Books published by Springer Nature Singapore

This book borrows the concept of "high-definition" from digital broadcasting to highlight our unique approach to Hong Kong society, which gives a sharper image than analyses. It intends to highlight contrasts with many common and taken-for-granted stories, myths and representations of Hong Kong- which often presented with a low level of detail, lacking proper connections between grounded personal experiences and the macro social context. With chapters covering various salient dimensions of Hong Kong's society, including migration, economy, inequality, identity and social movements, our "high-definition" approach presents images with high enough "resolution" to match multiple layers of experiences from walks of life of Hong Kong people, contributing to an understanding of how global transformation impacts local people's experiences, as well as Hong Kong's significance in the regional and global system.

This comprehensive edited volume collects the most recent information with up-to-date citations, on the decrease in plant productivity under climatic changes and its link with global food security. The book emphasis on the crop management practices and recent advancement in the techniques for mitigating the negative effects of climate induced biotic and abiotic stress. It brings together 19 chapters developed by eminent researchers in the area of plant and environmental sciences. Global climate change is increasingly becoming a concern for future of agriculture. High levels of inorganic and organic pollutants and climatic stress adversely affects the sensitive and complex equation of natural resources and ecosystem services. To meet the increased food demand, plant productivity needs to be enhanced, therefore this book fills in the gap and brings together information on the physiological and molecular approaches for improving crop productivity.The book is resourceful reading material for researchers, faculty members, graduate and post graduate students of plant science, agriculture, agronomy, soil science, botany, Molecular biology and environmental science.

This book presents the state of the art in distributed machine learning algorithms that are based on gradient optimization methods. In the big data era, large-scale datasets pose enormous challenges for the existing machine learning systems. As such, implementing machine learning algorithms in a distributed environment has become a key technology, and recent research has shown gradient-based iterative optimization to be an effective solution. Focusing on methods that can speed up large-scale gradient optimization through both algorithm optimizations and careful system implementations, the book introduces three essential techniques in designing a gradient optimization algorithm to train a distributed machine learning model: parallel strategy, data compression and synchronization protocol.Written in a tutorial style, it covers a range of topics, from fundamental knowledge to a number of carefully designed algorithms and systems of distributed machine learning. It will appeal to a broad audience in the field of machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data and database management.

This book elucidates the murky realities of China's taxation system today, and advocates bold plans for change. Theorizing finance and taxation in relation to a national political system, the authors explain the current tangled-up realities of China's creaky, inherited and uneven tax system- and put forward a plan for radical change. This book will be of interest to finance professionals, economists, and scholars of the Chinese economy. The focus is to properly handle the three basic economic and social relations between the government and the market (and the enterprises as the main market entities), between the central and local governments, and between the public power system and the citizens. This book follows the research context of problem orientation - goal orientation - practical operation, and puts forward the ideas, basic goals and paths of fiscal system reform that adapt to the modernization of national governance.

This textbook provides a first-hand account of impact of volatility on valuations. It focuses on valuation of the investment with fair, practical and insightful explanations. Volatility in markets can form the foundation of fair value. A marginal change in volatility has a significant impact on the effective cost of borrowing (capital). Portfolio managers, fund managers and corporates continue to watch as prices plunge due to volatility and can impose future restrictions on their skillful maneuver. The book highlights the approaches, design of tests, comparison and matching or making of models. It delves into techniques for measuring the contours and boundaries of risk and translating the losses to end impact. It explains the post facto and post period nuances to recover from money loss. The book further elaborates combining positions and hedging, to evaluate and choose to conduct tests of effectiveness. It provides guidance on benchmarks of portfolios, tax implications and carrying forward benefits of losses. The text includes examples and business use cases that build on analysis, common tools and highlights the end use of volatility for stakeholders.

This book highlights the state-of-the-art research and discovery in the use of MOFs in catalysis, highlighting the scope to which these novel materials have been incorporated by the community. It provides an exceptional insight into the strategies for the synthesis and functionalization of MOFs, their use as CO2 and chemical warfare agents capture, their role in bio-catalysis and applications in photocatalysis, asymmetric catalysis, nano-catalysis, etc. This book will also emphasize the challenges with previous signs of progress and way for further research, details relating to the current pioneering technology, and future perspectives with a multidisciplinary approach. Furthermore, it presents up-to-date information on the economics, toxicity, and regulations related to these novel materials.

