This book is among the first to comprehensively examine the far-reaching impact of China’s new fertility policies on early education and development. Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has entered a period of declining fertility rate and aging population, which poses a serious threat to its sustainable development. To address this crisis, China has radically revised its fertility policy through the state’s guidance for regulating couples’ reproductive choices, abandoning its iconic one-child policy, and adopting the selective two-child (2013), universal two-child (2016), and then the three-child (2021) policy. Drawing on empirical evidence obtained through various research methods, this book offers multidisciplinary perspectives on the far-reaching impact of these policies. Part I summarizes the lessons learned from new fertility policies and identifies important directions for future research. Focusing on two major microsystems, part II presents research assessing families’ fertility desire for an additional child and projecting the demand for preschool education. Part III attends to family dynamics and their relation to early learning and development for both only and non-only children. Part IV addresses the importance of expanding access to affordable and high-quality early childhood education and care for children from birth through age 6. The Impact of New Fertility Policies on Early Education and Development in China contributes to policy development and practical improvement and serves as a catalyst to stimulate future studies on the topic. It will be a valuable resource for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners of early childhood education and care, as well as for families of young children. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Early Education and Development.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Services, AIMS 2021, held as a virtual conference as part of SCF 2021, during December 10-14, 2021.The 9 full presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 20 submissions. They cover topics in AI Modeling, AI Analysis, AI and Mobile Applications, AI Architecture, AI Management, AI Engineering, mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), user experience of AI and mobile services.

This book focuses on environmental engineering, and on wastewater treatment and reuse in particular, which is a vital aspect for countries and regions suffering from water shortages. It introduces a new water cycle management concept for designing water systems that mimic the hydrological cycle, where reclaimed water is produced, stored/regulated, supplied and used in a semi-natural manner so that its self-purification capacity and system efficiency can be maximized. To ensure safe water throughout the cycle, emphasis is placed on the control of ecological and pathogenic risks using a series of quality indices associated with bioassays and molecular biological analyses, as well as risk assessments focusing on protecting the environment and human health. Together with theoretical and technological discussions, a real case of a district water system for maximizing water circulation and reuse by means of a sophisticated water cycle is presented. This book introduces readers to essential new concepts and practices and illustrates the future perspectives offered by a new paradigm for design and safety control in the context of wastewater reuse systems.

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