The Future and FinTech examines the fundamental financial technologies and its growing impact on the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sectors. With global investment amounting to more than $100 billion in 2020, the proliferation of FinTech has underpinned the direction payments, loans, wealth management, insurance, and cryptocurrencies are heading.This book presents FinTech from an industrial perspective in the context of architecture and its basic building blocks, e.g., Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Cloud, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), and its connections to real-life applications at work. It provides a detailed guidance on how FinTech digitalizes business operations, improves productivity and efficiency, and optimizes resource management with the help of some new concepts, such as AIOps, MLOps and DevSecOps. Readers will also discover how FinTech Innovations connect BFSI to the rest of the world with growing interests in Open Banking, Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and FinTech-as-a-Service (FaaS).To help readers understand how FinTech has unlocked numerous opportunities for tapping into the massive substantial group of customers, this book illustrates the massive changes already underway and provides insights into changes yet to come through practical examples and applications with illustrative figures and summary tables, making this book a handy quick reference for all things of FinTech.Related Link(s)

In the world of internet, wide adoption of computing devices dramatically reduces storage costs with easy access to huge amount of data, thus posing benefits and challenges to e-business amongst organizations.This unique compendium covers current status and practices of e-business among organizations, their challenges and future directions. It also includes studies of different perspectives and markets of e-business.The must-have volume will be a good reference text for professionals and organizations who are updating their e-business knowledge/skills and planning their e-business initiatives.

This book describes the setup of digital enterprises and how to manage them, focusing primarily on the important knowledge and essential understanding of digital enterprise management required by managers and decision makers in organizations. It covers ten essential knowledge areas of this field: * Foundation of Digital Enterprise * Technology Foundation and Talent Management for Digital Enterprise * Digital Enterprise Strategy Planning and Implementation * B2C Digital Enterprise: E-tailing * B2C Digital Enterprise: E-Services * B2B Digital Enterprise and Supply Chain * Digital Platforms * Digital Marketing and Advertising * Digital Payment Systems * Mobile Enterprise Overall, this text provides the reader with the basics to understand the rapid development of digitization, facilitated by the dramatic advancements in digital technologies, extensively connected networks, and wider adoption of computing devices (especially mobile devices), as more and more organizations are realizing the strategic importance of digitization (e.g., sustainable growth of the organization, competitive advantage development and enhancement) and are embarking on digital enterprise.

This comprehensive work explores interfacial instability and pattern formation in dynamic systems away from the equilibrium state in solidification and crystal growth. Further, this significantly expanded 2nd edition introduces and reviews the progress made during the last two decades. In particular, it describes the most prominent pattern formation phenomena commonly observed in material processing and crystal growth in the framework of the previously established interfacial wave theory, including free dendritic growth from undercooled melt, cellular growth and eutectic growth in directional solidification, as well as viscous fingering in Hele-Shaw flow. It elucidates the key problems, systematically derives their mathematical solutions by pursuing a unified, asymptotic approach, and finally carefully examines these results by comparing them with the available experimental results. The asymptotic approach described here will be useful for the investigation of pattern formation phenomena occurring in a much broader class of inhomogeneous dynamical systems. In addition, the results on global stability and selection mechanisms of pattern formation will be of particular interest to researchers working on material processing and crystal growth. The stability mechanisms of a curved front and the pattern formation have been fundamental subjects in the areas of condensed-matter physics, materials science, crystal growth, and fluid mechanics for some time now. This book offers a stimulating and insightful introduction for all physicists, engineers and applied mathematicians working in the fields of soft condensed-matter physics, materials science, mechanical and chemical engineering, fluid dynamics, and nonlinear sciences.

Information systems (IS)/Information technology(IT) has become an essential part and a major resource of the organization. IS/IT is a major resource that can radically affect the structure of an organisation, the way it serves customers, and the way it helps people in organisations to communicate both internally and externally, and the way an organisation runs its business. Managing information and information systems effectively and efficiently have become an essential part of the life of 21st century managers. This book is about Managing information and information systems and focuses on relationships between information, information systems/information technology, people and business. The impacts, roles, risks, challenges as well as emerging trends of information systems will be an important element of the book. At the same time, many strategic and contemporary uses of information systems such as implementing enterprise planning systems for improving internal operation, adopting customer relationship management systems and supply chain management systems to enhance relations with customers and suppliers/partners respectively, and establishing knowledge management systems for better managing organizational knowledge resources as well as using different information systems for supporting managers' decision making in all levels will be an integral part of the book. In addition, essential and critical information systems management skills including using information systems for competitive advantages, planning and evaluating information systems, system development & implementing information systems, and managing information systems operations will be a critical part of the book.

