A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at one of the world's biggest tech companies.

In 2019, a Chinese entity called Tencent overtook Facebook to become the world's fifthlargest company. It was a watershed moment, a wake-up call for those in the West accustomed to regarding the global tech industry through the prism of Silicon Valley: Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft. Yet to many of the two billion-plus people who live just across the Pacific Ocean, it came as no surprise at all.

Tencent's ambition to be an essential part of digital daily life means it holds a dizzyingly diverse range of products - music, gaming, messaging, and film.

In this fascinating narrative - crammed with insider interviews, exclusive details about the company's culture - tech reported Lulu Chen tells the story of how Tencent is changing the world and asks what the consequences will be for us all.

A stunning feminist reimagining of the life of Joan of Arc.

1412. France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is in hiding. From this chaos emerges a teenage girl who will turn the tide of battle and lead the French to victory, becoming an unlikely hero whose name will echo across the centuries.

In Katherine J. Chen’s hands, the myth and legend of Joan of Arc is transformed into a flesh-and-blood young woman: reckless, steel-willed, and brilliant. This meticulously researched novel is a sweeping narrative of her life, from a childhood steeped in both joy and violence, to her meteoric rise to fame at the head of the French army, where she navigates the perils of the battlefield and the equally treacherous politics of the royal court. Many are threatened by a woman who leads, and Joan draws wrath and suspicion from all corners, while her first taste of fame and glory leaves her vulnerable to her own powerful ambition.

With unforgettably vivid characters, transporting settings, and action-packed storytelling, Joan is a thrilling epic, a triumph of historical fiction, as well as a feminist celebration of one remarkable—and remarkably real—woman who left an indelible mark on history.

Silicon Photonics, Volume 99 in the Semiconductors and Semimetals series, highlights new advances in the field, with this updated volume presenting interesting chapters on Transfer printing in Silicon Photonics, Epitaxial integration of antimonide-based semiconductor lasers on Si, Photonic crystal lasers and nanolasers on Si, the Evolution of monolithic quantum-dot light source for silicon photonics, III-V on Si nanocomposites, the Heterogeneous integration of III-V on Si by bonding, the Growth of III-V on Silicon compliant substrates and lasers by MOCVD, Photonic Integrated Circuits on Si, Integrated Photonics for Bio- and Environmental sensing, Membrane Lasers/Photodiodes on Si, and more.

Systems Evolutionary Biology: Biological Network Evolution Theory, Stochastic Evolutionary Game Strategies, and Applications to Systems Synthetic Biology discusses the evolutionary game theory and strategies of nonlinear stochastic biological networks under random genetic variations and environmental disturbances and their application to systematic synthetic biology design. The book provides more realistic stochastic biological system models to mimic the real biological systems in evolutionary process and then introduces network evolvability, stochastic evolutionary game theory and strategy based on nonlinear stochastic networks in evolution. Readers will find remarkable, revolutionary information on genetic evolutionary biology that be applied to economics, engineering and bioscience.

What part does customer and employee satisfaction play in overall business success?

Management Accountants developing business models must consider this question, especially if they are taking the popular "balanced scorecard" or "strategy mapping" approaches to performance measurement. When doing so, stating cause-and-effect relationships between measurable factors like satisfaction and profitability is common practice. However, few companies test their own hypotheses. If the links are incorrect, these models can actually guide the firm down a path to failure.

This report reveals the findings of state-of-the-art interventionist research on a major US homebuilder. The core claims of this company s business model were positive effects in the future due to improvements in customer and employee satisfaction. Tests were made on the validity of these claims to discover how much we can rely on these factors to improve performance. This report also examines how effective various measurement alternatives are through analysis of data compiled by different consulting companies.

The results reveal that the links between satisfaction and performance is less strong and more complex than the company had assumed: these measures cannot be relied upon to guarantee increased performance. Managers must have a sophisticated understanding of performance measurement systems and to test their strategy maps empirically, rather than relying on their intuitions. This report demonstrates how you can achieve both.

* State-of-the-art interventionist research: new method in which researchers interact with the subject of the research, monitoring the effects of their input

* Helps managers protect their businesses from badbusiness modelsthrough sophisticated understanding of likely causes of success

* Shows managers how to analyse data in balanced scorecards and strategy maps to draw reliable conclusions to make the best decisions for their business"

Fast-paced Hong Kong action adventure. Set in a land ruled by a vengeful queen (Ying Qu), who insists that all men will be slaves to women, the film follows the journey of two young brothers, Charcoal Head (Jaycee Chan) and Blockhead (Bo-Lin Chen), who come into the possession of a mysterious map. Presuming that the map will lead them to treasure, the boys set out on an adventure in the hope of finding wealth and happiness. They are pursued by Spring (Charlene Choi) and Blue Bird (Gillian Chung), two beautiful female warriors with secret intentions, and quickly discover that the map has led them into danger. Will the boys be able to fight their way to the bottom of the riddle - and past rivals as formidable as the Lord of Armour (Jackie Chan) - to fulfil their destiny?

