The chapters in this edited book are written by some authors who have presented very high quality papers at the 2015 International Symposium of Next-Generation Electronics (ISNE 2015) held in Taipei, Taiwan. The ISNE 2015 was intended to provide a common forum for researchers, scientists, engineers, and practitioners throughout the world to present their latest research findings, ideas, developments, and applications in the general areas of electron devices, integrated circuits, and microelectronic systems and technologies. The scope of the conference includes the following topics: A. Green Electronics B. Microelectronic Circuits and Systems C. Integrated Circuits and Packaging Technologies D. Computer and Communication Engineering E. Electron Devices F. Optoelectronic and Semiconductor Technologies The technical program consisted of 4 plenary talks, 23 invited talks, and more than 250 contributed oral and poster presentations. Plenary speakers were recognized experts in their fields, and their talks focused on leading-edge technologies including: "The Future Lithographic Technology for Semiconductor Fabrication" by Dr. Alek C. Chen, Asia ASML, Taiwan. "Detection of Single Traps and Characterization of Individual Traps: Beginning of Atomistic Reliability Physics" by Prof. Toshiaki Tsuchiya, Shimane University, Japan. "The Art and Science of Packaging High-Coupling Photonics Devices and Modules", by Prof. Wood-Hi Cheng, National Chung-Hsing University, Taiwan. "Prospect and Outlook of Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection in Emerging Technologies", by Prof. Juin J. Liou, University of Central Florida, USA. After a rigorous review process, the ISNE 2015 technical program committee has selected 10 outstanding presentations and invited the authors to prepare extended chapters for inclusion in this edited book. Of the 10 chapters, five are focused on the subject of electronic devices, and the other covers the circuit designs for various applications. The authors are working at the academia in Austria, United States, Korea, and Taiwan. The guest editors would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to all the members of the ISNE 2015 technical program committees for reviewing the papers and selecting the manuscripts for the edited book. We also thank all the authors for their valuable and excellent contributions to the book.

Reported speech is a universal form across human languages. However, previous studies have tended to be limited because they mostly emphasize on the form and authenticity of reported speech, while its discourse and pragmatic functions have largely been ignored. Meanwhile, the studies mainly focus on English, with a comparative perspective with other languages largely missing. Acknowledging these limitations, this book analyzes the textual and pragmatic functions of reported speech in Chinese and English. The authors build a corpus comprising of twelve Chinese and English newspapers, including China Daily and The New York Times. They examine the classification and distribution of reported speech, the form and function in different news genres and contexts, and the socio-pragmatic interpretation of reported speech in news and other issues. This title can enrich comparative linguistic research, verify the feasibility of combining critical linguistics and corpus technology, and help improve the production and understanding of news reports. Students and scholars of critical discourse analysis, comparative linguistics, corpus linguistics, as well as communication studies will find this to be an essential guide.

Reported speech is a universal form across human languages. However, previous studies have tended to be limited because they mostly emphasize on the form and authenticity of reported speech, while its discourse and pragmatic functions have largely been ignored. Meanwhile, the studies mainly focus on English, with a comparative perspective with other languages largely missing. Acknowledging these limitations, this book analyzes the textual and pragmatic functions of reported speech in Chinese and English. The authors build a corpus comprising of twelve Chinese and English newspapers, including China Daily and The New York Times. They examine the classification and distribution of reported speech, the form and function in different news genres and contexts, and the socio-pragmatic interpretation of reported speech in news and other issues. This title can enrich comparative linguistic research, verify the feasibility of combining critical linguistics and corpus technology, and help improve the production and understanding of news reports. Students and scholars of critical discourse analysis, comparative linguistics, corpus linguistics, as well as communication studies will find this to be an essential guide.

