Amid a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua, a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war-and mankind itself.

Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory, only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child.

2 Academy Award nominations for:
- Best Visual Effects
- Best Sound

Jeffrey L. Broughton offers an annotated translation of the Whip for Spurring Students Onward Through the Chan Barrier Checkpoints, which he abbreviates to Chan Whip. This anthology is a classic of Chan (Zen) Buddhism that has served as a Chan handbook in both China and Japan since its publication in 1600. It is a compendium of extracts, over eighty percent of which are drawn from an enormous Chan corpus dating from the late 800s to about 1600-a survey that covers most of the history of Chan literature. The rest of the text consists of complementary extracts from Buddhist sutras and treatises. The extracts, many of which are accompanied by Chan master Dahui Zhuhong's commentary, deliberately eschew abstract discussions of theory in favor of sermons, exhortations, sayings, autobiographical narratives, letters, and anecdotal sketches dealing frankly and compassionately with the concrete experiences of lived practice.
While there are a number of publications in English on Zen practice, none contain the vivid descriptions found within the Chan Whip. This translation thus fills a large gap in the English-language literature on Chan, and by including the original Chinese text as well Broughton has produced an invaluable tool for scholars and practitioners alike.

This volume aims to return to the starting point of the fields of infinite dimensional analysis and quantum probability, fields that are growing rapidly at present, and to seriously attempt mutual interaction between the two, with a view to enumerating and solving the many fundamental problems they entail. For such a purpose, we look for interdisciplinary bridges in mathematics including classical probability and to different branches of physics, in particular, research for new paradigms for information science on the basis of quantum theory.

Nano-plating (III): Database of Plated Film Microstructures completes the trilogy of nanoplating books written by Tohru Watanabe. Nanoplating (I) covers microstructure formation theory of plated films, with Nanoplating (II) covering a metallurgical approach to electrochemical theory and its applications to technology. This third installment shows the relationship between composition and microstructure of 27 pure metals and 55 alloy plating films, including electrodeposition and electroless plating and provides a database of plated film microstructures. The book presents readers with an efficient reference work that helps optimize their syntheses in order to obtain specific deposit types.

Modeling Electrochemical Dynamics and Signaling Mechanisms in Excitable Cells with Pathological Case Studies covers the neuronal cell communication system in excitable cells, recognizing the most relevant mechanisms of cell communication. Along with new findings in biotechnology, medicine and pathological cases for clinicians, the book highlights electrochemical potential in living nerve and muscle cells. Written for physiological scientists, pharmaceutical scientists, medical doctors, biologists and physicists, this book an essential read for a real understanding of the signals as we see them.

Transforming the Socio Economy with Digital Innovation explores the impacts of digital innovation on socioeconomic phenomena, resilience and governance. The book examines the limitation of using GDP as a measure of economic growth in digital societies, stressing how the Internet promotes a "free" culture that cannot be captured through GDP data. The book synthesizes multi-dimensional research consisting of digital platform ecosystems observations, theoretical appraisals, statistical methods development, in-depth empirical analysis, and database construction for analysis and outcomes compilation. Utilizing analysis from more than 500 global ICT leaders, this book identifies potential challenges and solutions for academic analysis, economic planning and policymaking.

This book examines the recent migration phenomenon in the Arab Gulf states for work and residence. It sheds light on the transnationality of diverse groups of migrants from different generations, and unpacks how migrants’ multiple senses of belonging, orientations and adaptive strategies have shaped contemporary migration in the Gulf region. In turn, the analysis presented here shows how the Arab Gulf states’ citizenship and educational policies affect second-generation migrants in particular. Through a series of fine-grained ethnographic case studies, the authors demonstrate the ways in which these second-generation migrants construct their identities in relation to their putative ‘home’ country in the Gulf as well as their complex relationship to their parents’ countries of origin. This is what underpins the deeply transnational character of their lives, choices and notions of belonging. While migration scholars often situate these groups as ‘temporary’, this does not in fact capture the reality of temporariness for the migrants themselves, their children or their dependants. The result is a complex and ongoing construction of identity that shapes the way of life for millions of migrants. Relevant to scholars of migration and international studies, particularly focused on the Middle East, Transnational Generations in the Arab Gulf States and Beyond is also of interest to social scientists researching student mobility in higher education, intergenerational families, identity politics and globalisation.

Molecular Biomarkers in Cancer Detection and Monitoring of Therapeutics: Volume Two: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications discusses how molecular biomarkers are used to determine predisposition, facilitate detection, improve treatment and offer prevention guidelines for different cancers. It focuses on novel diagnostic techniques based on molecular biomarkers and their impact on treatment, covering different cancer types such as tumors in the nervous system, head and neck, oral and GI tractor, lung, breast, gastric system, leukemia and urogenital tract cancers. For each type, the book discusses the best diagnostic techniques and therapeutic approaches, thus helping readers easily identify the best solution for each case. This is a valuable resource for cancer researchers, oncologists, graduate students and other members of the biomedical field who are interested in the potential of biomarkers in cancer research.

