Books published by Springer International Publishing AG

This book provides professionals and academics with a holistic and practical approach to virtual and innovative quality management (QM) throughout the business value chain. It describes how to manage the value change from the supply side combining all functions of the value chain and contains best practices in performance, particularly in the production, trading, service, and information industries. It explores such topics as integrated management systems (IMS), extended reality, artificial intelligence, and environmental social governance (ESG). Industry examples and case studies are used to reveal the diversity of opportunities for QM methodologies and principles. This book is an ideal guide for professionals and practitioners who wish to incorporate QM concepts to achieve a competitive advantage across all business functions.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th IFIP TC 10 International Embedded Systems Symposium, IESS 2022, held in Lippstadt, Germany, during November 3-4, 2022. The 10 full revised papers and 2 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 13 submissions. The presented research and technical works cover system-level design methods, algorithms, verification and validation techniques, estimation of system properties and characteristics, performance analysis, and real-time systems design. Also, the book presents industrial and real-world application case studies that discuss the challenges and realizations of modern embedded systems, especially when it comes to including artificial intelligence algorithms and techniques in embedded systems.

This book offers models, ideas and processes for personal transformation, educational transformation and organizational transformation in times of global crises. We live in a time of Metacrisis, an era in which several major crises occur at the same time. Times like these historically have offered opportunities for breakthrough and transformation. Our old leadership and educational models no longer work in this unpredictable and complex environment. What does work in times of turmoil is the ability to envision and enact new models, new systems and new forms of leadership. The contributions in this book provide leaders and change agents with a broad perspective on how transformation can take place across different domains as well as practical steps that can be implemented in various situations. It offers examples from different cultures, regions, and religions to help leaders quickly adapt and embrace whatever challenges that emerge. Taken together, the enclosed chapters provide a roadmap for a more positive future for all.

This book contains selected papers presented at the 17th IFIP WG 9.2, 9.6/11.7, 11.6/SIG 9.2.2 International Summer School on Privacy and Identity Management, held online in August/September 2022.The 9 full papers and 5 workshop and tutorial papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 23 submissions. As in previous years, one of the goals of the IFIP Summer School was to encourage the publication of thorough research papers by students and emerging scholars. The papers combine interdisciplinary approaches to bring together a host of perspectives, such as technical, legal, regulatory, socio-economic, social or societal, political, ethical, anthropological, philosophical, or psychological perspectives.

This book describes and analyzes the lived experience of elder abuse from the queer community. It discusses the experiences by transwomen, gay men and lesbians of financial abuse, physical and sexual abuse, homophobic abuse, and neglect within partner relationships, residential care, in home care, and religious organizations. Queer and trans elders have been described as ¿The Silent Generation¿, since they have lived through times when their sexual and gender identities were criminalized and pathologized. The book shows that they are far more at risk to suffer abuse and neglect by those they should be able to trust, since they are more likely to have encountered all key risk factors, such as isolation, previous abuse and trauma, and mistrust of the health care system. Their vulnerability has been overlooked and this book addresses that gap. As such, this book provides a great resource to anyone working with elders, including medical professionals, care providers, police, counsellors, and policy makers.

Ten years have elapsed since the printing of the second edition of this book. Since then there's been a veritable explosion of information coming mainly from the field of molecular diagnostics, which bear particular importance in the classification and treatment of Infantile enteropathies, disorders associated with immunodeficiencies, the classification of intestinal polyps and polyposis syndromes in childhood, cholestatic and metabolic disorders of childhood, liver tumors and transplantation pathology, all of which were major subjects explored in our previous editions. In this updated third edition, most of the chapters have been extensively revised to incorporate updated understanding in pathogenesis and terminology. For example, the widespread use of genetic panels and next generation sequencing in the diagnosis of cholestatic disorders of infancy and childhood, not widely available when the last edition was being prepared, prompted the writing of an entirely new chapter reflecting these advances by a new set of authors. Similarly, progress in diagnosis and classification of liver tumors justified an entirely new chapter on liver tumors that incorporates newer patient stratification in treatment protocols and reflects the new WHO classification of liver tumors.Pathology of Pediatric Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease 3rd Edition provides the pediatric pathologist, the GI or general pathologist, and the pediatric gastroenterologist with the most complete and current reference on the subject. It includes in-depth discussions on disorders and issues that are frequently encountered but for which up-to-date information is often not readily available, as well as infrequent disorders unique or specific to children that are not covered in standard texts.

