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Quantum Computing: Applications and Challenges (Information Systems Engineering and Management #2)
by Farouk Yalaoui Habiba DriasThis book is intended for academics, researchers, Ph.D. students, and industrials to learn about quantum computing and prepare them to understand the future with its cutting-edge tools. Quantum computing holds great promise in terms of human life quality especially when combined with artificial intelligence. In addition to quantum computing, the book focuses on quantum artificial intelligence, quantum machine and deep learning, quantum cryptography, and quantum logistics optimization. Applications in weather forecasting, digital soil mapping, skin lesion classification, combinatorial optimization, and urgent transportation, among others, are presented.
Sector-Based Action Against Corruption: A Guide for Organisations and Professionals (Political Corruption and Governance)
by Paul M. Heywood Mark PymanThis open access book provides an accessible insight into how to tackle corruption in organisations and institutions. It explains how to recognise and analyse corruption issues, together with knowledge and advice on how they can be avoided, prevented, or minimised. It also provides a framework through which readers can examine what strategies are available to tackle corruption issues, a rationale for how to prioritise strategies depending on circumstances and context, and guidance on how to critique various options. The book will appeal to professionals and practitioners, as well as academics interested in governance and corruption.
Deep Learning and Computational Physics
by Deep Ray Orazio Pinti Assad A. OberaiThe main objective of this book is to introduce a student who is familiar with elementary math concepts to select topics in deep learning. It exploits strong connections between deep learning algorithms and the techniques of computational physics to achieve two important goals. First, it uses concepts from computational physics to develop an understanding of deep learning algorithms. Second, it describes several novel deep learning algorithms for solving challenging problems in computational physics, thereby offering someone who is interested in modeling physical phenomena with a complementary set of tools. It is intended for senior undergraduate and graduate students in science and engineering programs. It is used as a textbook for a course (or a course sequence) for senior-level undergraduate or graduate-level students.
Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Alkali-Aggregate Reaction in Concrete: ICAAR 2024 - Volume II (RILEM Bookseries #50)
by Leandro F. M. Sanchez Cassandra TrottierThis book gathers the peer-reviewed papers presented at the 17th International Conference on Alkali-Aggregate Reaction in Concrete (ICAAR), held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on May 19–24, 2024. It highlights the latest advances and innovations in the field of internal swelling reactions, particularly alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR), and combined mechanisms such as delayed ettringite formation (DEF). The conference topics encompass understanding the reaction mechanisms and the affecting factors; testing methods and preventative measures; diagnosis, evaluation, and prognosis; monitoring and NDT; structural effects and modeling at all scales; repair and remedial measures; and combined mechanisms (e.g., DEF). The contributions, which were selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, present a wealth of exciting ideas that will open novel research directions and foster new multidisciplinary collaborations.
Human-Centric Decision and Negotiation Support for Societal Transitions: 24th International Conference on Group Decision and Negotiation, GDN 2024, Porto, Portugal, June 3–5, 2024, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing #509)
by Pascale Zaraté Yu Maemura Marta Campos Ferreira Thomasz WachowiczThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Group Decision and Negotiation, GDN 2024, which took place in Porto, Portugal, during June 2–5, 2024. The field of Group Decision and Negotiation focuses on decision processes with at least two participants and a common goal but conflicting individual goals. Research areas of Group Decision and Negotiation include electronic negotiations, experiments, the role of emotions in group decision and negotiations, preference elicitation and decision support for group decisions and negotiations, and conflict resolution principles. The 13 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 100 submissions. They were organized in the following topical sections: Conflict Resolution; Preference Modeling for Group Decision and Negotiation; Collaborative and Responsible Negotiation Support Systems and Studies.
