Search results for ""world scientific publishing""

Ravi Menon is the Institute of Policy Studies' 9th S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore. This book is an edited collection of his four IPS-Nathan Lectures, delivered in July 2021, and includes highlights of his question-and-answer segments with our virtual audience.Mr Menon examines how Singapore will come under pressure from four tectonic shifts altering the global landscape. Although still relevant, Singapore's guiding ethos of adaptation, meritocracy, and pragmatism may no longer be sufficient. To secure our future, we will need more innovation, inclusion, and inspiration. What does an innovative economy look like? What does it take to create a more inclusive society? What does it mean to be an inspiring nation? How does it all hold together in a refreshed Singapore Synthesis?The IPS-Nathan Lecture series was launched in 2014 as part of the S R Nathan Fellowship for the Study of Singapore. It seeks to advance public understanding and discussion of issues of critical national interest for Singapore.

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This book is for anyone with ambitions to scale their impact at work in Asia. As a leader in Asia, you're standing at the edge of greatness — as an individual, a team, and an organization. This is a fast-growing market that truly resonates with mobile first, with a large and growing population that is incredibly young. Universal access to knowledge and technology is empowering the individual to be a powerful force for positive change in the world. So why do we feel so powerless?Every day, you are under immense pressure to perform at the top of your game. But perfection is such a fragile thing. It's not something you can cling on to, no matter how hard you work. Instead, you end up overwhelmed and burnt out. Somehow, somewhere, you got derailed. Where did you lose your edge? And more importantly, how do you get it back?This book will bring you into the corridors of power in Asia, the pantheon of the gods in the modern world. We dive into the murky depths of the minds of the most powerful individuals in organizations. I hope these incredible stories will not only engage your mind but inspire your corner-office lust when you realize that you, in fact, every one of us, are born for greatness.To dance on the edge of greatness.

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Beyond real GDP, innovative capacity is an important indicator of the economic strength of a nation. By studying innovative capacity and other indicators of success in innovation across the Group-of-Seven (G7) Countries, the East Asian Newly Industrialised Economies (EANIEs) and Mainland China, this book will systematically establish a positive relationship between innovation outputs and inputs of different economies. In doing so, it seeks to answer the question — are there laws of innovation? It seeks to identify the determinants of innovation at the economy-wide level, ascertain whether these determinants are similar across different economies, and find suitable metrics for comparing relative success in innovation across different economies. It concludes that innovation, rather than being a stroke of good fortune, comes from research and development activities conducted over a long period of time, and sheds light on future trends and areas for further research.

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Singapore is recognised to be one of the most successful economies in the world given its rapid economic and social transformation. Its success is the result of a judicious blend of markets and government, high-quality governance, and public policies that are coherent, consistent and coordinated.This book showcases the contribution of Economics to Singapore's public policymaking. To illustrate the diverse areas that economic analysis has contributed to, this book comprises three sections that span the economic and non-economic policy domains in Singapore. Section I covers economic policies relating to economic growth, trade, investments, productivity, innovation, industrial development, the enterprise landscape and manpower. Section II highlights socioeconomic and security policies, and covers themes such as income inequality and mobility, families, healthcare costs and crime. In Section III, the focus is on infrastructural policies relating to the environment, housing and land transport.This book commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Singapore Government's Economist Service. As the premier service for economists in the Singapore public sector, the Economist Service plays an integral role in supporting evidence-based policymaking through rigorous economic research and analysis of public policies.

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Globalization and recent developments in the world suggest strong relationships between local and global decisions, actions and impacts. Global-local relationships are also associated with positive and negative externalities, which necessitate policy interventions.Lecture Notes in Global-Local Policy Interactions discusses the process of building and managing a global public policy and the interaction of public policies at the global and local (national/regional) levels. This book demonstrates the global negative externalities from under-regulation of various activities by one agent/country that affect the well-being of other agents/countries, and the design of policies (agreements) to reduce the impacts of such externalities. Possible opposed interests to global policies of local stakeholders and the (local) policies they established to tackle such externalities in their jurisdictions are included as well.The book introduces concepts and principles associated with conflict, negotiation and cooperation, all of which are part of policy reform and design. It explores to various extents the global-local interactions that are related to selected global policies. Special emphasis is placed on global policies such as climate change, water, anti-terrorism, tobacco control, regulation of substances that deplete the ozone layer, desertification, and elimination of anti-personnel mines.

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A century ago, life expectancy was roughly 40 years, hence all income could be consumed, as for most people, there was no need to save for retirement. Today, things have drastically changed: Life expectancy exceeds 80 years in many countries, and one should expect to live and consume many years after retirement. Thus, we have many investors with various investment horizons, where the length of the investment horizon becomes a crucial factor in determining the best investment diversification.This book analyzes the effect of the investment horizon on the optimal diversification, specifically between stocks and bonds: Should a young investor and an older investor have the same portfolio? Is it recommended to savers for retirement to change the asset allocation between stocks and bonds as they grow older, as life cycle mutual funds do in practice? Is the idiom 'stocks for the long run' backed by scientific evidence? We analyze for which horizons it is recommended to employ the popular Mean-Variance rule and for which horizons employing this rule induces an economic distortion, hence a loss to the investors. It is shown that all relevant parameters for investment choice (means, variances, and correlations) change in a non-linear way with the horizon, a fact that makes the investment horizon crucial for investment choices. Similarly, the popular Sharpe, Treynor, and Jensen performance indices vary with the assumed horizon even in the case of independence over time. To analyze all the above issues, we employ the Mean-Variance rule and Stochastic Dominance rules, as well as direct expected utility calculations.

