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Echoes of Other Worlds: Past, Present and Future (Palgrave Studies in Sound)
by Tom A. GarnerThis book explores the nature and importance of sound in virtual reality (VR). Approaching the subject from a holistic perspective, the book delivers an emergent framework of VR sound. This framework brings together numerous elements that collectively determine the nature of sound in VR; from various aspects of VR technology, to the physiological and psychological complexities of the user, to the wider technological, historical and sociocultural issues. Garner asks, amongst other things: what is the meaning of sound? How have fictional visions of VR shaped our expectations for present technology? How can VR sound hope to evoke the desired responses for such an infinitely heterogeneous user base? This book if for those with an interest in sound and VR, who wish to learn more about the great complexities of the subject and discover the contemporary issues from which future VR will surely advance.
The Life and Death of a Treaty: Bermuda 2
by Handley StevensThis book offers an exceptionally well informed and well documented study of the processes by which a Treaty is not only created, but managed and adapted as a living organism, responding to changing political and economic circumstances throughout its life. Bermuda 2, which governed air services between the UK and the USA from 1977 till 2008, had to accommodate rapid but volatile market growth, conflicting policies for a more open market, and a market structure which evolved from national champions to multinational alliances. With stakes high enough for Presidents and Prime Ministers to intervene at key moments, the dramatic narrative (Part I) is helpfully cross-referenced to a fully annotated Treaty text (Part II) as well as a unique collection of supplementary documents (Part III). These three elements offer students of international law and international relations, as well as to-day’s post-BREXIT practitioners, a comprehensive guide to the wide range of legal instruments and negotiating strategies that may be used to govern and regulate a major industry within the framework of a Treaty relationship.
The Life and Death of a Treaty: Bermuda 2
by Handley StevensThis book offers an exceptionally well informed and well documented study of the processes by which a Treaty is not only created, but managed and adapted as a living organism, responding to changing political and economic circumstances throughout its life. Bermuda 2, which governed air services between the UK and the USA from 1977 till 2008, had to accommodate rapid but volatile market growth, conflicting policies for a more open market, and a market structure which evolved from national champions to multinational alliances. With stakes high enough for Presidents and Prime Ministers to intervene at key moments, the dramatic narrative (Part I) is helpfully cross-referenced to a fully annotated Treaty text (Part II) as well as a unique collection of supplementary documents (Part III). These three elements offer students of international law and international relations, as well as to-day’s post-BREXIT practitioners, a comprehensive guide to the wide range of legal instruments and negotiating strategies that may be used to govern and regulate a major industry within the framework of a Treaty relationship.
Food Security and the Modernisation Pathway in China: Towards Sustainable Agriculture
by Marie-Hélène SchwoobThis book aims at providing students, experts and practitioners with a detailed overview of agricultural and food security issues in China, analyzed through the lenses of a multidisciplinary approach that enables to fully grasp the current socio-political challenges and lock-ins of agricultural transformation towards more sustainable practices.Confronted to a running decrease and degradation of its resources and rapidly evolving food habits, China became a net importer of food in 2004, and its agricultural balance has since become heavier every day. Beyond providing a comprehensive overview of these stakes, this book also presents consistent and original first hand research material, collected by the author during months of fieldwork in China, in the countryside and from various economic and political circles. Conclusions drawn from this often difficult to access) fieldwork shed light on the whole galaxy of public and private stakeholders taking part in agricultural modernization in China, on their interests and on the patterns of power that underlie the development and implementation of agricultural policies.
