Metaheuristics for Resource Deployment under Uncertainty in Complex Systems analyzes how to set locations for the deployment of resources to incur the best performance at the lowest cost. Resources can be static nodes and moving nodes while services for a specific area or for customers can be provided. Theories of modeling and solution techniques are used with uncertainty taken into account and real-world applications used. The authors present modeling and metaheuristics for solving resource deployment problems under uncertainty while the models deployed are related to stochastic programming, robust optimization, fuzzy programming, risk management, and single/multi-objective optimization. The resources are heterogeneous and can be sensors and actuators providing different tasks. Both separate and cooperative coverage of the resources are analyzed. Previous research has generally dealt with one type of resource and considers static and deterministic problems, so the book breaks new ground in its analysis of cooperative coverage with heterogeneous resources and the uncertain and dynamic properties of these resources using metaheuristics. This book will help researchers, professionals, academics, and graduate students in related areas to better understand the theory and application of resource deployment problems and theories of uncertainty, including problem formulations, assumptions, and solution methods.

examines concurrent green initiatives and their spillover effects in environmental conservation and management provides a detailed analysis of case studies in the United States and China, including the Conservation Reserve Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program in the US and the Grain-to-Green Program and the Forest Ecological Benefit Compensation Fund in China demonstrates the importance of analyzing concurrent green efforts to better understand both the positive and negative impacts will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental conservation and management, land use, ecosystem services and environmental policy, as well as policymakers and practitioners working on environmental initiatives and programs.

Metaheuristics for Resource Deployment under Uncertainty in Complex Systems analyzes how to set locations for the deployment of resources to incur the best performance at the lowest cost. Resources can be static nodes and moving nodes while services for a specific area or for customers can be provided. Theories of modeling and solution techniques are used with uncertainty taken into account and real-world applications used. The authors present modeling and metaheuristics for solving resource deployment problems under uncertainty while the models deployed are related to stochastic programming, robust optimization, fuzzy programming, risk management, and single/multi-objective optimization. The resources are heterogeneous and can be sensors and actuators providing different tasks. Both separate and cooperative coverage of the resources are analyzed. Previous research has generally dealt with one type of resource and considers static and deterministic problems, so the book breaks new ground in its analysis of cooperative coverage with heterogeneous resources and the uncertain and dynamic properties of these resources using metaheuristics. This book will help researchers, professionals, academics, and graduate students in related areas to better understand the theory and application of resource deployment problems and theories of uncertainty, including problem formulations, assumptions, and solution methods.

This book provides a comprehensive study of consultation procedures within the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization. It offers in-depth analysis of diplomatic practices relating to what has been a poorly explored and researched part of the Dispute Settlement Understanding. Findings are supported by interviews with representatives of several Member States. The author analyses its relationship to panel proceedings and uses comparative studies with other parts of international law. The study particularly focuses on a Chinese perspective which has placed strong emphasis upon consultation and negotiated settlements. With its theoretical and practical insights, the book will be of equal use to scholars, diplomats and government officials alike.

This book is designed primarily to meet two objectives. It is intended to serve as a textbook for a one-semester university course for graduate or senior undergraduate students in the physical sciences, electrical engineering and other related disciplines, or it may be used as a reference book for those who are working in the field. For those intending to use the book for self-study, a general knowledge of electromagnetism, electrical circuitry and plasma and discharge physics is necessary. In order to meet these diverse objectives, the authors have attempted to make the book reasonably compact so that it can fit in a one-semester schedule while retaining its comprehensiveness in serving as a reference book. The contents are arranged so that theory and practice are proportionally balanced and each topic consists of essentially four basic elements: fundamental principles, mathematical expressions and formulas, examples and illustrations, numerical data and applications. In order to keep its compactness, lengthy theoretical discussions and detailed mathematical derivations are avoided whenever possible.

The status of Hong Kong English has been an increasing concern among the local population. Despite prolific research into attitudes towards language variation within the field of sociolinguistics in general, very few studies have focused on the Hong Kong context. Previous research has demonstrated that native English speakers tend to evaluate Standard English varieties highly as far as status is concerned, while non-standard varieties are evaluated highly in terms of solidarity. There is still, however, a noticeable lack of information about the attitudes of Hong Kong Chinese people to different English varieties and, particularly, about their attitudes to the local non-standard variety. This richly detailed case study sets out to investigate the attitudes of Hong Kong university students to eight varieties of English speech. It employs a range of direct and indirect techniques of attitude measurement in order to obtain in-depth information about the students' perceptions. The book also discusses the important pedagogical implications of the choice of linguistic model in English language teaching, both within the Hong Kong population and among other Chinese communities.

