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RoboCup 2015: Robot World Cup XIX (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #9513)
by Luis Almeida Jianmin Ji Gerald Steinbauer Sean LukeThis book is the Proceedings of the 19th Annual RoboCup International Symposium, held in Hefei, China, in July 2015.The book contains 20 papers presented at the Symposium, carefully selected from 39 submissions. Additionally the book contains 11 champion team papers and one paper from the Workshop on Benchmarking Service Robots. The papers present current research in robotics, artificial intelligence, computer vision, multiagent systems, simulation, and other areas.
A Theory of Musical Narrative (Musical Meaning and Interpretation)
by Byron AlménByron Almén proposes an original synthesis of approaches to musical narrative from literary criticism, semiotics, historiography, musicology, and music theory, resulting in a significant critical reorientation of the field. This volume includes an extensive survey of traditional approaches to musical narrative illustrated by a wide variety of musical examples that highlight the range and applicability of the theoretical apparatus. Almén provides a careful delineation of the essential elements and preconditions of musical narrative organization, an eclectic analytical model applicable to a wide range of musical styles and repertoires, a classification scheme of narrative types and subtypes reflecting conceptually distinct narrative strategies, a wide array of interpretive categories, and a sensitivity to the dependence of narrative interpretation on the cultural milieu of the work, its various audiences, and the analyst. A Theory of Musical Narrative provides both an excellent introduction to an increasingly important conceptual domain and a complex reassessment of its possibilities and characteristics.
The Life and Acts of Don Alonzo Enriquez De Guzman: A Knight Of Seville, Of The Order Of Santiago, A. D. 1518 To 1543
by Alonzo Enriquez De GuzmanStep into the turbulent and thrilling world of the Spanish Renaissance with The Life and Acts of Don Alonzo Enriquez De Guzman: A Knight of Seville, of the Order of Santiago, A.D. 1518 to 1543. This captivating autobiography offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the life of Don Alonzo Enriquez De Guzman, a distinguished knight whose adventures and exploits vividly illustrate the spirit of his age.Written by Guzman himself, this remarkable narrative spans a quarter of a century, detailing his experiences as a soldier, explorer, and courtier during one of the most dynamic periods in Spanish history. From the battlefields of Europe to the intrigues of the Spanish court, Guzman’s account is rich with personal anecdotes, historical events, and reflections on his times.The Life and Acts provides readers with a firsthand perspective on key historical events, including the Italian Wars, the Conquest of the Americas, and the internal conflicts within Spain. Guzman’s vivid descriptions and candid observations offer a unique window into the challenges and triumphs faced by a knight of the Order of Santiago, one of Spain’s most prestigious chivalric orders.The Life and Acts of Don Alonzo Enriquez De Guzman is an essential read for history enthusiasts, scholars of the Spanish Renaissance, and anyone fascinated by the lives of historical figures who shaped the course of history. Guzman’s autobiography stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of the knights of old, whose deeds and aspirations continue to inspire and captivate readers centuries later.Join Don Alonzo Enriquez De Guzman on his extraordinary journey and experience the drama, excitement, and historical significance of his life and times.
Arendt and Augustine: A Pedagogy of Desiring and Thinking for Politics (Transforming Political Theologies)
by Mark AloysiusThis book addresses a lacuna in scholarship concerning Hannah Arendt’s Augustinian heritage that has predominantly focused on her early work. It de-canonises the sources that political theology has appealed to by shifting the interpretive focus to her mature treatment in The Life of the Mind. Arendt’s initial criticism of Augustinian desiring is that it generates 'worldlessness'. In her later works, Arendt develops a more nuanced reading of the movements of thinking, desiring, and loving in her engagement with Augustine. This study attends to these movements and inspects the spatio-temporal framework which structure Arendt’s conception of the political. The author assesses the claim that Arendt’s conception of the political is drawn from a pedagogy of desiring and thinking from Augustine severed from his mystagogy. Although respecting the method of political theory, the author contends that Arendt’s severing of Augustinian pedagogy from mystagogy brings her to an insurmountable aporia. Instead, the author embeds these pedagogical practices within Augustine’s theology and suggests how that aporia might be overcome and used to develop a mystagogy for contemporary political life. The book will be of particular interest to scholars of political theology, as well as political theory, and political philosophy.
