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This edited book is based on the accepted papers for presentation at the 1st MedGU Annual Meeting, Istanbul, 2021. With two parts spanning a large spectrum of environmental, geomorphological and geoarcheological topics and a third part on caves and karst, which includes research studies gathered on the occasion of the International Year of Caves and Karst (2021), this book presents a series of newest research studies that are nowadays relevant to Middle East, Mediterranean region, and Africa.The book gives a general overview on current research, focusing on geoenvironmental issues and challenges in environmental management in the Middle East and Mediterranean region and surrounding areas. It offers a broad range of recent studies that discuss the latest advances in geomorphology, landslides, soil science, paleoclimate, and geoarcheology. It also shares insights on cave and karst studies including speleology, cave and karst explorations, geomorphology, hydrogeology,geoethics, prehistoric eras in karst, geotectonics, and the nexus between human activities and karst sustainability.

Generative Artificial Intelligence is rapidly advancing with many state-of-the-art performances on computer vision, speech processing, and natural language processing tasks. Generative adversarial networks and neural diffusion models can generate high-quality synthetic images of human faces, artworks, and coherent essays on different topics. Generative models are also transforming Medical Artificial Intelligence, given their potential to learn complex features from medical imaging and healthcare data. Hence, computer-aided diagnosis and healthcare are benefiting from Medical Artificial Intelligence and Generative Artificial Intelligence. This book presents the recent advances in generative models for Medical Artificial Intelligence. It covers many applications of generative models for medical image data, including volumetric medical image segmentation, data augmentation, MRI reconstruction, and modeling of spatiotemporal medical data. This book highlights the recent advancements in Generative Artificial Intelligence for medical and healthcare applications, using medical imaging and clinical and electronic health records data. Furthermore, the book comprehensively presents the concepts and applications of deep learning-based artificial intelligence methods, such as generative adversarial networks, convolutional neural networks, and vision transformers. It also presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of data augmentation and synthesis performances of Generative Artificial Intelligence models. This book is the result of the collaborative efforts and hard work of many minds who contributed to it and illuminated the vast landscape of Medical Artificial Intelligence. The book is suitable for reading by computer science researchers, medical professionals, healthcare informatics, and medical imaging researchers interested in understanding the potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare. It serves as a compass for navigating the artificial intelligence-driven healthcare landscape.

This book delves into the concept of customers as financial assets, explaining how firms can assess investments in customer relationships. The authors present the VARIED framework for quantifying the customer asset, enabling marketers to devise strategies that enhance its value. Crucially, these strategies' advantages can be communicated in financial terms to non-marketers, instilling accountability in marketing and augmenting firm value through well-informed investment decisions. This methodology offers a practical avenue to enact the strategic concept of customer centricity. It will resonate with marketers, accountants, and all managers eager to demonstrate customers' financial worth to the organization.

This book is a basic treatise on real-time computing, with particular emphasis on predictable scheduling algorithms. The main objectives of the book are to introduce the basic concepts of real-time computing, illustrate the most significant results in the field, and provide the basic methodologies for designing predictable computing systems useful in supporting critical control applications.Hard Real-Time Computing Systems is written for instructional use and is organized to enable readers without a strong knowledge of the subject matter to quickly grasp the material. Technical concepts are clearly defined at the beginning of each chapter, and algorithm descriptions are corroborated through concrete examples, illustrations, and tables. This new, fourth edition includes new sections to explain the variable-rate task model, how to improve predictability and safety in cyber-physical real-time systems that exploit machine learning algorithms, additional coverage on Response Time Analysis, and a new chapter on implementing periodic real-time tasks under Linux..

This book constitutes the proceedings of the First International Conference, CINS 2023, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from October 18 to 20, 2023.The 11 full papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 130 submissions. This volume discusses contemporary challenges within computing systems and the utilization of intelligent approaches to improve computing methodologies, data processing capabilities, and the application of these intelligent techniques. The book also addresses several topics pertaining to networks, including security, network data processing, networks that transcend boundaries, device heterogeneity, and advancements in networks connected to the Internet of Things, software-defined networks, cloud computing, and intelligent networks.