Embarking on electronic business is a challenging task. There is also a lack of clear understanding and comprehensive analysis of various issues and domains of electronic business. This book offers a very comprehensive analysis of concepts, models and infrastructures of e-business. It also presents unique observations of current e-business practices for different organizations in different economies and provides insights on the future of current leading businesses on the net and the trends of e-business. The volume will be an effective and indispensible reference book for professionals who are interested in or dealing with e-business and businesses that are embarking on e-business.

This book addresses one of the most important components for pedestrian safety in vehicles - laminated windshields. It includes detailed real-world material characterization results for laminated glass and testing methodologies, constitutive models, and step-by-step numerical simulation modeling and simulation methods. As such, the book provides readers a thorough understanding of the mechanical behaviors of laminated glass and windshields. It also presents fundamental test data, analysis methodologies and essential insights into laminated glass safety design and mechanical behavior prediction. The book addresses the needs of researchers, engineers and postgraduate students in the fields of automotive engineering, mechanical engineering and related areas.

This proceedings volume introduces recent work on the storage, retrieval and visualization of spatial Big Data, data-intensive geospatial computing and related data quality issues. Further, it addresses traditional topics such as multi-scale spatial data representations, knowledge discovery, space-time modeling, and geological applications. Spatial analysis and data mining are increasingly facing the challenges of Big Data as more and more types of crowd sourcing spatial data are used in GIScience, such as movement trajectories, cellular phone calls, and social networks. In order to effectively manage these massive data collections, new methods and algorithms are called for. The book highlights state-of-the-art advances in the handling and application of spatial data, especially spatial Big Data, offering a cutting-edge reference guide for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in the field of GIScience.

The book explains the principles and fundamentals of photocatalysis and highlights the current developments and future potential of the green-chemistry-oriented applications of various inorganic, organic, and hybrid photocatalysts. The book consists of eleven chapters, including the principles and fundamentals of heterogeneous photocatalysis; the mechanisms and dynamics of surface photocatalysis; research on TiO2-based composites with unique nanostructures; the latest developments and advances in exploiting photocatalyst alternatives to TiO2; and photocatalytic materials for applications other than the traditional degradation of pollutants, such as carbon dioxide reduction, water oxidation, a complete spectrum of selective organic transformations and water splitting by photocatalytic reduction. In addition, heterogeneized polyoxometalate materials for photocatalytic purposes and the proper design of photocatalytic reactors and modeling of light are also discussed. This book appeals to a wide readership of the academic and industrial researchers and it can also be used in the classroom for undergraduate and graduate students focusing on heterogeneous photocatalysis, sustainable chemistry, energy conversion and storage, nanotechnology, chemical engineering, environmental protection, optoelectronics, sensors, and surface and interface science. Juan Carlos Colmenares is a Professor at the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland. Yi-Jun Xu is a Professor at the State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis on Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, China.

Convective flow in the liquid phase is always present in a realistic process of freezing and melting and may significantly affect the dynamics and results of the process. The study of the interplay of growth and convection flow during the solidification has been an important subject in the broad fields of materials science, condensed matter physics, fluid physics, micro-gravity science, etc. The present book is concerned with the dynamics of free dendritic growth with convective flow in the melt. It systematically presents the results obtained in terms of a unified asymptotic approach in the framework of the interfacial wave (IFW) theory. In particular, the book explores the effect of the various types of convection flow on the selection and pattern formation of dendritic growth based on the global stability analysis.