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This book studies the main characteristics of the operation of the Chinese economy and the world economy after the financial crisis in 2008. The analysis starts from the core logic of the dilemma of the anti-crisis and rebalancing growth of the world economy. It further analyzes the impact of major countries' macro-economic policies on the global economy and the external risks and countermeasures faced by the Chinese economy. In addition, this book studies the development of foreign direct investment and the service industry in major countries after the crisis.

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This edited book consists of various chapters — including articles from different leading scholars, on the Great Transition in India with respect to religion, economy and foreign policy. The main aim of the book is to comprehend ongoing transition in India from interdisciplinary perspectives.

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Scarcity hypothesis is the cornerstone of traditional economic theory. However, in the digital era, new products such as Windows, Android, and Wechat have been introduced to the market. Traditional economic theory may not be able to explain various nez economic phenomena in the digital era. This book creatively proposes the concept of limitless supply and then discusses its implications for economy at both macro and micro-levels.It analyses and summarizes the basic features of limitless supply products, and compares the differences and similarities of how limited supply and limitless supply products are manufactured and marketed. The book also provides reasons for why manufacturers of limitless supply products create intangible assets. It argues that the scale of an enterprise producing limitless supply products depends on the number of users, whereas the scale of an enterprise producing limited supply products depends on the production capacity.This book is mainly written to construct a preliminary, simple, yet relatively comprehensive economic theory framework for limitless supply, and to interpret the phenomena and corporate behaviour. It further explores how enterprises providing limitless supply products grow financially. It also proposes the fundamental difference in growth models between enterprises providing limitless supply products and those providing limited supply products. The book also looks at how growth models can achieve fission growth.

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Asia has been a hub for e-commerce companies in the past decade and the growth trajectory narrates the story of bright future. Its growth has largely impacted the economic, social and technological advancements in every country and contributed to global trade. Nonetheless, the success and failure of e-commerce companies lies on various factors, some of which include product pricing, competition, strategies and business models. However, with surveys in India indicating how sale of counterfeit products remains a significant problem for online shoppers across many e-commerce sites, e-commerce companies claim they are taking tough steps to ensure that counterfeit products do not make their way to customers, by delisting fraud sellers, using tamper-proof packaging and monitoring warehouses.This book aims to unwrap the stories of e-commerce companies in Asia and how they have contributed to the society. It discusses the growth and failures of some e-commerce giants and looks at both theoretical and practical aspects of e-commerce by presenting the issues, challenges and successes of e-commerce businesses. It examines interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary aspects from micro and macro perspectives and links disciplines like strategy, management, entrepreneurship, competitiveness, finance, technology and operations.

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Life cycle assessment (LCA) is internationally accepted as a core topic in the field of environmental management in various industries for obtaining a complete picture of the environmental impacts of products or processes. In contrast to other types of environmental management tools or sustainability assessment methods, LCA methodologies take a holistic approach to include all relevant processes starting from the extraction of natural resources to various manufacturing stages that lead to the final product.Following an evidence-approach, LCA is underpinned by quantitative methodologies to study real-world problems and uncover 'hidden' impacts beyond the conventional boundary of a single-stage manufacturing system, to develop sustainable strategies that consider regional or global production chains.This book offers multi-disciplinary perspectives of new LCA developments and applications, spanning from data variability to ecosystem services, plus the evaluation of the net greenhouse gas from Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) methods and waste management. Perspectives of green chemistry principles via LCA, combined with life cycle atom economy approaches are explored. Industrial symbiosis concepts, LCA as an Entrepreneurial Tool for Business Management and Green Innovations, and blockchain-enabled LCA are also presented.

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Taking classic stories from Asia and the West, Pop! Lit for Kids reimagines them into easy-to-read stories that provide the perfect introduction to classic tales. The most well-loved stories from around the world have been adapted into a form that will excite and entertain children everywhere.

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5G is becoming a critically important supporting technology for industrial evolvement.The World of 5G series consists of five salient volumes — Internet of Everything, Intelligent Manufacturing, Intelligent Home, Intelligent Transportation, and Intelligent Medicine.Aim to capture new opportunities brought by 5G, this compendium set focuses on the key technologies, requirements, users' experiences, industry applications, and industrial reforms from the perspective of experts, and comprehensively introduces the related knowledge of 5G.These reference volumes inform readers the essences of 5G, potential changes to the development of public life and society brought by 5G, as well as the potential security and risks such as the legal, moral and ethical aspects.The set also prominently reflects the latest business status in different industrial and social fields, and the great changes that follow.

