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Cloud Computing and Big Data: Technologies, Applications and Security (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #49)
by Mostapha Zbakh Mohammed Essaaidi Pierre Manneback Chunming RongThis book addresses topics related to cloud and Big Data technologies, architecture and applications including distributed computing and data centers, cloud infrastructure and security, and end-user services. The majority of the book is devoted to the security aspects of cloud computing and Big Data. Cloud computing, which can be seen as any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that extends the Internet’s existing capabilities, has gained considerable attention from both academia and the IT industry as a new infrastructure requiring smaller investments in hardware platforms, staff training, or licensing software tools. It is a new paradigm that has ushered in a revolution in both data storage and computation. In parallel to this progress, Big Data technologies, which rely heavily on cloud computing platforms for both data storage and processing, have been developed and deployed at breathtaking speed. They are among the most frequently used technologies for developing applications and services in many fields, such as the web, health, and energy. Accordingly, cloud computing and Big Data technologies are two of the most central current and future research mainstreams. They involve and impact a host of fields, including business, scientific research, and public and private administration. Gathering extended versions of the best papers presented at the Third International Conference on Cloud Computing Technologies and Applications (CloudTech’17), this book offers a valuable resource for all Information System managers, researchers, students, developers, and policymakers involved in the technological and application aspects of cloud computing and Big Data.
Marx on Emancipation and Socialist Goals: Retrieving Marx For The Future (Marx, Engels, And Marxisms Series)
by Robert X. WareThis book responds to the need for a retrieval and renewal of the work of Karl Marx through close philosophical analysis of his publications, manuscripts, and letters — especially those relevant to politics, morality, and the future. This philosophical study stands out because of its two principal features. First, it reviews and develops ideas about the future, though often only briefly discussed by Marx and his commentators, drawn from Marx's work. Second, it focuses on collective matters that are critical for Marx's ideas but rarely investigated and still problematic.Part One introduces Marx with a discussion of emancipation and freedom in community. It then discusses the importance of retrieval and the methodology for promoting it. Part Two is about misunderstandings of Marx's ideas about productive development, division of labour, and organisations. Part Three discusses nations, morality, and democracy, all of which Marx supported. Part Four takes up Marx's significant, but misunderstood, ideas about the future and his relation to the anarchists.
A Political Theory of Post-Truth
by Ignas KalpokasThis book combines political theory with media and communications studies in order to formulate a theory of post-truth, concentrating on the latter’s preconditions, context, and functions in today’s societies. Contrary to the prevalent view of post-truth as primarily manipulative, it is argued that post-truth is, instead, a collusion in which audiences willingly engage with aspirational narratives co-created with the communicators. Meanwhile, the broader meta-framework for post-truth is provided by mediatisation—increasing subjection of a variety of social spheres to media logic and the primacy of media in everyday human activities. Ultimately, post-truth is governed by collective efforts to maximise the pleasure of encountering the world and attempts to set hegemonic benchmarks for such pleasure.
Automatic Speech Recognition of Arabic Phonemes with Neural Networks: A Contrastive Study of Arabic and English (SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology)
by Mohammed DibThis book presents a contrastive linguistics study of Arabic and English for the dual purposes of improved language teaching and speech processing of Arabic via spectral analysis and neural networks. Contrastive linguistics is a field of linguistics which aims to compare the linguistic systems of two or more languages in order to ease the tasks of teaching, learning, and translation. The main focus of the present study is to treat the Arabic minimal syllable automatically to facilitate automatic speech processing in Arabic. It represents important reading for language learners and for linguists with an interest in Arabic and computational approaches.
