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Challenges and Solutions to China’s Modernization Process (China Insights)
by Fang CaiFocusing on these developing problems and growing troubles, this book mainly discusses economic growth issues related to demographic transition, as well as livelihood issues derived from them and closely related to policy logic. It aims to make theoretical analysis and provide necessary international experience and lessons and put forward targeted policy advice. This book proposes a three-pronged pattern of competition policy, industrial policy, and social policy to achieve productivity improvement and innovation momentum; gives full play to China's super-large market advantages, attractiveness and negotiating position; and promotes each other through domestic and international dual cycles to achieve a higher level of development.
Handbook on Radiation Environment, Volume 1: Sources, Applications and Policies
by Dinesh Kumar AswalThis handbook provides a comprehensive review of radiation present in the environment, its sources, dose measurement techniques, exposures in natural and man-made radiation environments, policies governing radiation safety, societal applications of radiation technology, radiological and nuclear events, preparedness, response, and mitigation of radiation emergencies. It covers natural and man-made radiation environment with an emphasis on renewed interest in nuclear energy as a clean and green source of power generation. Additionally, it reviews various approaches to understand the fate and behaviour of radionuclides in the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. It also presents nuclear technology's diverse applications, from diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine to materials modifications and sustainable waste management strategies and the role of ionizing radiation in ensuring food security and safety. The handbook also highlights the existing (internationally adopted) radiation protection policies, which are originated from linear-no-threshold (LNT) model of dose-response characteristics. The scientific basis of LNT-model and its limitations at low doses prompts a revision of the exiting radiation protection policies for better utilization of the benefits of ionizing radiation. The handbook serves as a comprehensive resource for students, academicians, scientists, engineers, and policymakers interested in seeking an in-depth knowledge of radiation and the multifaceted applications of radiation technology while protecting human health and the environment.
Climate Emergency in the Philippines: Impacts and Imperatives for Urgent Policy Action (Disaster Risk Reduction)
by Kristoffer B. Berse Juan M. Pulhin Antonio G. M. La ViñaThis book provides a snapshot of the manifestations of the climate emergency in the Philippines from a wide array of disciplines including physical sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, management, and law. Researchers and faculties at the University of the Philippines contributed to this compilation, where each chapter provides policymakers and the public a clear picture of why climate change must be confronted with a sense of urgency and near-desperation.Divided into three main parts, the first one zeroes in on climate-vulnerable sectors such as water, food and agriculture, health, and coastal communities in the Philippines to introduce readers to the current pressing impacts of the climate emergency. The second part presents case studies of local experiences from the country’s three island regions, namely, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and it situates the readers in different environments and contexts. The third part features transdisciplinary responses to the climate emergency, including salient challenges in relation to planning, financing, communication, and education. The concluding chapter highlights eight areas for action to tackle the climate emergency. Each chapter comes with an overview and a Summary for Policymakers, which provides clear guidance for action to be taken by both local and national policymakers.
Proceedings of CIBv 2023: Civil Engineering and Buildings Services (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering #510)
by Ioan Tuns Radu Muntean Dorin Radu Christiana Cazacu Teofil GălățanuThis book gathers the proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Civil Engineering and Buildings Services (CIBv), held in Brașov, Romania on November 2-3, 2023. It covers highly diverse topics such as structural analysis and optimization, concrete, steel and timber structures, computer aided design of structures, railways, roads and bridges, geotechnics and foundations, experimental methods in the investigation of structures, new and improved building materials, risk assessment of natural hazards, advanced energy design for HVAC installations, energy performance of buildings, and efficient buildings. Written by leading researchers and engineers, and selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, the contributions highlight numerous exciting ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaborations.