Technology, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Education: 4th EAI International Conference, TIE 2023, Cambridge, UK, September 27-28, 2023, Proceedings (Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering #575)
by David Crawford Martin Reed Nicholas Lambert Jeremy Foss Jennah KriebelThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Technology, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Education, TIE 2023, held in Cambridge, UK, in September 2023. The 17 full papers were carefully selected from 44 submissions and cover four areas: international school projects; technology in education; technology for content creation and future content delivery.
Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for Environmental Applications (Engineering Materials)
by Muhammad Ikram Ali Haider Sawaira Moeen Junaid HaiderThis book delves into the incredible potential of carbon-based nanomaterials to solve critical ecological problems. Over the last few decades, substantial research has been conducted on the design and development of advanced nanomaterials for efficient energy storage, wastewater treatment, and antibacterial activities. Carbon-based materials have drawn increasing attention owing to their intriguing physicochemical properties and broad range of promising applications. Learn how these innovative materials are transforming our planet for improvements in areas as diverse as pollution management, purging water, and renewable energy. In this book, the authors briefly introduce the classification of carbon-based materials followed by describing in detail the various synthetic methods classified in two categories, i.e., bottom-up methods and top-down methods. After introducing the synthesis, environmental applications including water purification, air purification, and energy storage and antibacterial activity are explained. Finally, the challenges and opportunities in this promising research area are also proposed. In the current book, carbon-based nanomaterials are addressed in aim for sufficient energy production, wastewater treatment, and as an antibacterial agent. In Chapters 1 and 2, the authors overview the introduction and classifications of carbon-based nanomaterials with its fabrication process. In the next section, the authors review the water purification applications and improvement in the dye degradation activity of carbon-based materials including doping, increasing surface area, and many others. Chapter 4 covers the air purification and energy applications of carbon-based materials along with their experimental and theoretical studies. Moreover, the next chapter explores carbon-based materials for antibacterial activity. This book is specially designed for research purposes and helps the beginners, post-graduate students, and experienced researchers who are working on carbon-based materials and their applications. The book sheds critical light on the ways in which these materials might help make the world a better, more sustainable place.
Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Alkali-Aggregate Reaction in Concrete: ICAAR 2024 - Volume I (RILEM Bookseries #49)
by Leandro F. M. Sanchez Cassandra TrottierThis book gathers the peer-reviewed papers presented at the 17th International Conference on Alkali-Aggregate Reaction in Concrete (ICAAR), held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on May 19-24, 2024. It highlights the latest advances and innovations in the field of internal swelling reactions, particularly alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR), and combined mechanisms such as delayed ettringite formation (DEF). The conference topics encompass understanding the reaction mechanisms and the affecting factors; testing methods and preventative measures; diagnosis, evaluation, and prognosis; monitoring and NDT; structural effects and modeling at all scales; repair and remedial measures; and combined mechanisms (e.g., DEF). The contributions, which were selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, present a wealth of exciting ideas that will open novel research directions and foster new multidisciplinary collaborations.
Business History of Hospitals in the 20th Century: Entrepreneurship, Organization, and Finances (Frontiers in Economic History)
by Paloma Fernández PérezThis book offers a business history of modern hospitals in the 20th century. Presenting case studies from around the world, it examines the long-term institutional and historical evolution of hospital organization and management models, applying a business history approach to do so. Drawing on reports from international organizations and other historical data, it explores the evolution, path dependencies, actors and institutions that have shaped the diversity of hospital organization and management models. At the same time, it analyzes the historical origins of major problems faced by today’s hospitals, such as cost-inefficiencies, lack of specialized human capital, etc. The contributing authors cover topics such as the history of hospital finance and accounting, hospital price regulation, entrepreneurship models, hospital privatization, and hospital governance. The book will appeal to scholars and students of economic and business history, and to anyone interested in the history of hospitals.