Food Security and the Modernisation Pathway in China: Towards Sustainable Agriculture
by Marie-Hélène SchwoobThis book aims at providing students, experts and practitioners with a detailed overview of agricultural and food security issues in China, analyzed through the lenses of a multidisciplinary approach that enables to fully grasp the current socio-political challenges and lock-ins of agricultural transformation towards more sustainable practices.Confronted to a running decrease and degradation of its resources and rapidly evolving food habits, China became a net importer of food in 2004, and its agricultural balance has since become heavier every day. Beyond providing a comprehensive overview of these stakes, this book also presents consistent and original first hand research material, collected by the author during months of fieldwork in China, in the countryside and from various economic and political circles. Conclusions drawn from this often difficult to access) fieldwork shed light on the whole galaxy of public and private stakeholders taking part in agricultural modernization in China, on their interests and on the patterns of power that underlie the development and implementation of agricultural policies.
Memristor Technology: Synthesis And Modeling For Sensing And Security Applications (Analog Circuits and Signal Processing)
by Heba Abunahla Baker MohammadThis book provides readers with a single-source guide to fabricate, characterize and model memristor devices for sensing applications. The authors describe a correlated, physics-based model to simulate and predict the behavior of devices fabricated with different oxide materials, active layer thickness, and operating temperature. They discuss memristors from various perspectives, including working mechanisms, different synthesis methods, characterization procedures, and device employment in radiation sensing and security applications.
Problems & Solutions in Inventory Management
by Dinesh Shenoy Roberto RosasThis book presents a compilation of over 200 numerical problems and solutions that students can use to learn, practice and master the Inventory Control and Management concepts. Intended as a companion to any of the standard textbooks in Inventory Control and Management and written in simple language, it illustrates very clearly the steps students need to follow in order to solve a given problem. It also explains which solution methodologies can be used under which circumstances. Offering an ideal one-stop resource for mid-level engineering and business students who have taken Inventory Management or a related subject as an elective, this book is the only one students will ever need to prepare and gain confidence for their examinations in this subject.
Cyber-Archaeology and Grand Narratives: Digital Technology and Deep-Time Perspectives on Culture Change in the Middle East (One World Archaeology)
by Thomas E. Levy Ian W. JonesThis volume asks how the current Information Technology Revolution influences archaeological interpretations of techno-social change. Does cyber-archaeology provide a way to breathe new life into grand narratives of technological revolution and culture change, or does it further challenge these high-level theoretical explanations? Do digital recording methods have the potential to create large, regional-scale databases to ease investigation of high-level theoretical issues, or have they simply exposed deeper issues of archaeological practice that prevent this? In short, this volume cuts beyond platitudes about the revolutionary potential of the Information Technology Revolution and instead critically engages both its possibilities and limitations. The contributions to this volume are drawn from long-term regional studies employing a cyber-archaeology framework, primarily in the southern Levant, a region with rich archaeological data sets spanning the Paleolithic to the present day. As such, contributors are uniquely placed to comment on the interface between digital methods and grand narratives of long-term techno-social change. Cyber-Archaeology and Grand Narratives provides a much-needed challenge to current approaches, and a first step toward integrating innovative digital methods with archaeological theory.
Humor at Work in Teams, Leadership, Negotiations, Learning and Health (SpringerBriefs in Psychology)
by Tabea Scheel Christine GockelThis book provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art on the adaptive and maladaptive functions of humor. Humor is inescapable in our daily interactions - also at the work place. Affiliative, self-enhancing, self-deprecating and aggressive humor can all occur at work and have unique and sometimes ambiguous effects. The volume presents humor research on five important workplace topics: teams, leadership, negotiation, learning, and health. It combines and integrates research from a range of fields, including work and organizational psychology, social psychology, communication, linguistics and sociology. In highlighting research gaps and stating future research questions, the book provides a sufficient starting point for further research on humor in relation to the aforementioned topics. For practitioners, recommendations are provided specific to each area.
From Science to Society: New Trends in Environmental Informatics (Progress in IS)
by Benoît Otjacques Patrik Hitzelberger Stefan Naumann Volker WohlgemuthThis book presents the latest findings and ongoing research in connection with green information systems and green information & communication technology (ICT). It provides valuable insights into a broad range of cross-cutting concerns in ICT and the environmental sciences, and showcases how ICT can be used to effectively address environmental and energy efficiency issues. Offering a selection of extended contributions to the 31st International Conference EnviroInfo 2017, it is essential reading for anyone looking to expand their expertise in the area.