Living Apart Together Transnationally (LATT) Couples: Promoting Mental Health and Intimacy
by Rashmi SinglaThis book provides deep insight into intimacy and distance in the complex, globalised world through the newly coined concept of couples living apart together transnationally (LATT). Based on a review of the past four decades’ seminal studies and narratives from a qualitative empirical study, including both heterosexual and same-sex couples, it shows intimacy can be maintained without geographical proximity. The book has a rich, layered, and nuanced exploration of LATT couples' experiences of relationship maintenance across distance and time through diverse ways, such as digital emotions, online sexual activity, and meaning–making through spirituality, which challenge existing Eurocentric conceptualisations of intimacy and relationships. It also reveals an array of “good practices” for relationship maintenance across countries, which can inspire other couples and practitioners. Thus, the book is an important resource, not only for academics in the disciplines of psychology, anthropology, cultural studies, family science, sociology, migration, and communication but particularly useful for practitioners dealing with couple relationships, such as counselors, social workers, and mental health advisors. It is also relevant for international organizations and multinational corporations working with couples living apart together transnationally.“The implications of this book for ‘how we live now’ are clear – in a more closely connected and mobile world, the possibility of living our most intimate relationships across distance will affect increasing numbers of us… the book’s informative, theoretical, and practical messages have valuable lessons for many of us now and in the future.”Dr Lucy Williams,University of Kent, the UK· “Living Apart Together Transnationally (LATT) Couples: Promoting mental health and intimacy” gives us insights into the everyday lives of couples living apart together (LAT) in a contemporary world characterized by globalisation, and pandemics that have affected border controls and migration policies in different countries. Rashmi Singla invites us to challenge the way we understand intimate relationships that are connected to physical proximity and provides us with innovative ways to maintain emotional and physical intimacy despite geographical separation. Sayaka Osanami TörngrenAssociate Professor of International Migration and Ethnic Relations, Malmö University, SwedenDr. Rashmi Singla’s book “Living Apart Together Transnationally” addresses a very important problem many modern couples encounter living apart in different countries. The increasing globalization of the job market and mass migration in the past four decades have made this topic more important than ever before. However, research about love and life in such conditions is still limited. The research presented in this book reveals some new qualitative research findings about how partners maintain health and intimacy in such challenging conditions. This book presents novel and invaluable research for scholars in the area of love and couple relationships. Victor Karandashev, Ph. D.,Professor of Aquinas College, Michigan, The U.S.A.Dr. Rashmi Singla's work, 'Living Apart Together Transnationally (LATT),' stands as a profoundly empirical exploration of long-distance couples spanning international borders. The book provides captivating revelations into the lives, intimacies, and spiritual dimensions of such relationships. Offering an interdisciplinary approach, it establishes a robust groundwork for further investigations in this emerging field. Lise Paulsen Galal, PhD, Associate Professor in Intercultural Studies, Roskilde University, Denmark.How important is proximity in intimate relationships when partners live apart in different countries? This question sits at the core of this timely book, which offers new insights, in part
Advances in Microelectronics, Embedded Systems and IoT: Proceedings of 8th International Conference on Microelectronics, Electromagnetics and Telecommunications (ICMEET 2023) (Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering #1156)
by V. V. S. S. S. Chakravarthy Vikrant Bhateja Jaume Anguera Shabana Urooj Anumoy GhoshThe book discusses the latest developments and outlines future trends in the fields of microelectronics, electromagnetics, and telecommunication. It contains original research works presented at the International Conference on Microelectronics, Electromagnetics and Telecommunication (ICMEET 2023), organized by Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Mizoram, India, during 6–7 October 2023. The book is divided into two volumes, and it covers papers written by scientists, research scholars, and practitioners from leading universities, engineering colleges, and R&D institutes from all over the world and shares the latest breakthroughs in and promising solutions to the most important issues facing today’s society.
