Applying mechanisms and principles of human intelligence and converging the brain and artificial intelligence (AI) is currently a research trend. The applications of AI in brain simulation are countless. Brain-inspired intelligent systems will improve next-generation information processing by applying theories, techniques, and applications inspired by the information processing principles from the brain. Exploring Future Opportunities of Brain-Inspired Artificial Intelligence focuses on the convergence of AI with brain-inspired intelligence. It presents research on brain-inspired cognitive machines with vision, audition, language processing, and thinking capabilities. Covering topics such as data analysis tools, knowledge representation, and super-resolution, this premier reference source is an essential resource for engineers, developers, computer scientists, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

Supplying a product to the most customers possible in an effective and cost-efficient way is the primary goal of the sales and distribution sector of a business, since the profits from sales are responsible for the majority of an organization's revenue. However, with countless brands vying for the customers' attention, the ability to create a demand for a product and subsequently supply that demand is often the key to a business's success. There is a need for studies that seek to understand the complementary roles of an organization's sales force and distribution team to ensure relevancy in today's globalized world. Sales and Distribution Management for Organizational Growth is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the organization of sales and the sales force, their geographic deployment, and distribution and channel management including how to develop customer-oriented distribution systems. While highlighting topics including expense control, personnel training, and channel design, this book is ideally designed for business students, marketing professionals, executive members, finance analysts, operations employees, academicians, industry professionals, researchers, and students seeking current research on implementing sales strategy and distribution systems to maximize profits and remain a marketplace competitor.

Due to applications in recent electronic appliances and pervasive devices, Automated Hand Gesture Recognition (HGR) is of particular interest nowadays. HGR developments have come a long way from the traditional Sign Language Recognition (SLR) systems to innovations such as wearable sensor based electronic devices. A large amount of research on HGR is still on the way, both from the industry and academia, that is working towards introducing more practical gesture recognition systems and associated algorithms. This book highlights state-of-the-art practices in the direction of HGR research. It is organized into five coherent heads: HGR introduction, modalities, and challenges, practical hand segmentation schemes capable of working under cluttered backgrounds, gesture recognition schemes targeting different acquisition mechanisms, solutions sticking to different, practiced methodologies, and conclusions from the HGR works witnessed so far and future options. The book is ideal for undergraduates, researchers at all levels, and the developer community as it provides a basis of information about HGR, as well as new and in-depth research in the field.

Encyclopedia of Renewable and Sustainable Materials, Five Volume Set provides a comprehensive overview, covering research and development on all aspects of renewable, recyclable and sustainable materials. The use of renewable and sustainable materials in building construction, the automotive sector, energy, textiles and others can create markets for agricultural products and additional revenue streams for farmers, as well as significantly reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, manufacturing energy requirements, manufacturing costs and waste. This book provides researchers, students and professionals in materials science and engineering with tactics and information as they face increasingly complex challenges around the development, selection and use of construction and manufacturing materials.

Colour and appearance perceptions are very complex psychological phenomena. Written by one of the foremost authorities in the field, this major two-volume work addresses the key topics required to understand the issues and manage colour effectively. Principles of colour appearance and measurement Volume 2 addresses the visual measurement of colour, methods of comparing colours, and the management of colour in industry. Volume 2 begins with an overview of the visual measurement of colour. Chapter 1 discusses means of colour communication and various visual attributes of colour. Chapter 2 then focuses on several popular colour order systems, and chapter 3 discusses various colour difference formulae and their use in colour comparison and control. Subsequent chapters review instrumental colorant formulation, metamerism, chromatic adaptation and colour constancy, methods of shade sorting and digital colour reproduction.

In any field whether scientific, business, or social ethics plays a critical role in determining what is acceptable in a particular community and what is considered taboo. The source of these preconditions is often a complex interweaving of tradition and rational thought. Socio-Cybernetic Study of God and the World-System investigates morality in a socio-scientific worldview, examining the epistemology of existence in conjunction with Islamic monotheistic law to generate a world-system that governs action and reaction in the context of a variety of cognitive and social environments. Readers with backgrounds in finance and economics can utilize this book to construct a more thorough theoretical understanding of their societal and professional associations."

