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The IMF, Financial Crisis, and Repression of Human Rights
by Bumba Mukherjee Vineeta YadavThis book seeks to answer a number of key questions about the relationship between the IMF, developing states and the impact of financial crises on human rights abuses, including: Why do some but not other IMF-assisted developing states experience the joint outbreak of currency and sudden reversal crises under the Fund’s program?; What are some of the short-term political ramifications of such crises?; Why do human rights violation by governments increase sharply in the wake of twin currency and sudden reversal crisis in some but not all crisis-affected countries?
Cultural Heritage in Japan and Italy: Perspectives for Tourism and Community Development (Creative Economy)
by Nobuko Kawashima Guido FerilliThis edited book represents one of the first scholarly research through an international collaboration project between Japan and Italy to address economic and social values of cultural heritage beyond its inherent—historic, archaeological, or aesthetic—values. Cultural policies in the world have over the decades expanded to include non-cultural purposes such as economic development and social inclusion. Japanese cultural policy for heritage is catching up on this trend: we have seen major shifts of emphasis from preservation for its sake to the utilisation of cultural heritage for the purposes of tourism, place branding, local vitalization and community-building, whilst Italy has long thrived on the economy of heritage tourism and more cases are being seen for urban and regional development with the use of cultural assets. The recent outbreak of Covid-19 and the problem of over-tourism that preceded it have challenged tourism policy and practice in the two countries.This book identifies emerging trends, issues, and problems in such policy shifts. The book breaks a new ground in the bourgeoning studies of tourism, heritage, and cultural policy by adopting an international, inter-disciplinary approach. The chapters on Japan in particular make an original contribution to these fields in the English literature in which discussion of Japan despite its economic and cultural presence on the globe has hitherto been less available.
Grundsätze ordnungsgemäßer Kostenprüfung bei öffentlichen Aufträgen und Zuwendungen (Schriften zu Wirtschaftsprüfung, Steuerlehre und Controlling)
by Tim HinzIn den Anwendungsfeldern, in denen Prüfungen verbindlich vorgeschrieben sind, bestimmen gesetzliche Vorschriften regelmäßig nur die Art der Prüfung, nicht aber den Umfang oder die genaue Prüfungsdurchführung. Um in solchen Fällen die Zuverlässigkeit komplexer Prüfungen zu gewährleisten, haben sich in einigen Anwendungsbereichen Grundsätze herausgebildet. Diese Grundsätze erläutern die Prüfungsziele, legen allgemeine Prüfungsgrundsätze fest und geben damit den Verantwortlichen eine Orientierung für die ordnungsgemäße Prüfungsdurchführung. Trotz der erheblichen Bedeutung, die der Kostenrechnung in vielen Bereichen zukommt, sind vergleichbare Grundsätze für diesen Anwendungsbereich bisher jedoch weitgehend ausgeblieben. Dieses Buch stellt erstmals das aktuelle Vorgehen bei der Kostenprüfung öffentlicher Aufträge und der Prüfung von Zuwendungen auf Kostenbasis dar und zeigt Grundsätze sowie methodische Ansätze auf, die zukünftig zu einer optimierten Prüfung beitragen können. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse und methodischen Ansätze leisten somit einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Verbesserung der Prüfungspraxis.
Sustainable Construction Resources in Geotechnical Engineering: Select Proceedings of CREST 2023 (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering #448)
by Hemanta Hazarika Stuart Kenneth Haigh Babloo Chaudhary Masanori Murai Suman ManandharThis book presents select proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Construction Resources for Environmentally Sustainable Technologies (CREST 2023), and focuses on sustainability, promotion of new ideas and innovations in design, construction and maintenance of geotechnical structures with the aim of contributing towards climate change adaptation and disaster resiliency to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It presents latest research, information, technological advancement, practical challenges encountered, and solutions adopted in the field of geotechnical engineering for sustainable infrastructure towards climate change adaptation. This volume will be of interest to those in academia and industry alike.