This textbook provides a concise introduction to the differential geometry of curves and surfaces in three-dimensional space, tailored for undergraduate students with a solid foundation in mathematical analysis and linear algebra.The book emphasizes the geometric content of the subject, aiming to quickly cover fundamental topics such as the isoperimetric inequality and the Gauss¿Bonnet theorem. This approach allows the author to extend beyond the typical content of introductory books and include additional important geometric results, such as curves and surfaces of constant width, the classification of complete surfaces of non-negative constant curvature, and Hadamard's theorem on surfaces of non-positive curvature. This range of topics offers greater variety for an introductory course.

This open access book provides a basic introduction to feature modelling and analysis as well as to the integration of AI methods with feature modelling. It is intended as an introduction for researchers and practitioners who are new to the field and will also serve as a state-of-the-art reference to this audience. While focusing on the AI perspective, the book covers the topics of feature modelling (including languages and semantics), feature model analysis, and interacting with feature model configurators. These topics are discussed along the AI areas of knowledge representation and reasoning, explainable AI, and machine learning.

Scientific writing is a trade that can and must be learned and not a form of art that is limited to the talented. The real constraint for writing a good scientific article is most of the time not the usage of the English language, but the conversion of outcomes of a set of experiments into a coherent and convincing scientific story. This book is designed to guide junior scientists in the Life Sciences writing their thesis and first manuscripts, along this uphill struggle. All aspects of building up and publishing a forceful scientific narrative are covered, from designing experiments to dealing with the reviewers¿ comments.This book takes you step by step through the process of writing a paper. It starts by discussing how to collect and organize data and make an outline. The actual writing starts with the Results section, as this is the heart of any research paper. The Discussion interprets your data in the framework of the existing literature and explains the novel insights you obtained. The Introduction is written to pose the questions that are answered in the Discussion and give the necessary background information. It is written after the Results and Discussion to make sure it is a perfect match. The M&M is the easiest to write. A good abstract is essential for attracting readers. How to write that is described in detail. The title is the last piece of the puzzle.The book contains many practical examples that explain the general principles of good writing. These examples are all from the Life Sciences and so are the anecdotes that illustrate the concepts, making the information directly applicable. All kinds of tips and suggestions are provided for improving readability and accessibility of your manuscript, thus making it easier acceptable. In addition, background information on the basics of science is supplied that helps to avoid common mistakes that cause rejection of manuscripts that report on otherwise good science.

This book provides operational guidance on how to bring process mining to the next level, with process intelligence enabling companies to improve process efficiency and realize value. Written by practitioners, it combines the editor¿s 10-year experience in this field gained at Celonis and Siemens, with 12 best practice use cases from international companies representing multiple industries and domains. Part I sets the stage describing the evolution from process mining to process intelligence. The chapters guide the reader step by step, from getting started to driving adoption at scale. Success factors critical for digital transformations and a detailed path to value realization are presented. Best practices on operating models and Centers of Excellence (CoEs) are shared as accelerators for successful digital transformations. Part II presents 12 use cases written by transformation- and CoE leaders who have achieved significant impact and value with process intelligence in their respective organization. All use cases have been written independent from any particular software, with a focus on evangelizing the topic and showcasing how companies like ABB, BMW, Bosch, Merck, PepsiCo, Saint Gobin, Siemens, and others leverage the capability to drive value. Part III provides an outlook on the future of process intelligence from an academic and an operational perspective, with a special focus on the disruptive impact of GenAI with future scenarios, challenges and recommendations.The book is written by practitioners for practitioners. Readers may have responsibilities as senior executives, transformation leaders, process managers and experts, consultants, change evangelists, etc. The book provides operational, hands-on tips on how to accelerate process transformation in organizations by detailing best practices as well as possible pitfalls.

