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This monograph is an extension of the earlier monographs dealing with the application of the new modified involuted manifold model. This monograph has two objectives. Firstly, it seeks to integrate neuronal organization with cognitive functionalities. Secondly, it tries to formalize a structural template of cognitive functionalities. It is based on the postulate that cognitive functionalities are essentially natural phenomena and therefore amenable to formal naturalistic description. Therefore, it employs a topological model of spacetime proposed earlier to define a new framework wherein neuronal networks occupy the four-dimensional configurations of spacetime, and cognitive functionalities occupy higher dimensional configurations of spacetime. Using the Darwinian conception of natural selection, the monograph outlines a model of natural selection operating at more than one level. Thus, natural selection at the four-dimensional configurations of spacetime leads to structural agnosticism so prevalent in neuronal organization. At the same time, natural selection at the higher dimensional configurations of spacetime leads to natural selection of cognitive functionalities. Since the proposed model offers a new computational paradigm formalized in another monograph, this monograph provides a new way to formalize cognitive computations.

Gathering the proceedings of the 25th International Symposium on Measurement and Control in Robotics (ISMCR), held in Iasi, Romania, on September 21-22, 2023, this volume covers topics in the broad range of topics related to robotics and human robot systems, such as robot design innovations, sensors/smart sensors their integration/fusion, advanced controls and actuators, methods of AI in robotics, humanoid, climbing/walking, and autonomous robots; anthropomorphic robots, augmented/mixed/virtual reality (VR), intelligent CAD and IMS, visual/auditory/tactile/force displays, tools and techniques for modelling VR systems, software architectures for VR, VR interaction and navigation techniques, distributed VR Systems, motion tracking, VR input and output devices, human factors in VR. The proceedings extend this platform to all researchers, scientists, industry experts, and students interested in these fields.

Addresses extreme weather impacts on cropsFocuses on pest and disease studyDeals with application of fertilizers based on climate predictionDiscusses climate change and proper land use

Covering all aspects of CNS tumors pathology, this book provides complete information on tumors of the brain and its coverings, sellar region, pineal region, and cranial and paraspinal nerves according to 2021 WHO classification, 5th edition, including new entities, as well as benign cysts and nonneoplastic disorders that are potentially misinterpreted as neoplasms. Throughout the book, emphasis has been placed on histopathologic characteristics and differential diagnosis, which are summarized in tables to make the explanation of certain topics clearer.This valuable text also includes the most recent clinical, pathological, histological, cytological, and molecular knowledge in the field, enabling pathologists to arrive at the correct diagnosis and prepare actionable, useful reports. Since pathology is one of the most visually oriented medical specialties, the myriad of annotated images throughout has been evaluated carefully and include neuroimaging studies, histology, cytology, and immunohistochemical stains that support a morphologic discussion in which differential diagnosis and potential pitfalls are emphasized. Central Nervous System Tumors: Diagnostic Pathology provides a comprehensive guide of the current critical information needed to recognize, understand, and interpret this demanding field of surgical neuropathology. It is designed with the needs of practicing surgical pathologists, pathologists-in training, and clinicians in mind.

The Digital Factory is a comprehensive guide for leaders in the manufacturing sector looking to navigate the complex digital transformation landscape. Digitalization has become crucial to any company's success in today's fast-paced business world. However, making sense of the plethora of information on approaching digitalization can be challenging, leaving many leaders needing clarification. The pressure to make the right decisions can be overwhelming, with various groups advocating their interests. Without a clear vision and understanding of digital transformation, leaders may lack confidence in making the right company decisions. And with access to specific and valuable knowledge about digital transformation, achieving optimal returns for the company can be more accessible. This book is designed to empower leaders in the manufacturing sector to overcome these challenges.

