A double bill of children's feature films. 'Hop' (2011), a state-of-the-art blend of CGI-animation and live action, follows E.B. (voice of Russell Brand), the teenage son of the Easter Bunny. When E.B. arrives in Hollywood with ambitions of finding fame, his dreams are almost cut short when he is hit by a car driven by unemployed slacker Fred (James Marsden). Deciding to get what he can out of the situation, E.B. convinces Fred to take him home while he recovers from his injuries. Fred finds himself with a very demanding house-guest and the duo embark on a battle of wills that may just teach them both something important. 'Despicable Me' (2010), a computer-animated feature, follows an arch criminal who has a change of heart. Trying to outdo his main rival Vector (voice of Jason Segel), serial villain Gru (Steve Carell) hatches a plan to steal the moon, aided by his army of genetically altered corn pops. All goes according to plan until the arrival at his door of three little orphan girls, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Agnes (Elsie Fisher) and Edith (Dana Gaier), in search of a father figure.

Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Value Creation provides a detailed and insightful exploration of both the possibilities and the challenges that accompany widespread Artificial Intelligence. Providing a cutting edge analysis of the impact of AI in business and society, the editors offer an opportunity to assess what is known about managing other forms of information systems, strategy, and marketing, and to re-examine this knowledge in situations involving AI. This comprehensive book explores how human- centric AI systems create value inside organizations, distinguishing three main components: ethical value, societal value, and business value. Using a multidisciplinary perspective, this discerning book addresses the interests of a wide spectrum of practitioners, students, and researchers alike who are interested in identifying the value generated by AI systems in management.

Arch-criminal Gru (voice of Steve Carell) and his minions return in this Academy Award-nominated, computer-animated comedy sequel.

Now living a life of domestic bliss in suburbia with adopted daughters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Agnes (Elsie Fisher) and Edith (Dana Gaier), Gru's world is turned upside down when he finds himself abducted by agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) of the Anti-Villain League on the orders of boss Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan).

All is not what it seems, however, for with the world threatened by the new and dastardly super-villain known as Eduardo (Benjamin Bratt), it falls to the unique talents of Gru and his minions to step up to the plate and finally save the day.

Focusing on the city's role as the nexus for new forms of relationships between politics, economics and society, this fascinating book views the city as a political phenomena. Its chapters unravel the city's plural histories, contested political, legal and administrative boundaries, and its policy-making capacity in the context of multi-level and market pressures. Accommodating numerous approaches drawn from a variety of European countries and metropolitan settings, contributors make extensive use of case studies in order to both interpret the variety of processes of metropolitanisation at work over the past few decades and provide insight into the various conceptual and theoretical approaches that the social sciences - and the political sciences in particular - have adopted to explain this phenomenon. This book both studies cities that have developed their own forms of governance, with tailored institutions, a large policy making capability and sometimes a new democratic legitimacy, yet also offers an alternative understanding of cities as objects of public policy; the intended targets of the development of European-level or national urban policies. Students of comparative politics, urban studies and European studies will welcome the mix of conceptual, comparative and case study based approaches that this book encompasses. Practitioners will also benefit from the chance to avail themselves of cutting edge research. Contributors include: F. Artioli, S. Cadiou, J. Caillosse, J. Carpenter, A. Cole, S. Couperus, A. Dowling, D. Galimberti, I. Gordon, H. Heinelt, M. Hure, C. Parnet, R. Payre, C. Pin, P. Prat, K. Zimmermann

Constructing Moral Concepts of God in a Global Age focuses on what people say and think about God, rather than on arguments about God's existence. It advances a theological method, or step-by-step approach to explore and reframe personal convictions about God and the worldviews shaped by those convictions. Since a moral God is more likely to foster a moral life, this method integrates an ethical check to ensure that understandings of God and their associated worldviews are validly moral. The proposed method builds on the work of twentieth-century theologian Gordon Kaufman during the Kantian phase of his work. It anticipates a person-like God who hears prayers, loves without end, and comforts in times of hardship. To accommodate today’s pluralistic and globalized world, the ethical check integrated in the method is a widely collaborative and vetted global ethic, the Parliament of the World’s Religions "Declaration Towards a Global Ethic." This volume of constructive philosophical theology is written for seminary students, educators, clergy, study groups, and anyone interested in delving more deeply and systematically into understandings of God, whether their own or those of others.