Exercises in Applied Mathematics: With a View toward Information Theory, Machine Learning, Wavelets, and Statistical Physics (Chapman Mathematical Notes)
by Daniel AlpayThis text presents a collection of mathematical exercises with the aim of guiding readers to study topics in statistical physics, equilibrium thermodynamics, information theory, and their various connections. It explores essential tools from linear algebra, elementary functional analysis, and probability theory in detail and demonstrates their applications in topics such as entropy, machine learning, error-correcting codes, and quantum channels. The theory of communication and signal theory are also in the background, and many exercises have been chosen from the theory of wavelets and machine learning. Exercises are selected from a number of different domains, both theoretical and more applied. Notes and other remarks provide motivation for the exercises, and hints and full solutions are given for many. For senior undergraduate and beginning graduate students majoring in mathematics, physics, or engineering, this text will serve as a valuable guide as theymove on to more advanced work.
Ghost Soldier
by Elaine Marie AlphinThe ghost of a young soldier from the Civil War haunts a troubled teen."I sat up. The jagged trenches were only soft grassy depressions in the sunny battlefield park. I felt tears burn my eyes, the relief was so strong, and then the misery of losing the ghost hit me."Alexander has the ability to see ghosts. But it's been several years since his last encounter. When he reluctantly joins his father on a long trip away from home, a surprise awaits him. In the unfamiliar territory of North Carolina, Alexander is confronted by the ghost of a young soldier who lost his life in the Civil War. As an unusual friendship develops between the two, Alexander is drawn into a new reality where he comes face to face with the haunting past of his soldier friend. But can Alexander help this troubled ghost, and can he, finally, come to terms with his own disturbing past? With deftness and insight, Elaine Marie Alphin tells a gripping story that weaves the supernatural with the historical. Ghost story fans and Civil War buffs alike are in for a real treat.Ghost Soldier is a nominee for the 2002 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery.
Operation Pucker Up (mix)
by Rachele AlpineA girl and her friends enact a scheme to get her first kiss over with before she has to lock lips on stage for the school play in this charming middle grade rom-com in the spirit of Meg Cabot—now with a fresh new look!Prince Charming wakes Snow White with a kiss. My world came crashing down with two words. A kiss?! Grace Shaw just scored the coveted lead in her school play, Snow White, alongside James Lowe—her hot, popular Prince Charming. There&’s just one problem: they kiss at the end. And Grace has never been kissed before. Which means that Grace&’s role sounds more like her worst nightmare than a dream come true. So, Grace&’s two best friends propose Operation Pucker Up—a plan for Grace to score a kiss before opening night so she doesn&’t make a fool of herself in front of an audience. As if Grace isn&’t having a hard enough time, her estranged father suddenly reappears after leaving six months earlier. Her mom and sister welcome Dad back with open arms, but Grace can&’t simply forgive and forget. With opening night fast approaching, Operation Pucker Up reaching ridiculous levels, and family drama teeming behind the scenes, Grace is beginning to think all this love stuff is way too complicated. Will she find a way to have her happily ever after—and seal it with a kiss—both onstage and off?