Typhoid is a bacterial infection caused by a specific type of Salmonella that causes mild to severe symptoms such as fever, headache, confusion, abdominal pain and constipation. The infection can spread throughout the body affecting many organs, and without prompt treatment, can cause serious complications and may also be fatal. Part of the Clinic Consult series, this book is a concise guide to the diagnosis and treatment of typhoid in children. Divided into eight sections, the text provides step by step guidance through epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, complications, investigations, treatment, prevention, and vaccines. This practical manual places emphasis on diagnostic modalities and includes discussion on the treatment of drug resistant typhoid fever. Key points Practical guide to diagnosis and management of typhoid in children Emphasis on diagnostic modalities Includes discussion on treatment of drug resistant typhoid fever Part of Clinic Consult series

Herbicides constitute about 60% of the total pesticides consumed globally. In India, the use of herbicides started initially in tea gardens and picked up in the 1970s, when the high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat were introduced. Presently, 67 herbicides are registered in the country for controlling weeds in crops including cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fibre and tuber crops, and also in the non-crop situations. These chemicals are becoming increasingly popular because of their efficiency and relatively low cost compared with manual or mechanical weeding operations. The contribution of herbicide to total pesticide use, which was only 10-15% during the first decade of the 21st century, has now increased to about 25% with an annual growth rate of 15-20%, which is much higher than insecticides and fungicides. Though the application of herbicides is minimizing yield loss to a great extent, their residues in the food chain and surface and groundwater create some environmental nuisance particularly to non-target organisms. Research on pesticide residues in India was started during 1970s, when such chemicals were introduced on a greater scale along with high-yielding variety seeds, irrigation and chemical fertilizers for increasing food production. However, the herbicide residue research was not given much emphasis until 1990s. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research initiated a national level programme known as All India Coordinated Research Project on Weed Management through the NRC-Weed Science as the main centre along with some centers of ICAR Institutes and state agricultural universities. Over the last two decades, adequate information was generated on estimation, degradation and mitigation of herbicide residues, which were documented in annual reports, bulletins, monographs and scientific articles. However, there was no consolidated compilation of all the available information providing a critical analysis of herbicide residues. Accordingly, an effort has been made in the publication to compile the available information on herbicide residues in India. This is the first report of its kind which presents the findings of herbicide residues and their interactions in the biotic and abiotic environment. There are 16 chapters contributed by the leading herbicide residue scientists, each describing the present status of herbicide use, crops and cropping systems, monitoring, degradation and mitigation, followed by conclusions and future lines of work. This book will be useful to the weed scientists in general and herbicide residue chemists in particular, besides the policy makers, students and all those concerned with the agricultural production in the country.

This book reflects more than three decades of research on Cellular Automata (CA), and nearly a decade of work on the application of CA to model biological strings, which forms the foundation of 'A New Kind of Computational Biology' pioneered by the start-up, CARLBio. After a brief introduction on Cellular Automata (CA) theory and functional biology, it reports on the modeling of basic biological strings with CA, starting with the basic nucleotides leading to codon and anti-codon CA models. It derives a more involved CA model of DNA, RNA, the entire translation process for amino acid formation and the evolution of protein to its unique structure and function. In subsequent chapters the interaction of Proteins with other bio-molecules is also modeled. The only prior knowledge assumed necessary is an undergraduate knowledge of computer programming and biology. The book adopts a hands-on, "do-it-yourself" approach to enable readers to apply the method provided to derive the CA rules and comprehend how these are related to the physical 'rules' observed in biology. In a single framework, the authors have presented two branches of science - Computation and Biology. Instead of rigorous molecular dynamics modeling, which the authors describe as a Bottoms-Up model, or relying on the Top-Down new age Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Language (ML) that depends on extensive availability of quality data, this book takes the best from both the Top-Down and Bottoms-up approaches and establishes how the behavior of complex molecules is represented in CA. The CA rules are derived from the basic knowledge of molecular interaction and construction observed in biological world but mapped to a few subset of known results to derive and predict results. This book is useful for students, researchers and industry practitioners who want to explore modeling and simulation of the physical world complex systems from a different perspective. It raises the inevitable the question - 'Are life and the universe nothing but a collection of continuous systems processing information'.

