This book represents the first attempt to analyze historical and cultural developments in late medieval and early modern southeastern Europe as a set of mutually intertwined regional histories, burdened by the strong dichotomy between the almighty center—Constantinople—and the periphery that is rarely visible in both contemporary sources and modern scholarship. This mosaic of original studies is devoted to various regions of the Byzantine Balkans and their historical, artistic, and ideological idiosyncrasies, mirroring the complex character and composite and fragmented structure of this vast region. The focal points of the book are the two captures of Constantinople in 1204 and 1453, and the contributors analyze the significance of these catastrophic events on the political destiny of medieval Balkan societies, the mechanisms of adapting to the new political order, and the ever-present interconnectedness of a lower, regional elite across southeastern Europe that had remained strong even after the Ottoman conquest.
Marcus Contextual Grammars is the first monograph to present a class of grammars introduced about three decades ago, based on the fundamental linguistic phenomenon of strings-contexts interplay (selection). Most of the theoretical results obtained so far about the many variants of contextual grammars are presented with emphasis on classes of questions with relevance for applications in the study of natural language syntax: generative powers, descriptive and computational complexity, automata recognition, semilinearity, structure of the generated strings, ambiguity, regulated rewriting, etc. Constant comparison with families of languages in the Chomsky hierarchy is made. Connections with non-linguistic areas are established, such as molecular computing. Audience: Researchers and students in theoretical computer science (formal language theory and automata theory), computational linguistics, mathematical methods in linguistics, and linguists interested in formal models of syntax.
Membrane computing is an unconventional model of computation associated with a new computing paradigm. The field of membrane computing was initiated in 1998 by the author of this book; it is a branch of natural computing inspired by the structure and functioning of the living cell and devises distributed parallel computing models in the form of membrane systems. This book is the first monograph surveying the new field in a systematic and coherent way. It presents the central notions and results: the main classes of P systems, the main results about their computational power and efficiency, a complete bibliography, and a series of open problems and research topics.
At the turning of the millennium, a switch in computing technology is forecasted and looked for. Two main directions of research, both based on quite unconventional ideas are most promising - quantum computing and molecular computing. In the last few years, both of these methods have been intensely investigated. The present book is the first "friendly" presentation of basic ideas in these exciting areas. The style is rigorous, but without entering into excessive technicalities. Equal attention is paid to the main practical results reported so far and the main theoretical developments. The book is written for the educated layman and is self-contained, including all the necessary facts from mathematics, computer science, biology and quantum mechanics.
The finite - infinite interplay is central in human thinking, from ancient philosophers and mathematicians (Zeno, Pythagoras), to modern mathe matics (Cantor, Hilbert) and computer science (Turing, Godel). Recent developments in mathematics and computer science suggest a) radically new answers to classical questions (e. g. , does infinity exist?, where does infinity come from?, how to reconcile the finiteness of the human brain with the infinity of ideas it produces?), b) new questions of debate (e. g. , what is the role played by randomness?, are computers capable of handling the infinity through unconventional media of computation?, how can one approximate efficiently the finite by the infinite and, conversely, the infinite by finite?). Distinguished authors from around the world, many of them architects of the mathematics and computer science for the new century, contribute to the volume. Papers are as varied as Professor Marcus' activity, to whom this volume is dedicated. They range from real analysis to DNA com puting, from linguistics to logic, from combinatorics on words to symbolic dynamics, from automata theory to geography, and so on, plus an incursion into the old history of conceptions about infinity and a list of philosophical "open problems". They are mainly mathematical and theoretical computer science texts, but not all of them are purely mathematical.
This is the first book on DNA computing, a molecular approach that may revolutionize computing-replacing silicon with carbon and microchips with DNA molecules. The book starts with an introduction to DNA computing, exploring the power of complementarity, the basics of biochemistry, and language and computation theory. It then brings the reader to the most advanced theories develop thus far in this emerging research area.
It is a book which gives you a good basis in addictions. The author tried to make it so. You do need to spend too much time in research, through the isles of libraries, through browsing the internet and any other form of research. It is a manual as well as a self-help book. Once you have it you will use it for a long time.. The beginning of the book covers some forms of addictions, including poker machines, and can be used by anyone who is addicted. The book dismisses the addiction myth, that you should not be addicted. There are healthy addictions which you should try to master, and unhealthy addictions which you should try not to have. There is also a purpose in addictions and that is to have more, to be more and to do more. Mastering addiction is the first step in dealing with addictions, but there is more to it than that. The idea of the purpose of living, the reason you are here is discussed. And, if you are less than fifty years of age you should try to do more than mastering your addictions. I hope you will enjoy the book and that it will make a difference in your life and in the life of the people you surround yourself with.
Labelling data is one of the most fundamental activities in science, and has underpinned practice, particularly in medicine, for decades, as well as research in corpus linguistics since at least the development of the Brown corpus. With the shift towards Machine Learning in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the creation of datasets to be used for training and evaluating AI systems, also known in AI as corpora, has become a central activity in the field as well. Early AI datasets were created on an ad-hoc basis to tackle specific problems. As larger and more reusable datasets were created, requiring greater investment, the need for a more systematic approach to dataset creation arose to ensure increased quality. A range of statistical methods were adopted, often but not exclusively from the medical sciences, to ensure that the labels used were not subjective, or to choose among different labels provided by the coders. A wide variety of such methods is now in regular use. This book is meant to provide a survey of the most widely used among these statistical methods supporting annotation practice. As far as the authors know, this is the first book attempting to cover the two families of methods in wider use. The first family of methods is concerned with the development of labelling schemes and, in particular, ensuring that such schemes are such that sufficient agreement can be observed among the coders. The second family includes methods developed to analyze the output of coders once the scheme has been agreed upon, particularly although not exclusively to identify the most likely label for an item among those provided by the coders. The focus of this book is primarily on Natural Language Processing, the area of AI devoted to the development of models of language interpretation and production, but many if not most of the methods discussed here are also applicable to other areas of AI, or indeed, to other areas of Data Science.
