Designers provide creative solutions for user problems and identify the needs of users in a given environment. However, it is often difficult to understand the social design of a product or service. Practice and Progress in Social Design and Sustainability is a critical scholarly resource that provides groundbreaking research on social contributions to design. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as rural sustainability, ecological farmhouse designs, and community public spaces, this book is geared towards architects, designers, program planners, entrepreneurs, and engineers seeking information about design for resolving social issues.

The arts and humanities are considered to be a core academic subject under federal law. This designation grants these education programs the right to federal funds; however, budget propositions do not allot the arts sufficient financial resources. Funding Challenges and Successes in Arts Education is a timely research publication featuring the most recent scholarly information on fiscal changes that support the financing of the humanities in national and international education. Including extensive coverage on a number of topics and perspectives such as strategic planning, school reform, and teacher training, this book is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, teachers, and administrators seeking current research on innovative ways to fund the arts.

Fundamental and FUN first coding concepts for kids, and the great thing is: it's unplugged! What's a Variable? ... a story-time adventure! is a fun tale that leads children through the idea of variables in everyday life, and the super-important concept of debugging errors in their code. Flex and Type, the super-powered robots who star in this story, learn these fundamentals of coding as they write a flexible-and-fun story at the library called All About Me! In the First Steps in Coding series, children are encouraged to become super coders with the help of various colourful and friendly robots, who are all going on awesome adventures. Children as young as 3-5 years old learn code through unplugged stories with bright and cheerful illustrations. Interactive elements throughout each book encourage hands-on engagement from children, and each story finishes with a creative activity to cement their coding learning. A parent, carer and teacher's guide at the back of each book makes this a great resource for home school and classroom learning. Titles in the series include: What's an Algorithm? ... a splash park adventure! What's Branching? ... a birthday adventure! What's Decomposition? ... a rock-and-roll adventure! What's a Loop? ... a tree house adventure! What's Sequencing? ... a school-day adventure! What's a Variable? ... a story-time adventure!

This volume explores experimental strategies to study progranulin as a regulatory protein in biological and disease processes. The chapters in this book are divided into four parts: Part One is an introduction to the topic; Part Two looks at analytical and in vitro methods to study progranulin biology; Part Three discusses the role of progranulin in cancer; and Part Four describes the process of using animal models to study progranulin in health and disease. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Cutting-edge and thorough, Progranulin: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for experienced researchers who want to expand their studies of this field, and newcomers who want to begin including progranulin into their work.

This wide-ranging anthology examines the gendered dimensions of citizenship experiences and uses them as a point of departure for rethinking contemporary practices of social inclusion and belonging. Drawing on ethnographic research with diverse communities in the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, contributors argue for the importance of understanding how notions of belonging and entitlement are locally experienced and subjectively defined by members of marginalized communities. Through analysis of intersectional racial/ethnic, gender, class, and national/tribal identities, the essays place the experiences and analyses of women of color and Third World women at the very center of our understanding of citizenship.

Fundamental and FUN first coding concepts for kids, and the great thing is: it's unplugged! What is Decomposition? ... a rock-and-roll adventure! is an exciting story that leads children through the idea of the decomposition of tasks in everyday life, and the super-important concept of debugging errors in their code. Volt and his robot rock band star in this story and get to know these fundamentals of coding as they learn to play music together! In the First Steps in Coding series, children are encouraged to become super coders with the help of various colourful and friendly robots, who are all going on awesome adventures. Children as young as 3-5 years old learn code through unplugged stories with bright and cheerful illustrations. Interactive elements throughout each book encourage hands-on engagement from children, and each story finishes with a creative activity to cement their coding learning. A parent, carer and teacher's guide at the back of each book makes this a great resource for home school and classroom learning. Titles in the series include: What's an Algorithm? ... a splash park adventure! What's Branching? ... a birthday adventure! What's Decomposition? ... a rock-and-roll adventure! What's a Loop? ... a tree house adventure! What's Sequencing? ... a school-day adventure! What's a Variable? ... a story-time adventure!

In this book, we put forward a holistic conceptual framework for implementing Scholarship of Learning and Teaching (SoLT) in higher education. Unlike previous SoLT studies, which usually focus on a specific aspect, here various aspects are integrated into a holistic framework. Further, it identifies three main stakeholders, namely, the higher education institution, teaching staff, and students. These stakeholders are in turn connected by four interlocking themes: staff professional development, enhancement of student learning experiences, assessment, and digital technologies. Presenting chapters that address these four themes, this book supports the advancement of SoLT in higher education in relation to existing theories and emerging practices. By helping academics and leaders in higher education to implement SoLT for the improvement of student learning and teaching practices, it also makes a valuable contribution to the field of teacher education.

