Light water reactors (LWRs) are the predominant class of nuclear power reactors in operation today; however, ageing and degradation can influence both their performance and lifetime. Knowledge of these factors is therefore critical to safe, continuous operation. Materials ageing and degradation in light water reactors provides a comprehensive guide to prevalent deterioration mechanisms, and the approaches used to handle their effects.
Part one introduces fundamental ageing issues and degradation mechanisms. Beginning with an overview of ageing and degradation issues in LWRs, the book goes on to discuss corrosion in pressurized water reactors and creep deformation of materials in LWRs. Part two then considers materials ageing and degradation in specific LWR components. Applications of zirconium alloys in LWRs are discussed, along with the ageing of electric cables. Materials management strategies for LWRs are then the focus of part three. Materials management strategies for pressurized water reactors and VVER reactors are considered before the book concludes with a discussion of materials-related problems faced by LWR operators and corresponding research needs.
With its distinguished editor and international team of expert contributors, Materials ageing and degradation in light water reactors is an authoritative review for anyone requiring an understanding of the performance and durability of this type of nuclear power plant, including plant operators and managers, nuclear metallurgists, governmental and regulatory safety bodies, and researchers, scientists and academics working in this area.
Introduces the fundamental ageing issues and degradation mechanisms associated with this class of nuclear power reactorsConsiders materials ageing and degradation in specific light water reactor components, including properties, performance and inspectionChapters also focus on material management strategies"

In this unique study, authors Komanduri Murty, Angela Owens, and Ashwin Vyas examine the life histories of Black male prisoners in the U.S. Federal Prison system to determine what patterns of behavior or life experiences influenced or precipitated their involvement in criminal behavior. The authors focus on Black male prisoners, using pre-sentence investigation reports to provide readers with detailed descriptions of prisoner characteristics. Through the use of lengthy interview processes, Murty, Owens, and Vyas investigate the phenomenology of Black male offenders, to give understanding to the circumstances under which their crimes were committed. Their study provides valuable lessons for rehabilitation through deterrence and rational theories of human behavior.

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have served a population under severe legal, educational, economic, and political restrictions. They have maintained a close relationship with the struggle of blacks for survival, advancement, and equality in American society. By comparison with other colleges, they are poor in financial resources physical plant, and teaching facilities. They face opposition from the white power structure and must often deal with students inadequately prepared for college-level learning. However, they are a vital national resource and have served as the font of African American leadership. They are the custodians of the archives of black Americans and centers for the study of black culture. Roebuck and Murty's work is significant as the first comprehensive study of historically black colleges and universities. HBCUs are defined in the first chapter. Chapter 2 gives the history of black higher education in the United States. Chapter 3 profiles 109 black institutions of learning. Chapter 4 provides a comparative overview of black higher education in terms of enrollment patterns, faculty composition, and staff composition. Chapter 5 reviews the literature on campus race relations. Chapter 6 provides an empirical account of race relations among black and white students and faculty on ten black and five white southeastern college campuses. The study concludes with a complete and up-to-date list of references on race relations and blacks in American higher education.

Germans of various disciplines not only encouraged but actively framed a discourse that gendered India through voyeuristic descriptions of the male and female body. This study challenges the German's claim to an encounter with India projected on a spiritual plane of communion between kindred spirits and shows that such supposedly apolitical encounters are really strategies of domination. German participation in European Expansion can be perceived as collusion with the British imperialist administration inasmuch as it provided the latter with a justification for existing colonial rule and anticipated future colonial activity. Despite the optimism placed in the post of post-colonialism, the continued presence of European Orientalism can be felt in the late 20th century, hidden under the mantel of global capitalism. Although Germany did not colonize India territorially, Germans of various disciplines not only encouraged but actively framed a discourse that gendered India through voyeuristic descriptions of the male and female body. German orientalist experiences of Hindu India have typically been excluded from post-colonial debates concerning European expansion, but this study challenges the German's claim to an encounter with India projected on a spiritual plane of communion between kindred spirits and shows that such supposedly apolitical encounters are really strategies of domination. German participation can be perceived as collusion with the British imperialist administration inasmuch as it provided the latter with a justification for existing colonial rule and anticipated future colonial activity. Murti sheds light on the role that missionaries and women, two groups that have been ignored or glossed over until now, played in authorizing and strengthening the colonial discourse. The intertextual strategies adopted by the various partners in the colonialist dialog clearly show that German involvement in India was not a disinterested, academic venture. These writings also betray a bias against women that has not been regarded, until now, as a key issue in the literature discussing Orientalism. Missionaries often actively fostered the British colonial agenda, while women travelers, even those who traveled as a means of escaping patriarchal structures at home, invariably abetted the colonizer. Despite the optimism placed in the post of post-colonialism, Murti concludes that the continued presence of European Orientalism can be felt in the late 20th century, hidden under the mantel of global capitalism.

