This work investigates a case of political persecution that occurred over 50 years ago (the Wang case), but which still raises profound issues for the relationship between revolutionary regimes and the intellectuals who serve them. Song Jinshou has compiled a list of the documents of the Wang case.
Integrating latest research results and characterization techniques, this book helps readers understand and apply fundamental principles in nonlinear polymer rheology. The author connects the basic theoretical framework with practical polymer processing, which aids practicing scientists and engineers to go beyond the existing knowledge and explore new applications. Although it is not written as a textbook, the content can be used in an upper undergraduate and first year graduate course on polymer rheology. • Describes the emerging phenomena and associated conceptual understanding in the field of nonlinear polymer rheology • Incorporates details on latest experimental discoveries and provides new methodology for research in polymer rheology • Integrates latest research results and new characterization techniques like particle tracking velocimetric method • Focuses on the issues concerning the conceptual and phenomenological foundations for polymer rheology • Has a companion website for readers to access with videos complementing the content within several chapters
Database transformations consist of queries and updates which are two fundamental types of computations in any databases - the first provides the capability to retrieve data and the second is used to maintain databases in light of ever-changing application domains. This dissertation aims to lay down the foundations for establishing a theoretical framework of database transformations in the context of complex-value databases. The previous findings reveal that it is very difficult to characterise common features of database queries and updates in a way which is meaningful for further investigations. Nevertheless, the advent of the sequential Abstract State Machine (ASM) thesis capturing sequential algorithms sheds light on the study of database transformations. Observing that the class of computations described by database transformations may be formalised as algorithms respecting database principles, we propose the database ASM thesis for a complete characterisation of database transformations. It turns out that every database transformation characterised by five postulates can be behaviourally simulated by a database Abstract State Machine (DB-ASM) with the same signature and background, and vice versa. Furthermore, a logic for DB-ASMs is defined. In spite of bounded non-determinism permitted by DB-ASMs, the logic is proven to be sound and complete.
This paper reviews the issues involved in moving towards greater exchange rate flexibility and capital account liberalization in China. A more flexible exchange rate regime would allow China to operate a more independent monetary policy, providing a useful buffer against domestic and external shocks. At the same time, weaknesses in China’s financial system suggest that capital account liberalization poses significant risks and should be a lower priority in the short term. This paper concludes that greater exchange rate flexibility is in China’s own interest and that, along with a more stable and robust financial system, it should be regarded as a prerequisite for undertaking a substantial liberalization of the capital account.
This book focuses on the evaluation of wave energy in the Maritime Silk Road. Firstly, it compares wave energy and other main energy sources, and then discusses the various disadvantages. It also presents the current research and the difficulties of wave energy evaluation, and systematically analyzes the climatic characteristics of the wave energy, including the temporal–spatial distribution and climatic trend of a series of key factors (e.g. wave power density, availability, richness, stability, energy direction, energy storage). It then describes the design of a short-term forecasting scheme and a long-term projection scheme of wave energy suitable for the Maritime Silk Road, to serve as a plan for the daily operation and long-term development of wave energy. Further, it highlights the wave energy analysis and decision-making in the context of the remote islands and reefs, using Sri Lanka is taken as a case study. Lastly, it presents the first wave energy resource dataset for the Maritime Silk Road. This book is one of a series of publications on the 21st century Maritime Silk Road (shortened as “Maritime Silk Road”) that covers the characteristics of the marine environment and marine new energy, remote islands and reef construction, climate change, early warning of wave disasters, legal escort, marine environment and energy big data construction, contributing to the safe and efficient construction of the Maritime Silk Road. It aims to improve our knowledge of the ocean, and so improve the capacity for marine construction, enhance the viability of remote islands and reefs, ease the energy crisis and protect the ecological environment and improve the quality of life of residents along the Maritime Silk Road, as well as to protect the rights, and interests of the countries and regions participating in the construction of the Maritime Silk Road. This book is a valuable reference resource for decision-makers, researchers, and marine engineers working in the related fields.