Justice in Climate Policy: Distributing Climate Costs Fairly (Research for Policy)
by Mark Bovens Victor Toom Annick de Vries Gijsbert Werner Elsenoor Wijlhuizen Suzanne HulscherThis open access book is looking into ways to achieve just climate policy within a country. The authors of this monograph share a unique, timely and original vision: continuous support for climate policy is more likely to emerge when citizens find that the distribution of the bill for climate costs is fair. But what is a fair distribution of climate costs? This is an important question because financial costs of mitigation (reducing greenhouse gases), adaptation (adapting to climate change) and damage (compensating or compensating after weather extremes) increase significantly in the coming decades. Drawing on philosophy and ethics, the authors propose ten principles for achieving just distributions of domestic climate costs. Examples of such principles are individual responsibility, the polluter pays, greatest utility and capacity to pay. Yet what a fair distribution is, depends on, for example, political preferences and the policy issue at hand. Empirical research on designing climate policies, however, shows that distributive principles are not part of the political, policy, and public discussions. The authors therefore argue that explicit attention to principles of just distribution at the start of a policy process contributes to support for climate policy. This book provides tools to professionals and students to achieve justice in climate policy.
Joining Operations for Aerospace Materials (Sustainable Aviation)
by Selim GürgenThis book provides a deep knowledge of the specialized world of aerospace material joining, focusing on the methods, techniques, and strategies essential for creating resilient and high-performance structures in aeronautics and space applications. It uncovers the latest advancements and emerging technologies that define the future of aerospace manufacturing. From the precision demands of metallurgical joining methods to the innovative realm of mechanical joining techniques, this book provides a roadmap to mastering the intricacies of joining processes tailored for aerospace materials. Joining Operations for Aerospace Materials equips engineers, researchers, and technical staff with the expertise to navigate the challenges of working with cutting-edge materials in the most demanding environments.
Mining Maintenance (Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering)
by Carlos Sierra Emilio AndreaThis book delves into the maintenance challenges faced by various mining engineering sectors. Covering aspects like policy selection, breakdown prediction, risk assessment, equipment monitoring, and implementation of preventive measures, it offers practical solutions. Focused on real-world scenarios, this book equips aspiring professionals with hands-on skills essential for effective maintenance management in mining industries. Each chapter begins with a clear introduction and is followed by a series of exercises, providing students with a solid grasp of fundamental concepts and their practical application.
Narratives of Wellbeing
by John Taylor Timothy Willem Jones Tarryn Phillips Natalie AraújoThis book critically interrogates ‘wellbeing’, a concept that is exploding in popularity across the globe. The collection of essays asks not only how wellbeing can be defined and measured, but what is created and excluded in the process of striving for and articulating wellbeing. The editors propose a narrative framework as a novel and insightful lens through which to analyse wellbeing and understand how the “good life” is sought, experienced and talked about. With case studies from around the world, the contributions explore the tensions and overlaps between various scripts about what it means to live well—historically, socially, culturally, economically, and spiritually. The collection brings together a rich array of disciplinary perspectives, including: sociology, politics, anthropology, history, indigenous studies, religious studies, development studies, paediatric medicine, and gender and sexuality studies. The diversity of chapters make the book accessible and appealing, not only to scholars and students of wellbeing in the health and social science disciplines, but also to a broader public readership intrigued by the rise and impact of a buzzword.
Post-colonial Burial and Grieving Rituals of the Caribbean
by Ann Marie Bissessar Camille Huggins Glenda M. HinksonThis book brings together anthropological and historical studies that analyze burial rituals within the Caribbean through the theoretical lens of syncretism and the hybridization of post-colonial and contemporary time periods. Based on oral historiography, historical document analysis and ethnographic interviews, the chapters in this volume outlay the creolization of ancestral burial rituals in the wider Caribbean and present case studies of eight Caribbean countries: Barbados, Haiti, Grenada, Guyana, Suriname, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago. This contributed volume is edited by scholars from different disciplines such as social work, psychology, and political science, providing an interwoven lens of individual human, political and environmental contexts. Contributing authors are from diverse disciplines such as anthropology, communications, sociology, political science, social work, and psychology and each discipline approaches the subject matter through their perspective lenses. Each chapter analyzes the hybridity of the burial rituals in the construction of culture and identity within conditions of colonial antagonism and inequity and is rich with oral histories from lay community historians, firsthand accounts, and historical texts. Post-colonial Burial and Grieving Rituals of the Caribbean will be of interest to scholars of cultural and religious anthropology, history and sociology, as it highlights the importance of grief and shows how it is encapsulated into burial traditions that are transmitted intergenerationally and express important aspects of Caribbean cultures.