Analog circuit design is often the bottleneck when designing mixed analog-digital systems. A Top-Down, Constraint-Driven Design Methodology for Analog Integrated Circuits presents a new methodology based on a top-down, constraint-driven design paradigm that provides a solution to this problem. This methodology has two principal advantages: (1) it provides a high probability for the first silicon which meets all specifications, and (2) it shortens the design cycle. A Top-Down, Constraint-Driven Design Methodology for Analog Integrated Circuits is part of an ongoing research effort at the University of California at Berkeley in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department. Many faculty and students, past and present, are working on this design methodology and its supporting tools. The principal goals are: (1) developing the design methodology, (2) developing and applying new tools, and (3) proving' the methodology by undertaking industrial strength' design examples. The work presented here is neither a beginning nor an end in the development of a complete top-down, constraint-driven design methodology, but rather a step in its development. This work is divided into three parts. Chapter 2 presents the design methodology along with foundation material. Chapters 3-8 describe supporting concepts for the methodology, from behavioral simulation and modeling to circuit module generators. Finally, Chapters 9-11 illustrate the methodology in detail by presenting the entire design cycle through three large-scale examples. These include the design of a current source D/A converter, a Sigma-Delta A/D converter, and a video driver system. Chapter 12 presents conclusions and current research topics. A Top-Down, Constraint-Driven Design Methodology for Analog Integrated Circuits will be of interest to analog and mixed-signal designers as well as CAD tool developers.

This book analyses the impact that prolonged socio-political conflict in India has had on political and social spaces for women. Focusing in particular on Assam in the North East of India, it looks at how the conflict can be restricting, and yet can also have the potential to expand these spaces for women owing to the collapsing of boundaries of gender roles, thereby creating niche areas that may be leveraged for socio-political transformation. Based on empirical material collected from in-depth interviews with individuals on both sides of the conflict, the book locates the analysis in both a legal and political context. It examines the causes, dynamics and impact of the ethno-political conflicts in Assam, as well as the efficacy and outcomes of 'capacity building' programmes aimed at rehabilitating the surrendered militants as well as assisting affected women. The book goes on to look at the role played by civil society, especially the Mahila Shanti Sena (Women Peace Corp), towards conflict transformation. It highlights the preventive, mitigative and adaptive measures taken by the women and their role as agents of peace in the volatile zones of North East India. Analysing the changing role of women in conflict situations, as well as the legal measures and regulatory mechanisms in place for women in vulnerable pockets of India, this book is a useful contribution to Gender Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, and South Asian Politics.

This expansive survey spotlights pervasive issues affecting girls' and women's sexual and reproductive health across the lifecourse. Research from diverse countries around the world analyzes the complex relationships among biological, psychological, sociocultural, and economic issues-particularly in terms of inequities-as they shape women's lives. Major challenges and possibilities for intervention are examined in their national context and with their global implications, including child marriage/motherhood, reproductive care and access, fertility, childbearing, contraception, abortion, HIV/STIs, gender-based violence, sexual pleasure, and menopause. In these forceful dispatches, a consistent human rights perspective emphasizes women's control, autonomy, and agency in all stages of their lives. A sampling of topics covered: Girl child marriage: a persistent global women's health and human rights violation Investigating challenges and resilience among women living with obstetric fistula in Kenya A qualitative exploration of mainstream and social media reflections on abortion A continuum of severity of sexual intimate partner violence among black women in the United States Economic empowerment to improve sexual and reproductive health among women and girls Summarizing an interdisciplinary field on research and practical levels, Global Perspectives on Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Across the Lifecourse will be an invaluable text for undergraduate and graduate courses in a wide range of fields, including public health, global health, women's studies, sociology, anthropology, gender studies, and human rights.