It is a book which gives you a good basis in the knowledge of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Such a devastating condition, yet not much understood and not accepted by doctors, and health professionals. It is considered the hardest condition known to the human race (apart from cancer in the last two weeks of life). For everything in life there is a reason. So for CFS the reason is that you do not manage your energies. But there is more to it than that, and the author explains that in the second part of the book. The higher reason is the need to be more, to do more, to have more and to ultimately fulfil your potential by achieving your mission or your calling as it also known. The book is written with a good basis in personal development or as a self-help book. It is practical and will help families whose members suffer from CFS. At least for a while, you will not need to find other books in self-help. The author had been to support groups, was counselled and counsels himself, and this is in the area of addiction. By achieving your mission by controlling addictions and CFS, the ultimate goal is to make a contribution to the human race and spend your time well on this earth.
First published in 1975, A Constant Burden was a truly ground-breaking text in the field of medical sociology and has since become an undisputed classic. Over thirty years later this revised edition gives new life to this important work. It contains the same seminal study of families with a disabled child, based on an analysis of interviews with parents about the effects of their child's disability on their family life. Whereas much of the contemporary research assumed that the presence of such a child must constitute a problem, and attempted to read parents' responses as indicators of the family's psychological and social adjustment to this 'reality', Voysey Paun's analysis takes a radically different stance. She shows that what parents say should rather be understood as socially constructed accounts of 'normal parenting' which induce others to identify them as properly fulfilling their responsibilities as good parents. Voysey Paun's approach to the analysis and interpretation of interview responses has become a much more central theme for sociological research, instrumental in changing theories about the nature of disability and the family as expressed by sociologists, social workers and other agencies. The revised edition contains a new introduction which puts the study in its intellectual context. It will be essential reading in the sociology of health and illness, and will also be of interest to social workers and other professionals concerned with disability and family life.
This book addresses the tension between, on the one hand, anti-doping practices and measures and, on the other hand, the fundamental rights of athletes. New techniques for testing and re-testing samples taken several years ago, have caused a push by the World Anti-Doping Agency and affiliated organizations for stricter rules, more doping tests and higher sanctions. Meanwhile, many States are adopting new laws and regulations to facilitate this push. At the same time, privacy and data protection have gained new momentum, especially in the European Union, where the General Data Protection Regulation came into effect in May 2018. It contains new obligations for data controllers and processors, rights for data subjects and sanctions for those violating the data protection rules. It is clear that gathering whereabouts information on athletes, collecting urine and blood samples, analyzing the samples and using the data distilled there from falls within the scope of the data protection framework. In addition, European athletes can invoke their rights to privacy, fair trial and freedom from discrimination as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. The book is aimed at professionals and organizations involved in sports and anti-doping and provides them with an opportunity to delve into and understand the rights guaranteed to athletes within the European context. Furthermore, it is equally relevant for privacy and data protection lawyers and human rights scholars wishing to familiarize themselves with the difficult questions relating to human rights protection in the world of sport and anti-doping. Written in accessible language, it should also prove useful to athletes and laymen wanting to learn about the rules applicable to almost everyone who practices sport, even at a local amateur level. Bart van der Sloot is senior researcher at Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands, Mara Paun is PhD researcher at Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands, Ronald Leenes is professor at Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
This book presents a collection of refereed papers on formal language theory arranged for the occasion of the 50th birthday of Jürgen Dassow, who has made a significant contribution to the areas of regulated rewriting and grammar systems. The volume comprises 33 revised full papers organized in sections on regulated rewriting, cooperating distributed grammar systems, parallel communicating grammar systems, splicing systems, infinite words, and algebraic approaches to languages.
To our families The formal language theory was born in the middle of our century as a tool for modelling and investigating the syntax of natural languages, and it has been developed mainly in connection with programming language handling. Of course, one cannot deny the impulses from neuronal net investigations, from logic, as well as the mathematical motivation of the early researches. The theory has rapidly become a mature one, with specific problems, techniques and results and with an internal self-motivated life. Abstract enough to deal with the essence of modelled phenomena, formal language theory has been applied during the last years to many further non-linguistical fields, sometimes surprisingly far from the previous areas of applications; such fields are developmental biology, economic modelling, semiotics of folklore, dramatic and musical works, cryptography, sociology, psychology, and so on. All these applications as well as the traditional ones to natural and programming languages revealed a rather common conclusion: very frequently, context-free gram mars, the most developed and the most "tractable" type of Chomsky grammars, are not sufficient. "The world is non-context-free" (and we shall "prove" this statement in Section 0.4). On the other hand, the context-sensitive grammars are too powerful and definitely "intractable" (many problems are undecidable or are still open; there is no semantic interpretation of the nonterminals an so on). This is the reason to look for intermediate generative devices, conjoining the simpli city and the beauty of context-free grammars with the power of context-sensitive ones.
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