Lean Six Sigma: A DMAIC Roadmap and Tools for Successful Improvements Implementation
by Mohammad H. Al-RifaiThis book is a comprehensive guide that equips organizations and individuals with the necessary tools and knowledge to streamline operations, optimize resources, and deliver superior customer value through implementing lean Six Sigma methodologies. It provides a practical roadmap for achieving process, product, and service improvement. The book introduces readers to the powerful framework of lean Six Sigma, combining lean and Six Sigma methodologies. It takes readers through the DMAIC model – Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control – providing a structured approach to identifying inefficiencies, reducing defects, and enhancing overall business performance. It covers essential topics such as lean Six Sigma leadership, change management, project management, and a detailed explanation of each phase of the DMAIC process. This book is designed to cater to a diverse audience, including executives, managers, quality professionals, improvement professionals, engineers, operations professionals, customer service professionals, and students. The book offers practical knowledge, tools, and case studies to drive transformative change and build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Simulation Technologies in Networking and Communications: Selecting the Best Tool for the Test
by Al-Sakib Khan Pathan Muhammad Mostafa Monowar Shafiullah KhanSimulation is a widely used mechanism for validating the theoretical model of networking or communication systems. Although the claims made based on simulations are considered to be reliable, how reliable they really are is best determined with real-world implementation trials. This book addresses various issues covering different mechanisms related to simulation technologies in networking and communications fields. Focusing on the practice of simulation testing instead of the theory, it reviews and evaluates popular simulation modeling tools and recommends the best tools for specific tests.
Emerging Communication Technologies Based on Wireless Sensor Networks: Current Research and Future Applications
by Al-Sakib Khan Pathan Mubashir Husain RehmaniThis book fills a gap in the existing literature by combining a plethora of WSN-based emerging technologies into a single source so that reviewers can form opinions regarding these technologies. It presents different types of emerging communication technologies based on WSNs and describes how wireless sensor networks can be integrated with other communication technologies. It covers many of the new techniques and demonstrates the application of WSNs. The book is composed of 14 chapters, divided into four parts.
Low Energy Low Carbon Architecture: Recent Advances & Future Directions (ISSN)
by KhaledA. Al-SallalProviding a complete and in-depth overview of the available knowledge in the area of low energy and low carbon architecture. The scope of this edited book includes several important topics ranging from chapters giving a broad view of the progressing models in ecologically responsible environments to other chapters focussing on recent advances in design strategies and building technologies in low energy heating, cooling, daylighting, materials, and building sustainable systems. The book will give the readers insight to the future of low energy and low carbon architecture in the beyond-green era and discussed in the broader context of the progressing theories of regenerative design.
Navigating Integration Policies of Forced Migration in the United States: The Case of Syrian Refugees
by Wa'ed AlshoubakiThis book investigates the integration of Syrian refugees in the United States, and it identifies the challenges that hinder their successful integration. After providing a comprehensive analysis of the U.S. legal instruments in national and international laws and obligations to receive forced migrants, the book then highlights the resettlement process and programs as a coordinated interagency process that entails a collaboration between the UN Refugee Agency and the related U.S. departments and agencies and the nongovernmental partners and refugee advocacy organizations. Moreover, it delves into integration as a proxy theory and governance that entails an analytical component from a theoretical lens to understand some aspects of realities that revolve around the resettlement of forced migrants' concepts, principles, and policies. Built on rich qualitative data from Syrian refugees in the U.S. to understand their resettlement experiences and their integration in multidimensional analysis, the book shows how the lack of federally driven integration policies and institutions in the U.S. negatively affects just integration. Relying on voluntary organizations leads to uneven outcomes among forced migrants, affecting social equity. Alongside this book's theoretical and practical implications, it highlights the ethical consideration of studying forced migrants and the synergy between forced migrants' vulnerability and cultural sensitivity. Ultimately, the book discusses the roadmap for implementing integration policies in the U.S. Among the topics covered: Introduction: The History of Managing Forced Migration in the U.S.: Political Climate and Global Events The U.S. Legal and Institutional Frameworks of the Resettlement of Syrian Refugees The Syrian Refugees' Integration Challenges in the U.S. and the Roadmap for Integration Policies Navigating Integration Policies of Forced Migration in the United States: The Case of Syrian Refugees is relevant reading for researchers who are interested in integration and refugee-related topics; academics who conduct research in social policies, refugee integration, and resettlement; public policymakers who are involved in formulating refugee integration policies; practitioners at various levels who assist resettled forced migrants; and graduate students studying political science, public administration, social work, and sociology. Politicians with left-wing views who are advocating for improved human security for everyone also would find the book a useful resource.
