- Table View
- List View
Characterizing Space Plasmas: A Data Driven Approach (Astronomy and Astrophysics Library)
by George K. ParksThis didactic book uses a data-driven approach to connect measurements made by plasma instruments to the real world. This approach makes full use of the instruments’ capability and examines the data at the most detailed level an experiment can provide. Students using this approach will learn what instruments can measure, and working with real-world data will pave their way to models consistent with these observations. While conceived as a teaching tool, the book contains a considerable amount of new information. It emphasizes recent results, such as particle measurements made from the Cluster ion experiment, explores the consequences of new discoveries, and evaluates new trends or techniques in the field. At the same time, the author ensures that the physical concepts used to interpret the data are general and widely applicable. The topics included help readers understand basic problems fundamental to space plasma physics. Some are appearing for the first time in a space physics textbook. Others present different perspectives and interpretations of old problems and models that were previously considered incontestable. This book is essential reading for graduate students in space plasma physics, and a useful reference for the broader astrophysics community.
A Survey of Fractal Dimensions of Networks (SpringerBriefs in Computer Science)
by Eric RosenbergMany different fractal dimensions have been proposed for networks. In A Survey of Fractal Dimensions of Networks the theory and computation of the most important of these dimensions are reviewed, including the box counting dimension, the correlation dimension, the mass dimension, the transfinite fractal dimension, the information dimension, the generalized dimensions (which provide a way to describe multifractals), and the sandbox method (for approximating the generalized dimensions). The book describes the use of diameter-based and radius-based boxes, and presents several heuristic methods for box counting, including greedy coloring, random sequential node burning, and a method for computing a lower bound. We also discuss very recent results on resolving ambiguity in the calculation of the information dimension and the generalized dimensions, and on the non-monotonicity of the generalized dimensions. Anyone interested in the theory and application of networks will want to read this Brief. This includes anyone studying, e.g., social networks, telecommunications networks, transportation networks, ecological networks, food chain networks, network models of the brain, or financial networks.
The Politics of Writing Islam: Voicing Difference (Suspensions: Contemporary Middle Eastern and Islamicate Thought)
by Mahmut MutmanThe Politics of Writing Islam provides a much-needed critique of existing forms of studying, writing and representing Islam in the West. Through critiquing ethnographic, literary, critical, psychoanalytic and theological discourses, the author reveals the problematic underlying cultural and theoretical presuppositions. Mutman demonstrates how their approach reflects the socially, politically and economically unequal relationship between the West and Islam. While offering a critical insight into concepts such as writing, power, post-colonialism, difference and otherness on a theoretical level, Mutman reveals a different perspective on Islam by emphasizing its living, everyday and embodied aspects in dynamic relation with the outside world - in contrast to the stereotyped authoritarian and backward religion characterized by an omnipotent God. Throughout, Mutman develops an approach to culture as an embodied, everyday, living and ever changing practice. He argues that Islam should be perceived precisely in this way, that is, as an open, heterogeneous, interpretive, multiple and worldly belief system within the Abrahamic tradition of ethical monotheism, and as one that is contested within as well as outside its 'own' culture.
Deleuze and Guattari's 'A Thousand Plateaus': A Reader's Guide (Reader's Guides)
by Eugene W. HollandA Thousand Plateaus is the engaging and influential second part of Capitalism and Schizophrenia, the remarkable collaborative project written by the philosopher Gilles Deleuze and the psychoanalyst Félix Guattari. This hugely important text is a work of staggering complexity that made a major contribution to contemporary Continental philosophy, yet remains distinctly challenging for readers in a number of disciplines.Deleuze and Guattari's 'A Thousand Plateaus': A Reader's Guide offers a concise and accessible introduction to this extremely important and yet challenging work. Written specifically to meet the needs of students coming to Deleuze and Guattari for the first time, the book offers guidance on: - Philosophical and historical context - Key themes - Reading the text - Reception and influence - Further reading
Philosophy for Life: Applying Philosophy in Politics and Culture
by Rupert Read M. A. LaveryPhilosophy for Life is a bold call for the practice of philosophy in our everyday lives. Philosopher and writer Rupert Read explores a series of important and often provocative contemporary political and cultural issues from a philosophical perspective, arguing that philosophy is not a body of doctrine, but a practice, a vantage point from which life should be analysed and, more importantly, acted upon. Philosophy for Life is a personal journey that explores four key areas of society today: Politics, Religion, Art, and the Environment. Taking tangible examples from modern politics, from climate change to the war on terror, and culture, from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy to the poetry of T.S. Eliot, Read shows that philosophy is already an active part of today's world. This captivating and timely book offers a philosophical response to some of the key questions facing today's society and encourages us to use philosophy as a kind of therapy. Philosophy for Life shows that we can improve our perspective on the world and our place in it by doing philosophy everyday.