The human aspect plays an important role in the social sciences. The behaviour of people has become a vital area of focus in the social sciences as well. Recent Trends in Social and Behaviour Sciences contains papers that were originally presented at the International Congress on Interdisciplinary Behavior and Social Sciences, held 4-5 November 2013, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The contributions deal with various interdisciplinary research topics, particularly in the fields of social sciences, economics and arts. The papers focus especially on such topics as language, cultural studies, economics, behaviour studies, political sciences, media and communication, psychology and human development. This printed abstracts volume comes with a full paper CD-ROM (634pp).

This book examines the flow of all information, relating not only to projects, but also to the more general information, that circulates in a contract. A model is presented, complete with definitions, that would help senior managers to analyze where there are deficiencies in existing management systems and provide the necessary basis for computerisation. The model will enable the benefits of information technology to be harnessed.This book will provide a benchmark against which contractors can identify their strengths and weaknesses in their flow of information.

A Couple of Soles is a classic comedic romance by the seventeenth-century playwright Li Yu. Tan Chuyu, a poor young scholar, falls in love with the beautiful actress Liu Miaogu. He joins her family's acting troupe, and, in plays within the play, romance ensues. After Liu's family attempts to marry her off to a local country squire, she performs a famous scene in which a heroine drowns herself-and then jumps off the stage into a river, followed by Tan. The local river deity rescues the lovers from death by transforming them into a pair of soles. Li balances their romance with the adventures of a retired upright official involving banditry, bribery, and mistaken identity-and who nets and shelters the two fish when they regain human form. Written at a time when China was beginning to recover from the cataclysmic Ming-Qing dynastic transition, A Couple of Soles displays Li's biting wit as well as his reflections on the concerns of his age, including the dangers of administrative service and the role of theater in society. The play combines witty wordplay and caustic satire with a strong emphasis on traditional moral values. The first major comedy from late imperial China to appear in English translation, A Couple of Soles provides an unparalleled view of the theater in seventeenth-century China. A general introduction and a detailed appendix shed further light on the play and its context.

A Couple of Soles is a classic comedic romance by the seventeenth-century playwright Li Yu. Tan Chuyu, a poor young scholar, falls in love with the beautiful actress Liu Miaogu. He joins her family's acting troupe, and, in plays within the play, romance ensues. After Liu's family attempts to marry her off to a local country squire, she performs a famous scene in which a heroine drowns herself-and then jumps off the stage into a river, followed by Tan. The local river deity rescues the lovers from death by transforming them into a pair of soles. Li balances their romance with the adventures of a retired upright official involving banditry, bribery, and mistaken identity-and who nets and shelters the two fish when they regain human form. Written at a time when China was beginning to recover from the cataclysmic Ming-Qing dynastic transition, A Couple of Soles displays Li's biting wit as well as his reflections on the concerns of his age, including the dangers of administrative service and the role of theater in society. The play combines witty wordplay and caustic satire with a strong emphasis on traditional moral values. The first major comedy from late imperial China to appear in English translation, A Couple of Soles provides an unparalleled view of the theater in seventeenth-century China. A general introduction and a detailed appendix shed further light on the play and its context.

As a 50th anniversary gift to the museum, the Society for Asian Art has commissioned a major work by Liu Jianhua, one of China's best-known contemporary installation artists. The work comprises approximately 2,500 pieces of white porcelain formed into letters of the English alphabet and components of Chinese characters, suspended from the ceiling of the second-floor loggia. The artist provides only the building blocks of words, leaving it to viewers to create meaning. The artwork's location is especially apropos: the space offers an opportunity for dialogue with the original engraved literary quotations on the loggia's walls, dating to the building's previous incarnation as San Francisco's Main Library.

The battery management system (BMS) optimizes the efficiency of batteries under allowable conditions and prevents serious failure modes. This book focuses on critical BMS techniques, such as battery modeling; estimation methods for state of charge, state of power and state of health; battery charging strategies; active and passive balancing methods; and thermal management strategies during the entire lifecycle. It also introduces functional safety and security-related design for BMS, and discusses potential future technologies, like digital twin technology.