In fifty lessons, the authors examine both structural patterns and morphological features characteristic of Mandarin Chinese. The book describes cultural idiosyncrasies in language use as well as gives discoursal strategies for forming sustained conversations.

Notions of crisis have long charged the study of the European avant-garde and modernism, reflecting the often turbulent nature of their development. Throughout their history, the avant-garde and modernists have both confronted and instigated crises, be they economic or political, aesthetic or philosophical, collective or individual, local or global, short or perennial. The seventh volume in the series European Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies addresses the myriad ways in which the avant-garde and modernism have responded and related to crisis from the late nineteenth to the twenty-first century. How have Europe's avant-garde and modernist movements given aesthetic shape to their crisis-laden trajectory? Given the many different watershed moments the avant-garde and modernism have faced over the centuries, what common threads link the critical points of their development? Alternatively, what kinds of crises have their experimental practices and critical modes yielded? The volume assembles case studies reflecting upon these questions and more from across all areas of avant-garde and modernist activity, including visual art, literature, music, architecture, photography, theatre, performance, curatorial practice, fashion and design.

This book explores for the first time the world of micro-finance, Chinese startups, and the digitalization of the Chinese economy. Through the cases such as the Ant Financial Services Group, CFPA Microfinance, micro-financial projects of China Minsheng Bank, Meixing in Nanchong, and more, this book introduces the practical exploration in the recent years from the perspectives of microfinance, financing of small and medium sized enterprises, digital inclusive finance, and credit. From the perspective of management, it especially integrates an enterprise's task, vision, and value into the design of organization process, deeply explores how to realized the double bottom lines of social and financial performances, manifests how microfinance's marginal cost is reduced by digital finance such as data, internet, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the advantages of digital finance in providing convenient, low-cost, and touchable service, and discusses its huge technological bonus to small-amount, decentralized, and large-quantity microfinance. This book will be of value to journalists, economists and researchers.

This book explores for the first time the world of micro-finance, Chinese startups, and the digitalization of the Chinese economy. Through the cases such as the Ant Financial Services Group, CFPA Microfinance, micro-financial projects of China Minsheng Bank, Meixing in Nanchong, and more, this book introduces the practical exploration in the recent years from the perspectives of microfinance, financing of small and medium sized enterprises, digital inclusive finance, and credit. From the perspective of management, it especially integrates an enterprise's task, vision, and value into the design of organization process, deeply explores how to realized the double bottom lines of social and financial performances, manifests how microfinance's marginal cost is reduced by digital finance such as data, internet, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the advantages of digital finance in providing convenient, low-cost, and touchable service, and discusses its huge technological bonus to small-amount, decentralized, and large-quantity microfinance. This book will be of value to journalists, economists and researchers.

Anti-Aging Drug Discovery on the Basis of Hallmarks of Aging is a comprehensive and timely book on all aspects of anti-aging strategies. The book provides comprehensive, foundational knowledge on the mechanisms of aging and current anti-aging strategies and approaches developed. Aging research has experienced an unprecedented advance over recent years with the discovery that the rate of aging is determined, at least to some extent, mainly by our genetics and modulated by environmental factors. The hallmarks of aging describe the molecular and cellular processes that govern biological aging and their variation in individuals.

Leadership training is beneficial for the development of every human being, but few leadership models have focused on leadership qualities under service economies. In view of the lack of leadership models designed for service economies, the service leadership model was proposed by the Hong Kong Institute of Service Leadership and Management. To promote service leadership in the growing service economies, there is an obvious need to develop service leadership education for young people, particularly university students who are pillars of society in the future. In this book, the core beliefs and basic assertions of the service leadership model are highlighted, and integration of Western notions of leadership and Chinese philosophies (e.g., Confucian virtues) is attempted. Students are expected to integrate the academic content of the subject with their real life experiences. Finally, several evaluation mechanisms have been used to evaluate the subject. The authors' hope to generate more interest, discussion, and further development of service leadership education within and outside of Hong Kong.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Advanced Data Mining and Applications, ADMA 2021, held in Sydney, Australia in February 2022.* The 26 full papers presented together with 35 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 116 submissions. The papers were organized in topical sections in Part I, including: Healthcare, Education, Web Application and On-device application. * The conference was originally planned for December 2021, but was postponed to 2022.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Advanced Data Mining and Applications, ADMA 2021, held in Sydney, Australia in February 2022.* The 26 full papers presented together with 35 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 116 submissions. The papers were organized in topical sections in Part II named: Pattern mining; Graph mining; Text mining; Multimedia and time series data mining; and Classification, clustering and recommendation. * The conference was originally planned for December 2021, but was postponed to 2022.

