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Dynasty: The Hereditary Succession Politics of North Korea
by Hakjoon KimScholar and senior journalist Kim Hakjoon provides a timely analysis of the rise of the Kim Il Sung family dynasty and the politics of leadership succession in Pyongyang, including Kim Jong Il's death and the advent of his son Kim Jong Un. Drawing on official North Korean statements and leaked confidential documents, journalistic accounts, and defector reports, the book synthesizes virtually all that is known about the secretive family and how it operates within a bizarre governing system. Particularly valuable for a Western audience is the author's extensive use of South Korean studies of the Kim family, many of which have not been translated into English. Dynasty is insightful reading for officials, journalists, scholars, and students interested in the Korean Peninsula and its prospects.
Going Private in China: The Politics of Corporate Restructuring and System Reform
by Jean C. OiAs the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) set about reforming its centrally planned economy, it faced the thorny policy question of how to reform its state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Should it support a shift from public to private ownership of the means of production? Such a shift would challenge not only the CCP's socialist ideology but also its very legitimacy. Mixing the business of corporate restructuring with the politics of socialism presented nothing short of a policy nightmare. With policy-relevant acuity, the contributors to this wide-ranging volume address the questions about reform programs that have plagued China—and East Asia more broadly—since the 1990s. While China, Japan, and South Korea have all been criticized for implementing reform too slowly or too selectively, this volume delves into the broader contexts underlying certain institutional decisions. The book seeks to show that seemingly different political economies actually share surprising similarities, and problems. While Going Private in China sheds new light on China's corporate restructuring, it also offers new perspectives on how we think about the process of institutional change.
Deer and the Dragon, The: Southeast Asia and China in the 21st Century
by Donald K. EmmersonWill the nations of Southeast Asia maintain their strategic autonomy, or are they destined to become a subservient periphery of China? This book's expert authors address this pressing question in multiple contexts. What clues to the future lie in the modern history of Sino-Southeast Asian relations? How economically dependent on China has the region already become? What do Southeast Asians think of China? Does Beijing view the region in proprietary terms as its own backyard? How has the relative absence, distance, and indifference of the United States affected the balance of influence between the US and China in Southeast Asia? The book also explores China's moves and Southeast Asia's responses to them. Does China's Maritime Silk Road through Southeast Asia herald a Pax Sinica across the region? How should China's expansionary acts in the South China Sea be understood? How have Southeast Asian states such as Vietnam and the Philippines responded? How does Singapore's China strategy compare with Indonesia's? How relevant is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations? To what extent has China tried to persuade the "overseas Chinese" in Southeast Asia to identify with "'the motherland" and support its aims? How are China's deep involvements in Cambodia and Laos affecting the economies and policies of those countries? "This rich collection," writes renowned author-journalist Nayan Chanda, answers these and other questions while offering "fresh insights" and "new information and analyses" to explain Southeast Asia's relations with China.
Being in North Korea
by Andray AbrahamianIn 2009, while working on a PhD in Seoul, Andray Abrahamian visited North Korea, a country he had studied for years but never seen. He returned determined to find a way to work closely with North Koreans. Ten years and more than thirty visits later, Being in North Korea tells the story of his experiences setting up and running Choson Exchange, a non-profit that teaches North Koreans about entrepreneurship and economic policy. Abrahamian was provided a unique vantage into life in North Korea that belies stereotypes rampant in the media, instead revealing North Koreans as individuals ranging from true believers in the system to cynics wishing the Stalinist experiment would just end; from introverts to bubbly chatterboxes, optimists to pessimists. He sees a North Korea that is changing, invalidating some assumptions held in the West, but perhaps reinforcing others. Amid his stories of coping with the North Korean system, of the foreigners who frequent Pyongyang, and of everyday relationships, Abrahamian explores the challenges of teaching the inherently political subject of economics in a system where everyone must self-regulate their own minds; he looks at the role of women in the North Korean economy, and their exclusion from leadership; and he discusses how information is restricted, propaganda is distributed and internalized, and even how Pyongyang's nominally illicit property market functions. Along with these stories he interweaves the historical events that have led to today's North Korea. Drawing on the breadth of the author's in-country experience, Being in North Korea combines the intellectual rigor of a scholar with a writing style that will appeal to a general audience. Through the personal elements of a memoir that provide insights into North Korean society, readers will come away with a more realistic picture of the country and its people, and a better idea of what the future may hold for the nation.
