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Game Design for Free-to-Play Live Service (Synthesis Lectures on Image, Video, and Multimedia Processing)
by Stanislav Stanković"Game Design for Free to Play Live Service" is the ultimate guide to designing successful free-to-play mobile games. Based on a decade of experience at companies like Rovio, EA, and Supercell, the author provides practical advice on gameplay mechanics, monetization strategies, and player engagement. With case studies and expert insights, this book is essential reading for any game developer looking to create a hit mobile game.
Sustainable Management of Land, Water and Pollution of Built-up Area (Society of Earth Scientists Series)
by Chandra Shekhar Prasad Ojha Krishna Kumar SinghThis edited book is a comprehensive and forward-thinking exploration of the challenges and opportunities in building environmentally resilient and thriving cities. In a rapidly urbanizing world, the management of land, water, and pollution within built-up areas is a critical issue, and this book presents a wealth of knowledge to address it. It showcases a range of case studies and real-world applications that illustrate successful strategies and innovative solutions for urban sustainability. These practical examples offer valuable insights for urban planners, policymakers, and environmental practitioners.The book delves into cutting-edge research and visionary solutions. It goes beyond conventional approaches to explore emerging technologies and futuristic concepts, positioning itself at the forefront of urban sustainability. Readers will discover innovative ideas that can shape the future of urban development, making cities more livable, sustainable, and resilient.
Fake News in Contemporary Science and Politics: A Requiem for the Real?
by Keith MoserThis transdisciplinary book investigates the profound repercussions of living in a post-truth world in which 'alternative facts' and post-truth knowledge claims, often bordering on the absurd, have replaced the real in the collective imagination of millions of people around the planet. Through discussions on climate change denial, the anti-vaccination movement, the January 6th Insurrection and the Russia-Ukraine War, this study explores the gravity of the current 'infodemic,' or the increasing inability of a large segment of the population to distinguish between reality and misrepresentation, and the destabilizing impact this infodemic has on democratic models of governance around the globe, coinciding with the rise of autocratic forms of populism.
Essentials in Health and Mental Health: Unlocking the Keys to Wellness (Advances in Mental Health and Addiction)
by Masood ZangenehIn a world increasingly characterized by rapid change and constant challenges, maintaining good physical and mental health is more important than ever. "Essentials in Health & Mental Health" is a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted landscape of health and well-being, delving into key aspects that affect individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and circumstances. Through the lens of 20 meticulously crafted chapters, this book takes you on a journey to understand the essential elements that contribute to our overall health, from the invisible struggles of loneliness and mental health problems to the impact of global events like the COVID-19 pandemic. The book begins with an eye-opening chapter that sheds light on the pervasive nature of loneliness and its profound impact on the functioning of individuals. The authors delve into the various costs of loneliness and uncover the under-recognized association between loneliness and mental health problems. In a world interconnected like never before, these insights are essential for anyone seeking to understand the complexities of human well-being.
Cyber-Collaborative Algorithms and Protocols: Optimizing Agricultural Robotics (Automation, Collaboration, & E-Services #15)
by Shimon Y. Nof Puwadol Oak DusadeerungsikulRevolutionizing the field of complex system optimization and management, this book introduces the innovative concept of cyber-collaborative protocols (CCP), representing a new approach to managing the complexity of interconnected systems. Departing from traditional methods, this book emphasizes collaboration, efficiency, and intelligence within cyber-physical systems (CPS), with a specific focus on precision agriculture and agricultural robotics systems (ARS). With a combination of theoretical foundations and practical applications, the book explores CCP’s unique advantages and potential to enhance system effectiveness to address real-world critical issues such as food security. This book is an essential resource for diverse audiences, including academics and students in the fields of complex systems design and management, as well as professionals and practitioners. Importantly, the book provides a forward-looking perspective on the role of engineered collaboration in complex CPS.