Fuzzy Rule-Based Inference: Advances and Applications in Reasoning with Approximate Knowledge Interpolation
by Fangyi Li Qiang ShenThis book covers a comprehensive approach to the development and application of a suite of novel algorithms for practical approximate knowledge-based inference. It includes an introduction to the fundamental concepts of fuzzy sets, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy inference. Collectively, this book provides a systematic tutorial and self-contained reference to recent advances in the field of fuzzy rule-based inference. Approximate reasoning systems facilitate inference by utilizing fuzzy if-then production rules for decision-making under circumstances where knowledge is imprecisely characterized. Compositional rule of inference (CRI) and fuzzy rule interpolation (FRI) are two typical techniques used to implement such systems. The question of when to apply these potentially powerful reasoning techniques via automated computation procedures is often addressed by checking whether certain rules can match given observations. Both techniques have been widely investigated to enhance the performance of approximate reasoning. Increasingly more attention has been paid to the development of systems where rule antecedent attributes are associated with measures of their relative significance or weights. However, they are mostly implemented in isolation within their respective areas, making it difficult to achieve accurate reasoning when both techniques are required simultaneously. This book first addresses the issue of assigning equal significance to all antecedent attributes in the rules when deriving the consequents. It presents a suite of weighted algorithms for both CRI and FRI fuzzy inference mechanisms. This includes an innovative reverse engineering process that can derive attribute weightings from given rules, increasing the automation level of the resulting systems. An integrated fuzzy reasoning approach is then developed from these two sets of weighted improvements, showcasing more effective and efficient techniques for approximate reasoning. Additionally, the book provides an overarching application to interpretable medical risk analysis, thanks to the semantics-rich fuzzy rules with attribute values represented in linguistic terms. Moreover, it illustrates successful solutions to benchmark problems in the relevant literature, demonstrating the practicality of the systematic approach to weighted approximate reasoning.
Advanced Information Networking and Applications: Proceedings of the 38th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA-2024), Volume 5 (Lecture Notes on Data Engineering and Communications Technologies #203)
by Leonard BarolliThis book covers the theory, design and applications of computer networks, distributed computing and information systems. Networks of today are going through a rapid evolution and there are many emerging areas of information networking and their applications. Heterogeneous networking supported by recent technological advances in low-power wireless communications along with silicon integration of various functionalities such as sensing, communications, intelligence and actuations is emerging as a critically important disruptive computer class based on a new platform, networking structure and interface that enable novel, low-cost and high-volume applications. Several such applications have been difficult to realize because of many interconnection problems. To fulfill their large range of applications, different kinds of networks need to collaborate and wired and next-generation wireless systems should be integrated in order to develop high-performance computing solutions to problems arising from the complexities of these networks. This book aims to provide the latest research findings, innovative research results, methods and development techniques from both theoretical and practical perspectives related to the emerging areas of information networking and applications.
Russisch - Deutsch für die Pflege zu Hause: Русско-немецкий разговорник для ухода за пациентами в домашних условиях
by Nina Konopinski-KleinSprachführer für den Pflegealltag Russisch-DeutschDieses übersichtliche Wörterbuch ist ein unverzichtbarer Helfer im Gespräch. Begriffe und einfache Sätze aus dem Alltag werden in beiden Sprachen aufgeführt und erleichtern die Verständigung im Alltag. Einfache Dialoge zu Alltagsthemen wie z.B. Wohlbefinden, Krankheit, Arztbesuch, Haushalt, und Ernährung. Neu in der zweiten Auflage sind Podcasts zum Anhören und Lernen! Aber auch wichtige Fachbegriffe aus der Pflege werden erläutert. Zahlreiche Abbildungen unterstützen das Gespräch und hilfreiche Vokabellisten erleichtern das Lernen neuer Wörter.Empfehlenswert für russische Pflegekräfte und Haushaltshilfen, die in Deutschland, Österreich oder in der Schweiz arbeiten; aber auch Senioren und Angehörige finden darin Hilfen zum Gespräch.Разговорник для повседневных забот русско-немецкийЭтот четко составленный словарь - незаменимый помощник в общении. Термины и простые фразы из повседневной жизни приведены на обоих языках и облегчают общение в повседневной жизни. Простые диалоги на такие повседневные темы, как самочувствие, болезни, посещение врача, домашнее хозяйство и питание. Новинка второго издания - подкасты, которые можно слушать и изучать! Также объясняются важные технические термины из области ухода за больными. Многочисленные иллюстрации поддерживают беседу, а полезные словарные списки облегчают изучение новых слов.Рекомендуется российским сиделкам и домашним помощникам, работающим в Германии, Австрии или Швейцарии; но пожилые люди и родственники также найдут, с кем поговорить.