Nano Plating (II): A Metallurgical Approach to Electrochemical Theory and Its Applications to Technology is the result of the author's 50 years of research. The author reviews the vast experimental results of electrochemical phenomena in light of metallurgical knowledge and proposes theories that can give new insights in electrochemical thermodynamics and predict many phenomena in this field. The book complements Tohru Watanabe's previous book on nano-plating published by Elsevier in 2004.

How are cultural identities, values and traditions challenged, appropriated and negotiated? What does 'being secure' mean? Is 'soft power' merely a continuation of imperialism? The Handbook of Cultural Security heightens our awareness of the interplay between 'culture' and 'society' in the age of globalization, and explores the emerging concept of cultural security. With chapters from leading experts providing case studies from across the world this timely and unique Handbook examines the relationship between society, culture, and security in a globalizing world. Providing a diverse examination of the topic, the contributors emphasise the role of 'non traditional' security and seek to define what 'being secure' means across a broad number of contexts. Chapters cover topics ranging from the politics of radical Islam, the global spread of gated communities, and cultures of security and surveillance to discussions of the concept soft power; the forms it takes, and the impacts of 'exporting' culture. This Handbook provides a platform for future debate in both academic and policy fields, and as such will be of interest for both students of public and social policy, international relations, and politics, as well as those engaged in shaping policy in these areas. Contributors include: A. Akerlund, A. Anderson, A. Anisman, A. Azra, B.K. Blitz, E. Brogi, C. Ceniza Choy, A. Clarke, E. Eken, P. Gielen, J.L. Graves Jr., J. Guetzkow, F. Hartig, C.B. Huat, F. Izadi, J. Lai, G. Lee, A. Manguvo, O. McIvor, T. Monahan, M. Nyanungo, J. Pamment, A. Pande, S. Pandey, P.L. Parcu, A. Richter, J. Ruan, H. Saghaye-Biria, E. Sevin, S.J. Son, G. Sun, C. Webster, M. Wieviorka, A. Wojciuk, Y. Watanabe

In an ever more globalized world, sustainable global development requires effective intercultural co-operations. This dialogue between non-western and western cultures is essential to identifying global solutions for global socio-political challenges. Modern Japanese Political Thought and International Relations critiques the formation of non-western International Relations by assessing Japanese political concepts to contemporary IR discourses since the Meji Restoration, to better understand knowledge exchanges in intercultural contexts. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of this dialogue, from international law and nationalism to concepts of peace and Daoism, this collection grapples with postcolonial questions of Japan's indigenous IR theory.

Drag Reduction of Complex Mixtures discusses the concept of drag reduction phenomena in complex mixtures in internal and external flows that are shown experimentally by dividing flow patterns into three categories. The book is intended to support further experiments or analysis in drag reduction. As accurately modeling flow behavior with drag reduction is always complex, and since drag reducing additives or solid particles are mixed in fluids, this book covers these complex phenomena in a concise, but comprehensive manner.

Biophysical Basis of Physiology and Calcium Signaling Mechanism in Cardiac and Smooth Muscle acts as a bridge between physiology and physics by discussing the physiology and calcium signaling mechanism in cardiac and smooth muscle. By exploring the mechanism of the cyclic release of stored Ca^(2+) in the SR or ER, this book covers the cell communication system, including excitable cells, recognizing the most relevant mechanisms of cell communication. Serving as a bridge between physiology and physics, coverage spans the physiology and calcium signaling mechanism in cardiac and smooth muscle, offering insight to physiological scientists, pharmaceutical scientists, medical doctors, biologists and physicists.

Structural Resilience in Sewer Reconstruction: From Theory to Practice provides engineers with a balanced mixture of theory and practice. Divided into three parts, structural resilience is introduced, along with different methods and theories that are needed to assess sewerage networks. The authors begin with a general overview of resilience and lessons learned, then present a comprehensive review of resilience theories in key fields of study. The book also introduces major analysis techniques and computational methods for resilience assessment, also highlighting sewer reconstruction projects carried out in Tokyo, including the reconstruction and development process for construction methods, renovation materials and technical inventions. The structural resilience considerations incorporated in various stages of development are discussed in detail. Computational examples for assessing structural resilience in the renovated sewer system in Tokyo are also shown, with final chapters summarizing structural resilience theories and areas for future study.

This book introduces what sclerotia grains are, and where and how they exist in soils, by compiling the results obtained from the studies on fungal sclerotia formed by Cenococcum geophilum (Cg) and related species, the visible black small grains persistent for a few thousand to ten thousands of years in forest soils and sediments. The chapters contain the results and discussions on the ecological distribution and regulating factors, characteristics, and function of Cg sclerotia grains, carried out by researchers from soil geography, soil science, soil microbiology, physiology, forestry, analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry, material science, and related disciplines. The anatomy of sclerotia grains in soil was realized in terms of interdisciplinary joint researches, which resulted in deepening understanding of the ecological function of the mesoscale organic component in soils. This book covers the natural history of sclerotia in soils, pedo-sclerotiology.