Geriatrics Models of Care: Bringing 'Best Practice' to an Aging America
by Heidi White Marie Boltz Michael L. Malone Jonny Macias TejadaFollowing the success of the previous edition, the second edition of Geriatrics Models of Care is the definitive resource for systems-based practice improvement for the care of older adults. Several new models of care have been published in the last eight years, new outcomes have emerged to better understand the impact of existing models, and with the rise of the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement, promoting organized efforts to prepare our health care settings for older individuals is of more importance than ever. The second edition is organized based on the practice setting along a continuum of care: hospital, transitions from hospital to home, outpatient settings, and the emergency department. This book also highlights long-term care models, which is an important part of the continuum of care for older Americans. Further, this edition features models that address the needs of vulnerable populations. This new section will describe a spectrum of programs for older adults who have Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease. Other models describe best practices for older adults undergoing surgery or those who want to remain functioning independently in their home. A defining feature of this book is that each chapter follows a standard template: 1) the challenge which led to the model; 2) the patient population served; 3) core components of the intervention; 4) the role of interdisciplinary health professionals; 5) evidence to support the intervention; 6) lessons learned in the implementation and dissemination of the model; 7) implications for family caregivers, and communities (particularly underserved and diverse communities); and 8) how each model will provide care across the continuum during an entire episode of care. In addition, each chapter features a “call out” box with practical tips for implementing the model.
Large-Scale Scientific Computations: 14th International Conference, LSSC 2023, Sozopol, Bulgaria, June 5–9, 2023, Revised Selected Papers (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #13952)
by Ivan Lirkov Svetozar MargenovThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Large-Scale Scientific Computations, LSSC 2023, held in Sozopol, Bulgaria, during June 5–9, 2023. The 49 full papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 61 submissions. They were organized in topical sections as follows: preconditioning and multilevel methods; fractures and mixed dimensional modeling: discretizations, solvers, and methodology; machine learning and model order reduction for large scale predictive simulations; fractional differential problems: theoretical aspects, algorithms and applications; variational analysis and optimal control; stochastic optimal control and numerical methods in economics and finance; tensor methods for big data analytics and low-rank approximations of PDEs solutions; applications of metaheuristics to large-scale problems; large-scale models: numerical methods, parallel computations and applications; HPC and HPDA: algorithms and applications.
Ethical Dilemma in Psychiatry: Real Cases Scenario
by Perihan Elif EkmekciPsychiatry is a field that differs from other fields of medical practice in terms of its ethical problems and ethical dilemmas it encounters. The physicians who specialize in the field of psychiatry or health professionals who work in mental health services should be equipped to recognize these ethical problems, to deal with them in the right ethical frameworks and to offer practical and appropriate solutions in their clinical practice. The work compiles extensive experiences from Medical Faculty of Ankara University, Turkey. The book aims to give a comprehensive understanding about the particular ethical problems and dilemmas in psychiatry and provide tools and methods to approach them in an ethically appropriate way.
Biodiversity Laws, Policies and Science in Europe, the United States and China
by Tianbao Qin Maria Vittoria Ferroni Giovanni Antonelli Alex ErwinThis book offers an in-depth analysis of and multidisciplinary insights into the latest trends in biodiversity laws, policies and science in Europe, the United States, and China. The loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems continues at an alarming rate, harming people, the economy, and the climate. As biodiversity cannot be meaningfully addressed by any single field, a multidisciplinary approach is needed to attain a better understanding of its complexity and to identify prevention and protection systems. Each chapter addresses a specific aspect of biodiversity. Taken together, they provide an innovative exploration of the various facets of biodiversity from the perspectives of law, the social sciences and natural sciences. As such, the book offers an essential theoretical and practical guide for academics, experts, policymakers, and students alike.
