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This book is aimed at everyone preparing for the ISTQB® Certified Tester ¿ Foundation Level exam based on the Foundation Level syllabus (version 4.0) published in 2023. It provides candidates with reliable knowledge based on this document and thus distinguishes itself from all the information about ISTQB® syllabi and exams on the Internet, which is often of rather poor quality and may even contain serious errors. The book expands and details many issues that are described in the new 2023 version of the syllabus in a perfunctory or general way only. According to the ISTQB® guidelines for syllabus-based training, an exercise must be provided for each learning objective at the K3 level, and a practical example must be provided for each objective at the K2 or K3 level. In order to satisfy these requirements, the authors prepared numerous exercises and examples for all learning objectives at these levels. In addition, for each learning objective, one or more sample exam questions are presented which are similar to those that the candidate will see in the exam. This makes the book an excellent aid for studying and preparing for the exam and verifying acquired knowledge.

In recent years, the concept of customer engagement has evolved as a powerful tool in the managerial toolkit of firms to incorporate a profitable approach to customer management. There is a pressing need for an authoritative book that communicates the fundamentals of profitable customer engagement by proposing a customer engagement value framework. This book, Valuing Customer Engagement, is first of its kind on customer engagement that outlines the theory and methods of engaging customers profitably in business-to-consumer and business-to-business settings.Written by world-renowned scholar and thought leader V. Kumar, this seminal work book explains the definitions of the metrics within the CEV framework and analyzes ways to measure and maximize these metrics that can help in engaging customers profitably. Dr. Kumar also reveals the interrelationships between these metrics, i.e. how each metric impacts the other, with examples from all over the world.This updated edition introduces of Customer Valuation Theory as a way of quantifying direct and indirect engagement value while presenting newer applications and case studies. With practical examples of companies that have benefited by implementing these strategies, this guide is a must have for business executives who want to maximize companies profitability as well as students wanting to learn how to engage customers and build loyalty.

This book aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current challenges in one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Environmental sustainability and climate change implications in the mountain ecosystems in general and mountainous regions of the Global South in particular are key concerns of the present-day world. In particular, the mountainous regions in the Global South are excessively being subjected to haphazard developmental activities making them vulnerable to all possible aspects of climate change. Ecologically fragile and biodiversity-rich (considered ¿hotspot¿ of biodiversity) Himalayan Region (HR) is subjected to high vulnerability due to climate change and unsustainable developmental activities. A major portion of the Indian HR, for instance, has gradually been endangered by intense environmental burden owing to rapid and haphazard urbanization, extreme weather events, etc. Unfortunately, environmental sustainability studies in many parts of the region are stillinadequate. Accordingly, in this book, the authors provide a detailed account of the Himalayas in the epoch of Anthropocene¿¿the most recent period in Earth¿s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet¿s climate and ecosystems" (as defined by the National Geographic Society). It is no secret that the haphazard developmental activities in the Himalayas are having tremendous impacts on the local ecosystems. Many of such impacts are irreversible over the next hundreds of years and it should ring an alarm to all of us alike. Therefore, it becomes increasingly imperative that we document the existing anthropogenic challenges in the Himalayas, analyse them and find a way where environment and development can go hand in hand. This book is an attempt in that direction. The authors aim to address issues ranging from unorganized tourism practices to the big dams in the Himalayas and from mining and quarrying activities to climate change implications and sustainable development goals (SDGs).

This book presents a collection of scientific articles on recent research on innovations in biomedical engineering. Articles are divided into two chapters covering broad areas of experimental research and biomedical engineering, engineering of biomaterials as well as informatics and modelling in biomedical engineering. Given its scope, it offers a valuable resource for practitioners, researchers, and students alike. The topics include not only theoretical considerations but also practical applications of research conducted in cooperation between engineers, doctors, and physiotherapists.