How do various concepts of God impact the moral life? Is God ultimately required for goodness? In this edited collection, an international panel of contemporary philosophers and theologians offer new avenues of exploration from a theist perspective for these important questions. The book features several approaches to address these questions. Common themes include philosophical and theological conceptions of God with reference to human morality, particular Trinitarian accounts of God and the resultant ethical implications, and how communities are shaped, promoted, and transformed by accounts of God. Bringing together philosophical and theological insights on the relationship between God and our moral lives, this book will be of keen interest to scholars of the philosophy of religion, particularly those looking at ethics, social justice and morality.

AI and technological developments have begun to transform and aid creative and complex processes, as well as challenge what we believe to be creative thinking. Whilst AI can effectively augment some human capabilities, it cannot replace individual's ability to foster introspection and creativity. Creative employees enjoy challenges requiring an innovative approach, can bring fresh concepts to the table and are not afraid to challenge the status quo. That’s why companies need human skills such as creativity, even in an age of automation and AI. This book considers Human Centric Artificial Intelligence as AI which possesses an ethical dimension in addition to its technical capabilities. It explores how Human Centric AI, applied to complex and creative tasks, can influence in creative industries the human soul of creativity or stimulate and foster entrepreneurial creativity in the organizational context. The authors offer insights for managers of the future to develop a set of new critical skills which combine technical skills with new human abilities, to work in collaboration with machines. The book addresses scholars and both existing and emerging managers interested in discovering the potential of AI for business and how to boost workforce creativity.

Sam Moyer has developed a distinctive language of abstraction, creating paintings, structures, and sculptural objects that draw inspiration from architectural space and natural materials. Recognized for a diverse practice in which she unites found textures and objects in innovative ways, Moyer crafts compelling hybrids, often combining hand-painted fabrics with repurposed marble, slate, and stone that carry textural imperfections reflecting industrial design processes. Her practice has evolved from its more conceptual and process-based origins to address formal and theoretical issues regarding the construct of painting. In all her productions, issues of scale and space remain critical. Moyer is particularly interested in the way architecture functions in tandem with her objects to create dynamic visual experiences. In this volume, the artist s first monograph, curator Renaud Proch contributes the first extended critical essay on the artist s art and career, identifying key works and exhibitions of the last ten years and detailing her artistic trajectory. Artist and writer Ross Simonini, who has known Moyer for a decade, contributes an in-depth interview with the artist, and noted novelist Kaitlyn Greenidge offers a creative response to Moyer s work.

Ratified by the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1993 and expanded in 2018, "Towards a Global Ethic (An Initial Declaration)," or the Global Ethic, expresses the minimal set of principles shared by people-religious or not. Though it is a secular document, the Global Ethic emerged after months of collaborative, interreligious dialogue dedicated to identifying a common ethical framework. This volume tests and contests the claim that the Global Ethic's ethical directives can be found in the world's religious, spiritual, and cultural traditions. The book features essays by scholars of religion who grapple with the practical implications of the Global Ethic's directives when applied to issues like women's rights, displaced peoples, income and wealth inequality, India's caste system, and more. The scholars explore their respective religious traditions' ethical response to one or more of these issues and compares them to the ethical response elaborated by the Global Ethic. The traditions included are Hinduism, Engaged Buddhism, Shi'i Islam, Sunni Islam, Confucianism, Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Indigenous African Religions, and Human Rights. To highlight the complexities within traditions, most essays are followed by a brief response by an expert in the same tradition. Multi-Religious Perspectives on a Global Ethic is of special interest to advanced students and scholars whose work focuses on the religious traditions listed above, on comparative religion, religious ethics, comparative ethics, and common morality.