Circular Economy for Buildings and Infrastructure: Principles, Practices and Future Directions (Sustainable Development Goals Series)
by Liyin Shen Jian Zuo Ruidong ChangThis edited volume covers theoretical and practical aspects of circular economy in building development, offering chapters dealing with topics such as material design, affordability of housing development, waste management and recycling, smart metering, and more. A particular focus is placed on various stakeholders’ points of view. The book's chapters are co-developed and contributed by multidisciplinary teams including both academics and industry practitioners. The case study-oriented approach taken here helps to facilitate the reader's understanding of how building sustainability can be achieved in the context of circular economy. The building industry has significant environmental, social and economic impacts. As one of the biggest energy consumers and carbon emitters, building sustainability has attracted wide attention globally. Building projects and their associated activities consume a large amount of energy, natural resources and water while producing a large proportion of wastes throughout their lifecycles. The traditional linear approach of “make, use and dispose” has been heavily criticized, whilst the circular approach has gained momentum. Indeed, circular economy has emerged as one of key principles to manage sustainability related issues by means of focusing on the circularity of resources as well as the cost implications.
Ballast Water Treatment and Exchange for Ships (Synthesis Lectures on Ocean Systems Engineering)
by Alexander Olsen Pamela Rossi CiampoliniThe inadvertent transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens in the ballast water of ships has been determined to have caused a significant adverse impact to many of the world's coastal regions. The international maritime community, under the auspices of the IMO has developed several documents, including the “International Conventions for the Control and Management of Ship's Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004”, (Ballast Water Management Convention), which are aimed at preventing the introduction of unwanted aquatic organisms and pathogens through the discharge of ballast water and sediments. The Ballast Water Management Convention applies to vessels registered in a country which is party to the Convention and to those vessels registered in other countries when operating in the waters of a country which is party to the Convention. As a means to prevent, minimize and ultimately eliminate the risk to the environment, human health, property and resources arising from the transferof harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens through the control and management of vessel's ballast water and sediment, as well as to avoid unwanted side-effects from that control, the Convention requires vessels to conduct a ballast water exchange or be fitted with an approved ballast water management system. It is noted that several studies have shown that the effectiveness of ballast water exchange varies and is dependent on the vessel type (design), exchange method (sequential, flow-through and dilution methods), ballasting system configuration, exchange location, weather conditions and vessel's trading pattern. For these reasons (and others), it has been determined that ballast water exchange does not provide adequate protective measures to prevent damage from organisms and pathogens carried in a vessel's ballast, even though exchange was considered to be acceptable as an interim solution.This book includes updates for the clarification of Survey requirements and adds the definition of biological commissioning, testing as well as requirements for Class approved Service Providers to conduct biological commissioning testing. Moreover, this book includes updates due to the adoption of the requirements from IACS UR M74, Rev. 2 and UR F45 and is applicable for existing ships, where an application for approval for the plans of BWMS is made on or after 1 July 2022; or for new ships contracted for construction on or after 1 July 2022.
Tesla Turbine: A Practical Design Guide for Boundary Layer or Bladeless Turbines
by Alberto Traverso Avinash Renuke Anestis I. KalfasThis book aims at providing the reader with up-to-date knowledge about Tesla turbine features, mechanical design, and performance characteristics. A Tesla machine, in general, is characterised by the absence of rotating blades, therefore it is also called bladeless or boundary layer machine. In this book, suitable numerical approaches for the fluid-dynamic analysis are described, with practical examples related to physical prototypes designed, built and operated by the Authors. Interest in small scale turbines is growing mainly for energy efficiency and power recovery in a variety of applications. Considering small scales, conventional bladed turbines impose manufacturing limitations, lower performance and higher cost, which hinder their implementation. Tesla bladeless turbomachines are being re-discovered due to many advantages such as their simple design and ease of manufacturing with acceptable performance, especially for small-scale power generation and energy harvesting. To contribute to the spread of efficient and viable Tesla turbines (or expanders), this book presents holistic design guidelines to Tesla turbines, encompassing geometrical definition of Tesla rotor, of Tesla stator, of Tesla rotor-stator-casing assembly, providing practical correlations to take into account various loss mechanisms, and discussing the optimal design point definition for such type of century-aged but always young turbines.