Fault Tolerant Control of Large Civil Aircraft
by Xingjian Wang Yuwei Zhang Shaoping WangThis book provides a comprehensive analysis of fault tolerant control (FTC) for more-electric civil aircraft. FTC is a crucial approach to enhance the reliability and safety of aircraft in the event of actuator, sensor, or structural failures. Engineers and scientists from diverse disciplines, including aeronautics, electrical, mechanical, and control engineering, have been drawn to research on FTC. This book analyzes the impact of faults on performance degradation in dissimilar redundant actuation systems of civil aircraft and presents the FTC methods to ensure reliable actuation and efficient control. Additionally, this book addresses surface damage issues, such as the loss of elevator, horizontal stabilizer, and rudder, by providing representative FTC methods. The book’s major highlight is its comprehensive and systematic approach to FTC design, making it an ideal resource for readers interested in learning about FTC design for civil aircraft. The book benefits researchers, engineers, and graduate students in the fields of FTC, adaptive control, flight control, etc.
Produktentwicklungsprojekte - Aufbau, Ablauf und Organisation
by Josef Schlattmann Arthur SeibelZiel dieses Handbuchs ist die Vermittlung von nutzbringenden Kenntnissen, Fähigkeiten und Verhaltensweisen, die ein in der Produktentwicklung/Projektleitung verantwortlich tätiger Ingenieur vielfach braucht, die aber in der üblichen Ingenieurausbildung zu wenig Beachtung finden. Sie greifen über das Fachwissen hinaus in den menschlichen Bereich hinein, weil technischen und/oder organisatorischen Schwierigkeiten faktisch immer menschliche Probleme zugrunde liegen.
Intuitively Rational: How We Think and How We Should
by Andrew McGee Charles FosterThis book is about the respective roles of intuition and reasoning in ethics. It responds to a number of well-known philosophers and psychologists, and proposes a new perspective – radical in its moderation. It examines in depth the work of the philosopher Joshua Greene and the psychologist Jonathan Haidt. With the so-called empirical turn in ethics, much work has been done to try to isolate the role of reason and intuition in forming our moral judgements, with Haidt and Greene leading the research programmes and attracting much of the professional and public attention, and many others following. The current view – shared by both camps – is that intuition is largely the driver of our moral judgements – a view summed up in Haidt’s slogan ‘intuition first, strategic reasoning second’. Haidt believes we have to live with this and accept it. Greene does not: he contends that our intuitions, while suitable for the environments in which we evolved, are worthless in the modern, global, technological age, and to avoid ethical disaster we must learn to adopt reason as the arbiter of moral truth. This book steers a middle course between these two positions and is therefore of great interest to philosophers and psychologists alike.
Life Before Death (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by Ann Cartwright Lisbeth Hockey John L. AndersonSince death is an experience which will inevitably be common to us all, we are often surprisingly uninterested in what services are provided for those people, often the elderly and infirm, who are at risk or who are on the point of death. Originally published in 1973, this study describes the last twelve months in the lives of 785 adults. Based mainly on the reports of close relatives, it is concerned with the needs of the dying and the care they receive. This includes the more emotional aspects such as ‘awareness’ of dying and the effects of the death on relatives. The book looks at the part played by hospitals, general practitioners, local authority health and welfare services, and by relatives, friends and neighbours. The views of those who provide these services are also considered. The picture that emerges shows up the gaps in the care that was given to people in the final year of their lives at the time.
Facing Retirement: A Guide for the Middle Aged and Elderly (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by A Country DoctorOriginally published in 1960 and revised in 1964 the blurb for Facing Retirement read:“Mature men and women are not afraid of advancing years. More and more seek to prepare themselves for retirement so that they may then find all the happiness they can.This phase of life is interesting to a widening circle, and in writing this book it was the author’s aim to discuss readably, simply, and from his experience with his patients, most relevant aspects of these later years. It was a pioneer in its approach: any similar books which may follow, if they help to lessen the burden of the elderly and aged which has to be sustained by the younger generations, must be of the highest importance not only to individuals but to the nation.For nearly thirty years the author of this book has had the medical care of over 2,000 people of all ages in a cluster of villages and hamlets at the foot of the Cotswold Hills. He has been chairman or president of the County Association for the Care of old People since its inception in 1952.”Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.