Monetary Policy Implementation: Exploring the 'New Normal' in Central Banking
by Angelo BaglioniThis book addresses the implementation of monetary policy (MP) and focuses on the operations used by the central banks to implement their policies: the so-called operational framework of MP. The operational framework has become of paramount importance in the last fifteen years, due to the profound transformations taking place in this period. The financial crisis, started in August 2007, has rapidly changed the way in which MP is implemented around the world. Further, innovations have been introduced to address other crises in the following years: a new set of “unconventional” instruments have been adopted, like the large-scale purchases of private and government securities and the long-term refinancing operations. The balance sheets of central banks have increased by huge amounts. The recent surge of inflation has induced several central banks to exit those exceptional policies. However, instead of going back to the traditional “interest rate steering” approach, they are going towards a “new normal” that combines some features of that approach with others inherited from the “quantitative easing” experience. The book therefore addresses the following questions: Which are the common stylized patterns of the unconventional MP across the different countries? Did the economic profession work out a theoretical framework within which to place the unconventional MP? Which are the issues related to the exit strategy from unconventional MP? Which are the main features of the operational framework under the “new normal” approach? This book answers these questions by looking at the experiences of the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve System alongside other central banks, and providing some original modelling and empirical evidence, which will be of interest to academics, researchers in banking and finance, policy makers, and practitioners in the financial industry.
Italian Contributions to Planetary Astronomy: From the Discovery of Ceres to Pluto's Orbit (Historical & Cultural Astronomy)
by Ileana ChinniciThis book describes the most important contributions of Italian astronomers to the development of planetary astronomy during the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. This journey through what may be regarded as the golden era of Italian astronomy commences with the discovery of Ceres, the first asteroid, now classified as a dwarf planet, and culminates in the role played by the Padua Observatory in calculating Pluto’s orbit in the 1930s. Along the way, a wealth of information is provided on the discovery of many comets and asteroids, early spectroscopic observations, drawings of planets and comets, calculations of orbits and ephemerides, and much more. The contributions of such famous figures as Giovanni Schiaparelli, Giovanni Battista Donati, Angelo Secchi, and Annibale De Gasparis are fully explained. Many of the described results are still of interest for modern astronomy, and the book appeals to a wide readership, including scholars, historians, astronomers, and the general public.
Value Added Products From Food Waste
by Elsa Cherian Baskar GurunathanThe rapid increase in industrial processes for the preparation and processing of various food products have resulted in the creation of large quantities of waste. These food wastes contain large amounts of nutrients which can be further converted into useful products, making byproduct technology increasingly important.Byproducts produced from various agro-based industries like cereals, fruits, vegetable processing, fish, meat and poultry can be converted into beneficial products. For instance, cereal and legume processing produces large quantities of wastes which can result in environmental problems affecting air, soil and water quality. These wastes can be efficiently utilized and converted into value added products such as bioethanol, butanol, biohydrogen, biogas, biocoal, industrially treasured enzymes, biofertilizer, proteins and organic acids. Value Added Products From Food Waste covers waste management techniques utilized for managing raw materials in the food industry in an efficient way, recovering and reusing waste or neutralizing unwanted components. Chapters focus on the latest technologies and efficient management systems in all areas of food processing that make this process economical and minimize the hazards caused by the deposition of waste. From the dairy industry to cereals to fruits and vegetables to fish, each aspect of the food industry is examined with an eye for how to utilize food waste, transforming these wastes into value added products.
Machine Learning for Environmental Noise Classification in Smart Cities (Synthesis Lectures on Engineering, Science, and Technology)
by Ali Othman AlbajiWe present a Machine Learning (ML) approach to monitoring and classifying noise pollution. Both methods of monitoring and classification have been proven successful. MATLAB and Python code was generated to monitor all types of noise pollution from the collected data, while ML was trained to classify these data. ML algorithms showed promising performance in monitoring the different sound classes such as highways, railways, trains and birds, airports and many more. It is observed that all the data obtained by both methods can be used to control noise pollution levels and for data analytics. They can help decision making and policy making by stakeholders such as municipalities, housing authorities and urban planners in smart cities. The findings indicate that ML can be used effectively in monitoring and measurement. Improvements can be obtained by enhancing the data collection methods. The intention is to develop more ML platforms from which to construct a less noisy. The second objective of this study was to visualize and analyze the data of 18 types of noise pollution that have been collected from 16 different locations in Malaysia. All the collected data were stored in Tableau software. Through the use of both qualitative and quantitative measurements, the data collected for this project was then combined to create a noise map database that can help smart cities make informed decisions.