Demographics and Innovation in the Asia-Pacific
by Karen Eggleston, Joon-Shik Park, and Gi-Wook ShinDemographic transition, along with the economic and geopolitical re-emergence of Asia, are two of the largest forces shaping the twenty-first century, but little is known about the implications for innovation. The countries of East Asia have some of the oldest age structures on the planet: between now and 2050, the population that is age 65 and older will increase to more than one in four Chinese, and to more than one in three Japanese and Koreans. Other economies with younger populations, like India, face the challenge of fully harnessing the "demographic dividend" from large cohorts in the working ages. This book delves into how such demographic changes shape the supply of innovation and the demand for specific kinds of innovation in the Asia-Pacific. Social scientists from Asia and the United States offer multidisciplinary perspectives from economics, demography, political science, sociology, and public policy; topics range from the macroeconomic effects of population age structure, to the microeconomics of technology and the labor force, to the broader implications for human well-being. Contributors analyze how demography shapes productivity and the labor supply of older workers, as well as explore the aging population as consumers of technologies and drivers of innovations to meet their own needs, as well as the political economy of spatial development, agglomeration economies, urban-rural contrasts, and differential geographies of aging.
Drivers of Innovation: Entrepreneurship, Education, and Finance in Asia
by Yong Suk Lee and Fei YanInnovation and entrepreneurship rank highly on the strategic agenda of most countries today. As global economic competition intensifies, many national policymakers now recognize the central importance of entrepreneurship education and the building of financial institutions to promote long-term innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. Drivers of Innovation brings together scholars from the United States and Asia to explore those education and finance policies that might be conducive to accelerating innovation and developing a more entrepreneurial workforce in East Asia. Some of the questions covered include: How do universities in China and Singapore experiment with new types of learning in their quest to promote innovation and entrepreneurship? Is there a need to transform the traditional university into an "entrepreneurial university"? What are the recent developments in and outstanding challenges to financing innovation in China and Japan? What is the government's role in promoting innovative entrepreneurship under the shadow of big business in South Korea? What can we learn about the capacity of services to drive innovation-led growth in India? Drivers of Innovation will serve as a valuable reference for scholars and policymakers working to develop human capital for innovation in Asia.
Shredding the Map: Imagined Geographies of Revolutionary Russia, 1914-1922
by Edith ClowesShredding the Map investigates Russian place consciousness in the decade between the start of World War I and the end of the Russian civil war. Attachment to place is a vital aspect of human identity, and connection to homeland, whether imagined or real, can be especially powerful. Drawing from a large digital database of period literature, Shredding the Map investigates the metamorphic changes in how Russians related to places–whether abstractions like “country” or concrete spaces of borders, fronts, and edgelands–during these years. An innovative, digitally-aided study of Russia’s “imagined geography” during the early decades of the twentieth century, Shredding the Map uncovers vying emotional patterns and responses to Russian ideas of place, some familiar and some quite new. The book includes new visualizations that connect otherwise invisible networks of shared place, feeling, and perception among dozens of writers in order to trace patterns of geospatial identity. A scholarly companion to the “Mapping Imagined Geographies of Revolutionary Russia” website and database, this book offers an innovative analysis of place and identity beyond the centers of power, enhancing our perceptions of Russia and encouraging debate about the possibilities for digital humanities and literary analysis.
Stories About Penises: An anthology of short stories & poems
by Guts PublishingGuts Publishing's debut anthology. A collection of 21 poems and short stories (fiction & nonfiction) by a talented group of writers, many award-winning, from the UK, US, Australia, Canada and India. Thoughtfully selected, each story and poem is focused in one way or another on the penis. Some are humorous, some deal with sexuality, some have a feminist slant, or are postmodern, or flat-out erotic, or deal with the medical and anatomical aspects of the penis. It's an eclectic mix that we hope will surprise you.
