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Kongruentes Policy-Lernen als lernbedingter Policy-Wandel: Zum Koordinierungsmechanismus des Policy-Lernens in Regierungsformationen (Studien der NRW School of Governance)
by Sandra PlümerSandra Plümer untersucht „kongruentes Policy-Lernen“ (congruent policy learning) als lernbedingten Policy-Wandel und fragt nach dem Koordinierungsmechanismus innerhalb von Regierungsformationen, der die Übersetzung von Policy-Lernen in Policy-Wandel sicherstellt. Den Analyserahmen für die „Mikropolitische Policy-Lernen Analyse“ bildet eine Theorienverbindung des Advocacy Coalition Framework mit der Strategischen Organisationsanalyse. Als Fallbeispiel fungiert die Rückkehr zum Abitur nach neun Jahren (G9) an Gymnasien in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Die qualitativ-interpretative Fallstudie verdeutlicht den regierungsinternen Koordinierungsmechanismus als multidimensionalen Interaktionsprozess bestehend aus Normen, Ressourcen und Deutungsschemata. Dieser ist trotz eines gesamtgesellschaftlichen Lernprozesses notwendig, um zum Lernprozess kongruente Reformen zu beschließen. Damit erfasst die Autorin die bisher wenig erforschte Schnittstelle von kognitivem Überzeugungswandel und handlungsbasierterDurchsetzungsfähigkeit.
Explainable and Interpretable Reinforcement Learning for Robotics (Synthesis Lectures on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning)
by Aaron M. Roth Dinesh Manocha Ram D. Sriram Elham TabassiThis book surveys the state of the art in explainable and interpretable reinforcement learning (RL) as relevant for robotics. While RL in general has grown in popularity and been applied to increasingly complex problems, several challenges have impeded the real-world adoption of RL algorithms for robotics and related areas. These include difficulties in preventing safety constraints from being violated and the issues faced by systems operators who desire explainable policies and actions. Robotics applications present a unique set of considerations and result in a number of opportunities related to their physical, real-world sensory input and interactions. The authors consider classification techniques used in past surveys and papers and attempt to unify terminology across the field. The book provides an in-depth exploration of 12 attributes that can be used to classify explainable/interpretable techniques. These include whether the RL method is model-agnostic or model-specific, self-explainable or post-hoc, as well as additional analysis of the attributes of scope, when-produced, format, knowledge limits, explanation accuracy, audience, predictability, legibility, readability, and reactivity. The book is organized around a discussion of these methods broken down into 42 categories and subcategories, where each category can be classified according to some of the attributes. The authors close by identifying gaps in the current research and highlighting areas for future investigation.
Advances in Data-Driven Computing and Intelligent Systems: Selected Papers from ADCIS 2023, Volume 3 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #893)
by Swagatam Das Snehanshu Saha Carlos A. Coello Coello Jagdish C. BansalThis book is a collection of best-selected research papers presented at the International Conference on Advances in Data-driven Computing and Intelligent Systems (ADCIS 2023) held at BITS Pilani, K. K. Birla Goa Campus, Goa, India, during September 21–23, 2023. It includes state-of-the-art research work in the cutting-edge technologies in the field of data science and intelligent systems. The book presents data-driven computing; it is a new field of computational analysis which uses provided data to directly produce predictive outcomes. The book is useful for academicians, research scholars, and industry persons.
Life Cycle Assessment in Aviation: Theory and Applications (Sustainable Aviation)
by T. Hikmet Karakoc Selçuk Ekici Alper DalkiranLife Cycle Assessment in Aviation: Theory and Applications provides readers with a comprehensive analysis that examines various elements within the aviation sector, including aircraft operations, maintenance and repair activities, aircraft gas turbine engine processes, airport auxiliary vehicles, airport operations, airport construction, airport access traffic, and airport wastes. The book’s content has been meticulously crafted to address the specific needs and interests of a diverse audience encompassing researchers, engineering students, and civil aviation organization officials. Readers will find valuable insights and up-to-date information about the latest developments in the aviation field, serving as a valuable resource for their investigations and studies.