The objective of this publication is to provide insight into advancing remote sensing techniques dealing with floods, droughts, landslides, earthquakes, permafrost-related hazards, glacial lake outburst floods, forest fires, droughts, tropical cyclones, climate resilience and COVID-19. This publication will incorporate the latest technologies and techniques to illustrate disaster monitoring for acquiring information and dissemination of technological results and outcomes for the betterment of society. This publication would be of immense importance for earth scientists, policymakers and professionals working in the field of disaster risk reduction.

This book presents contributions related to new research results presented at the 27th International Conference on Difference Equations and Applications, ICDEA 2022, that was held at CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, France, under the auspices of the International Society of Difference Equations (ISDE), July 18-22, 2022. The book aims not only to disseminate these results but to foster further advances in the fields of difference equations and discrete dynamical systems. Also included are applications to economic growth modeling, population dynamics, epidemic modeling, game theory, control systems, and network analysis. The target audience for the book includes Ph.D. students, researchers, educators, and practitioners in these fields.

This book presents recent research in the field of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting in which intentionally designed nonlinearities as well as inherently present are widely considered. It provides an overview of the state-of-the-art, with a sharp classification into linear and nonlinear devices, and recalls the fundamentals of piezoelectricity and magnetostatics. A detailed treatment of linear and nonlinear mathematical modeling of piezoelectric harvesters is then developed to provide the reader with a wide range of modeling possibilities. Theoretical, computational, and experimental approaches to modeling the magnetic interaction are also provided. Several cases of innovative piezoelectric harvester designs based on magnetic interaction as a frequency up-conversion mechanism (FuC) are developed. Improvements of the magnetic FuC are proposed, in combination with indirect impacts as well as the manipulation of magnetic forces with novelty methods. Novel studies on the magnetic interaction itself and its implications for the dynamic behavior of the harvester are also summarized. The book provides an integrated view of theoretical, computational, and experimental research in this field, as such it can be useful for researchers interested in linear and nonlinear piezoelectric energy harvesting, for graduate courses on smart structures and devices, microsystems, and for designers.

This book focuses on correlation coefficients and its applications in applied science fields. The book begins by describing the historical development and various types of correlations. Rank correlation methods including Pearson's, Spearman's, and Kendall's correlation are discussed at length. The book also discusses sampling distribution of correlation coefficients and applications of correlations in various fields. The book presents novel topics such as (i) a quick analytical method to approximate Pearson's correlation, (ii) single-variable correlation, (iii) fractional co-skewness and co-kurtosis, and (iv) the fallacy on correlation between the sample mean and sample variance. This book is ideal for courses on mathematical statistics, engineering statistics, and exploratory data analysis and is primarily aimed at upper-undergraduate and graduate level students. The book is also useful for researchers and professionals in various fields who are interested in data analysis.

This book takes a data-first approach to framing the built environment sector¿s unique challenges and how industry can address them through better use of data. It describes how the sector has failed to derive value from data, and the common causes underlying this failure. It then provides practical guidance on how to use data to construct and operate built environment assets in a manner that better meets society¿s needs. The book examines how industry norms, organizational culture, and our personal behaviours contribute to the successful use of data. It sets out a philosophy and vision for the use of data in the built environment, and how this in turn might help the sector realise better outcomes in terms of cost, schedule, quality, and sustainability. Data is a valuable asset, one that the built environment sector must generate, protect, manage, and exploit. The book works as a holistic primer to data and the built environment, written both for those who are new to data or the built environment, and including deep-dive material that will provide insight to experienced professionals.

Biochemistry is concerned with the chemical processes that occur within living organisms and microorganisms. There have been a number of publications focusing on biochemistry and its use for understanding biochemical and molecular mechanisms, with the majority of the literature focusing on bench scale items. To date there has not been a comprehensive work focusing on the techno-economic and industrial aspects of biochemistry from the microeconomic and pilot scales. This text covers current innovations and advances in plant biochemistry, animal biochemistry, microbial biochemistry and medicinal biochemistry plus potential uses of proteomics, genomics, recombinant DNA technology and protein application. Recent Advances in Industrial Biochemistry focuses on methods for recombinant proteins production and purification plus metabolic engineering and other source technologies from the industrial viewpoint, providing comprehensive, up-to-date information and evidence on contemporary development in the field of industrial biochemistry. The major focus of this book is the key issues, opportunities, approaches, advancements, products, innovations and technologies in current biochemistry from micro scale to production at pilot scale. Chapters highlight the many potential commercial prospects in various industries from food to to pharmaceuticals to bioenergy, providing a valuable and unique single resource for researchers.

