Tales from writers with Latinx, Caribbean, Asian, African, Arabic, North American, East European origins, and more, challenge the reader with stories that spill out into space, parallel realms or just hidden in plain sight. The stories explore the world from the perspective of the incoming, whether necessitated through war or oppression, financial or familial need, or with hope for a better future, examining visions of displacement and relocation in future and speculative settings. New stories selected from open submissions are set alongside classic sci-fi by the likes of Otto (Eando) Binder and Zenna Henderson, modern stories by such authors as Celu Amberstone and Ken Liu, and older, realist immigrant narratives by Abraham Cahan, Sui Sin Far, Lee Yan Phou, Constantine Panunzio and more. Complemented by a foreword by author E.C. Osondu and an insightful introduction by Betsy Huang, Ph.D., this is an intriguing view of the conflict and anxiety between the settled and the unsettled. The Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

This volume gathers selected peer-reviewed papers presented at the XXVI International Joint Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IJCIEOM), held on July 8-11, 2020 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The respective chapters address a range of timely topics in industrial engineering, including operations and process management, global operations, managerial economics, data science and stochastic optimization, logistics and supply chain management, quality management, product development, strategy and organizational engineering, knowledge and information management, work and human factors, sustainability, production engineering education, healthcare operations management, disaster management, and more. These topics broadly involve fields like operations, manufacturing, industrial and production engineering, and management. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for those engaged in optimization research, operations research, and practitioners alike.

This proceedings volume gathers together selected peer-reviewed papers presented at the second edition of the XXVI International Joint Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IJCIEOM), which was virtually held on February 22-24, 2021 with the main organization based at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Works cover a range of topics in industrial engineering, including operations and process management, global operations, managerial economics, data science and stochastic optimization, logistics and supply chain management, quality management, product development, strategy and organizational engineering, knowledge and information management, sustainability, and disaster management, to name a few. These topics broadly involve fields like operations, manufacturing, industrial and production engineering, and management. This book can be a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in optimization research, operations research, and correlated fields.

This proceedings volume gathers together selected peer-reviewed papers presented at the second edition of the XXVI International Joint Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IJCIEOM), which was virtually held on February 22-24, 2021 with the main organization based at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Works cover a range of topics in industrial engineering, including operations and process management, global operations, managerial economics, data science and stochastic optimization, logistics and supply chain management, quality management, product development, strategy and organizational engineering, knowledge and information management, sustainability, and disaster management, to name a few. These topics broadly involve fields like operations, manufacturing, industrial and production engineering, and management. This book can be a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in optimization research, operations research, and correlated fields.

This book proposes a complete pipeline for monocular (single camera) based 3D mapping of terrestrial and underwater environments. The aim is to provide a solution to large-scale scene modeling that is both accurate and efficient. To this end, we have developed a novel Structure from Motion algorithm that increases mapping accuracy by registering camera views directly with the maps. The camera registration uses a dual approach that adapts to the type of environment being mapped. In order to further increase the accuracy of the resulting maps, a new method is presented, allowing detection of images corresponding to the same scene region (crossovers). Crossovers then used in conjunction with global alignment methods in order to highly reduce estimation errors, especially when mapping large areas. Our method is based on Visual Bag of Words paradigm (BoW), offering a more efficient and simpler solution by eliminating the training stage, generally required by state of the art BoW algorithms. Also, towards developing methods for efficient mapping of large areas (especially with costs related to map storage, transmission and rendering in mind), an online 3D model simplification algorithm is proposed. This new algorithm presents the advantage of selecting only those vertices that are geometrically representative for the scene.