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Freshwater is our planet's most precious resource — essential for life itself. Despite this fact, many people across our planet face difficulties finding safe, clean, potable water. A U.S. State Department report contends that the world's thirst for water may become a human security crisis by 2040. The World Bank reports many developing nations face catastrophe from intensive irrigation, urbanization, and deteriorating infrastructure. Also, numerous reports contend that in many places un-treated wastewater is still released directly into the environment. This is particularly true in low-income countries, which on average treat less than 10% of their wastewater discharges.In short, we face three imminent challenges regarding freshwater: (1) demands by agriculture, cities, industry, and energy production are increasing; (2) severe pollution from various contaminants and growing withdrawals are limiting the capacity of waterways to dilute contaminants — threatening human and aquatic life; and, (3) climate change will cause periods of frequent and severe droughts — punctuated by acute periods of flooding.The goal of this book is to illuminate how the governance of freshwater is a political, social, economic, cultural, and ecological challenge. The management and provision of water are not merely technical problems whose resolution hinges on hydrological principle, cost, or engineering feasibility. They are products of decisions made by governments, businesses, and interest groups that exercise control over who has access to water, how they use it, and in what condition they receive it. It discusses basic knowledge about water supply and quality; the evolution of water policy in different societies; the importance of water to human and environmental health; the role of law, politics, and markets in its allocation, use, and protection; and, the importance of ethics in its equitable provision.

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This book provides a basic introduction to Sustainability & Sustainable Developments, integrated with current business models and future business prospects. In 10 chapters, the authors cover a wide array of topics comprehensively, in an accessible style of language that will appeal to the uninitiated. Many eye-catching self-illustrated artworks, coupled with in-depth analyses of numerous case studies, allow the reader to grasp the theoretical concepts with ease. Multiple-choice exercises at the end of every chapter (with answers provided) further aid readers in verifying their own understanding. Sustainability for Beginners hopes to encourage effective learning, improve abstract thinking, and culminate sustainable entrepreneurship among students and innovators.

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Breakthroughs in high-throughput genome sequencing and high-performance computing technologies have empowered scientists to decode many genomes including our own. Now they have a bigger ambition: to fully understand the vast diversity of microbial communities within us and around us, and to exploit their potential for the improvement of our health and environment. In this new field called metagenomics, microbial genomes are sequenced directly from the habitats without lab cultivation. Computational metagenomics, however, faces both a data challenge that deals with tens of tera-bases of sequences and an algorithmic one that deals with the complexity of thousands of species and their interactions.This interdisciplinary book is essential reading for those who are interested in beginning their own journey in computational metagenomics. It is a prism to look through various intricate computational metagenomics problems and unravel their three distinctive aspects: metagenomics, data engineering, and algorithms. Graduate students and advanced undergraduates from genomics science or computer science fields will find that the concepts explained in this book can serve as stepping stones for more advanced topics, while metagenomics practitioners and researchers from similar disciplines may use it to broaden their knowledge or identify new research targets.

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Adventures in the Green Movement is an immersive encounter with some of the most pressing environmental issues of the 21st century, and the wide variety of solutions aimed at addressing those problems. Why should we be concerned about deforestation, haze and plastic waste? How can we manage resources like water and electricity responsibly? Plant a tree, make recycled paper, and say 'no' to single-use disposable items! Ride a bike around one of the planet's green cities! From reversing environmental damage to promoting eco-friendly sources of energy, experience the inspiring impact of the green movement as never before!The World of Science comics series engages, educates and entertains children, imparting scientific facts, while nurturing the love of Science through dynamic, full-colour comics. All topics covered are in line with the Singapore primary Science syllabus and the Cambridge primary Science curriculum, and also offer beyond-the-syllabus insights designed to stretch inquiring young minds.This book aligns with the following syllabi:

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In an open world, the socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics features openness. If China expects to participate and play a leading role in the governance of global economy in economic globalization, it needs to adopt a common discourse to foster its economy to 'go global.' The common discourse can be obtained in a market economy as well as among developing countries eager to seek development. This book attempts to theorize the socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics by absorbing critically the well-established economic theories worldwide. The selective learning of western economics in terms of theories and categories is based on China's full confidence in the theory, path and system with the adherence to the core socialist values as a presupposition. The author argues that the socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics in the new era is a Marxist political economy in contemporary China. The book clearly states that the construction of its theoretical system should combine Marxist theories with China's practice, especially after the reform and opening-up; progress with the times and target the principal social contradiction in the new era; and address China's challenges in growing stronger, or in other words, modernization.This book is a valuable reading on the new development of the various schools of thoughts on China's political economy over the last few decades. It can be used as a textbook for college students, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of economics, China studies, politics and sociology.

