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This book addresses a wide range of aspects of the study of language in a variety of domains such as cognition, change, acquisition, structure, philosophy, politics, and education. It offers a renewed discussion on normative understanding of these concepts and opens up avenues for a fresh look at these concepts. Each contribution in this book captures a wide range of perspectives and underlines the vigorous role of language, which happens to be central to the arguments contained therein. The uniqueness of this book lies in the fact that it presents simplified perspective on various complex aspects of language. It addresses a wide range of audiences, who do not necessarily need to have a technical background in linguistics. It focuses on complex relations between language and cognition, politics, education to name a few with reference to cognition, change, and acquisition. This book is for researchers with an interest in the field of language studies, applied linguistics, and socio-linguistics.

This book is based on detailed empirical research conducted to analyse the communication dissemination approach applied to the world¿s largest employment guarantee program MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). To uncover the insights, perspectives and understanding of the program, more than 30 villages in Western parts of India were visited and more than 400 MGNREGA beneficiaries were contacted personally by the author. The book connects the two concepts of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and Public Policy and highlights the importance of using the IMC tools for a meaningful and comprehensible communication dissemination strategies and campaigns. A global overview of public policy dissemination approaches adopted by federal governments in Brazil, Niger, Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Kenya have been presented to sensitize the readers with the communication dissemination strategies used at theglobal level. The book presents and discusses a conceptual framework for the ideal public policy communication initiatives and highlights the apt communications vehicles for the illiterate, vulnerable and marginalized beneficiaries.

This book discusses the phenomenon of regional integration in Africa and the ensuing discourse on the intercontinental free trade agreement within the continent. Long before the move for the facilitation of free trade in Africa, freedom of movement by Africans within Africa backed up by the AU Protocol on free movement of persons has been in existence and in one way or the other both moves are closely related. The book explores the existing relationships between the ECOWAS Protocol on free movement, goods and services and AfCFTA on one hand and the impact of the implementation and non-implementation of these policies on West Africa on the other hand.

Reinforcement Learning: Theory and Python Implementation is a tutorial book on reinforcement learning, with explanations of both theory and applications. Starting from a uniform mathematical framework, this book derives the theory of modern reinforcement learning systematically and introduces all mainstream reinforcement learning algorithms such as PPO, SAC, and MuZero. It also covers key technologies of GPT training such as RLHF, IRL, and PbRL. Every chapter is accompanied by high-quality implementations, and all implementations of deep reinforcement learning algorithms are with both TensorFlow and PyTorch. Codes can be found on GitHub along with their results and are runnable on a conventional laptop with either Windows, macOS, or Linux.This book is intended for readers who want to learn reinforcement learning systematically and apply reinforcement learning to practical applications. It is also ideal to academical researchers who seek theoretical foundation or algorithm enhancement in their cutting-edge AI research.

This book discusses the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on international relations theories. As a phenomenon, AI is everywhere in the real world and growing. Through its transformative nature, it is simultaneously simplifying and complicating processes. Importantly, it also overlooks and ¿misunderstands¿. Globally, leaders, diplomats and policymakers have had to familiarise themselves and grapple with concepts such as algorithms, automation, machine learning, and neural networks. These and other features of modern AI are redefining our world, and with it, the long-held assumptions scholars of IR have relied on for their theoretical accounts of our universe. The book takes a historic, contemporary and long-term approach to explain and anticipate AI¿s impact on IR ¿ and vice versa ¿ through a systematic treatment of 9 theoretical paradigms and schools of thought including realism, liberalism, feminism, postcolonial theory and green theory. This book draws on original datasets, innovative empirical case studies and in-depth engagement with the core claims of the traditional and critical theoretical lenses to reignite debates on the nature and patterns of power, ethics, conflict, and systems among states and non-state actors.

This book elaborates the fundamentals, new concepts and key technologies of the Intelligent Environment Friendly Vehicle (i-EFV), and the engineering implementation of these technologies such as structure sharing, data fusion and control coordination. With lots of illustrations, it summaries the authors¿ research in the field of automotive intelligent technology and electric vehicle control for the past twenty years, enabling readers to grasp the essence of automotive power revolution, intelligent revolution and information revolution. Opening up new scientific horizons and fostering innovative thinking, the book is a valuable resource for researchers as well as undergraduate and graduate students.