Atlas: From the Streets to the Ring: A Son's Struggle to Become a Man
by Peter Alson Teddy Atlas"Of all the people who have affected by my life and influence the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father."So begins the autobiography of legendary boxing trainer and commentator Teddy Atlas, who grew from the rebellious son of a doctor to a man who embraces, and lives by, his father's values and code.In this gritty, spellbinding tale, Atlas recounts his fascinating life -- as a juvenile delinquent on the streets of Staten Island; as a boxer and Golden Gloves champion under the tutelage of famed trainer Cus D'Amato; as a companion to the dangerous, unpredictable Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, up until the day Gravano turned rat and brought down crime boss John Gotti; and as a trainer of champions and contenders, among them fourteen-year-old Mike Tyson and heavyweight Michael Moorer, whom he led to the crown with a win over Evander Holyfield.Equally engrossing are Teddy Atlas's accounts of training dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp for her successful comeback at age forty-two; his work with actor Willem Dafoe, preparing him for his role as a concentration camp boxer in the film Triumph of the Spirit; his journey to Poland to choreograph the film's boxing scenes; and his own performance in movies such as Play It to the Bone. In sharing his stories, Atlas reveals the philosophy by which he lives.Like Teddy Atlas -- inimitable, tough, honest, and wise -- this book inspires. It is about so much more than boxing. It is a story of overcoming hardships, of compassion for those in need, of tremendous personal integrity, and of personal and professional triumph.
Culture and Trust in Technology-Driven Organizations
by Frances AlstonThis book provides insight into the important role that culture and trust can play in the success of high-technology organizations. There has been little research to demonstrate a connection between organizational culture and trust. This book introduces a review of the literature and the result of an empirical study that investigated the relationship between mechanistic and organic cultures and the level of trust in technology-based organizations.
Inclusion by Design: Future Thinking Approaches to New Product Development
by Frances Alston Emily Millikin DeKerchoveThis book introduces a new speculative design process for inclusive new product development (NPD). The authors offer Vision Enabled Design Thinking (VEDT), a human-centered technological design framework incorporating the use of Design Lens and Vision Concepting, as a way for the designer to ideate and reflect on product development concepts within a deeper sociocultural context. The authors incorporate project management concepts into the overall design process through the development of a new design process, "4-D Algorithm for New Product Development".Inclusion by Design: Future Thinking Approaches to New Product Development formalizes the use of speculative design as a means for more inclusive NPD and promotes management of the design process as a needed skill for future engineers and designers. It provides a novel design methodology of VEDT for engaging vision concepting, through the use of Design Lenses in engaging speculative design practices and offers an implementation framework to support the sustainable adoption and use of future design methods. The 4-D Algorithm for New Product Development promotes inclusivity in design while addressing practical aspects of managing the design process in today’s corporate business environment.Those involved with interactive product and technology design, new product development, design researchers and managers, engineers, as well as professionals and graduate students will find this book useful.
Guide to Environment Safety and Health Management: Developing, Implementing, and Maintaining a Continuous Improvement Program (Systems Innovation Book Series)
by Frances Alston Emily J. MillikinDevelopment and execution of a successful ES&H program in today's profit-driven business climate is challenging and complex. The techniques outlined in this book provide guidance and aid in understanding the challenges that must be addressed by ES&H management and professionals. This book covers the primary areas of ES&H and key elements that should be considered in developing, managing, and implementing an effective, compliant and cost effective program. It to fulfills the need that exists in the workplace for guidance from a practical experience view point.
Chinese Firms in the Global Market: Understanding the Development of Capabilities of Chinese Multinationals (Palgrave Macmillan Asian Business Series)
by Maria AltamiraThis book critically analyses how home institutional elements influence the design and development of Chinese firms' capabilities at home, and questions if and how these capabilities are applicable in a different business environment. Reflecting on timely issues in today’s business environment, in which China faces several challenges in domestic and international markets, the author provides an in-depth understanding of Chinese firms’ business strategies, objectives and competitive advantages at home and abroad in different environments. In doing so, the book enhances our understanding about the Chinese business environment and how it influences the development of relevant capabilities. The author does this by presenting a study based on a narrative inquiry strategy and a narrative analysis of Chinese managers’ perspectives and understanding of the capabilities from three different types of firms with international experience (State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), National Champions (NC), and Private Firms (PF)). An insightful resource for academics, practitioners and policymakers, the book furthers our understanding of the rapid rise of Chinese multinationals inside and outside China.
