing (SNPD2021-Fall) which was held on November 24–26, 2021, at Taichung, Taiwan. The aim of this conference was to bring together researchers and scientists, businessmen and entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers, computer users, and students to discuss the numerous fields of computer science and to share their experiences and exchange new ideas and information in a meaningful way. Research results about all aspects (theory, applications and tools) of computer and information science, and to discuss the practical challenges encountered along the way and the solutions adopted to solve them.The conference organizers selected the best papers from those papers accepted for presentation at the conference. The papers were chosen based on review scores submitted by members of the program committee and underwent further rigorous rounds of review. From this second round of review, 13 of most promising papers are then published in this Springer (SCI) book and not the conference proceedings. We impatiently await the important contributions that we know these authors will bring to the field of computer and information science.

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This book presents techniques and security challenges of chaotic systems and their use in cybersecurity. It presents the state-of-the-art and the latest discoveries in the field of chaotic systems and methods and proposes new models, practical solutions, and technological advances related to new chaotic dynamical systems. The book can be used as part of the bibliography of the following courses: - Cybersecurity - Cryptography - Networks and Communications Security - Nonlinear Circuits - Nonlinear Systems and Applications

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This book provides a detailed description of laryngeal procedures performed under topical anesthesia in an office setting. The last two decades have witnessed a major evolution in laryngology practice toward office-based surgery, thus reducing the risk of general anesthesia and containing healthcare costs while also hastening recovery rates from the time of diagnosis. Beginning with a comprehensive review of the anatomy and physiology of phonation, the book then provides systematic assessment of patients with voice dysfunction secondary to structural and functional laryngeal disorders. It offers detailed instructions on patient selection, safety, tolerance, and proper administration of topical anesthesia. The book supplies detailed descriptions of the various surgical techniques commonly used in office-based laryngeal surgery using color illustrations, photographs and videos. Different surgical approaches are presented including transcervical, transnasal and per-oral techniques. The book also supplies a thorough review of the literature on the current status of the most commonly performed office-based laryngeal surgeries including patient care, surgical outcome, and complications. Office-Based Laryngeal Surgery will help laryngologists operating on awake patients in an office setting to be both well-equipped and well-informed.

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The new edition of this outstanding reference textbook, in two volumes, offers comprehensive and authoritative coverage of the contemporary specialty of oral and maxillofacial surgery. The aim is to provide an all-encompassing, user-friendly source of information that will meet the needs of residents and experienced surgeons in clinical practice and will also serve as an ideal companion during preparation for board certification or recertification examinations. All of the authors, numbering some 100, are distinguished experts in the areas that they address. The new edition takes full account of the significant changes in clinical practice and guidelines that have occurred during recent years. Readers will find clear explanations of the practical application of surgical principles, with a wealth of supporting illustrative material, including atlas-type illustrations to complement the descriptions of specific procedures. The fourth edition of Peterson’s Principles of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery is a truly exceptional resource for clinicians and students alike.

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This book gathers the proceedings of the International Conference on Information, Communication and Cybersecurity, held on November 10–11, 2021, in Khouribga, Morocco. The conference was jointly coorganized by The National School of Applied Sciences of Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Morocco, and Charles Darwin University, Australia. This book provides an opportunity to account for state-of-the-art works, future trends impacting information technology, communications, and cybersecurity, focusing on elucidating the challenges, opportunities, and inter-dependencies that are just around the corner. This book is helpful for students and researchers as well as practitioners.ICI2C 2021 was devoted to advances in smart information technologies, communication, and cybersecurity. It was considered a meeting point for researchers and practitioners to implement advanced information technologies into various industries. There were 159 paper submissions from 24 countries. Each submission was reviewed by at least three chairs or PC members. We accepted 54 regular papers (34\%). Unfortunately, due to limitations of conference topics and edited volumes, the Program Committee was forced to reject some interesting papers, which did not satisfy these topics or publisher requirements. We would like to thank all authors and reviewers for their work and valuable contributions. The friendly and welcoming attitude of conference supporters and contributors made this event a success!