Eating locally and developing an urban-rural food continuum is a rapidly evolving movement. Integration of multi-functional forms of agriculture - termed New Forms of Urban Agriculture (NFUA) - could be a critical adaptation to strengthen this movement and for the sustainability of cities. While NFUA have the potential to provide diverse benefits to humans, there is an absence of reliable empirical data on the scale and impact of urban resources on NFUA which has a profound impact on its viability and sustainability. In this book, we shift the focus from how NFUA have potential to impact the urban system to investigate the potential impacts of urban resources on NFUA. Access to resources such as land, labour, clean water, etc. are major barriers to enter the agriculture sector in the cities; the chapters in this book present projects or reviews recent research on the subject from different cities in the world. This edited volume offers critical perspectives from diverse disciplines, expertise, and geographic contexts related to the actual and potential role of urban and peri-urban agriculture in the developing and the developed world where forms, adaptations, and debates around NFUA vary distinctively. Using and urban ecology lens, the book provides empirical evidence of how urban resources of land, water/waste, labour, and biodiversity impact NFUA.

This book discusses the various aspects of sustainable packaging edibles in food industry. It is divided into five main parts. The first section of the book addresses details of edible films, various sources, origin, scope and functions. Second section covers different sustainable alternatives such as seed gums, fruits and vegetable peels, sea weeds, fruits wastes, dairy by products & anti-oxidant edible packaging. This book also discusses about methods of improvements of mechanical properties of packaging edibles & their food applications, testing methods, innovations, limitations, challenges and nano edibles. It provides insights about the large quantity of wastes and by-products generated by food processing industries. Disposal of these wastes is a big problem due to their high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) & chemical oxygen demand (COD) which causes severe problem of pollution to the environment. These wastes contain large amounts of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, minerals, various bioactive compounds and have eco-friendly packaging potential. The book emphasizes on the fact that recycling these wastes as packaging edibles are sustainable and economical. As a world foreseeing food technology revolution, this book explores the unique topics in food packaging which possesses mammoth commercial applications and environmental potential. Due to its immense scope, this book is highly useful for researchers, food scientists, students and food packaging industry experts.

This book contains the proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Logistics, Informatics and Service Sciences (LISS 2020), which is co-organized by Beijing Jiaotong University, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, in July 25-28 2020. This book focuses on the "AI and data-driven technical and management innovation in logistics, informatics and services" and aims to provide new research methods, theories and applications from various areas of management and engineering. In detail the included scientific papers analyse and describe communication processes in the fields of logistics, informatics, service sciences and other related areas. The variety of papers delivers added value for both scholars and practitioners. Information and communication technologies have been providing an effective network infrastructure and development platform for logistics and service operations.

This book presents comprehensive research and analyses on road traffic safety in China, discussing individual, vehicle, road and environmental factors to improve road safety in the country. It also sheds light on the development of similar (adjusted) measures to reduce traffic violations and/or accident fatalities and injuries, and to promote road safety in other countries and regions. As such, it is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to understand the characteristics and patterns of road traffic safety, the risk factors affecting traffic violations and traffic injuries, as well as road safety policies and practices in China.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Cognitive Systems and Information Processing, ICCSIP 2022, held in Fuzhou, China, during November 18-20, 2022.The 47 papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 121 submissions. They were organized in the following topical sections as follows: Award; Algorithm; Application; Manipulation & Control; Hardware and Vision.

This book is focused on AI-empowered knowledge management to improve processes, implementation of technology for providing easy access to knowledge and the impact of knowledge management to promote the platform for generation of new knowledge through continuous learning. The book discusses process of knowledge management which includes entirety of the creation, distribution, and maintenance of knowledge to achieve organizational objectives. It also covers knowledge management tools which enable and enhance knowledge creation, codification, and transfer within business firms thereby reducing the burden of work and allowing application of resources and effective usage towards practical tasks. An immense growth of artificial intelligence in business organizations has occurred and AI-empowered knowledge management practice is leading towards growth and development of the organization.

