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Books in Social sciences and humanities

  • Plate Heat Exchanger Enhancement Techniques

    In Support of the Energy Transition and a Circular Economy
    • 1st Edition
    • Suresh Sundaramurthy + 1 more
    • English
    Plate Heat Exchanger Enhancement Techniques: in Support of the Energy Transition and a Circular Economy provides fundamental knowledge on the applications of the plate heat exchanger (PHE) and how it can be optimized to make energy conversion more efficient. In addition, it introduces relevant studies that explain the heat transfer mechanism of the PHE, its design, and how developing more compact and evolved heat exchangers contributes to a sustainable, cleaner, and more energy-efficient future. Researchers, scientists, engineers, professionals, and students working in nanotechnology, materials science, and sustainability will find this volume valuable to their work.
  • Handbook of Political Economy

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 1
    • English
    Handbook of Political Economy highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on topics such as The various ways in which democratic politics is facing new challenges and having a difficulty to rising up to these challenges, Changing political cleavages across democracies around the world, Representation and populism, Malfunctioning Democracy, Clientelism, Race and dealing with racial (and ethnic) cleavages in the context of building democratic institutions, Digital dystopia, Politics and social media, The role of money (and power) in politics, and much more. Other sections cover Stability of authoritarianism, When repression succeeds in its objectives and when it backfires (and the various tools that authoritarian and repressive governments use), Democratic possibilities in history, Democracy over the Ages, The politics of change and critical junctures, Religion and politics, The Political Economy of Social Norms, Politics of the labor market, Cross cultural and global perspective on the empowerment of women and the political economy of gender disparities, and much more.
  • China's Experience in Eco Cities and Green Transport

    • 1st Edition
    • Huapu Lu
    • English
    China's Experience in Eco Cities and Green Transport helps readers develop a deeper understanding of major changes and ongoing developments in ecological cities and green transportation in China. Using case studies from 28 cities that explore urban transportation construction, the book details field surveys and data retrieval, along with authoritative data that is used to analyze the Chinese experience. The book encourages readers to explore current and future developments in China, thus paving the way for high-quality urban planning and development. Importantly, the book also discusses the implications of the Chinese experience for other countries.Each chapter provides an overview of the city's unique characteristics, including its land use and urban layout, motorization and transportation infrastructure, public transit system, specialized transportation modes, development of slow traffic systems, ecological initiatives, urban culture, and civility, along with key highlights and lessons learned from the city's experience.
  • Building Better Relationships for Clinical Success and Personal Growth

    Behavioral Artistry
    • 1st Edition
    • Justin B Leaf + 2 more
    • English
    Building Better Relationships for Clinical Success and Personal Growth: Behavioral Artistry examines the transformative realm of Behavioral Artistry (BA), unveiling seven core skills that enhance individual efficacy. Rooted in the academic literature of behavioral analysis, these traits encompass a sense of humor, affinity for people, celebration of small victories, persistence, optimism, objectivity, and tenacity. This reader-friendly approach, devoid of technical jargon, ensures accessibility for a diverse audience. Offering a unique training curriculum, real-life scenarios, and application strategies, this book is not merely informative but also a practical guide to fostering job satisfaction and success in high-turnover fields.As a valuable resource for all clinical professionals, this book equips readers with the tools necessary for personal and professional fulfillment.
  • Assembling Smart Cyber-Physical Systems

    Heterogeneous, Diffuse and Green Technological Infrastructures for Cities and Industries
    • 1st Edition
    • Zakaria Benomar + 3 more
    • English
    Assembling Smart Cyber-Physical Systems: Heterogeneous, Diffuse and Green Technological Infrastructures for Cities and Industries offers a comprehensive approach on how to design, implement, and use Cyber Physical Systems (CPSs)-computing systems with a strong interaction between the physical environment (equipped with sensors and actuators) and the cyber realm (the Cloud). Through a carefully structured methodological approach to systems design, readers will learn how the infrastructure continuum represents our environment, where we can move from edge computing to the Cloud, going through fog resources to set up an entire framework for services deployment and application in smart cities and industries.As dealing with complex systems has become increasingly difficult, CPSs are increasingly critical to cope with integrating software, which people are used to, with hardware, which is distributed among different domains. This book shows how to deal with such systems where there is no distinction among the different parts: computing, storage, networking, and IoT all contribute to setting up the modern processing environments, thus it is mandatory to keep them simultaneously under control.
  • Symbiotic Planning for Urban Futures

