A heart-wrenching story from the international bestselling author of The Kite Runner, brought to life by Dan Williams's beautiful illustrations

On a moonlit beach a father cradles his sleeping son as they wait for dawn to break and a boat to arrive. He speaks to his boy of the long summers of his childhood, recalling his grandfather's house in Syria, the stirring of olive trees in the breeze, the bleating of his grandmother's goat, the clanking of her cooking pots. And he remembers, too, the bustling city of Homs with its crowded lanes, its mosque and grand souk, in the days before the sky spat bombs and they had to flee.

When the sun rises they and those around them will gather their possessions and embark on a perilous sea journey in search of a new home.

THE RICHARD & JUDY NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER 'A suspenseful epic' Daily Telegraph 'A triumph' Financial Times 'Heartbreaking' Mail on Sunday 'Deeply moving' Sunday Times Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.

THE RICHARD & JUDY NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER 'A suspenseful epic' Daily Telegraph 'A triumph' Financial Times 'Heartbreaking' Mail on Sunday 'Deeply moving' Sunday Times Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.

THE RICHARD & JUDY NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER 'Magnificent' Mail on Sunday 'Gripping' New York Times 'A master storyteller' The Times 'Epic' Sunday Telegraph Ten-year-old Abdullah would do anything for his younger sister. In a life of poverty and struggle, with no mother to care for them, Pari is the only person who brings Abdullah happiness. For her, he will trade his only pair of shoes to give her a feather for her treasured collection. When their father sets off with Pari across the desert to Kabul in search of work, Abdullah is determined not to be separated from her. Neither brother nor sister know what this fateful journey will bring them.

Medical images, in various formats, are used by clinicians to identify abnormalities or markers associated with certain conditions, such as cancers, diseases, abnormalities or other adverse health conditions. Deep learning algorithms use vast volumes of data to train the computer to recognise certain features in the images that are associated with the disease or condition that you wish to identify. Whilst analysing the images by eye can take a lot of time, deep learning algorithms have the benefit of reviewing medical images at a faster rate than a human can, which aids the clinician, speeding up diagnoses and freeing up clinicians' time for other duties. Deep Learning in Medical Image Processing and Analysis introduces the fundamentals of deep learning for biomedical image analysis for applications including ophthalmology, cancer detection and heart disease. The book considers the principles of multi-instance feature selection, swarm optimisation, parallel processing models, artificial neural networks, support vector machines, as well as their design and optimisation, in biomedical applications. Topics such as data security, patient confidentiality, effectiveness and reliability will also be discussed. Written by an international team of experts, this edited book covers principles and applications for industry and academic researchers, scientists, engineers, developers, and designers in the fields of machine learning, deep learning, AI, image processing, signal processing, computer science or related fields. It will also be of interest to standards bodies and regulators, and clinicians using deep learning models.

Khaled Anatolios, a noted expert on the development of Nicene theology, offers a historically informed theological study of the development of the doctrine of the Trinity, showing its relevance to Christian life and thought today. According to Anatolios, the development of trinitarian doctrine involved a global interpretation of Christian faith as a whole. Consequently, the meaning of trinitarian doctrine is to be found in a reappropriation of the process of this development, such that the entirety of Christian existence is interpreted in a trinitarian manner. The book provides essential resources for this reappropriation by identifying the network of theological issues that comprise the "systematic scope" of Nicene theology, focusing especially on the trinitarian perspectives of three major theologians: Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa, and Augustine. It includes a foreword by Brian E. Daley.

Polymeric Micelles for Drug Delivery provides a comprehensive overview on the synthesis, characterization and application of polymeric micelles in drug delivery applications. The use of nanomedicines and carriers, such as polymeric micelles, has made it possible to deliver drugs, genes and therapeutic agents to localized disease sites to maximize clinical benefit while limiting unwanted side effects. This book thoroughly reviews the development and application of polymeric micelles for drug delivery, covering various polymer types and the synthesis, characterization and pharmacokinetics of different micelles. Subsequent chapters go on to look at the range of drug delivery applications of polymeric micelles - such as mucosal and transdermal - and the assorted stimuli-responsive micelles available. The book concludes with an important analysis of the environmental and regulatory aspects associated with micelle development and clinical translation.