Renaud should be commended for her objective of contributing to the solution of contemporary socioeconomic problems associated with AIDS in Senegal.. -o Ann Reed, Indiana University of Africa Today The contributions of anthropologists to the interpretation, management, and eventual resolution of the worldwide AIDS crisis have received less popular attention than those of medical professionals, perhaps because "soft" science is viewed as irrelevant to the hoped- for medical breakthrough. This engaging book, with its emphasis on cultural context (especially local religious and health-related beliefs and practices) and its wealth of practical implications (most notably regarding male condom acceptance), belies that notion in a compelling way, through the words of sensible and courageous women involved in (legal) prostitution in Senegal, West Africa. Based on dissertation research, the book describes a remarkably successful AIDS education project under which prostitutes not only changed their own behavior but also that of their clients. There are practical ideas for AIDS prevention education here, and there is also good anthropology. Renaud used a variety of ethnogra -o M. A. Gwynne of SUNY at St HIV ravaged the African continent faster and earlier than any other in the world, spreading primarily through unprotected heterosexual sex. Kaolack, Senegal is a town where travelers and prostitutes converge, and HIV transmission rates have soared, especially among the prostitutes. Going beyond empirical analysis of risk/behavior data, Women at the Crossroads tells the stories of these women in their own words. The women portrayed keep their profession a secret from their families and friends, but abide by Senegalese law which states that prostitution is legal for those who register with the police and undergo bi-monthly health examinations. By observing one clinic's successful AIDS education campaign, anthropologist Michelle Renaud demons

Computer-animated children's comedy about an arch-criminal who has a change of heart. Trying to outdo his main rival Vector (voice of Jason Segel), serial villain Gru (Steve Carell) hatches a plan to steal the moon, aided by his army of genetically altered corn pops. About to set his dastardly plan in motion, and bristling with his arsenal of freeze-rays and sci-fi gadgetry, all goes according to plan until the arrival at his door of three little orphan girls, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Agnes (Elsie Fisher) and Edith (Dana Gaier), in search of a father figure.

Computer-animated children's comedy about an arch-criminal who has a change of heart. Trying to outdo his main rival Vector (voice of Jason Segel), serial villain Gru (Steve Carell) hatches a plan to steal the moon, aided by his army of genetically altered corn pops. About to set his dastardly plan in motion, and bristling with his arsenal of freeze-rays and sci-fi gadgetry, all goes according to plan until the arrival at his door of three little orphan girls, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Agnes (Elsie Fisher) and Edith (Dana Gaier), in search of a father figure.

Constructing Moral Concepts of God in a Global Age focuses on what people say and think about God, rather than on arguments about God's existence. It advances a theological method, or step-by-step approach to explore and reframe personal convictions about God and the worldviews shaped by those convictions. Since a moral God is more likely to foster a moral life, this method integrates an ethical check to ensure that understandings of God and their associated worldviews are validly moral. The proposed method builds on the work of twentieth-century theologian Gordon Kaufman during the Kantian phase of his work. It anticipates a person-like God who hears prayers, loves without end, and comforts in times of hardship. To accommodate today's pluralistic and globalized world, the ethical check integrated in the method is a widely collaborative and vetted global ethic, the Parliament of the World's Religions "Declaration Towards a Global Ethic." This volume of constructive philosophical theology is written for seminary students, educators, clergy, study groups, and anyone interested in delving more deeply and systematically into understandings of God, whether their own or those of others.

A unique and original puzzle adventure featuring a boy and his lost shadow. Enter Castle Chiaroscuro, where the Boy and his shadow, Skulk, have been separated and are desperate to find each other. Now Skulk must navigate his way up from the deep dungeons, solving a fiendish puzzle at every level. This unique and entirely original puzzle adventure book will test courageous puzzle fans to their limits! Created by Robin Etherington, the author of mind-bending children's graphic novels, puzzle books and illustrated novels

Ancestral fault is a core idea of Greek literature. 'The guiltless will pay for the deeds later: either the man's children, or his descendants thereafter', said Solon in the sixth century BC, a statement echoed throughout the rest of antiquity. This notion lies at the heart of ancient Greek thinking on theodicy, inheritance and privilege, the meaning of suffering, the links between wealth and morality, individual responsibility, the bonds that unite generations and the grand movements of history. From Homer to Proclus, it played a major role in some of the most critical and pressing reflections of Greek culture on divinity, society and knowledge. The burning modern preoccupation with collective responsibility across generations has a long, deep antecedent in classical Greek literature and its reception. This book retraces the trajectories of Greek ancestral fault and the varieties of its expression through the many genres and centuries where it is found.