Large scale optical mapping methods are in great demand among scientists who study different aspects of the seabed, and have been fostered by impressive advances in the capabilities of underwater robots in gathering optical data from the seafloor. Cost and weight constraints mean that low-cost ROVs usually have a very limited number of sensors. When a low-cost robot carries out a seafloor survey using a down-looking camera, it usually follows a predefined trajectory that provides several non time-consecutive overlapping image pairs. Finding these pairs (a process known as topology estimation) is indispensable to obtaining globally consistent mosaics and accurate trajectory estimates, which are necessary for a global view of the surveyed area, especially when optical sensors are the only data source. This book contributes to the state-of-art in large area image mosaicing methods for underwater surveys using low-cost vehicles equipped with a very limited sensor suite. The main focus has been on global alignment and fast topology estimation, which are the most challenging steps in creating large area image mosaics. This book is intended to emphasise the importance of the topology estimation problem and to present different solutions using interdisciplinary approaches opening a way to further develop new strategies and methodologies.

This work proposes strategies and solutions to tackle the problem of building photo-mosaics of very large underwater optical surveys, presenting contributions to the image preprocessing, enhancing and blending steps, and resulting in an improved visual quality of the final photo-mosaic. The text opens with a comprehensive review of mosaicing and blending techniques, before proposing an approach for large scale underwater image mosaicing and blending. In the image preprocessing step, a depth dependent illumination compensation function is used to solve the non-uniform illumination appearance due to light attenuation. For image enhancement, the image contrast variability due to different acquisition altitudes is compensated using an adaptive contrast enhancement based on an image quality reference selected through a total variation criterion. In the blending step, a graph-cut strategy operating in the image gradient domain over the overlapping regions is suggested. Next, an out-of-core blending strategy for very large scale photo-mosaics is presented and tested on real data. Finally, the performance of the approach is evaluated and compared with other approaches.

This book proposes a complete pipeline for monocular (single camera) based 3D mapping of terrestrial and underwater environments. The aim is to provide a solution to large-scale scene modeling that is both accurate and efficient. To this end, we have developed a novel Structure from Motion algorithm that increases mapping accuracy by registering camera views directly with the maps. The camera registration uses a dual approach that adapts to the type of environment being mapped. In order to further increase the accuracy of the resulting maps, a new method is presented, allowing detection of images corresponding to the same scene region (crossovers). Crossovers then used in conjunction with global alignment methods in order to highly reduce estimation errors, especially when mapping large areas. Our method is based on Visual Bag of Words paradigm (BoW), offering a more efficient and simpler solution by eliminating the training stage, generally required by state of the art BoW algorithms. Also, towards developing methods for efficient mapping of large areas (especially with costs related to map storage, transmission and rendering in mind), an online 3D model simplification algorithm is proposed. This new algorithm presents the advantage of selecting only those vertices that are geometrically representative for the scene.

Large scale optical mapping methods are in great demand among scientists who study different aspects of the seabed, and have been fostered by impressive advances in the capabilities of underwater robots in gathering optical data from the seafloor. Cost and weight constraints mean that low-cost ROVs usually have a very limited number of sensors. When a low-cost robot carries out a seafloor survey using a down-looking camera, it usually follows a predefined trajectory that provides several non time-consecutive overlapping image pairs. Finding these pairs (a process known as topology estimation) is indispensable to obtaining globally consistent mosaics and accurate trajectory estimates, which are necessary for a global view of the surveyed area, especially when optical sensors are the only data source. This book contributes to the state-of-art in large area image mosaicing methods for underwater surveys using low-cost vehicles equipped with a very limited sensor suite. The main focus has been on global alignment and fast topology estimation, which are the most challenging steps in creating large area image mosaics. This book is intended to emphasise the importance of the topology estimation problem and to present different solutions using interdisciplinary approaches opening a way to further develop new strategies and methodologies.

El profesional de la Administracion tiene hoy la enorme oportunidad y el reto de modernizar, ampliar y elevar la importancia de su disciplina, para con ello acceder a dirigir organismos publicos y empresariales al mas alto nivel local, nacional e internacional. Competencias en Investigacion y Desarrollo, Comercio Exterior, Cuidado Ambiental, Idiomas y, sobre todo, una acentuada formacion Internacionalista, ampliaran drasticamente las oportunidades a las que, con seguridad, los nuevos profesionales de la Administracion tendran acceso. El Nuevo Perfil del Profesional de la Administracion que aqui proponemos, es el camino para que estudiosos, docentes e instituciones educativas puedan actualizar, reorientar y enriquecer la ensenanza-aprendizaje de la Administracion, que el pais y el avance organizacional demandan en la sociedad del conocimiento y el mundo globalizado actual.