This book fills the need for a single comprehensive work on oncological anesthesia written by anesthesiologists. Divided into 14 distinct sections, this title includes the most up-to-date surgical oncologic procedures/treatments (new adjunctive treatments, new surgical techniques), perioperative care and anesthetic considerations and protocols. The highly experienced authors explain how the new treatments affect anesthesia implementations. Chapters are formatted to be "Comprehensive and Concise", COMPREHENSIVE means the book will cover almost everything related to the anesthetic management of oncological surgical procedures and treatment, CONCISE means each chapter will be practical in format to include surgical highlights, positions, paralysis, anesthesia options, monitoring, durations, anesthesia key points, postoperative analgesia, and postoperative destinations". An invaluable resource for anesthesiologists, certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA), certified Anesthesiologist assistants (CAA), anesthesia trainees (anesthesiology residents/fellows, students registered nurse anesthetists, student Anesthesiologist assistants), and oncological surgeons.

This contributed book, as a part of a series of CERES publications, provides a multi-regional and cross-sectoral analysis of the interlinkages, challenges, and emerging responses in the areas of water security, climate change, and food systems, especially in a context marked by severe implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased climate vulnerability of many regions already water stressed, and an ambitious global action aiming at curbing climate change and restoring ecosystem. In the first set of chapters, the water, food, and environmental/climate security nexus is explored theoretically and by reference to empirical research covering many regions and sectors. In another set of chapters, the impacts of climate change on water resources and water-stressed regions are identified along with their implications for food systems and security. Other chapters of the volume identify the emerging solutions to the nexus challenges, mainly adaptation and mitigation options, governance and management approaches, technological and economic solutions, innovative farming and water management practices, etc. Most chapters scheduled for publication address timely and future-oriented topics, are based on empirical research particularly done in water-constrained and climate vulnerable countries from Asia, Africa, and the MENA region, and provide policy-oriented inputs and recommendations to guide change processes at multiple scales.

Over the last 20 years, so-called regression-based normative methods have become increasingly popular. In this approach, regression models for the mean and the residual variance structure are used to derive the normative data. The regression-based normative approach has some important advantages over the traditional normative approach, e.g., it allows for deriving more fine-grained norms and typically requires a substantially smaller sample size to derive accurate norms. This book focuses on regression-based methods to derive normative data. The target audience are psychologists and other researchers in the behavioral sciences who are interested in deriving normative data for psychological tests (e.g., cognitive tests, questionnaires, rating scales, etc.). The book provides the essential theoretical background that is needed to understand the methodology, with a strong emphasis on the practical/real-life application of the methodology. To this end, the book is also accompanied by an open-source software package (the R library NormData) that is used to exemplify how normative data can be derived in several case studies.

This book discusses the dynamic interplay of creativity and sustainability in the realm of design, offering a captivating exploration of innovative practices and their environmental impact. From biomimetic inspirations to biophilic designs, it unveils a spectrum of ideas in sustainable architecture. It further dives into inclusive and creative designs, social sustainability for the elderly amid the pandemic. This book casts a spotlight on the intricate synergy between preserving cultural heritage and fostering creative industries. It explores the profound significance of architectural lighting, the innovative reinterpretation of traditional motifs, and the enduring allure of heritage design within its chapters, creating an engaging and thought-provoking journey. Moreover, it ventures into the Integration of Creative Design in Urban Planning, presenting a futuristic outlook that seamlessly blends technology, sustainability, and human-centric solutions. Designed for a wide audience, including professionals, educators, and students, this book is a compelling resource for those passionate about the intersection of creativity and sustainability. It offers thought-provoking ideas, informative case studies, and a glimpse into the future of design that transcends boundaries.