Chronicling the Golden Age of Astronomy: A History of Visual Observing from Harriot to Moore (Historical & Cultural Astronomy)
by Neil EnglishThe invention of the telescope at the dawning of the 17th century has revolutionized humanity's understanding of the Universe and our place within it. This book traces the development of the telescope over four centuries, as well as the many personalities who used it to uncover brand-new revelations about the Sun, Moon, planets, stars and distant galaxies.Starting with early observers such as Thomas Harriot, Galileo, Johannes Hevelius, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Robert Hooke and Christian Huygens, the book explores how these early observers arrived at essentially correct ideas concerning the objects they studied. Moving into the 18th and 19th centuries, the author describes the increasing sophistication of telescopes both large and small, and the celebrated figures who used them so productively, including the Herschels, Charles Messier, William Lassell and the Earls of Rosse.Many great discoveries were also made with smaller instruments when placed in the capable hands of the Struve dynasty, F.W. Bessel, Angelo Secchi and S.W Burnham, to name but a few. Nor were all great observers of professional ilk. The book explores the contributions made by the 'clerical astronomers,' William Rutter Dawes, Thomas William Webb, T.E.R Philips and T.H.E.C Espin, as well as the lonely vigils of E.E. Barnard, William F. Denning and Charles Grover. And in the 20th century, the work of Percival Lowell, Leslie Peltier, Eugene M. Antoniadi, Clyde Tombaugh, Walter Scott Houston, David H. Levy and Sir Patrick Moore is fully explored.Generously illustrated throughout, this treasure trove of astronomical history shows how each observer's work led to seminal developments in science, and providing key insights into how we go about exploring the heavens today.
Markov Chains: Solved Exercises And Elements Of Theory (Springer Series in Operations Research and Financial Engineering)
by Randal Douc Eric Moulines Pierre Priouret Philippe SoulierThis book covers the classical theory of Markov chains on general state-spaces as well as many recent developments. The theoretical results are illustrated by simple examples, many of which are taken from Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. The book is self-contained, while all the results are carefully and concisely proven. Bibliographical notes are added at the end of each chapter to provide an overview of the literature. Part I lays the foundations of the theory of Markov chain on general states-space. Part II covers the basic theory of irreducible Markov chains on general states-space, relying heavily on regeneration techniques. These two parts can serve as a text on general state-space applied Markov chain theory. Although the choice of topics is quite different from what is usually covered, where most of the emphasis is put on countable state space, a graduate student should be able to read almost all these developments without any mathematical background deeper than that needed to study countable state space (very little measure theory is required). Part III covers advanced topics on the theory of irreducible Markov chains. The emphasis is on geometric and subgeometric convergence rates and also on computable bounds. Some results appeared for a first time in a book and others are original. Part IV are selected topics on Markov chains, covering mostly hot recent developments.
Rare Astronomical Sights and Sounds (The\patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Ser.)
by Jonathan PowellThe universe contains many unusual sights and sounds, most of which are either very difficult to witness or simply go unnoticed. With the right tools, time, and location, some of the often talked about but seldom seen and heard gems in our skies can finally be observed.This book introduces readers to the rare and ephemeral happenings above our heads. It offers a crash course in astronomical history, detailing the observations, assumptions, and inventions of different cultures over time as they turned their studies to the stars. Using this as a baseline to redefine truly "rare" occurrences, Jonathan Powell then provides modern-day astronomers at all levels with pointers for what they can witness and when. From phenomena as old and far-off as a supernova witnessed a thousand years ago, and as recent and nearby as Sputnik's famous beeping, this book covers everything that one must know to see, hear, and appreciate the astronomical events happening around us.
Handbook of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Innovations and Applications for Research and Practice
by Larissa N. NiecThis handbook examines advances in the evidence-based behavioral family intervention, parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT). It surveys innovative adaptations tailored to specific diagnostic concerns, client populations, treatment settings, and delivery formats. Chapters provide rationales for adaptation, reviews of relevant research, and discussions of advantages and challenges. Case studies illustrate the implementation of the adaptations and help to make new techniques concrete. The handbook offers practical descriptions of the adaptations to PCIT, comprehensively reviews treatment outcome literature, and integrates cutting-edge implementation science into an exploration of the current dissemination strategies in PCIT. The handbook concludes with a consideration of the questions that remain to be addressed to extend the reach of PCIT among traditionally underserved families and to continue to advance the science and practice of children’s mental health interventions. Featured topics include:PCIT for children with callous-unemotional traits.PCIT for families with a history of child maltreatment.Group PCIT.PCIT for military families.The PCIT CALM program for treating anxiety in young children.PCIT for American Indian families.Transporting and disseminating PCIT internationally.Using technology to expand the reach of PCIT. The Handbook of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, instructors, clinicians, and graduate students in child and school psychology, child psychiatry, and social work as well as such related disciplines as developmental, clinical, counseling, and community psychology, family studies, and mental health services and agencies.
