Seen from "inside the IAU," this book tells the in-depth story of a major crisis in which China "divorced" from the International Astronomical Union in 1960 as a protest against the admission of Taiwan. This happened to all the scientific unions at the same time, and to the Olympic Games, which, unexpectedly, would serve as a laboratory for the "reconciliation" which took place following the re-opening of China to the world 20 years later. The so-called "China conflict" is the most important crisis in the post-WWII history of the IAU. Yet, many details about this conflict and its links to broader geopolitical events have long remained unsettled, obscure, or altogether absent. In particular, the book describes for the first time the "separation" period, which covered the Cultural Revolution, and in which the IAU made desperate official efforts to reach out to China, while some groups of Western and Chinese astronomers managed to keep contact at times. On the occasion of the IAU Centenary celebrations in 2019, the book revisits this painful succession of events using unpublished documents from the IAU Archives and the International Council of Scientific Unions. The book also contains supplementary typescripts of selected handwritten correspondences and the full translation of key original Chinese documents unknown to readers outside China. What emerges is a complex and fascinating story of human relations and science diplomacy under the shadow of the Cold War. Readers will learn how the 20-year "China conflict" as lived by astronomers and scientists is important not only for the history of the IAU, but also for the history of contemporary China. "This book is full of so many original documents of the IAU office, very reliable and good to open to the public readers." Shuhua Ye, Shanghai Observatory (IAU Vice-President, 1988-1994) This book is a companion book to "Astronomers as Diplomats," published at the same time in the same series.

This book focuses on nonlinear wave equations, which are of considerable significance from both physical and theoretical perspectives. It also presents complete results on the lower bound estimates of lifespan (including the global existence), which are established for classical solutions to the Cauchy problem of nonlinear wave equations with small initial data in all possible space dimensions and with all possible integer powers of nonlinear terms. Further, the book proposes the global iteration method, which offers a unified and straightforward approach for treating these kinds of problems. Purely based on the properties of solut ions to the corresponding linear problems, the method simply applies the contraction mapping principle.

Seen from “inside the IAU,� this book tells the in-depth story of a major crisis in which China “divorced� from the International Astronomical Union in 1960  as a protest against the admission of Taiwan. This happened to all the scientific unions at the same time, and to the Olympic Games, which, unexpectedly, would serve as a laboratory for the “reconciliation� which took place following the re-opening of China to the world 20 years later. The so-called “China conflict� is the most important crisis in the post-WWII history of the IAU. Yet, many details about this conflict and its links to broader geopolitical events have long remained unsettled, obscure, or altogether absent. In particular, the book describes for the first time the “separation� period, which covered the Cultural Revolution, and in which the IAU made desperate official efforts to reach out to China, while some groups of Western and Chinese astronomers managed to keep contact at times. On the occasion of the IAU Centenary celebrations in 2019, the book revisits this painful succession of events using unpublished documents from the IAU Archives and the International Council of Scientific Unions. The book also contains supplementary typescripts of selected handwritten correspondences and the full translation of key original Chinese documents unknown to readers outside China. What emerges is a complex and fascinating story of human relations and science diplomacy under the shadow of the Cold War. Readers will learn how the 20-year “China conflict� as lived by astronomers and scientists is important not only for the history of the IAU, but also for the history of contemporary China.  “This book is full of so many original documents of the IAU office, very reliable and good to open to the public readers.� Shuhua Ye, Shanghai Observatory (IAU Vice-President, 1988-1994) This book is a companion book to "Astronomers as Diplomats," published at the same time in the same series.

Pipe failures in water distribution systems can have a serious impact and hence it's important to maintain the condition and integrity of the distribution system. This book presents a whole-life cost optimisation model for the rehabilitation of water distribution systems. It combines a pipe breakage number prediction model with a pipe criticality assessment model, which enables the creation of a well-constructed and more tightly constrained optimisation model. The pipe breakage number prediction model combines information on the physical characteristics of the pipes with historical information on breakage and failure rates. A weighted multiple nonlinear regression analysis is applied to describe the condition of different pipe groups. The criticality assessment model combines a pipe's condition with its hydraulic significance through a modified TOPSIS. This model enables the optimisation to focus its efforts on those important pipes. The whole life cost optimal rehabilitation model is a multiple-objective and multiple-stage model, which provides a suite of rehabilitation decisions that minimise the whole life cost while maximising its long-term performance. The optimisation model is solved using a modified NSGA-II. The utility of the developed models is that it allows decision makers to prioritize their rehabilitation strategy in a proactive and cost-effective manner.

Chinese for Working Professionals is for learners who intend to use Chinese in a multinational global workplace. It has eight thematic units focusing on developing learners' transferrable skills in addition to expanding the cross-cultural competences required in a real-world work-place. Key features: Topical themes expose the ongoing changes in China for working professionals such as career preparation, economic development, business etiquette, the working environment, and overall lifestyle. Authentic reading materials and live videos on a companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/zhou) to incorporate understandings of the norm and expectations of the workplace and society at large, and also prepare learners for a quick transition from classroom to targeted scenarios. Abundant simulated real-life collaborative tasks, case studies, and projects enhance learners' problem-solving skills in Chinese, in addition to work strategies in different scenarios such as communication for work and leisure, and teamwork projects necessary and crucial for professions in multilingual and cross-cultural global settings. This textbook is a key resource for learners of Chinese at an ACTFL Intermediate-High proficiency level and above, or CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Language) B1.2 to B2.1 level in terms of language control, extensive and applicable vocabulary and expressions, communication strategies, as well as cultural awareness.

Chinese for Working Professionals is for learners who intend to use Chinese in a multinational global workplace. It has eight thematic units focusing on developing learners' transferrable skills in addition to expanding the cross-cultural competences required in a real-world work-place. Key features: Topical themes expose the ongoing changes in China for working professionals such as career preparation, economic development, business etiquette, the working environment, and overall lifestyle. Authentic reading materials and live videos on a companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/zhou) to incorporate understandings of the norm and expectations of the workplace and society at large, and also prepare learners for a quick transition from classroom to targeted scenarios. Abundant simulated real-life collaborative tasks, case studies, and projects enhance learners' problem-solving skills in Chinese, in addition to work strategies in different scenarios such as communication for work and leisure, and teamwork projects necessary and crucial for professions in multilingual and cross-cultural global settings. This textbook is a key resource for learners of Chinese at an ACTFL Intermediate-High proficiency level and above, or CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Language) B1.2 to B2.1 level in terms of language control, extensive and applicable vocabulary and expressions, communication strategies, as well as cultural awareness.