Complex networks are typically not homogeneous, as they tend to display an array of structures at different scales. A feature that has attracted a lot of research is their modular organisation, i.e., networks may often be considered as being composed of certain building blocks, or modules. In this Element, the authors discuss a number of ways in which this idea of modularity can be conceptualised, focusing specifically on the interplay between modular network structure and dynamics taking place on a network. They discuss, in particular, how modular structure and symmetries may impact on network dynamics and, vice versa, how observations of such dynamics may be used to infer the modular structure. They also revisit several other notions of modularity that have been proposed for complex networks and show how these can be related to and interpreted from the point of view of dynamical processes on networks.

Considered as particularly difficult by generations of students and engineers, thermodynamics applied to energy systems can now be taught with an original instruction method. Energy Systems applies a completely different approach to the calculation, application and theory of multiple energy conversion technologies. It aims to create the reader's foundation for understanding and applying the design principles to all kinds of energy cycles, including renewable energy. Proven to be simpler and more reflective than existing methods, it deals with energy system modeling, instead of the thermodynamic foundations, as the primary objective. Although its style is drastically different from other textbooks, no concession is made to coverage: with encouraging pace, the complete range from basic thermodynamics to the most advanced energy systems is addressed. The accompanying Thermoptim (TM) portal (http://thermoptim.org) presents the software and manuals (in English and French) to solve over 200 examples, and programming and design tools for exercises of all levels of complexity. The portal explains to the user how to build appropriate models to bridge the technological reality with the theoretical basis of energy engineering. Offering quick overviews through e-learning modules moreover, the portal is user-friendly and enables users to quickly improve their proficiency. Students can freely download the Thermoptim modeling software demo version (available in seven languages), and extended options are available to lecturers. A professional edition is also available and has been adopted by many companies and research institutes worldwide (www.s4e2.com). This volume is intended as a textbook for courses in applied thermodynamics, energy systems, energy conversion and thermal engineering taken by senior undergraduate and graduate-level students in mechanical, energy, chemical and petroleum engineering. Students should already have taken a first-year course in thermodynamics. The refreshing approach and exceptionally rich coverage make it a great reference tool for researchers and professionals as well.

Russia and the Question of World Order engages with three sets of questions that cut to the heart of the ongoing debate about Russia's role in the present world order. Firstly, the book asks what are Russia's aims and objectives? Is Russia a highly revisionist power bent on overturning established rules and institutions, or is it best understood as a country with limited ambitions? Secondly, contributors ask what factors shape Russia's views on the global order and its foreign policy choices? And finally, they ask what are the consequences of Russia's actions for the existing international order? To answer these questions the book brings together scholars who analyse Russia's world order policies through the lenses of different theoretical approaches, including the English School, E.H. Carr's classical realism, social constructivism, and a long duree perspective. Examining Russia's role in the present world order, with a special focus on Moscow's relations with the US, China, and the EU, Russia and the Question of World Order will be of great interest to scholars of international relations and Russian foreign policy. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of European Politics and Society.

Recent rapid housing market expansion in China is presenting new challenges for policy makers, planners, business people, and citizens. Now that housing in middle-income China is driven by consumer choices and is no longer dominated by state policy decisions, housing policy issues in Chinese cities are becoming increasingly similar to those encountered in other global housing markets. With soaring prices and imbalances in housing supply favoring high income groups and housing demand driven by rising inequality in household incomes, many middle and lower-income households face worsening choices in terms of the quality and location of their housing as well as greater financial difficulties, which together can have negative implications for standards of public health. This book examines the impact of these changes on the general population, as well as on aspiring homeowners and developers. The contributors look at the effect on the widening of wealth gaps, slower economic growth, and threats to political and social stability. Though focusing on China, the editors also present discussions of specific policy design challenges encountered in Australia, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, Singapore, Taiwan, the UK, and the US. This book would be of interest to housing policy makers, as well as academics who are studying the social and political effects of the Chinese housing market.