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The National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) is the result of many years in the planning, and it finally officially opened its doors in September 2019, just months before the entire world was tested by the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is the work of many people who represent an even larger pool of people from NCID, Singapore and the rest of the world in trying to understand and contain the SARS- CoV-2 virus. There are chapters on science, the public health response both locally and globally, as well as personal reflections from NCID and Tan Tock Seng Hospital staff and staff from other public healthcare institutions who were deployed to NCID which bring home the human impact of the pandemic. We are very grateful to all the authors for taking the time to put together their thoughtful chapters as well as the senior academics and public health leaders who have provided us with generous comments on the manuscript. We hope that the readers of the book will gain a better insight into the response to the virus from so many different perspectives. Although the pandemic has evolved far beyond the pages of this book globally, the lessons learned from the early days are still relevant. We hope that the chapters will be helpful as we review our experience of this pandemic and face the next emerging infectious disease in the years to come.This book provides a comprehensive look at many different aspects of response in Singapore to the pandemic in the crucial first several months, including clinical, laboratory, epidemiology, research, community engagement and the unprecedented challenge of outbreak involving migrant workers in dormitory settings. On a personal note, it has first-hand accounts of staff at the NCID who were at the forefront of battling COVID-19 in Singapore. It also gives a global perspective of the pandemic, together with insights into the unique Singapore experience of managing the pandemic. The Singapore response to the pandemic has been something which the global community has been very interested in and this book is the first to comprehensively describe that response from a number of different angles which will be useful to scientists, clinicians, public health professionals and policy makers.

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Why is data science a branch of science? Is data science just a catchy rebranding of statistics? Data science provides tools for statistical analysis and machine learning. But, as much as application problems without tools are lame, tools without application problems are vain. Through example after example, this book presents the algorithmic aspects of statistics and show how some of the tools are applied to answer questions of interest to finance. This book champions a fundamental principle of science — objective reproducibility of evidence independently by others. From a companion web site, readers can download many easy-to-understand Python programs and real-world data. Independently, readers can draw for themselves the figures in the book. Even so, readers are encouraged to run the statistical tests described as examples to verify their own results against what the book claims. This book covers some topics that are seldom discussed in other textbooks. They include the methods to adjust for dividend payment and stock splits, how to reproduce a stock market index such as Nikkei 225 index, and so on. By running the Python programs provided, readers can verify their results against the data published by free data resources such as Yahoo! finance. Though practical, this book provides detailed proofs of propositions such as why certain estimators are unbiased, how the ubiquitous normal distribution is derived from the first principles, and so on. This see-for-yourself textbook is essential to anyone who intends to learn the nuts and bots of data science, especially in the application domain of finance. Advanced readers may find the book helpful in its mathematical treatment. Practitioners may find some tips from the book on how an ETF is constructed, as well as some insights on a novel algorithmic framework for pair trading to generate statistical arbitrage.

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A family fishing trip turns out to be full of learning fun for Timmy. Watch how he discovers facts about refraction, and becomes an expert that advises others too!Discover, experiment and learn with the little scientists! Each little scientist has something new to teach young readers. Every book in the series is centred around a science phenomenon, ranging from the water cycle to light refraction to static electricity. Through engaging narratives and whimsical illustrations, 'I'm a Little Scientist' introduces young children to the exciting and ever-changing world of science. Go beyond the story with fun activities and simple experiments to encourage interactive learning! Each book features two pages of scientific experiments for children to put what they've learnt into action.Everyone can be a little scientist!

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In 2016, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and the UN Security Council respectively adopted resolutions on the review of the UN peacebuilding architecture, and the concept of 'sustaining peace' was formally presented. Since then, the 'sustaining peace' agenda has gradually become the core strategy of the peace cause of the UN. The agenda for sustaining peace emphasizes capacity-building for conflict prevention at the regional level.Faced with the escalation of the international security challenge, regional organizations are increasingly playing a prominent role. They have become important participants in the international peace and security agenda by enhancing cooperation with the UN. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as the centre of regional cooperation processes in the Asia-Pacific, established a series of norms and instruments related to conflict prevention. This book intends to promote discussions on linking conflict prevention and/or preventive diplomacy activities in the region with the sustaining peace agenda promoted by both the ASEAN on a regional scale and the UN on a global scale.In a collaboration between the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR) and China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU), the book provides discussions from the perspective of both Chinese as well as ASEAN scholars on traditional, as well as emerging, topics on sustaining peace, as well as conflict prevention, conflict management, and conflict resolution.

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Cosmology, the study of the universe, arouses a great deal of public interest, with serious articles both in the scientific press and in major newspapers, with many of the theories and concepts (e.g. the 'big bang' and 'black holes') discussed, often in great depth.Accordingly the book is divided into three parts:Part 1 is readable (and understandable) by anyone with a nodding acquaintance with the basic language of cosmology: events, lights paths, galaxies, black holes and so on. It covers the whole story of the book in a way as untechnical as possible given the scope of the topics covered.Part 2 covers the same ground again but with enough technical details to satisfy a reader with basic knowledge of mathematics and/or physics.Part 3 consists of appendices which are referred to in the other parts and which also contain the highly technical material omitted from Section 2.