This book of Springer Nature is another proof of Springer's outstanding and greatness on the lively interface of Smart Computational Optimization, Green Infrastructure, Innovative Modeling and Deep Learning Architectures! It is a Master Piece of what our community of Academics and Experts can provide when an Interconnected Approach of Joint, Mutual and Meta Learning is supported by Holistic Operational Research and Experience of the World-Leader Springer Nature!  The 7th edition of International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Optimization took place at Baitong Hotel & Resort on October 26-27, 2023, with tremendous support from the global research scholars across the planet. Objective was to celebrate "Global Research Quality with Compassion and Wisdom" with researchers, scholars, experts and investigators in Intelligent Computing and Optimization across the globe, to share knowledge, experience and innovation-a marvelous opportunity for discourse and mutuality by novel research, invention and creativity.  This proceedings book of the 7th ICO'2023 is published by Springer Nature-Creativity Label of Inspiration.

​This book presents smart energy management in the context of energy transition. It presents the motivation, impacts and challenges related to this hot topic. Then, it focuses on the use of techniques and tools based on artificial intelligence (AI) to solve the challenges related to this problem. A global diagram presenting the general principle of these techniques is presented. Then, these techniques are compared according to a set of criteria in order to show their advantages and disadvantages with respect to the conditions and constraints of intelligent energy management applications in the context of energy transition. Several examples are used throughout the white paper to illustrate the concepts and methods presented. An intelligent electrical network (Smart grid--SG) includes heterogeneous and distributed electricity production, transmission, distribution and consumption components. It is the next generation of electricity network able to manage electricity demand (consumption/production/distribution) in a sustainable, reliable and economical way taking into account the penetration of renewable energies (solar, wind, etc.). Therefore, an SG smart grid also includes an intelligent layer that analyzes the data provided by consumers as well as that collected from the production side in order to optimize consumption and production according to weather conditions, the profile and habits of the consumer. In addition, this system can improve the use of green energy through renewable energy penetration and demand response.

This open access book provides multidisciplinary perspectives on the changing dynamics of new working spaces, with insights from various European countries and observing critical theoretical approaches. Divided into two main parts, the first part focuses on the different typologies of new working spaces, identifying the changing nature of these spaces and associated concepts, taxonomies, and specific approaches to this phenomenon. The second part analyzes the location of new working spaces, examining its recent evolution and identifying new factors and geographies, offering an additional empirical analysis of different European realities. The research included in this book contributes to the current discussion of new forms and geographies of work and their impact on the territories and related policies.

An international panel of experts have contributed to create the first comprehensive guide to spiritual care focussing on the palliative care setting from neonatal to aged care, combining the theoretical underpinnings of spirituality research with practical applications for its introduction into patient care. This book is structured to give a detailed understanding of the importance of spirituality for patients approaching the end of life as well as the impact of spiritual care on patients, families and carers. As the first step towards reaching this goal, the need for spiritual care training of clinicians is outlined, including the crucial step of nurturing one's own spiritual life. Ways to identify and assess patients' spiritual needs are explained. The experience of existential suffering is explored along with discussion of the ways it can manifest and how it can be addressed. The implementation of spiritual care in the clinical setting is detailed with illustrations of the roleof each member of the palliative care team and the benefits of an institutional approach. This valuable resource provides not only empirical evidence for the importance of spiritual care but also practical guidance for those wishing to practice it. It is ideal for all those caring for patients of all ages at the end of life, including palliative care clinicians, spiritual care professionals, students and researchers, and anyone interested in creating meaning in the face of imminent death.