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This book evaluates local conservation successes of global south in the climate milieu, as an empirical evidence of ‘Bio-rights’ of commons at community-ecosystem interface for sustainable intensification of nature’s goods and services. Bio-rights is a right-based neo-economic conservation paradigm that compensates the opportunity costs incurred in conservation efforts by the marginal communities, living near globally important ecosystems and dependent on it for their livelihood, through payments from environment services. The book would bring forth the true value of circular economic interventions in socio-ecological conservation, shaped through sustainable human interactions with nature. This multilevel study of conservation science serves an interdisciplinary academia, consistent with conventions on climate change, bio-diversity and sustainable development, to establish links between conservation priorities and development objectives. Herein, Bio-rights is introduced as a ‘design approach’ for production linked sustainable development, supplemented with case studies from the east.

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This book answers questions about the critical role of ultrasound in the management of patients with Sjögren’s syndrome. It also covers developments rheumatologists can foresee in performing a biopsy of the parotid gland. Each chapter is authored by experts on this condition, emphasizing the extent of current understanding and dealing with unanswered challenges and pitfalls. Topics such as modern imaging techniques like ultrasound and MRI and their importance are given particular focus in this book; practitioners are increasingly using imaging techniques to refine diagnosis and guide clinical management. Additionally, as a significant emerging point of interest in the field, biopsy of the major salivary glands, particularly ultrasound-guided procedures, receives extra attention within the text. The book also includes a chapter that deals with future directions and will also review the challenges patients face with unmanaged Sjögren’s syndrome. Comprehensive and concise, Sjögren’s Syndrome and the Salivary Glands provides a balanced overview between the chapters and ensure homogeneity of the terminology.

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This textbook lays the foundations for System-of-Systems Requirements Engineering and Requirements Management practices, principles, technique, and processes. It provides a comprehensive treatment of requirements engineering, an integral part of Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering. The book takes the student/reader though the entire process of documenting, analyzing, tracing, prioritizing, and managing requirements, and then goes on the describe controlling and communicating requirement change throughout the system development lifecycle. The authors discuss the role of requirements management in support of other requirements engineering processes; describe the principal requirements engineering activities and their relationships; introduces techniques for requirements elicitation and analysis and describes requirements validation and the role of requirements reviews; and discusses the role of requirements management in support of other requirements engineering processes. A full suite of classroom material is provided including exercises, assignments, and PowerPoint slides.

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This book offers a broad overview of asset management processes for different utilities, with a special emphasis on energy and water. It provides readers with important practical considerations concerning the development of new competitive structures and procedures for guaranteeing a sufficient supply of energy and water in a regulated environment, using clearly defined technical and economic cornerstones. On the one hand, asset owners expect suitable interests from their investment and business growth; on the other hand, regulators focus more on a reliable and cost-effective customer supply. This book shows how to take into consideration these different perspectives in the process of designing new structures, and how to guarantee organizational transparency. It describes essential principles and boundary conditions for ensuring the optimal use of resources in a network, covering issues relating to equipment service life, IT landscape and computer programs, operational costs management, and investment and maintenance strategies, highlighting their impact on the organization of the company. This thoroughly revised and updated second edition, includes extensive information about IEC standard (IEC/TS 63060), and cover operation research methods focusing on the optimization of the maintenance tasks. Furthermore, a discussion on the political environment has been included, with a special emphasis on the European situation and the “Green Deal”: specifically, some measures to cope with the topic of energy transition are presented. Last, but not least, a brand-new chapter on condition assessment has been included.