This book is considered as a monograph but also as a potential textbook for graduate students, focusing on the application of FCMs for modelling and analysing the behaviour of multicomponent systems. In the last two decades, no monograph or textbook has been published on the topic Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM), so this new book is definitely filling a gap in the literature of computational intelligence. The book is built up didactically, the novel results in the field being presented in the way of starting with two real-life case studies, one in the area of waste management, while the other one in modelling bank management systems. In both cases, the book starts with explaining the applied problem and then presenting how the model construction is done and what problems emerge when attempts are made for applying directly earlier results on FCM modelling. In the first case study, the problem of the oversimplification leads to inadequacy of the model, and then it is shown how new,much finer models can be built up based on expert domain knowledge. Then, the new problem of losing transparency and interpretability emerges, and as a solution, a new algorithm family is proposed that reduces FCMs to fewer components, while preserving the essential characteristics of the original model.The second case study raises the problems of stability and sensitivity of FCMs, especially, considering that expert knowledge is often uncertain and subjective. The new results summarised in the book target the questions of how to ascertain whether an FCM is converging to one or several fixed point attractors, whether there is a bifurcation when parameters are changing, etc. Both problems deal with the ultimate question whether the system modelled is stable and sustainable.

This book presents important insights into Social Innovation and Reverse Innovation. It introduces a unique perspective by merging Social Innovation with the emerging concept of Reverse Innovation. Addressing the scarcity of Reverse Innovation knowledge, the book starts with a comprehensive literature review, establishing a solid theoretical framework.By leveraging the core contributions of both concepts, a new idea is developed: Reverse Social Innovation. This unexplored notion is rigorously examined through a novel conceptual model and validated via mixed-method research. Case studies showcase instances of Reverse Social Innovation, while content analysis refines the model. The book is valuable for practitioners, researchers, and students. Practitioners can explore the potential of Reverse Social Innovation for impactful change. Researchers delve into the uncharted territory of Reverse Innovation and its intersections. Students engage with a cutting-edge research field, opening doors for future exploration.

In this compelling journey into Digital Transformation (DT) tailored for Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs), this book unravels the intricacies of technological integration. Grounded in over one hundred years of extensive research by authors and the editor, real-world examples, and using the San Diego Diplomacy Council (SDDC) as a primary case study, it introduces a tailored Digital Maturity Model (DMM) for NPOs. At the heart of this transformation are three pivotal pillars: Culture, Ethics, and Security.Part I sets the stage, painting a landscape of how NPOs have intertwined with the digital realm. As technology's omnipresence surges, Chapter Two offers a panorama of DT's historical and contemporary intersections with the nonprofit sector. The subsequent chapter emphasizes the stark reality: for many NPOs, digital adaptation is no longer about relevance but survival.Part II delves into the comparative digital strategies of NPOs and their for-profitcounterparts in Chapter 4, highlighting the need for tailored approaches. Chapter 5 explores the Nonprofit Digital Maturity Model (NDMM), using the San Diego Diplomacy Council as a focal point. The journey then unfolds further in Chapter 6, which casts a spotlight on the strategic execution of DT in NPOs, weaving in comprehensive analyses to dissect the forces shaping an NPO's digital trajectory.Part III dives deeper, with Chapter 7 laying the foundation of the NDMM. The subsequent chapter meticulously unpacks the NDMM, culminating in Chapter 9, which emphasizes the pillars of DT¿Culture, Ethics, and Security¿forming the essence of the Nonprofit DT Strategic Framework (NDTSF). This chapter also crafts a tailored roadmap for NPOs, charting a comprehensive DT course.Concluding with a forward-looking stance, Chapter 10 thrusts readers into the enthralling fusion of AI and NPOs, exploring transformative potentials and ethical concerns. Through real-world cases, it positions AI as both a potent tool and a vital dialogue for NPOs. Essentially, this book equips NPOs with tools like the NDMM and insights from successful DT narratives. It seeks to provide a practical guide for nonprofits through their DT journey, ensuring they harness technology ethically and effectively without compromising their core values.

This book connects recent developments in speculative realism, new materialism, and eco-phenomenology to articulate an approach to wonder that escapes the connected traps of anthropocentrism and correlationism. Brian Onishi argues that wonder has explanatory power for the constitution of the world and the organization of meaning. To do this, he appeals to both fiction (speculative and Weird fiction in particular) and quantum physics. More specifically, he argues that the focus of Weird fiction on impossible experiences and a feeling of something just beyond the limits of one¿s grasp dramatizes the speculative reach beyond the limits of our understanding. But more than a tool for knowledge acquisition, wonder is an organizing property of objects. Like the collapse of superposition in quantum physics, reality is constituted when objects reveal themselves to other objects and thereby organize themselves into complex objects. Since no relation is exhaustive, the capacity to wonder remains at a material level, and the possibility of reorganization is ever present. Ultimately, Onishi argues for a speculative eco-phenomenology with wonder as an engine for a Weird environmental ethics.