The book provides an overview of the Slow Onset Disasters (SLOD) in the urban built environment discussing potential strategies to assess and mitigate multiple climate change related risks. Climate change evidence has been reported in the last decades, suggesting that the anthropogenic activities are accelerating these changes towards a warmer and more polluted environment. In this context, SLODs have been linked to climate change related disasters and have been stated to have a higher impact risk within dense built environment (BE). Therefore, the book presents a description of the most relevant SLODs, their significance, and confluence, the way in which scientists and entities are monitoring their progression at different scales, a structured risk assessment strategy and the deconstruction of the BE characteristics that make it more prone to SLODs risk. In addition, it highlights the necessity of adapting the traditional risk assessment methods, to account for different vulnerabilitytypes, including the morphology and materiality of the BE, and the BE users¿ characteristics. In fact, individual features influence users¿ responses and tolerance to environmental stressors, because of age, health, gender, habits, and behaviour, thus impacting the users¿ vulnerability. Exposure can then amplify these issues, since it defines the number of users that can be effectively affected by the SLOD. Starting from this perspective, the book first traces literature-based correlations between individual features, use behaviour, and individual response to the SLOD-altered open spaces. Then, a novel methodology, to quantify the variations of users¿ vulnerability and exposure, is offered, to support designers in quickly defining input scenarios for risk assessment and mitigation. Lastly, it demonstrates, through a case study, the SLOD risk assessment framework proposed and the evaluation of the efficacy of risk mitigation strategies.

This book provides a solution to the problem with the energy concept. This problem manifests itself in the fact that physicists clearly diverge regarding the question of what energy is. Some define it but others state that we do not know what it is. Although this is a problem for physicists who need to explain the concept, it is not a problem for physics that can be solved by laboratory means. Penetrating into the origin of the notion of energy, this book offers a clear idea of what was discovered and what was invented to interpret the findings.Following the development of the concept, it provides an explanation of the trends in contemporary textbooks. The author's repetition, in his "History and Philosophy of Physics Laboratory", of Joule¿s famous experiment ¿ the paddle wheel experiment ¿ with a calorimeter as originally used by Joule and with a calorimeter as proposed in textbooks, is presented, yielding new insight into the phenomenon. Thus, science teachers andstudents will benefit from reading the book as well as historians, philosophers, students of the history and philosophy of science, and all who are interested in knowing about what it is that we call energy.

This book reports on innovative research and developments in the broad field of transportation. It covers innovative solutions relating to intelligent vehicles and infrastructure, energy and combustion management, vehicle dynamics and engineering. It also reports on advances in railway transport, air transportation, as well as transportation safety and logistics. Chapters are based on peer-reviewed papers presented at the 14th international scientific conference "Transbaltica: Transportation Science and Technology", held on September 14-15, 2023, at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, in Vilnius, Lithuania. All in all, this book offers extensive and timely information to both researchers and practitioners in the field of transportation, logistics and related interdisciplinary areas.

The edited collection offers a comprehensive and intricate exploration of Ottoman cash waqfs, extending its scope from the early modern era to the onset of the twentieth century. It delves into the historical evolution of these private Islamic financial institutions, shedding light on their enduring influence and drawing insightful parallels with both contemporary Middle Eastern and European financial systems. Leveraging newly uncovered data spanning various regions of the Ottoman Empire, this work scrutinizes the dynamic functions of waqfs, revealing their significant imprint on today's financial paradigms. It advances existing scholarship by employing quantitative methodologies and systematic analysis of these emergent datasets, facilitating a sophisticated, longitudinal study of cash waqfs within the broader spectrum of historical interest rate trends and global credit markets. The chapters trace the transformation of waqfs from entities primarily holding immovable assets to those managing movable assets (cash waqfs), delineating their role in generating revenue for diverse purposes. These encompass funding state debts, fostering infrastructure development, and extending microcredit to economically marginalized segments of society. Additionally, the book explores the challenges and failures encountered in the transition of financial institutions during the Ottoman era, particularly in the context of the emergence of large public banks. The concluding segment of the book offers a comparative analysis of financial systems across various countries, including the shift from private to public banking in Italy, and contemplates the potential applicability of waqf models in contemporary microcredit initiatives and sustainable development strategies. This volume will appeal to scholars of financial history, economic history, Ottoman studies, and Islamic finance.