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Developed by a renowned group of international authors, this engaging, case-based title once again offers readers a wide range of thought-provoking case studies that reflect contemporary, challenging, hands-on clinical care. Expanded and fully updated, Endocrinology and Diabetes: A Problem Oriented Approach, 2nd Edition addresses the complete range of endocrinologic problems found in patient care, offering the reader a convenient and pointed way to solve clinical problems in a timely manner. Due to its comprehensive coverage and practical focus, this title has developed a special place in the field of endocrinology and will again be of great interest to endocrinologists, diabetologists, internal medicine physicians, family physicians, fellows, and residents. The enthusiastic reception and warm welcome of the first edition of this book was overwhelming and gratifying. Despite many standard texts that cover physiology and clinical aspects of endocrinology, this book found a special place because it focused on patient care and practical aspects of endocrine practice. In the current volume we were fortunate to again have the honor of collaboration by international authors who pride themselves foremost as clinical endocrinologists. We hope our readers will find this updated, improved edition worthwhile, and use it for the benefit of their patients.

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This book provides new contributions to the theory of inequalities for integral and sum, and includes four chapters. In the first chapter, linear inequalities via interpolation polynomials and green functions are discussed. New results related to Popoviciu type linear inequalities via extension of the Montgomery identity, the Taylor formula, Abel-Gontscharoff's interpolation polynomials, Hermite interpolation polynomials and the Fink identity with Green’s functions, are presented. The second chapter is dedicated to Ostrowski’s inequality and results with applications to numerical integration and probability theory. The third chapter deals with results involving functions with nondecreasing increments. Real life applications are discussed, as well as and connection of functions with nondecreasing increments together with many important concepts including arithmetic integral mean, wright convex functions, convex functions, nabla-convex functions, Jensen m-convex functions, m-convex functions, m-nabla-convex functions, k-monotonic functions, absolutely monotonic functions, completely monotonic functions, Laplace transform and exponentially convex functions, by using the finite difference operator of order m. The fourth chapter is mainly based on Popoviciu and Cebysev-Popoviciu type identities and inequalities. In this last chapter, the authors present results by using delta and nabla operators of higher order.

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This revised textbook presents updated material on its core content: an end-to-end IoT architecture that is comprised of devices, network, compute, storage, platform, applications along with management and security components. As with the second edition, it is organized into six main parts: an IoT reference model; fog computing and the drivers; IoT management and applications; smart services in IoT; IoT standards; and case studies. This edition’s features include overhaul of the IoT Protocols (Chapter 5) to include an expanded treatment of low-power wide area networks including narrow band IoT (NB-IoT) protocol, updated IoT platforms and capabilities (Chapter 7) to include comparison of commercially available platforms (e.g. AWS IoT Platform, Google Cloud IoT Platform, Microsoft Azure IoT Platform, and PTC ThinkWorx), updated security (Chapter 8) to include approaches for securing IoT devices with examples of IoT devices used in security attacks and associated solutions including MUD and DICE, and finally new Appendix B to include six IoT project detailed for students.

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This book contains works on mathematical and simulation modeling of processes in various domains: ecology and geographic information systems, IT, industry, and project management. The development of complex multicomponent systems requires an increase in accuracy, efficiency, and adequacy while reducing the cost of their creation. The studies presented in the book are useful to specialists who involved in the development of real events models-analog, management and decision-making models, production models, and software products. Scientists can get acquainted with the latest research in various decisions proposed by leading scholars and identify promising directions for solving complex scientific and practical problems. The chapters of this book contain the contributions presented on the 16th International Scientific-practical Conference, MODS, June 28–July 01, 2021, Chernihiv, Ukraine.