No other single volume reference to the Jehol site and its fossils exists and nowhere is there such a collection of fine photos of the fossils concerned. This book has pieced together the most up-to-date information on the Jehol Biota, a place that has shown the world some of the most astonishing fossil finds including the first complete skeleton of Archaeopteryx in 1861, four-winged dinosaurs- many feathered ones, the first beaked bird, the first plants with flowers and fruits, and thousands of species of invertebrates. Authors shed new light on a number of interesting theoretical issues in evolutionary biology today, such as the origin and early evolution of some major taxonomic groups. The first two chapters give an inviting introduction to the Jehol Biota in terms of its history of study, its main components, its scientific importance, its geographical, geological and biostratigraphic framework, and its renowned fossil discoveries. Each of the remaining chapters deals with a particular organismal group of the Biota written by leading experts. The book is lavishly illustrated with nearly 280 illustrations, which include 200 photographs that show the diversity of the taxa and beauty of their preservation. The colored life restorations, elegantly done by some of China's most celebrated scientific illustrators, give a kiss of life to the dead bones. Although targeted primarily at an educated public, the book is also an invaluable source of information for students and professionals in paleontology, geology, evolutionary biology and science education in general. Authoritative introduction to an exciting, classic Mesozoic site home to many of the world's most important and best preserved fossils Clear informative text accessible to the professional and lay reader alike Over 200 high quality photographs of a wide range of extraordinary fossils Beautiful colour paintings depicting reconstructed animals and plants in lifelike landscapes Lavish, large format, high quality production
In an article for Wired Magazine in 2006, Jeff Howe defined crowdsourcing as an idea for outsourcing a task that is traditionally performed by a single employee to a large group of people in the form of an open call. Since then, by modifying crowdsourcing into different forms, some of the most successful new companies on the market have used this idea to make people’s lives easier and better. On the other hand, software testing has long been recognized as a time-consuming and expensive activity. Mobile application testing is especially difficult, largely due to compatibility issues: a mobile application must work on devices with different operating systems (e.g. iOS, Android), manufacturers (e.g. Huawei, Samsung) and keypad types (e.g. virtual keypad, hard keypad). One cannot be 100% sure that, just because a tested application works well on one device, it will run smoothly on all others. Crowdsourced testing is an emerging paradigm that can improve the cost-effectiveness of software testing and accelerate the process, especially for mobile applications. It entrusts testing tasks to online crowdworkers whose diverse testing devices/contexts, experience, and skill sets can significantly contribute to more reliable, cost-effective and efficient testing results. It has already been adopted by many software organizations, including Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. This book provides an intelligent overview of crowdsourced testing research and practice. It employs machine learning, data mining, and deep learning techniques to process the data generated during the crowdsourced testing process, to facilitate the management of crowdsourced testing, and to improve the quality of crowdsourced testing.
Entropy, mutual information and divergence measure the randomness, dependence and dissimilarity, respectively, of random objects. In addition to their prominent role in information theory, they have found numerous applications, among others, in probability theory statistics, physics, chemistry, molecular biology, ecology, bioinformatics, neuroscience, machine learning, linguistics, and finance. Many of these applications require a universal estimate of information measures which does not assume knowledge of the statistical properties of the observed data. Over the past few decades, several nonparametric algorithms have been proposed to estimate information measures. Universal Estimation of Information Measures for Analog Sources presents a comprehensive survey of universal estimation of information measures for memoryless analog (real-valued or real vector-valued) sources with an emphasis on the estimation of mutual information and divergence and their applications. The book reviews the consistency of the universal algorithms and the corresponding sufficient conditions as well as their speed of convergence. Universal Estimation of Information Measures for Analog Sources provides a comprehensive review of an increasingly important topic in Information Theory. It will be of interest to students, practitioners and researchers working in Information Theory
The paper examines the evolution of the institutional setup of Lithuania's Currency Board Arrangement (CBA) and competitiveness from 1994 through 2001, with a view to determining the resilience of the Lithuanian CBA to external shocks in 2002-03. First, several indicators of competitiveness are analyzed in the context of productivity gains and flexibility of the labor market and prices are considered. Then, the equilibrium exchange rate and misalignments of the actual rate from it are estimated in a cointegration framework. The paper concludes that, under current policies, the CBA would be able to cope with sizable external shocks during 2002-03 provided supporting policies remain in place.