This book gives a comprehensive view of graph theory in informational retrieval (IR) and natural language processing(NLP). This book provides number of graph techniques for IR and NLP applications with examples. It also provides understanding of graph theory basics, graph algorithms and networks using graph. The book is divided into three parts and contains nine chapters. The first part gives graph theory basics and graph networks, and the second part provides basics of IR with graph-based information retrieval. The third part covers IR and NLP recent and emerging applications with case studies using graph theory. This book is unique in its way as it provides a strong foundation to a beginner in applying mathematical structure graph for IR and NLP applications. All technical details that include tools and technologies used for graph algorithms and implementation in Information Retrieval and Natural Language Processing with its future scope are explained in a clear and organized format.

The book is a collection of high-quality research papers presented at 7th Euro-China Conference on Intelligent Data Analysis and Applications, hosted by Communication University of Zhejiang, China and technically co-sponsored by Shandong University of Science and Technology, China; Zhejiang Lab, China; and Fujian University of Technology, China. The book covers areas like intelligent data analysis, computational intelligences, signal processing, and all associated applications of artificial intelligence.

This book offers effective and competitive food supply chains that are the consequence of technological innovation, collaboration, small agri-food business cases, entrepreneurial opportunities, cold chain technology management, disruptive technologies, and performance assessment through empirical analysis, case studies, and multimethod research in the food industry. The book comprehensively covers different interfaces of the food supply chain including procurement, processing, distribution, consumer, i.e., farm to fork. It provides solutions to various challenges such as globalization, food recalls, technological innovations, and consumer trust. This book will be of interest to researchers in the areas of the food supply chain, operations management, industrial engineering as well as professionals in the agri-food and allied industry.

This book draws attention to the nonlegal, sociocultural aspects of justice for minorities in China. The primary objectives are threefold. The first is to present a tentative analysis of the lived realities of being 'the other' in China, with the aim of presenting a critical picture of the complex national context and identifying main concerns and key challenges. Six topics are covered - gender roles, health, class, intimacy, ethnicity and religion, and expression. The second objective is to explore the interaction between a wide range of factors and myriad systems that enable or hinder protection and justice for these groups, be they historical, political, social, or cultural, hoping to open up a rich domain of inquiry for those interested in to what extent and in what ways otherness may or may not survive in China. The third objective is to bring attention to new trends and developments, some are easily identifiable whereas others are less detectable, some are interrelated while others are relatively isolated, some are straightforward and others remain easily misinterpreted.

This book provides insights into the 3rd International Conference on Communication, Devices and Computing (ICCDC 2021), which was held in Haldia, India, on August 16-18, 2021. It covers new ideas, applications, and the experiences of research engineers, scientists, industrialists, scholars, and students from around the globe. The proceedings highlight cutting-edge research on communication, electronic devices, and computing and address diverse areas such as 5G communication, spread spectrum systems, wireless sensor networks, and signal processing for secure communication, error control coding, printed antennas, analysis of wireless networks, antenna array systems, analog and digital signal processing for communication systems, frequency selective surfaces, radar communication, and substrate integrated waveguide and microwave passive components, which are key to state-of-the-art innovations in communication technologies.

Species of Contagion examines the political and social implications of xenotransplantation for bodies, nations, and species. Scientists are demonstrating a renewed interest in developing transplants for humans with tissues from pigs, with the aid of genetic engineering techniques, immunosuppressant drugs, and novel cellular technologies. Yet, some argue that these transspecies promiscuities threaten to enable new viruses to emerge in human populations. Drawing on the later works of Foucault, this book analyses contemporary power relations in animal-to-human transplantation research, ranging across governmental regulation, scientific understandings of infectious disease, and animal ethics. While many xenotransplantation practices resonate with a security approach that renders uncertainty an inherent condition of life and encourages adaptation across species boundaries, government regulation and industry also reinscribe sovereign boundaries of bodies, species, and nations. Species of Contagion illustrates the variation in the cultural and scientific imaginaries that governments and industry bring to bear on the problematic of xenotransplantation.