Navier-Stokes Turbulence: Theory and Analysis
by Wolfgang KollmannThis updated/augmented second edition retains it class-tested content and pedagogy as a core text for graduate courses in advanced fluid mechanics and applied science. The new edition adds revised sections, clarification, problems, and chapter extensions including a rewritten section on Schauder bases for turbulent pipe flow, coverage of Cantwell’s mixing length closure for turbulent pipe flow, and a section on the variational Hessian. Consisting of two parts, the first provides an introduction and general theory of fully developed turbulence, where treatment of turbulence is based on the linear functional equation derived by E. Hopf governing the characteristic functional that determines the statistical properties of a turbulent flow. In this section, Professor Kollmann explains how the theory is built on divergence free Schauder bases for the phase space of the turbulent flow and the space of argument vector fields for the characteristic functional. The second segment, presented over subsequent chapters, is devoted to mapping methods, homogeneous turbulence based upon the hypotheses of Kolmogorov and Onsager, intermittency, structural features of turbulent shear flows and their recognition.
Bank Competition and the Effects on Financial Stability: Insights into the Emerging Banking Markets of the Philippines (Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions)
by Jovi Clemente Dacanay Ella Mae Odtuhan Leonida Michaela Nicole MeriñoThis book aims to form part of the growing literature on the banking system in developing countries in its aim to show the levels of stability in the banking sector of small economies. Any banking system is vulnerable to economic distress but one supported by universal and commercial banks that are efficient, stable, and which enjoy sufficient market power is most likely to withstand economic turmoil. Such is the Philippines’ Universal and Commercial Banking system, which displayed remarkable resilience to unprecedented economic shock. Using data from 2005 to 2019, the five chapters of this work delve into the industrial organization framework of the banking industry in the Philippines, offering researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, and academics the first comprehensive research on bank competition, concentration, efficiency and financial stability in the Philippines.
The Transformative Power of Architecture and Urban Design: Planning for Social and Spatial Justice (Cities, Heritage and Transformation)
by Mohammad Ali ChaichianInformed by urban political economy and critical social analysis, this book provides a critical comparative analysis of macro- and micro-level spatial design processes in architecture and urban planning. It interrogates the extent to which past and existing approaches to design have catered to social justice issues. With a special focus on the Right to the City approach and recent efforts to democratize urban spaces in the post-COVID 19 pandemic era, the book draws on examples of spatial design from the USA, Northern European countries and elsewhere to shed light on the presence (or lack) of social justice concerns in liberal capitalist and social democratic societies. This book is an important academic addition and resource for undergraduate and graduate curricula in architecture and urban planning/design programs, as well as a complementary resource for practitioners and policy planners who engage in urban development and transformation.
