Bøker utgitt av Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This book introduces the fundamentals of the theory of quantum computing, illustrated with code samples written in Q#, a quantum-specific programming language, and its related Quantum Development Kit. Quantum computing (QC) is a multidisciplinary field that sits at the intersection of quantum physics, quantum information theory, computer science and mathematics, and which may revolutionize the world of computing and software engineering. The book begins by covering historical aspects of quantum theory and quantum computing, as well as offers a gentle, algebra-based, introduction to quantum mechanics, specifically focusing on concepts essential for the field of quantum programming. Quantum state description, state evolution, quantum measurement and the Bell¿s theorem are among the topics covered. The readers also get a tour of the features of Q# and familiarize themselves with the QDK. Next, the core QC topics are discussed, complete with the necessary mathematical formalism. This includes the notions of qubit, quantum gates and quantum circuits. In addition to that, the book provides a detailed treatment of a series of important concepts from quantum information theory, in particular entanglement and the no-cloning theorem, followed by discussion about quantum key distribution and its various protocols. Finally, the canon of most important QC algorithms and algorithmic techniques is covered in-depth - from the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm, through Grover¿s search, to Quantum Fourier Transform, quantum phase estimation and Shor¿s algorithm. The book is an accessible introduction into the vibrant and fascinating field of quantum computing, offering a blend of academic diligence with pragmatism that is so central to software development world. All of the discussed theoretical aspects of QC are accompanied by runnable code examples, providing the reader with two different angles - mathematical and programmatic - of looking at the same problem space.

Fierce competition in many industries, megatrends, the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing globalisation and the permanent liberalisation of markets have changed the face of economies and businesses drastically. Companies must establish suitable and long-term strategies and performance criteria in order to survive in this dynamic and hostile environment. This book provides a holistic and practical approach to strategic performance management. It combines all functions of the value chain and contains best practices in performance. The author demonstrates how new paradigms enable companies to concentrate on value-adding activities and processes to achieve a long-term sustainable and competitive advantage. The book contains a variety of best practices, industry examples and case studies. Focusing on best-in-class examples, the book offers the ideal guide for any enterprise to achieve a competitive advantage across all business functions focusing on value-adding activities.

This textbook takes a theoretically informed and practice-based approach to strategic human resource management (HRM) and employment relations (ER). The book follows a unique pedagogical design employing problem-based learning and participant-centred learning approaches, both of which the author has extensive experience in implementing with advanced undergraduate HRM and post-graduate learners.This new edition includes chapters on artificial intelligence (AI) and HR, employee experience and engagement, managing HRM during crises, and eight new cases. In addition, this book includes an online instructors¿ manual for instructors.

This book shows why mindful leadership is the key element for supportive management and leadership in the 21st century. It highlights the fundamentals of mindful leadership in philosophy and history in different cultural traditions and shows latest research on mindfulness and digitalization, technology, social networking, and leading-self concepts. The book bridges the past and the future. By combining a range of research perspectives, it connects mindfulness to serving leadership concepts and describes resilience for both individuals and organizations. In addition, it presents theoretical aspects and practical recommendations on how to implement mindful leadership and supportive environments in organizational cultures. The book encompasses history, present leadership challenges and future management perspectives and enables the implementation of models of good practice into daily working life. It includes contributions from researchers of different continents, and offers an international overview of state-of-the art leadership research.This book is of interest to professionals and researchers working on leadership, from the perspective of positive psychology, organizational studies, and wellbeing studies.

Offering historical identity fortified by the presence of women belonging to the various areas of creative and intellectual life, this book allows readers to understand greater contexts of their identity. The history of female artists is an indicator of how social identity was erased from the historiography which asserted itself in nineteenth-century Europe. Analysis of the biographical pathways traced here reveals how women in the Middle Ages and beyond have been active protagonists of the arts, received reviews, as well as had an authoritative role as the esteemed and attentive witnesses of the society around them.Reconstruction of social relationships, intellectual and creative production as well as of the life stories of some of Europe's most important female artists, foregrounds this omission and highlights their extraordinary nature.The different stories contained in this book narrate the lives and works of Hildegard von Bingen, Francesca Caccini, Mary Wollstonecraft, George Sand, Lou Andreas Salomé and Elke Mascha Blankenburg.By reinforcing the awareness of social and historical origins, the informed reader is better equipped to tackle their futures and build up their personalities.