Institutions, Governance and the Control of Corruption (International Economic Association Series)
by Kaushik Basu Tito CordellaInternational Economic Association Ser.
An Introduction to Zooarchaeology
by Diane Gifford-GonzalezThis volume is a comprehensive, critical introduction to vertebrate zooarchaeology, the field that explores the history of human relations with animals from the Pliocene to the Industrial Revolution. The book is organized into five sections, each with an introduction, that leads the reader systematically through this swiftly expanding field. Section One presents a general introduction to zooarchaeology, key definitions, and an historical survey of the emergence of zooarchaeology in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and introduces the conceptual approach taken in the book. This volume is designed to allow readers to integrate data from the book along with that acquired elsewhere within a coherent analytical framework. Most of its chapters take the form of critical “review articles,” providing a portal into both the classic and current literature and contextualizing these with original commentary. Summaries of findings are enhanced by profuse illustrations by the author and others.
Equations Involving Malliavin Calculus Operators: Applications and Numerical Approximation (SpringerBriefs in Mathematics)
by Tijana Levajković Hermann MenaThis book provides a comprehensive and unified introduction to stochastic differential equations and related optimal control problems. The material is new and the presentation is reader-friendly. A major contribution of the book is the development of generalized Malliavin calculus in the framework of white noise analysis, based on chaos expansion representation of stochastic processes and its application for solving several classes of stochastic differential equations with singular data involving the main operators of Malliavin calculus. In addition, applications in optimal control and numerical approximations are discussed. The book is divided into four chapters. The first, entitled White Noise Analysis and Chaos Expansions, includes notation and provides the reader with the theoretical background needed to understand the subsequent chapters. In Chapter 2, Generalized Operators of Malliavin Calculus, the Malliavin derivative operator, the Skorokhod integral and the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operator are introduced in terms of chaos expansions. The main properties of the operators, which are known in the literature for the square integrable processes, are proven using the chaos expansion approach and extended for generalized and test stochastic processes. Chapter 3, Equations involving Malliavin Calculus operators, is devoted to the study of several types of stochastic differential equations that involve the operators of Malliavin calculus, introduced in the previous chapter. Fractional versions of these operators are also discussed.Finally, in Chapter 4, Applications and Numerical Approximations are discussed. Specifically, we consider the stochastic linear quadratic optimal control problem with different forms of noise disturbances, operator differential algebraic equations arising in fluid dynamics, stationary equations and fractional versions of the equations studied – applications never covered in the extant literature. Moreover, numerical validations of the method are provided for specific problems."
ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and New Management Standards (Measuring Operations Performance)
by Iñaki Heras-SaizarbitoriaThis book is a comprehensive reference on ISO management system standards and their implementation. The impacts that ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 have had on business performance are analyzed in depth, and up-to-date perspectives are offered on the integration of these and other management standards (e.g. SA8000, ISO/TS 16949). Detailed information is provided on the signaling value of different management standards and on the new ISO standards for management systems, such as ISO 50001 and ISO 45001, relating to energy management and occupational health and safety. The role of audits in ensuring compliance with the standards and achievement of objectives is also carefully considered. The volume examines avenues for further research and emerging challenges. In offering an integrated, holistic perspective on ISO management system standards, this book will have wide appeal for academics, public decision-makers, and practitioners in the field of quality and environmental management.
China from the Inside: Letters from an Economist
by Liam BruntThis book delivers the fascinating account of one Western family’s time living and working in China. Told through a series of letters, China from the Inside: Letters from an Economist presents insights into the society and economy of a country that is often opaque to outsiders and poorly understood. The author’s expertise as an economist, and the family’s efforts to integrate into Chinese society, furnish a vivid and unique account. It provides a valuable new perspective on the Chinese worldview, social relations and economy, as well as informed opinion on its projected economic development. Addressing issues ranging from the education system to the sustainability of economic growth, this is an accessible and engaging book that will be essential reading for all those interested in China and its future.