This book highlights the fundamental physics of orbit theory, dynamical models, methods of orbit determination, design, measurement, adjustment, and complete calculations for the position, tracking, and prediction of satellites and deep spacecraft. It emphasizes specific methods, related mathematical calculations, and worked examples and exercises. Therefore, technicians and engineers in the aerospace industry can directly apply them to their practical work. Dedicated to undergraduate students and graduate students, researchers, and professionals in astronomy, physics, space science, and related aerospace industries, the book is an integrated work based on the accumulated knowledge in satellite orbit dynamics and the author¿s more than five decades of personal research and teaching experience in astronomy and aerospace dynamics.

This book is based on the Special Policy Study on Global Ocean Governance and Ecological Civilization commissioned by the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED). The book scrutinizes China's successful experiences, approaches and needs in building an ecological civilization in management and utilization of living marine resources. The book provides a global landscape analysis of living marine resources, outlining the current status, existing management approaches, challenges, and needs. With the growing threats posed by climate change, the book includes a chapter devoted to the effects of climate on marine species. After highlighting and presenting key international cases from around the world, the book makes several recommendations to support China's next efforts to create an ecological civilization of living marine resources at home and abroad.

This book is a comprehensive academic introduction of the natural conditions and cultural characteristics of the ChangJiang River Basin. Describing in detail the geographical location and natural conditions of the main stream and the tributaries as the starting point, the book compares the ChangJiang River Civilizations to other civilizations of large rivers of the same latitude. This book reveals the gradual deepening of the Chinese understanding the ChangJiang River, introduces the cultural divisions of the river valley, and describes the evolution of the civilizations in the basin. At the end of the book, the author points out that there are many ecological problems in the ChangJiang River valley, for which the Chinese people have taken many measures, such as water pollution control. Fishing in the main stream and important tributaries of the ChangJiang is banned for at least ten years. As a guide to analyze the natural conditions and cultural characteristics of the whole ChangJiang River Basin, this book enables researchers and common readers to have a relatively clear and comprehensive understanding in a relatively short period of time. Putting the ChangJiang River Civilization in the context of the world¿s civilizations, this book makes it easier for readers to understand the uniqueness of the ChangJiang River Civilization and its contribution to the cultural diversity of the world.

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of malaria, a life-threatening disease affecting millions globally, with a focus on the parasitic organisms of the genus Plasmodium that cause it. It discusses the challenges posed by the disease, especially in economically developing regions, and delves into the biology and pathophysiology of the Plasmodium species, including their genetic flexibility and resistance to treatments. Special attention is given to P. falciparum, the most dangerous of these parasites, detailing its complex life cycle, interaction with human hosts, and the severe clinical manifestations it can induce. The book further explores the global health concern of antimalarial drug resistance, highlighting the WHO's efforts in combating the disease and the necessity for novel treatments. Innovative research directions, such as targeting the unique organelles of Plasmodium like the apicoplast and employing proteasome inhibitors, are thoroughly examined as potential strategies in the development of new antimalarial drugs. Additionally, it addresses the critical role of the hemoglobin digestion process in the parasite's lifecycle, presenting it as a promising target for therapeutic intervention. This work is an essential resource for researchers, clinicians, and policymakers involved in malaria control and drug development, providing insights into the current challenges and future directions in the fight against this endemic disease.

This book explores the challenges China has faced during its economic restructuring, including trade wars, rising costs of labor and land, climate change, recalcitrant state-owned enterprises, an aging population and other problems. Since its historic reform and opening up, China has achieved and sustained remarkable economic growth driven primarily by manufacturing and the real estate industry. As the country continues to move up the supply chain, "Made in China," once synonymous with poor quality, but has come to mean advanced technologies. Chinäs future economic growth and its success in economic restructure will depend crucially on the dynamic evolution of the country¿s comparative advantages. Contributors examine how the dynamic evolution of Chinäs comparative advantages can help the country overcome two closely related problems: heavy dependence on low value-added exports and the prospects of falling into the middle-income trap. The book willbe of value to researchers interested in Chinäs economic development and policies.