This book is a rare collection of reflective and reflexive stories that reveal how seasoned academics, agents of grassroots social change, leaders and journalists transformed and shaped the development landscape in eastern and southern Africa. Whereas practical experiences are crucial assets and resources for shaping the academic environment and development practice landscape, most of the existing literature recommended as key learning materials in tertiary institutions is rarely in synch with the practical realities of development practice.The shared individual lived experiences from academic endeavours and fieldwork provide hands-on tools for students and emerging practitioners who might be involved in or are currently facilitating development work. The thrust of the book, therefore, is to demystify the day-to-day experiences of development practitioners while contributing to learning pathways or strategies for achieving viable solutions to the myriad of challenges, which grassroots communities face. The relevance of the book as a crucial resource for students pursuing development-oriented degree programmes in colleges and universities is obvious. Without any doubt, the compilation will be handy in the implementation of diverse development-oriented transformation agenda at academic, programming and policy levels.

This book outlines the current development of geoethical thinking, proposing to the general public reflections and categories useful for understanding the ethical, cultural, and societal dimensions of anthropogenic global changes.Geoethics identifies and orients responsible behaviors and actions in the management of natural processes, redefining the human interaction with the Earth system based on a critical, scientifically grounded, and pragmatic approach. Solid scientific knowledge and a philosophical reference framework are crucial to face the current ecological disruption. The scientific perspective must be structured to help different human contexts while respecting social and cultural diversity. It is impossible to respond to global problems with disconnected local actions, which cannot be proposed as standard and effective operational models. Geoethics tries to overcome this fragmentation, presenting Earth sciences as the foundation of responsible human action toward the planet. Geoethics is conceived as a rational and multidisciplinary language that can bind and concretely support the international community, engaged in resolving global environmental imbalances and complex challenges, which have no national, cultural, or religious boundaries that require shared governance. Geoethics is proposed as a new reading key to rethinking the Earth as a system of complex relationships, in which the human being is an integral part of natural interactions.

As the first book of a three-part series, this book is offered as a tribute to pioneers in vision, such as Béla Julesz, David Marr, King-Sun Fu, Ulf Grenander, and David Mumford. The authors hope to provide foundation and, perhaps more importantly, further inspiration for continued research in vision. This book covers David Marr's paradigm and various underlying statistical models for vision. The mathematical framework herein integrates three regimes of models (low-, mid-, and high-entropy regimes) and provides foundation for research in visual coding, recognition, and cognition. Concepts are first explained for understanding and then supported by findings in psychology and neuroscience, after which they are established by statistical models and associated learning and inference algorithms. A reader will gain a unified, cross-disciplinary view of research in vision and will accrue knowledge spanning from psychology to neuroscience to statistics.

This book provides an in-depth introduction to crisis management and leadership in SMEs, as well as methods, approaches and cases against the background of different crises; external ones in particular. Featuring contributions from research and practice, this book covers a plethora of SMEs from different sectors to match the diverse nature of small business practice. The combination of a sound theoretical framework for small firm crisis management along with practical instruments/methods and cases, help to improve the organizational resilience of SMEs. The authors also guide the reader to resources beyond the book, including an online ¿Crisis Toolkit¿ comprised of material such as further publications, crisis management blueprints, guidelines, checklists, and company cases on crisis management-related issues.

This international and multidisciplinary volume focuses on the male body and constructions of gender in a variety of cultural productions and formats. Locating the subject matter in relevant theoretical fields, it looks at representations of male bodies in various contexts through paranoid and reparative lenses. Organized into four major sections, the contributions assembled in this book feature engaging readings of ¿non/conforming bodies¿, ¿fashionable bodies¿, ¿passing bodies¿, and ¿pioneering bodies¿ that to different degrees foreground their critical and creative potentials. In its full scope, the book acknowledges the plurality of gendered experiences and the diversity of male bodies. The Male Body in Representation: Returning to Matter adds to Cultural Studies scholarship interested in the body and gender in general and contributes to the fields of Masculinity and Body Studies in particular.