Syntactic Analysis and Description: A Constructional Approach
by David LockwoodThis book is designed to teach undergraduate and beginning graduate students how to understand, analyse and describe syntactic phenomena in different languages. The book covers every aspect of syntax from the basics to more specialised topics, such as clitics which have grammatical importance but cannot be used in isolation, and negation, in which a construction contradicts the meaning of a sentence. The approach taken combines concepts from different theoretical schools, which view syntax differently. These include M. A. K. Halliday's systemic functional linguistics, the stratificational school advocated by Sydney Lamb, and Kenneth L. Pike's tagmemic model. The emphasis of the book is on syntactic structures rather than linguistic meaning, and the book stresses the difference between a well-formed sentence and a meaningful one. The final chapter brings these two aspects together, to show the connections between syntax and semology.Each chapter concludes with exercises from a diverse range of languages and a list of major technical terms. The book also includes a glossary as an essential resource for students approaching this difficult subject for the first time.
Rudolf Steiner (Continuum Library of Educational Thought)
by Heiner Ullrich Richard BaileyRudolf Steiner is one of the most controversially judged educational reformers of the twentieth century. Although he received little recognition within his field, his educational thought has had a sustained and profound influence, not only in the development of the Waldorf Schools, but also in healing, socially therapeutic work, psychosomatic medicine, biological-dynamic agriculture, corporate organisation, fine arts, and architecture. Heiner Ullrich paints a concise and well-grounded portrait of the creator of the anthroposophic doctrine and Waldorf pedagogy. The text describes a wide arc from the intellectual biography of Rudolf Steiner, across his basic ideas on human development and education, to include discussion of the organisation, curriculum, methods and success of the Waldorf Schools.
Foundations of Information and Knowledge Systems: 10th International Symposium, FoIKS 2018, Budapest, Hungary, May 14–18, 2018, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #10833)
by Flavio Ferrarotti Stefan WoltranThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Foundations of Information and Knowledge Systems, FoIKS 2018, held in Budapest, Hungary, in May 2018.The 20 revised full papers presented together with 1 invited talk were carefully reviewed and selected from 40 submissions. The papers address various topics such as big data; database design; dynamics of information; information fusion; integrity and constraint management; intelligent agents; knowledge discovery and information retrieval; knowledge representation, reasoning and planning; logics in databases and AI; mathematical foundations; security in information and knowledge systems; semi-structured data and XML; social computing; the semantic web and knowledge management; and the world wide web.
Social Networks Science: From Social Networks Analysis to Social Networks Intelligence
by Nilanjan Dey Rosalina Babo Amira S. Ashour Vishal Bhatnagar Med Salim BouhlelThe main target of this book is to raise the awareness about social networking systems design, implementation, security requirements, and approaches. The book entails related issues including computing, engineering, security, management, and organization policy. It interprets the design, implementation and security threats in the social networks and offers some solutions in this concern. It clarifies the authentication concept between servers to identity users. Most of the models that focus on protecting users’ information are also included. This book introduces the Human-Interactive Security Protocols (HISPs) efficiently.Presenting different types of the social networking systems including the internet and mobile devices is one of the main targets of this book. This book includes the social network performance evaluation metrics. It compares various models and approaches used in the design of the social networks. This book includes various applications for the use of the social networks in the healthcare, e-commerce, crisis management, and academic applications. The book provides an extensive background for the development of social network science and its challenges. This book discusses the social networks integration to offer online services, such as instant messaging, email, file sharing, transferring patients’ medical reports/images, location-based recommendations and many other functions. This book provides users, designers, engineers and managers with the valuable knowledge to build a better secured information transfer over the social networks. The book gathers remarkable materials from an international experts’ panel to guide the readers during the analysis, design, implementation and security achievement for the social network systems. In this book, theories, practical guidance, and challenges are included to inspire designers and researchers. The book guides the engineers, designers, and researchers to exploit the intrinsic design of the social network systems.
