Aircraft noise prediction and control is one of the most urgent and challenging tasks worldwide. A hybrid approach is usually considered for predicting the aerodynamic noise. The approach separates the field into aerodynamic source and acoustic propagation regions. Conventional CFD solvers are typically used to evaluate the flow field in the source region. The FW-H equation is used to extend the near-field CFD solution to the far-field acoustic radiation. However the FW-H method requires the data on a "complete control surface," which may be infeasible to accomplish for most practical applications. Motivated by the need for the accurate and efficient far-field prediction techniques, an advanced computational methodology, Acoustic Intensity-Based Method (AIBM), has been developed. This method is computational efficiency and only needs the input data over an "open surface." In general, the AIBM provides an effective alternative for the far-field acoustic prediction of practical aeroacoustic problems.

The book discusses the most essential topics in understanding the development and changes of higher educational systems in Asia after the outbreak of the pandemic, and explores the transformative, international and innovative moves from an Asian perspective. The topics covered in the book are timely in that higher education in Asia was severely limited during the tumultuous time of the pandemic, including three themes- 1. How the pandemic drives system reform and quality management; 2. How can universities maintain transnational partnerships and attract global talent; 3. How would faculty members innovate teaching pedagogy and reassess student learning experiences. This timely and well-researched book provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities for national, regional, and international higher education created by the recent pandemic as well as technological and geopolitical changes. The lucid analysis of key issues and trends will be useful to academics, policymakers, and researchers within Asia and beyond. Professor Jane Knight, Ontario Institute for studies in Education, University of Toronto This book sets out important thinking for the post-pandemic era in Asian higher education. Based on valuable experience across a diverse region, this book highlights the opportunity to reimagine the future trajectory for higher education. As more of the Asia-Pacific moves toward mass and even universal systems of higher education, it exerts greater influence on higher education around the world. This book offers practical analysis that is culturally grounded in the rich civilizations of Asia about ubiquitous issues in higher education, including social equity, human agency, program quality, innovative pedagogy, academic governance, private sector initiative, knowledge building, and a new form of internationalization. It offers a sensible launchpad for a policy agenda. Professor Gerard Postiglione, Emeritus Professor, The University of Hong Kong

Energy and climate change are two of the most critical issues nowadays. These two topics are also correlated to each other. Fossil fuels are the main energy supplies that have been used in modern history since the industrial revolution. The impact of CO2 emission has been a major concern for its effect on global warming and other consequences. In addition, fossil fuels are not unlimited. Due to the increasing demands for energy supplies, alternative renewable, sustainable, environmentally friendly energy resources are desirable.Solar energy is an unlimited, clean, and renewable energy source, which can be considered to replace the energy supply of fossil fuel. The silicon solar cell is one of the dominant photovoltaic technologies currently, which converting sunlight directly into electric power with around 20% efficiency. This technique was been widely used in mainstream solar energy applications for decades, though the relatively energy-demanding production process remained with challenges to be resolved.Recently, emerging photovoltaic technologies such as organometal halide hybrid perovskite solar cell has attracted tremendous attention due to their promising power conversion efficiencies (over 22%) and ease of fabrication. Their progress roadmap is unprecedented in photovoltaic history from the material development and efficiency advancement perspective. Beyond the rapid progress achieved in the last few years, it is expected that this novel technology would make an impact on the future solar cell market providing long-term stability and Pb content issues are addressed. These challenges rely on a better understanding of materials and device function principles. The scope of this book is to provide a collection on the recent investigations from fundamental process, materials development to device optimization for perovskite solar cells.

The Ch'ing dynasty witnessed a phenomenal rise in the number of pawnshops in China. By the early nineteenth century there were almost 25,000 of them, and pawnbroking yielded a higher rate of return on investment than did land. The Ch'ing also saw this industry in decline, its exponential growth a victim of the Taiping Rebellion and rapidly developing Shansi banks. Yet, in republican times the pawnshop was still common in city and countryside alike. Furthermore, it was to live on after Liberation. But when the People's Bank of China opened Citizens' Petty Loan Offices in the early 1950s in order to furnish workers and peasant with low-interest loans, and when the transformation of private enterprise occurred in 1956, the last of the pawnbrokers, holding out in urban areas such as Shanghai, were forced to close their doors, and the pawnshop ceased to exist on the mainland. Its life had spanned almost fifteen hundred years. On Taiwan, however, the institution survives—there were 750 pawnshops on the island in 1974—as it does in most overseas Chinese communities. This volume is a translation of Yang's Chung-kuo tien-tang yeh, which examines pawnshops during late imperial and Republican China. T. S. Whelan provides a historical introduction and critical annotations.