This book focuses on nonlinear finite element analysis of thin-walled smart structures integrated with piezoelectric materials. Two types of nonlinear phenomena are presented in the book, namely geometrical nonlinearity and material nonlinearity. Geometrical nonlinearity mainly results from large deformations and large rotations of structures. The book discusses various geometrically nonlinear theories including von Karman type nonlinear theory, moderate rotation nonlinear theory, fully geometrically nonlinear theory with moderate rotations and large rotation nonlinear theory. The material nonlinearity mainly considered in this book is electroelastic coupled nonlinearity resulting from large driving electric field. This book will be a good reference for students and researchers in the field of structural mechanics.

This book focuses on nonlinear finite element analysis of thin-walled smart structures integrated with piezoelectric materials. Two types of nonlinear phenomena are presented in the book, namely geometrical nonlinearity and material nonlinearity. Geometrical nonlinearity mainly results from large deformations and large rotations of structures. The book discusses various geometrically nonlinear theories including von Karman type nonlinear theory, moderate rotation nonlinear theory, fully geometrically nonlinear theory with moderate rotations and large rotation nonlinear theory. The material nonlinearity mainly considered in this book is electroelastic coupled nonlinearity resulting from large driving electric field. This book will be a good reference for students and researchers in the field of structural mechanics.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Conference on Blockchain, ICBC 2019, held as part of the Services Conference Federation, SCF 2019, in San Diego, CA, USA, in June 2019. The 13 full papers and 2 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 29 submissions. The papers cover a wide range of topics in blockchain technologies, platforms, solutions and business models such as new blockchain architecture, platform constructions, blockchain development and blockchain services technologies, as well as standards, and blockchain services innovation lifecycle including enterprise modeling, business consulting, solution creation, services orchestration, services optimization, services management, services marketing, business process integration and management.

In the past four years we have witnessed rapid development in technology and significant market penetration in many applications for LED systems. New processes and new materials have been introduced; new standards and new testing methods have been developed; new driver, control and sensing technologies have been integrated; and new and unknown failure modes have also been presented. In this book, Solid State Lighting Reliability Part 2, we invited the experts from industry and academia to present the latest developments and findings in the LED system reliability arena. Topics in this book cover the early failures and critical steps in LED manufacturing; advances in reliability testing and standards; quality of colour and colour stability; degradation of optical materials and the associated chromaticity maintenance; characterization of thermal interfaces; LED solder joint testing and prediction; common failure modes in LED drivers; root causes for lumen depreciation; corrosion sensitivity of LED packages; reliability management for automotive LEDs, and lightning effects on LEDs. This book is a continuation of Solid State Lighting Reliability: Components to Systems (published in 2013), which covers reliability aspects ranging from the LED to the total luminaire or system of luminaires. Together, these two books are a full set of reference books for Solid State Lighting reliability from the performance of the (sub-) components to the total system, regardless its complexity.

Since the 1997 Kyoto protocol of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of novel refrigerators has been a priority within the scientific community. Although magnetocaloric materials are promising candidates, they still need a large magnetic field to induce a giant ΔT as well as powerful and costly magnets. However, in electrocaloric materials (ECMs) a temperature change may be achieved by applying or removing an electric field. Since a giant electrocaloric effect on ferroelectric thin films was reported in Science in 2006, researchers have been inspired to explore such effect in different ferroelectric thin films. This book reviews electrocaloric effects observed in bulk materials as well as recent promising advances in thin films, with special emphasis on the ferroelectric, antiferroelectric and relaxor nature of ECMs. It reports a number of considerations about the future of ECMs as a means of achieving an efficient, ecologically sustainable and low cost refrigerator.

In the past decades, the mainstream of microelectronics progression was mainly powered by Moore's law focusing on IC miniaturization down to nano scale. However, there is a fast increasing need for "More than Moore" (MtM) products and technology that are based upon or derived from silicon technologies, but do not simply scale with Moore's law. This book provides new vision, strategy and guidance for the future technology and business development of micro/nanoelectronics.