Advances in Information Retrieval: 46th European Conference on Information Retrieval, ECIR 2024, Glasgow, UK, March 24–28, 2024, Proceedings, Part I (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14608)
by Nazli Goharian Nicola Tonellotto Yulan He Aldo Lipani Graham McDonald Craig Macdonald Iadh OunisThe six-volume set LNCS 14608, 14609, 14609, 14610, 14611, 14612 and 14613 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 46th European Conference on IR Research, ECIR 2024, held in Glasgow, UK, during March 24–28, 2024.The 57 full papers, 18 finding papers, 36 short papers, 26 IR4Good papers, 18 demonstration papers, 9 reproducibility papers, 8 doctoral consortium papers, and 15 invited CLEF papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 578 submissions. The accepted papers cover the state of the art in information retrieval focusing on user aspects, system and foundational aspects, machine learning, applications, evaluation, new social and technical challenges, and other topics of direct or indirect relevance to search.
Saving Freedom: Truman, the Cold War, and the Fight for Western Civilization
by Joe ScarboroughNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!History called on Harry Truman to unite the Western world against Soviet communism, but first he had to rally Republicans and Democrats behind America’s most dramatic foreign policy shift since George Washington delivered his farewell address. How did one of the least prepared presidents to walk into the Oval Office become one of its most successful?The year was 1947. The Soviet Union had moved from being America’s uneasy ally in the Second World War to its most feared enemy. With Joseph Stalin’s ambitions pushing westward, Turkey was pressured from the east while communist revolutionaries overran Greece. The British Empire was battered from its war with Hitler and suddenly teetering on the brink of financial ruin. Only America could afford to defend freedom in the West, and the effort was spearheaded by a president who hadn’t even been elected to that office. But Truman would wage a domestic political battle that carried with it the highest of stakes, inspiring friends and foes alike to join in his crusade to defend democracy across the globe.In Saving Freedom, Joe Scarborough recounts the historic forces that moved Truman toward his country’s long twilight struggle against Soviet communism, and how this untested president acted decisively to build a lasting coalition that would influence America’s foreign policy for generations to come. On March 12, 1947, Truman delivered an address before a joint session of Congress announcing a policy of containment that would soon become known as the Truman Doctrine. That doctrine pledged that the United States would “support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” The untested president’s policy was a radical shift from 150 years of isolationism, but it would prove to be the pivotal moment that guaranteed Western Europe’s freedom, the American Century’s rise, and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. Truman’s triumph over the personal and political struggles that confronted him following his ascension to the presidency is an inspiring tale of American leadership, fierce determination, bipartisan unity, and courage in the face of the rising Soviet threat. Saving Freedom explores one of the most pivotal moments of the twentieth century, a turning point when patriotic Americans of both political parties worked together to defeat tyranny.
Anger Is an Energy: My Life Uncensored
by John LydonFrom the legendary frontman of the Sex Pistols, comes the complete, unvarnished story of his life in his own words.John Lydon is an icon—one of the most recognizable and influential cultural figures of the last forty years. As Johnny Rotten, he was the lead singer of the Sex Pistols-the world’s most notorious band. The Pistols shot to fame in the mid-1970s with songs such as “Anarchy in the UK” and “God Save the Queen.” So incendiary was their impact at the time that in their native England, the Houses of Parliament questioned whether they violated the Traitors and Treasons Act, a crime that carries the death penalty to this day. The Pistols would inspire the formation of numerous other groundbreaking groups and Lydon would become the unlikely champion of a generation clamoring for change.Following on the heels of the Pistols, Lydon formed Public Image Ltd (PiL), expressing an equally urgent impulse in his character: the constant need to reinvent himself, to keep moving. From their beginnings in 1978 PiL set the groundbreaking template for a band that continues to challenge and thrive to this day, while also recording one of the eighties most powerful anthems, “Rise.” Lydon also found time for making innovative dance records with the likes of Afrika Bambaataa and Leftfield. By the nineties he’d broadened his reach into other media while always maintaining his trademark invective and wit, most memorably hosting Rotten TV on VH1.John Lydon remains a captivating and dynamic figure to this day—both as a musician, and, thanks to his outspoken, controversial, and from-the-hip opinions, as a cultural commentator. In Anger is an Energy, he looks back on a life full of incident, from his beginnings as a sickly child of immigrant Irish parents growing up in post-war London to his present status as a vibrant, alternative hero.The book includes 70 black-and-white and color photos, many which are rare or never-before-seen.