Comparative Perspectives on the Enforcement and Effectiveness of Antidiscrimination Law: Challenges and Innovative Tools (Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law #28)
by Marie Mercat-Bruns David B. Oppenheimer Cady SartoriusThis book focuses on anti-discrimination law in order to identify commonalities and best practices across nations. Almost every nation in the world embraces the principle of equality and non-discrimination, in theory if not in practice. As the authors' expert contributions establish, the sources of the principle vary considerably, from international treaties to religious law, traditions and more. There are many approaches to methods of enforcement and other variables, but the principle is nearly universal. What does a comparison of the laws and approaches across different lands reveal? Readers may explore the enforcement and effectiveness of anti-discrimination law from 25 nations, across six continents. Esteemed authors examine national, regional and international systems looking for common and best practices, identifying innovative approaches to long-standing problems. The many ways that anti-discrimination law is enforced are brought to light, from criminal or civil prosecution through to community resolution processes, amongst others. Through comparing the approaches of different lands, the authors consider which methods of enforcement are effective. These enriching national and international perspectives highlight the need for more creative, concrete and coordinated means of enforcement to ensure the effectiveness of anti-discrimination law, regardless of the legal tradition concerned, but in light of these traditions. Readers will find each nation remarkable, and learn something new and interesting from each report.
Child Soldiers and Restorative Justice: Participatory Action Research in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
by Jean Chrysostome KiyalaThis book investigates how, while children used as soldiers are primarily perceived as victims of offences against international law, they also commit war atrocities. In the aftermath of armed conflict, the mainstream justice system targets warlords internationally, armed groups and militias’ commanders who abduct and enrol children as combatants, leaving child perpetrators not being held accountable for their alleged gross human rights violations. Attempts to prosecute child soldiers through the mainstream justice system have resulted in child rights abuses. Where no accountability measures have been taken, demobilised young soldiers have experienced rejection, and eventually, some have returned to soldiering. This research provides evidence of the potential of restorative justice peacemaking circles and locally-based jurisprudence – specifically the Baraza - to hold former child soldiers accountable and facilitate their reintegration into society.
Teaching Materials and the Roles of EFL/ESL Teachers: Practice and Theory
by Ian McGrathTeaching Materials and the Roles of EFL/ESL Teachers is published amidst a decade long increase in academic publications and training courses concerned with the evaluation and design of English language teaching materials. It is timely to consider what effect the advice on offer has had on teachers' practice. Are teachers evaluating materials carefully, using textbooks in the ways expected by textbook writers, developing their own materials, and mediating between materials and learners in the ways advised in the professional literature? The book explores these issues from a variety of perspectives. The views of publishers/textbook writers, those contributing to the professional literature, and teacher educators are synthesised to establish a 'theory' of how teachers can best fulfil their roles vis-Á -vis materials and learners. This is then compared with 'practice', as represented by published accounts of teachers' actual practices and learners' perspectives. The conclusion reached is that teacher education in materials evaluation and design is essential and suggestions are offered as to the form this might take. The book is intended particularly for MA students and teacher educators concerned with materials evaluation and design, but is of interest to all those concerned with the publication and use of English language teaching materials.
Robert Owen (Continuum Library of Educational Thought)
by Robert A. Davis Richard Bailey Frank O’HaganThis text offers a major reassessment of the life and thought of the distinguished 19th century industrial philanthropist and educational reformer, Robert Owen. In a period when Owen's radical new visions for learning and teaching, adult and vocational pedagogy and social transformation are receiving fresh and global attention, Robert Davis and Frank O'Hagan place Owen's thought right at the heart of the Enlightenment advocacy of popular, democratic mass education. Tracing both the ancestry and the legacy of Owen's reforming spirit, they also offer a critical appraisal of the relevance of his ideas for the development of education at all levels and stages in the challenging contexts of international 21st century education.
The Philosophy of Art: From Hegel to Post-Dantian Theories (Bloomsbury Studies in Philosophy)
by Tiziana Andina Natalia IacobelliDrawing on the philosophies of art developed by the continental authors and studies of Anglo-American philosophers, this book presents a panorama of the philosophy of art. It discusses definitions offered from the analytical school including Arthur Danto's representationalism, Dipert's theories of artefactualism, Dickie's institutional and procedural theories and Levinson's historical and cultural theories. From the continental theories it reflects on Hegel's notion of philosophy of art, Martin Heidegger's and Hans Georg Gadamer's hermeneutic tradition and Alexius Meinong's theory of objects. This range of definitions and theories are judged and defended using a form of representationalism that begins with the results of Arthur Danto's thinking and integrates the aesthetic reflection of the Baumgarten School. The result is not only a presentation of philosophy of art from the beginning of the twentieth century to present day, but a study that proposes a theory capable of synthesizing the finest contributions of the analytic and continental traditions.