This book covers the state-of-the-art in deep neural-network-based methods for noise robustness in distant speech recognition applications. It provides insights and detailed descriptions of some of the new concepts and key technologies in the field, including novel architectures for speech enhancement, microphone arrays, robust features, acoustic model adaptation, training data augmentation, and training criteria. The contributed chapters also include descriptions of real-world applications, benchmark tools and datasets widely used in the field. This book is intended for researchers and practitioners working in the field of speech processing and recognition who are interested in the latest deep learning techniques for noise robustness. It will also be of interest to graduate students in electrical engineering or computer science, who will find it a useful guide to this field of research.

This book presents proton-3He elastic scattering experiments conducted at intermediate energies, with the aim of identifying three-nucleon force (3NF) effects in a four-nucleon scattering system. The 3NF plays an essential part in understanding various nuclear phenomena, and few-nucleon scatterings further offers a good opportunity to study the dynamical aspects of 3NFs. In particular, proton-3He scattering is one of the most promising approaches to an iso-spin dependence of 3NFs. The book in-depth explains the achieved development of polarized 3He target system for the proton-3He scattering experiments, and describes successful precise evaluation of the target polarization. The experiments yielded the first precise data for this system and offer a valuable resource for the study of 3NFs.

As a spectroscopic method, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) has seen spectacular growth over the past two decades, both as a technique and in its applications. Today the applications of NMR span a wide range of scientific disciplines, from physics to biology to medicine. Each volume of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance comprises a combination of annual and biennial reports which together provide comprehensive coverage of the literature on this topic. For those wanting to become rapidly acquainted with specific areas of NMR, this title provides unrivalled scope of coverage. Seasoned practitioners of NMR will find this an invaluable source of current methods and applications. Each volume of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance comprises a combination of annual and biennial reports which together provide comprehensive of the literature on this topic. This Specialist Periodical Report reflects the growing volume of published work involving NMR techniques and applications, in particular NMR of natural macromolecules which is covered in two reports: "NMR of Proteins and Acids" and "NMR of Carbohydrates, Lipids and Membranes." For those wanting to become rapidly acquainted with specific areas of NMR, this title provides unrivalled scope of coverage. Seasoned practitioners of NMR will find this an in valuable source of current methods and applications. Specialist Periodical Reports provide systematic and detailed review coverage in major areas of chemical research. Compiled by teams of leading authorities in the relevant subject areas, the series creates a unique service for the active research chemist, with regular, in-depth accounts of progress in particular fields of chemistry. Subject coverage within different volumes of a given title is similar and publication is on an annual or biennial basis.

This book is one of the first comprehensive works to fill the knowledge gap resulting from the limited number of empirical studies on interfirm networks. The in-depth empirical research presented here is based on a massive transaction relationship database of approximately 400,000 Japanese firms. This volume, unlike others, focuses on the role of interfirm networks in three different fields: (1) macroeconomic activities, (2) economic geography and firm dynamics, and (3) firm-bank relationships. The database for this work is constructed in collaboration with Japan's largest credit research company, Teikoku Data Bank, and covers a substantial portion of Japanese firms with information on firms' transaction partners, shareholders, financial institutions, and other attributes, including their locations and performance. Networks prevail in many aspects of economic activities and play a major role in explaining a wide variety of economic phenomena from business cycles to knowledge spillovers, which has motivated economists to produce a number of excellent works. In the policy arena, there has been a growing concern on the vulnerabilities of networks based on the casual observation that idiosyncratic shocks on firms can be amplified through inter-firm connections and leads to a systemic crisis. Typical examples are the manufacturing supply-chain networks in the automobile and electronics industries which propagated regionally concentrated shocks (the Great East Japan Earthquake and floods in Thailand in 2011) into global ones. An abundance of theoretical literature on the formation and functions of networks is available already. This book breaks new ground, however, and provides an excellent opportunity for the reader to gain a more integrated understanding of the role of networks in the economy. The Economics of Interfirm Networks will be of special interest to economists and practitioners seeking empirical and quantitative knowledge on interfirm and firm-bank networks.

In this thesis, quantum estimation theory is applied to investigate uncertainty relations between error and disturbance in quantum measurement. The author argues that the best solution for clarifying the attainable bound of the error and disturbance is to invoke the estimation process from the measurement outcomes such as signals from a photodetector in a quantum optical system. The error and disturbance in terms of the Fisher information content have been successfully formulated and provide the upper bound of the accuracy of the estimation. Moreover, the attainable bound of the error and disturbance in quantum measurement has been derived. The obtained bound is determined for the first time by the quantum fluctuations and correlation functions of the observables, which characterize the non-classical fluctuation of the observables. The result provides the upper bound of our knowledge obtained by quantum measurements. The method developed in this thesis will be applied to a broad class of problems related to quantum measurement to build a next-generation clock standard and to successfully detect gravitational waves.