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Discourse on fundamentalism has gained much attention in recent years, particularly in a post-9/11 context where extremist or terrorist threats are more prominent, perilous, and pervasive. This edited volume seeks to spotlight the perspectives of academics and practitioners vis-à-vis global trends in religious fundamentalism and right-wing extremism over the past decade. It presents a collection of works from notable academics and practitioners; including a selection of case studies from Asia to illustrate the contemporary interplay of religion, politics and identity; alongside broader global trends of religious fundamentalism.The chapters that follow attempt to trace the sources and factors that led to the dramatic rise in these powerful forces of faith, which influence societies and politics around the world. Together, they present a carefully curated narrative of the interplay of religion and identity politics globally and across Asia. The prevailing differences in demographics, history and the extent of ethno-religious diversity across country contexts are perused across each chapter, and the ensuing circumstances deliberated upon.As these circumstances change, the ways people interpret their identities, engage in politics, and navigate their religion will also evolve. How we manage the effects of religious fundamentalism must hence begin with an understanding of how religion, identity, and politics interact — and this is what the upcoming chapters seek to illustrate.

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This monograph overviews classic and recent developments in theoretical statistical optics in connection with stationary and non-stationary (pulsed) optical source characterization and modeling, discusses various phenomena occurring with random light propagating in free space, on its interaction with optical systems, extended media and particulate collections. The text includes scalar, beam-like and general electromagnetic treatment of light. A brief statistical description of four fundamental experiments relating to random light: spatial and temporal field interference, intensity interferometry and phase conjugation, is also included in order to relate the analytical descriptions with practical observations.Rigorous mathematical methods for statistical manipulation of light sources useful for remote shaping of its various average properties, enhanced image resolution, optimized transmission in random media and for other applications are introduced. For illustration of efficient ways for manipulation of light polarization the generalized Stokes-Mueller calculus is applied for description of interaction of beam-like fields with classic and currently popular devices of polarization optics, including a spatial light modulator.Random light plays a special role in the image formation process. Three imaging modalities including the classic intensity-based system with structured source correlations, the polarization-based imaging system and the ghost interference approach are discussed in detail.Theoretical aspects of potential scattering of light from weakly scattering media are considered under a very broad range of assumptions: scalar/electromagnetic incident light, deterministic/random light/media, single/particulate media. Then, problems and methods in light characterization on interaction with extended, turbulent-like natural media, such as the Earth's atmosphere, oceans and soft bio-tissues that are currently widely used for communication, remote sensing and imaging purposes in these media, are provided.

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The book is based on lecture notes of a course 'from elementary number theory to an introduction to matrix theory' given at the Technion to gifted high school students. It is problem based, and covers topics in undergraduate mathematics that can be introduced in high school through solving challenging problems. These topics include Number theory, Set Theory, Group Theory, Matrix Theory, and applications to cryptography and search engines.

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Often overlooked or trampled underfoot as pests, insects in fact dominate the animal kingdom by sheer number — more than half of all animal species on the planet are insect species. Do you know which insect babies look nothing like their parents? Or why ants cultivate special relationships with aphids and treehoppers? Get ready for the buzz about bees and marvel at master aviator the monarch butterfly. From the creepy cockroach to the fascinating orchid mantis, our insect representatives will wow you with their winged or leggy exploits!The World of Science comics series engages, educates and entertains children, imparting scientific facts, while nurturing the love of Science through dynamic, full-colour comics. All topics covered are in line with the Singapore primary Science syllabus and the Cambridge primary Science curriculum, and also offer beyond-the-syllabus insights designed to stretch inquiring young minds.This book aligns with the following syllabi:

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Birds come in a dazzling array of sizes, shapes and colours, with abilities and behaviour worth making a song and dance about! Do you know how hornbills make a home? Or why sparrows hop? Get ready to admire the peacock's stunning plumage, glide with the wandering albatross and dive with penguins! From the everyday to the exotic, here are just some awesome representatives from this animal group that comprises more than 10,000 species worldwide.The World of Science comics series engages, educates and entertains children, imparting scientific facts, while nurturing the love of Science through dynamic, full-colour comics. All topics covered are in line with the Singapore primary Science syllabus and the Cambridge primary Science curriculum, and also offer beyond-the-syllabus insights designed to stretch inquiring young minds.This book aligns with the following syllabi:

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The Dark Side of Healthcare draws uncomfortable lessons from over 300 case studies of events that occurred in the healthcare sector. Health services have many skilled and dedicated professionals but there is a dark side that cannot be ignored. The unthinkable has happened and might have been prevented.The case studies from many countries include serial killers with a health background, drugs and medical devices that proved to be dangerous, negligent and poor clinical practices, as well as incompetent and weak management that led to failing hospitals and harm to patients. There are also corruption cases, accidents at work, and cases involving the sexual exploitation of children. Politicians' early responses to COVID-19 and the subsequent missteps are also scrutinised. Many of the errors and omissions that led to patient harm have been repeated.This book is not an attack on health services or health professionals. Instead, it is a search for ways of making health delivery safer for patients and staff who deliver care often in challenging circumstances. Its focus is learning rather than blame.