Why Do Banks Fail and What to Do About It: The Role of Risk Management, Governance, Accounting, and More (Contributions to Finance and Accounting)
by Nordine Abidi Bruno Buchetti Samuele Crosetti Ixart Miquel-FloresBanks play a crucial role in the global economy, yet they are vulnerable to failures that can have catastrophic effects. Key questions arise: What causes bank failures? What drives these failures? Can we avoid a banking crisis? What happens when a bank fails?This book explores the causes, consequences, and potential prevention of banking crises. It begins by examining the fundamental roles of banks in the economic system, focusing on their intermediary functions like liquidity provision, payment management, asset transformation, and borrower oversight. The book then delves into the challenges facing the banking sector, including cyber threats, climate change, and geopolitical instabilities.The second chapter addresses the primary risks banks face, such as liquidity, credit, market, interest rate, IT, and environmental risks, and how these contribute to banking failures. Chapter three shifts focus to financial statements, contrasting those of commercial and investment banks with non-financial companies, and discusses the impact of creative accounting in recent banking collapses.Governance issues and their role in banking failures are the focus of chapter four, highlighting the crucial need for effective risk monitoring by bank directors. The final chapter illustrates the process of bank resolution and the evolving strategies of resolution authorities in ensuring bank stability. Targeted at researchers, regulators, and practitioners, this book comprehensively covers the drivers of banking failures, regulatory improvement suggestions, and real-world case studies. It emphasizes the importance of banks in today’s economy, their unique risks, and the aftermath of their failure, aiming to provide a threefold contribution to understanding and managing banking crises.
Winter Brides: A Year of Weddings Novella Collection (A Year of Weddings Novella)
by Denise Hunter Deborah Raney Betsy St. AmantCozy up by the fireplace for three heartwarming stories of love and weddings in the wintertime.The honor of your presence is requested at three winter weddings . . .A December Bride by Denise HunterWhen Layla O'Reilly and Seth Murphy make their engagement public, she knows it's only to convince a major client that she's high-society enough to work for his agency. Seth has secretly loved Layla for years, but she&’s never given him the time of day. For Layla, this engagement of convenience is the chance to save her career. And for Seth, it's the chance to finally win her heart.A January Bride by Deborah RaneyNovelist Madeleine Houser arranges a temporary office in a local bed and breakfast to escape the distracting renovations on her own house. Although she's never laid eyes on the inn's owner, an unlikely friendship blossoms between them as they leave daily notes for each other, and before long, Maddie finds herself falling for her mysterious host—a man likely many years her senior—and a man she's never even met.A February Bride by Betsy St. AmantHistory repeats itself when Allie Andrews escapes the church on her wedding day—wearing the same wedding dress passed down for generations of women in her family, all women with histories of failed marriages. Allie loves Marcus but fears she's destined to repeat her family's mistakes. When thrown unexpectedly together for a wedding months later, Allie and Marcus discover their own story might be far from over.