Filmgenres und Filmgattungen: Ein Überblick
by Frank PapenbroockDieses Buch leistet einen Beitrag zum Verständnis der Bedeutung von Filmgenre-, Gattungs-, Stil- und Formatbezeichnungen. Es verfolgt das Ziel, einen umfassenden Überblick über die vielfältigen, oft wild wuchernden Begrifflichkeiten zu geben, die im Alltag gebräuchlich sind. Dabei beschreibt es in allgemeinverständlicher Sprache die wichtigsten Merkmale, die mit den jeweiligen Bezeichnungen verbunden sind, und arbeitet den Konsens hinsichtlich des dramaturgischen Aufbaus, der Geschichtsstruktur sowie der wiederkehrenden Ikonografie, Musik und Bildsprache heraus.Neben der Vermittlung grundlegender Informationen widmet sich das Buch auch Fragen, die aufgrund der Geläufigkeit der Begriffe oftmals als zu banal angesehen werden und klärt Detailfragen, wie etwa den Unterschied zwischen einem „Sozialdrama“ (engl. „Social Problem Film“) und einem „Social Drama“ (dt. „Gesellschaftsdrama“). Es fungiert somit als Überblick für Filminteressierte jeder Art, insbesondere aber für jene, die beruflich mit dem Thema in Verbindung stehen.
Human Aspects of Information Security and Assurance: 15th IFIP WG 11.12 International Symposium, HAISA 2021, Virtual Event, July 7–9, 2021, Proceedings (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology #613)
by Steven Furnell Nathan ClarkeThis book constitutes the proceedings of the 15th IFIP WG 11.12 International Symposium on Human Aspects of Information Security and Assurance, HAISA 2021, held virtually in July 2021.The 18 papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 30 submissions. They are organized in the following topical sections: attitudes and perspectives; cyber security education; and people and technology.
Inductive Logic Programming: 31st International Conference, ILP 2022, Windsor Great Park, UK, September 28–30, 2022, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #13779)
by Stephen H. Muggleton Alireza Tamaddoni-NezhadThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Inductive Logic Programming, ILP 2022, held during September 28-30, 2022.The 11 regular papers presented in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 26 submissions The papers in these proceedings represent the diversity and vitality in present ILP research, including statistical relational learning, transfer learning, scientific reasoning, learning temporal models, synthesis and planning, and argumentation and language.
Silicon-Based High-Sensitivity Broadband Receiver
by Xiaojun BiThis book presents various design theories and methodologies for silicon-based high-sensitivity broadband receivers, including millimeter-wave radiometer chips and photoelectric receivers, which are core elements in imaging systems, data centers, and telecommunication infrastructures. As a key module in application systems, the high-sensitivity broadband receiver, not only attracts the attention of engineers and researchers in the radio-frequency and optoelectronic fields, but also garners significant interest from other disciplines, including optics, communications, and security. The book introduces various silicon-based critical design technologies aim to overcome the limitations inherent in silicon devices, distinctly enhancing sensitivity with a broad bandwidth. These innovative design methodologies, initially proposed and subsequently validated through meticulous measurements, represent a pioneering contribution. The book provides readers with detailed insights into design intricacies and considerations. Its audience includes undergraduate and graduate students with a specific interest in RF/optoelectronic receiver technology, along with researchers and engineers engaged in the study of imaging systems, data centers, or other communication applications.