Electromagnetic Processes of Nuclear Excitation: From Direct Photoabsorption to Free Electron and Muon Capture (Springer Theses)
by Simone GargiuloFor decades, scientists have envisioned the possibility of storing energy in the form of nuclear excitations, resulting in specific nuclear configurations known as isomers. These unique metastable states have the ability to maintain their excited state for periods that range from several years to time spans exceeding the age of the Universe. However, despite numerous research efforts, achieving effective and practical control over isomer activation or depletion continues to be an unresolved challenge. This book delves into the world of isomers, beginning with an accessible overview of their essential properties and significance as long-duration energy storage solutions. Across the chapters, the book delves into diverse electromagnetic mechanisms responsible for nuclear excitation. It presents the ongoing debate surrounding the Nuclear Excitation by Electron Capture (NEEC) process, offering a comprehensivehistorical background that ranges from its early proposal to the latest tools employed for its investigation. The subsequent chapter explores the possibilities of using muons, introducing a novel process called Nuclear Excitation by Free Muon Capture (NEμC). The primary aim of these sections is to identify methods that could either increase the likelihood of these nuclear processes or provide real-time external manipulation over them. In the last chapter, the book revisits the process of nuclear photoabsorption in optical laser-generated plasma through experimental efforts, offering a fresh interpretation of existing literature results. Overall, the book delivers a clear and comprehensive overview, aiming to assist newcomers and established scientists in quickly grasping the core aspects of the subjects, possibly guiding their research endeavors. Hopefully, this resource will act as a catalyst for sparking new ideas while providing insights into the intricacies and opportunitiespresented by nuclear excitations within the realm of nuclear physics.
Recent Strategies in High Risk Surgery
by Joel Faintuch Salomao FaintuchMajor surgical societies have been publishing perioperative recommendations for over half a century, based on committees conducting reviews of the literature. Surgical books fundamentally target the intraoperative period when anesthesia is going on. Fatalities are often embedded in a larger context of systemic failures, in which initial problems are sidestepped or mishandled till they become overwhelming and irreversible. There must be a guiding principle and a truly integrated approach for each condition and treatment, of course based on the strongest available evidence. This unique book provides the reader standardized instructions and recommendations on the management of all high-risk surgical candidates in different specialties and contexts, encompassing a continuum of care, and not just in selected phases or groups.Written by worldwide experts, it is divided in 11 sections and 41 chapters which discuss: Preoperative evaluation, Lifestyle interventions, Surgical specialties, Protocols of special relevance, Fluids, electrolytes and shock, Perioperative surgical challenges, Bedside and adjunct procedures, Wound care, Innovative Approaches (including artificial intelligence and machine learning), End of life care and other ethical challenges. It also includes an additional section with supplementary material.Residents, fellows, practitioners in training and seasoned professionals seeking society recertification, primarily in surgery, anesthesiology, intensive care medicine, internal medicine, emergency services, trauma, vascular surgery, nursing, and physical therapy will find this book valuable. Professionals in the industry (especially those related to surgery, critical care monitoring devices, imaging diagnosis and interventional radiology), policy makers and government agencies will also benefit from this work.
The Forgotten Financiers of the Louisiana Purchase: European Bankers, the US, and the Rise of International Finance (Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance)
by Larry NealThis book provides a comprehensive account of how the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was financed. Where existing research has focused predominantly on the political and diplomatic significance of the Purchase, this book demonstrates the importance of the Purchase to global financial history. The book provides context and background for the Louisiana Purchase and examines the role of key actors and companies, focusing particularly on the ‘forgotten financiers’ of the Purchase – individuals from the US, France and the UK including Alexander Baring, Albert Gallatin, Pierre Cesar Labouchere and Francois Barbe-Marbois. Based on extensive, original archival research, the chapters will illuminate the role played by these individuals in bringing about financial innovation and facilitating a major transaction that doubled the size of the original United States and helped set the country on a path to global power. The book will be a valuable resource for historians of Europe and America, particularly those with interests in economic and financial history, as well as banking and finance scholars who are interested in the emergence of large-scale international finance in the 19th century.