Environmental risks put one in six people at risk, as well as our complex ecosystems. Today, IoT sites can monitor the environment and assess risks. Clean technologies can help detect toxic substances, chemical spills, hazardous pollutants, and other issues, enabling both governments and industries to clean or protect the air, land, water, and other environments, and how IoT can support these processes. IoT-enabled environmental intelligence is the constant measurement and collection of our physical environment, through sensors and smart devices. Integrated sensors in irrigation facilities, water supply systems, pipelines, cisterns, weather stations, ocean, and industrial facilities--anywhere on the globe--can record temperature, relative humidity, water content, leaks, and any other physical parameters.

Environment as a Weapon considers how the confluence of war and nature from the time of the Agricultural Revolution (10,000 BCE) to our present day has been represented in works of history, geography, and literature. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Torah and Greco-Roman myths, warfare is a trope commensurate with environmental disasters, extreme climate, and plague. In the medieval age myths the Táin, and Beowulf environments become allies and enemies. The equestrian steppeland as foundation of Genghis Khan¿s and his heirs Pax Mongolica is chronicled in The Secret History of the Mongols and The Travels of Marco Polo. The West African Griot legend of Sundiata and the Little Ice Age wreck of the Spanish Armada in 1588 speak to oceanic and atmospheric dimensions of warfare. American Revolution political pamphlets, poetry, diaries and weather logs, reflect the severe weather and terrain deployed by George Washington¿s early campaigns in the war of independence. Napoleon¿s midwifing of Total War is captured in Mary Shelley¿s Frankenstein, Leo Tolstoy¿s War and Peace, and Charles Minard¿s Carte figurative carto-graph of the disastrous 1812 French invasion of Russia. The U.S. Civil War and the organic-industrial assembles of its battles, arguably the first Anthropocene War, is parsed by the clarifying poetry of Emily Dickinson. Geopolitik and geo-hazards of flood and fire feature in the Global War works of Samuel Beckett, Kurt Vonnegut and James Dickey. The literature of Vietnamese and American war combat veterans reveals how North Vietnam¿s Environmental Military Complex stalled the American Military Industrial Complex in the jungles, and R&R districts of southwestern Asia. Finally, he sci-fi of H.G. Wells¿ World Set Free and David Mitchell¿s Cloud-Atlas frame Oppenheimer¿s sub-atomic deployments at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, James Lovelock¿s ¿Gaiä and U.S. military discourses situating global warming as a national security threat to America. Indeed, Environment and War ironically resonates with U.N. Secretary General António Guterres proclamation that ¿seventy-five years ago, the world emerged from a series of cataclysmic events: two successive world wars, genocide, a devastating influenza pandemic . . . Our founders gathered in San Francisco promising to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.¿ Thus, a holistic approach to studying and mitigating the human and environmental impacts of warfare, must integrate methods from the arts, humanities and sciences. This involves understanding how the historical geographies of the Earth¿s planetary systems have been perceived, deployed and emerged as agents of warfare, with the lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere and atmosphere transformed as arsenals against anthropogenic global warming. This book will be of interest to geographers, historians, and scholars in environmental studies, climate change, literature and military studies, as well as the broader environmental humanities.

There are many GIS products for smart cities to implement smart city projects or activities. Most of the Geoinformatics Technologies and its application books are theoretical and lack of examples with real world data and step by step explanations to understand the facilities and utilities optimization and management for smart city applications and socio-economic aspects.This book focuses and discusses topics related to how technological advances in Geoinformatics can help in the management operations of smart city applications to help our environment to be smart. Specifically, the volume focuses on how these advancements can help optimize and manage facilities and utilities. This book focuses on geoinformation modelling, geo-smart city applications, geoinformation technology, information system and computer science, and geolocation and positioning as its five primary areas of discussion. Each of these primary subjects delves into the application that uses geoinformatics technology in greater depth. This covers the use of Geoinformatics technology in the prevention of crime, coastal erosion, carbon emission modelling, landslide modelling, urban farming, and various other applications linked to the field. This book's objective is to provide a comprehensive review of the accomplishments that geoinformatics has made in a number of different application areas for smart cities. It covers Geoinformation Technologies, Geoinformation Modelling, Information System and Computer Science, Geolocation & Positioning, and Geo-Smart City Applications.The book will be useful to graduate students, university faculty, and researchers in Geoinformatics sciences/engineering and architecture and town planning. It will also be useful to entrepreneurs, professionals, and planners in policy and decision making at the local, state and national levels.