Judith Butler: Judith Butler: Live Theory (Live Theory)
by Vicki KirbyAn introductory guide to the work of Judith Butler, a major contemporary theorist, this title includes a new interview with Butler. Judith Butler: Live Theory is an invaluable introduction to the work of this key contemporary theorist, guiding the student through the most complex ideas of one of the most influential thinkers in contemporary culture. Concise, accessible and comprehensive, the book explores and illuminates Butler's important and ongoing contributions to gender theory, offers new insights into the central themes of her work, and considers the extent of her impact on how the discipline of gender studies has been shaped. In particular, the book considers Butler's intellectual work in relation to issues of sexuality and performance, identity and politics, language and power - themes central to Butler's thought and writing. Vicki Kirby locates Butler in the context of contemporary theorists and thinkers and the book includes a new interview with Butler herself, in which she discusses the key themes in her work as well as future writing plans. Offering a stimulating and clear account of the work and thought of this inspiring figure, Judith Butler: Live Theory is a key resource for anyone studying this pioneering thinker within the context of sociology, cultural studies, literary criticism, feminism and philosophy.
The Rage Against God
by Peter HitchensPeter Hitchens lost faith as a teenager. But eventually finding atheism barren, he came by a logical process to his current affiliation to an unmodernised belief in Christianity. Hitchens describes his return from the far political left. Familiar with British left-wing politics, it was travelling in the Communist bloc that first undermined and replaced his leftism, a process virtually completed when he became a newspaper's resident Moscow correspondent in 1990, just before the collapse of the Communist Party.He became convinced of certain propositions. That modern western social democratic politics is a form of false religion in which people try to substitute a social conscience for an individual one. That utopianism is actively dangerous. That liberty and law are attainable human objectives which are also the good by-products of Christian faith. Faith is the best antidote to utopianism, dismissing the dangerous idea of earthly perfection, discouraging people from acting as if they were God, encouraging people to act in the belief that there is a God and an ordered, purposeful universe, governed by an unalterable law.
Recent Advances in Ensembles for Feature Selection (Intelligent Systems Reference Library #147)
by Verónica Bolón-Canedo Amparo Alonso-BetanzosThis book offers a comprehensive overview of ensemble learning in the field of feature selection (FS), which consists of combining the output of multiple methods to obtain better results than any single method. It reviews various techniques for combining partial results, measuring diversity and evaluating ensemble performance. With the advent of Big Data, feature selection (FS) has become more necessary than ever to achieve dimensionality reduction. With so many methods available, it is difficult to choose the most appropriate one for a given setting, thus making the ensemble paradigm an interesting alternative. The authors first focus on the foundations of ensemble learning and classical approaches, before diving into the specific aspects of ensembles for FS, such as combining partial results, measuring diversity and evaluating ensemble performance. Lastly, the book shows examples of successful applications of ensembles for FS and introduces the new challenges that researchers now face. As such, the book offers a valuable guide for all practitioners, researchers and graduate students in the areas of machine learning and data mining.
It's All About Coordination: Essays to Celebrate the Lifelong Scientific Achievements of Farhad Arbab (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #10865)
by Frank De Boer Marcello Bonsangue Jan RuttenThis Festschrift volume has been published to celebrate the lifelong scientific achievements of Farhad Arbab on the occasion of his retirement from the Centre of Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI).Over the years Farhad Arbab has sucessfully been engaged in scientific explorations in various directions: Software Composition, Service Oriented Computing, Component-based Software, Concurrency Theory, Coordination Models and Languages, Parallel and Distributed Computing, Visual Programming Environments, Constraints, Logic and Object-Oriented Programming.Farhad Arbab has shaped the field of Coordination Models and Languages. His insight that it is all about exeogeneous coordination gave rise to the striking elegance and beauty of Reo: an exogenous coordination model based on a formal calculus of channel composition. Reo has been extremely successful and is having a great impact in many of the areas mentioned above.The present volume collects a number of papers by several of Farhad’s close collaborators over the years.