Practical Handbook on Soil Protists (Springer Protocols Handbooks)
by N. Amaresan Komal A. ChandaranaThis volume details a wide range of basic and advanced techniques associated with research on isolation of important soil protozoa, and identification. Chapters guide readers through calculations of soil protists, basic techniques for isolation, enumeration, enrichment, molecular techniques, and staining techniques. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Practical Handbook on Soil Protists aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.
Passive and Active Measurement: 25th International Conference, PAM 2024, Virtual Event, March 11–13, 2024, Proceedings, Part I (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14537)
by Philipp Richter Vaibhav Bajpai Esteban CarisimoThis book constitutes the proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Passive and Active Measurement, PAM 2024, held as a virtual event from March 11–13, 2024.The 14 full papers and 13 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 64 submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: Applications, IPv6, Machine Learning, and Measurement Tools.
100 Poems to Break Your Heart
by Edward Hirsch100 of the most moving and inspiring poems of the last 200 years from around the world, a collection that will comfort and enthrall anyone trapped by grief or loneliness, selected by the award-winning, best-selling, and beloved author of How to Read a PoemImplicit in poetry is the idea that we are enriched by heartbreaks, by the recognition and understanding of suffering—not just our own suffering but also the pain of others. We are not so much diminished as enlarged by grief, by our refusal to vanish, or to let others vanish, without leaving a record. And poets are people who are determined to leave a trace in words, to transform oceanic depths of feeling into art that speaks to others.In 100 Poems to Break Your Heart, poet and advocate Edward Hirsch selects 100 poems, from the nineteenth century to the present, and illuminates them, unpacking context and references to help the reader fully experience the range of emotion and wisdom within these poems. For anyone trying to process grief, loneliness, or fear, this collection of poetry will be your guide in trying times.
18 and Life on Skid Row
by Sebastian Bach18 And Life on Skid Row tells the story of a boy who spent his childhood moving from Freeport, Bahamas to California and finally to Canada and who at the age of eight discovered the gift that would change his life. Throughout his career, Sebastian Bach has sold over twenty million records both as the lead singer of Skid Row and as a solo artist. He is particularly known for the hit singles I Remember You, Youth Gone Wild, & 18 & Life, and the albums Skid Row and Slave To The Grind, which became the first ever hard rock album to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and landed him on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Bach then went on to become the first rock star to grace the Broadway stage, with starring roles in Jekyll & Hyde,Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He also appeared for seven seasons on the hit television show The Gilmore Girls.In his memoir, Bach recounts lurid tales of excess and debauchery as he toured the world with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Soundgarden, Pantera, Nine Inch Nails and Guns N’ Roses. Filled with backstage photos from his own personal collection, 18 And Life on Skid Row is the story of hitting it big at a young age, and of a band that broke up in its prime. It is the story of a man who achieved his wildest dreams, only to lose his family, and then his home. It is a story of perseverance, of wine, women and song and a man who has made his life on the road and always will. 18 And Life On Skid Row is not your ordinary rock memoir, because Sebastian Bach is not your ordinary rock star.