Indescribable Atlas Adventures: An Explorer's Guide to Geography, Animals, and Cultures Through God's Amazing World (Indescribable Kids)
by Louie GiglioWith more than 50 infographic maps, this illustrated world atlas for kids from bestselling author Louie Giglio will stretch your children's understanding of the world as they discover more about God, science, and His amazing world!Indescribable Atlas Adventures offers a self-guided tour for your favorite explorer throughout the seven continents and over 50 countries. Easy-to-read maps, more than 1,500 facts, and a world map that helps kids identify each continent and country will help your child to think globally and discover new insights into God's incredible creation. Each map includesan overview of each country's population, languages, and prominent features;key facts about the country's capital cities; neighboring countries; and the national bird, tree, and dish;notable people and their amazing achievements;the country's terrain, climate, wildlife, contributions to space exploration, cultural hallmarks, and Christian faith traditions; andbiblical and inspirational pieces, like devotional thoughts, prayers, and Bible verses that highlight how amazing God and His world are.Indescribable Atlas Adventures is for ages 6 to 10 and spotlights several fascinating ecosystems, like the Sahara, Amazon, and Great Barrier Reef. This book has a large trim size to help kids explore fun details on each page and is a perfect "my first atlas of the world" gift for curious kids.Check out these other books from Pastor Louie's Indescribable Kids series, which has sold more than a million copies:IndescribableHow Great Is Our GodThe Wonder of CreationIndescribable for Little OnesIndescribable Activity Book for Kids
Psychologie der Persönlichkeit
by Franz J. Neyer Jens B. AsendorpfDieser Lehrbuch-Klassiker der Differenziellen Psychologie und Persönlichkeitspsychologie bietet alles, was Studierende und Lehrende für das Studium benötigen: Das gesamte Prüfungswissen anschaulich und lernfreundlich aufbereitet, vielfältige Online-Zusatzmaterialien auf www.lehrbuch-psychologie.springer.com zum Lernen und Lehren und praxisnahe Bezüge zu Alltagsleben, Gesellschaft und Berufswelt. – Wer ist ein guter Partner? Wie wird interkulturelles Training gestaltet? Wie wirkt Selbstdarstellung in den neuen Medien? Was ist soziale Kompetenz? – Alles, was den Menschen ausmacht, finden Sie in diesem Buch!
Personality Psychology: A New Perspective
by Janek MusekThis book integratively examines theories and models of the most essential findings of personality psychology with the aim of advancing personality knowledge. Since much empirical research is applied to very specific problems, the larger picture can get lost. Rather, this book starts from a coherent scientific theoretical framework, rather than presenting diverse theories of personality — phenomenological empirical, psychoanalytic behavioral, humanistic and cognitive perspectives — without enough critical examination. In this book, all theories, models and perspectives are reviewed and discussed within a unified theoretical framework of psychology Thus, historically and conceptually different models can be considered by scientific standards. Its insights will be highly relevant to academics, students and professional alike.
Musculoskeletal Injections Manual: Basics, Techniques and Injectable Agents
by Baris Kocaoglu Lior Laver Laura De Girolamo Riccardo CompagnoniThis book presents a comprehensive and updated overview of musculoskeletal injections with biologic and non-biologic injectable agents – a new trend of treatment in orthopaedics and sports medicine.This ESSKA book incorporates internal ongoing debates fostered by ESSKA U45 Committee and ESSKA’s Orthobiologics Initiative (ORBIT), which enroll a broad international group of dedicated clinicians and researchers. The topics covered mirror this fast evolving field which ranges from basic science knowledge to treatment options in sports traumatology. Renowned experts in the field examine and critically discuss each aspect, including existing controversies concerning indications and applications as well as the choice between biologic and non-biologic injections. Clear practical indications, subdivided by anatomical region and supported by a wealth of intra-procedural images, are aimed to support young surgeons in the application of musculoskeletal injections. Written by an international panel of clinicians and researchers, active in the field of orthobiology and sports medicine, this manual is an invaluable reference tool for all those involved in injectional therapies and sports traumatology.
Solving Optimization Problems with the Heuristic Kalman Algorithm: New Stochastic Methods (Springer Optimization and Its Applications #212)
by Rosario ToscanoThis text focuses on simple and easy-to-use design strategies for solving complex engineering problems that arise in several fields of engineering design, namely non-convex optimization problems. The main optimization tool used in this book to tackle the problem of nonconvexity is the Heuristic Kalman Algorithm (HKA). The main characteristic of HKA is the use of a stochastic search mechanism to solve a given optimization problem. From a computational point of view, the use of a stochastic search procedure appears essential for dealing with non-convex problems.The topics discussed in this monograph include basic definitions and concepts from the classical optimization theory, the notion of the acceptable solution, machine learning, the concept of preventive maintenance, and more. The Heuristic Kalman Algorithm discussed in this book applies to many fields such as robust structured control, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, machine learning, reliability, and preference models. This large coverage of practical optimization problems makes this text very useful to those working on and researching systems design. The intended audience includes industrial engineers, postgraduates, and final-year undergraduates in various fields of systems design.