Huang's book analyzes the major Neo-Confucian philosophers from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. Focusing on metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical philosophical issues, this study presents the historical development of the Neo-Confucian school, an outgrowth of ancient Confucianism, and characterizes its thought, background, and influence. Key concepts—for example ^Utai-ji (supreme ultimate), ^Uxin (mind), and ^Uren (humanity)—as interpreted by each thinker are discussed in detail. Also examined are the two major schools that developed during this period, Cheng-Zhu, School of Principle, and Lu-Wang, School of Mind. These schools, despite different philosophical orientations, were convinced that their common goal, to bring about a harmonious relationships between man and the universe and between man and man, could be achieved through different ways of philosophizing. To understand the Chinese mind, it is necessary to understand Neo-Confucianism as a reformation of early Confucianism. This analytical presentation of major Neo-Confucian philosophers, from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries, examines Zhou Dun-yi (1017-1073), Shao Yong (1011-1077), Zhang Zai (1020-1077), Cheng Hao (1032-1085), Cheng Yi (1033-1107), Zhu Xi (1130-1200), Lu Xiang-shan (1139-1193), and Wang Yang-ming (1427-1529). With its focus on metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical philosophical issues, Huang's study presents the historical development of the Neo-Confucian school, an outgrowth of ancient Confucianism, and characterizes its thought, background, and influence. Key concepts—for example, ^Utai-ji (supreme ultimate), ^Uxin (mind), and ^Uren (humanity)—as interpreted by each thinker are discussed in detail. The two major schools that developed during these six centuries are examined as well. Lu-Wang, School of Mind, developed in criticism of Cheng-Zhu, School of Principle. The two schools, despite different approaches toward their philosophical pursuits, were convinced that their common goals, to bring about harmonious relationships between man and the universe and between man and man, could be achieved through different ways of philosophizing. To understand the Chinese mind, it is necessary to understand Neo-Confucianism as a reformation of early Confucianism. Scholars of Eastern religions and philosophy will appreciate the objective interpretations of each thinker's philosophy, for which pertinent passages spoken by each man have been selected and translated by the author from the original Chinese, and the comparisons of the Neo-Confucian philosophies with those of the West. An introduction provides the historical background in which to study the rise of Neo-Confucianism. The study is organized ehronologically and includes a glossary of terms and a bibliography which serves as a helpful guide for further research.

This This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.This book offers a comprehensive guide, covering every important aspect of computational thinking education. It provides an in-depth discussion of computational thinking, including the notion of perceiving computational thinking practices as ways of mapping models from the abstraction of data and process structures to natural phenomena. Further, it explores how computational thinking education is implemented in different regions, and how computational thinking is being integrated into subject learning in K-12 education. In closing, it discusses computational thinking from the perspective of STEM education, the use of video games to teach computational thinking, and how computational thinking is helping to transform the quality of the workforce in the textile and apparel industry.

Modified Cyclodextrins for Chiral Separation offers a review of the latest advances in developing modified cyclodextrins as chiral selectors for various chromatographic and electromigration techniques. Over the years, many descriptions of chiral separation have appeared in academic journals and books, but most of them have been devoted to either the development of analytical methods and protocols or the summary of different chiral selectors, including cyclodextrins for chiral separation applications. This is in marked contrast to this volume which focuses on the research endeavors concerning the development of cyclodextrin derivatives specifically as either chiral mobile phases for capillary electrophoresis, or chiral stationary phases for various chromatographic techniques including gas chromatography, or high-performance liquid chromatography and supercritical fluid chromatography. The ongoing thread in this book is the synthesis of structurally-defined cyclodextrin derivatives and their applications in enantiomer separation by means of different analytical techniques. Modified Cyclodextrins for Chiral Separation is intended for those who are interested in expanding their knowledge of cyclodextrin chemistry and chiral separation, and in what cyclodextrin modification can be made to suit the needs of chiral selectors for different analytical techniques. It primarily focuses on the state-of-the-art cyclodextrin chemistry which is the basis for all chiral selectors used in these chiral separation techniques. Weihua Tang, PhD, is a professor at the Key Laboratory of Soft Chemistry and Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China. Siu-Choon Ng, PhD, is a professor at the Division of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dongping Sun, PhD, is a professor at the Key Laboratory of Soft Chemistry and Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China.