Euphoric Recall
by Aidan Martin"As a schoolboy already caught up in addiction, I stood outside of a McDonald's waiting for a man I thought was my friend. A friend I met online. It would change my life forever. I was a streetwise kid growing up in a tough housing scheme, but the Internet was a new phenomenon. Euphoric Recall details my recovery from extreme trauma and addiction. As a Scottish working-class lad who grew up in a new town – Livingston – I also survived brutal experiences with suicide, violence, and severe mental health issues. One day I decided to write a memoir about it. I hold nothing back." — Aidan Martin Euphoric Recall is the powerful true story of a Scottish working-class lad and his recovery from addiction and trauma. "A truly essential read for those interested in lived experiences – and not just statistics." – Darren 'Loki' McGarvey, author of Poverty Safari (Orwell Prize 2018). "Aidan Martin delivers a gritty gut-punch memoir about the realities and complexities of addiction. Raw, honest and insightful, Aidan shows the reader how compulsion and addiction are just the tip of a much deeper iceberg that has sunk many a Titanic. And in his story, we see that addiction in the 21st century can have many varieties and flavors to escape the shame, emptiness and suffering that so many are struggling with in the Digital Age." — Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, author of Glow Kids, Addiction Expert, Professor Stony Brook Medicine
Proceedings of the 2024 5th International Conference on Mental Health, Education and Human Development (Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research #857)
This is an open access book. 2024 5th International Conference on Mental Health, Education and Human Development was held on May 17–19,2024 in Kaifeng, China. MHEHD2024 is to bring together innovative academics and industrial experts in the field of Mental Health, Education and Human Development to a common forum. The primary goal of the conference is to promote research and developmental activities in Mental Health, Education and Human Development and another goal is to promote scientific information interchange between researchers, developers, engineers, students, and practitioners working all around the world. The conference will be held every year to make it an ideal platform for people to share views and experiences in Mental Health, Education and Human Development and related areas. We warmly invite you to participate in MHEHD2024 and look forward to seeing you in Kaifeng, China!
Proceedings of 5th Borobudur International Symposium on Humanities and Social Science (Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research #856)
This is an open access book. In our rapidly evolving modern era, the intersection of green technology and digital society has shifted paradigm shifts across various facets of human life. The fusion of these two domains holds the potential to profoundly impact society’s social aspects. Therefore, The 5th Borobudur International Symposium with the theme “Smart and Sustainable: The Synergy of Green Technology and Digital Society” is designed to delve into and celebrate the strong synergy between green technology and the digital society, specifically focusing on social sciences. The background of this conference reflects the significant tensions in modern society. On the one hand, we witness innovative strides in green technology to reduce negative environmental impacts and develop more sustainable systems. On the other hand, our society is becoming increasingly interconnected in a vast digital network, enabling unprecedented information exchange that influences social interactions, work, education, and many other aspects of daily life. As green technology and the digital society converge, new and crucial opportunities and challenges emerge in the social context. Through this International Conference, we hope to provide a platform for researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders to share knowledge, experiences, and innovative ideas to better understand how green technology and the digital society can collaborate to achieve smarter and more sustainable societies.
Proceedings of the International Conference on Mathematics and Science Education (Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research #852)
This is an open access book. We are happy to welcome you to the 7th International Conference on Mathematics and Science Education (ICoMSE) 2023 at the Department of Science Education, Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, East Java, Indonesia, August 14–15th, 2023. It is a privilege to play host to the world’s foremost experts in the fields of chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, and science education at this important conference on Science and Mathematics education. Our knowledge of how and why students learn science (chemistry, biology, physics) and mathematics and what can be done to improve science and mathematics education is expanded by studies of these subjects’ pedagogy. We in the field of chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics education research are interested in what influences, aid or hinder students’ ability to learn the subject. We investigate various classroom settings, emerging methods for incorporating technology into chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics education, and the interplay between chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics, society, and other scientific fields. We are always working to improve our methods of preparing chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics teachers and providing ongoing support for their professional growth as we search for factors that increase student interest in the subject. We also consider the potential impact of recent developments in pedagogy and technology in the field of chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics education on ongoing investigations. We, therefore, chose the theme of the conference: “Science and Mathematics Education Research for Sustainable Development” The global situation following the ongoing post-COVID-19 pandemic and the difficulties faced by chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics education inspired this theme. In the midst of a global post-pandemic, this highlights the urgency of investing in quality education. The 4th goal of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda is: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (SDG-4) The field of chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics education has not been immune to these changes, but recent studies have yielded useful strategies for adapting to them. Researchers in chemistry, biology, physics, and mathematics education are encouraged to review the topics covered at the ICOMSE 2023 conference, submit abstracts, and attend the event. We hope to see you in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. Enjoy the conference!