New Frontiers of Cardiovascular Screening using Unobtrusive Sensors, AI, and IoT provides insights into real-world problems in cardiovascular disease screening that can be addressed via AI, IoT and wearable based sensing. Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) are surpassing CDS and emerging as the foremost cause of death. Hence, early screening of CVDs using wearable and other similar sensors is an extremely important global problem to solve. The digital health field is constantly changing, and this book provides a review of recent technology developments, offering unique coverage of processing time series physiological sensor data. The authors have developed this book with graduate and post graduate students in mind, making sure they provide an accessible entry point into the field. This book is particularly useful for engineers and computer scientists who want to build technologies that work in real world scenarios as it provides a practitioner's view/insights /tricks of the trade. Finally, this book helps researchers working on this important problem to quickly ramp up their knowledge and research to the state-of-the-art.

The Malaysian economy is developing fast within the context of increasing globalization. The book analyses in depth Malaysia's policies aimed at promoting international trade, economic growth and social welfare. It also studies Malaysia's position in the Southeast Asia region and in a global context. This analysis forms the basis for the formulation of an alternative development strategy, whose aim is producing a caring civil society and enhancing the general welfare of the population while developing the economy.

Rishad Choudhury presents a new history of imperial connections across the Indian Ocean from 1739 to 1857, a period that witnessed the decline and collapse of Mughal rule and the consolidation of British colonialism in South Asia. In this highly original and comprehensive study, he reveals how the hajj pilgrimage significantly transformed Muslim political culture and colonial attitudes towards it, creating new ideas of religion and rule. Examining links between the Indian Subcontinent and the Ottoman Middle East through multilingual sources – from first-hand accounts to administrative archives of hajj – Choudhury uncovers a striking array of pilgrims who leveraged their experiences and exchanges abroad to address the decline and decentralization of an Islamic old regime at home. Hajjis crucially mediated the birth of modern Muslim political traditions around South Asia. Hajj across Empires argues they did so by channeling inter-imperial crosscurrents to successive surges of imperial revolution and regional regime change.

Islamic Economics and Finance: An Epistemological Inquiry is a scholarly work on the foundations of the role that the moral and ethical law plays on human enterprise comprising economics, finance, society and science. Divided into three parts, theoretical, empirical and application, the study covers a vast area of socio-scientific investigation and is extensively comparative in perspective. Its methodology is a mix of a textual, analytical, diagrammatic, mathematical and applied nature spanning various problems of Islamic economics, finance, society and science within a general-system worldview of unity of knowledge. This book presents multidimensional general-system conception, construction, formalism, application and inference as empirically viable and explainable and uses the language of philosophy of science and applied mathematical models alongside policy analysis. At a time when an epistemological study of the foundations of Islamic economics, finance, society and science is receiving crucial attention worldwide this text is equally accessible to the informed reader and the specialized one.

This book examines the methodological development of the principles of Islamic political economy in its theoretical and applied aspects. This is carried out in a general equilibrium framework using the theory of social choice. Thus a comparative study is also undertaken here in these areas while developing the theory of Islamic political economy. In these respects this book appears to be the first one of its kind.

Recent advances in theory and observations using passive microwave remote sensing have hightlighted the potential of spaceborne sensors for contributing to the required land surface measurements of soils, vegetation, snow cover and precipitation. Furthermore, the spatial resolution of passive microwave observations matches the special scales of large-scale models of land-atmosphere interactions both for data assimilation and validation. In order to stimulate and focus this research a workshop, sponsored by ESA and NASA, was organized to review the state-of-the-art in microwave radiometry related to land applications and to exchange ideas leading into new directions for future research. This volume contains the refereed papers from the aforementioned ESA/NASA workshop, which are arranged by topic, as well as the (edited) working group reports.