Bücher veröffentlicht von Springer Nature Singapore

This book situates Australian Muslim experiences of religious authority within the global context of Islam in the modern world. While drawing on examples of Muslim-majority states, new empirical findings indicate the growing diversity of Muslim religious actors in Australia, as well as the contextual realities shaping the way religious authority is legitimised and contested in democratic and authoritarian environments. In particular, the study challenges homogenous articulations of Islamic religious authority in unearthing new voices, epistemologies and socio-political factors shaping Muslim attitudes and experiences of religious authority. The book fills important gaps in the field, such as intra-Muslim relations, female religious authority, digital Islam and the relationship between traditional ulama, reformists and Muslim intellectuals in the West.

The book provides basic knowledge of clinical ophthalmic signs and their application in the clinical practice of medicine. It discusses several intra and extraocular signs that help the ophthalmologists to reach a diagnosis and suggest the presence or absence of an underlying severe sight-threatening or even life-threatening disease, such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, hematological disorders, systemic vasculitis, rheumatological disorders, brain tumors, sarcoidosis, or infectious diseases caused by M. tuberculosis, HIV or herpes viruses. The book is divided into two sections and each chapter is dedicated to one ophthalmic sign providing its pathophysiology, significance, differential diagnosis and clues to systemic disease. Each chapter is profusely illustrated with color and black and white images, and boxes with key messages on differential diagnosis and appropriate laboratory investigations. This book serves as a one-stop resource discussing the significance of individual ophthalmic signs and their context to sensitize the physicians, both the graduates and postgraduates in training, residents and fellows in ophthalmology, family medicine and internal medicine, and practicing physicians.

This book focuses on state-of-the-art sensing and automation technologies for field crops and in-house product production and provides a lot of innovative knowledge on image processing, AI algorithms and applications in agriculture, and robotics. This book provides undergraduate or graduate students with take-away knowledge for unmanned agricultural production, including but not limited to corn disease detection, wheat head detection and counting, and soil nutrient condition monitoring. The first three chapters focus on reviewing plant phenotyping sensing technology and robotics and soil nutrient monitoring, followed by in-house crop sensing robotics. Then two case studies on corn and the other two case studies on wheat are presented.

This book highlights the world distribution of eucalyptus plantations and the recent state of research on the utilization of planted eucalyptus for engineered wood products (EWPs) manufacturing. EWPs such as particleboard, fiberboard, oriented strand board, laminated veneer lumber, plywood, glue-laminated lumber, and cross-laminated lumber are highlighted. Eucalyptus is the main fiber resource for the pulp and paper industries in developed countries. Timber and fibers extracted from eucalyptus have long been utilized for solid wood and manufacturing of medium-density fiberboard. Other uses of eucalyptus such as pulp and paper, fuels, and chemical feedstocks are also discussed. Economic, social, and environmental assessments of eucalyptus products are presented.

The subject of this book is the fast-developing area of research known as metamaterials/metasurfaces and some of their engineering applications. This book comprehensively presents the state of the art of metamaterials/metasurfaces from theory to applications. The theoretical side includes electrodynamics of left-handed medium, generalized Snell's law, digital coding metamaterials/metasurfaces, group theory of metamaterials, information metamaterials and metasurfaces, etc. On the application side, a wide range of design examples are discussed, including metamaterial antennas, electromagnetic interference, frequency selective surfaces, wireless power transmission and energy harvesting, cloaking and radar cross section reduction, orbital angular momentum, wireless communication, imaging, etc. The book provides researchers, engineers, and graduate students with a variety of new discoveries, results, information, and knowledge in the field of metamaterials and metasurfaces.

This book delves into the multifaceted world of sleep apnea, presenting the latest advancements, challenges, and perspectives in the field. The book covers various topics, including neuro-stimulator use, positive airway pressure therapies, non-PAP and non-surgical treatments, surgical interventions, diagnosis and management of various sleep apnea phenotypes and comorbidities, and special populations such as pediatric and intensive care unit patients. The book discusses the pathophysiology and mechanisms underlying sleep apnea, examining the role of circulating miRNA as a potential biomarker for diagnosis. It also addresses the adverse health consequences associated with sleep apnea, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and hypertension. Furthermore, the book explores the application of telemedicine and wearable technologies in diagnosing and treating sleep apnea, as well as the impact of external factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and traffic safety concerns related to sleep deprivation and sleep disorders. The book also highlights the importance of perioperative assessment and management of patients with sleep disorders, the role of REM sleep in sleep disorders, recent advances in sleep during pregnancy and postpartum, and the influence of sleep disturbances on hospitalized and intensive care unit patients. With contributions from experts in the field, this book offers valuable insights into the current state of sleep apnea research and practice, serving as a solid foundation for healthcare professionals, researchers, and students interested in understanding and addressing this prevalent sleep disorder. By providing a comprehensive overview of the field, this book aims to inspire further research and innovation in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of sleep apnea and related sleep disorders.