Proceedings of the International Conference on Law, Public Policy, and Human Rights (Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research #859)
This is an open access book. Welcome to the 4th International Conference on Law, Public Policy, and Human Rights (ICLAPH) 2023 — a prestigious gathering that brings together legal scholars, policymakers, and human rights advocates from around the world. This year’s conference will be centered around the compelling theme, “The Importance of Transparency and Accountability in Public Policy-Making to Ensure Human Rights Protection.” In an era where the intersection of law, public policy, and human rights plays a pivotal role in shaping societies, the significance of transparency and accountability cannot be overstated. ICLAPH 2023 aims to provide a platform for in-depth discussions and insights into the critical relationship between transparent and accountable public policy-making processes and the safeguarding of human rights.
Landscapes of Time-Frequency Analysis (Applied and Numerical Harmonic Analysis)
by Anita Tabacco Paolo Boggiatto Elena Cordero Maurice De Gosson Hans G. Feichtinger Fabio Nicola Alessandro OliaroThe chapters in this volume are based on talks given at the inaugural Aspects of Time-Frequency Analysis conference held in Turin, Italy from July 5-7, 2017, which brought together experts in harmonic analysis and its applications. New connections between different but related areas were presented in the context of time-frequency analysis, encouraging future research and collaborations. Some of the topics covered include:Abstract harmonic analysis,Numerical harmonic analysis,Sampling theory,Compressed sensing,Mathematical signal processing,Pseudodifferential operators, andApplications of harmonic analysis to quantum mechanics.Landscapes of Time-Frequency Analysis will be of particular interest to researchers and advanced students working in time-frequency analysis and other related areas of harmonic analysis.
Oxygen Transport to Tissue XLII (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology #1269)
by David K. Harrison Joseph C. LaManna Edwin M. Nemoto Eileen M. Harrison Sally C. Pias Denis E. BraginThis book presents cutting-edge papers and perspectives on the transport of oxygen to tissues by scientists in a multitude of disciplines such as biochemistry, engineering, mathematics, medicine, physics, physiology, veterinary and complementary medicine. The book is composed of the following 6 parts: Brain Oxygenation and Function, Tumor Oxygenation and Metabolism, Muscle Oxygenation and Sports Medicine, Cell Metabolism and Tissue Oxygenation, Methodology of O2 Measurements, and Special Topics. The articles in this book have been presented at the 42nd annual meeting of the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT 2019) held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, from July 28 to July 31, 2019. Academics, clinical and industry researchers, engineers, as well as graduate students who are interested in oxygen transport to tissue will find this book a great reference and a useful learning resource.
Behavioral Emergencies for Healthcare Providers
by Leslie S. Zun Michael P. Wilson Kimberly NordstromThis fully updated second edition focuses on mental illness, both globally and in terms of specific mental-health-related visits encountered in emergency department settings, and provides practical input from physicians experienced with adult emergency psychiatric patients. It covers the pre-hospital setting and advising on evidence-based practice; from collaborating with psychiatric colleagues to establishing a psychiatric service in your emergency department. Potential dilemmas when treating pregnant, geriatric or homeless patients with mental illness are discussed in detail, along with the more challenging behavioral diagnoses such as substance abuse, factitious and personality disorders, delirium, dementia, and PTSD. The new edition of Behavioral Emergencies for Healthcare Providers will be an invaluable resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric and emergency department nurses, trainee and experienced emergency physicians, and other mental health workers.