Social Information Access: Systems and Technologies (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #10100)
by Peter Brusilovsky Daqing HeSocial information access is defined as a stream of research that explores methods for organizing the past interactions of users in a community in order to provide future users with better access to information. Social information access covers a wide range of different technologies and strategies that operate on a different scale, which can range from a small closed corpus site to the whole Web.The 16 chapters included in this book provide a broad overview of modern research on social information access. In order to provide a balanced coverage, these chapters are organized by the main types of information access (i.e., social search, social navigation, and recommendation) and main sources of social information.
Mastering JavaScript Design Patterns
by Simon TimmsIf you are a developer interested in creating easily maintainable applications that can grow and change with your needs, then this book is for you. Some experience with JavaScript (not necessarily with entire applications written in JavaScript) is required to follow the examples written in the book.
Immanent Transcendence: Reconfiguring Materialism in Continental Philosophy (Continuum Studies in Continental Philosophy)
by Patrice HaynesOver the last twenty years materialist thinkers in the continental tradition have increasingly emphasized the category of immanence. Yet the turn to immanence has not meant the wholesale rejection of the concept of transcendence, but rather its reconfiguration in immanent or materialist terms: an immanent transcendence. Through an engagement with the work of Deleuze, Irigaray and Adorno, Patrice Haynes examines how the notion of immanent transcendence can help articulate a non-reductive materialism by which to rethink politics, ethics and theology in exciting new ways. However, she argues that contrary to what some might expect, immanent accounts of matter and transcendence are ultimately unable to do justice to material finitude. Indeed, Haynes concludes by suggesting that a theistic understanding of divine transcendence offers ways to affirm fully materialimmanence, thus pointing towards the idea of a theological materialism.
Jew Suss: Life, Legend, Fiction, Film
by Susan TegelJoseph Suss Oppenheimer (1698-1738), better known as Jew Suss, was a court Jew, who advised the Duke of Wurttemberg. Clever and handsome, even ostentatious, he fitted easily into court life, despite his humble origins. However, his unpopular economic policies made him enemies and when the Duke died suddenly Suss was arrested, convicted of 'destestable abuses' and exectued in Stuttgart in an iron cage. His spectacular rise and fall inspired a media outpouring in the eighteenth century and he has been much written about subsequently. In the twentieth century two films were made about him, one British in 1934, the other German in 1940. Goebbels took an active interest in the latter. After the war its director, Veit Harlan, was tried for Crimes against Humanity for having made the film. Despite his acquittal, the film's association with the Holocaust remains controversial to this day.For almost three centuries the life of Jew Suss has been adapted, distorted and transformed. This book tells the story of these transformations.
Tantalus and the Pelican: Exploring Monastic Spirituality Today
by Nicholas BuxtonThis is an informative and engaging book about monasticism, its history, practice, and relevance to contemporary life, combining personal insights with sound scholarship. Buxton begins with a focus on the early days of Christian monasticism and the transmission of this tradition to Western Europe, concentrating on particular themes or figures of interest and seeking to draw parallels with the present-day. He then explores the central features of monastic life, such as silence and humility, drawing on personal experience as well as foundational literature. Part three examines the contemporary relevance of monasticism, suggesting that the core Benedictine principles of stability, conversion, and obedience offer a framework for an alternative way of being that may enable our everyday lives to be enriched and even transformed.
Through the Year with Newman: Daily Readings
by Bernard DiveJohn Henry Newman was a great thinker - a seminal theologian and philosopher - but he possessed something more than intellectual brilliance: he possessed wisdom and a profound devotional life. He brought to any practical topic an awareness of the unity and consistency of the Christian faith. His writings are shot through with insights that get to the very core of what Christianity means.Who better to take as a spiritual guide? Through the Year with Newman is a collection of reflections and prayers - one for every day of the year. It focuses on core Christian doctrines as presented with piercing clarity by Newman. It concentrates less on controversial issues than on matters of faith common to all Christians; but it also gets across the essence of the distinctive achievement of Newman, a sense of his central ideas and of the complexion of his thought.
Fundamentals of Food Process Engineering (Food Science Text Series)
by Romeo T. Toledo Rakesh K. Singh Fanbin KongWritten for the upper level undergraduate, this updated book is also a solid reference for the graduate food engineering student and professional. This edition features the addition of sections on freezing, pumps, the use of chemical reaction kinetic date for thermal process optimization, and vacuum belt drying. New sections on accurate temperature measurements, microbiological inactivation curves, inactivation of microorganisms and enzymes, pasteurization, and entrainment are included, as are non-linear curve fitting and processes dependent on fluid film thickness. Other sections have been expanded.