Chinese Workers of the World: Colonialism, Chinese Labor, and the Yunnan–Indochina Railway
by Selda AltanChinese workers helped build the modern world. They labored on New World plantations, worked in South African mines, and toiled through the construction of the Panama Canal, among many other projects. While most investigations of Chinese workers focus on migrant labor, Chinese Workers of the World explores Chinese labor under colonial regimes within China through an examination of the Yunnan-Indochina Railway, constructed between 1898–1910. The Yunnan railway—a French investment in imperial China during the age of "railroad colonialism"—connected French-colonized Indochina to Chinese markets with a promise of cross-border trade in tin, silk, tea, and opium. However, this ambitious project resulted in fiasco. Thousands of Chinese workers died during the horrid construction process, and costs exceeded original estimates by 74%. Drawing on Chinese, French, and British archival accounts of day-to-day worker struggles and labor conflicts along the railway, Selda Altan argues that long before the Chinese Communist Party defined Chinese workers as the vanguard of a revolutionary movement in the 1920s, the modern figure of the Chinese worker was born in the crosscurrents of empire and nation in the late nineteenth century. Yunnan railway workers contested the conditions of their employment with the knowledge of a globalizing capitalist market, fundamentally reshaping Chinese ideas of free labor, national sovereignty, and regional leadership in East and Southeast Asia.
Harun Farocki: Forms of Intelligence
by Nora M. AlterHarun Farocki was one of the world’s most celebrated experimental filmmakers at the time of his death in 2014. In a career spanning over fifty years, the German artist produced more than one hundred works, including political cinema, nonfiction film and video, and art installations, which have been exhibited globally. After his early politically engaged films in Super 8 and 16 mm, Farocki spent many years making independent films and commissions for German public television. In the last phase of his career, he transitioned to creating digital and multichannel installations. He also collaborated with the director Christian Petzold on a dozen films. In addition to his prolific media-making career, Farocki was an incisive critic and editor.This groundbreaking book is an incisive and comprehensive analysis of Farocki’s oeuvre, shedding new light on his media experimentation and writings across platforms and venues. Nora M. Alter examines how Farocki’s work investigates film and media images: their history, nature, manipulation, changing function, and strategic use. Focusing on interconnected ideas surrounding labor, critique, and war, she shows how his politically committed art is informed by pedagogical strategies that drive viewers to perceive how the media world they inhabit functions. Alter also argues that Farocki’s career provides a lens on the history of avant-garde and experimental filmmaking amid shifts in materials and exhibition platforms. Tracing the transformations of Farocki’s artistic practice and thought, this book offers new insight into the body of work of one of the most significant media makers of the late twentieth century.
Planning Research in Hospitality and Tourism
by Levent Altinay Alexandros Paraskevas Faizan AliPlanning Research in Hospitality and Tourism, third edition is an accessible, concise and practical guide to planning, conducting and analysing research in tourism and hospitality.International in scope and appeal, this book provides students with an introduction to the basic principles, research techniques and characteristics of research in the international hospitality and tourism sectors in a straightforward and accessible way. It includes a variety of features throughout to aid understanding and offer practical tips of overcoming potential research issues.This new edition has been fully updated to include: New chapters on mixed methods and how to adopt technology into research practices More coverage of research strategies, focus groups, sampling secondary research as well as experimental design New and updated international case studies and extracts from journals, providing real examples of tourism and hospitality research scenarios Student and lecturer online resources, including practice datasets for students Enriched with insightful case studies throughout, this volume is essential reading for all tourism and hospitality researchers.