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This book honors the remarkable science and life of Shoucheng Zhang, a condensed matter theorist known for his work on topological insulators, the quantum Hall effect, spintronics, superconductivity, and other fields. It contains the contributions displayed at the Shoucheng Zhang Memorial Workshop held on May 2-4, 2019 at Stanford University.

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Birds come in a dazzling array of sizes, shapes and colours, with abilities and behaviour worth making a song and dance about! Do you know how hornbills make a home? Or why sparrows hop? Get ready to admire the peacock's stunning plumage, glide with the wandering albatross and dive with penguins! From the everyday to the exotic, here are just some awesome representatives from this animal group that comprises more than 10,000 species worldwide.The World of Science comics series engages, educates and entertains children, imparting scientific facts, while nurturing the love of Science through dynamic, full-colour comics. All topics covered are in line with the Singapore primary Science syllabus and the Cambridge primary Science curriculum, and also offer beyond-the-syllabus insights designed to stretch inquiring young minds.This book aligns with the following syllabi:

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Enigma of the Skies is a joint endeavor by a scientist and a photographer to present to readers everything there is to know about auroras in an easy-to-understand matter. It explains the phenomena and describes how to predict when auroras occur using simple physics alongside a collection of beautiful photos taken both from Earth and from space.

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'This is a book that required a great many research hours, the kind of volume you may be glad someone took the time to compile.'The Quarterly Review of Biology This is the ultimate guide to the life and work of Charles Darwin. The result of decades of research through a vast and daunting literature which is hard for beginners and experts alike to navigate, it brings together widely scattered facts including very many unknown to even the most ardent Darwin aficionados. It includes hundreds of new discoveries and corrections to the existing literature. It provides the most complete summaries of his publications, manuscripts, lifetime itinerary, finances, personal library, friends and colleagues, opponents, visitors to his home, anniversaries, hundreds of flora, fauna, monuments and places named after him and a host of other topics. Also included are the most complete lists (iconographies) ever created of illustrations of the Beagle, over 1000 portraits of Darwin, his wife and home as well as all known Darwin photographs, stamps and caricatures. The book is richly illustrated with 350 images, most previously unknown.

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This definitive volume will provide the reader with up to date information and the most recent science of the fast-evolving area of nanobiotherapeutic-based blood substitutes. Long studied, there are recent updates that make their use in patients more promising, and with one product approved for human use, many more in the pipeline. These include 2nd generations and even third generation ones, the later with enhancement of red blood cell functions. In addition, there are carefully written and referenced updates on the recent history and products in the field, complete with pathophysiologic and pharmacologic studies to validate and verify the efficacy and safety of many of these new products.

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Sports analytics has gathered tremendous momentum as one of the most dynamic fields. Diving deep into the numbers of sports can be game changing or simply a fun exercise for fans. How do you get in the game with numbers? What questions can be explored? What actionable insights can be gleaned?Do you like sports? This book will detail ways to analyze athletics to gain insight that can otherwise be obscured. Like math? You'll find many mathematical topics not involving sports. You'll also see how sports analytics can train you broadly in mathematics.From coaching at the highest levels to national media broadcasts, analytics are becoming increasingly indispensable. Dive into the numbers behind soccer to basketball to baseball to boxing to swimming, dive into the numbers. Learn how to get in the game with sports and mathematics.

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This is a self-contained book that covers the standard topics in introductory analysis and that in addition constructs the natural, rational, real and complex numbers, and also handles complex-valued functions, sequences, and series. The book teaches how to write proofs. Fundamental proof-writing logic is covered in Chapter 1 and is repeated and enhanced in two appendices. Many examples of proofs appear with words in a different font for what should be going on in the proof writer's head. The book contains many examples and exercises to solidify the understanding. The material is presented rigorously with proofs and with many worked-out examples. Exercises are varied, many involve proofs, and some provide additional learning materials.

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This set of lecture notes, written for those who are unfamiliar with mathematics and programming, introduces the reader to important concepts in the field of machine learning. It consists of three parts. The first is an overview of the history of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science, and also includes case studies of well-known AI systems. The second is a step-by-step introduction to Azure Machine Learning, with examples provided. The third is an explanation of the techniques and methods used in data visualization with R, which can be used to communicate the results collected by the AI systems when they are analyzed statistically. Practice questions are provided throughout the book.

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This book shows the impact of the recent trade tensions between China and the US on the world trade order, and how parties have reached a deal (so called 'phase one', January 2020), which could lead to a more comprehensive agreement, and the consequences of these 'adjustments' in shaping new equilibriums.After 40 years, China has transformed into an economic superpower, which could now rival the US. This has evoked some concerns, and put the US in an uncomfortable position, as the US views the rise of China as a threat to its predominance and interests. However, China's development and its increasing economic power, which is a direct consequence of the ongoing reform process, is unstoppable.The confrontation between China and the US will favor Chinese expansion into the EU not only because the EU offers a more receptive environment for Chinese Foreign Direct Investment, but also because the EU and China have more in common if we consider the Belt And Road Initiative and the new bilateral investment agreement which is under negotiation. The EU, not only represents the final destination of the BRI, but also a more logical and convenient trade partner for China.The shift of Chinese attention toward the EU will also change the equilibrium between China, the EU and the US, bring forth the negotiation of new trade agreements, and move the entire international community towards a new world trade order and a new multilateralism which might evolve into a tripolarism.