This book focuses on the multi-beam phased array antenna as a satellite ground station. As there are already many excellent books on phased array antennas in the literature, this book focuses mainly on some engineering practices and fills the gap between principles and practices, such as array excitation error impact analysis and calibration methods, array geometry design for hemispherical coverage, multiple beam resource management, etc. This book is particularly suitable for readers interested in satellite constellation design or satellite ground station design. This book also benefits researchers and engineers in the fields of phased array antennas, aerospace engineering, telecommunications, etc.

This professional book is an important resource on the topics of geotechnical and foundation engineering for practicing engineers and consultants. It fills the gap between classroom education and real-world professional practice in green and brown field projects. It provides hands-on knowledge on various topics such as engineering geology, geotechnical investigation, site preparation, ground improvement, foundation on soft and filled-up soil, pile foundation, seepage control, erosion control and retaining wall, marine projects, simplified liquefaction potential assessment, tailing storage management at mines, failure during construction, site hazard and remedy and geotechnical and foundation engineering practice. This book will be highly useful for professionals and practicing engineers in the area of geotechnical and foundations engineering. It will also be a useful reference for graduate and postgraduate students and the faculty in the same field.

This book approaches the field of socioemotional learning from the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT). The volume examines socioemotional learning (SEL) in schools, higher educational institutions, and workplaces. It is a timely work in its comprehensive presentation of a means of understanding motivation for one¿s own work, the motivation of others, stress tolerance, team-working, conflict resolution, as well as dealing with critical situations. Socioemotional learning relates to competencies in a combination of behaviors, cognitions, and emotions that are essential for all individuals¿ success, including educational and employment settings. This book presents the most comprehensive discussion of SDT perspectives on socioemotional learning in various domains, ranging from formal to informal settings. This book is an essential resource for social scientists, educators, and researchers working in education, organizational psychology, and family sociology.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 19th China Conference on Machine Translation, CCMT 2023, held in Jinan, China, during October 19¿21, 2023. The 8 full papers and 3 short papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 71 submissions. They focus on machine translation; improvement of translation models and systems; translation quality estimation; document-level machine translation; low-resource machine translation.

As digital environments become increasingly individualised, instant, ubiquitous, and disintermediated, this book demonstrates the continuing relevance of intermediaries at the intersection of design, creativity, community engagement, and corporate social responsibility. The authors examine intermediaries as enablers of mutual benefit and offer a proactive, interventionist, and holistic approach to intermediation practice that steps beyond design thinking. By means of case studies that employ the 3C project design methodology¿Community, Culture, Commerce¿the authors provide an accessible introduction to intermediation at the nexus of theory and practice and signpost new opportunities for researchers and practitioners in the post-COVID environment.

Image classification is a critical component in computer vision tasks and has numerous applications. Traditional methods for image classification involve feature extraction and classification in feature space. Current state-of-the-art methods utilize end-to-end learning with deep neural networks, where feature extraction and classification are integrated into the model. Understanding traditional image classification is important because many of its design concepts directly correspond to components of a neural network. This knowledge can help demystify the behavior of these networks, which may seem opaque at first sight.The book starts from introducing methods for model-driven feature extraction and classification, including basic computer vision techniques for extracting high-level semantics from images. A brief overview of probabilistic classification with generative and discriminative classifiers is then provided. Next, neural networks are presented as a means to learn a classification model directly from labeled sample images, with individual components of the network discussed. The relationships between network components and those of a traditional designed model are explored, and different concepts for regularizing model training are explained. Finally, various methods for analyzing what a network has learned are covered in the closing section of the book.The topic of image classification is presented as a thoroughly curated sequence of steps that gradually increase understanding of the working of a fully trainable classifier. Practical exercises in Python/Keras/Tensorflow have been designed to allow for experimental exploration of these concepts. In each chapter, suitable functions from Python modules are briefly introduced to provide students with the necessary tools to conduct these experiments.