This new and fully updated edition of the bestselling Becoming a Coach: The Essential ICF Guide brings this essential guide for ICF coaches up to date for 2024 and onwards. This book equips you with the skills and knowledge you need to develop yourself as a professional coach. It will encourage you to reflect on who you are, what you do and how you can enhance your skills. By drawing on the ICF Gold Standard for coach training and the latest coaching research, it will ensure your practice is well-informed by evidence and is up to the highest professional standards.The book will also help you as you undertake any coaching training program, deepening your understanding of the core skills to be a coach and broadening your thinking as to how these can be applied with real clients in your own coaching practice.

This book provides a guide for those looking to understand the potential of blockchain technology and its impact on various industries. The book provides an in-depth exploration of blockchain technology, its use cases, and the opportunities and challenges it presents. From digital currencies and smart contracts to supply chain management and decentralized finance, the book covers all the key aspects of blockchain technology. The authors also go beyond the technical details, providing valuable insights and practical advice on how to navigate this new era of decentralization and trustless transactions. The book is an ideal read for researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, or anyone looking to stay ahead of the curve and stay informed about the future of blockchain technology.

The book presents original contributions to the theories and practices of emerging internet, data, and web technologies and their applicability in businesses, engineering, and academia. As a key feature, it addresses advances in the life-cycle exploitation of data generated from the digital ecosystem data technologies that create value for the knowledge and businesses toward a collective intelligence approach.Internet has become the most proliferative platform for emerging large-scale computing paradigms. Among these, data and web technologies are two most prominent paradigms, in a variety of forms such as data centers, cloud computing, mobile cloud, and mobile web services. These technologies altogether create a digital ecosystem whose corner stone is the data cycle, from capturing to processing, analysis, and visualization. The investigation of various research and development issues in this digital ecosystem is boosted by the ever-increasing needs of real-life applications, which are based on storing and processing large amounts of data. Researchers, software developers, practitioners, and students interested in the field of data and web technologies will find this book useful and a reference for their activity.

This book offers a timely snapshot of research, technologies and best practices in the broad area of bioengineering and clinical engineering. Contributions report on advances in biomechanics, biomaterials, and tissue engineering, biosensors and instrumentation, biomedical signal processing, and rehabilitation engineering. Further, it covers topics relating to quality engineering and management of health services, and of engineering education. The book gathers selected, peer-reviewed contributions to the XXIII Argentinian Congress of Bioengineering and the XII Clinical Engineering Conference, both known under the acronym ¿SABI 2022¿, held on September 13¿16, 2022, in San Juan, Argentina, and organized by the Sociedad Argentina de Bioingeniería.

This book argues for the necessity of a re-evaluation of our thinking about responsibly relating to future generations in the context of environmental philosophy. Using long-term nuclear waste disposal as its paradigmatic case, this book makes the case that the predominant mode of thinking the future in terms of continuity and repetition of the present requires a critique informed by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in order to think responsibility adequately. The book begins by surveying contemporary accounts of intergenerational responsibility before outlining the specifics of nuclear waste disposal policy. With these stakes established, the contributions of Jacques Derrida to future-oriented ethics are introduced. These include discussions of communication across contexts, the relationship between inheritance and responsibility, and the political imperatives that result from this critique. This book concludes by arguing for an intergenerational environmental policy that rejectspolicy and infrastructural projects that depend on the present reproducing itself indefinitely.

This contributed volume offers a wide variety of cases exploring how humanity can adapt to a changing climate. The volume features a wide variety of contributions from geographers, primarily in India but with plenty of global cases to provide a broad comparative perspective. A primary goal of this book is to bridge the gap from conceptual and data-driven analysis of climate change and adaptation to practical planning approaches and strategies. The book compiles contributions that address human well-being and environmental effects related to climate change, including analysis and modelling of ecosystem services, socio-ecological research and sustainable governance of ecosystems. Results reported in this book are conducive to a better understanding of the climate emergency, climate-related impacts and adaptation and mitigation strategies. The cases here also provide researchers with new examples of applications of vulnerability assessment methods. The volume offers insights regardingvulnerable areas in India, an exploration of how some regions have coped with these issues, and a discussion of the impacts that public policy has had on vulnerability in the regions studied. The focus on vulnerability will assist decision-makers in and outside India in targeting policies aimed at poverty reduction in agricultural communities as well. Though the cases here primarily focus on India, the methodologies presented here are transferable to many other parts of the world.