The reform of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism has become one of the more controversial issues in the study of international investment law. This concise and insightful book studies the role of the ISDS mechanism in the legalization, and legitimacy, of the international investment law regime. Providing a fresh, interdisciplinary perspective on ISDS through the constructivist theory of international relations, this book argues that reforming ISDS can contribute to the legalization of international investment law, but such a contribution is subject to both “institutional” and “internal” limitations. Chapters investigate the notion of legalization in the context of international investment law, the limitations of adjudicative bodies in advancing the legitimacy of international law, and the relationship between the level of shared understandings and choices of institutionalization. Based on comparative studies of international regimes, this book cautions against radically institutionalizing the dispute settlement regime through the establishment of the multilateral investment court. The novel perspectives presented in this book will be of interest to scholars and researchers in arbitration and dispute resolution, international economic law, and investment law. It will also be beneficial to legal experts in international organizations working on the reform of ISDS and investment law.

Carefully examining the challenges of meeting fast-developing consumer demands and preferences, this enlightening Handbook captures the difficulties involved in providing optimal service experiences. It provides invaluable theoretical guidance while emphasising the evolutionary nature of experience science. With contributions from a diverse range of top international researchers, the Handbook of Experience Science explores fully up-to-date theories within experience studies as applied to tourism, hospitality and leisure. Chapters analyse the progress of recent research ventures, exploring fascinating case studies to further illustrate important concepts such as virtual tourism and slow tourism. Both the important frameworks behind experience science and real-world applications are discussed, providing the reader with a full picture of this rapidly changing subject. This Handbook provides crucial new examinations of experience creation which will be perfect for students researching tourism, hospitality and leisure, international business and innovation. It will additionally be incredibly useful for consumer researchers looking to better understand the complex paradigm behind experience creation.

Advances in Resting-State Functional MRI: Methods, Interpretation, and Applications gives readers with basic neuroimaging experience an up-to-date and in-depth understanding of the methods, opportunities, and challenges in rs-fMRI. The book covers current knowledge gaps in rs-fMRI, including "what are biologically plausible brain networks," "how to tell what part is noise," "how to perform quality assurance on the data," "what are the spatial and temporal limits of our ability to resolve FC," and "how to best identify network features related to individual differences or disease state". This book is an ideal reference for neuroscientists, computational neuroscientists, psychologists, biomedical engineers, physicists and medical physicists. Both new and more advanced researchers alike will be able to discover new information distilled from the past decade of research to become well-versed in rs-fMRI-related topics.

Offering the ability to process large or complex datasets, machine learning (ML) holds huge potential to reshape the whole status for solid ash management and recycling. Machine Learning for Solid Ash Management and Recycling is, as far as the author knows, the first published book about ML in solid ash management and recycling. This book highlights fundamental knowledge and recent advances in this topic, offering readers new insight into how these tools can be utilized to enhance their own work. The reference begins with fundamentals in solid ash, covering the status of solid ash generation and management. The book moves on to foundational knowledge on ML in solid ash management, which provides a brief introduction of ML for solid ash applications. The reference then goes on to discuss ML approaches currently used to address problems in solid ash management and recycling, including solid ash generation, clustering analysis, origin identification, reactivity prediction, leaching potential modelling and metal recovery evaluation, etc. Finally, potential future trends and challenges in the field are discussed.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Machine Learning Aided Analysis, Design, and Additive Manufacturing of Functionally Graded Porous Composite Structures presents a state-of-the-art review of the latest advances and cutting-edge technologies in this important research field. Sections provide an introduction to functionally graded porous structures and detail the effects of graded porosities on bending, buckling, and vibration behaviors within the framework of Timoshenko beam theory and first-order shear deformable plate theory. Other sections cover the usage of machine learning techniques for smart structural analysis of porous components as an evolution from traditional engineering and methods and focus on additive manufacturing of structures with graded porosities for end-user applications. The book follows a clear path from design and analysis to fabrication and applications. Readers will find extensive knowledge and examples of functionally graded porous structures that are suitable for innovative research and market needs, with applications relevant to a diverse range of industrial fields, including mechanical, structural, aerospace, energy, and biomedical engineering.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Adenosine A2A Receptor Antagonists, Volume 170 in the International Review of Neurobiology series highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on a variety of timely topics, including A2A Adenosine Receptor Agonists, Antagonists, Inverse Agonists and Partial Agonist, Chemistry – agonists, antagonists, partial agonists, inverse agonists, Functional roles of adenosine receptors – biochemistry and neuronal plasticity, A2A and Depression, A2AR and glial function, The adenosine A2A receptor in the basal ganglia: expression in health and disease, heteromerization, functional selectivity and signaling, How and why A2a receptor become to be a therapeutic target in Parkinson’s disease therapy, and much more.

Advanced Ceramics for Energy Storage, Thermoelectrics and Photonics describes recent progress in ceramic synthesis and applications in rechargeable batteries, capacitors, fuel cells, ferroelectrics and thermoelectrics. Both fundamental scientific advancements and technological breakthroughs in terms of new ceramic chemistries, new synthesis methodologies, and new applications are discussed. The latest developments in advanced electrodes, ionic conductors, catalysts, and thermoelectric ceramics and their applications are also covered. With its focus on energy-related applications, the book will be a valuable reference resource for new researchers, academics and postgraduate students who are interested in delving deeper into energy-related materials research. Ceramic materials have long been admired and used in mechanical structures, taking advantage of their thermal and chemical stability. Some of their other properties can't be over-emphasized such as unique electrical, optical and magnetic properties that have found unprecedented applications in energy conversion and storage, communication, microelectronics and smart devices.