Vegetable Oil-Based Composites: Processing, Properties and Applications (Composites Science and Technology)
by Showkat Ahmad Bhawani Anish Khan Mohmad Nasir Mohmad Ibrahim Mohammad JawaidThis book presents the latest developments in the field of vegetable oil -based composites. It focuses on different vegetable oils such as castor, linseed, corn, soybean, olive, palm, and canola oils;, and fillers from inorganic materials and agricultural residues used in the preparation of vegetable oil -based composites. There are several advantages to vegetable oil-based polymer composites, due to their universal availability, inherent biodegradability, low price, and superb environmental credentials (i.e., low eco-toxicity and low toxicity towards humans). This book will be of is of interest to researchers working in the field of bio-based composite materials for the development of green and sustainable materials.
Dynamic Behavior of Soft and Hard Materials, Volume 2: Proceedings of 13th International Symposium on Plasticity and Impact Mechanics 2022 (Springer Proceedings in Materials #35)
by R. Velmurugan G. Balaganesan Naresh Kakur Krishnan KannyThis book comprises the select peer-reviewed proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Plasticity and Impact Mechanics (IMPLAST) 2022. It aims to provide a comprehensive and broad-spectrum picture of the state-of-the-art research and development in diverse areas, such as constitutive relations, theories of plasticity, stress waves in solids, earthquake loading, high-speed impact problems, fire and blast loading, structural crashworthiness and failure, mechanics of penetration and perforation, among others. The contents focus on aspects of large deformations and failure of materials, including metals, composites, cellular, geomaterials, or concrete, and structures resulting from quasi-static earthquake, fire, impact, or blast loading. This book is a valuable resource for researchers and professionals working in academia and industry in the areas of mechanical, materials, and aerospace engineering.
Islamic Social Finance: Law and Practice in Malaysia
by Sherin Kunhibava Aishath Muneeza Maryam Binti Khalid Zakariya Mustapha Thong Ming SenThis book addresses the growing significance of Islamic social finance as an alternative and sustainable financing approach in the world. With a focus on Malaysia, a global leader in Islamic banking and finance, the topics covered fills the gap in the extant research by providing in-depth coverage of the legal framework surrounding Islamic social finance. Written with students, researchers, and policymakers in mind, it explores the unique features and principles of Islamic social finance, which aims to achieve social objectives alongside financial returns. By examining real-life case studies and digital examples, readers will gain valuable insights into the practical application of Islamic social finance principles. Each chapter concludes with self-review questions, allowing students to assess their understanding and consolidate their knowledge. This book serves as a valuable resource for academics, researchers, and practitioners seeking to explore and implement Islamic social finance principles. With its comprehensive coverage and practical insights, it will will play a crucial role in promoting the understanding and adoption of Islamic social finance for sustainable development.
Africa in the Global Economy: Capital Flight, Enablers, and Decolonial Responses (Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development)
by Gorden MoyoThis book discusses the role played by powerful global institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation, multinational corporations, and the international credit rating agencies in keeping Africa marginalised in the world economy. The book focuses on the intrusive roles of these institutions as enablers and beneficiaries of capital outflows and financial subordination in Africa. Diverging from the official narrative that touts China and the other emerging economies as global reformers that are poised to partner Africa in its fight against financial subjugation, the book instead argues that, like the Western powers, the emerging economies are benefiting prodigiously from a rigged global financial system that keeps Africa as a net creditor to the rest of the world. The book draws its theoretical framework from the repressed heterodox theories including dependency, core-periphery, world systems and Marxist theories as well as the decolonial approach. It concludes with a call for a decolonial African agency that should champion an epistemic rebellion against the neo-liberal and neo-classic economic traditions that have been historically deployed to justify Africa’s subordinated position in the global economic governance. This book comes at moment in time when Africa is ready to become a Rule Maker not a Rule Taker. The analysis Dr. Moyo presents having been in the front line of public policy and international negotiations demonstrate the need for Africa to re-write the rules to foster our own Transformation. Jason Rosario Braganza, Executive Director, African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD)
Advances in Information Retrieval: 46th European Conference on Information Retrieval, ECIR 2024, Glasgow, UK, March 24–28, 2024, Proceedings, Part V (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14612)
by Nazli Goharian Nicola Tonellotto Yulan He Aldo Lipani Graham McDonald Craig Macdonald Iadh OunisThe six-volume set LNCS 14608, 14609, 14609, 14610, 14611, 14612 and 14613 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 46th European Conference on IR Research, ECIR 2024, held in Glasgow, UK, during March 24–28, 2024.The 57 full papers, 18 finding papers, 36 short papers, 26 IR4Good papers, 18 demonstration papers, 9 reproducibility papers, 8 doctoral consortium papers, and 15 invited CLEF papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 578 submissions. The accepted papers cover the state of the art in information retrieval focusing on user aspects, system and foundational aspects, machine learning, applications, evaluation, new social and technical challenges, and other topics of direct or indirect relevance to search.