China from the Inside: Letters from an Economist
by Liam BruntThis book delivers the fascinating account of one Western family’s time living and working in China. Told through a series of letters, China from the Inside: Letters from an Economist presents insights into the society and economy of a country that is often opaque to outsiders and poorly understood. The author’s expertise as an economist, and the family’s efforts to integrate into Chinese society, furnish a vivid and unique account. It provides a valuable new perspective on the Chinese worldview, social relations and economy, as well as informed opinion on its projected economic development. Addressing issues ranging from the education system to the sustainability of economic growth, this is an accessible and engaging book that will be essential reading for all those interested in China and its future.
Problems, Philosophy and Politics of Climate Science (Springer Climate)
by Guido ViscontiThis book is a critical appraisal of the status of the so-called Climate Sciences (CS). These are contributed by many other basic sciences like physics, geology, chemistry and as such employ theoretical and experimental methods. In the last few decades most of the CS have been identified with the global warming problem and numerical models have been used as the main tool for their investigations. The produced predictions can only be partially tested against experimental data and may represent one of the reasons CS are drifting away from the route of the scientific method. On the other hand the study of climate faces many other interesting and mostly unsolved problems (think about ice ages) whose solution could clarify how the climatic system works. As for the global warming, while its existence is largely proved, scientifically it can be solved only with a large experimental effort carried out for a few decades. Problems can arise when not proved hypotheses are adopted as the basis for public policy without the recognition that they may be on shaky ground. The strong interactions of the Global Warming (GW) with the society create another huge problem of political nature for the CS. The book argues that the knowledge gained so far on the specific GW problem is enough for the relevant political decisions to be taken and that Climate Science should resume the study of the climate system with appropriate means and methods. The book introduces the most relevant concepts needed for the discussion in the text or in appropriate appendices and it is directed to the general public with upper undergraduate background. Each chapter closes with a debate between a climate scientist and a humanist to reflect the discussions between climate science and philosophy or climate scientists and society.
Advanced Multipoles for Accelerator Magnets: Theoretical Analysis and Their Measurement (Springer Tracts in Modern Physics #277)
by Pierre SchnizerThis monograph presents research on the transversal beam dynamics of accelerators and evaluates and describes the respective magnetic field homogeneity. The widely used cylindrical circular multipoles have disadvantages for elliptical apertures or curved trajectories, and the book also introduces new types of advanced multipole magnets, detailing their application, as well as the numerical data and measurements obtained. The research presented here provides more precise descriptions of the field and better estimates of the beam dynamics. Moreover, the effects of field inhomogeneity can be estimated with higher precision than before. These findings are further elaborated to demonstrate their usefulness for real magnets and accelerator set ups, showing their advantages over cylindrical circular multipoles. The research findings are complemented with data obtained from the new superconducting beam guiding magnet models (SIS100) for the FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) project. Lastly, the book offers a comprehensive survey of error propagation in multipole measurements and an appendix with Mathematica scripts to calculate advanced magnetic coil designs.
Mississippi Delta Restoration: Pathways to a sustainable future (Estuaries of the World)
by John W. Day Jori A. ErdmanThis book is a new and provocative treatment dealing with and defining sustainable pathways for the restoration of the Mississippi Delta. Based on a consideration of natural functioning of the Mississippi delta, factors that led to its severe deterioration, and major global trajectories of the 21st century, the authors investigate possible future pathways for sustainable management of the delta. They consider current conditions as well as future trajectories of climate and energy and resource scarcity. The book concludes that without profound changes of how humans live in and manage the delta, sustainability of the delta will be profoundly compromised.