Solid-State NMR Characterization of Heterogeneous Catalysts and Catalytic Reactions provides a comprehensive account of state-of-the-art solid-state NMR techniques and the application of these techniques in heterogeneous catalysts and related catalytic reactions. It includes an introduction to the basic theory of solid-state NMR and various frequently used techniques. Special emphasis is placed on characterizing the framework and pore structure, active site, guest-host interaction, and synthesis mechanisms of heterogeneous catalysts using multinuclear one- and two-dimensional solid-sate NMR spectroscopy. Additionally, various in-situ solid-state NMR techniques and their applications in investigation of the mechanism of industrially important catalytic reactions are also discussed. Both the fundamentals and the latest research results are covered, making the book suitable as a reference guide for both experienced researchers in and newcomers to this field. Feng Deng is a Professor at Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This unique text examines 30 specific pain management case studies to explain pain treatments from the perspectives of Eastern acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine as well as that of Western medical practice. Millions of Americans are affected or incapacitated by a wide variety of chronic pain-from heel spurs, herniated discs, and hip bursitis to osteoarthritis, plantar fasciitis, and rotator cuff tears. As complex as the injuries and problems can be, medically speaking, for many pain sufferers, the question is simple: can acupuncture work to make my pain go away? This book provides information from 30 different pain management cases to shed light on the effectiveness of acupuncture treatments in specific situations. Presented in easy-to-understand, plain language, the author explains why acupuncture works to stop pain from the theoretical frameworks of both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Each chapter describes the potential sources and systems of specific pain, depicts the acupuncture points for that pain, and explains how they work. The case studies-selected from more than 9,000 patients seen by Dr. Xu during his 14 years of clinical practice in the United States-document how acupuncture has effectively granted these individuals relief from pain, whether viewed from the Western science of neurology, or the Eastern theories of yin and yang and keeping the body's energies in a balanced state. Presents information and experience from a unique physician: a licensed, board-certified medical doctor and acupuncturist with extensive training in both the United States and China Illustrates acupuncture and acupressure points with specific detail useful to both patients and acupuncturists Provides a dual-purpose self-study book that enables acupuncturists to better diagnose pain and guides patients on performing self acupressure pain treatment

This open access book describes the theory of transformation thermotics and its extended theories for the active control of macroscopic thermal phenomena of artificial systems, which is in sharp contrast to classical thermodynamics comprising the four thermodynamic laws for the passive description of macroscopic thermal phenomena of natural systems. This monograph consists of two parts, i.e., inside and outside metamaterials, and covers the basic concepts and mathematical methods, which are necessary to understand the thermal problems extensively investigated in physics, but also in other disciplines of engineering and materials. The analyses rely on models solved by analytical techniques accompanied by computer simulations and laboratory experiments. This monograph can not only be a bridge linking three first-class disciplines, i.e., physics, thermophysics, and materials science, but also contribute to interdisciplinary development.

This book focuses on the evaluation of wave energy in the Maritime Silk Road. Firstly, it compares wave energy and other main energy sources, and then discusses the various disadvantages. It also presents the current research and the difficulties of wave energy evaluation, and systematically analyzes the climatic characteristics of the wave energy, including the temporal-spatial distribution and climatic trend of a series of key factors (e.g. wave power density, availability, richness, stability, energy direction, energy storage). It then describes the design of a short-term forecasting scheme and a long-term projection scheme of wave energy suitable for the Maritime Silk Road, to serve as a plan for the daily operation and long-term development of wave energy. Further, it highlights the wave energy analysis and decision-making in the context of the remote islands and reefs, using Sri Lanka is taken as a case study. Lastly, it presents the first wave energy resource dataset for the Maritime Silk Road. This book is one of a series of publications on the 21st century Maritime Silk Road (shortened as "Maritime Silk Road") that covers the characteristics of the marine environment and marine new energy, remote islands and reef construction, climate change, early warning of wave disasters, legal escort, marine environment and energy big data construction, contributing to the safe and efficient construction of the Maritime Silk Road. It aims to improve our knowledge of the ocean, and so improve the capacity for marine construction, enhance the viability of remote islands and reefs, ease the energy crisis and protect the ecological environment and improve the quality of life of residents along the Maritime Silk Road, as well as to protect the rights, and interests of the countries and regions participating in the construction of the Maritime Silk Road. This book is a valuable reference resource for decision-makers, researchers, and marine engineers working in the related fields.

Frank Murray opens the narrative with a history of acupuncture, then co-author Dr. Jun Xu explains how acupunctures "magic needles" release a natural energy that can alleviate even longstanding health conditions - including asthma, bronchitis, substance abuse, headaches, and hypertension. He continues with a discussion of how acupuncture works, what conditions are most responsive to it, and which treatments are approved by physicians and health organziations. Case histories, tips for practitioners, a glossary of terms, and a reference section is included.