This book recognizes the fact that the vessels' intended operational profile may vary as some vessels are intended to operate with the assistance of an ice breaker and others are intended to operate independently. The guidance provided in this book is proposed to apply to all vessels that are designed, equipped and intended to operate in low-temperature environments. Special attention is given to those vessels operating for extended periods in the Arctic regions, as this presents specific and unique challenges for vessels and crew members. The application of the guidance in this book is optional. When a vessel is designed, equipped, built and surveyed in accordance with the relevant class rules, and when found satisfactory during class notation survey, a classification notation may be granted which demonstrates the vessel's compliance with the appropriate class requirements for vessels operating in low-temperature environments. Those vessels that are designed to meet the requirements of an ice class are typically required to meet specific class rules around ¿strengthening for navigation in ice¿ or other equivalent and recognized ice class rules. Accordingly, this book also provides guidance related to the requirements which address the duration of emergency electrical power. This extended emergency power duration is expressed in hours and may be appended to the base optional class notations. To provide as much context as possible, this book refers to the most relevant international regulations and standards that are considered to be applicable. It is recommended that readers of this book refer to the most recent text of those regulations and standards when seeking to apply the guidance set out herein, as it is the intent of the book to remain consistent with the pertinent international regulations and standards developed by the global maritime industry.

The book focuses on original approaches intended to support the development of biologically inspired cognitive architectures. It bridges together different disciplines, including artificial intelligence, linguistics, neuro- and social sciences, psychology and philosophy of mind, among others. The chapters are based on contributions presented at the 2023 Annual International Conference on Brain-Inspired Cognitive Architectures for Artificial Intelligence (the 14th Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, BICA*AI 2023), organized in collaboration with the University of Ningbo and held on October 13-15, 2023, in Ningbo, China. The book discusses emerging methods, theories and ideas towards the realization of general-purpose humanlike artificial intelligence or fostering a better understanding of the ways the human mind works. It provides engineers, mathematicians, psychologists, computer scientists and other experts with a timely snapshot of recent research and a source of inspiration for future developments in the broadly intended areas of artificial intelligence and biological inspiration.

This book offers a systematic acoustic phonetic analysis of both language and dialect death in the region of Béarn, southwestern France. Focusing on Béarnais, a localised dialect of Gascon which is under pressure from French, the author explores the socio-political process of language shift, whereby members of a speech community cease to speak their indigenous language in favour of an incoming dominant language. Gascon is at an advanced stage of this process, making its remaining speakers excellent candidates for the study of language obsolescence, and this unique study will be of interest to researchers working in a broad range of disciplines, including language variation and change, language and dialect contact, Occitan and French, sociophonetics and phonology.

This book constitutes revised selected papers from the 15th International Conference on Computer Supported Education, CSEDU 2023, which took place in Prague, Czech Republic, during April 21¿23, 2023.CSEDU 2023 accepted 34 full and 54 papers out of 162 papers submissions. Out of these, 8 contributions have been selected for inclusion in this book. The papers included in this book contribute to the understanding of relevant trends in the current research on Computer Supported Education, with a particular focus on: eLearning Platforms, Portals, Feedback and Learning Support, Game-Based and Simulation-Based Learning, Active Learning, Tools to Assess Learning, Learning with AI Systems, Higher Order Thinking Skills, Flipped Classroom, Faculty Development and Constructivism and Social Constructivism.

This book provides a critical account of federal asymmetry in India - its origins, context, forms and functioning - by taking into account the institutional effectiveness of asymmetric institutions in the regions for identity fulfillment, development and governance. It argues that while some asymmetry, de jure/ or de facto, is part of all federations for meeting some special circumstances, in India, which has followed a different path of federation building, asymmetric institutional solutions especially in the border areas have played a crucially important role in accommodating ethno-cultural diversity, ensuring law and order, a level of development and governance in a process that has turned the ¿rebels into stakeholders¿. Indiäs federal asymmetric designs and their working has been a key to holding the peripheries within the Union of India. The book utilizes both archival research and empirical survey data, as well as elite interviews.