This book explores three major changes in the circumstances of the migrant working class in south China over the past three decades, from historical and comparative perspectives. It examines the rise of a male migrant working population in the export industries, a shift in material and social lives of migrant workers, and the emergence of a new non-coercive factory regime in the industries. By conducting on-site fieldwork regarding Hong Kong-invested garment factories in south China, Hong Kong and Vietnam, alongside factory-gate surveys in China and Vietnam, this book examines how and why the circumstances of workers in these localities are dissimilar even when under the same type of factory ownership. In analyzing workers' lives within and outside factories, and the expansion of global capitalism in East and Southeast Asia, the book contributes to research on production politics and everyday life practice, and an understanding of how global and local forces interact.

Theoretical Advances in Neural Computation and Learning brings together in one volume some of the recent advances in the development of a theoretical framework for studying neural networks. A variety of novel techniques from disciplines such as computer science, electrical engineering, statistics, and mathematics have been integrated and applied to develop ground-breaking analytical tools for such studies. This volume emphasizes the computational issues in artificial neural networks and compiles a set of pioneering research works, which together establish a general framework for studying the complexity of neural networks and their learning capabilities. This book represents one of the first efforts to highlight these fundamental results, and provides a unified platform for a theoretical exploration of neural computation. Each chapter is authored by a leading researcher and/or scholar who has made significant contributions in this area. Part 1 provides a complexity theoretic study of different models of neural computation. Complexity measures for neural models are introduced, and techniques for the efficient design of networks for performing basic computations, as well as analytical tools for understanding the capabilities and limitations of neural computation are discussed. The results describe how the computational cost of a neural network increases with the problem size. Equally important, these results go beyond the study of single neural elements, and establish to computational power of multilayer networks. Part 2 discusses concepts and results concerning learning using models of neural computation. Basic concepts such as VC-dimension and PAC-learning are introduced, and recentresults relating neural networks to learning theory are derived. In addition, a number of the chapters address fundamental issues concerning learning algorithms, such as accuracy and rate of convergence, selection of training data, and efficient algorithms for learning useful classes of mappings.

This book is a collection of research articles in algebraic geometry and complex analysis dedicated to Hans Grauert. The authors and editors have made their best efforts in order that these contributions should be adequate to honour the outstanding scientist. The volume contains important new results, solutions to longstanding conjectures, elegant new proofs and new perspectives for future research. The topics range from surface theory and commutative algebra, linear systems, moduli spaces, classification theory, Kähler geometry to holomorphic dynamical systems.

Getting kid-coders off the screen and on their feet having hands-on, unplugged, active FUN! It's time to have some fun with coding and science - in all kinds of interesting places. From model volcanoes to Rube Goldberg machines, this book gets kid-coders talking like computers and debugging like pros. With the help of familiar science concepts - plus a little fresh air and teamwork - the coding learning really comes to life! The Coding Unplugged series uses creativity and physicality to engage children with the cardinal coding concepts, without the need for any hardware or screen time. By taking coding offline, it's easy to focus on the basic concepts, which are fundamental to learning to code. Combining coding learning with creative or physical activities is also a great way to embed the information and keep children active. Titles in the series: Coding Unplugged with ART Coding Unplugged with NATURE Coding Unplugged with NUMBER PLAY Coding Unplugged with SCIENCE

Fundamental and FUN first coding concepts for kids, and the great thing is: it's unplugged! What's a Loop? ... a tree house adventure! is an exciting story that leads children through the idea of loops in everyday life, and the super-important concept of debugging errors in their code. Flash, Jet and Zeb, the super-powered robots who star in this story, learn these fundamentals of coding as they build an incredible tree house together! In the First Steps in Coding series, children are encouraged to become super coders with the help of various colourful and friendly robots, who are all going on awesome adventures. Children as young as 3-5 years old learn code through unplugged stories with bright and cheerful illustrations. Interactive elements throughout each book encourage hands-on engagement from children, and each story finishes with a creative activity to cement their coding learning. A parent, carer and teacher's guide at the back of each book makes this a great resource for home school and classroom learning. Titles in the series include: What's an Algorithm? ... a splash park adventure! What's Branching? ... a birthday adventure! What's Decomposition? ... a rock-and-roll adventure! What's a Loop? ... a tree house adventure! What's Sequencing? ... a school-day adventure! What's a Variable? ... a story-time adventure!

This comprehensive book offers a full picture of the cutting edge technologies in the area of "Multimedia Retrieval and Management". It addresses graduate students and scientists in electrical engineering and in computer science as well as system designers, engineers, programmers and other technical managers in the IT industries. The book provides a complete set of theories and technologies necessary for a profound introduction to the field. It includes multimedia low-level feature extraction and high-level semantic description in addition to multimedia authentication and watermarking, and the most up-to-date MPEG-7 standard. A broad range of practical applications is covered, e.g., digital libraries, medical images, biometrics, human palm-print and face-for-security, living plants data management and video-on-demand service.