Elderly People, Their Medicines, and Their Doctors (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by Ann Cartwright Christopher SmithIn the late 1980s, an increasing proportion of all prescribed medicines went to people over 65 years of age, not only because they constituted a growing sector of the population but also because their consumption rate, unlike that of younger people was increasing. This increase was therefore a matter for widespread concern which had until now been largely speculative, as no recent national survey had focused on this issue.Originally published in 1988, Ann Cartwright and Christopher Smith looked at the medicines prescribed for, and taken by, a nationally representative sample of elderly people. The experiences and views of both patients (elderly people) and professionals (general practitioners) are examined and related. What is revealed is how much, and how little GPs knew about the social circumstances and medicine taking of their elderly patients. Evaluation of all the prescribed medicines taken shows the extent of elderly people’s knowledge of their medication and identifies duplications, potentially harmful interactions, contraindications, and inappropriate dosages. Recommendations for action to be taken by doctors, pharmacists, medical educators, and elderly people themselves made this book essential reading for all those concerned with the health and welfare of elderly people at the time.
Day Brought Back My Night: Aging and New Vision Loss (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by Stephen Charles AinlayOriginally published in 1989, Day Brought Back My Night explores the lives of people who have lost sight in late life as a result of age-related visual disorders. As life-expectancy in western society has increased, the number of people who fall into this group has grown, yet little had been written on this plight. This major study filled the gap in the literature, and will still be of great value to practitioners, scholars, and students in the fields of social gerontology, medicine, social work, and nursing. Stephen Ainlay surveys the various etiologies of age-related visual disorders and establishes the medical framework of the problem. His primary concern, however, is to understand people’s experience of vision loss, and he makes use of extensive interview data to establish the ways in which people come to terms with their own aging. The stories told here reflect people’s responses to a changing body as well as shifting relationships with friends, family members, medical practitioners, and service providers. They reveal hopes and fears, lost priorities, and new initiatives, relationships that recede and relationships that are newly established. Above all, they comment on the drama that is involved in people’s struggle to find continuity in their lives. In this way, the book is as much an exploration into the problem of identity as it is a study of sensory loss in later life.
Establishing a Geriatric Service (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by Davis CoakleyBy the early 1980s, industrialised countries had experienced a dramatic increase in the number of people who survive into old age. The provision of a high standard of health care for these elderly citizens is one of the major challenges facing health services throughout the world.Originally published in 1982, in this book experts describe the geriatric services in Britain at the time, a country which had pioneered developments in this field over the previous thirty years. Much of the practical knowledge required to establish a service is outlined and the underlying philosophy is also discussed. The material covered includes the historical development of the services, operational policies, the team approach, orthopaedic and psychiatric services for the elderly and the social aspects of care. There is also a chapter dealing with the importance of education and research in this field.Unique in its approach, this book would have been of considerable value to those seeking to establish a geriatric service or to improve an already established service. Today it can be read in its historical context.
Domiciliary Services for the Elderly (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by Liam ClarkeOriginally published in 1984, Domiciliary Services for the Elderly looks at the field of elderly care and particularly domiciliary work from the perspective of social services. Starting with the early influences that helped shape the development of Domiciliary Services for elderly people, the author, a qualified social worker, goes on to look at how the service has developed over the years and where it falls short. Chapters include the role of government policy over time, European comparisons, and training. The final chapter looks to the future and what part domiciliary services might play in the care of our aging population.
Social Gerontology: New Directions (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by Silvana Di GregorioOriginally published in 1987, Social Gerontology presents papers from the British Society of Gerontology annual conference held at the University of Glasgow in September 1986. It shows much of the most innovative research and thinking in social gerontology and will interest a wide range of academics and professionals in the social and health sciences and services, interested in gerontology and the welfare of elderly people.