This book presents readers with an exploration of the concept of Conceptual Models and argues that they are core to achieving good design of interactive applications that are easy, effective, and enjoyable to use. The authors' years of experience helping companies create interactive software applications revealed that interactive applications built without Conceptual Models generally result in fraught production processes and designs that are confusing and difficult to learn, remember, and use. Instead, the book shows that Conceptual Models can be a central link between the elements involved in the use of interactive applications: people's tasks (domains), their plans for performing those tasks, the use of applications in the plans, the conceptual structure of applications, the presentation of the conceptual model (i.e., the user interface), the terms used to describe it, its implementation, and the learning that people must do to use the application. Readers will learn how putting a Conceptual Model at the core of the design and development process can pay rich dividends: designs are simpler, more coherent, and better aligned with users' tasks; unnecessary features are avoided; documentation is easier, development is faster and cheaper; customer uptake is improved; and the need for training and customer support is reduced. To support its use in instruction, this second edition has been revised to explain the history and theoretical context of conceptual modeling using a consistent vocabulary, describe the structure of conceptual models, provide more current and more complete examples, explain how conceptual models fit into design and development, and further summarize the benefits of conceptual modeling.

This book focuses on challenges that have arisen because of trash discharges and their potential causes and provides long-term sustainable solutions. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense devastation, leading to numerous fatalities as well as substantial economic losses and health issues. With the rise in COVID-19 cases, the amount of biomedical waste has multiplied, exposing more people to the epidemic. For developing countries, waste management is already a problem, and the waste generated during this pandemic situation has made things worse. If improper waste management techniques are not changed, the world will face a new crisis that could be referred to as a "garbage crisis." The increased quantity of COVID-19-associated waste (CAW) and their presence in the environment make them more vulnerable, potentially increasing the danger of food chain contamination. A few countries have already started putting emergency plans in place to address the "waste crisis." Given the paucity of information on the mutational features and potential hosts of this newly discovered COVID-19, there is a pressing need for an effective plan to protect India's ecosystem against further contamination. To handle the current crisis and prevent the anticipated waste disaster, it is imperative to construct a more effective, automated, computerized, and well-modified waste management system during the COVID-19 period.

The second volume of this book series synthesizes nomenclature, systematics, and descriptions of North American mammal species. Clear, simple and illustrated identification keys are provided to make knowledge of mammals easier and facilitate the training both students and professionals in the field, including readers without extensive experience. Descriptions of the different species are provided up to Order, highlighting the diagnostic features that allow identifying them promptly while the reader learns how to make subsequent identifications without having the book at hand. Each species comes with potential distribution maps based on existing records in the main museums of North America. The book includes the description, characteristics and distribution maps of the 781 species with range in the North America subcontinent

By 2027, it had been seven years since the ground-breaking work on artificial psychology that changed the world, especially for the two scientists behind it. The work debut around the same time as the introduction of Large Language Model Chatbots like ChatSmart and Shakespear, and the power of its integration with them put many industries in a tailspin. Though the widespread use of Chatbots was now commonplace for many, the commercial and defense industries were still scrambling to regulate the use of them in research and universities. The scientists signed on to a contract with DARPA to build AI entities, but ultimately the agency decided the technology was too advanced and potential dangerous to dare bring to market and demanded the scientists destroy the entities and all evidence they existed. The researchers couldn't bring themselves to destroy what amounted to 20 years of work, so instead sent the entities to various locations around the world - hiding it in other research labs, hoping DARPA wouldn't find it. Meanwhile, each AI-entity was embracing its new home, growing, adapting, and evolving at an alarming rate. It will take everything the researchers have to find and reel them in, not yet knowing they had evolved beyond what the two of them ever imagined was possible. In the end, when they catch up to each one, the entities have reached a point where they realize they cannot evolve any further unless they can experience physical contact; not physical contact between humans and robots, but physical contact between robot and robot, ushering the world into and new paradigm where the difference between AI-entities and human entities becomes less and less discernible. All the AI and robotic science featured in the book is real; the story line is fictional, but with how fast innovation moves, it's not hard to envision.

