This book describes and characterizes an extension to the classical path coupling method applied to statistical mechanical models, referred to as aggregate path coupling. In conjunction with large deviations estimates, the aggregate path coupling method is used to prove rapid mixing of Glauber dynamics for a large class of statistical mechanical models, including models that exhibit discontinuous phase transitions which have traditionally been more difficult to analyze rigorously. The book shows how the parameter regions for rapid mixing for several classes of statistical mechanical models are derived using the aggregate path coupling method.
Corruption is a popular topic in the Pacific Islands. Politicians are accused of it and campaign against it. Fiji’s coup leaders vowed to clean it up. Several countries have “leadership codes” designed to reduce corruption, and others have created specialized anti-corruption agencies. Donors, the World Bank, and NGOs such as Transparency International have made it an international issue. Yet there is often disagreement about what constitutes corruption and how seriously it matters. What some view as corrupt may be regarded as harmless by others. Existing laws have proved difficult to enforce and seem out of step with public opinion, which is often very suspicious of corrupt behavior among island elites. As well as talk there is silence: People fear the consequences of complaining. The dangers of anti-corruption campaigns became apparent during the “cleanup” following Fiji’s 2006 coup. So what counts as corruption in the Pacific and what causes it? How much is really going on? How can we measure it? What types are present? Are gifts really bribes? Is “culture” an excuse for corruption? Is politics—in particular, democracy—intrinsically corrupt? In clear and concise language, this work attempts to answer these questions. The author takes a comparative approach, drawing on economics, law, political science, and anthropology, as well as literature and poetry from the region. He looks at Transparency International’s studies of National Integrity Systems and at newer research, including events since the Fiji coup. Interpreting Corruption is a highly accessible and approachable look at an age-old problem. Those interested in the Pacific Islands and public integrity will find it remarkably comprehensive as will students and scholars of anthropology, sociology, and political studies.
Since the publication of The Woman Warrior in 1976, Maxine Hong Kingston has gained a reputation as one of the most popular -- and controversial -- writers in the Asian American literary tradition. In this volume Grice traces Kingston's development as a writer and cultural activist through both ethnic and feminist discourses, investigating her novels, occasional writings and her two-book 'life-writing project'.The publication of The Woman Warrior not only propelled Kingston into the mainstream literary limelight, but also precipitated a vicious and ongoing controversy in Asian American letters over the authenticity -- or fakery -- of her cultural references. Grice traces the debates through the appearance of China Men (1981), as well as the novels, Tripmaster Monkey (1989) and her most recent work, The Fifth Book of Peace.Maxine Hong Kingston will be of value to students and academics researching in the areas of diaspora writing, contemporary American and Asian- Amercianfiction, as well as feminist and postcolonial literature.
Maintenance combines various methods, tools, and techniques in a bid to reduce maintenance costs while increasing the reliability, availability, and security of equipment. Condition-based maintenance (CBM) is one such method, and prognostics forms a key element of a CBM program based on mathematical models for predicting remaining useful life (RUL). Prognostics and Remaining Useful Life (RUL) Estimation: Predicting with Confidence compares the techniques and models used to estimate the RUL of different assets, including a review of the relevant literature on prognostic techniques and their use in the industrial field. This book describes different approaches and prognosis methods for different assets backed up by appropriate case studies. FEATURES Presents a compendium of RUL estimation methods and technologies used in predictive maintenance Describes different approaches and prognosis methods for different assets Includes a comprehensive compilation of methods from model-based and data-driven to hybrid Discusses the benchmarking of RUL estimation methods according to accuracy and uncertainty, depending on the target application, the type of asset, and the forecast performance expected Contains a toolset of methods and a way of deployment aimed at a versatile audience This book is aimed at professionals, senior undergraduates, and graduate students in all interdisciplinary engineering streams that focus on prognosis and maintenance.
This handbook is intended for the advanced specialist and for the practitioner interested in the application of lasers in medicine. It provides state-of-the art summaries of all available medical laser systems and the indications for their clinical use. The first part introduces basic laser physics, including laser-tissue interactions as well as technical equipment and particular techniques developed for medical use in connection with laser. The second part of the text covers all areas of laser application in medicine presented by senior specialists from different countries, each having extensive practical experience.
This book is based upon more than two years of ethnographic fieldwork and personal experiences with the Teetł’it Gwich’in community in northern Canada. The author provides insight into Gwich’in understandings of life as well as into historical and political processes that have taken place in the North. He outlines the development of an educational approach towards conducting ethnography and writing anthropological literature, starting with the premise ‘you have to live it’. The book focuses on ways of knowing and collaboration through learning and being taught by interlocutors. Building on the work of Tim Ingold, Loovers investigates the notion of reading life - land, water and weather as well as texts – and analyses the reading of texts as acts of conversations or correspondences.