The Biggest Game in Town
by Al AlvarezAl Alvarez touched down in Las Vegas one hot day in 1981, a dedicated amateur poker player but a stranger to the town and its crazy ways. For three mesmerizing weeks he witnessed some of the monster high-stakes games that could only have happened in Vegas and talked to the extraordinary characters who dominated them--road gamblers and local professionals who won and lost fortunes on a regular basis.Set over the course of one tournament, The Biggest Game in Town is botha chronicle of the World Series of Poker--the first ever written--and a portrait of the hustlers, madmen, and geniuses who ruled the high-stakes game in America. It is a brilliant insight into poker's appeal as a hobby, an addiction, and a way of life, and into the skewed psychology of master players and fearless gamblers. With a new introduction by the author, Alvarez's classic account is "the greatest dissection of high-stakes Vegas poker and the madness that surrounds it ever written" (TimeOut [UK]).
Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands: Dreaming Patterns, Weaving Memories
by Nilda Callañaupa AlvarezA richly illustrated, bilingual book, this guide visits 20 villages in the Chiapas Highlands to showcase their stunning handwoven cloth while also providing an insider&’s look into their history, folklore, festivals, traditions, and daily lives. Ritual transvestites, Virgin statues draped with native blouses, tunics designed to look like howler monkey fur, and elaborately floral shawls and ponchos—these are just a few of the unforgettable images captured in the book. Also included are a pull-out map of the Chiapas Highlands and dates of special festivals and local markets.
Faces of Tradition: Weaving Elders of the Andes
by Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez Christine FranquemontIn this revealing cultural study, dozens of ancient weavers and the landscapes that they occupy in the Cusco region of the Andes are vividly portrayed through personal stories and life experiences, bringing to life the decades of endurance, skill, fortitude, and natural pride honed from the time-honored traditions of the region and its people. Some of the storytellers featured here include Pitumarca&’s Timoteo Ccarita, who became so interested in the old textiles he found on his own travels that he re-created tapestry techniques from sight; Leonardo Quispe, who single-handedly rescued and revived the techniques of ikat-style tied-warp dyeing (watay) in his community of Santa Cruz de Sallac; and Cipriana Mamani, who remembers that in her town of Accha Alta, their finely woven textiles had many lives and were repurposed for use over and over again. Intimate photographs capture each of the elders, some of whom had never seen a picture of themselves or even looked in a mirror, revealing the life, strength, character, and experience of these men and women.
London On My Mind
by Clara AlvesRed, White & Royal Blue meets A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow in this unlikely London romance by debut author Clara Alves!Sixteen-year-old Dayana has always dreamed of visiting London -- to walk along the Thames, take pictures outside Buckingham Palace, and maybe even get a glimpse of Arthur, Prince of Wales, whose marriage has been all over tabloids. But the trip of her dreams turns into a royal nightmare when her mother passes away. Now, Day must leave Rio de Janeiro to live with her estranged father and his new family in London.As it turns out, the U.K. isn't exactly Day's cup of tea. She struggles to forgive her father for walking out on her and her mom all those years ago; fights with her stepsister constantly; detests her stepmother; and she can't even see One Direction in concert because they've been broken up for ages. All she wants to do is trade the rainy skies of London for the sun and beaches of Rio.That's when she runs into the girl of her dreams -- literally: The coincidentally named Diana, a witty, funny, redhead who was in the middle of . . . escaping Buckingham Palace? Something isn't right here, but it makes Diana all the more alluring. As time passes, and the two girls grow closer, Day can't help but wonder if there is more than a little truth to the rumors surrounding Prince Arthur -- and if Diana might be involved somehow. Is it all in her head, or could Day be caught up in a real-life royal scandal?
The Inconspicuous God: Heidegger, French Phenomenology & the Theological Turn (Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion)
by Jason W. AlvisDominique Janicaud once famously critiqued the work of French phenomenologists of the theological turn because their work was built on the seemingly corrupt basis of Heidegger's notion of the inapparent or inconspicuous. In this powerful reconsideration and extension of Heidegger's phenomenology of the inconspicuous, Jason W. Alvis deftly suggests that inconspicuousness characterizes something fully present and active, yet quickly overlooked. Alvis develops the idea of inconspicuousness through creative appraisals of key concepts of the thinkers of the French theological turn and then employs it to describe the paradoxes of religious experience.