This book deals with the study of tilt-rotor omnidirectional aerial robots and their application to aerial physical interaction tasks. Omnidirectional aerial robots possess decoupled translational and rotational dynamics, which are important for stable and sustained aerial interaction. The additional ability to dynamically re-orient thrust vectors opens the door to a wide array of possible morphologies and system capabilities. Through modeling, control, prototype design, and experimental evaluation, this book presents a comprehensive methodology and examples for the development of a novel tilt-rotor aerial manipulator. This work serves as a guide for envisioning and constructing innovative systems that will advance the frontier of aerial manipulation.

This book of carefully selected research papers captures the essence of systems engineering. It offers readers a comprehensive exploration in the most recent applications and advancements of Axiomatic Design, a powerful method that elevates the level of product design and manufacturing. Although Axiomatic Design originated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, it has been further developed by an active community of users and academics from all over the world. For the 15th time, the International Conference on Axiomatic Design convened global experts to discuss the core of the methodology. Their shared objective was to advance systems engineering, catering to the increasing complexity of modern product design.From over 85 submissions, the program committee selected 20 papers to ensure quality and relevance. Our profound gratitude extends to the contributing authors, whose research and dedication have shaped this collection, and to the program committee members for their unwavering commitment to academic integrity. Through their combined efforts, this document stands as a testament to the innovative spirit and academic excellence synonymous with systems engineering as developed by MIT.

This book includes extended and revised versions of selected papers from the 11th and 12th editions of the International Conference on Operations Research and Enterprise Systems (ICORES 2022 and ICORES 2023). ICORES 2022 was held as a virtual event in February 2022, and ICORES 2023 was held in Lisbon, Portugal, in February 2023. The 5 full papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from the 55 submissions for ICORES 2022, and 8 full papers were reviewed and selected from the 55 submissions for ICORES 2023. The papers are focused on operations research and enterprise systems.

This book lays the foundation for a theory of coarse groups: namely, sets with operations that satisfy the group axioms ¿up to uniformly bounded error¿. These structures are the group objects in the category of coarse spaces, and arise naturally as approximate subgroups, or as coarse kernels.The first aim is to provide a standard entry-level introduction to coarse groups. Extra care has been taken to give a detailed, self-contained and accessible account of the theory. The second aim is to quickly bring the reader to the forefront of research. This is easily accomplished, as the subject is still young, and even basic questions remain unanswered.Reflecting its dual purpose, the book is divided into two parts. The first part covers the fundamentals of coarse groups and their actions. Here the theory of coarse homomorphisms, quotients and subgroups is developed, with proofs of coarse versions of the isomorphism theorems, and it is shown how coarse actions are related to fundamental aspects of geometric group theory. The second part, which is less self-contained, is an invitation to further research, where each thread leads to open questions of varying depth and difficulty. Among other topics, it explores coarse group structures on set-groups, groups of coarse automorphisms and spaces of controlled maps. The main focus is on connections between the theory of coarse groups and classical subjects, including: number theory; the study of bi-invariant metrics on groups; quasimorphisms and stable commutator length; groups of outer automorphisms; and topological groups and their actions.The book will primarily be of interest to researchers and graduate students in geometric group theory, topology, category theory and functional analysis, but some parts will also be accessible to advanced undergraduates.

Biogeochemistry may be defined as the science that combines biological and chemical perspectives for the examination of the Earth¿s surface, including the relations between the biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. Biogeochemistry is a comparatively recently developed science, that incorporates scientific knowledge and findings, research methodologies, and models linking the biological, chemical, and earth sciences. Therefore, while it is a definitive science with a strong theoretical core, it is also dynamically and broadly interlinked with other sciences. This book examines the complex science of biogeochemistry from a novel perspective, examining its comparatively recent development, while also emphasizing its interlinked relationship with the earth sciences (including the complementary science of geochemistry), the geographical sciences (biogeography, oceanography, geomatics, earth systems science), the biological sciences (ecology, wildlife studies, biological aspects of environmental sciences) and the chemical sciences (including environmental chemistry and pollution). The book covers cutting-edge topics on the science of biogeochemistry, examining its development, structure, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary relations, and the future of the current complex knowledge systems, especially in the context of technological, developments, and the computer and data fields.