Professor Xihua Cao (1920-2005) was a leading scholar at East China Normal University (ECNU) and a famous algebraist in China. His contribution to the Chinese academic circle is particularly the formation of a world-renowned 'ECNU School' in algebra, covering research areas include algebraic groups, quantum groups, algebraic geometry, Lie algebra, algebraic number theory, representation theory and other hot fields. In January 2020, in order to commemorate Professor Xihua Cao's centenary birthday, East China Normal University held a three-day academic conference. Scholars at home and abroad gave dedications or delivered lectures in the conference. This volume originates from the memorial conference, collecting the dedications of scholars, reminiscences of family members, and 16 academic articles written based on the lectures in the conference, covering a wide range of research hot topics in algebra. The book shows not only scholars' respect and memory for Professor Xihua Cao, but also the research achievements of Chinese scholars at home and abroad.

This brief presents four practical methods to effectively explore causal relationships, which are often used for explanation, prediction and decision making in medicine, epidemiology, biology, economics, physics and social sciences. The first two methods apply conditional independence tests for causal discovery. The last two methods employ association rule mining for efficient causal hypothesis generation, and a partial association test and retrospective cohort study for validating the hypotheses. All four methods are innovative and effective in identifying potential causal relationships around a given target, and each has its own strength and weakness. For each method, a software tool is provided along with examples demonstrating its use. Practical Approaches to Causal Relationship Exploration is designed for researchers and practitioners working in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, data mining, and biomedical research. The material also benefits advanced students interested in causal relationship discovery.

How can leadership in service economies be developed and nurtured? This issue is of the utmost importance, because the mode of production and requirements of the leaders are different in manufacturing and service economies. While the focus in manufacturing industries is on do things right, the focus of services economies is on do the right things. In this book, the authors start out with the Service Leadership Model as well as the ingredients for Service Leadership knowledge, attitude and behaviors (i.e., skills). Second, psychometric properties of three validated measures on Service Leadership knowledge, attitude and behavior are presented. In these chapters, the internal consistency, convergent validity and factorial validity of the measures are presented. Third, the psychosocial correlates and norms associated with these three measures of Service Leadership are presented. Through these chapters, the authors attempt to establish the psychometric properties and norms of the scales assessing Service Leadership knowledge, attitude and behavior. It is their humble wish that the related work and the developed assessment tools can be used in the training, personnel decisions, intervention and research contexts.

While it is good to see that there are many leadership programs in the market for different parts of the world, there are several limitations of the existing leadership programs. Primarily, most of the programs focus on skills (ie: the doing) of leaders without much consideration for the inner qualities (ie: the being) of leaders. While skills are important, leaders with skills are just technicians or technocrats who are driven by their basic motives of acquiring fame or earning more money. However, true leaders are motivated by caring, concern and moral values. Eight universities funded by a private foundation worked together to develop service leadership education programs. In this book, the authors wish to document the achievements of different institutions and highlight their specific projects using specific foci. The authors hope that through the publication of this book, service leadership education can flourish in different services and economies.