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Cancer deaths per capita have decreased in recent years, but the improvement is attributed to prevention, not treatment. The difficulty in treating cancer may be due to its 'complexity', in the mathematical physics sense of the word. Tumors evolve and spread in response to internal and external factors that involve feedback mechanisms and nonlinear behavior. Investigations of the nonlinear interactions among cells, and between cells and their environment, are crucial for developing a sufficiently detailed understanding of the system's emergent phenomenology to be able to control the behavior. In the case of cancer, controlling the system's behavior will mean the ability to treat and cure the disease. Physicists have been studying various complex, nonlinear systems for many years using a variety of techniques. These investigations have provided insights that allow physicists to make unique contributions towards the treatment of cancer.This interdisciplinary book presents recent advancements in physicists' research on cancer. The work presented in this volume uses a variety of physical, biochemical, mathematical, theoretical, and computational techniques to gain a deeper molecular and cellular understanding of the horrific disease that is cancer.

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This book, Introduction to Islamic Banking and Finance: An Economic Analysis, covers the basic principles of Islamic economics and finance. It discusses both the theory of Islamic economics and finance as well as the applications in the design of instruments of finance as well as Islamic financial institutions. The book enables its readers to gain an understanding of the structures and operations of Islamic banking, Islamic capital market investments, risk management, and taxation for Islamic banking contracts. The book sets forth the following objectives: An overview of the principles of Islamic economics and understand their contrast with mainstream economics. An overview of basic rules of commercial law in Islamic jurisprudence. An overview of basic principles, structures and operations of Islamic banking both in the liability side and asset side operations. An understanding of Islamic capital market instruments and investment management including some unique activities peculiar to Islamic investments, such as stock screening and income purification. An illustration of different Takaful structures, which are applied for risk management by individuals and corporates. Supplementary materials are available to instructors who adopt this textbook for their courses. These include: Testbank PowerPoint Slides Self-Assessment Questions (SAQ) Answer Key

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Corporate purpose has become a global phenomenon in recent years. Increasingly, businesses are expected to 'produce profitable solutions to the problems of people and planet, and not to profit from producing problems for people or planet' (World Economic Forum). However, the literature on how companies can build purpose into their corporate DNA is still very nascent.This book, first of its kind, focuses on how companies in Asia are building purpose into their journey. It contains case studies of companies and their current journey to become more purpose driven, why they do it, and how they did it.

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Volume 2 applies the linear algebra concepts presented in Volume 1 to optimization problems which frequently occur throughout machine learning. This book blends theory with practice by not only carefully discussing the mathematical under pinnings of each optimization technique but by applying these techniques to linear programming, support vector machines (SVM), principal component analysis (PCA), and ridge regression. Volume 2 begins by discussing preliminary concepts of optimization theory such as metric spaces, derivatives, and the Lagrange multiplier technique for finding extrema of real valued functions. The focus then shifts to the special case of optimizing a linear function over a region determined by affine constraints, namely linear programming. Highlights include careful derivations and applications of the simplex algorithm, the dual-simplex algorithm, and the primal-dual algorithm. The theoretical heart of this book is the mathematically rigorous presentation of various nonlinear optimization methods, including but not limited to gradient decent, the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions, Lagrangian duality, alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), and the kernel method. These methods are carefully applied to hard margin SVM, soft margin SVM, kernel PCA, ridge regression, lasso regression, and elastic-net regression. Matlab programs implementing these methods are included.

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This book is a superposition of two distinct narratives: the first is historical, discussing the evolution of astronomical knowledge since the dawn of civilizations; the second is scientific, conveying mathematical and physical content of each advancement. Great scientists of antiquity, Middle Ages and modern times until the 18th century, are presented along with their discoveries, through short biographies and anecdotes. Special care is taken to explain their achievements using mathematical and physical concepts of their time, with modern perspective added only when ancient methodology is too cumbersome or its language hardly understandable to contemporary readers.The book conveys a lot of astronomical facts and data in a pleasant and accessible manner. Almost all findings and discoveries made in ancient times are followed by simple mathematical exercises using basic knowledge, so that the reader can check the assertions himself. The book contains a lot of inedited illustrations. Geometrical schemes are given extra attention to make the examples clear and understandable. The language is simple and accessible to the young audience.