Ratified by the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1993 and expanded in 2018, "Towards a Global Ethic (An Initial Declaration)," or the Global Ethic, expresses the minimal set of principles shared by people-religious or not. Though it is a secular document, the Global Ethic emerged after months of collaborative, interreligious dialogue dedicated to identifying a common ethical framework. This volume tests and contests the claim that the Global Ethic's ethical directives can be found in the world's religious, spiritual, and cultural traditions. The book features essays by scholars of religion who grapple with the practical implications of the Global Ethic's directives when applied to issues like women's rights, displaced peoples, income and wealth inequality, India's caste system, and more. The scholars explore their respective religious traditions' ethical response to one or more of these issues and compares them to the ethical response elaborated by the Global Ethic. The traditions included are Hinduism, Engaged Buddhism, Shi'i Islam, Sunni Islam, Confucianism, Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Indigenous African Religions, and Human Rights. To highlight the complexities within traditions, most essays are followed by a brief response by an expert in the same tradition. Multi-Religious Perspectives on a Global Ethic is of special interest to advanced students and scholars whose work focuses on the religious traditions listed above, on comparative religion, religious ethics, comparative ethics, and common morality.

This volume analyses several recent evolutions in global defence activities. Since the 1990s the industry has gradually repositioned because of geostrategic transformations, spatial reorganisation, budgetary trends, and evolutions within the production of defence per se, which have disrupted its economic and social fabric. These changes widen the scope of industrial activities and modify the organization of relations between armed forces, firms and local economies as well as society. They deeply affect the footprints of defence in several dimensions and its impacts on local communities, public/private boundaries and evolving requirements of armed forces. This volume analyses key features of recent and ongoing transformations of defence issues, from four perspectives. The first section considers those factors which are redefining the boundaries of defence, with a focus on defence economics; part two focuses on the spatial footprint of defence and its transformations and analyses the insertion of defence activities within urban landscapes; the third part analyses how armed forces manage their human resources; and the final section considers the international landscape of defence.

Recent rapid housing market expansion in China is presenting new challenges for policy makers, planners, business people, and citizens. Now that housing in middle-income China is driven by consumer choices and is no longer dominated by state policy decisions, housing policy issues in Chinese cities are becoming increasingly similar to those encountered in other global housing markets. With soaring prices and imbalances in housing supply favoring high income groups and housing demand driven by rising inequality in household incomes, many middle and lower-income households face worsening choices in terms of the quality and location of their housing as well as greater financial difficulties, which together can have negative implications for standards of public health. This book examines the impact of these changes on the general population, as well as on aspiring homeowners and developers. The contributors look at the effect on the widening of wealth gaps, slower economic growth, and threats to political and social stability. Though focusing on China, the editors also present discussions of specific policy design challenges encountered in Australia, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, Singapore, Taiwan, the UK, and the US. This book would be of interest to housing policy makers, as well as academics who are studying the social and political effects of the Chinese housing market.

A double bill of animated features. In 'Despicable Me' (2010), trying to outdo his main rival Vector (voice of Jason Segel), serial villain Gru (Steve Carell) hatches a plan to steal the moon, aided by his army of genetically altered corn pops. About to set his dastardly plan in motion, and bristling with his arsenal of freeze-rays and sci-fi gadgetry, all goes according to plan until the arrival at his door of three little orphan girls, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Agnes (Elsie Fisher) and Edith (Dana Gaier), in search of a father figure. In 'Despicable Me 2' (2013), now living a life of domestic bliss in suburbia with adopted daughters Margo, Agnes and Edith, Gru's world is turned upside down when he finds himself abducted by agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) of the Anti-Villain League on the orders of boss Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan). All is not what it seems, however, for with the world threatened by the new and dastardly super-villain known as Eduardo (Benjamin Bratt), it falls to the unique talents of Gru and his minions to step up to the plate and finally save the day.

The Routledge Course in Business Korean is a textbook for teaching Korean to mid-intermediate to low-advanced students to learn the language used in a business context in every-day life in Korea. The authors' intuitive approach makes it easy for students to follow the units, while the relevant and practical learning objectives benefit both student and teacher alike. The book introduces the vocabulary and key phrases of business Korean and focuses on delivering real business-related situations, authentic expressions, and linguistically and culturally rich introductions and explanations of Korean business life. Audio files can be found on the accompanying e-Resource. By the end of this course, you will be at level B2 of the Common European Framework for Languages and Advanced Mid-High on the ACTFL proficiency scales.