Estimate and Interpret Results from Ordered Regression Models Ordered Regression Models: Parallel, Partial, and Non-Parallel Alternatives presents regression models for ordinal outcomes, which are variables that have ordered categories but unknown spacing between the categories. The book provides comprehensive coverage of the three major classes of ordered regression models (cumulative, stage, and adjacent) as well as variations based on the application of the parallel regression assumption. The authors first introduce the three "parallel" ordered regression models before covering unconstrained partial, constrained partial, and nonparallel models. They then review existing tests for the parallel regression assumption, propose new variations of several tests, and discuss important practical concerns related to tests of the parallel regression assumption. The book also describes extensions of ordered regression models, including heterogeneous choice models, multilevel ordered models, and the Bayesian approach to ordered regression models. Some chapters include brief examples using Stata and R. This book offers a conceptual framework for understanding ordered regression models based on the probability of interest and the application of the parallel regression assumption. It demonstrates the usefulness of numerous modeling alternatives, showing you how to select the most appropriate model given the type of ordinal outcome and restrictiveness of the parallel assumption for each variable. Web ResourceMore detailed examples are available on a supplementary website. The site also contains JAGS, R, and Stata codes to estimate the models along with syntax to reproduce the results.

Network Algorithmics: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Designing Fast Networked Devices, Second Edition takes an interdisciplinary approach to applying principles for efficient implementation of network devices, offering solutions to the problem of network implementation bottlenecks. In designing a network device, there are dozens of decisions that affect the speed with which it will perform - sometimes for better, but sometimes for worse. The book provides a complete and coherent methodology for maximizing speed while meeting network design goals. The book is uniquely focused on the seamless integration of data structures, algorithms, operating systems and hardware/software co-designs for high-performance routers/switches and network end systems. Thoroughly updated based on courses taught by the authors over the past decade, the book lays out the bottlenecks most often encountered at four disparate levels of implementation: protocol, OS, hardware and architecture. It then develops fifteen principles key to breaking these bottlenecks, systematically applying them to bottlenecks found in end-nodes, interconnect devices and specialty functions located along the network. Later sections discuss the inherent challenges of modern cloud computing and data center networking.

In 2014, Xu Tiantian, founder of Beijing-based studio Design and Architecture (DnA) began to work in Songyang County, in China's Zhejiang Province. Her exemplary holistic planning concept of Architectural Acupuncture, which has gained the support of local administrative and political leadership, aims at revitalising rural areas and comprises the renovation of production plants and of tourist and technical infrastructure as well as the creation of venues for culture and education and of social housing. Each of Xu's small-scale interventions at local level is unique, only the small budget is common to all of them. Moreover, they are all inter-related with each other and in their entirety serve the broader goal of mutual enhancement. This book introduces Xu's concept of Architectural Acupuncture and discusses the influence of architecture on cultural self-understanding and economic renewal in 21st-century rural China. It features some 20 new buildings and conversions of existing structures with diverse functions. Published alongside are essays by international economists, sociologists, and curators as well as by the secretary of the Songyang County Party Committee, examining the social, political, and economic implications of sustainable planning and collective action in the Chinese province.

This book provides a comprehensive coverage of major channel codes adopted since the 3rd generation of mobile communication. Modulation schemes suitable for 5G mobile communications are also described based on key New Radio application scenarios and performance requirements. It covers low density parity check (LDPC) codes, Polar codes, tail-biting convolutional codes (TBCC) and Turbo codes. Outer codes and a few advanced coding and modulations are also discussed. In addition, it includes detailed illustration of each channel coding scheme such as the basic code structure, decoding algorithms, performance evaluation and complexity analysis. The book offers insights on why and how channel codes are designed and developed in standardization organizations, which significantly facilitates the reading and understanding of the of 5G channel coding technologies. Channel Coding in 5G New Radio will be an essential read for researchers and students of digital communications, wireless communications engineers, and those who are interested in mobile communications in general.

This proceedings volume introduces recent work on the storage, retrieval and visualization of spatial Big Data, data-intensive geospatial computing and related data quality issues. Further, it addresses traditional topics such as multi-scale spatial data representations, knowledge discovery, space-time modeling, and geological applications. Spatial analysis and data mining are increasingly facing the challenges of Big Data as more and more types of crowd sourcing spatial data are used in GIScience, such as movement trajectories, cellular phone calls, and social networks. In order to effectively manage these massive data collections, new methods and algorithms are called for. The book highlights state-of-the-art advances in the handling and application of spatial data, especially spatial Big Data, offering a cutting-edge reference guide for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in the field of GIScience.