Writing Migration through the Body (Studies in Mobilities, Literature, and Culture)
by Emma BondWriting Migration through the Body builds a study of the body as a mutable site for negotiating and articulating the transnational experience of mobility. At its core stands a selection of recent migration stories in Italian, which are brought into dialogue with related material from cultural studies and the visual arts. Occupying no single disciplinary space, and drawing upon an elaborate theoretical framework ranging from phenomenology to anthropology, human geography and memory studies, this volume explores the ways in which the skin itself operates as a border, and brings to the surface the processes by which a sense of place and self are described and communicated through the migrant body. Through investigating key concepts and practices of transnational embodied experience, the book develops the interpretative principle that the individual bodies which move in contemporary migration flows are the primary agents through which the transcultural passages of images, emotions, ideas, memories – and also histories and possible futures – are enacted.
Getting Globalization Right: Sustainability And Inclusive Growth In The Post Brexit Age
by Luigi PaganettoThis book presents stimulating new perspectives on three key sets of issues: a fair globalization, the policies that might be adopted in response to protectionist pressures, and sustainable development policies involving G7 and G20 actions to lay the foundations for renewed trust. The individual topics addressed within this framework are wide ranging. Examples include globalization and national inequality, globalization and policies for inclusive growth in developing countries, the sources of controversies regarding trade agreements and their effects, the impact of new U.S. commercial policies on the world trading system, real convergence in the Euro area, and the causes of Brexit. The book comprises a selection of contributions presented at the XXIXth Villa Mondragone International Economic Seminar. In offering contrasting points of view on topics of high current interest, it will appeal to academics, policymakers, and economic experts at institutions.
Inside PixInsight (The\patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Ser.)
by Warren A. KellerPixInsight has taken the astro-imaging world by storm. As the first comprehensive postprocessing platform to be created by astro-imagers for astro-imagers, it has for many replaced other generic graphics editors as the software of choice. PixInsight has been embraced by professionals such as the James Webb (and Hubble) Space Telescope's science imager Joseph DePasquale and Calar Alto's Vicent Peris, as well as thousands of amateurs around the world. While PixInsight is extremely powerful, very little has been printed on the subject. The first edition of this book broke that mold, offering a comprehensive look into the software’s capabilities. This second edition expands on the several new processes added to the PixInsight platform since that time, detailing and demonstrating each one with a now-expanded workflow. Addressing topics such as PhotometricColorCalibration, Large-Scale Pixel Rejection, LocalNormalization and a host of other functions, this text remains the authoritative guide to PixInsight.
Graph Theory: Favorite Conjectures And Open Problems - 1 (Problem Books in Mathematics)
by Stephen T. Hedetniemi Teresa W. Haynes Ralucca GeraThis second volume in a two-volume series provides an extensive collection of conjectures and open problems in graph theory. It is designed for both graduate students and established researchers in discrete mathematics who are searching for research ideas and references. Each chapter provides more than a simple collection of results on a particular topic; it captures the reader’s interest with techniques that worked and failed in attempting to solve particular conjectures. The history and origins of specific conjectures and the methods of researching them are also included throughout this volume. Students and researchers can discover how the conjectures have evolved and the various approaches that have been used in an attempt to solve them. An annotated glossary of nearly 300 graph theory parameters, 70 conjectures, and over 600 references is also included in this volume. This glossary provides an understanding of parameters beyond their definitions and enables readers to discover new ideas and new definitions in graph theory. The editors were inspired to create this series of volumes by the popular and well-attended special sessions entitled “My Favorite Graph Theory Conjectures,” which they organized at past AMS meetings. These sessions were held at the winter AMS/MAA Joint Meeting in Boston, January 2012, the SIAM Conference on Discrete Mathematics in Halifax in June 2012, as well as the winter AMS/MAA Joint Meeting in Baltimore in January 2014, at which many of the best-known graph theorists spoke. In an effort to aid in the creation and dissemination of conjectures and open problems, which is crucial to the growth and development of this field, the editors invited these speakers, as well as other experts in graph theory, to contribute to this series.