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Regional Economics: Fundamental Concepts, Policies, and Institutions is a unique and unconventional economics textbook which emphasizes the role of 'space' in economics and highlights the importance of non-economic factors particularly the role of institutions in regional development. It also presents the approach on how to evaluate regional development performance based on economic, social, and environmental considerations, which is the organizing principle for meeting people-oriented development and sustainable development goals. Other essential concepts such as 'regional science' and 'spatial economics' are also explored in this book.Why activities tend to be spatially concentrated and can get more intensified despite efforts to disperse them toward other regions? Why infrastructure development intended to increase activities and improve the population's welfare can produce the opposite outcome of greater interregional inequality? What is the role of regional and national policies in affecting growth incentives, and how non-economic factors such as institutions and the quality of local leaders can make a difference in welfare achievement? Addressing these questions allows readers to better understand the various phenomena in the actual development process.

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This is an introductory text and laboratory manual to be used primarily in undergraduate courses. It is also useful for graduate students and research scientists who require an introduction to the theory and methods of nanopore sequencing. The book has clear explanations of the principles of this emerging technology, together with instructional material written by experts that describes how to use a MinION nanopore instrument for sequencing in research or the classroom.At Harvard University the book serves as a textbook and lab manual for a university laboratory course designed to intensify the intellectual experience of incoming undergraduates while exploring biology as a field of concentration. Nanopore sequencing is an ideal topic as a path to encourage students about the range of courses they will take in Biology by pre-emptively addressing the complaint about having to take a course in Physics or Maths while majoring in Biology. The book addresses this complaint by concretely demonstrating the range of topics — from electricity to biochemistry, protein structure, molecular engineering, and informatics — that a student will have to master in subsequent courses if he or she is to become a scientist who truly understands what his or her biology instrument is measuring when investigating biological phenomena.

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'Rapoport has written a remarkable family memoir about growing up in the loftiest of Soviet Kremlin medical circles, where her father (Yakov Rapoport) was a distinguished pathologist, a man of scientific brilliance, technical expertise, great humor, and even greater courage during the rule of Joseph Stalin, around whom many suffered violent and mysterious deaths. The author's tone is lively, direct, humorous, and bluntly honest about her family and the rarified scientific and political circles in which they lived and worked. She reveals the heights of greatness that brilliant Jews could attain under the Soviet system, and also the discriminatory prejudice and harms, including threats and likelihood of arrest, torture, and death, that they experienced under Stalin and his successors … This marvelous book is an accessible work of important historical memory and warm scholarly and personal analysis. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.'CHOICEThis manuscript offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into some extraordinary moments of 20th century Russia. In a series of entrancing stories, the book demonstrates the disastrous consequences of a totalitarian regime's intervention in medicine and medical science. The narration is based on first-hand accounts the author gathered in conversations with her father, a world-renowned pathologist, and family friends, members of the Soviet intellectual elite.As one of the leading pathologists in the country, the author's father participated in many dramatic events that were hidden from the general public. The author describes Stalin's revenge on his doctors and the fabrication of the 'Doctors' Plot'; the thrilling story of the Moscow Brain Institute; the mysterious circumstances of the death of Stalin's second wife, Nadezhda Alliluyeva; the outbreak of plague in the center of Moscow and the NKVD's approach to curbing an epidemic; the fraught drama associated with the death and autopsy of the 'father' of the H-bomb, Andrey Sakharov; and the world's first attempt at cancer biotherapy.In the Afterward entitled A Different Globe the author depicts the difficult and sometimes hilarious process of her family's adjustment to their new life in America.A number of TV programs, documentaries, and movies were shot in the author's Moscow apartment by Russian, European, and American media and movie companies.

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Sydney Brenner was born in South Africa and educated at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Medicine and Science). He then moved to Oxford and received a D.Phil in 1952, before joining the MRC Unit in the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge in 1956. His various accomplishments include serving as the Director of MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, founding the Molecular Science Institute in Berkeley, holding the position of Distinguished Professor at the Salk Institute, La Jolla. And during his last years, Sydney Brenner played a key role in shaping research and development in the biomedical sector in Singapore as A*Star Senior Fellow.He was one of the greatest biologists of the 20th century and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2002 for his pioneering work in the field of molecular biology. He was also known for his boundless curiosity, sharp intellect and courage to speak with clarity and characteristic wit as evident in this delightful book which is a compilation of the columns that he wrote for Current Biology in the late '90s.

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In the field of financial risk management, the 'sell side' is the set of financial institutions who offer risk management products to corporations, governments, and institutional investors, who comprise the 'buy side'. The sell side is often at a significant advantage as it employs quantitative experts who provide specialized knowledge. Further, the existing body of knowledge on risk management, while extensive, is highly technical and mathematical and is directed to the sell side.This book levels the playing field by approaching risk management from the buy side instead, focusing on educating corporate and institutional users of risk management products on the essential knowledge they need to be an intelligent buyer. Rather than teach financial engineering, this volume covers the principles that the buy side should know to enable it to ask the right questions and avoid being misled by the complexity often presented by the sell side.Written in a user-friendly manner, this textbook is ideal for graduate and advanced undergraduate classes in finance and risk management, MBA students specializing in finance, and corporate and institutional investors. The text is accompanied by extensive supporting material including exhibits, end-of-chapter questions and problems, solutions, and PowerPoint slides for lecturers.

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