This comprehensive work explores interfacial instability and pattern formation in dynamic systems away from the equilibrium state in solidification and crystal growth. Further, this significantly expanded 2nd edition introduces and reviews the progress made during the last two decades. In particular, it describes the most prominent pattern formation phenomena commonly observed in material processing and crystal growth in the framework of the previously established interfacial wave theory, including free dendritic growth from undercooled melt, cellular growth and eutectic growth in directional solidification, as well as viscous fingering in Hele-Shaw flow. It elucidates the key problems, systematically derives their mathematical solutions by pursuing a unified, asymptotic approach, and finally carefully examines these results by comparing them with the available experimental results. The asymptotic approach described here will be useful for the investigation of pattern formation phenomena occurring in a much broader class of inhomogeneous dynamical systems. In addition, the results on global stability and selection mechanisms of pattern formation will be of particular interest to researchers working on material processing and crystal growth. The stability mechanisms of a curved front and the pattern formation have been fundamental subjects in the areas of condensed-matter physics, materials science, crystal growth, and fluid mechanics for some time now. This book offers a stimulating and insightful introduction for all physicists, engineers and applied mathematicians working in the fields of soft condensed-matter physics, materials science, mechanical and chemical engineering, fluid dynamics, and nonlinear sciences.

The book explains the principles and fundamentals of photocatalysis and highlights the current developments and future potential of the green-chemistry-oriented applications of various inorganic, organic, and hybrid photocatalysts. The book consists of eleven chapters, including the principles and fundamentals of heterogeneous photocatalysis; the mechanisms and dynamics of surface photocatalysis; research on TiO2-based composites with unique nanostructures; the latest developments and advances in exploiting photocatalyst alternatives to TiO2; and photocatalytic materials for applications other than the traditional degradation of pollutants, such as carbon dioxide reduction, water oxidation, a complete spectrum of selective organic transformations and water splitting by photocatalytic reduction. In addition, heterogeneized polyoxometalate materials for photocatalytic purposes and the proper design of photocatalytic reactors and modeling of light are also discussed. This book appeals to a wide readership of the academic and industrial researchers and it can also be used in the classroom for undergraduate and graduate students focusing on heterogeneous photocatalysis, sustainable chemistry, energy conversion and storage, nanotechnology, chemical engineering, environmental protection, optoelectronics, sensors, and surface and interface science. Juan Carlos Colmenares is a Professor at the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland. Yi-Jun Xu is a Professor at the State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis on Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, China.

Information systems (IS)/Information technology(IT) has become an essential part and a major resource of the organization. IS/IT is a major resource that can radically affect the structure of an organisation, the way it serves customers, and the way it helps people in organisations to communicate both internally and externally, and the way an organisation runs its business. Managing information and information systems effectively and efficiently have become an essential part of the life of 21st century managers. This book is about Managing information and information systems and focuses on relationships between information, information systems/information technology, people and business. The impacts, roles, risks, challenges as well as emerging trends of information systems will be an important element of the book. At the same time, many strategic and contemporary uses of information systems such as implementing enterprise planning systems for improving internal operation, adopting customer relationship management systems and supply chain management systems to enhance relations with customers and suppliers/partners respectively, and establishing knowledge management systems for better managing organizational knowledge resources as well as using different information systems for supporting managers' decision making in all levels will be an integral part of the book. In addition, essential and critical information systems management skills including using information systems for competitive advantages, planning and evaluating information systems, system development & implementing information systems, and managing information systems operations will be a critical part of the book.

This comprehensive compendium is about managing information systems and focuses on relationships between information, information systems, people and business. The impacts, roles, risks, challenges as well as emerging trends of information systems are an important element of the book.Essential and critical information systems management skills including using information systems for competitive advantages, planning and evaluating information systems, developing and implementing information systems, and managing information systems operation form a critical part of this unique reference text.Current topics like digital platforms, agile organization, DevOPs, blockchain, 5G, data center and quantum computing prove indispensable for readers who want to stay in the forefront of today's complex information systems.

Convective flow in the liquid phase is always present in a realistic process of freezing and melting and may significantly affect the dynamics and results of the process. The study of the interplay of growth and convection flow during the solidification has been an important subject in the broad fields of materials science, condensed matter physics, fluid physics, micro-gravity science, etc. The present book is concerned with the dynamics of free dendritic growth with convective flow in the melt. It systematically presents the results obtained in terms of a unified asymptotic approach in the framework of the interfacial wave (IFW) theory. In particular, the book explores the effect of the various types of convection flow on the selection and pattern formation of dendritic growth based on the global stability analysis.