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of a new manufacturing mode designed to revolutionize the reliability of interdependent networks. It provides the necessary theoretical foundation and practical implementation guidance for Fractal Manufacturing with Variable Quantum Flow, an innovative manufacturing approach tailored to reduce process lead time (PLT) and to meet the demands of value chains reliant on 100% on-time delivery (OTD). The book introduces readers to introductory concepts, delves into the evolution from the BCT Deviation Function to Fractal Manufacturing, characterizes the Fractal Manufacturing system, and explores additional aspects beyond its modeling. With a focus on non-deterministic business environments and make-to-order productions, this book presents a pushed JIT system that is poised to transform manufacturing practices

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 22nd IFIP WG 6.11 Conference on e-Business, e-Services and e-Society, I3E 2023, held in Curitiba, Brazil, during November 9¿11, 2023.The 29 full papers and 2 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 68 submissions. The contributions were organized in topical sections as follows: Artificial Intelligence and Algorithm; Digital Transformation and New Technologies; and Sustainable Technologies and Smart Cities.

The book provides a comprehensive review of the rapidly expanding and includes in-depth discussions on salinity resilience, sustainable production under climate change, how do plants resilience saline conditions?, Beside Genetic Diversity and inheritance of resistance to Salinity. Furthermore, covers a vast array of special topics and applications illustrating the wide use recent approach of techniques and measurements of assessing genotypes for salinity resilienceThis book has been prepared and supported by recent references and statistics with tables and colourful figures to deliver recent advances to the audience of lower and upper undergraduate, and professional/Practitioner researchers at universities and research centers in the fields of crop breeding and production, physiology, genetics, molecular biology and biotechnology, and allied fields such as agro ecology, sustainable agriculture, climate-resilient agriculture.

This book delves into the intricate dynamics between economic elites and the political party system in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, particularly during their democratization phases in the twentieth century. It introduces a novel framework for comprehending the diverse political strategies adopted by these countries¿ economic elites during this critical period. The central premise of this book is that the interplay between the cohesion of economic elites and the mobilization of popular sectors at specific historical junctures profoundly influences the nature of elite political involvement.While existing literature has extensively discussed the strategies employed by economic elites to safeguard their interests, this book takes a fresh approach by considering three primary configurations of relationships between economic elites and political parties. It explores cases where economic elites are the primary constituency of parties they have founded, as well as instances where upper-class interests are predominantly defended outside the party system through mechanisms such as the armed forces, pressure groups, and lobbying. Additionally, it examines scenarios where economic elites align themselves with parties boasting a polyclass constituency, exerting limited influence over these parties.This book goes beyond traditional analyses by proposing a theory that elucidates how the interaction between elite cohesion and popular sector mobilization determines the specific forms of elite political involvement. It also charts the historical sequences of this process, emphasizing the evolution of the causal relationship over time.To illustrate this theory, the book employs a comparative historical analysis, scrutinizing the three aforementioned cases to identify factors that account for the different forms of economic elite political participation. It discerns that the level of cohesion among economic elites and the degree of mobilization among popular sectorsare pivotal factors shaping elite-party relationships.

This book gathers invited contributions as survey and research reports in mechanism and machine science (MMS) ranging across the entire field, related in most instances to the works of late Prof. Carlos López Cajún, one of the field's most prominent scholars. The book provides state-of-the-art information and showcases the latest achievements and challenges of MMS. The book is an accessible avenue to understanding ideas and solutions by leading international scientists who offer much-needed historical insights into the MMS field with future perspectives.

This book covers electrostatic properties of hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs), a fascinating class of metamaterials which combine dielectric and metal components. Due to the hyperbolic topology of the isofrequency surface in HMMs, the so-called resonance cone direction exists, and as a result, propagation of quasi-electrostatic waves, or more commonly, electrostatic waves close to the resonance cone with large wave vectors, is possible. However, the investigation of electrostatic wave properties in HMMs is largely overlooked in most works on the subject, and the purpose of this monograph is to fill this gap. This book gives a thorough theoretical treatment of propagation, reflection, and refraction of electrostatic waves in HMMs of various dimensions and geometries. It will be of interest to students and researchers who work on electrical and optical properties of metamaterials.

This book presents the best papers from the 4th International Conference on Mathematical Research for Blockchain Economy (MARBLE) 2023, held in London, UK. While most blockchain conferences and forums are dedicated to business applications, product development, or Initial Coin Offering (ICO) launches, this conference focused on the mathematics behind blockchain to bridge the gap between practice and theory.The book spans the divide between theoretical promise and practical reality in blockchain technology and explores the challenges hindering its real-world integration across diverse sectors, offering comprehensive insights into issues like scalability, security, and privacy.