Hierarchical Archimedean Copulas (SpringerBriefs in Applied Statistics and Econometrics)
by Ostap Okhrin Jan GóreckiThis book offers a thorough understanding of Hierarchical Archimedean Copulas (HACs) and their practical applications. It covers the basics of copulas, explores the Archimedean family, and delves into the specifics of HACs, including their fundamental properties. The text also addresses sampling algorithms, HAC parameter estimation, and structure, and highlights temporal models with applications in finance and economics. The final chapter introduces R, MATLAB, and Octave toolboxes for copula modeling, enabling students, researchers, data scientists, and practitioners to model complex dependence structures and make well-informed decisions across various domains.
Dark Academe: Capitalism, Theory, and the Death Drive in Higher Education (Palgrave Studies on Global Policy and Critical Futures in Education)
by Jeffrey R. Di LeoThis book argues that a critical understanding of dark academe is vital to the futures of democracy and education. Drawing upon contemporary literary and cultural theory, particularly, affect theory, queer epistemology, and critical race theory as well as critiques of capitalism and accounts of the death drive, it builds a case for identifying dark academe as anything that prohibits the pursuit of democratic education and critical citizenship. It also argues that dark times require a reassessment of the ways theory and knowledge are approached in the humanities. This is necessary if the aim is to truly understand the darkness at the heart of the higher education today. Dark academe works to negate education and learning by continuously telling us that the quest for knowledge is empty, and the pursuit of critique is blind. In this educational darkness, the death drive of neoliberal academe becomes a force that works against intellectual transformation and the deepening of critical sights.
Assessment Analytics in Education: Designs, Methods and Solutions (Advances in Analytics for Learning and Teaching)
by Dirk Ifenthaler Muhittin SahinThis book is about the current state of research in online assessment. The growth of this field is set to accelerate exponentially with emerging opportunities for automatic data collection and analysis. Yet, the future of online assessment faces major challenges including, perhaps most importantly, the extent to which assessments, when enabled by technology, can serve simultaneously the needs of learners, teachers and those of the enterprise of education. This book details, specifically, the multiple ways in which online assessment can be utilized, such as:Providing virtual coaching or tutoringOffering appropriate scaffoldingAllowing analysis of student decision-making Providing the mechanism for students to review and comment on each others digital creationsCreating a space for online discussionProviding expert coaching for modeling and animation workWith the increased availability of vast and highly varied amounts of data from learners, teachers, learning environments, and administrative systems within educational settings, further opportunities arise for advancing pedagogical assessment practice (Ifenthaler et al., 2018). This book fully details these opportunities, as well as privileges and constraints of analytics-enhanced assessment, harnessing formative as well as summative data from learners and their contexts in order to facilitate learning processes in near real-time and help decisionmakers to improve learning environments.
Finance, Economics, and Industry for Sustainable Development: Proceedings of the 4th International Scientific Conference on Sustainable Development (ESG 2023), St. Petersburg 2023 (Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics)
by Anna Rumyantseva Hod Anyigba Elena Sintsova Natalia V. VasilenkoThis volume discusses strategic approaches and relevant decisions of business, government, and civil society to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which were adopted by all UN member states in 2015. The book presents the proceedings of the 4th International Scientific Conference on Sustainable Development (ESG 2023), St. Petersburg 2023. At present, the economies of different countries are in a zone of turbulence and the current agenda pushes the transformation of all customary systems to maintain and keep the achieved positions. This volume brings together material on sustainable development in economics and finance as well as industry. It is intended for scholars and professionals involved in public and corporate finance, financial accounting and auditing, sustainable development risk management, as well as economic growth, macroeconomics, monetary policy in a sustainable development environment, public and corporate governance and economics, corporate communications and public relations.
Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing: Volume 17 (Studies in Computational Intelligence #1153)
by Roger LeeThis book reports state-of-the-art results in Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing. This edited book presents original papers on both theory and practice. It addresses foundations, state-of-the-art problems and solutions, and crucial challenges.