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the First International Conference on Software Process, held in Minneapolis, MN, USA, in May 2007. The 28 revised full papers presented together with the abstracts of two keynote addresses cover process content, process tools and metrics, process management, process representation, analysis and modeling, experience report, and simulation modeling.
This volume contains papers presented at the International Conference on Software Process (ICSP 2008) held in Leipzig, Germany, during May 10-11, 2008. ICSP 2008 was the second conference of the ICSP series. The theme of ICSP 2008 was “Making Globally Distributed Software Development a Success Story. ” Software developers work in a dynamic context of frequently changing technologies and with limited resources. Globally distributed development teams are under ev- increasing pressure to deliver their products more quickly and with higher levels of qu- ity. At the same time, global competition is forcing software development organizations to cut costs by rationalizing processes, outsourcing part of or all development activities, reusing existing software in new or modified applications, and evolving existing systems to meet new needs, while still minimizing the risk of projects failing to deliver. To address these difficulties, new and modified processes are emerging, including agile methods and plan-based product line development. Open Source, COTS, and com- nity-developed software are becoming more and more popular. Outsourcing coupled with 24/7 development demands well-defined processes to support the coordination of organizationally—and geographically—separated teams. The accepted papers present completed research or advanced work-in-progress in all areas of software and systems development process including: agile software pr- esses, CMMI, novel techniques for software process representation and analysis; process tools and metrics; and the simulation and modeling of software processes. Contributions reflecting real-world experience, or derived directly from industrial or open-source software development and evolution, were particularly welcome.
This unique volume presents the recent advances in tissue regeneration. The authors are all active researchers in their respective fields with extensive experiences. The focus of the book is on the use of stem cells and nano-structured biomaterials for tissue regeneration/tissue engineering. It includes the use of stem cells, naturally derived extracellular matrix (ECM), synthetic biomimetic nano-fibers, synthetic nano-structured ceramics and synthetic nano-structured polymer/ceramic composites that can help/promote tissue regeneration. Methods on how to produce these nano-structured biomaterials are also discussed in several chapters. Future challenges and perspectives in the field of regenerative medicine (tissue regeneration) are also discussed.
This book presents a comprehensive analysis of stability, stabilization, and fault detection in networked control systems, with a focus on unmanned marine vehicles. It investigates the challenges of network-based control in areas like heading control, fault detection filter and controller design, dynamic positioning, and cooperative target tracking. Communication networks in control systems can induce delays and dropouts, so the book presents the importance of stability analysis, stabilize, and fault detection. To help readers gain a deeper understanding of these concepts, the book provides fundamental concepts and real-world examples. This book is a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners working in the field of network-based control for unmanned marine vehicles.
This paper asks whether the BoJ's recent experience with unconventional monetary easing has been effective in supporting economic activity and inflation. Using a structural VAR model, the paper finds some evidence that BoJ's monetary policy measures during 1998-2010 have had an impact on economic activity but less so on inflation. These results are stronger than those in earlier studies looking at the quantitative easing period up to 2006 and may reflect more effective credit channel as a result of improvements in the banking and corporate sectors. Nevertheless, the relative contribution of monetary policy measures to the variation in output and inflation is rather small.
A comprehensive empirical investigation is carried out to ascertain the import-reducing effect of trade protection barriers. We first present a statistical summary of the status of global trade protection. Then, based on a monopolistic competition trade model and 1994 cross-country data on trade barriers, trade flows, and production, we estimate the import-reducing effect of trade barriers including both tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTBs). We use the disaggregated cross-country, cross-industry data on manufactured goods and, unlike previous studies, our sample covers a broad range of countries-more than 70 in total-including countries from the most developed ones like those in the Group of Seven to the least developed one, Bangladesh. We specify an empirical model that captures the stylized facts well and helps generate sensible estimates. Our econometric framework is designed to control for the simultaneous determination of trade flows, trade barriers, and production. We find that both tariff and NTBs are quite significant in restricting imports.