Recent Advances in Communication Networks and Embedded Systems: Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Communication and Network Technology (Lecture Notes on Data Engineering and Communications Technologies #205)
by Pascal Lorenz Smain FemmamThis book is devoted to enhanced version of selected papers presented at the 7th International Conference on Communication and Network Technology (ICCNT 2023). The objective of the proceedings of ICCNT 2023 is to present the recent research results and technological advances in the fields of theoretical and experimental applications of embedded systems, communications and signal processing decision as well as in emerging areas related to the tracks of the conference. The specific topics of interest within the scope of this special issue include design tools for electronics and embedded systems: embedded systems and software, system-on-chip (SoC), multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSoC) platforms and applications, network-on-chip (NoC) design methodologies, reconfigurable computing, system design, synthesis, and optimization, advanced communications: circuits and systems for communications, optical fibers applications: optical communications, sensors, image, laser applications in: telemetry, LiDAR system, anemometry, computer 3D visions, range technique, RF and wireless communications, image and signal processing decision: image and video processing technology, compression, coding and implementation, cryptology and watermarking, real-time systems, sensors and instrumentation: data acquisition, audio, acoustic speech, biomedical signal processing, sensor microsystems and industrial sensors, computer engineering and networks: cloud computing technology, internet technology, computer security, computing networks, and data acquisition.
James Graham: State of the Nation Playwright
by Maryam PhilpottJames Graham is one of the UK’s leading dramatists, a multi-award-winning writer who for almost 20 years has analysed and articulated concepts of power and authority in modern British society. James Graham: State of the Nation Playwright is the first full-length assessment of the writer’s output, applying core thematic areas - Democracy, Anarchy, Famous Faces and Television - to understand how different power bases operate in modern society, their effectiveness and influence, and how they came to pre-eminence during the last 70 years. The book concludes with an evaluation of Graham’s contribution to state-of-the-nation debates, Britain’s cycles of decline and its consequences for understanding contemporary national identity.
Christian Temporalities: Living Between the Already Fulfilled and the Not Yet Completed (Contemporary Anthropology of Religion)
by Simon Coleman Matt Tomlinson Anna-Karina HermkensThis volume explores how different forms of Christianity shape people's visions of pasts and futures, and how the transcendent is brought into human time. Beyond conventional discussions around breaks with the past in Christian conversion and future ruptures announced in prophecy, the volume reveals previously unexplored ways in which Christians work with concepts of time and its articulation with divinity, subjectivity, agency, and personal, social, and political change. By developing Coleman’s argument about “historiopraxy” in novel directions, contributors provide new understandings of religious temporalities and the ritual articulation of immanence and transcendence. While building upon previous scholarly work in the anthropology of Christianity, this volume pushes the debate further and provides original insights into how religion is mobilised to shape and transform people's pasts, presents and futures.
Complexity and Sustainability in Megaprojects: MeRIT Workshop 2023 (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering #493)
by Franca Cantoni Edoardo Favari Laura Corazza Ernesto De Nito Primiano Di NautaThis book showcases the discussion about megaprojects carried out at the MeRIT (Megaproject Research Interdisciplinary Team) workshop 2023: the crisis, discontinuity, rising prices, and supply chains disruption force radical reflection for those involved in megaprojects. It raises a modern-day challenge, the creation of value for stakeholders. Indeed, the aim of the volume is to encourage readers to think more broadly, articulately and less stringently than the mainstream claims. There is a need to design, implement, and manage megaprojects by abandoning the old paradigm that leveraged solely on time and cost. We need to move beyond that by going to explore the value generated, the positive impact on people, communities and territories. Economic, social and environmental sustainability takes on a new and broader articulation: issues of the circular economy applied to megaprojects are addressed and ample space is ensured for the inclusion of social needs in current practices.
Type-3 Fuzzy Logic in Time Series Prediction (SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology)
by Oscar Castillo Patricia MelinThis book focuses on the field of type-3 fuzzy logic for applications in time series prediction. The main idea is that a higher type and order of fuzzy logic can help in solving various prediction problems and find better results. In addition, neural networks and fractal theory are employed in enhancing prediction results. In this regard, several hybrid intelligent methods are offered. In this book we test the proposed methods using several prediction problems, like predicting COVID-19 and the stock market. We can notice that when Type-3 fuzzy systems are implemented to model the behavior of systems, the results in prediction are enhanced, because the management of uncertainty is better. For this reason, we consider in this book the proposed methods using type-3 fuzzy systems, neural networks and fractal theory to improve the prediction behavior of the complex nonlinear systems. This book is intended to be a reference for scientists and engineers interested in applying type-3 fuzzy logic techniques for solving complex prediction problems. This book can also be used as a reference for graduate courses like the following: soft computing, fuzzy logic, neural networks, bio-inspired algorithms, intelligent prediction, and similar ones. We consider that this book can also be used to get novel ideas for new lines of research, or to continue the lines of research proposed by the authors of the book.