House of Nails: A Memoir of Life on the Edge
by Lenny Dykstra"Tough, straight, upsetting, and strangely beautiful. One of the best sports autobiographies I've ever read. It comes from the heart." —Stephen KingEclipsing the traditional sports memoir, House of Nails, by former world champion, multimillionaire entrepreneur, and imprisoned felon Lenny Dykstra, spins a tragicomic tale of Shakespearean proportions -- a relentlessly entertaining American epic that careens between the heights and the abyss.Nicknamed "Nails" for his hustle and grit, Lenny approached the game of baseball -- and life -- with mythic intensity. During his decade in the majors as a center fielder for the legendary 1980s Mets and the 1990s Phillies, he was named to three All-Star teams and played in two of the most memorable World Series of the modern era. An overachiever known for his clutch hits, high on-base percentage, and aggressive defense, Lenny was later identified by his former minor-league roommate Billy Beane as the prototypical "Moneyball" player in Michael Lewis's bestseller. Tobacco-stained, steroid-powered, and booze-and-drug-fueled, Nails also defined a notorious era of excess in baseball.Then came a second act no novelist could plausibly conjure: After retiring, Dykstra became a celebrated business mogul and investment guru. Touted as "one of the great ones" by CNBC's Jim Cramer, he became "baseball's most improbable post-career success story" (The New Yorker), purchasing a $17.5-million mansion and traveling the world by private jet. But when the economy imploded in 2008, Lenny lost everything. Then the feds moved in: convicted of bankruptcy fraud (unjustly, he contends), Lenny served two and a half harrowing years in prison, where he was the victim of a savage beating by prison guards that knocked out his front teeth.The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, channeling the bewildered fascination of many observers, declared that Lenny's outrageous rise and spectactular fall was "the greatest story that I have ever seen in my lifetime."Now, for the first time, Lenny tells all about his tumultuous career, from battling through crippling pain to steroid use and drug addiction, to a life of indulgence and excess, then, an epic plunge and the long road back to redemption. Was Lenny's hard-charging, risk-it-all nature responsible for his success in baseball and business and his precipitous fall from grace? What lessons, if any, has he learned now that he has had time to think and reflect?Hilarious, unflinchingly honest, and irresistibly readable, House of Nails makes no apologies and leaves nothing left unsaid.
A Wicked Thing (Wicked Things Novels)
by Rhiannon ThomasRhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of what happens after happily ever after. Vividly imagined scenes of action, romance, and political intrigue are seamlessly woven together to reveal a richly created world . . . and Sleeping Beauty as she's never been seen before.One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.
Strange but True: A Novel (P. S. Series)
by John SearlesNow a Major Motion Picture starring Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, and Blythe Danner.“Sinister and complex.... You’ll race right through it.”—New York TimesAfter a mysterious fall from his New York City apartment, Philip Chase has moved back home with his mother, Charlene, a bitter woman who has never fully accepted the death of her younger son, Ronnie, five years earlier. Surrounded by memories of the family he no longer has, and trying to forget the reasons he left New York, Philip is in stasis.But everything changes late one windy February night when Ronnie's high school girlfriend shows up on their doorstep. A sad young woman who still bears the scars of the accident that took Ronnie's life, Melissa is nine months pregnant. The father, she claims, is Ronnie.Now Philip and his mother must confront not only Melissa's past but also their own: the secrets each has buried and the lies each has told. But not everyone wants the past exposed…. At once a moving story of redemption and a heart-stopping work of suspense, Strange but True “will hold you transfixed” (Salon.com).
The Royal Correspondent: A Novel
by Alexandra JoelThe author of The Paris Model captures the glamour, style, excitement, and romance of a bygone era in this sumptuous novel—set in the Sydney and London of the 1960s—about an up-and-coming young Australian reporter with a deadly secret. Breaking into the newspaper business in 1960s Sydney—a competitive world dominated by hard-edged men—isn’t easy for a woman. But Blaise Hill is far from ordinary. The only female in The Clarion’s newsroom, her long-held dream of being a reporter has come true. Blaise isn’t chasing stories just to make a name for herself; she’s helping support her family and her beloved sister Ivy, whose life has been transformed by polio.But the ambitious young journalist’s confidence is shaken when she secretly witnesses the murder of a top crime boss—a death that rocks the Sydney underworld. One of the few people who knows what really happened—and what Blaise knows—is the handsome, enigmatic Adam Rule, who helps cover up the murder. When she gets a plum assignment—moving to England to cover the British royal family—Blaise hopes to put it all behind her. Carving her own path among the scandal and intrigue of the Swinging Sixties in London, life is just about perfect—until the night she attends Queen Elizabeth’s gala in honor of the upcoming nuptials of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones. Among the exclusive crowd is the last man she ever wanted to see—Adam Rule. Is Blaise’s dark secret coming back to hurt her—or is this the beginning of something far more dangerous? In this mesmerizing novel, Alexandra Joel brings to life the thrilling, colorful world of 1960s Sydney and London, when fashion, music, society, and even the royal family rode the waves of change—and a spirited, ambitious heroine dared to make her way in a man’s world.