Srinivasa Ramanujan was a mathematician brilliant beyond comparison who inspired many great mathematicians. There is extensive literature available on the work of Ramanujan. But what is missing in the literature is an analysis that would place his mathematics in context and interpret it in terms of modern developments. The 12 lectures by Hardy, delivered in 1936, served this purpose at the time they were given. This book presents Ramanujan's essential mathematical contributions and gives an informal account of some of the major developments that emanated from his work in the 20th and 21st centuries. It contends that his work still has an impact on many different fields of mathematical research. This book examines some of these themes in the landscape of 21st-century mathematics. These essays, based on the lectures given by the authors focus on a subset of Ramanujan's significant papers and show how these papers shaped the course of modern mathematics.

This special volume contains a selection of papers that were presented as part of the Seventh International Symposium on Natural and Man-Made Hazards (HAZARDS-98), held in Chania, Crete Island, Greece, during May 1998. The Symposium attracted broad international interest because many cases of natural disaster events, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, storm surges, forest fires, etc., that occurred in several parts of the world during the 1990s were presented not only for their physics but also from the point of view of their impact on society and their environmental consequences. Among these cases are the 1997 Red River Valley flood in Canada and the large earthquake of 18 November 1997, in Zakynthos, Greece. In addition, the volume contains contributions that apply advanced statistical methods and artificial intelligence techniques, such as GIS, and systems analysis to approach the description of physical processes, the discrimination of experimental data and the assessment and management of risk. Audience: This volume forms an excellent reference for scientists, students, engineers, the insurance industry, authorities specializing in public safety and natural hazards preparedness and mitigation plans.

It has become clear that problem solving plays an extremely important role in mathematical research. This book is a collection of about 500 problems in algebraic number theory. They are systematically arranged to reveal the evolution of concepts and ideas of the subject. For this new edition the authors have added a new chapter and revised several sections.

Over the past 20 years the costs of natural disasters have escalated significantly. The lives of over 800 million people have been disrupted and the number of catastrophes has nearly quadrupled. At present, the increasing global threat of natural disasters, in spite of our increased knowledge, is ominous. With the growth in world population, the increasing of resources in newly developing areas, and the increasing cost and sophistication of engineering structures and technical installations, there is an urgent need to seek to understand the potential threats posed by natural hazards and to ascertain the best ways of mitigating their damaging effects. To meet this urgent threat, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in December 22, 1989 passed a Resolution which declared the 1990s to be the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). As a contribution to the decade, the International Symposium Hazards--91 was held in Perugia, Italy, during 4--9 August 1991. The conference was attended by specialists from 34 countries, and a total of 110 papers were presented at 20 sessions, covering a very broad range of topics which proved to be of significant value for future research. The sixteen articles included in this book provide a unique overview of the state-of-the-science in geophysical hazards including climatic, atmospheric, hydrological and geological hazards. Furthermore, the results of a panel on the IDNDR and the recommendations adopted during the meeting are presented at the end of this volume. Recent Studies in Geophysical Hazards is thus an excellent reference source for scientists, engineers, and policy makers.

Earthquakes and Atmospheric Hazards contains a selection of papers that were presented as part of the Sixth International Symposium on Natural and Man-Made Hazards (HAZARDS-96) held in Toronto, Canada during July, 1996. The Symposium was very timely, given the large number of natural disasters that have occurred in various parts of the world during the 1990s, the United Nations' International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). The human reaction to these disasters has varied widely from one event to the next and the economic and social costs have been immense with damage running into billions of dollars. Having in everyone's mind the Northridge, California (1994) and the Kobe, Japan (1995) earthquakes, the volcanoes in the Philippines, the cyclones and related storm surges in Bangladesh, and the floods in North America and Europe caused by heavy rains, the Symposium attracted more than one hundred papers covering various aspects of these events. The eleven papers included in this volume deal with the scientific and management issues of those earthquakes and atmospheric hazards that occurred during the late 1990s, with emphasis on the preparedness aspects. A summary report of the HAZARDS-96 Symposium and recommendations adopted by the participants is also included. Earthquakes and Atmospheric Hazards forms an excellent reference for scientists, students, engineers, the insurance industry, authorities specializing in public safety and natural hazards preparedness and mitigation plans.