Independence and the Elderly (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by Malcolm J. FiskIn the 1980s much research into the needs of the elderly was undertaken from the perspective of a ‘sickness’ model, a model which reinforced labels of elderly people as frail, disabled, dependent and economically unproductive. Few studies adopted a positive attitude to ageing and elderly people.Originally published in 1986, reissued here with a new preface, this book helped to redress this imbalance by focusing on the theme of independence, examined particularly from the perspective of current housing and social policies relating to elderly people at the time. The author looks at sheltered housing in detail, including discussion of alarm systems, ‘staying put’ schemes and residential homes. The book was essential reading for academics and practitioners in the health and social welfare fields with a concern for the elderly and the ways in which they could retain a meaningful independence.
Routledge Handbook of Chinese Gender & Sexuality
by Jamie J. Zhao and Hongwei BaoThis Handbook offers a rich survey of topics concerning historical, modern and contemporary Chinese genders and sexualities.Exploring gender and sexuality as key dimensions of China’s modernisation and globalisation, this Handbook effectively situates Chinese gender and sexuality in transnational and transcultural contexts. It also spotlights nonnormative practices and emancipatory potentials within mainstream, heterosexual-dominated and patriarchally structured settings. It serves as a definitive study, research and resource guide for emerging gender and sexuality issues in the Chinese-speaking world. This Handbook covers interdisciplinary methodologies, perspectives and topics, including: History Literature Art Fashion Migration Translation Sex and desire Film and television Digital media Star and fan cultures Fantasies and lives of women and LGBTQ+ groups Social movements Transnational feminist and queer politics Paying acute attention to nonnormative genders and sexualities and emphasising the intersectionality of gender, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity and class, this Handbook offers an essential, field-defining text to Chinese gender and sexuality studies.
Future Autonomous Road Vehicles
by Joseph GiacominThis book provides a comprehensive overview of the past, present and future of autonomous road vehicles for professionals and students.Split into three parts, the first section of the book brings together the key historical developments in autonomous road vehicle design and the primary explorations of the design possibilities from science fiction. This historical analysis draws upon significant test vehicles from history and explores their roles as landmarks in the evolution of the field. In addition, it also reviews the history of science fiction and outlines the key speculations about autonomous road vehicles which emerged from that world. In the second section of the book, Joseph Giacomin introduces five of the most popular future-facing speculative approaches used by designers. In doing so, he identifies the major user-facing challenges which affect ideation, product design, service design and business modelling. In the final part, science fiction prototyping is identified as the speculative approach best suited to autonomous road vehicle application. Connecting theory with practice, Giacomin provides examples of sixteen science fiction prototypes, which cover a comprehensive range of physical, psychological, sociological and ethical design challenges.Written as an accessible guide for design practitioners and students, this book will be of use to those interested in the psychological, sociological and ethical factors involved in automotive design, human-centred design, industrial design and technology.
Echo Murder (Wilde Investigations)
by Laura LaaskoIn this new paranormal mystery from the author of Fallible Justice, an investigator looks into multiple murders—of the same man . . . When private investigator Yannia Wilde returns to the conclave where she grew up—and to the deathbed of her father, the conclave&’s Elderman—she is soon drawn back into the Wild Folk way of life, and into a turbulent relationship with Dearon, her betrothed. Back in London, Tim Wedgebury is surprised when police appear on his doorstep with a story about how he was stabbed in the West End. His body disappeared before the paramedics&’ eyes. Given that Tim is alive and well, the police chalk the first death up to a prank. But when Tim &“dies&” a second time, DI Jamie Manning calls Yannia. To assist with the case, she must return to the life she built in Old London—but as Yannia considers where her loyalties lie, will this trip to the city be her last?
Disability Worlds
by Faye Ginsburg Rayna RappIn Disability Worlds, Faye Ginsburg and Rayna Rapp chronicle and theorize two decades of immersion in New York City’s wide-ranging disability worlds as parents, activists, anthropologists, and disability studies scholars. They situate their disabled children’s lives among the experiences of advocates, families, experts, activists, and artists in larger struggles for recognition and rights. Disability consciousness, they show, emerges in everyday politics, practices, and frictions. Chapters consider dilemmas of genetic testing and neuroscientific research, reimagining kinship and community, the challenges of “special education,” and the perils of transitioning from high school. They also highlight the vitality of neurodiversity activism, disability arts, politics, and public culture. Disability Worlds reflects the authors’ anthropological commitments to recognizing the significance of this fundamental form of human difference. Ginsburg and Rapp’s conversations with diverse New Yorkers reveal the bureaucratic constraints and paradoxes established in response to the disability rights movement, as well as the remarkable creativity of disabled people and their allies who are opening pathways into both disability justice and disability futures.