This book is a collection of selected high-quality research papers presented at the International Conference on Industrial Instrumentation and Control (ICI2C 2021), organized by the Department of Applied Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering, RCC Institute of Information Technology, Kolkata, India, during 20-August 22, 2021. It includes novel and innovative work from experts, practitioners, scientists and decision-makers from academia and industry. It covers topics such as instrumentation application in industry, instrumentation in electrical applications and instrumentation in recent trends with computation approach.

This collection of essays presents insight and methodology that are highly relevant for readers today as they consider the future of the world they live in. Experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, people have realized how fragile the current economy is and the necessity for reconstructing the socio-economic system. That system, which was considered the default for so long, was succeeded by the analytical framework of economics and regional science. The contents of this book are diversified, as are the achievements of Prof. Yasuhiro Sakai, to whom this volume is dedicated, and cover a wide area from mathematical and experimental economics to conventional and emerging fields of regional science. Some are timeless topics that have had new life breathed into them. Part I deals with, among other areas, risk management with uncertain events; the effectiveness and impacts of regulation and friction related to trading; the stability of strategic behavior and market equilibrium; and sustainable regional development and urban planning from the long-term perspective. Part II also presents a diversity of subjects, including input¿output analysis and computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling for internal as well as external structure and network linkage, such as a value chain; openness and creativity as related to competition among cities and regions; dispersion versus concentration; and inequality versus equality.

This book presents select proceedings of National Conference on Advances in Sustainable Construction Materials (ASCM 2020) and examines a range of durable, energy-efficient, and next-generation construction materials produced from industrial wastes and by-products. The topics covered include sustainable materials and construction, innovations in recycling concrete, green buildings and innovative structures, utilization of waste materials in construction, geopolymer concrete, self-compacting concrete by using industrial waste materials, nanotechnology and sustainability of concrete, environmental sustainability and development, recycling solid wastes as road construction materials, emerging sustainable practices in highway pavements construction, plastic roads, pavement analysis and design, application of geosynthetics for ground improvement, sustainability in offshore geotechnics, green tunnel construction technology and application, ground improvement techniques and municipal solid waste landfill. Given the scope of contents, the book will be useful for researchers and professionals working in the field of civil engineering and especially sustainable structures and green buildings.

This contributed volume focuses on the effects of macro, meso, micro, and nanoplastic waste on marine biota. It discusses the threats posed by plastic waste on the flora and fauna in the marine environment. This book will help in understanding different aspects of plastic waste generation, its transportation with different natural and anthropogenic ways, its accumulation at the seacoast, and its impact on marine biota. The book also suggests strategies for saving marine life from threats posed by plastic waste and presents methods to reduce its generation using different strategies. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, climate change scientists, capacity builders, and policymakers. It also serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Ecology, Botany, and Environmental Sciences.

This book focuses on the principles, methods, and interpretation involved in establishing the safety, risk, and hazard assessment of small molecules. It presents the regulatory requirements for risk and hazard identification as per the guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Paris, and the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use ICH and Schedule 'Y', India. It serves as reference material for undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy degree students as well as senior researchers to learn about the principles, methods, and interpretations of systemic dosage (acute and repeated dose) and genotoxicity (in vitro and in vivo), special toxicological investigations such as reproductive and developmental toxicology, carcinogenicity, and toxicokinetics using animal models or in vitro methods, as applicable. This book is the first of its kind in providing information on the principles and methods of implementation of Good Laboratory Practice based on the guidelines of OECD. It includes detailed chapters about the regulatory requirements and guidelines in pharmaceutical products and agrochemicals. It also describes the infrastructure needed for preclinical studies, including in vivo and in vitro facilities.

This book is a compilation of selected papers from the 1st Belt and Road Webinar Series on Geotechnics, Energy and Environment, March - May 2021. The book comprises selected research related to advances in geo-environmental engineering. Topics covered include rock mechanics, sustainable materials, frozen soils, geotechnical innovations in megacities. The research is related to the sustainable infrastructure development for countries in China's Belt and Road Initiative. The contents of the volume will prove useful to researchers and professionals working in geotechnical and geological engineering domains.