Since the 1997 Kyoto protocol of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of novel refrigerators has been a priority within the scientific community. Although magnetocaloric materials are promising candidates, they still need a large magnetic field to induce a giant T as well as powerful and costly magnets. However, in electrocaloric materials (ECMs) a temperature change may be achieved by applying or removing an electric field. Since a giant electrocaloric effect on ferroelectric thin films was reported in Science in 2006, researchers have been inspired to explore such effect in different ferroelectric thin films. This book reviews electrocaloric effects observed in bulk materials as well as recent promising advances in thin films, with special emphasis on the ferroelectric, antiferroelectric and relaxor nature of ECMs. It reports a number of considerations about the future of ECMs as a means of achieving an efficient, ecologically sustainable and low cost refrigerator.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Cloud Computing, CLOUD 2020, held as part of SCF 2020, during September 18-20, 2020. The conference was planned to take place in Honolulu, HI, USA and was changed to a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The 16 full and 6 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 49 submissions. They deal with the latest fundamental advances in the state of the art and practice of cloud computing, identify emerging research topics, and define the future of cloud computing.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 25th China Conference on Information Retrieval, CCIR 2019, held in Fuzhou, China, in September 2019. The 13 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 45 submissions. Academic research is aimed at the precise acquisition of information and knowledge by human beings. The research results will support national strategic decision-making, promote the development of the Internet and IT fields, enhance the production efficiency of the industry, and have a major impact on various fields of social life.

In the past decades, the mainstream of microelectronics progression was mainly powered by Moore's law focusing on IC miniaturization down to nano scale. However, there is a fast increasing need for "More than Moore" (MtM) products and technology that are based upon or derived from silicon technologies, but do not simply scale with Moore 's law. This book provides new vision, strategy and guidance for the future technology and business development of micro/nanoelectronics.

Every artist focusing on figure drawings uses his own composition to emphasize the individuality of the subject matter. Through this process they transcend what starts as a technical exercise in sketching and make it more expressive, more powerful. To turn a sketch into an artwork, it must be individual to the artist yet referential. In Zhang's case, he recalls both the Western tradition of tones and Eastern tradition of lines in a mature style that is aloft, unique, and creative.

Pioneering reference book providing the latest developments and experimental results of aqueous zinc ion batteries Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries comprehensively reviews latest advances in aqueous zinc ion batteries and clarifies the relationships between issues and solutions for the emerging battery technology. Starting with the history, the text covers essentials of each component of aqueous zinc ion batteries, including cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes, helping readers quickly attain a foundational understanding of the subject. Written by three highly qualified authors with significant experience in the field, Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries provides in-depth coverage of sample topics such as: History, main challenges, and zinc metal anodes for aqueous zinc ion batteries Electrochemical reaction mechanism of aqueous zinc ion batteries and interfacial plating and stripping on zinc anodes Cathode materials for aqueous zinc ion batteries, covering manganese-based materials, vanadium-based materials, Prussian blue analogs, and other cathode materials Development of electrolytes, issues, and corresponding solutions for aqueous zinc ion batteries Separators for aqueous zinc ion batteries, development of full zinc ion batteries, and future perspectives on the technology A detailed resource on a promising alternative to current lithium-ion battery systems, Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries is an essential read for materials scientists, electrochemists, inorganic chemists, surface chemists, catalytic chemists, and surface physicists who want to be on the cutting edge of a promising new type of battery technology.

Why do political elites in authoritarian regimes, even within the same country, engage in different levels of predatory behavior, whereby some foster vibrant capitalism and others suffocate the innovative private sector? This book proposes a theory of localized property-rights protection under authoritarianism. By combining in-depth fieldwork with archival research and quantitative data analysis, Qi Zhang and Mingxing Liu discuss the post-1949 conflicts between dominant and marginalized factions in the Chinese province of Zhejiang. These conflicts resulted in systemic vulnerabilities among the marginalized local cadres, thus motivating them to form alliances with their grassroots constituents. They therefore provided their constituents with quasi-public goods, such as property-rights protection, to increase their odds of political survival. Zhang and Liu argue that this framework can apply both to the Mao era and to the current reform era, and it also can be extended beyond China to a wider context.

The chapters within this volume comprise selected papers from the 5th Annual Conference of the Asian Studies Irish Association (A.S.I.A.) held at Dublin City University in November 2013. Discussing the conference theme Conflict and Communication: A Changing Asia in a Globalising World, this volume presents multiple perspectives articulated by scholars across disciplines that include translation studies, language studies, literary studies and computer science. Within such disciplinary diversity emerged a unity which converged on language and culture as fundamental points of analysis. This volume covers research topics relating to China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as Asia as a whole in a globalising world. Insights shared by the ten authors each addressing Asia through a different disciplinary lens hope to provide future research impetus for students and established scholars alike within and beyond Asian Studies.