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This open access book examines the governance and legal landscape of the global commodity sector. For that purpose, the author conceptualises both Global Commodity Governance (GCG) as well as Transnational Commodity Law (TCL). He defines the key terms of Global Commodity Governance, delineates the underlying legal framework of Transnational Commodity Law, and assesses the effectiveness of Transnational Commodity Law in fostering a functional commodity sector. “Sustainable Commodity Use” is based on a comprehensive analysis of over 250 international agreements, standards, and guiding documents. The author distils the main findings into a conceptualisation of Transnational Commodity Law and provides the reader with a succinct overview of its normative configurations as well as regulatory gaps. Moreover, he elaborates a taxonomy of International Commodity Agreements. In addition, an outline of the normative substance of Transnational Commodity Law features in an appendix to the main text. The author concludes by making concrete suggestions on how rules regulating commodity activities de lege ferenda could and should be designed to improve the effectiveness of law regulating transnational commodity activity. In doing so, he demonstrates the application of the sustainable use principle as the overall objective and purpose of Transnational Commodity Law and discusses International Commodity Agreements as future regulatory instruments. This book may assist lawmakers, practitioners, civil society advocates, and academics worldwide in developing a legal framework for sustainable global commodity activity.

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This book asks whether the decision to lock down the world was justified in proportion to the potential harms and risks generated by the Covid-19 virus. Drawing on global, empirical data, it explores and exposes the social harms induced by lockdowns, many of which are 'hidden', including joblessness, mental health problems and an intensification of societal inequalities and divisions. It offers data-driven case studies on harms such as domestic violence, child abuse, the distress of being ordered to stay at home, and the numerous harms associated with the new wealth industries. It explores why some people weren't compliant with lockdown restrictions and examines the already vulnerable social groups who were disproportionally affected by lockdown including those who were locked in (care home residents), locked up (prisoners), and locked out (migrant workers, refugees). The book closes with a brief discussion on what the future might look like as we enter a post-Covid world, drawing on cutting-edge social theory.

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We as humans are prone to a variety of wired-in cognitive mistakes in the way we interpret and react to risk-related information. This is highly consequential since the cognitive biases managers are exposed to in their day-to-day business erode the objectivity of their risk-related decisions, which ultimately hurts the financial well-being of their firms. This book seeks to develop risk literacy as a leadership skill. It helps managers develop the skills to improve managerial decision-making in regards to managing risk.The last decades have offered various insights into how human nature often gets in the way of rational decision-making. This book is a valuable resource for insurance executives, chief risk officers, company leaders, and graduate students of risk management and risk psychology. It is the first behavioral risk management guide for managers and other interested readers - using examples from economic theory, behavioral finance, and game theory, it studies the hidden forces that drive our decision-making processes under risk.

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This open access book highlights the interdisciplinary aspects of logistics research. Featuring empirical, methodological, and practice-oriented articles, it addresses the modelling, planning, optimization and control of processes. Chiefly focusing on supply chains, logistics networks, production systems, and systems and facilities for material flows, the respective contributions combine research on classical supply chain management, digitalized business processes, production engineering, electrical engineering, computer science and mathematical optimization. To celebrate 25 years of interdisciplinary and collaborative research conducted at the Bremen Research Cluster for Dynamics in Logistics (LogDynamics), in this book hand-picked experts currently or formerly affiliated with the Cluster provide retrospectives, present cutting-edge research, and outline future research directions.

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This volume explores the challenges that humanists face from hostile religious traditionalists on its right flank and from the political antihumanism, which is often postsecular, of critics on its left flank. Given this dual challenge, how can "secular" humanism educate, sustain, and reproduce itself?

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South Florida continues to attract new residents despite its susceptibility to sea-level rise. This book explores the views of real estate agent with respect to how prospective homebuyers assess the risk of flooding. It reports on their observations as to whether house prices are stagnant or falling in coastal areas vulnerable to flooding, and their conclusions after working with prospective homebuyers as to whether coastal south Florida is a good place to find a home or, alternatively, a risky investment in a place that will eventually be submerged by rising seas. The book reports on a 2020 survey of real estate agents and concludes that it is not clear that the housing market has integrated flood risk either into reduced demand for housing or in reduced prices for houses susceptible to flooding. These conclusions have important implications for understanding how the risks of climate change and sea-level rise are reflected in the housing market both now and in the near-term future.

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