This book addresses the interplay between stochastic processes and partial differential equations. More specifically, it focuses on the connection between the nonlinear p-Laplace equation and the stochastic game called tug-of-war with noise. The connection in this context was discovered approximately 15 years ago and has since provided new insights and approaches. These lecture notes provide a brief but detailed and accessible introduction to the subject and to the more research-oriented literature. The book also presents the parabolic case side by side with the elliptic case, highlighting the fact that elliptic and parabolic equations are close in spirit in certain aspects. Moreover, it covers some parts of the regularity theory for these problems. Graduate students and advanced undergraduate students with a basic understanding of probability and partial differential equations will find this book useful.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the Third International Conference, AILA 2023, held in Changchun, China, during August 5¿6, 2023. The 26 full papers and the 10 short papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 56 submissions.This volume aims to provide novel ideas, original research achievements, and practical experiences in a broad range of artificial intelligence logic and applications.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th International Symposium on Advanced Parallel Processing Technologies, APPT 2023, held in Nanchang, China, during August 4¿6, 2023.The 23 full papers and 1 short papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 49 submissions. They were organized in topical sections as follows: High Performance Computing and Parallelized Computing, Storage Systems and File Management, Networking and Cloud Computing, Computer Architecture and Hardware Acceleration, Machine Learning and Data Analysis, Distinguished Work from Student Competition.

This book focuses on the triangular relations between China, the United States and the European Union from the perspective of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) via the methodology of international political economy. China, the US and the EU are the three most important players in international politics and the global economy, and their relations are accordingly among the most influential in the global arena. This book will argue that the interactions between China, the US and the EU are highly dynamic given their close connections in trade, finance and many other economic fields. In the context of US¿China competition, the decisions of the EU, which has sought to remain independent in its foreign policy for decades, crucially shape the landscape of international politics, and lucidly articulates how international relations look from China to scholars of geopolitics.

The book delves into the intricate realm of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics as they apply to modern advancements in drug delivery systems. It offers a comprehensive exploration of novel drug delivery methods, with a particular focus on nanoparticles and nanocarriers. The absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion processes of nanoparticles are extensively examined. It also covers various evaluation models, spanning from preclinical to clinical, aimed at assessing the effectiveness and safety of nanoparticles in drug delivery. It also covers the integration of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, showcasing how these cutting-edge approaches can enhance our understanding of drug behavior and optimize therapeutic outcomes. It serves as a comprehensive guide, highlighting the fusion of traditional pharmacological concepts with contemporary drug delivery systems and innovative technologies, all in the pursuit of refining medical treatments and patient care and is a valuable resource for academicians, researchers, and pharmacologists.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 19th Principle and Practice of Data and Knowledge Acquisition Workshop, PKAW 2023, held in conjunction with the 20th Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (PRICAI 2023), in November 2023, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The 9 full papers and 2 short papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 28 initial submissions. They are organized in the topical section such as machine learning, natural language processing, and intelligent systems.

The unification of international commercial law has been a common course for every country of the world. The U.N. Convention on Contracts for International Sale of Goods (CISG) is a milestone in creating a uniform law in the field of the international sale of goods. The CISG coordinated divergent political, economic, and legal systems combined different contract laws and set up a comprehensive and independent legal framework for the international sale of goods.This book examines the basic requirements and criteria of the CISG¿s interpretation and investigates how to achieve the uniform interpretation of the CISG based on interpretation rules in the CISG and through appropriate legal interpretation approaches.As a comprehensive and uniform legal framework for the international sale of goods, the CISG still has gaps to fill. Therefore, a uniform interpretation in gap-filling is equally important for the CISG. This book discusses gap-filling in the CISG, explains whyand how to fill its gaps, clarifies gap-filling approaches, their order of application, and eventually concentrates on general principles and the uniform interpretation of the CISG.Another feature of the book is to discuss the supplementary materials that could be used to assist in the uniform interpretation of the CISG. PICC, foreign cases, UNCITRAL Digest, and the CISG Advisory Council opinions will be examined in detail to see whether and how they can fill the gaps in the CISG and promote its uniform interpretation.Only by clarifying the basic requirements and principles relating to the CISG¿s uniform interpretation, can courts and arbitral tribunals correct their attitude toward and practices in the interpretation of the CISG. Only by following the autonomous interpretation approach, can the CISG achieve its goal to unify the sale of goods laws and promote the development of international commerce.