A devastating novel of war, love, and escape from the award-winning author of The Law of Dreams and The O’Briens During childhood summers on the sunstruck Isle of Wight in the years before the First World War, Billy is entranced by Karin, the elusive daughter of a German-Jewish industrialist. Reunited on a Frankfurt estate in that war’s hungry aftermath, Karin and Billy become fascinated with tribal rituals found in the Wild West stories of Karl May, whose Winnetou tales are among the most popular books published in Germany. Coming of age in Frankfurt and Berlin, Karin and Billy share a passion for speed, jazz, and nightclubs. They also share a fantasy of escape—from darkening Germany, from history—to El Llano Estacado, the high plains of Texas and New Mexico, vividly reimagined in May’s fiction. Intriguing characters braid this intricate and harrowing story together, from golden Edwardian summers to London under Zeppelin attack, Ireland on the brink of its War of Independence, and Germany collapsing into the Hitler era. As a society loses its civic and moral bearings, a childhood friendship deepens into a love affair with extraordinarily high stakes. Brilliantly conceived and elegantly written, Carry Me is an epic for grown-ups, an unusual love story, and a lucid meditation on Europe’s violent twentieth century.
The people who inhabited Europe during the two millennia before the Roman conquests had established urban centers, large-scale production of goods such as pottery and iron tools, a money economy, and more. This title argues the visual world of these late prehistoric communities was different from those of ancient Rome's literate civilization.
Long before the Red Sox "Impossible Dream" season, Boston’s now nearly forgotten “other” team, the 1914 Boston Braves, performed a baseball “miracle” that resounds to this very day. The "Miracle Braves" were Boston's first "worst-to-first" winners of the World Series. Shortly after the turn of the previous century, the once mighty Braves had become a perennial member of the National League’s second division. Preseason pundits didn't believe the 1914 team posed a meaningful threat to John McGraw’s powerful New York Giants. During the first half of that campaign, Boston lived down to such expectations, taking up residence in the league’s basement. Refusing to throw in the towel at the midseason mark, their leader, the pugnacious George Stallings, deftly manipulated his daily lineup and pitching staff to engineer a remarkable second-half climb in the standings all the way to first place. The team’s winning momentum carried into the postseason, where the Braves swept Connie Mack's heralded Athletics and claimed the only World Championship ever won by Boston’s National League entry. And for 100 years, the management, players, and fans of underperforming ball clubs have turned to the Miracle Braves to catch a glimmer of hope that such a midseason turnaround could be repeated. Through the collaborative efforts of a band of dedicated members of the Society for American Baseball Research, this benchmark accomplishment is richly revealed to the reader in The Miracle Braves of 1914: Boston's Original Worst-to-First World Series Champions. The essence of the “miracle” is captured through a comprehensive compendium of incisive biographies of the players and other figures associated with the team, with additional relevant research pieces on the season. After a journey through the pages of this book, the die-hard baseball fan will better understand why the call to “Wait Until Next Year” should never be voiced prematurely. Includes: FOREWORD by Bob Brady THE BRAVES Ted Cather by Jack V. Morris Gene Cocreham by Thomas Ayers Wilson Collins by Charlie Weatherby Joe Connolly by Dennis Auger Ensign Cottrell by Peter Cottrell Dick Crutcher by Jerrod Cotosman George Davis by Rory Costello Charlie Deal by Charles F. Faber Josh Devore by Peter Gordon Oscar Dugey by Charlie Weatherby Johnny Evers by David Shiner The 1914 Evers-Zimmerman Incident and How the Tale Grew Taller Over the Years by Bob Brady The Evers Ejection Record by Mark Sternman Larry Gilbert by Jack V. Morris Hank Gowdy by Carol McMains and Frank Ceresi Tommy Griffith by Chip Greene Otto Hess by Gary Hess Tom Hughes by Greg Erion Bill James by David Jones Clarence Kraft by Jon Dunkle Dolf Luque by Peter Bjarkman Les Mann by Maurice Bouchard Rabbit Maranville by Dick Leyden Billy Martin by Bob Joel Jack Martin by Charles F. Faber Herbie Moran by Charles F. Faber Jim Murray by Jim Elfers Hub Perdue by John Simpson Dick Rudolph by Dick Leyden Butch Schmidt by Chip Greene Red Smith by Charles F. Faber Paul Strand by Jack V. Morris Fred Tyler by John Shannahan Lefty Tyler by Wayne McElreavy Bert Whaling by Charles F. Faber George “Possum” Whitted by Craig Hardee MANAGER George Stallings by Martin Kohout COACH Fred Mitchell by Bill Nowlin OWNER Jim Gaffney by Rory Costello The Braves’ A.B.C. by Ring Lardner 1914 Boston Braves Timeline by Mike Lynch A Stallings Anecdote 1914 World Series by Mark Sternman “I Told You So” by O.R.C. The Rest of 1914 by Mike Lynch How An Exhibition Game Contributed To A Miracle by Bob Brady The National League Pennant Race of 1914 by Frank Vaccaro The Press, The Fans, and the 1914 Boston Braves by Donna L. Halper Return of the Miracle Braves by Bob Brady Miracle Teams by A Comparison of the 1914 Miracle Braves and 1969 Miracle Mets by Tom Nahigian An Unexpected Farewell by The South End Grounds, August 1914 by Bob Ruzzo The Time(s) the Braves Played Home Games at Fenway Park by Bill Nowlin The Kisselkar Sign The Trail Blazers in Indian File by R. E. M. - poems for 1914 Braves, collected by Joanne Hulbert The Story of the 1914 Braves by George Stallings “Mr. Warmth” and “Very Superstitious” – two George Stallings anecdotes by Bob Brady By the Numbers by Dan Fields Creature Feature by Dan Fields