A unique effort in the CHINESE LEARNING SERIES is the strong push on developing student's reading comprehension in Chinese, although high quality education on other skills are also provided in high standard, e.g. verbal communication and writing. Reading comprehension is known as one of the most challenging bottlenecks in Chinese education as a second language. The best practices to be incorporated in our program are based on 1) modern second language education theories; 2) maximum language input; and 3) student centric curriculum, instruction and assessment.CHINESE LEARNING SERIES adopts a “maximum acquisition” methodology, which is designed based on Stephen Krashen's “Input Hypothesis”, pedagogy and educational psychology. Basically, CHINESE LEARNING SERIES students acquire Chinese in a natural order by receiving comprehensible and constructional verse input from classical poems. Multimedia tools are incorporated in CHINESE LEARNING SERIES, e.g. pictures, animation, software and character cards that help students memorize and reflect the Chinese characters that they learnt. Students maximize their language input utilizing poems, animation, games and other effective and interactive means in classroom and at home. Students learn while “playing”.CHINESE LEARNING SERIES teaching and practice materials are easy to follow and fun to use. It has been proven highly effective to have young children reading and reciting famous poems during the past two years. It helps to develop and establish student's Chinese language sense. "Recitation" not only overcomes the learner's anxiety of "foreign language", but also turns tacit knowledge into explicit language. The repetition rate in CHINESE LEARNING SERIES is determined based on the laws of forgetting rate in human, e.g. the contents need to be repeated 6 times at different time points to ensure the students memorizing what they learned. Exercises and reviews after school are weighed equally important as what they learned in class.The CHINESE LEARNING SERIES development team has put in substantial efforts in designing student homework exercise materials, which include the use of multimedia CD with sound, animation, games and other interactive exercises, the word cards and reading exercises on paper. In general, all contents will be reviewed 6 times in different ways in six months so that the students can achieve a permanent memory. We also ask students to listen stories we provide to them at least twice a week. Listening is an important component in building language senses. During the entire six-year CHINESE LEARNING SERIES instruction, the development of reading comprehension progresses following the order of "listening to read", "semi-independent reading" and "independent reading".More detail series and course information, go to http://gwcs-md.org
This book aims to incorporate an emerging successful business model, i.e., sharing economy, into energy markets, thus digging out the potential merits and applications in multi-energy sectors. With the core idea “access over ownership”, sharing economy enables the collaborative consumption of idle resources through advanced information and communications technology. One critical challenge is to identify different market participants’ occupation while accordingly designing pricing mechanisms. This book begins with an overview about the recent development of sharing economy in energy fields, and summarizes two energy market-related issues that sharing economy can hopefully address. One is how to quantify a marginal generator’s contribution and thereby elicit truthful bidding under information asymmetry condition. The other is how to distinguish renewable and distributed energy resources’ contribution and thus incentivize efficient aggregation considering increasing scale and uncertainty. Then sharing economy mechanisms are proposed and designed from a game theory perspective. On this basis, the following chapters thoroughly investigate the specific problems in spot markets, multi-area markets, renewable energy aggregation and energy systems integration. Additionally, the benefits brought by sharing economy are evaluated in terms of regional market bidding and transmission expansion deferral. Finally, the information and communications technologies related to sharing economy are modeled and analyzed. Hopefully, this book can greatly benefit the readers who are interested in energy economics and engineering.
Intumescent Coating and Fire Protection of Steel Structures establishes the thermo insulation characteristics of intumescent coating under various fire and hydrothermal aging circumstances and shows how to predict the temperature elevation of steel structures protected with intumescent coatings in fires for avoiding structural damage. Introduced are the features and applications of intumescent coatings for protecting steel structures against fire. The constant effective thermal conductivity is defined and employed to simplify the quantification for the thermo-resistance of intumescent coatings. An experimental investigation into the hydrothermal aging effects on insulative properties of intumescent coatings is presented, as well as the influence of topcoat on insulation and aging of intumescent coatings. Also described is a practical method for calculating the temperature of the protected steel structures with intumescent coatings in order to evaluate the fire safety of a structure. The book is aimed at fire and structural engineers, as well as researchers and students concerned with the protection of steel structures.
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