El profesional de la Administracion tiene hoy la enorme oportunidad y el reto de modernizar, ampliar y elevar la importancia de su disciplina, para con ello acceder a dirigir organismos publicos y empresariales al mas alto nivel local, nacional e internacional. Competencias en Investigacion y Desarrollo, Comercio Exterior, Cuidado Ambiental, Idiomas y, sobre todo, una acentuada formacion Internacionalista, ampliaran drasticamente las oportunidades a las que, con seguridad, los nuevos profesionales de la Administracion tendran acceso. El Nuevo Perfil del Profesional de la Administracion que aqui proponemos, es el camino para que estudiosos, docentes e instituciones educativas puedan actualizar, reorientar y enriquecer la ensenanza-aprendizaje de la Administracion, que el pais y el avance organizacional demandan en la sociedad del conocimiento y el mundo globalizado actual.

While poet Rafael Garcia admits that life can be hard, it's also precious, particularly when one learns to see it through the eyes of the heart. We cannot let circumstances discourage us or bring us down. Life is full of ups and downs, and experiencing them is what life is all about.

My Collected Thoughts along the Way is a collection of poetry by Garcia exploring the challenges and the divine encounters that prepare us for our destinies. His poetry offers a series of thoughts and poems that he has collected along the way through all of his life experiences. Some of his thoughts were born in the midst of chaos in his life, while others arose from stress, loneliness, hunger, or cold. My Collected Thoughts along the Way offers hope, encouragement, and the reminder that you are not alone. One Must One must have dreams and goals.One must aspire to greatness.One must not be content with just the crumbs of life. One must work hard and reach success.But must of all, One must stay and remain humble while and throughoutThe whole process.Specially when reaching onesDreams and goals.Never forgetting where he/she has come from.

While poet Rafael Garcia admits that life can be hard, it's also precious, particularly when one learns to see it through the eyes of the heart. We cannot let circumstances discourage us or bring us down. Life is full of ups and downs, and experiencing them is what life is all about.

My Collected Thoughts along the Way is a collection of poetry by Garcia exploring the challenges and the divine encounters that prepare us for our destinies. His poetry offers a series of thoughts and poems that he has collected along the way through all of his life experiences. Some of his thoughts were born in the midst of chaos in his life, while others arose from stress, loneliness, hunger, or cold. My Collected Thoughts along the Way offers hope, encouragement, and the reminder that you are not alone. One Must One must have dreams and goals.One must aspire to greatness.One must not be content with just the crumbs of life. One must work hard and reach success.But must of all, One must stay and remain humble while and throughoutThe whole process.Specially when reaching onesDreams and goals.Never forgetting where he/she has come from.

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Pariahs is a book full of wild flames. The construction of this book may at first glance resemble poetry, prose, nonfiction, and art, but if you look and listen more closely you'll find it is more like flickering flames displaying visions from the past, present, and future.

Barrio Writers brings an impressive breadth anddepth of emotion and cultural insights which can'tbe overstated. These readings are extraordinarybecause, together, the prose and poetry collectedhere by these bright young writers capture, almostall at once, what their lives are truly about, howtheir lives have been challenged, and yet, mostimportantly, how these youth almost always manageto triumph, through the very act of writing. Thetough insights into their lives these writings bringcome to us because of the profound understandingthese youth have of how precious and fragile theirlives can be when the environments surroundingthem fail to protect them and those they love.Interspersed throughout this volume are valuablewriting prompts other young writers like thosecollected here can use to develop their own literacyand literary skills. These prompts allow writersto develop their perspectives on their own, whilebeing aided with valuable insights other prospectiveyoung writers can follow to their own ends. Thisnew set of young Barrio Writers delivers powerfuland exemplary poetic and prosaic testaments whichshould inspire others to tell of their lives in asimpressive a style as found in this new volume.