    A Paradigm for Human-AI Co-Creation
    • 1st Edition
    • Zhong-Ren Peng
    • English
    Symbiotic Planning for Urban Futures: A Paradigm for Human-AI Co-Creation presents a framework for harnessing AI's analytical power while preserving democratic control over urban futures. This book establishes symbiotic planning as a falsifiable paradigm—grounded in five technology-neutral axioms and operationalized through governed friction—where AI acts as governed co-creator across the CORE framework: Collaboration, Options, Refinement, Execution. It clarifies distinct roles: AI synthesizes evidence, generates non-obvious options, and stress-tests plans; planners steward assumptions and translate values into constraints; communities contest and refine constraints; and authorized decision-makers set ends and grant time-bound approvals. Equity is treated as a primary design constraint, with equity floors as binding guardrails.This book serves as essential resource for urban planners, civic technologists, policymakers, researchers, and students committed to democratic urban governance in an algorithmic age. It provides actionable governance tools, including Civic Evidence Dossiers, Authorization Forums, Equity Gates, and a 100-Day Starter Kit, ensuring AI remains transparent, contestable, and subject to renewal. Whether navigating AI procurement, studying algorithmic accountability, or organizing for transparent decision-making, this book empowers readers to make cities more resilient, equitable, and democratically co-governed.
  • Navigating Education 5.0 into the Metaverse

    Educational Technologies of the Future
    • 1st Edition
    • Robertas Damaševičius
    • English
    Navigating Education 5.0 into the Metaverse: Educational Technologies of the Future addresses the informational needs and daily challenges of readers by providing a comprehensive, up-to-date resource on the latest ideas and advances in educational technologies, and by offering guidance on how to effectively integrate these technologies into teaching practice and design technology-enhanced learning experiences. This is an area of key current interest to educators, librarians and researchers.
  • Reinventing Transit for the 21st Century

    • 1st Edition
    • Baruch Feigenbaum
    • English
    Reinventing Transit for the 21st Century addresses the critical state of urban transit systems in the U.S., exacerbated by declining ridership and looming fiscal challenges post-COVID. The book advocates for substantial reforms, including transitioning to contracted services, fostering competition, and redesigning transit boards to emphasize expertise over politics. It also calls for integrating various service modes and adopting new technologies to reduce costs and enhance the rider experience.Spanning 10 chapters, the book begins with an overview of current transit systems and the factors behind their decline. It outlines a vision for modern transit, focusing on customer needs, service redesign, complementary services like bike-sharing, funding mechanisms, and international lessons on contracting. Governance improvements and the role of technology are also discussed, with a concluding chapter presenting a model 21st-century transit system.Accessible to political leaders, transit executives, researchers, planners, and riders, the book includes a glossary for clarity. It emphasizes the importance of serving transit-dependent riders, often from lower-income Communities of Color, to boost ridership and provide essential services. This book is essential for anyone invested in the future of urban transit.
  • Structural Biology of Amyloid Fibrils

    • 1st Edition
    • Vijay Kumar + 1 more
    • English
    Structural Biology of Amyloid Fibrils provides a comprehensive reference on the structure of protein aggregates in different neurodegenerative diseases, along with their molecular bases. Chapters describe these structures in detail, highlighting their similarities and differences across different disease states along with an unprecedented overview of current developments and new hypotheses emerging in amyloid fibril structure, stability and mechanisms of formation. The book also discusses how amyloid structure may affect the ability of fibrils to spread to different sites in a prion-like manner, as well as their role in disease. Featuring chapters on NMR, X-ray crystallography, and Cryo-EM methods, and discussing the structure of amyloid fibrils obtained directly from patients, the book allows readers to understand how polymorphism is associated with disease phenotype and how fibril structure affects and influences the cellular environment. Understanding the molecular architecture of amyloid fibrils and oligomers will be an important step towards developing therapeutic interventions based on targeting the fibrils and oligomers themselves and the processes that generate them.
  • Inclusive Entrepreneurship and the Sustainable Development Goals

    A Global Research Perspective
    • 1st Edition
    • Colette Henry + 4 more
    • English
    Inclusive Entrepreneurship and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Global Research Perspective brings together a collection of high caliber research-based chapters on the topic of inclusive entrepreneurship and UN Sustainable Development Goals. This edited volume makes the important link between the drive for inclusive entrepreneurship and addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Chapters draw on a range of geographical and cultural contexts and are authored by leading international scholars. Sections offer valuable contemporary content that can contribute to teaching and research in inclusive entrepreneurship, equality studies and sustainability for a variety of purposes.The book begins with introductory chapters covering theoretical concepts, overviews of the field, systematic literature reviews, and so on, and continues with empirically based research chapters exploring specific countries, different sectors, challenges, and approaches to solving the issues articulated in the SDGs. It concludes with future approaches and mindsets required to address the SDGs for a more inclusive society. This book will serve as a valuable reference to academics, researchers, doctoral students, and those with a stake in the entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and their relationship to the SDGs.