Fundamentals of Image Data Mining: Analysis, Features, Classification and Retrieval (Texts in Computer Science)
by Dengsheng ZhangThis unique and useful textbook presents a comprehensive review of the essentials of image data mining, and the latest cutting-edge techniques used in the field. The coverage spans all aspects of image analysis and understanding, offering deep insights into areas of feature extraction, machine learning, and image retrieval. The theoretical coverage is supported by practical mathematical models and algorithms, utilizing data from real-world examples and experiments. Topics and features: Describes essential tools for image mining, covering Fourier transforms, Gabor filters, and contemporary wavelet transformsDevelops many new exercises (most with MATLAB code and instructions)Includes review summaries at the end of each chapterAnalyses state-of-the-art models, algorithms, and procedures for image miningIntegrates new sections on pre-processing, discrete cosine transform, and statistical inference and testingDemonstrates how features like color, texture, and shape can be mined or extracted for image representationApplies powerful classification approaches: Bayesian classification, support vector machines, neural networks, and decision treesImplements imaging techniques for indexing, ranking, and presentation, as well as database visualization This easy-to-follow, award-winning book illuminates how concepts from fundamental and advanced mathematics can be applied to solve a broad range of image data mining problems encountered by students and researchers of computer science. Students of mathematics and other scientific disciplines will also benefit from the applications and solutions described in the text, together with the hands-on exercises that enable the reader to gain first-hand experience of computing.
An Introduction to Chemistry
by Michael Mosher Paul KelterThis textbook is written to thoroughly cover the topic of introductory chemistry in detail—with specific references to examples of topics in common or everyday life. It provides a major overview of topics typically found in first-year chemistry courses in the USA. The textbook is written in a conversational question-based format with a well-defined problem solving strategy and presented in a way to encourage readers to “think like a chemist” and to “think outside of the box.” Numerous examples are presented in every chapter to aid students and provide helpful self-learning tools. The topics are arranged throughout the textbook in a "traditional approach" to the subject with the primary audience being undergraduate students and advanced high school students of chemistry.
The Transdisciplinary Reach of Design Science Research: 17th International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2022, St Petersburg, FL, USA, June 1–3, 2022, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #13229)
by Alan Hevner Aurona Gerber Andreas DrechslerThis book constitutes the thoroughly refereed proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2022, held in Tampa, FL, USA, in June 2022. The 37 revised full research papers, included in the volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 103 submissions. They are organized in the following topical sections: Transdisciplinary Research & DSR (theme Track); Blockchain Information Systems; Intelligent Systems and Human Interaction; Healthcare Systems and Quality of Life; Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Sustainability and Responsible Design (Environmental Issues, Human Values and ethical Design); Human Safety and Cybersecurity; Emerging DSR Methods and Processes; Designers and Collaborative DSR; and Education and DSR. Chapter(s) “Chapter 13.” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Practical Guide to Simulation in Delivery Room Emergencies
by Antonio Malvasi Gilda Cinnella Renata BeckIn this book the use of hybrid simulation in delivery room emergencies is described and shown. The use of a patient actor combined with a task trainer within the same session substantially improve the training for practical management of intrapartum emergencies in real life, reducing the risk of failure of operative vaginal delivery and of related adverse events, including perinatal or maternal complications. Furthermore, simulation with high reality computerized mannequin and scenography of emergency situation can improve technical and manual skills of the participants. For this book and the related videos, a new generation of mannequins suitable for both clinical manoeuvres and ultrasound examination is used to simulate all clinical scenarios of emergency that can happen in the delivery room for both the mother and the child. This unique book is a useful tool for medical students, residents, practicing pediatricians, anesthetists, obstetricians and all health care professionals working in the delivery room in their ability to deal with critical and emergency situations with safety and good medical practice.
Polarized Beam Dynamics and Instrumentation in Particle Accelerators: USPAS Summer 2021 Spin Class Lectures (Particle Acceleration and Detection)
by François Méot Haixin Huang Vadim Ptitsyn Fanglei LinThis Open Access book is drawn from lectures dispensed at the U.S. Particle Accelerator School (USPAS) Summer 2021 Spin Class, by experts in the field. It is an introduction to the dynamics of spin in charged particle accelerators, and to the accelerator components and spin manipulation techniques, including helical snakes and spin rotators, which enable and allow preserving beam polarization. It is aimed at graduate students or upper division undergraduate students with an interest in this multi-disciplinary field, which includes the future electron-ion collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, high energy lepton and proton collider projects, and other electric dipole moment search storage rings. It is also aimed at physicists or engineers working in accelerator-related fields who wish to familiarize themselves with spin dynamics and polarized beam concepts, tools, components, and purposes.This is an open access book.
Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Modeling: 15th International Conference, SBP-BRiMS 2022, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, September 20–23, 2022, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #13558)
by Robert Thomson Christopher Dancy Aryn PykeThis book constitutes the proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Modeling, SBP-BRiMS 2022, which was in Pittsburgh, PA, USA in September 2022.The 25 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 50 submissions. The papers were organized in topical sections as follows: computer science, psychology, sociology, communication science, public health, bioinformatics, political science, and organizational science. Numerous types of computational methods are used include, but not limited to, machine learning, language technology, social network analysis and visualization, agent-based simulation, and statistics.
Intracranial EEG: A Guide for Cognitive Neuroscientists (Studies in Neuroscience, Psychology and Behavioral Economics)
by Nikolai AxmacherThis book offers the first, comprehensive guide to planning and conducting intracranial EEG studies, and analyzing intracranial EEG data. The chapters address core questions in the field of intracranial EEG research. They are written by internationally recognized experts in the domain of intracranial EEG and acknowledge the heterogeneity of approaches in this field. The particular format of the book allows readers to find clear guidelines, hands-on expertise and invaluable background information for planning and conducting state-of-the-art intracranial EEG research projects. Besides offering a reference guide to newcomers in the field, it also provides scholarly information for the more experienced researcher and inspiration for the expert. The book covers a wide range of topics, with a special emphasis on aspects in which intracranial EEG data differ from other types of data in the cognitive neurosciences. It discusses typical patient characteristics and implantation schemes, ethical issues, and practical considerations for planning and running intracranial EEG experiments. It addresses signal characteristics and the physiological background of oscillatory and non-oscillatory aspects of intracranial EEG signals. It describes complex pre-processing steps such as advantages and disadvantages of different referencing schemes, and how to identify the location of electrodes. In addition, it answers specific questions on data processing, addressing core aspects of statistical analysis, and suggesting guidelines for data presentation. Further, it covers advanced topics such as causal interventions (i.e. deep brain stimulation), acquisition and analysis of single-unit data and multimodal recordings, and discusses important future challenges and opportunities in the field of intracranial EEG research.
Quantitative Ultrasound in Soft Tissues (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology #1403)
by Jonathan Mamou Michael L. OelzeQuantitative ultrasound (QUS) continues to mature as a research field and is primed to make a swift transition to routine preclinical and clinical applications. This book will serve two main purposes: Advanced education in QUS by providing a complete and thorough review of all theoretical, physical, and engineering aspects of QUS.Review of recent development of QUS by lead contributors in the research field. This 2nd edition will focus on 6 modern research topics related to quantitative ultrasound of soft tissues: Spectral-based methods for tissue characterization, tissue typing, cancer detection, etc.Attenuation estimation for tissue characterization and improving spectral based methodsEnvelope statistics analysis as a means of quantifying and imaging tissue properties.Ultrasound computed tomography for preclinical and clinical imaging.Scanning acoustic microscopy for formingimages of mechanical properties of soft tissues with micron resolution.Phantoms for quantitative ultrasound.
The Perceptual Structure of Sound (Current Research in Systematic Musicology #11)
by Dik J. HermesThis book presents a comprehensive review of how acoustic waves are processed by the auditory system into structured sounds such as musical melodies, speech utterances, or environmental sounds. After an introduction, an overview is given of how the ears distribute acoustic information over a large array of frequency channels that contain the auditory information used by the central nervous system to generate a mental image of what is happening around the listener. This process, called auditory scene analysis, consists of two stages. In the first stage, auditory units are formed such as musical tones and speech syllables. Each auditory unit is perceived at a well-defined moment in time, the beat location of that auditory unit. Moreover, from this process of auditory-unit formation, the auditory attributes of these auditory units emerge, such as their timbre, their pitch, their loudness, and their perceived location. Each of these attributes is discussed in the corresponding chapter. In the second stage of auditory scene analysis, auditory-stream formation, the successive auditory units are integrated into auditory streams, i.e., temporally structured sequences of auditory units that are perceived as emanating from one and the same sound source. Examples of such auditory streams are musical melodies and the utterances of one speaker. The temporal structure of an auditory stream, its rhythm, is determined by the beat locations of its auditory units. The role played by the auditory attributes of the consecutive auditory units is discussed. The melodies of musical streams and the intonation contours of spoken utterances emerge from this process. In music, the beats of parallel streams generally fit into a metric pattern, and, depending on harmony, simultaneous tones can be perceived as consonant or dissonant.Finally, the book contains many sound examples including the MATLAB scripts with which they are generated.