Geologic Life: Inhuman Intimacies and the Geophysics of Race
by Kathryn YusoffIn Geologic Life, Kathryn Yusoff theorizes the processes by which race and racialization emerged geologically. Examining both the history of geology as a discipline and ongoing mineral and resource extraction, Yusoff locates forms of imperial geology embedded in Western and Enlightenment thought and highlights how it creates anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, and anti-Brown environmental and racial injustices. Throughout, she outlines how the disciplines of geology and geography---and their conventions: surveying, identifying, classifying, valuing, and extracting—established and perpetuated colonial practices that ordered the world and people along a racial axis. Examining the conceptualization of the inhuman as political, geophysical, and paleontological, Yusoff unearths an apartheid of materiality as distinct geospatial forms. This colonial practice of geology organized and underpinned racialized accounts of space and time in ways that materially made Anthropocene Earth. At the same time, Yusoff turns to Caribbean, Indigenous, and Black thought to chart a parallel geologic epistemology of the "earth-bound" that challenges what and who the humanities have chosen to overlook in its stories of the earth. By reconsidering the material epistemologies of the earth as an on-going geotrauma in colonial afterlives, Yusoff demonstrates that race is as much a geological formation as a biological one.
Psychiatric Contours: New African Histories of Madness (Theory in Forms)
by Nancy Rose Hunt & Hubertus BüschelPsychiatric Contours investigates new histories of psychiatry, derangement, and agitated subjectivities in colonial and decolonizing Africa. The volume lets the multivalent term madness broaden perception, well beyond the psychiatric. Many chapters detect the mad or the psychiatric in unhinged persons, frantic collectives, and distressing situations. Others investigate individuals suffering from miscategorization. A key Foucauldian word, vivacity, illuminates how madness aligns with pathology, creativity, turbulence, and psychopolitics. The archives, patient-authored or not, speak to furies and fantasies inside asylums, colonial institutions, decolonizing missions, and slave ships. The frayed edges of politicized deliria open up the senses and optics of psychiatry’s history in Africa far beyond clinical spaces and classification. The volume also proposes fresh concepts, notably the vernacular, to suggest how to work with emic clues in a granular fashion and telescope the psychiatric within histories of madness. With chapters stretching across much of ex-British and ex-French colonial Africa, Psychiatric Contours attends to the words, autobiographies, and hallucinations of the stigmatized and afflicted as well as of the powerful. Expatriate psychiatrists with cameras, prying authorities, fearful missionaries, and colonial anthropologists enter these readings beside patients, asylums, and boarding schools via research on possession “hysteria” and schizophrenia. In brief, this book demonstrates novel ways of writing not only medical history but all subaltern and global histories.Contributors. Hubertus Büschel, Raphaël Gallien, Matthew M. Heaton, Richard Hölzl, Nancy Rose Hunt, Richard C. Keller, Sloan Mahone, Nana Osei Quarshie, Jonathan Sadowsky, Romain Tiquet
New Directions on Hybrid Intelligent Systems Based on Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic, and Optimization Algorithms (Studies in Computational Intelligence #1146)
by Patricia Melin Oscar CastilloThis book contains a collection of papers focused on hybrid intelligent systems based on soft computing techniques. In this book, new directions on the theoretical developments of fuzzy logic, neural networks and optimization algorithms, as well as their hybrid combinations, are offered. In addition, the abovementioned methods are discussed in application areas such as control and robotics, pattern recognition, medical diagnosis, decision-making, prediction and optimization of complex problems. There are a group of papers with the main theme of type-1, type-2 and type-3 fuzzy logic, which basically consists of papers that propose new concepts and algorithms based on type-1, type-2 and type-3 fuzzy logic and their applications. There is also a set of papers that offer theoretical concepts and applications of meta-heuristics in different areas. Another group of papers outlines diverse applications of hybrid intelligent systems in real problems. There are also some papers that presenttheory and practice of neural networks in different applications. Finally, there are papers that offer theory and practice of optimization and evolutionary algorithms in different application areas