The EU’s Policy on the Integration of Migrants: A Case Of Soft-europeanization? (Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics)
by Pierre Georges Van WolleghemThis book addresses a timely, yet largely overlooked, issue in political science: the integration of migrants in a multilevel polity. In a context characterised by the increasing salience of migration-related questions, and despite the gradual construction of a European Union immigration policy over the past two decades, no competence was ever created on integration matters. The emergence of a consistent ensemble of soft instruments in this policy realm in the 2000s unveiled an original pattern of EU policy formation. Can there be Europeanization without an EU competence? That is the question this original piece of research tackles. It shows how the way in which the policy emerged at EU level affected policy outputs adopted thereafter throughout the policy cycle. Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods, it explains the development of the EU integration policy and examines its main policy device, the European Integration Fund, from negotiation to implementation.
Knowledge-Based Software Engineering: Proceedings of the 12th Joint Conference on Knowledge-Based Software Engineering (JCKBSE 2018) Corfu, Greece (Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies #108)
by Maria Virvou Fumihiro Kumeno Konstantinos OikonomouThis book summarizes the new research results presented at the 12th Joint Conference on Knowledge-Based Software Engineering (JCKBSE 2018), which took place on August 27–30, 2018 on the island of Corfu, Greece. The JCKBSE is a well-established international biennial conference that focuses on the applications of Artificial Intelligence in Software Engineering. The JCKBSE 2018 was organized by the Department of Informatics of the University of Piraeus, the Department of Computer and Information Engineering of Nippon Institute of Technology, and the Department of Informatics of Ionian University. The book will benefit not only experts and researchers in the field of (Knowledge-Based) Software Engineering, but also general readers in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Computational Intelligence and Computer Science who wish to learn more about the field of (Knowledge-Based) Software Engineering and its applications. An extensive list of bibliographic references at the end of each paper encourages readers to probe further into the application areas that interest them most.
Artificial General Intelligence: 11th International Conference, AGI 2018, Prague, Czech Republic, August 22-25, 2018, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #10999)
by Matthew Iklé Arthur Franz Rafal Rzepka Ben GoertzelThis book constitutes the proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Artificial General Intelligence, AGI 2018, held in Prague, Czech Republic, in August 2018. The 19 regular papers and 10 poster papers presented in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 52 submissions. The conference encourage interdisciplinary research based on different understandings of intelligence, and exploring different approaches. As the AI field becomes increasingly commercialized and well accepted, maintaining and emphasizing a coherent focus on the AGI goals at the heart of the field remains more critical than ever.
Wellbeing and Self-Transformation in Natural Landscapes
by Rebecca CrowtherThis book explores how natural landscapes are linked to positive mental wellbeing. While natural landscapes have long been represented and portrayed as transformative, the link to mental wellbeing is an area that researchers are still aiming to comprehend. Accompanying five groups of people to rural Scotland, the author considers individual, external and group motivations for journeying from urban environments, examining in what ways these excursions are personally and socially transformative. Far more than traversing mere physical boundaries, this book illustrates the new challenges, experiences, territories and cultures provided by these excursions, firmly anchored in the Scottish countryside. In doing so, the author questions the extent to which people’s own narratives link to the perception that the outdoors are positively transformative – and what indeed does have the power to influence transformation. Grounded in extensive qualitative research, this contemplative and ethnographic book will be of interest and value to students and scholars of the outdoors and its connection to wellbeing.
Practical and Theoretical Aspects of Geological Interpretation of Gravitational, Magnetic and Electric Fields: Proceedings Of The 45th Uspensky International Geophysical Seminar, Kazan, Russia (Springer Proceedings in Earth and Environmental Sciences)
by Danis Nurgaliev Natalia KhairullinaThis volume offers an overview of the state-of-the-art theoretical and practical approaches currently used for geophysical data interpretation. It includes new methods and techniques for solving data processing problems, and an analysis of geopotential fields by international researchers. It discusses topics such as: 1. Theoretical issues of interpretation of gravitational, magnetic and electric fields, including general methods of interpreting potential fields and other geophysical data. 2. Modern algorithms and computer technologies for interpretating geophysical fields. 3. The study of Earth deep structure using terrestrial and satellite potential field anomalies. 4. Geological interpretation of gravitational, magnetic and electric fields. This proceedings book is of interest to all geophysical researchers.