This book comprises the proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Chemical Science and Engineering. The contents of this volume focus on issues related to chemical engineering and sustainable development to minimize environmental pollution resource conservation and development of new energy sources. Some of the themes covered include catalysis and reaction engineering, functional material, nanotechnology and nanoscience, biomaterials and biotechnology, particle technology and multiphase processing, separation science and technology. This book will be beneficial to researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers alike.

This book perfects the theoretical system of fracture mechanics of nonhomogeneous materials through the establishment of the piecewise exponential model and expands the fracture research scope to nonhomogeneous materials containing complex interfaces through proposing the domain-independent interaction integral concept. The piecewise exponential model has overcome the problem of fracture mechanics of nonhomogeneous materials and clarified the doubt of traditional exponential models in recent 30 years. The domain-independent interaction integral method is not affected by material nonhomogeneity and discontinuity, which greatly facilitates its numerical implementation in the investigation of fracture behaviors of nonhomogeneous materials with complex interfaces.

This book presents the novel approach of analyzing large-sized rectangular-shaped numerical data (so-called big data). The essence of this approach is to grasp the "meaning" of the data instantly, without getting into the details of individual data. Unlike conventional approaches of principal component analysis, randomness tests, and visualization methods, the authors' approach has the benefits of universality and simplicity of data analysis, regardless of data types, structures, or specific field of science. First, mathematical preparation is described. The RMT-PCA and the RMT-test utilize the cross-correlation matrix of time series, C = XXT, where X represents a rectangular matrix of N rows and L columns and XT represents the transverse matrix of X. Because C is symmetric, namely, C = CT, it can be converted to a diagonal matrix of eigenvalues by a similarity transformation SCS-1 = SCST using an orthogonal matrix S. When N is significantly large, the histogram of the eigenvalue distribution can be compared to the theoretical formula derived in the context of the random matrix theory (RMT, in abbreviation). Then the RMT-PCA applied to high-frequency stock prices in Japanese and American markets is dealt with. This approach proves its effectiveness in extracting "trendy" business sectors of the financial market over the prescribed time scale. In this case, X consists of N stock- prices of length L, and the correlation matrix C is an N by N square matrix, whose element at the i-th row and j-th column is the inner product of the price time series of the length L of the i-th stock and the j-th stock of the equal length L. Next, the RMT-test is applied to measure randomness of various random number generators, including algorithmically generated random numbers and physically generated random numbers. The book concludes by demonstrating two applications of the RMT-test: (1) a comparison of hash functions, and (2) stock prediction by means of randomness, including a new index of off-randomness related to market decline.

This reference book compiles together different animal models in cancer research. It provides knowledge and a better understanding of the advancement of the molecular and cellular mechanisms associated with the progression, formation, and clinical results of various types of cancer from the evidence collected from animal models utilized for cancer research. It discusses animal models for screening anti-cancer drugs and exploration of gene therapy. It presents different methods used to construct cancer animal models and the progress of each animal model in tumor research. The book also highlights the applications of genetic engineering, including CRISP/Cas9, in designing and developing animal models for cancer research. Further, it discusses strategies for modeling animals for investigating growth, metastasis, tumor-associated inflammation and microenvironment, cancer stem cells, tumor heterogeneity, and therapeutic resistance. This book is s a valuable resource for basic and translational cancer researchers, clinicians, and health care.

This book refers to the various biomass valorisation in various fields like bio-fuel; biodiesel; hydrogen production; energy application, environmental pollution using recent clean technologies. Clean energy technology refers to any process, product or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, sustainable use of resources or environmental protection activities. It covers all aspects of new and renewable clean energy production technology. The concept of eco-efficiency involves both ecological and economic aspects of sustainable agriculture. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, scientists, capacity builders and policymakers. Also the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, forestry, ecology, soil science, and environmental sciences.