This book aims to celebrate the many contributions of Professor Tommy Koh as a Singaporean diplomat, public intellectual and social changemaker.It is an account of the ideas and ideals of an extraordinary Singaporean public servant who was not only born with the talent and ability to traverse many areas of society, but one who, when given the opportunity, had the drive and ambition to make the most of it to create a better world for Singaporeans and the global community.Experts in the various fields of endeavour and people who have worked with him examine his significant contributions in essays that are organised in four main sections: Diplomacy and International Relations; Arts, Culture and Heritage; Progressive Society; International Law; and a fifth section that features tributes contributed by his colleagues and former classmates.Set in the context of Singapore - a nation known for its socio-economic progress, its ability to punch above its own weight in international relations, as well as its increasing appreciation for heritage, the arts, and sustainable development - this book illustrates the power of the individual and sense of agency that can create the systems and structures to achieve all those things. The story of Professor Tommy Koh as captured in this book should energise other change agents to go out and create the progressive, inclusive and sustainable world they want.An inspirational collection for general readers, this book reflects the spirit of Singapore's pioneer generation whose determination and tenacity turned the nation into the modern-day miracle that Singapore is today.

This book aims to celebrate the many contributions of Professor Tommy Koh as a Singaporean diplomat, public intellectual and social changemaker.It is an account of the ideas and ideals of an extraordinary Singaporean public servant who was not only born with the talent and ability to traverse many areas of society, but one who, when given the opportunity, had the drive and ambition to make the most of it to create a better world for Singaporeans and the global community.Experts in the various fields of endeavour and people who have worked with him examine his significant contributions in essays that are organised in four main sections: Diplomacy and International Relations; Arts, Culture and Heritage; Progressive Society; International Law; and a fifth section that features tributes contributed by his colleagues and former classmates.Set in the context of Singapore - a nation known for its socio-economic progress, its ability to punch above its own weight in international relations, as well as its increasing appreciation for heritage, the arts, and sustainable development - this book illustrates the power of the individual and sense of agency that can create the systems and structures to achieve all those things. The story of Professor Tommy Koh as captured in this book should energise other change agents to go out and create the progressive, inclusive and sustainable world they want.An inspirational collection for general readers, this book reflects the spirit of Singapore's pioneer generation whose determination and tenacity turned the nation into the modern-day miracle that Singapore is today.

On the 8th of August 2017, ASEAN will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding. ASEAN is of great importance to Singapore, the region and the world.In 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN in short, was founded by five countries in Southeast Asia which had just gained independence from their former colonial masters, united by a determination for the region to live in peace and stability. Singapore was one of the five founding members of ASEAN, together with Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. The grouping was joined later by Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997), and finally, Cambodia (1999). ASEAN is today a very successful inter-governmental organization which promotes peace, stability, economic development and regional integration.This volume brings together 46 essays written by Singaporeans who have played a part in the partnership between ASEAN and Singapore. The reader will be able to glean an insight into the workings of ASEAN and Singapore's contributions to ASEAN through the lens of diplomats, academics, civil society leaders and officials.

On the 8th of August 2017, ASEAN will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding. ASEAN is of great importance to Singapore, the region and the world.In 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN in short, was founded by five countries in Southeast Asia which had just gained independence from their former colonial masters, united by a determination for the region to live in peace and stability. Singapore was one of the five founding members of ASEAN, together with Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. The grouping was joined later by Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997), and finally, Cambodia (1999). ASEAN is today a very successful inter-governmental organization which promotes peace, stability, economic development and regional integration.This volume brings together 46 essays written by Singaporeans who have played a part in the partnership between ASEAN and Singapore. The reader will be able to glean an insight into the workings of ASEAN and Singapore's contributions to ASEAN through the lens of diplomats, academics, civil society leaders and officials.