Causes of major disasters are many and diverse, and the risks associated with them endanger human lives, property, the environment, the economy, and even the country's political and social well-being. It is clear that, with rapid population growth, environmental degradation, climate change, poorly regulated industries, and continued economic uncertainty, the chances are that communities may become more vulnerable to disasters. The dramatic losses in recent years from volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, wildland fires, droughts and floods, cyclones and storm surges attest to the fact that we are still a long way from applying even the knowledge we have today to make communities safe. Tackling this problem requires a sound evaluation of disaster mitigation policies and tools. As a contribution to the International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction (IDNDR), the fifth international symposium HAZARDS-93 was held in Qingdao, P.R. China on 29 August - 3 September, 1993. China is a country frequently hit by almost all kinds of disasters. Its history is one of combating natural disasters and working towards their reduction. More than 250 scientists, engineers and government officials from 20 countries met for the purpose of engaging in a free exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas regarding the scientific and socio-economic aspects of mitigating losses from natural and man- made disasters. A total of 180 papers were presented at 28 sessions covering a very broad range of topics related to disaster management. The twenty-one articles included in this book deal with the scientific and management issues of land-based and marine hazards which cause the most severe economic losses, deaths and environmental degradation in many parts of the world. The book also includes specific recommendations addressed to the IDNDR Secretariat, national governments and scientific experts to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of disaster management. Thus, Land-Based and Marine Hazards: Scientific and Management Issues forms an excellent reference for scientists, engineers, policy-makers and the insurance industry.

While there are several excellent books dealing with numerical analysis and analytical theory, students and faculty in numerical applications to ocean dynamics have to sift through hundreds of references. This monograph is an attempt to partly rectify this situation. Major chapters (II, III and IV) deal first with the basics and then go on to various applications. Instead of covering the vast field of ocean dynamics, this book focuses on transport equations (diffusion and advection), shallow water phenomena - tides, storm surges and tsunamis; three-dimensional time dependent oceanic motion; natural oscillations; and steady state phenomena. The aim of this book is two-fold; it gives an introduction to the application of finite-difference methods to ocean dynamics, and it also reviews more complex methods.

This book considers the problem of determining how many barrels of crude oil an oil-producing and exporting country should produce annually for export along with several other important problems that decision-makers in the crude oil industry face and discusses procedures for finding optimum solutions for them. It considers the important Objective Functions they need in making these critical decisions, and discusses procedures to find the best solutions. Outputs from the treatment units, in an oil refinery are only semi-finished products; these are blended into finished products like gasoline, diesel oil, etc., meeting various specifications that the marketplace demands. The book discusses models for solving these problems optimally with examples.

Originally published in 1955. The Madhyamika philosophy is, in the author's view, the philosophy which created a revolution in Buddhism and through that in the whole range of Indian philosophy. This volume is a study of the Madhyamika philosophy in all its important aspects and is divided into three parts: Historical: this traces the origin and development of the Madhyamika philosophy. The second part concentrates on a full and critical exposition of the Madhyamika philosophy, the structure of its dialectic, its conception of the Absolute and its ethics and religion. The last part of the book compares the Madhyamika with some of the well-known dialectical systems of the West (Kant, Hegel and Bradley) and undertakes a short study of the different absolutisms (Madhyamika, Vijnanavada and the Vedanta).

This book presents the current status and future prospects of rare earth elements with respect to a multitude of factors, including resource availability, production, and applications. Among the topics covered are the extraction of raw materials, alloying and compound production, applications, resource conservation through recycling, regulatory issues, and potential new resource streams. The chapters are authored by well-known technical experts in their fields, with decades of research, industrial, and governmental policy experience.  The book is expected to serve as the first single source reference on rare earth minerals and metals aimed at students, scientists, technologists, government legislators, regulatory agencies, investors, and business leaders. It provides in-depth examination of the importance of rare earth elements to the global economy and their use in technological innovation, including energy, power, transportation, medicine, electronics, and chemical/petroleum industries.