Early Global Interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World, Volume I: Commercial Structures And Exchanges (Palgrave Series In Indian Ocean World Studies #Volume 1)
by Angela SchottenhammerThis volume investigates the emergence and spread of maritime commerce and interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World—the world’s first “global economy”—from a longue durée perspective. <P><P>Spanning from antiquity to the nineteenth century, these essays move beyond the usual focus on geographical sub-regions or thematic aspects to foreground inter- and trans-regional connections. <P><P>Analyzing multi-lingual records and recent archaeological findings, volume I examines mercantile networks, the role of merchants, routes, and commodities, as well as diasporas and port cities.
Extractives Industry Law in Africa
by Damilola S. OlawuyiThe book provides a systematic examination of the legal, fiscal and institutional frameworks for the commercial development of petroleum and solid mineral resources in Africa. First, it considers the values, assumptions, and guiding principles underpinning legislation and governance in Africa’s extractive sector. It then provides detailed and comparative evaluations of regulatory frameworks, pricing, local content, procurement, sales, and contractual arrangements across African extractive industries. Further, the book assesses how questions of business and human rights risks, accountability, corporate social responsibility, waste and pollution control, environmental justice, and participatory development have been addressed to date, and how they could be addressed better in the future. Enhancing readers’ understanding of the geography, sources and scope of extractive resources in Africa, the book explains how corporations can effectively identify, mitigate and prevent legal and business risks when investing in African extractive industries. Lastly, it discusses the innovative legal strategies and tools needed to achieve a sustainable and rights-based extractive industry.Written in a user-friendly style, the book offers a valuable resource for corporations, investors, environmental and human rights administrators, advocates, policymakers, judges, international negotiators, government officials and consultants who advise on, or are interested in, petroleum and solid mineral investments in Africa. It also offers students and researchers an authoritative guidebook to the current state of extractive industry laws and institutions in Africa. Numerous examples of how international legal norms could be used to help revitalize the underlying legal and fiscal regimes in African extractive industries – to make them more robust, accountable, sustainable and rights-based – round out the coverage
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
by Gerd Rosenbusch Annemarie de Knecht-van EekelenThis book, which will appeal to all with an interest in the history of radiology and physics, casts new light on the life and career of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, showing how his personality was shaped by his youth in the Netherlands and his teachers in Switzerland. Beyond this, it explores the technical developments relevant to the birth of radiology in the late nineteenth century and examines the impact of the discovery of X-rays on a broad range of scientific research. <P><P> Röntgen (1845-1923) was born in Lennep, Germany, but emigrated with his family to the Netherlands in 1848. As a 17-year-old he moved to Utrecht, entering the Technical School and living at the home of Dr. Jan Willem Gunning. In this well-educated family he was stimulated to continue his studies at university. In 1868 he received a diploma from the Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich and just a year later completed a PhD in physics. He followed his mentor, August Kundt, to the universities of Würzburg (1870) and Strasburg (1872) and married Anna Ludwig in 1872. In 1879 Röntgen gained his first professorship at a German University, in Giessen, followed by a chair in Würzburg in 1888. Here he discovered X-rays in 1895, for which he received the first Nobel Prize in physics in 1901. From 1900 until his retirement in 1921 he occupied the chair of physics at the Munich University.
Life in the Universe: Expectations and Constraints (Springer Praxis Books)
by Dirk Schulze-Makuch Louis N. IrwinExamines each of these parameters in crucial depth and makes the argument that life forms we would recognize may be more common in our solar system than many assume. Considers exotic forms of life that would not have to rely on carbon as the basic chemical element, solar energy as the main energy source, or water as the primary solvent and the question of detecting bio- and geosignatures of such life forms, ranging from earth environments to deep space. Seeks an operational definition of life and investigate the realm of possibilities that nature offers to realize this very special state of matter. Avoids scientific jargon wherever possible to make this intrinsically interdisciplinary subject understandable to a broad range of readers.