"A stimulating reading for academic managers and management scholars. This publication examines and contextualizes academic decision-making from a knowing-in-practice perspective and provides useful insights and recommendations."-Joaquín Alegre, Professor of Innovation Management, University of Valencia, SpainThis book explores the notion of knowing-in-practice to unravel the formation of academic managers' knowing in a community university. It considers the unique socio-historical context and institutional intricacies, such as procedures, flows, and political and power structures. Knowing-in-practice implies that knowledge is dynamic, constantly in flux, and intricately linked to the capability for action within the social context. In essence, knowledge is emergent and anchored by its material context.The role of an academic manager is distinctive, involving the concurrent practice of higher education management and teaching. Hence, academic-managers are supposed to deal with a multiplicity of activities and interpersonal relationships. This work will enhance our understanding of the constitution process of academic-managers in higher education, emphasizing the perspective of knowing-in-practice. It offers insights into the learning processes and knowing associated with academic management, contributing to the improvement of university management and leadership. Further, it contributes to the advancement of organizational studies related to learning and knowing.Fabiano Larentis is Professor of Management at Universidade de Caxias do Sul, Brazil. His research focuses on learning in organizations, inter-organizational relationships and university management.Claudia Simone Antonello is Professor at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Her research focuses on learning in organizations and the constitution of knowledge and work in contemporary society.

The oil industry is set to change dramatically over the next decade with oil consumption needing to drop substantially to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Yet oil will be needed for many more years and oil markets will continue to be important.This book explores the impact of the energy transition on oil markets and the ways in which the producing countries, companies, crude oil values and benchmarks may change. It sets out the ways in which changes to the oil markets and prices resulting from the energy transition can be mitigated and managed, and will be relevant to professionals working within oil markets and policymakers interested in the energy transition.

This book offers an up-to-date introductory treatment of computational techniques applied to problems in finance, placing issues such as numerical stability, convergence and error analysis in both deterministic and stochastic settings at its core.The first part provides a welcoming but nonetheless rigorous introduction to the fundamental theory of option pricing, including European, American, and exotic options along with their hedge parameters, and combines a clear treatment of the mathematical framework with practical worked examples in Python. The second part explores the main computational methods for valuing options within the Black-Scholes framework: lattice, Monte Carlo, and finite difference methods. The third and final part covers advanced topics for the simulation of financial processes beyond the standard Black-Scholes setting. Techniques for the analysis and simulation of multidimensional financial data, including copulas, are covered and will be of interest to those studying machine learning for finance. There is also an in-depth treatment of exact and approximate sampling methods for stochastic differential equation models of interest rates and volatilities.Written for advanced undergraduate and masters-level courses, the book assumes some exposure to core mathematical topics such as linear algebra, ordinary differential equations, multivariate calculus, probability, and statistics at an undergraduate level. While familiarity with Python is not required, readers should be comfortable with basic programming constructs such as variables, loops, and conditional statements.