Sustainable Energy: A Myth or Reality (The Springer Series in Sustainable Energy Policy)
by Hassan Qudrat-UllahThis book embarks on a transformative journey through the complex landscape of renewable energy, challenging prevailing myths and uncovering the realities that define our energy future. At the heart of this exploration lies the dynamic intersection of technology and sustainability, spotlighting the critical nexus where innovation meets eco-conscious solutions. Far from a mere debunking exercise, this book unfolds as a comprehensive narrative, weaving through the complex tapestry of challenges and opportunities that define the sustainable energy paradigm. Unravelling misconceptions surrounding sustainable energy, the book places a particular emphasis on renewable sources like solar and wind, providing a profound understanding that extends beyond the surface. Engaging case studies and examples punctuate the narrative, offering a firsthand glimpse into the practical applications and challenges of sustainable energy projects. Designed for a diverse readership, the book speaks to: (i) Students and teachers: Delving into the scientific and technical intricacies of sustainable energy sources, along with their broader environmental, social, and economic impacts. (ii) Researchers and professionals: Offering an up-to-the-minute guide to the latest developments and trends in the ever-evolving field of sustainable energy. (iii) Policy makers and activists: Providing a nuanced exploration of the facts and evidence underpinning sustainable energy, alongside an insightful examination of the myths and misconceptions that surround it. (iv) General readers: Inviting all who seek to broaden their knowledge and awareness of sustainable energy, understanding its profound relevance and importance for the collective future of humanity and the planet. This book isn't just a journey; it's a call to action. As you turn the pages, you're not only gaining knowledge but becoming part of a movement toward a resilient and eco-friendly tomorrow. Embrace the future of energy – informed, inspired, and empowered.
Embryonic Stem Cells and the Law: Crafting A Humane System of Regulation
by Joshua WeiserThis book deals with the research and use of embryonic stem cells to combat a number of diseases and the legal limitations, arising mostly from bioethical concerns regarding human life. Using the New Haven problem and policy-oriented method of jurisprudence, the author thoroughly explains the scientific and technological parameters and promise of this medical innovation and its alternatives as well as the conflicting claims and past decisions regarding its legal and moral acceptability in international and comparative perspective. International law, EU and regional human rights law, as well as individual countries’ laws across the globe are covered, ending with American law on the federal and state levels. The book concludes with a recommendation of humane regulation, and a draft federal statute as a model form of regulation that would allow the beneficial research and use of this technology.
Occult Rumors and Politics in Ghana: Juju and Statecraft
by Comfort Max-WirthThis book addresses the phenomenon of rumors about the occult in contemporary Ghanaian politics. Drawing on data from fieldwork interviews and analysis of case studies, it examines: why political rumors in Ghana often focus on the occult; what political-occult rumors accomplish and for whom; the ways in which Ghanaian politicians use rumors about the occult to gain political advantage; and some of the popular attitudes of the electorate to the rumors. The book demonstrates that political-occult rumors have become important tools in the hands of Ghanaian politicians to gain political advantage over opponents, and the electorate as means to critique the actions and behavior of political actors and the political process, generally. In a nutshell, this book highlights the important role of occult rumors in modern Ghanaian politics, with a particular focus on the period between the late 1970s and present. The main thrust of the argument in this book is that the flourishing of political-occult rumors and the strength of Pentecostalism are related, and that far from being a phenomenon existing on the margins of modern Ghanaian society, the occult is powerful, public and mainstream.