Spectral Theory of Localized Resonances and Applications
by Youjun Deng Hongyu LiuThis book is devoted to the spectral theory of localized resonances including surface plasmon/polariton resonances, atypical resonances, anomalous localized resonances and interior transmission resonances. Those resonance phenomena arise in different physical contexts, but share similar features. They form the fundamental basis for many cutting-edge technologies and applications including invisibility cloaking and super-resolution imaging. The book presents a systematic and comprehensive treatment on these resonance phenomena and the associated applications in a unified manner from a mathematical and spectral perspective, covering acoustic, electromagnetic and elastic wave scattering.The book can serve as a handy reference book for researchers in this field and it can also serve as a textbook or an inspiring source for postgraduate students who are interested in entering this field.
Joseph Butler: A Preacher for Eighteenth-Century Commercial Society
by Daisuke Arie Masatake Okubo Naoki YajimaThis book is the first English-language monograph about Bishop Joseph Butler (1692–1752) by Japanese scholars. It is an especially interesting and controversial message coming as it does from Japan, a well-developed secular economic state where less than 1% of the population are Christians and opposing the recent trend of curtailing the eighteenth-century political economy into religiosity and theology. This multidisciplinary edited book presents a different and new perspective from the recent work of Oslington et al., which seeks to reduce the political economy of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain to religiosity and theology, triggered by the writings of A. M. C. Waterman. Unlike those works, the present one aims to re-examine the largely forgotten Butler, who was said in the nineteenth century to be the most influential cleric and preacher in the Church of England of the previous century— not just as a clerical ideologue, but mainly as a proto-political economistbefore Adam Smith.In order to achieve this goal, first, the authors clarify that Butler's theory of conscience and probability, which began with passion and selfishness, was created with the development of eighteenth-century commercial society in mind. Second, the manner in which Butler's discourse was directed not at anti-Anglicans or eminent intellectuals, but at the majority of ordinary secular society, is explored. How it was consistent with and defended their sentiments and economic behavior, not only in Analogy but mainly in Fifteen Sermons, is also investigated and explained. Finally, readers see that Butler's antirational grasp of humanity and empiricist epistemology, based on “probability” presented in these inquiries, can in fact be considered a pioneering expression of the methodological premises of modern economics.
Animals and Science Fiction (Palgrave Studies in Animals and Literature)
by Nora Castle Giulia ChampionAnimals and Science Fiction is the first edited collection to be published focusing on the intersection of animal studies and science fiction studies. It offers a broad range of theoretical approaches and primary source texts—including novels, short stories, poetry, film and TV, photography, erotica, video games, and urban planning documents—that explore the ways works of science fiction can transform how we see and interact with nonhuman others. With an eye toward more just multispecies futures, it argues that speculative imaginaries can be pivotal in changing attitudes toward and understandings of nonhuman animals in our world today. Chapters appeal to those interested in biopolitics, posthumanism, new materialism, ecocriticism and the environmental humanities, ocean humanities, postcolonial studies, critical race studies, Indigenous studies, global sf studies, film studies, and food studies. Taken together, the collection works to showcase a diverse and growing field ofscholarly inquiry into animals and science fiction.