This brief recognizes aggression and violent behavior as a public health crisis and provides a review of the role of sleep disruption as a precursor to aggression. It offers clinical practitioners and researchers a synopsis of sleep assessments and intervention strategies that can be utilized to enhance sleep quality/quantity or target sleep disorders along with an overview of the potential effects that sleep interventions may have on aggressive behaviors. The volume also gives special consideration to the possible contributions of sleep disruption in institutional aggression. It provides recommendations for such environments (i.e., correctional facilities, nursing homes, psychiatric institutions, schools) to inform policy and future research efforts.

Integrative Oncology (IO) is an evolving evidence-informed field of medicine with little high-quality professional literature currently available to support clinical practice. This book provides a robust introduction to integrative oncology and a practical toolkit for clinicians working with breast cancer patients. Breast cancer is the commonest cancer in women globally with growing incidence, and breast cancer patients are the most frequent users of integrative oncology practices. This book addresses the whole person journey from prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. The approaches and tools discussed can help guide clinicians on how to support better quality of life, improve patient resilience, minimise the side effects of treatment and optimise clinical outcomes for people impacted by breast cancer. Healthcare professionals are asking for further education on Integrative Oncology, as evidenced by the BSIO (British Society for Integrative Oncology) survey results, webinars and conference engagements. Our growing BSIO membership highlights the need to educate and train healthcare professionals, and this book is written by clinicians for clinicians.

The book explains the basic concepts of river water quality index, river environments, shifting of river courses, dams and barrages ¿ their merits and demerits, mutual interdependence of river and society etc. in the typical geomorphic set up of West Bengal. In India, West Bengal is a riverine state due to the towering Himalayas to the north and the Bay of Bengal to the south. In between the mountain and sea, due to the location of the Gangetic delta region and its stability with space and time, the rivers of this state are gradually dying. In addition to the stability of the delta, the river channel is being filled with sediments carried along the river course from upstream. The role of dams, barrages and reservoirs in the normal flow of rivers at different geographical locations deserves discussion which is included in the book. It is to be expected that the rivers of West Bengal can be an outstanding example of mutual interdependence of science and society, all of which are included in the book.The use of different physicochemical parameters adopted for the water quality index of different rivers described in this book will provide new directions in this regard. With discussions like water quality index, river environments, shifting of river courses, reservoirs, dams and barrages, and mutual interdependence of river and society, it is the intention that this book, River Systems of West Bengal - Water and Environments, will be useful for the research and higher studies in the river related field. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of riverine environments.

The book addresses the interdisciplinary and multiscale theme of the design of sustainable, inclusive and creative urban green spaces in relation to the socio-ecological transition and in line with the systemic vision promoted by the 2030 Agenda, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the principles outlined by the New European Bauhaus (European Commission, 2021). The publication refers to the International Study Day organized in June 2022 by the Unit for Internationalization of the PDTA Department of the Sapienza University of Rome, develops and updates its themes, with essays that deepen theories and methodologies pursued in specific disciplinary and research fields, and with case studies of design experiments and achievements that constitute best practices at an international level in the sign of a conscious sustainability.The book is therefore part of an international and interdisciplinary dialogue and discussion focused on the challenges of climate change, economic crises and social inequalities as well as the questions that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic. These issues are fundamental in the rethinking and reconfiguration of the role of urban green spaces, conceived as a priority place for the existence of citizens, the archetype of European culture, the conservation of biodiversity, and the relationship with nature.

This book investigates data security approaches in Heterogeneous Communications Networks (HCN). First, the book discusses the urgent need for a decentralized data management architecture in HCN. The book investigates preliminaries and related research to help readers obtain a comprehensive picture of the research topic. Second, the book presents three blockchain-based approaches for data management in HCN: data provenance, data query, and data marketing. Finally, based on the insights and experiences from the presented approaches, the book discusses future research directions.