The book intends to be a collection of research papers on algebra and related topics, most of which were presented at the international "Workshop on Associative Rings and Algebras with additional structures (WARA22)". The purpose of the workshop WARA22 was to present the current state of the art both in the Theory of Lie structures of associative rings and algebras and in the Theory of functional identities in rings. The conference has emerged as a powerful forum offering researchers the opportunity to meet, get to know each other and discuss advances in ring theory, inspiring further research directions. The main topics covered refer to rings with involution, Lie and Jordan structures, rings and algebras arising under various constructions, modules, bimodules and ideals in associative algebras, behavior of derivations, automorphisms and other kinds of additive maps in rings and algebras. All the contributing authors are leading international academicians and researchers in their respective fields. The papers cover a wide range of topics in ring theory, group theory, matrix algebra and graph theory. The book will serve both the specialist looking for the latest results and the novice looking for the appropriate references to access the study and understanding of the results presented here.

This book offers an introduction to quantum technology that is specifically tailored to economists, students of economics, and professionals in the financial and payments industries. The book reviews quantum speedups that have been identified for algorithms used to solve and estimate economic models, including function approximation, linear systems analysis, graphical modeling, Monte Carlo simulation, matrix inversion, principal component analysis, linear regression, dynamic programming, interpolation, numerical differentiation, and true random number generation. It also provides an overview of quantum financial technology and its potential applications in economics and finance. Written by an interdisciplinary team with backgrounds in economics, computer science, and physics, this book offers a valuable guide for researchers and practitioners who want to understand the implications and possibilities of quantum technology for the field of economics.

Marine plankton, despite their tiny size, are crucial for the functioning of marine food webs. It is not just about one organism eating another; when this happens, it helps release the nutrients accumulated within living matter, making them available again for microalgae. Plankton are present in freshwater and in all the seas and oceans on the planet. Moreover, they are responsible for supporting life on Earth and has provided us (on geological timescales) with a significant portion of the oxygen we breathe. In just a small spoonful of seawater, we can find around fifty million viruses, five million bacteria, hundreds of thousands of small unicellular flagellates, thousands of microscopic algae, five heterotrophic ciliates or dinoflagellates, and, with some luck, a small crustacean like copepods. This book aims to bridge the gap between scientific research and the general public, offering a captivating exploration of the fascinating world of marine plankton. Through engaging narratives and visually compelling illustrations, readers will gain insights into the importance of plankton in marine ecosystems, their diverse forms, and the crucial role they play in maintaining our planet's health.

This book offers an in-depth exploration of the application of blockchain and smart contract technologies in the field of cybersecurity. It begins by defining the fundamentals of cybersecurity in the context of blockchain and smart contracts, and then moves on to the world of e-government services, describing how blockchain can enhance the security of these services. The book also explores how blockchain can secure the Internet of Things (IoT), focusing on applications such as securing drones and protecting robotic networks. The importance of scalability in distributed replication systems is also discussed, with a particular focus on sharding. Finally, the book looks at the challenges of data protection in distributed ledger and blockchain technologies, providing both an analysis of the problems and solutions. Written by academic researchers and industry experts, this book offers a comprehensive and nuanced perspective on the transformational potential of blockchain and smart contracts in the field of cybersecurity.