4th International Conference for Innovation in Biomedical Engineering and Life Sciences: Proceedings of ICIBEL 2022, December 10–13, 2022, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (IFMBE Proceedings #107)
by Fatimah Ibrahim Juliana Usman Mohd Yazed Ahmad Norhamizan HamzahThis book reports on engineering methods and technologies for biomedical applications. It covers sensors and devices for biological and medical purposes, along with their fabrication and testing, and advances in engineering technologies, such as autonomous systems, which can support life science and healthcare in the era of industry 4.0. Based on the proceedings of the 4th International Conference for Innovation in Biomedical Engineering and Life Sciences, ICIBEL 2022, held on December 10–13, 2022, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this book provides researchers and professionals with a timely snapshot of current issues and challenges in the broad field of biomedical engineering. It is aimed at inspiring future research and fostering interdisciplinary and international collaborations in this field and relating ones.
Information Systems: 20th European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern Conference, EMCIS 2023, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 11-12, 2023, Proceedings, Part II (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing #502)
by Marinos Themistocleous Khalid Al Marri Maria Papadaki Marwan Al ZarouniThis book constitutes selected papers from the 20th European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern Conference, EMCIS 2023, which was held in Dubai, UAE, during December 11-12, 2023. EMCIS covers technical, organizational, business, and social issues in the application of information technology and is dedicated to the definition and establishment of Information Systems (IS) as a discipline of high impact for IS professionals and practitioners. It focuses on approaches that facilitate the identification of innovative research of significant relevance to the IS discipline following sound research methodologies that lead to results of measurable impact. The 43 papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 126 submissions. They were organized in topical sections as follows: Part I: Metaverse; blockchain technology and applications; digital governance; healthcare information systems; artificial intelligence; Part II: Big data and analytics; digital services and social media; innovative research projects; managing information systems; smart cities.
Advances in Haptics and Virtual Reality: Proceedings of 2023 International Conference on Haptics and Virtual Reality (Learning and Analytics in Intelligent Systems #37)
by Jianbo Su Xiuquan QiaoThis book collects selected papers from the 2023 International Conference on Haptics and Virtual Reality (ICHVR 2023), held during December 15–17, 2023. ICHVR 2023 is organized by Southeast University (SEU), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and co-organized by the International Association of Electrical, Electronic and Energy Engineering (IAEEEE). This book gathers together latest findings and insightful ideas from innovative academics and experts in the field of Haptics, Virtual Reality, Human–Computer Interaction, Computer Vision, Computer Arts, Mobile Intelligent Device and Artificial Intelligent Algorithm. This book serves as a valuable resource for staying up-to-date with the state of the art in Haptics and Virtual Reality and serves as a catalyst for further advancements and innovation in these fields, which will provide unique perspectives for readers consisting of professionals, scientists, practitioners, researchers, and graduate students.
Handbook of Media Psychology: The Science and The Practice
by Grant J. Rich V. K. Kumar Frank H. FarleyThis comprehensive and up-to-date resource presents the state of the science in the expanding and widely influential field of media psychology and technology. Covering theoretical concepts, research, and practice, this handbook explores key areas relevant to developing media psychology and technology in today's world.The impact of media and technology is discussed as are the uses and misuses of various media outlets, including television, film, and social media. How media affects public opinion and attitudes is given special attention, as are psycho-social and neuropsychological factors. The authors are recognized experts in this field, many associated with the American Psychological Association’s Society of Media Psychology and Technology. This relevant and timely handbook provides researchers and academics with rich wide-ranging presentations of an area critical to the dissemination and discussion of results and implications of ongoing scientific investigations for bringingabout social change in democratic societies through the use of media and technology.
Academic Research in Business and the Social Sciences: A Guidebook for Early Career Researchers
by George P. MoschisThis book provides doctoral students, junior faculty and early-career researchers with guidelines, resources and strategies for performing and publishing academic research successfully. It helps increase the productivity of researchers by showing efficient and effective ways to increase research output and publication probability, ranging from manuscript preparation and positioning to working with co-authors and journal reviewers. The author uses research findings, anecdotal evidence and illustrations from his academic career to support his views on strategies and tactics that are required of scholars in order to succeed.