Theory and Applications of Nonparenteral Nanomedicines presents thoroughly analysed data and results regarding the potential of nanomedicines conceived by diverse non-parenteral routes. In the context of nanotechnology-based approaches, various routes such as oral, pulmonary, transdermal, delivery and local administration of nanomedicine have been utilized for the delivery of nanomedicine. This book discusses the non-parenteral application of nanomedicine, its regulatory implications, application of mucus penetrating nanocarrier, and detailed chapters on development of nanomedicines developed for drug delivery by various route. Beginning with a brief introduction to the non-parenteral delivery of nanomedicine and the safety and regulatory implications of the nanoformulations, further chapters discuss the physiology of the biological barriers, the specificity of the nanocarriers as well as their multiple applications. Theory and Applications of Nonparenteral Nanomedicines helps clinical researchers, researchers working in pharmaceutical industries, graduate students, and anyone working in the development of non-parenteral nanomedicines to understand the recent progress in the design and development of nanoformulations compatible with non-parenteral applications.

According to World Bank (2021), the economic recovery in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been uneven and tumultuous, based on the individual exposure to oil-price fluctuations and response to the pandemic over the last two years. Projections of average regional GDP growth for the MENA region is expected at 2.8% in 2021 and 4.2% in 2022. Some of the countries in the MENA region were affected by public uprisings and demonstrations leading to political instability. These developments marred the recovery from the financial crisis and as a result, the financial sector witnessed a decline in profitability. The region is currently undergoing several reforms that aim to deregulate banks and improve competition. Additionally, the implementation of technological and market development, number of competitors and levels of efficiency vary widely within the MENA region.The MENA region plays an important role in the global economy. On the one hand, it includes wealthy and fairly stable oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait and on the other, it contains countries with risky environments such as Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen. Financial technology or FinTech is yet to have the same level of penetration as the developed countries due to the significant section of the unbanked population. While the financial inclusion in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is much higher, the other countries in the MENA region have yet to overcome this trend.Handbook of Banking and Finance in the MENA Region explores the trends in finance and banking of the MENA region, including theoretical and empirical perspectives from researchers around the globe. These perspectives enrich the discussion of facts and development challenges in the finance and banking of the MENA region as a whole.

Microirrigation for Crop Production: Design, Operation, and Management, Second Edition, Volume Thirteen is the latest release in this go-to foundational resource for the basics of engineering and the science of the design and operation of micoirrigation systems. This new edition includes novel methods for measurement and estimation of evapotranspiration, resource-efficient microirrigation design and operation, advanced irrigation scheduling methods and tools, novel methods and technology of microirrigation automation, monitoring and control, updates in crop salinity tolerance and leaching practices, variable rate irrigation, updates on the use of biological effluents and chemicals and pesticides to include safety and regulatory concerns.The revised book will provide an understanding on the basic science needed to comprehend systems design, operation, management, maintenance, monitoring and performance evaluation.

This book is devoted on recent developments of linear and nonlinear fractional Riemann-Liouville and Caputo integral inequalities on time scales. The book is intended for the use in the field of fractional dynamic calculus on time scales and fractional dynamic equations on time scales. It is also suitable for graduate courses in the above fields, and contains ten chapters. The aim of this book is to present a clear and well-organized treatment of the concept behind the development of mathematics as well as solution techniques. The text material of this book is presented in a readable and mathematically solid format.

Islamic finance is one of the fastest-growing sectors in international banking and finance. Owing to the increasing availability and ease of access to Islamic services, Islamic finance has become increasingly important not only in Muslim countries, but around the world, making it a global industry. Under the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as well as in some regions, such as the Middle East and North Africa, a dual financial system is implemented, where Sharia-compliant products are marketed alongside conventional financial systems.In this thoroughly researched collection of chapters, researchers from around the world examine the role of Islamic finance in the economies and prospects of different companies. They discuss Islamic finance literature from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. The theoretical section of the book consists of conceptual chapters that enable readers to critically evaluate and expand their understanding of accounting and finance. The chapters in the empirical section of this handbook discuss and interpret empirical evidence to provide clear implications for practice, research, and society. This section bridges the gap between theory and practice and offers suggestions for future research. Islamic Accounting and Finance is geared towards scholars and students, but it is also of use to banking and finance practitioners.

