Optimum-Path Forest: Theory, Algorithms, and Applications was first published in 2008 in its supervised and unsupervised versions with applications in medicine and image classification. Since then, it has expanded to a variety of other applications such as remote sensing, electrical and petroleum engineering, and biology. In recent years, multi-label and semi-supervised versions were also developed to handle video classification problems. The book presents the principles, algorithms and applications of Optimum-Path Forest, giving the theory and state-of-the-art as well as insights into future directions.

Jami in Regional Contexts: The Reception of 'Abd Al-Rahman Jami's Works in the Islamicate World is the first attempt to present in a comprehensive manner how 'Abd al-Rahman Jami (d. 898/1492), a most influential figure in the Persian-speaking world, reshaped the canons of Islamic mysticism, literature and poetry and how, in turn, this new canon prompted the formation of regional traditions. As a result, a renewed geography of intellectual practices emerges as well as questions surrounding authorship and authority in the making of vernacular cultures. Specialists of Persian, Arabic, Chinese, Georgian, Malay, Pashto, Sanskrit, Urdu, Turkish, and Bengali thus provide a unique connected account of the conception and reception of Jami's works throughout the Eurasian continent and maritime Southeast Asia.

Thus Spake the Dervish explores the unfamiliar history of marginal Sufis, known as dervishes, in early modern and modern Central Asia over a period of 500 years. It draws on various sources (Persian chronicles and treatises, Turkic literature, Russian and French ethnography, the author's fieldwork) to examine five successive cases, each of which corresponds to a time period, a specific socially marginal space, and a particular use of mystical language. Including an extensive selection of writings by dervishes, this book demonstrates the diversity and tenacity of Central Asian Sufism over a long period. Here translated into a Western language for the first time, the extracts from primary texts by marginal Sufis allow a rare insight into their world. The original French edition of this book, Ainsi parlait le dervice, was published by Editions du Cerf (Paris, France). Translated by Caroline Kraabel.

This international edited volume is a rare look at cultural, economic and political forces that contribute to school violence. In light of the devastating events in US schools and the violence towards students and schools world-wide, the war on knowledge development in non/secular education is increasing at an alarming rate. This book offers an international perspective on violence from both K-12 to tertiary levels, parents, administrators-teachers-support staff and research scholars in a desire to understand the contextual issues surrounding violence and its impacts on the field of education. ELWB Scholars and practitioners hail from six continents propose historical to futuristic perspectives linking violence towards education and its inhabitants while framing future strategies to alter multinational fear mongering to the decline of knowledge generation for an informed citizenry.

Barbara is a physician and pianist. Margo is a brilliant mathematician and cellist. Lucia is a philosopher, nun, and violinist. These amateur but talented and accomplished musicians have met to celebrate the silver jubilee of their Vows. This year the plan was to play, in its entirety, the music that brought them together and made them sisters in heart and mind for life: Tchaikovsky's Trio in A minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano; and they played it as never before Barbara and Margo had never heard Lucia play as she did this time. passion, but after the performance, Lucia confesses to being found in a situation unbecoming to a nun. She is pregnant Though she denies having been with a man, the facts confirm that her vows as a nun were violated and that she may have lied. Bound by the promise of trust, faith, and truth the three shared, Barbara and Margo had believed Lucia. Now they must ask themselves if their faith was unwarranted. Or could Lucia be telling the truth?

Dawn, a beauti ful 37-year-old brunette, recently divorced, was found dead in her apartment from a gunshot wound to the chest. There was a suicide note by the body and a handgun by the right hand. The police, based upon certain observati ons, believe that Dawn may not have committ ed suicide, that she might have been murdered. To complicate matters further, the autopsy results showed that Dawn was four weeks pregnant which completely surprised her best and only friend, Veronica

Captain Lukas and Lt. Flannigan fight an uphill battle to prove that it was indeed murder and not suicide. It would be easier to prove their theory if they could just identify the murderer. Then, by using all resources available to them, they discover the identity of the father of the child Dawn was carrying. This important discovery could potentially lead them to the murderer. Is the baby's father also Dawn's murderer? If not, who could be responsible for this horrible crime?

Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom shares his vision to improve life in Ghana in this second volume of essays and articles.

Nduom, a former presidential candidate, has filled a number of positions in the government, and he spent several years consulting for international organizations, including the African Development Bank. He also worked with private and public sector organizations in the United States and Africa.

In this collection of writings, Nduom chronicles his successes abroad as well as how he returned to Ghana to contribute to Groupe Nduom, a successful family business that employs two thousand people. He shares ideas on improving Ghana's economy, making government more inclusive, and initiating a sense of urgency to create a just and caring society;

He also explains why a free, compulsory and continuous education from kindergarten through high school is necessary for Ghana to break its cycle of poverty. Ghana can make a giant leap forward by applying the ideas in "Where I Stand."

A fascinating collection of thirty compelling stories about events that shaped Sin City, "It Happened in Las Vegas "describes everything from a nineteenth-century land deal that almost created two competing cities to the torrential rainstorm that flooded downtown Vegas with three inches of water.

This book examines the energy dimension of the smart city from the perspective of urban planning, providing a complete overview that ranges from theoretical aspects to practical considerations and projects. In addition, it aims to illustrate how the concept of the smart city can enhance understanding of the urban system and foster new forms of management of the metropolis, including with respect to energy supply and use. Specifically, the book explores the different dimensions of the relationship between energy and the city, discusses methodological issues with a special focus on ontological approaches to sustainability, and describes practices, tools, and good examples of energy-related urban planning. The authors represent the main Italian research groups working in the field, Italy being an excellent example of a country exposed to energy problems due to, for example, vulnerability to climate change and lack of primary energy resources. This book will be valuable for students of urban planning, town planners, and researchers interested in understanding the changing nature of the city and the challenges posed by energy issues.