This book focuses on crisis management in forest industry of Russia. It is about the present, and the future, with a short retrospective about the past of the forest industry in Russia. It includes forecasting too and description of some of the best practices of developed countries to be implemented in Russia to overcome the crisis. The main theme of the book is smart innovations and innovative activities introduced and also those which are required in the forest industry of Russia. The book considers the effectiveness of innovations and institutional changes in the forest industry, which are an important direction of innovation activities required all together with technological and economic breakthrough with ecological aspects in priority. The necessity to implement the modern innovation system in the forest industry based on institutional changes is substantiated and thoroughly explained with successful examples of ongoing and future up-to-date smart innovations. The development of the forest innovation system is suggested for sustainable forest industry management; the key components of which are technological, product, institutional, and ecological innovations, as well as, innovative entrepreneurship. Realization of the innovation system for technological and intellectual improvement requires good scientific and personnel provision, anticipation of markets and tendencies of development for some decades ahead. The implied advanced technologies in the forest industry also include IT-, nano-, and biotechnologies. The success stories of the leading Russian and international companies in the forest industry of Russia are studied attentively in the book. The book presents a profound methodical and theoretical substantiation for the further implementation of the smart innovations and of the successful experience of the industry leading companies.

^ < p="">This highly informative and carefully presented volume highlights the impact behavior of fibre reinforced polymer composites. It begins with a preliminary focus on FRP materials, fabrication processes, micro- and macro- mechanics to calculate FRP laminates properties, damage nodes associated with FRP composites under different loadings. It provides a simple and unified approach to cover aspects of FRP composites behavior with low velocity impact loading. This book offers a valuable guide for those who wish to develop deeper insights into weaving architectures, stacking sequences, fabrication processes, general damage modes associated with FRP composites. It is a useful volume for students, academia and industry alike.^

This book offers a systematic literature review and a set of empirical studies on supply chain integration. Supply chain management is recognized as an essential means for firms to achieve competitive advantages, in which supply chain integration is regarded as the core for operational excellence: shorter lead time, lower inventory, faster delivery, and higher product and service quality. Using data from an international survey of manufacturing firms, an interrelated set of studies that investigate supply chain integration from different perspectives at multiple levels are conducted. Intra-organizational factors such as products, production systems, and socio-technical systems are examined to understand their effects on supply chain integration, indicating that firms need to implement different types of supply chain integration for specific competitive priorities. Then, the outcomes of supply chain integration, including its impact on risk management and sustainability management, are investigated from an inter-organizational perspective. The firm is embedded in a manufacturing network, a global supply chain, or both, and it can use supply chain integration as a strategic action for risks. Sustainability has been a vital issue for manufacturers, and supply chain integration can enhance its success. This book makes significant contributions to the relevant literature on supply chain integration and offers insights to supply chain managers in manufacturing industries.

This volume discusses how design broadly understood as design of business, policy, product, system, etc. can produce socially responsible innovations with livelihoods consequences. Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) is a robust framework for analysing and measuring social impact for excluded populations and groups. This is illustrated with case studies from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal by discussing how initiatives concerned with design in the broad sense have the potential to create sustainable livelihoods. This volume will be of interest to scholars and practitioners in Sustainable Development and Design.

This book provides a timely review on recent advancements in rock-filled concrete dam: a new type of dam originated from Tsinghua University in China. It covers historical overview of the development, filling process of high performance self-compacting concrete, mechanical and physical properties of rock-filled concrete, design of rock-filled concrete gravity dams and arch dams, as well as construction and quality control specifications. The book is intended for researchers, practicing engineers and graduate students who are interested in fundamental research and engineering design principles of rock-filled concrete dams. Successful insights gained from more than 120 rock-filled concrete dams completed or under construction in China are presented in this book, which can be useful references for all readers.

This book presents the collection of the accepted research papers presented in the 1st 'International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Sustainable Technologies (ICoCIST-2021)'. This edited book contains the articles related to the themes on artificial intelligence in machine learning, big data analysis, soft computing techniques, pattern recognitions, sustainable infrastructural development, sustainable grid computing and innovative technology for societal development, renewable energy, and innovations in Internet of Things (IoT).