High-Performance Computing using FPGA covers the area of high performance reconfigurable computing (HPRC). This book provides an overview of architectures, tools and applications for High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing (HPRC). FPGAs offer very high I/O bandwidth and fine-grained, custom and flexible parallelism and with the ever-increasing computational needs coupled with the frequency/power wall, the increasing maturity and capabilities of FPGAs, and the advent of multicore processors which has caused the acceptance of parallel computational models. The Part on architectures will introduce different FPGA-based HPC platforms: attached co-processor HPRC architectures such as the CHREC's Novo-G and EPCC's Maxwell systems; tightly coupled HRPC architectures, e.g. the Convey hybrid-core computer; reconfigurably networked HPRC architectures, e.g. the QPACE system, and standalone HPRC architectures such as EPFL's CONFETTI system. The Part on Tools will focus on high-level programming approaches for HPRC, with chapters on C-to-Gate tools (such as Impulse-C, AutoESL, Handel-C, MORA-C++); Graphical tools (MATLAB-Simulink, NI LabVIEW); Domain-specific languages, languages for heterogeneous computing(for example OpenCL, Microsoft's Kiwi and Alchemy projects). The part on Applications will present case from several application domains where HPRC has been used successfully, such as Bioinformatics and Computational Biology; Financial Computing; Stencil computations; Information retrieval; Lattice QCD; Astrophysics simulations; Weather and climate modeling.

The rapid advancement in encryption and network computing gave birth to new tools and products that have influenced the local and global economy alike. One recent and notable example is the emergence of virtual currencies, also known as cryptocurrencies or digital currencies. Virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, introduced a fundamental transformation that affected the way goods, services, and assets are exchanged. Virtual currencies are experiencing an increasing popularity in the financial markets and in portfolio management as can be classified as financial asset or commodities on a scale from pure medium of exchange advantages to pure store of value advantages. As a result of its distributed ledgers based on blockchain, cryptocurrencies offer some unique advantages to the economy, investors, and consumers, but also pose considerable risks to users and challenges for regulators when fitting the new technology into the old legal framework. Bitcoin for example may be useful in risk management and ideal for risk-averse investors in anticipation of negative shocks to the market. The core objective of this proposed book is to provide a comprehensive discussion on the important issues related to cryptocurrencies ranging from pricing, financial, legal to technological aspects.

After the global financial crisis, the topic of corporate governance has been gaining momentum in accounting and finance literature since it may influence firm and bank management in many countries. Corporate Governance and Its Implications on Accounting and Finance provides emerging research exploring the implications of a good corporate governance system after global financial crises. Corporate governance mechanisms may include board and audit committee characteristics, ownership structure, and internal and external auditing. This book is devoted to all topics dealing with corporate governance including corporate governance characteristics, board diversity, CSR, big data governance, bitcoin governance, IT governance, and governance disclosure, and is ideally designed for executives, BODs, financial analysts, government officials, researchers, policymakers, academicians, and students.

As computer technologies continue to evolve and new security threats emerge, secure-aware software developments are essential in the software engineering field. Developing and Evaluating Security-Aware Software Systems provides innovative ideas and methods on the development, operation, and maintenance of secure software systems and aims to highlight the construction of a functional software system and a secure system simultaneously. This book is practical for researchers, academics and practitioners in the software engineering and security fields.

With the prevalence of cyber crime and cyber warfare, software developers must be vigilant in creating systems which are impervious to cyber attacks. Thus, security issues are an integral part of every phase of software development and an essential component of software design. Security-Aware Systems Applications and Software Development Methods facilitates the promotion and understanding of the technical as well as managerial issues related to secure software systems and their development practices. This book, targeted toward researchers, software engineers, and field experts, outlines cutting-edge industry solutions in software engineering and security research to help overcome contemporary challenges.

Intended as an introductory text in soil mechanics, the eighth edition of Das, PRINCIPLES OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING offers an overview of soil properties and mechanics together with coverage of field practices and basic engineering procedure. Background information needed to support study in later design-oriented courses or in professional practice is provided through a wealth of comprehensive discussions, detailed explanations, and more figures and worked out problems than any other text in the market.

Managing Corporate Information Systems Evolution and Maintenance addresses the recent developments of systems maintenance research and practices ranging from technicality of systems evolution to managerial aspects of the topic. It includes very contemporary issues such as evolving legacy systems to e-business, applying patterns for reengineering legacy systems to web, architectural recovery of legacy systems, evolving legacy systems into software components. The book offers insight on how information systems evolution and maintenance could be initiated, managed, and engineered. The book is a collection of new ideas, latest techniques and experiences in systems evolution and maintenance.