Mineral Processing: Beneficiation Operations and Process Optimization through Modeling is written for both individuals working in industry as well as students. Processing techniques for the recovery or extraction of a particular mineral are largely dictated by the physical, chemical, and mineral characteristics of that particular mineral. The design of the process flow sheet and the configuration of the circuit can vary from situation to situation, as well, and this book guides readers in formulating those flow sheets for various minerals in order to assist in selecting the right equipment for the process. The book serves as a guide to mineral processing plant engineers for flow sheet development of various minerals, including coal and steel plant waste. It additionally includes alternative flow sheets and process routes for plant design.

This textbook is comprised of detailed case studies covering challenging real world applications of OR techniques. Among the overall goals of the book is to provide readers with descriptions of the history and other background information on a variety of industries, service or other organizations in which decision making is an important component of their daily operations. The book considers all methods of optimum decision making in order to improve performances. It also compares possible solutions obtained by different approaches, concluding with a recommendation of the best among them for implementation. By exposing students to a variety of applications in a variety of areas and explaining how they can be modeled and solved, the book helps students develop the skills needed for modeling and solving problems that they may face in the workplace. Each chapter of "Case Studies in Operations Research: Applications of Optimal Decision Making" also includes additional data provided on the book's website on Springer.com. These files contain a brief description of the area of application, the problem and the required outputs. Also provided are links to access all the data in the problem. Finally there are project exercises for students to practice what they have learnt in the chapter, which can also be used by instructors as project assignments in their courses.

As data mining algorithms are typically applied to sizable volumes of high-dimensional data, these can result in large storage requirements and inefficient computation times.

This unique text/reference addresses the challenges of data abstraction generation using a least number of database scans, compressing data through novel lossy and non-lossy schemes, and carrying out clustering and classification directly in the compressed domain. Schemes are presented which are shown to be efficient both in terms of space and time, while simultaneously providing the same or better classification accuracy, as illustrated using high-dimensional handwritten digit data and a large intrusion detection dataset.

Topics and features: presents a concise introduction to data mining paradigms, data compression, and mining compressed data; describes a non-lossy compression scheme based on run-length encoding of patterns with binary valued features; proposes a lossy compression scheme that recognizes a pattern as a sequence of features and identifying subsequences; examines whether the identification of prototypes and features can be achieved simultaneously through lossy compression and efficient clustering; discusses ways to make use of domain knowledge in generating abstraction; reviews optimal prototype selection using genetic algorithms; suggests possible ways of dealing with big data problems using multiagent systems.

A must-read for all researchers involved in data mining and big data, the book proposes each algorithm within a discussion of the wider context, implementation details and experimental results. These are further supported by bibliographic notes and a glossary."""

Curated by the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences from their COVID-19 Math Modelling Seminars, this first in a series of volumes on the mathematics of public health allows readers to access the dominant ideas and techniques being used in this area, while indicating problems for further research. This work brings together experts in mathematical modelling from across Canada and the world, presenting the latest modelling methods as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. A primary aim of this book is to make the content accessible so that researchers share the core methods that may be applied elsewhere. The mathematical theories and technologies in this book can be used to support decision makers on critical issues such as projecting outbreak trajectories, evaluating public health interventions for infection prevention and control, developing optimal strategies to return to a new normal, and designing vaccine candidates and informing mass immunization program. Topical coverage includes: basic susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (SEIR) modelling framework modified and applied to COVID-19 disease transmission dynamics; nearcasting and forecasting for needs of critical medical resources including personal protective equipment (PPE); predicting COVID-19 mortality; evaluating effectiveness of convalescent plasma treatment and the logistic implementation challenges; estimating impact of delays in contact tracing; quantifying heterogeneity in contact mixing and its evaluation with social distancing; modelling point of care diagnostics of COVID-19; and understanding non-reporting and underestimation. Further, readers will have the opportunity to learn about current modelling methodologies and technologies for emerging infectious disease outbreaks, pandemic mitigation rapid response, and the mathematics behind them. The volume will help the general audience and experts to better understand the important role that mathematics has been playing during this on-going crisis in supporting critical decision-making by governments and public health agencies.