This book collects original peer-reviewed papers describing the latest developments in railway noise and vibration from the 14th International Workshop on Railway Noise (IWRN14), held on 7¿9 December 2022, in Shanghai, China. It covers a broad range of railway noise and vibration topics, including high-speed rail and aerodynamic noise, wheel and rail noise, curving squeal noise, bridge noise, vehicle interior noise, structure-borne noise, and ground-borne vibration. Further topics such as resilient track forms, wheel out-of-round and polygonalization, rail roughness, corrugation and grinding, etc. are also covered. With the extensive and timely information offered, this book helps scientists and engineers in their daily efforts to identify, understand, and solve problems related to railway noise and vibration and to achieve the ultimate goal of minimizing the environmental impact of railway systems.

This book reviews the historical evolution of U.S. monetary policy, and then uses various methods such as mathematical models and econometric analysis to study the impact of U.S. monetary policy adjustments on the domestic economy and the spillover effects on the world economy. Finally, it summarizes the challenges faced by the Chinese economy in the post financial crisis era and proposes relevant countermea­sures and suggestions for China to respond to U.S. monetary policy adjustments.

This book provides perspectives on the relevance of European Studies as a disciplinary category for the Asian region. That being the primary focus, the book serves a larger purpose. First, it provides insights on European society, polity and economy (including European Integration) as they are accounted in European Studies. The epistemological character of the knowledge thus conveyed has larger credibility and reliability such that they can become policy inputs and imaginations for strengthening Asian-European relationship. This approach helps overcome the trap of subjectively motivated discourses on Europe which may fail potential collaborations between the regions. Second, the design and discursivity of European Studies will be an instruction to the Asian region on the constitutive potential of regional studies in society-building. Third, the book works towards building the idea of ¿Europe¿ in terms of international law, in the minds of Asian students, researchers and decision-makers. This is extremely relevant for the future relationship and cultural engagement between the two regions. The book is of interest to policymakers, academics, embassies, state-level government offices, researchers and students.

This book focuses on the following three key topics in social network large-scale decision-making: structure-heterogeneous information fusion, clustering analysis with multiple measurement attributes, and consensus building considering trust loss. To address the aggregation and distance measurement of structure-heterogeneous evaluation information, we propose a fusion method based on trust and behavior analysis. Then, two clustering algorithms are put forward, including trust Cop-K-means clustering algorithm and compatibility distance-oriented off-center clustering algorithm. The above clustering algorithms emphasize the similarity of opinions and social relationships as important measurement attributes of clustering. Finally, this book explores the impact of trust loss originating from social relationships on the CRP and develops two consensus-reaching models, namely the improved minimum-cost consensus model that takes into account voluntary trust loss and the punishment-driven consensus-reaching model. Some case studies, a large number of numerical experiments, and comparative analyses are provided in this book to demonstrate the characteristics and advantages of the proposed methods and models. The authors encourage researchers, students, and enterprises engaged in social network analysis, group decision-making, multi-agent collaborative decision-making, and large-scale data processing to pay attention to the proposals presented in this book. After reading this book, the authors expect readers to have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of social network large-scale decision-making. Inorder to make it more accurate for readers to understand the methods and models presented in this book, the authors strongly recommend that potential readers have a good research foundation in fuzzy soft computing, traditional clustering algorithms, basic mathematics knowledge, and other related preliminaries.

This book highlights recent progress on the advancements toward optimization of major biorefinery processes, including biomass pretreatment and fractionation, saccharification of sugars, and conversion of sugars and lignin into fuels and chemical precursors. The continual improvement of these processes and their integration in the format of a modern biorefinery is paving the way for a sustainable bio-economy that will displace large portions of petroleum-derived fuels and chemicals with renewable substitutes. Written by leading researchers from academia and well-renowned industry professionals, this book provides a comprehensive review of various aspects related to the recent developments in biomass conversion and biorefinery, aimed at successfully implementing the circular economy principles in various industries.

This volume contains forty-one revised and extended research articles, written by prominent researchers participating in the International Conference on Aeronautical Sciences, Engineering and Technology 2023, held in Muscat, October 3-5 2023. It focuses on the latest research developments in aeronautical applications, avionics systems, advanced aerodynamics, atmospheric chemistry, emerging technologies, safety management, unmanned aerial vehicles, and industrial applications. This book offers the state of the art of notable advances in engineering technologies and aviation applications and serves as an excellent source of reference for researchers and graduate students.