In 2015, Singapore marks the 50th anniversary of its independence, and the United Nations (UN) the 70th anniversary of its founding. This book celebrates 50 years of a mutually beneficial relationship between Singapore and the UN.In the early years of Singapore's independence, the UN system provided Singapore with many benefits which were helpful in Singapore's journey from the Third World to the First. As Singapore has made progress in its developmental journey, it is now able to give back to the international community through programmes such as the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), under which officials from developing countries are offered training in areas which are beneficial to their countries. Singapore has actively contributed to improving global governance and strengthening institutions that are important to the management of global issues at the UN, IMF, World Bank, IMO, etc. The Singapore Government has also sent its soldiers and police officers to participate in UN's peace-keeping and peace-making operations.This volume brings together 45 essays by Singaporeans who have made or are making important contributions to the work of the UN system. The reader will be able to learn about the UN as seen through the eyes of Singaporeans who have served as Ambassadors to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, the World Trade Organization, or as professional staff in the various specialised agencies, programmes and funds that are part of the UN. We hope that the life stories and experiences shared by the essayists will remind readers that although Singapore is a very small country, we are a good global citizen and have tried to make this a better world.

In 2015, Singapore marks the 50th anniversary of its independence, and the United Nations (UN) the 70th anniversary of its founding. This book celebrates 50 years of a mutually beneficial relationship between Singapore and the UN.In the early years of Singapore's independence, the UN system provided Singapore with many benefits which were helpful in Singapore's journey from the Third World to the First. As Singapore has made progress in its developmental journey, it is now able to give back to the international community through programmes such as the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), under which officials from developing countries are offered training in areas which are beneficial to their countries. Singapore has actively contributed to improving global governance and strengthening institutions that are important to the management of global issues at the UN, IMF, World Bank, IMO, etc. The Singapore Government has also sent its soldiers and police officers to participate in UN's peace-keeping and peace-making operations.This volume brings together 45 essays by Singaporeans who have made or are making important contributions to the work of the UN system. The reader will be able to learn about the UN as seen through the eyes of Singaporeans who have served as Ambassadors to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, the World Trade Organization, or as professional staff in the various specialised agencies, programmes and funds that are part of the UN. We hope that the life stories and experiences shared by the essayists will remind readers that although Singapore is a very small country, we are a good global citizen and have tried to make this a better world.

Intelligent materials are emerging composite functional materials that have boomed since the 1990s. The intelligent material system, involving a multitude of structures and functions, combines studies that explore nature, mimic nature and surpass nature. It also provides novel ideas, new theories, and cutting-edge methodologies for the innovation of science and technology. Thus, mimicking the micro/nanostructures and functions found in nature will build a bridge between biology and technology, which may provide inspirations for solving today's technological problems. This book gives a complementary introduction about natural and artificial micro/nanoscale interfacial materials, devoting largely to the intelligent materials with special wettabilities. Inspired by nature, the authors proposed a concept of binary cooperative complementary micro/nanoscale interfacial materials. Based on this design concept, the contact and coupling of heterogeneous materials will result in novel properties on the surface or interface of materials, which may create new functional materials and devices. This book combines popular science and professional knowledge, which will be suitable for not only researchers but also science lovers.

Intelligent materials are emerging composite functional materials that have boomed since the 1990s. The intelligent material system, involving a multitude of structures and functions, combines studies that explore nature, mimic nature and surpass nature. It also provides novel ideas, new theories, and cutting-edge methodologies for the innovation of science and technology. Thus, mimicking the micro/nanostructures and functions found in nature will build a bridge between biology and technology, which may provide inspirations for solving today's technological problems.This book gives a complementary introduction about natural and artificial micro/nanoscale interfacial materials, devoting largely to the intelligent materials with special wettabilities. Inspired by nature, the authors proposed a concept of "binary cooperative complementary micro/nanoscale interfacial materials". Based on this design concept, the contact and coupling of heterogeneous materials will result in novel properties on the surface or interface of materials, which may create new functional materials and devices. This book combines popular science and professional knowledge, which will be suitable for not only researchers but also science lovers.

Number theory is an important research field of mathematics. In mathematical competitions, problems of elementary number theory occur frequently. These problems use little knowledge and have many variations. They are flexible and diverse. In this book, the author introduces some basic concepts and methods in elementary number theory via problems in mathematical competitions. Readers are encouraged to try to solve the problems by themselves before they read the given solutions of examples. Only in this way can they truly appreciate the tricks of problem-solving.