Extensive coverage of the political, economic and social affairs of the region. This impartial up-to-date survey of the countries and territories that make up the region includes: * incisive analysis by acknowledged experts * the latest statistics on the major economic indicators and population * invaluable directory material. General Survey * Leading authorities on the region analyse topics of regional importance including: International Relations of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States; Politics of Energy in the Caspian Sea Region; Militant Islam in Central Asia and the Caucasus; The Economics of the Commonwealth of Independent States; Russia's New Federalism; Poverty and Social Welfare in the Commonwealth of Independent States; Trends in Religious Policy; Organized Crime in the Russian Federation and the CIS and Environmental Degradation: Past Roots, Present Transition and Future Hopes. Country Surveys Individual chapters on every country containing: * An introductory survey, containing essays on the geography, recent history and economy of each country, which includes a map and full chronology * An extensive statistical survey of economic indicators, which include area and population, health and welfare, agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, industry, finance, trade, transport, tourism, media and education. * A full directory containing names, addresses, contact numbers and e-mail and internet addresses for the following areas: the constitution, the government, legislature, local government, political organizations, diplomatic representation, the judiciary, religion, the media, finance, trade and industry, transport, tourism, culture, education, social welfare, the environment and defence * A useful bibliography, providing sources for further research. Political Profiles * Biographical details on the leading figures in the region. Regional Information * Detailed information on the following: regional organizations; research institutes; a select periodicals bibliography and a select books bibliography.

This book is the first coherent quantified assessment of the economy of the Roman Empire. George Maher argues inventively and rigorously for a much higher level of growth and prosperity than has hitherto been imagined, and also explains why, nonetheless, the Roman Empire did not achieve the transition which began in Georgian Britain. This book will have an enormous impact on Roman history and be required reading for all teachers and students in the field. It will also interest and provoke historians of the medieval and early modern periods into wondering why their economies failed to match the Roman level. Part of the problem in assessing the Roman economy is that we do not have much in the way of numerical data, but Roman historians, who rarely have much statistical expertise, have not always recognised the potential of the data we do have. Dr Maher's reassessment of the economy of the Roman Empire has to use the same data as everyone else, but he is able to draw strikingly novel conclusions in two ways: first, by more statistically sophisticated use of a few crucial datasets and, second, by correlating and drawing a coherent picture across the whole economy. On grain yields, firstly, instead of getting bogged down in details of individual cases, George Maher shows how there is a remarkably consistent pattern from which outliers can be excluded, showing yields were much higher than normally assumed. He then demonstrates that high yields are in fact necessary to explain the exceptional urbanization of the Empire. Urbanization at this level in turn, as George Maher shows, has implications for consumption and commerce. He takes this further to show how high levels of trade imply high levels of sophistication in economic practices and mentality. In one of his most methodologically novel chapters, George Maher develops a new and simpler way of assessing average life expectancy and argues for a life expectancy almost double the traditional view. This book, Dr George Maher's doctoral thesis, is the theoretical underpinning of his book Pugnare: Economic Success and Failure.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Presenting the evolution of supplementary pensions over the past 25 years, this comprehensive book introduces the origin of pensions as a concept and explores the role that international organisations play within the field. It draws comparisons between different welfare states, reflecting upon current research and identifying new directions and ideas. Despite observing significant differences in the approaches to pension design, the book identifies common challenges, including the need to provide for an increasingly aging population, slow economic growth following the 2008 global financial crisis, the need for effective regulation, and increased labour market flexibility. Leading scholars analyse the experiences of a broad range of countries and offer insights into their responses to the numerous challenges faced by national pension systems. The book covers significant moments in pensions history following the World Bank's 1994 report on Averting the Old Age Crisis, and subsequent responses to challenges posed by longevity and economic crises. This book will be an ideal companion for academic researchers and financial law scholars interested in pensions and looking to develop an international perspective on the issue, as well as professionals in the pensions industry who are engaging with other countries and looking to develop their knowledge of overseas pension systems.

Children's adventure sequel to the Disney 'Buddies' series spin-off movie 'The Search for Santa Paws' (2010). New puppies Noble (voice of Aidan Gemme), Hope (Tatiana Gudegast), Jingle (Marlowe Peyton) and Charity (G. Hannelius), known as the Santa Pups, sneak into Mrs. Claus (Cheryl Ladd)'s sled when she is leaving for Pineville. While there, Mrs. Claus and the pups discover that the festive spirit is fading and they must work together to save Christmas.

Researchers are working together to build intelligent systems that exploit a variety of real datasets using ML techniques to address problems and challenges in diverse research fields. More collaboration between the HPC and ML communities is encouraged for rapid and seamless progress toward an ecosystem that effectively serves both of these communities. As the performance improvements provided by semiconductor scaling diminish, future HPC systems are expected to exhibit an increased level of heterogeneity. These systems need to be flexible and provide low latency at all levels to effectively support new use cases and paradigms. Further, new tools and benchmarks are required to overcome the common challenges across HPC and ML applications. New programming tools, languages, compilers, and operating and runtime systems may also be needed to provide new abstractions, capabilities, and services. This book presents to the reader recent research efforts in designing and using ML techniques on HPC systems, discusses some of the results achieved thus far by cutting-edge contributions, as well as highlights some of the ongoing research works in these two fields. Another objective is to identify research challenges and opportunities in the area spanning the intersection of HPC and ML. It is ideal for students, academics, researchers, computer scientists, computer and electrical engineers, as well as experts in the field of machine learning and high-performance computing.

Anthony M. Maher is academic dean and Head of Leadership and Theology at BBI The Australian Institute of Theological Education.

Integral Waterproofing of Concrete Structures demonstrates how integral waterproofing technologies can solve concrete durability problems based on performance and characterization experimental results. This book first establishes a background about concrete structures and porosity linked with concrete hydration, then goes on to consider concrete durability problems from the perspective of water penetration including damages from freeze-thaw cycles, alkali silica reactions, and chloride ion penetration. The mechanisms, applications, performances, and limitations of waterproofing technologies including coatings and integral systems are compared. The book also showcases all application methods of crystallization waterproofing materials, including material spray on cured concrete and on fresh concrete, and their addition to concrete mix designs as enhancers or admixtures. Pore-blocking and lining waterproofing systems including silicate-based and hygroscopic kinds, and other waterproofing materials are also discussed.