The Everlasting: A Novel
by Katy Simpson SmithNEW YORK TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION OF 2020"Only Katy Simpson Smith could have written a novel of such elegance, emotional power, and grace. The Everlasting, a quadruple love story spanning two millennia, is no less than the story of love itself—its frustrations and thrills, its blunders and transcendent glories. Meraviglioso."—Nathaniel Rich, author of King ZenoFrom a supremely talented author comes this brilliant and inventive literary work of historical fiction, set in Rome in four different centuries, that explores love in all its various incarnations and ponders elemental questions of good and evil, obedience and free will that connect four unforgettable lives .Spanning two thousand years, The Everlasting follows four characters whose struggles resonate across the centuries: an early Christian child martyr; a medieval monk on crypt duty in a church; a Medici princess of Moorish descent; and a contemporary field biologist conducting an illicit affair. Outsiders to a city layered and dense with history, this quartet separated by time grapple with the physicality of bodies, the necessity for sacrifice, and the power of love to sustain and challenge faith. Their small rebellions are witnessed and provoked by an omniscient, time-traveling Satan who, though incorporeal, nonetheless suffers from a heart in search of repair. As their dramas unfold amid the brick, marble, and ghosts of Rome, they each must decide what it means to be good. Twelve-year old Prisca defiles the scrolls of her father’s library. Felix, a holy man, watches his friend’s body decay and is reminded of the first boy he loved passionately. Giulia de’ Medici, a beauty with dark skin and limitless wealth, wants to deliver herself from her unborn child. Tom, an American biologist studying the lives of the smallest creatures, cannot pinpoint when his own marriage began to die. As each of these conflicted people struggles with forces they cannot control, their circumstances raise a profound and timeless question at the heart of faith: What is our duty to each other, and what will God forgive?Moving back through time from today (The Wilderness) to the Renaissance (The City) to the Middle Ages (The Grave) and finally to Rome under Marcus Aurelius (The Paradise), Tom, Guilia, Felix, and Prisca search and suffer for love in the eternal city, made vivid and familiar as they reappear in each century.
Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology #2784)
by Gal HaimovichThis volume explores the latest techniques and protocols used by researchers to address unique biological questions, model organisms not typically studied by Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH), protocols combining FISH with immunofluorescence (FISH-IF), and high-throughput experiments. The chapters in this book are divided into two parts: RNA FISH protocols and DNA FISH protocols. Part One covers methods for designing OligoPaint probes and studying distinct aspects of RNA biology such as transcription and splicing dynamics, and mRNA and small RNA expression and localization. Part Two discusses DNA repair dynamics, gene compaction, and chromatin conformation and gene rearrangements in plants, insects, and mammalian cells. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.Cutting edge and thorough, Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH): Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource that will benefit the broader scientific community in their studies and understanding of this important field.
