The book systematically introduces smart power system design and its infrastructure, platform and operating standards. It focuses on multi-objective optimization and illustrates where the intelligence of the system lies. With abundant project data, this book is a practical guideline for engineers and researchers in electrical engineering, as well as power network designers and managers in administration.

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.

This collection features five peer-reviewed reviews on ecosystem services delivered by forests. The first chapter summarises the current state of knowledge on the interactions between forest ecosystems and the climate system and the way in which forests influence the water cycle. The second chapter reviews the wealth of research on the range of species, functional groups and ecological processes which can develop as a result of the biodiversity in tropical forests. The chapter also considers the main threats to tropical forest biodiversity. The third chapter examines the importance of forest carbon content and the methods currently used to monitor it. The chapter also explores the mechanisms driving forest carbon storage and offers a considered discussion on whether forests should be considered sources or sinks of carbon. The fourth chapter highlights how sustainable forest management (SFM) can be used to maintain or enhance biodiversity in temperate and boreal forests. The chapter utilises two case studies to demonstrate successful implementation of SFM in Ireland and Canada. The final chapter considers the benefits of introducing agroforestry into agroecosystems, focussing on its influence on soil health. The chapter discusses the benefits of agroforestry systems on key soil physical, chemical and biological properties.

This book reflects the great changes in terms of real estate sales, purchases, finance and policies from planned economy to market economy in China. Real estate system has always been a great concern to the public for its irreplaceable role in people's lives and various daily affairs, as well as in the development of the whole economy, especially in China's context. The unique perspective of this book lies in the significant role that the Chinese government plays in real estate system. This book aims to help readers to understand China's real estate system comprehensively.

This book provides a comprehensive review and in-depth discussion of the state-of-the-art research literature and propose energy-efficient computation offloading and resources management for mobile edge computing (MEC), covering task offloading, channel allocation, frequency scaling and resource scheduling. Since the task arrival process and channel conditions are stochastic and dynamic, the authors first propose an energy efficient dynamic computing offloading scheme to minimize energy consumption and guarantee end devices' delay performance. To further improve energy efficiency combined with tail energy, the authors present a computation offloading and frequency scaling scheme to jointly deal with the stochastic task allocation and CPU-cycle frequency scaling for minimal energy consumption while guaranteeing the system stability. They also investigate delay-aware and energy-efficient computation offloading in a dynamic MEC system with multiple edge servers, and introduce an end-to-end deep reinforcement learning (DRL) approach to select the best edge server for offloading and allocate the optimal computational resource such that the expected long-term utility is maximized. Finally, the authors study the multi-task computation offloading in multi-access MEC via non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and accounting for the time-varying channel conditions. An online algorithm based on DRL is proposed to efficiently learn the near-optimal offloading solutions. Researchers working in mobile edge computing, task offloading and resource management, as well as advanced level students in electrical and computer engineering, telecommunications, computer science or other related disciplines will find this book useful as a reference. Professionals working within these related fields will also benefit from this book.

Most scholars attribute systemic causes of food insecurity to poverty, human overpopulation, lack of farmland, and expansion of biofuel programs. However, as Chen argues here, another significant factor has been overlooked. The current food insecurity is not absolute food shortage, since global food production still exceeds the need of the entire world population, but a problem of how to secure access to resources. Distorted agricultural trade undermines world food distribution, and uneven distribution impedes people's access to food, particularly in poor developing countries. Examining EU and US agricultural policies and World Trade Organization negotiations in agriculture, the author argues how they affect the international agricultural trade, claiming that current food insecurity is the result of inequitable food distribution and trade practices. The international trade regime is advised to reconcile trade rules with the consideration of food security issues. Several other enforceable solutions to reduce world hunger and malnutrition are also advanced, including national capacity building, the improvement of governance, and strategic development of biofuel programs. This book will be of great interest to agricultural trade professionals and consultant policy makers in the EU, US and developing countries. Students and researchers with a concentration on international trade, agriculture economics, global governance and international law will benefit greatly from this study.

Most scholars attribute systemic causes of food insecurity to poverty, human overpopulation, lack of farmland, and expansion of biofuel programs. However, as Chen argues here, another significant factor has been overlooked. The current food insecurity is not absolute food shortage, since global food production still exceeds the need of the entire world population, but a problem of how to secure access to resources. Distorted agricultural trade undermines world food distribution, and uneven distribution impedes people's access to food, particularly in poor developing countries. Examining EU and US agricultural policies and World Trade Organization negotiations in agriculture, the author argues how they affect the international agricultural trade, claiming that current food insecurity is the result of inequitable food distribution and trade practices. The international trade regime is advised to reconcile trade rules with the consideration of food security issues. Several other enforceable solutions to reduce world hunger and malnutrition are also advanced, including national capacity building, the improvement of governance, and strategic development of biofuel programs. This book will be of great interest to agricultural trade professionals and consultant policy makers in the EU, US and developing countries. Students and researchers with a concentration on international trade, agriculture economics, global governance and international law will benefit greatly from this study.

This revelatory book shows how the influential and controversial Empress Dowager Cixi used art and architecture to establish her authority Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908), who ruled China from 1861 until her death in 1908, is a subject of fascination and controversy, at turns vilified for her political maneuvering and admired for modernizing China. In addition to being an astute politician, she was an earnest art patron, and this beautifully illustrated book explores a wide range of objects, revealing how the empress dowager used art and architecture to solidify her rule. Cixi's art commissions were innovative in the way that they unified two distant conceptions of gender in China at the time, demonstrating her strength and wisdom as a monarch while highlighting her identity as a woman and mother. Artful Subversion examines commissioned works, including portrait paintings and photographs, ceramics, fashion, architecture, and garden design, as well as work Cixi created, such as painting and calligraphy. The book is a compelling study of how a powerful matriarch at once subverted and upheld the Qing imperial patriarchy.

"Healthy China 2030" is a national strategy for improving the health of the population and coordinating health and socio-economic development, and a major means for the country to participate in global health governance and meet targets set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This outline of the plan will be a blueprint and an action plan for facilitating the development of Healthy China. This tutorial book is a guide for "Outline of the Healthy China 2030 Plan" released on October 25, 2016. This book is organized by 29 chapters. It uses data, background description and figures to facilitate readers to know the plan. The book Editor-in-Chief Bin Li is the Former Minister of National Health Commission of PRC, and is the Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The book Associate Editor-in-Chief Xiaowei Ma is the Minister of National Health Commission of PRC.

Ten years, ten authors, ten critics. The Canadian Literature Centre/Centre de litterature canadienne reaches into its ten-year archive of Brown Bag Lunch readings to sample some of the most diverse and powerful voices in contemporary Canadian literature. This anthology offers readers samples from some of Canada's most exciting writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Each selection is introduced by a brief essay, serving as a point of entry into the writer's work. From the east coast of Newfoundland to Kitamaat territory on British Columbia's central coast, there is a story for everyone, from everywhere. True to Canada's multilingual and multicultural heritage, these ten writers come from diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, and work in multiple languages, including English, French, and Cree. Ying Chen | essay by Julie Rodgers Lynn Coady | essay by Maite Snauwaert Michael Crummey | essay by Jennifer Bowering Delisle Caterina Edwards | essay by Joseph Pivato Marina Endicott | essay by Daniel Laforest Lawrence Hill | essay by Winfried Siemerling Alice Major | essay by Don Perkins Eden Robinson | essay by Kit Dobson Gregory Scofield | essay by Angela Van Essen Kim Thuy | essay by Pamela V. Sing