This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Future Access Enablers for Ubiquitous and Intelligent Infrastructures, FABULOUS 2023, held in Bratislava, Slovakia, in October 2023. The 14 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 35 submissions. The papers are organized in thematic sessions on: future access networks; sustainable communications and computing infrastructures; smart environment applications / scenarios.

This book focuses on renegotiating extractive contracts to align with the net-zero goals. It delves into extractive contract negotiations in four ways which collectively represent a major research gap in literature. It focuses on extractive contract provisions and examines their alignment with net zero goals, suggesting how these provisions could be re-negotiated to ensure an effective energy transition. Consequently, the book assesses how contractual provisions are responding to, or reflecting energy transition scenarios, and highlights areas to be included or strengthened that will be beneficial for all energy stakeholders. This book goes on to discuss the energy transition global landscape. Through the presentation of case studies from different countries, the book assesses the transition risks in extractive contracts, and it uniquely provides the negotiation tools and strategies to address these transition risks.

This book outlines a landscape of diversity education in the MENA region and its repercussions on learners' abilities, outcomes, and prospects. It addresses the concerns of language educators, curriculum designers, language education researchers, students and trainers. Theoretically, the issues of diversity, inclusion and equity share common principles and insights; yet they are not conceived of in this book as interchangeable. These subtle distinctions, as delineated in this book, show that they are complementary and include the principles of quality education which leverage human rights, sustainability and promotion of the human capital. What makes this book distinctive is that it reconsiders the existing pedagogical trends in terms of the current social upheavals, and with reference to the principles of development and progress needed in twenty-first century education.

This book considers a class of ergodic finite controllable Markov's chains. The main idea behind the method, described in this book, is to develop the original discrete optimization problems (or game models) in the space of randomized formulations, where the variables stand in for the distributions (mixed strategies or preferences) of the original discrete (pure) strategies in the use. The following suppositions are made: a finite state space, a limited action space, continuity of the probabilities and rewards associated with the actions, and a necessity for accessibility. These hypotheses lead to the existence of an optimal policy. The best course of action is always stationary. It is either simple (i.e., nonrandomized stationary) or composed of two nonrandomized policies, which is equivalent to randomly selecting one of two simple policies throughout each epoch by tossing a biased coin. As a bonus, the optimization procedure just has to repeatedly solve the time-average dynamic programming equation, making it theoretically feasible to choose the optimum course of action under the global restriction. In the ergodic cases the state distributions, generated by the corresponding transition equations, exponentially quickly converge to their stationary (final) values. This makes it possible to employ all widely used optimization methods (such as Gradient-like procedures, Extra-proximal method, Lagrange's multipliers, Tikhonov's regularization), including the related numerical techniques. In the book we tackle different problems and theoretical Markov models like controllable and ergodic Markov chains, multi-objective Pareto front solutions, partially observable Markov chains, continuous-time Markov chains, Nash equilibrium and Stackelberg equilibrium, Lyapunov-like function in Markov chains, Best-reply strategy, Bayesian incentive-compatible mechanisms, Bayesian Partially Observable Markov Games, bargaining solutions for Nash and Kalai-Smorodinsky formulations, multi-traffic signal-control synchronization problem, Rubinstein's non-cooperative bargaining solutions, the transfer pricing problem as bargaining.

This book describes recent collaborations combining the expertise of applied mathematicians, engineers and geophysicists within a research training group (RTG) on "Modeling, Simulation and Optimization of Fluid Dynamic Applications¿, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The focus is on mathematical modeling, adaptive discretization, approximation strategies and shape optimization with PDEs. The balanced research program is based on the guiding principle that mathematics drives applications and is inspired by applications. With this leitmotif the RTG advances research in Modeling, Simulation and Optimization by an interdisciplinary approach, i.e., to stimulate fundamental education and research by highly complex applications and at the simultaneously transfer tailored mathematical methods to applied sciences. The reported research involves nine projects and addresses challenging fluid dynamic problems inspired by applied sciences, such as climate research & meteorology, energy, aerospace & marine engineering, or medicine. More fundamental research concerning analysis, approximation and numerics is also covered.The material represents a successful attempt to exchange research paradigms between different disciplines and thus displays a modern approach to basic research into scientifically and societally relevant contemporary problems.