Landscapes and Landforms of Egypt: Landforms and Evolution (World Geomorphological Landscapes)
by Nabil Sayed EmbabiThis book provides a unique reference resource not only for geomorphologists, but for all Earth scientists. It shows how landforms vary enormously across Egypt, from high mountains to endless plains, and presents the vast heritage of forms that have developed under different climates. Richly illustrated with numerous plates and figures, it also includes a bibliography offering exhaustive coverage of the literature.
The Management of Small Renal Masses: Diagnosis and Management
by Kamran Ahmed Nicholas Raison Ben Challacombe Alexandre Mottrie Prokar DasguptaWithin this single volume, surgeons and medical students are able to find up-to-date clinical information and advice needed to manage this unique condition of small renal masses. The book aims to present information on the topic in a clear and logical way, with the help of figures, tables, and images that will assist in the practical application of the skills that are obtained from the book. The growth of new technologies and the continued development of existing techniques have led to a considerable number of new options that can be offered to patients by urologists. Despite these advances, challenges still remain and this book offers individual solutions to each aspect of the management of small renal masses, so that every diagnosis can be tailored to each patient. Written by leading experts, this book gives expert insight and advice into the diagnosing and managing of this condition. From making an accurate diagnosis to selecting the appropriate treatment for the patient, this book will provide a comprehensive guide on all aspects of the management of small renal masses.
New Perspectives on Prison Masculinities (Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology)
by Matthew Maycock Kate HuntNew Perspectives on Prison Masculinities
The Changing Nature of Happiness: An In-Depth Study of a Town in North West England 1938–2016
by Sandie McHughThis book shines a light on the meaning of happiness and how public perceptions of it have changed over time. A question that has engaged philosophers from the days of Aristotle, happiness is a subject of growing academic interest, and its recent integration into government policy is provoking increased debate into its definition and nature. Sandie McHugh and her associates build on the work of social anthropologist Tom Harrison’s ‘Worktown’ Mass Observation study from 1938, repeating the original study today. Together these accounts show how perceptions of happiness have changed over the years for the people of Bolton, UK, and reveal major difference between its definition then and now. This unique study is a useful tool in the understanding and study of happiness, offering invaluable insights for scholars and practitioners working in the fields of social psychology, positive psychology, health psychology and wellbeing.
The Changing Nature of Happiness: An In-Depth Study of a Town in North West England 1938–2016
by Sandie McHughThis book shines a light on the meaning of happiness and how public perceptions of it have changed over time. A question that has engaged philosophers from the days of Aristotle, happiness is a subject of growing academic interest, and its recent integration into government policy is provoking increased debate into its definition and nature. Sandie McHugh and her associates build on the work of social anthropologist Tom Harrison’s ‘Worktown’ Mass Observation study from 1938, repeating the original study today. Together these accounts show how perceptions of happiness have changed over the years for the people of Bolton, UK, and reveal major difference between its definition then and now. This unique study is a useful tool in the understanding and study of happiness, offering invaluable insights for scholars and practitioners working in the fields of social psychology, positive psychology, health psychology and wellbeing.
Scher and Daniel's Nails: Diagnosis, Surgery, Therapy
by Adam I. Rubin Nathaniel J. Jellinek C. Ralph Daniel III Richard K. ScherThis thoroughly updated 4th Edition of this highly regarded text continues to provide the latest therapeutic and surgical information on nail disease and disorders. It expands and updates all areas of onychology, including the newest in diagnostic techniques for nail diseases, a segment of dermatology that not only proves more difficult than cutaneous disorders but also is an exciting and innovative area on the frontier of skin research. Scher and Daniel's Nails: Diagnosis, Surgery, Therapy provides an update of therapeutic advances to help the resident, practitioner, and related healthcare provider (podiatrist, nurse, primary care physician, and all involved in nail care). A major section is devoted to nail surgery and nail pathology, both of which have been behind compared to other aspects of dermatology. There is also extensive information on the billion dollar nail cosmetics industry, which will bring this text to the attention of all nail technicians (several hundred thousand in the US alone) as well as to cosmeticians and manufacturers.