This open access novel uses fantasy and romance to pique readers' interest in understanding how AI technologies can be used for social justice across very different political and social terrains. Can you truly reach out to somebody who is in every aspect the direct opposite of yourself? Gabriel and Tilda, the two protagonists of this futuristic novel, are very different people. They work at a Berlin-based international aid company, and the only thing they can agree on is that the world is in a shambles: Scarce public resources, conflict and crises, inequalities, religious and socio-cultural belief systems that cement social injustice, have created a world as deeply divided and set apart as Gabriel and Tilda. They are sent on company business to recruit international partners for a social development project on global justice, and start travelling the world together. On their adventurous journey through many countries, they learn about the impacts of culture on social welfare systems, while trying to define their own relationship, which is intermingled with generational power games and milieu-specific worldview struggles. In Gabriel and Tildäs attempts to bridge the deep gulf between their personalities, the novel creates a metaphor for finding a cohesive model of global justice using artificial intelligence that can integrate highly contextualized, national value cultures. Gabriel and Tilda are supported by two guardian angels: Assigned to save the planet through interpersonal and intercultural integration, the angels GA and TA team up with English Benedictine monk and mystic guru Bede Griffiths who is very keen to help Tilda and Gabriel in their model pilot of unlikely love.

After the brief respite that followed the fall of the USSR, geopolitics and major wars are back, affecting everyone everywhere. In a world transitioning to multipolarity Great Powers jostle for supremacy, regional powers feel emboldened to act on their own ambitions, supply chains are disrupted and instability becomes the norm. America has an empire that it wants to keep, Russia lost an empire that it wants to recover and China doesn't have an empire and wants one - with India the wildcard. But there is more to it than Great Power rivalry. From Ukraine to the South China Sea, from the Middle East to Central Asia, from the Arctic to outer space Bongiovanni lays it bare in this fascinating journey across the geopolitics of our time with, in the background, de-globalization, the battle against the dollar and the new AI-driven age.Francesco M. Bongiovanni lived in Europe, Asia, the USA and in the Arab world. He holds an MBA from Harvard and a doctorate in engineering. He is an entrepreneur in the space sector and a former investment banker who also worked as an advisor in strategy and finance. He has been made a Knight of the Order of St Charles for his contributions to humanitarian and biodiversity protection endeavours. He is an author of books and a composer of classical symphonic music and jazz.

This practical textbook is designed as core reading for pre-service and in-service teachers and mental health practitioners in upper level Education and Psychology programs. Key concepts addressed in this case study collection include Inclusive Education as an overarching framework through the lens of Critical Disability Studies, Intersectionality and Mental Health. It portrays the first-hand accounts and lived experiences of individuals with disabilities to further understand the impact students¿ classroom experiences have beyond their early school years. These accounts along with commentaries from education and health professionals inform evidence-based recommendations for educators and practitioners on prevention and intervention practices for school age children with disabilities. Readers will be prompted to consider their experiences and perspectives through chapter specific discussion-based and reflective questions that are designed to incorporate key concepts addressed throughout the text.

This book illustrates and explains the key concepts of business data analytics from scratch, tackling the day-to-day challenges of a business data analyst. It provides you with all the professional tools you need to predict online shop sales, to conduct A/B tests on marketing campaigns, to generate automated reports with PowerPoint, to extract datasets from Wikipedia, and to create interactive analytics Web apps. Alongside these practical projects, this book provides hands-on coding exercises, case studies, the essential programming tools and the CRISP-DM framework which you'll need to kickstart your career in business data analytics.The different chapters prioritize practical understanding over mathematical theory, using realistic business data and challenges of the Junglivet Whisky Company to intuitively grasp key concepts and ideas. Designed for beginners and intermediates, this book guides you from business data analytics fundamentals to advanced techniques, covering a large number of different techniques and best-practices which you can immediately exploit in your daily work.The book does not assume that you have an academic degree or any experience with business data analytics or data science. All you need is an open mind, willingness to puzzle and think mathematically, and the willingness to write some R code. This book is your all-in-one resource to become proficient in business data analytics with R, equipped with practical skills for the real world.