Japan’s Rush to the Pacific War: The Institutional Roots of Overbalancing (Palgrave Studies in International Relations)
by Lionel P. FattonThis book investigates the phenomenon of overbalancing through an analysis of Japan’s foreign policy during the interbellum. In the mid-1930s, Japan withdrew from a naval arms control framework that had restrained military buildup on both sides of the Pacific Ocean since the early 1920s. By doing so, Japan not only triggered a naval arms race with the United States that exhausted its economy, it also destroyed the last institutionalized structure regulating the relationship between the two Pacific powers. Japan and the United States became caught in a spiral of tensions that culminated with the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Puzzling is the fact that the international environment in the Asia-Pacific was relatively stable in the mid-1930s, while Washington was pursuing a policy of accommodation toward Tokyo. By rejecting arms control and engaging in unfettered naval expansion, Japan overbalanced against the United States and began its rush to the Pacific War.The book explains Japan’s overbalancing with a neoclassical realist model that combines the literatures on threat perception and civil-military relations. Amid the Manchurian crisis of 1931-1933, as the Japanese government collaborated with the military institution to address the situation in China, military influence on the formulation of foreign policy surged. The perceptual and policy biases of the military, which include the tendency to distrust other countries’ intentions, to adopt worst-case analyses of international dynamics and to strive to maximize military power, gradually penetrated the decision-making process. Dysfunctions in the preexisting structure of Japanese civil-military relations, engendered by an over-depoliticization of the military institution, allowed the navy to convince policymakers that the United States was inherently hostile to Japan, hence the necessity to prepare for war. The government was brainstormed, adopting the biased military perspective on international affairs. Japan overbalanced in a myopic but conscious way.
God's Lunatics: Lost Souls, False Prophets, Martyred Saints, Murderous Cults, Demonic Nuns, and Other Victims of Man's Eternal Search for the Divine
by Michael LargoGod’s Lunatics is an eyebrow-raising encyclopedia of the strange and shocking side of history’s religions, cults, and spiritual movements, by Michael Largo, the bestselling author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning Final Exits. A fascinating compendium of “Lost Souls, False Prophets, Martyred Saints, Murderous Cults, Demonic Nuns, and Other Victims of Man’s Eternal Search for the Divine,” God’s Lunatics contains a wealth of valuable extreme spiritual information—including the number of exorcisms performed each year and the proper method for identifying the Antichrist.
Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House
by Robert DallekFifty years after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, presidential historian Robert Dallek, whom The New York Times calls “Kennedy’s leading biographer,” delivers a riveting new portrait of this president and his inner circle of advisors—their rivalries, personality clashes, and political battles. In Camelot’s Court, Dallek analyzes the brain trust whose contributions to the successes and failures of Kennedy’s administration—including the Bay of Pigs, civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam—were indelible.Kennedy purposefully put together a dynamic team of advisors noted for their brilliance and acumen, including Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, and trusted aides Ted Sorensen and Arthur Schlesinger. Yet the very traits these men shared also created sharp divisions. Far from being unified, this was an uneasy band of rivals whose ambitions and clashing beliefs ignited fiery internal debates.Robert Dallek illuminates a president deeply determined to surround himself with the best and the brightest, who often found himself disappointed with their recommendations. The result, Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House, is a striking portrait of a leader whose wise resistance to pressure and adherence to principle offers a cautionary tale for our own time.
Importance-Informed Reliability Engineering (Springer Series in Reliability Engineering)
by Hongyan Dui Shaomin WuThis book provides university students and practitioners with a collection of importance measures to design systems with high reliability, maintain them with high availability, and restore them in case of failures. Optimal reliability design, properly system maintenance and resilience management are vital for retaining a high level of system availability. Reliability importance measures, which are used to identify the weakest components from different perspectives, can be used to achieve this goal. The book has seven parts. Chapter 1 introduces the basic concepts. Chapter 2 focuses on importance measures for the system design phase and introduces how the system reliability can be improved with importance measures. Chapters 3 and 4 provide importance measures-related methods for scheduling maintenance policies under different scenarios. Chapter 5 provides importance measures for networks. Chapter 6 proposes importance measures for resilience management. The last chapter, or Chapter 7, illustrates the importance measures with case studies adopted from four types of systems: mechanical systems, energy systems, transport networks, and supply chain networks.