This book focuses on rapprochement and normalisation between Israel and some Arab countries within the context of global and regional geopolitics, bringing together broader perspectives on transformations resulting from this. The analysis is rooted in a historical and cultural construction of the region as an Islamic sphere viewing Israel as a perpetuation of the Western colonial project in the region. It analyses how this normalisation must not be treated as a novel phenomenon, but as a reconstruction of the past and continuity in tradition geared at regional stability, signifying a wider shift in the structure of the global international system. The first section addresses the international perspectives of the changing dynamics through the lens of US domestic politics, disengagement plans, Chinäs increasing understanding of the geopolitics of the Abrahamic world. It equally pays enough attention to the attendant implications of this normalisation.The second section of the book explores the reflections of regional (state and non-state) actors, such as Turkey, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, and Hezbollah, and the catalysing effects of this normalisation within and beyond the region. The book is a rich resource for scholars of regional and international relations, in particular Middle East studies. It provides useful reading material for both undergraduate and graduate students of Political Science, think tanks, diplomats, and IR experts and policy analysts, who are desirous of having rich theoretical and empirical underpinnings of unfolding realities in the larger Middle East.

This book explores the potential benefits of turmeric, and specifically curcumin, in the treatment and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases. The book covers various aspects of turmeric, including its traditional use in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, secondary metabolites, curcuminoids, and sesquiterpenoids found in turmeric, as well as the use of nano curcumin in neurodegenerative diseases. It discusses the different ways in which turmeric can be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases, including as a therapy for brain diseases, curcumin-induced neuroprotection in cerebral ischemia, and neural stem cell therapy in combination with curcumin. It also discusses the role of nano curcumin in neurodegenerative diseases, including its potential use in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The book provides the scientific evidence behind the use of turmeric and its compounds in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Overall, this bookis an invaluable resource for researchers and healthcare professionals interested in exploring the potential benefits of turmeric and curcumin in the treatment and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.

This book presents mercury toxicity with respect to remediation and health issues. It covers sources of mercury contamination, its impact on human health, and prospective remediation by both bioremediation and phytoremediation with the application of recent advanced techniques such as genetic engineering and nanotechnology.Both anthropogenic activities and natural processes cause the release of mercury into different spheres of the environment resulting in severe adverse impacts. Increased anthropogenic discharge of mercury leads to disturbance in its natural biogeochemical cycle, which results in unenviable diseases and hazardous health effects. Mercury pollution is responsible for causing neurobehavioral, kidney, heart, gastrointestinal, liver, and other diseases. Many published works about the impact of mercury on health are also available worldwide; however, there is no complete understanding available on toxicological studies of mercury that covers the broader spectrum of findings ranging from sources of exposure to mercury toxicity to its remediation strategies.This book brings together a diverse group of environmental science, sustainability, and health researchers to address the challenges posed by global mass poisoning caused by mercury contamination. The book also proposes solutions to contamination through multi-disciplinary approaches.The book contains three sections. The first part describes the different sources and distribution of mercury in soil and plant ecosystems. The second part explains the health risks linked to mercury toxicity. The third part addresses sustainable mercury toxicity mitigation strategies and the potential applications of recent technology in providing solutions. This book is a valuable resource to students, academics, researchers, and environmental professionals working in the field of mercury contamination.

This book explores the relationship between pedestrians/cyclists¿ mode and route choice to/from metro/railway stations and the micro-level (street-scale) built environment in a second-tier city in China. More specifically, it investigates how the street-scale built environment influences pedestrians/cyclists¿ mode choice and route choice behavior and examines user preferences for the micro-level built environment around metro stations. The focus on a second-tier city is motivated primarily to expand the set of Chinese cities where the effects of the built environment on pedestrian/cyclist mode and route choice have been studied. Results demonstrate the effects of the street-scale built environment on pedestrian flows. The effects are higher for the main road, which is directly connected with the metro station. The findings of this book are expected to support the design of preferred walking/biking built environments around a metro station. This book appeals to urbanists, planners, engineers, policy makers, and those interested in a wide-ranging overview of slow/green transportation and built environment promotion. These methods not only help to understand the quantitative relationship between built environment design and travel behavior but also support the evaluation and assessment of built environment design in urban planning projects. It reduces the gap in our understanding of the quantitative relationship between the micro-level built environment and pedestrians/cyclists¿ transportation mode and route choice around the metro station. Both stated choice data and revealed choice data were used. An extended set of micro-level built environment attributes was developed. Besides the widely studied transportation-related factors, street-level built environment factors were studied using quantitative methods.