This course-based open access textbook delves into percolation theory, examining the physical properties of random mediämaterials characterized by varying sizes of holes and pores. The focus is on both the mathematical foundations and the computational and statistical methods used in this field. Designed as a practical introduction, the book places particular emphasis on providing a comprehensive set of computational tools necessary for studying percolation theory.Readers will learn how to generate, analyze, and comprehend data and models, with detailed theoretical discussions complemented by accessible computer codes. The book's structure ensures a complete exploration of worked examples, encompassing theory, modeling, implementation, analysis, and the resulting connections between theory and analysis.Beginning with a simplified model system¿a model porous medium¿whose mathematical theory is well-established, the book subsequently applies the same framework to realistic random systems. Key topics covered include one- and infinite-dimensional percolation, clusters, scaling theory, diffusion in disordered media, and dynamic processes. Aimed at graduate students and researchers, this textbook serves as a foundational resource for understanding essential concepts in modern statistical physics, such as disorder, scaling, and fractal geometry.

This book provides an up-to-date overview and critical discussion of technologies that shape and influence the digital economy, and especially covers artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, digital twins, blockchain technology, 3D printing, and biochip technology.After two introductory chapters about the digital economy and digital technologies in general, dedicated chapters explain the basics and foundations of each of the selected technologies as well as their potential for industry and services. To this end, these chapters first introduce the specific digital technology, followed by one interview with an academic expert for further describing and explaining the technology plus a second one with a business expert for illustrating a successful business case. Each chapter ends with a recap of the takeaways, supplemented by links to further readings for those who are eager to delve more into the relative topic as well as a self-test to challenge the reader's understanding.The book mainly targets business professionals and advanced undergraduate students in business and computer science. Business professionals (ranging from employees to managers and executives) will become acquainted with the basic terminology and diverse business aspects related to emerging digital technologies. They will benefit from descriptions by academic leaders in the field along with information and advice from industry people. Students will get an overview of the most important technologies which may also help them in selecting the most promising topics in their further education.

This book gives an indispensable guide to navigating the shift in customer behavior and discovers how to rally their resources, cultivate capabilities, and forge strategies that harness cutting-edge technologies. In today's tech-centric world, customers crave lightning-fast digital experiences and demand instant solutions. In response, firms are changing the way they do business by accelerating the application of new age technologies, revamping processes, building new organizational structures, and innovating new business models.The authors unveil the secrets of integrating diverse data sources, principles of Marketing 5.0 and employing advanced techniques to unearth profound insights about the customers.This work is the ticket to the latest in AI, machine learning, drones, and other game-changing technologies. Stay ahead of the curve by learning not just what tech to use, but how, when, and why to deploy it in this digital age.For the trailblazers with the influence and resources to reshape marketing strategies, this book is the essential read. Executives climbing the corporate ladder will find it a compass, unraveling how new age technologies dance with both traditional and emerging marketing practices. And for MBA students hungry for insights on navigating the digital era's competitive landscape, this book is the treasure trove of tools and real-world cases. Dive in and chart the course in the tech-driven marketing landscape!

This book supports the development of academic, personal, and professional skills for students of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). It aims to demystify aspects of learning and writing practices and can be used by students as a practical resource to enhance their engagement with education and to support their success on their programmes. The book guides students in a range of areas to help their academic development including study techniques, time management, managing groupwork, understanding assessment requirements, academic writing and how to work effectively within a digital learning environment. In addition, the book features a strong personal and professional development dimension which enables readers to engage in a process of self-inquiry as part of their learning. This self-inquiry is important to understanding assumptions about learning and can help students to explore their prior educational experiences and to identify their particular motivations and challenges. The book extends this self-inquiry to support the development of reflective practice which is key to enhancing students' learning and to enabling the ongoing professional development and practice of the ECEC educator. While many ECEC undergraduate programmes offer academic guidance to students, there is a gap for a more embedded academic support which is discipline specific and therefore more closely attuned to the needs of the ECEC student and the emerging needs of the sector. In addition to providing a resource for students and practitioners, this book can also serve as a useful resource for lecturers in the ECEC discipline. Its accompanying site contains downloadable templates from the book which provide a range of activities and prompts suitable for engaging students in thinking about their learning and writing about their professional practice.