This is a comprehensive two-volumes text on plane and space geometry, transformations and conics, using a synthetic approach. The first volume focuses on Euclidean Geometry of the plane, and the second volume on Circle measurement, Transformations, Space geometry, Conics.The book is based on lecture notes from more than 30 courses which have been taught over the last 25 years. Using a synthetic approach, it discusses topics in Euclidean geometry ranging from the elementary (axioms and their first consequences), to the complex (the famous theorems of Pappus, Ptolemy, Euler, Steiner, Fermat, Morley, etc.). Through its coverage of a wealth of general and specialized subjects, it provides a comprehensive account of the theory, with chapters devoted to basic properties of simple planar and spatial shapes, transformations of the plane and space, and conic sections. As a result of repeated exposure of the material to students, it answers many frequently asked questions. Particular attention has been given to the didactic method; the text is accompanied by a plethora of figures (more than 2000) and exercises (more than 1400), most of them with solutions or expanded hints. Each chapter also includes numerous references to alternative approaches and specialized literature. The book is mainly addressed to students in mathematics, physics, engineering, school teachers in these areas, as well as, amateurs and lovers of geometry. Offering a sound and self-sufficient basis for the study of any possible problem in Euclidean geometry, the book can be used to support lectures to the most advanced level, or for self-study.

In light of the resurgence of inflation in developed industrialised countries following a period of inordinately low inflation, this book analyses the causes and devastating effects of inflation by drawing lessons from the past. Focusing on the German hyperinflation of the 1920s and the inflationary waves of the 1970s, it examines the resulting economic crises and their influence on the subsequent periods of social and political turmoil, namely the fascism of the 1930s and the neoliberal revolution of the 1980s. Featuring five detailed case studies on inflationary waves in various countries in the 1970s, the book identifies economic policy errors of the past, seeking to prevent their recurrence. Offering empirical and theoretical insights alike, the authors present strategies for effectively combating inflation and deflation. In turn, the book assesses the complex ties between wage increases, income distribution, and price changes, ultimately providing valuable recommendations on how wage policy can be used to stabilise price level increases at a low level in a world characterised by diverse and extreme economic shocks.¿The Resurgence of Inflation¿ fosters a vital discourse on wage and price dynamics, economic development and the role of trade unions, making it an essential read for policymakers, economists, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of today¿s economic challenges.

This book presents the results of an ethno-psychological study of Mexican siblings which aims to contribute to the study of the relationships between brothers and sisters from the perspective of social psychology. Building upon the Mexican school of ethnopsychology, the study presented in this volume shows how psychosocial processes shape the relationships between siblings and how these relationships affect the development of boys and girls in emerging adulthood (between 18 and 25 years). The relationship between siblings is the first laboratory through which anyone who has a brother or sister learns to establish social relationships. Taking this into account, the study presented in this book analyzed 1240 emerging Mexican adults to identify the most important psychosocial variables that contribute to the establishment and development of sibling relationships. The results of the study show the central role played by attachment styles in the establishment of this relationship and how both positive aspects ¿ such as closeness, similarity-complementarity and complicity ¿ and negative aspects ¿ such as favoritism, jealousy, conflict and aggression ¿ of the relationships between siblings are essential parts of the developmental processes though which boys and girls learn how to establish social relationships.Brothers and Sister in Emerging Adulthood: An Ethno-Psychological Study of Mexican Siblings will be of interest to social, developmental and family psychologists interested in understanding the psychosocial mechanisms behind the most durable relationship in the life of anyone who has a brother or sister.

Time, space and entanglement are the main characters in this book. Their nature is still a great mystery in physics and we study here the possibility that these three phenomena are closely connected, showing how entanglement can be at the basis of the emergence of time and space within closed quantum systems. We revisit and extend the Page and Wootters theory that was originally introduced in order to describe the emergence of time through entanglement between subsystems in a globally static, quantum Universe. In the book, after providing a complete review of the salient aspects of the theory, we establish a connection with recent research on the foundations of statistical mechanics and we provide a new understanding of the thermalization process. Furthermore, we generalize the framework in order describe the spatial degree of freedom and we provide a model of 3+1 dimensional, quantum spacetime emerging from entanglement among different subsystems in a globally "timeless" and "positionless" Universe. Finally, via the Page and Wootters theory, the evolution of quantum clocks within a gravitational field is treated and a time dilation effect is obtained in agreement with the Schwarzschild solution.