This book presents a concise and contemporary account of theory and research on presenteeism. It thoroughly discusses the definition and measurement of presenteeism, followed by an overview of the presenteeism literature focusing on key areas such as the prevalence, causes, consequences, costs and benefits of presenteeism. It reviews the models of presenteeism, and how they have been used to explain presenteeism behavior in the workplace. The authors offer an overview of presenteeism interventions and suggestions for future interventions, as well as recommendations for future research studies on presenteeism.
The Asian monsoon and associated river systems supply the water that sustains a large portion of humanity, and has enabled Asia to become home to some of the oldest and most productive farming systems on Earth. This book uses climate data and environmental models to provide a detailed review of variations in the Asian monsoon since the mid-Holocene, and its impacts on farming systems and human settlement. Future changes to the monsoon due to anthropogenically-driven global warming are also discussed. Faced with greater rainfall and more cyclones in South Asia, as well as drying in North China and regional rising sea levels, understanding how humans have developed resilient strategies in the past to climate variations is critical. Containing important implications for the large populations and booming economies in the Indo-Pacific region, this book is an important resource for researchers and graduate students studying the climate, environmental history, agronomy and archaeology of Asia.
This innovative textbook presents material for a course on industrial statistics that incorporates Python as a pedagogical and practical resource. Drawing on many years of teaching and conducting research in various applied and industrial settings, the authors have carefully tailored the text to provide an ideal balance of theory and practical applications. Numerous examples and case studies are incorporated throughout, and comprehensive Python applications are illustrated in detail. A custom Python package is available for download, allowing students to reproduce these examples and explore others. The first chapters of the text focus on the basic tools and principles of process control, methods of statistical process control (SPC), and multivariate SPC. Next, the authors explore the design and analysis of experiments, quality control and the Quality by Design approach, computer experiments, and cyber manufacturing and digital twins. The text then goes on to cover reliability analysis, accelerated life testing, and Bayesian reliability estimation and prediction. A final chapter considers sampling techniques and measures of inspection effectiveness. Each chapter includes exercises, data sets, and applications to supplement learning. Industrial Statistics: A Computer-Based Approach with Python is intended for a one- or two-semester advanced undergraduate or graduate course. In addition, it can be used in focused workshops combining theory, applications, and Python implementations. Researchers, practitioners, and data scientists will also find it to be a useful resource with the numerous applications and case studies that are included. A second, closely related textbook is titled Modern Statistics: A Computer-Based Approach with Python. It covers topics such as probability models and distribution functions, statistical inference and bootstrapping, time series analysis and predictions, and supervised and unsupervised learning. These texts can be used independently or for consecutive courses. The mistat Python package can be accessed at https://gedeck.github.io/mistat-code-solutions/IndustrialStatistics/. "This book is part of an impressive and extensive write up enterprise (roughly 1,000 pages!) which led to two books published by Birkhäuser. This book is on Industrial Statistics, an area in which the authors are recognized as major experts. The book combines classical methods (never to be forgotten!) and "hot topics" like cyber manufacturing, digital twins, A/B testing and Bayesian reliability. It is written in a very accessible style, focusing not only on HOW the methods are used, but also on WHY. In particular, the use of Python, throughout the book is highly appreciated. Python is probably the most important programming language used in modern analytics. The authors are warmly thanked for providing such a state-of-the-art book. It provides a comprehensive illustration of methods and examples based on the authors longstanding experience, and accessible code for learning and reusing in classrooms and on-site applications." Professor Fabrizio RuggeriResearch Director at the National Research Council, ItalyPresident of the International Society for Business and Industrial Statistics (ISBIS)Editor-in-Chief of Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry (ASMBI)
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