This comprehensively updated new edition provides patients and their physicians (especially non-oncologist healthcare providers) with a clear and concise introduction to cancer immunotherapy. Unlike traditional forms of cancer therapy, immunotherapy acts by boosting the patient¿s own immune system to fight cancer; immunotherapy's unique features make its management, monitoring and side-effects different from those of traditional cancer therapy. Especially novel are the side effects of cancer immunotherapy, necessitating greater awareness for both patients and physicians in order to minimize complications and maximize benefits.The patient-friendly and state-of-the-art knowledge presented in this book will inform patients and their care providers about the benefits and risks of cancer immunotherapy, and help them to understand how immunotherapy would control their unique disease. Researchers and academic professionals in the field of cancer immunotherapy will also find clear, useful information to help them communicate with patients and address unresolved issues. Key features include:Expertise. Editors and authors are scientists and oncologists specializing in cancer immunotherapy, involved in scientific discovery from the early stage of immune-checkpoint inhibitors to today's patient care. Their insights, expertise and experience guarantee high quality and authority in the science, medicine and practice of cancer immunotherapy.Patient-friendly. This book is written specifically for cancer patients considering or undergoing immunotherapy. As an educational tool, this book will help the reader to understand the underlying science, balance the risks and benefits based on both research and clinical facts, and make an informed decision regarding their treatment options. Disease Specificity. Cancer is a complicated disease involving multiple stages and pathology. Its response to immunotherapy is individualized and varies depending on cancer types. The authors¿ expertise in treating different types of cancers, including melanoma, lung, kidney, bladder, breast, and lymphoma, provides disease-specific insights in applying immunotherapy to each disease.State-of-the-Art. This edition has been comprehensively updated to reflect recent advances, including detailed coverage of the latest therapies like CAR-T, TIL, immune checkpoint inhibitors and bispecific T cell engaging antibodies, and dedicated chapters on breast cancer, solid organ transplant recipients, GI and genitourinary malignancies, and resistant cancer.Aimed at patients and non-oncologist care providers as a resource when seeking immunotherapy as a treatment optionDetailed focus on various cancers provides disease-specific insights, clinical studies, and risk/benefit analysisComprehensively updated to address the latest immunotherapies and expanded coverage of disease-specific scenarios

This textbook covers business architecture modeling in all its essential aspects. Based on the MMABP Philosophical Framework for Business System Modelling it provides a comprehensive overview of four basic dimensions of the business system model together with their essential relationships. The methods, techniques, and tools are described and explained for every model type with examples. Special attention is paid to integrating all dimensions using the Business System Consistency Framework.The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces business architecture and the approaches and tools to model it. MMABP is introduced with its basic principles and put in context with other approaches to business architecture modeling. Chapter 2 then deals with the modeling of a business system in terms of its objectives. The basic principles of process modeling, the distinction between global and detailed views of processes, and an approach to managing the detail of the process model in the form of four levels of process abstraction are introduced. Chapter 3 describes the modeling of a business system in terms of its underlying concepts and the business rules that apply within the modeled system. The basic principles of object modeling, the distinction between global and detailed views of objects, and the approach to capturing the object life cycles are introduced. Chapter 4 presents a simplified metamodel that describes how all models of the business system are related, and consistency rules that guide the analysts to avoid possible inconsistencies. Chapter 5 focuses on the implementation of the business system in an organization. It describes the role and specifics of its information system, explains the comprehensive procedure for building the process-driven organization, and reflects on the organizational maturity and its role in the further development of a process-driven organization. Eventually, Chapter 6 presents a complex example of the application of MMABP, including the functioning prototype of the process system. The prototype is then used to illustrate an essential difference between the conceptual and technology levels of models, and the importance of distinguishing between them.This textbook is written for students in enterprise architecture or business information systems as well as for professionals developing enterprise information systems or process-driven organizations.