Understanding Global Skills for 21st Century Professions
by Douglas BournThis book highlights the increasing need for people who will be working in professions such as teaching, health, engineering and business management to have the skills for living and working in a global society. Globalisation and the challenges resulting from recent political events in Europe and North America have given rise to a need for training and further and higher education programmes to address the skills young people all need to effectively engage in the current global society. Reviewing the range of theories and debates surrounding skills for the twenty-first century, the author suggests there is a need to directly address the real-world issues of today and move beyond abstract concepts such as team work, critical thinking and problem solving, as important as these concepts are. The author proposes a new framework for global skills using examples from international and national policy-makers and evidence from further and higher educational programmes and training courses. This pioneering yet practical book will be of value to students and scholars of global education as well as practitioners and policy makers.
New Ways and Needs for Exploiting Nuclear Energy
by Didier Sornette Wolfgang Kröger Spencer WheatleyThe history of mankind is a story of ascent to unprecedented levels of comfort, productivity and consumption, enabled by the increased mastery of the basic reserves and flows of energy. This miraculous trajectory is confronted by the consensus that anthropogenic emissions are harmful and must decrease, requiring de-carbonization of the energy system. The mature field of indicator-based sustainability assessment provides a rigorous systematic framework to balance the pros and cons of the various existing energy technologies using lifecycle assessments and weighting criteria covering the environment, economy, and society, as the three pillars of sustainability. In such a framework, nuclear power is ranked favorably, but since emphasis is often placed on radioactive wastes and risk aversion, renewables are usually ranked top. However, quantifying the severity of the consequences of nuclear accidents on a rough integral cost basis and balancing severity with low core-damage accident probabilities indicates that the average external cost of such accidents is similar to that of modern renewables, and far less than carbon-based energy. This book formulates the overall goal and associated unprecedented demanding criteria of taming nuclear risks by excluding mechanisms that lead to serious accidents and avoiding extremely long stewardship times as far as possible, by design. It reviews the key design features of nuclear power generation, paving the way for the exploration of radically new combinations of technologies to come up with “revolutionary” or even “exotic” system designs. The book also provides scores for the selected designs and discusses the high potential for far-reaching improvements, with small modular lines of the best versions as being most attractive. Given the ambition and challenges, the authors call for an urgent increase in funding of at least two orders of magnitude for a broad international civilian “super-Apollo” program on nuclear energy systems. Experience indicates that such investments in fundamental technologies enable otherwise unattainable revolutionary innovations with massive beneficial spillovers to the private sector and the public for the next generations.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Reporting in Sports Organizations (CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance)
by Massimo ValeriThis book explores the key issues of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and reporting as applied to sports organizations, with particular attention to the Italian environment. It is divided into two parts, the first of which examines the general principles and reporting tools of CSR; these represent the reference point for all types of organization, including sports organizations. The coverage encompasses the evolution of CSR and the latest standards issued by authoritative international public and private institutions. The aim is to provide readers with a sound basis for understanding fully the application of these principles and reporting tools within the world of sport. The second part is devoted to a detailed analysis of the CSR strategies and social reporting initiatives adopted by sports organizations. Although the focus is primarily on Italian sports organizations, due attention is also paid to world benchmarks. In particular, the analysis examines the CSR strategies and reporting initiatives developed by international and Italian sports federations and by two international professional football clubs. The book will be of wide interest to academics, students, and practitioners.
Magnetohydrodynamics in Binary Stars (Astrophysics and Space Science Library #456)
by C. G. CampbellMagnetism in binary stars is an area of central importance in stellar astrophysics. The second edition of "Magnetohydrodynamics in Binary Stars" is a major revision of the first edition. The material has been updated and extended, including additional chapters on the origins of the stellar magnetic fields and accretion disc magnetic winds. A comprehensive account is given of the subject, from the early work up to the latest results. The unifying theme remains the redistribution of angular momentum by magnetic stresses. This occurs in a wide variety of ways, including magnetic stellar and orbital coupling, magnetic channelling of accretion streams, magnetic stellar coupling to accretion discs, dynamo field coupling in discs, and magnetic stellar and disc winds. The associated stellar spin and orbital evolution problems, including stability, are also considered. Although the main focus is on binary stars, much of the work on accretion discs and wind flows has more general astrophysical relevance. Convenient formulae are included that can be compared to observations, making the book useful to observers as well as theorists, and there are extensive reference lists. The material is mainly aimed at research workers, but parts of the text could be useful for postgraduate courses in magnetic stellar astrophysics topics.