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Not too long ago, the world was busy crafting a global future with unmitigated globalization and the relentless march of Industry 4.0. A black swan event then happened. An outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus surged worldwide and resulted in a global pandemic that devastated economies, eliminated the weak/infirmed/elderly/young, and then targeted the general population. It destroyed small and medium-sized enterprises and hastened the demise of sunset industries, resulting in record numbers of bankruptcies. Instead of succumbing to the despair of a worldwide cataclysmic event, a group of Asian scholars from multiple disciplines got together. This group of scholars put their different specializations to use and adopted an on-site, viewpoint perspective of how the pandemic affected their lives and also the lives of the communities in their studies to contribute to this volume.The volume is interdisciplinary by nature and a product of exceptional contributions from a multidisciplinary panel of scholars, ranging from anthropologists, sociologists, historians to economists. The interdisciplinary approach employed here allows one to look at and understand subject matter critically - COVID-19 and its recovery - not just through diverse analytical frameworks but also through broader, historical variations as well as technologies studies. There is no existing literature equivalent to this subject matter given the ongoing pandemic as it unfolds simultaneously across regions and even continents while exerting differential impacts on various sectors such as agriculture, religion, technology, etc. With the advantage of its interdisciplinary approaches examined in differing geographical locations in Asia, the volume makes a scholarly contribution to analyzing the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and the coping mechanisms adopted by humankind in various capacities to mitigate it.

The cooperative movement has played a vital role in economic development around the world. Cooperatives also contribute to the achievement of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They generate revenue for economic growth, support the development of communities and local culture and help protect the environment. Cooperatives in Asia have been leaders in their approaches with comprehensive and supportive policies. Across Asia, there are unique models of cooperatives - some of which can be replicated internationally. They utilise collectivisation as an economic model with the cooperation of their populations. Cooperatives from Bangladesh, India, Israel, Japan, Nepal and the United Arab Emirates are also well-known for their proactive approach to sustainability.This book seeks to document the governance, leadership and sustainable best practices of cooperatives, to pave the way for the development of cooperatives internationally, utilising the sustainable cooperatives of Asia as examples. Addressing the current gap in research about cooperatives, the chapters showcase lessons for the cooperative world in its movement towards sustainability through the examination of original case studies, as well as quantitative studies. The volume offers new insights to researchers and policymakers to understand the ecosystem surrounding cooperatives and actions to take to work towards their strengthening and welfare.

This book provides an integrative perspective on financial management and corporate governance deployed in management decisions. It analyzes wide-ranging issues such as valuation, capital investment, capital structure, mergers and acquisitions, shareholder and stakeholder value management, and corporate governance structure. Throughout the analyses, the book provides a coherent view of firms, laws and markets, and offers practical financial modeling techniques to assist in financial decisions.This book also incorporates the latest developments in practice, such as direct listings and SPACs in capital markets, contractual arrangements in mergers and acquisitions, setting of corporate purpose, protection of minority investors in related party transactions, balancing of shareholder and stakeholder value from an ESG perspective, and the growing influence of activist funds, index investors and proxy advisors. It looks at these complex issues in firm management through the dual lens of asymmetric information and conflicts of interest that managers deal with, and gives coherency and clarity to the understanding of these key issues in management.

The aims of the book are: (1) to extend Maxwell theory to non-Abelian group forms; (2) to demonstrate that the foundations of electromagnetism are topological; (3) to show the multi-disciplinary nature of communications; (4) to demonstrate the effectiveness of modulated signals in penetrating media; (5) to demonstrate that geometric (Clifford) algebra is the appropriate algebra describing modulated signals.The book is important in indicating that the classical theory of electromagnetism, or Maxwell theory, can be developed to address situations and signals of differing symmetry form, and that different topological spaces require that development.

This book is a much needed modernization of the classic text. It introduces readers to a variety of topics surrounding quantum field theory, notably its role in bound states, laser physics, and the gravitational coupling of Dirac particles. It discusses some rather sophisticated concepts based on detailed derivations which cannot be found elsewhere in the literature.It is suitable for undergraduates, graduates, and researchers working on general relativity, relativistic atomic physics, quantum electrodynamics, as well as theoretical laser physics.

This book is a collection of Professor Ma Rong's papers on current and future ethnic relations in China. Some of the studies, presented in the book, are related to basic theories on ethnic relations, while others are specific issues he observed and identified while conducting surveys in different parts of the country. His papers are based on field research and China's current situations, which may shed some light on the theoretical and practical studies on ethnic relations in China.

The Future and FinTech examines the fundamental financial technologies and its growing impact on the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sectors. With global investment amounting to more than $100 billion in 2020, the proliferation of FinTech has underpinned the direction payments, loans, wealth management, insurance, and cryptocurrencies are heading.This book presents FinTech from an industrial perspective in the context of architecture and its basic building blocks, e.g., Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Cloud, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), and its connections to real-life applications at work. It provides a detailed guidance on how FinTech digitalizes business operations, improves productivity and efficiency, and optimizes resource management with the help of some new concepts, such as AIOps, MLOps and DevSecOps. Readers will also discover how FinTech Innovations connect BFSI to the rest of the world with growing interests in Open Banking, Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and FinTech-as-a-Service (FaaS).To help readers understand how FinTech has unlocked numerous opportunities for tapping into the massive substantial group of customers, this book illustrates the massive changes already underway and provides insights into changes yet to come through practical examples and applications with illustrative figures and summary tables, making this book a handy quick reference for all things of FinTech.

This book is a practical, patient-centered, clinical approach to assist ophthalmologists and ophthalmology trainees in the early diagnosis and management of walk-in patients presenting with uveitis of unknown etiology. It is symptoms- and signs-oriented and illustrated with many images, such that it may be an easily used reference for deciding on diagnostic tests and treatment options. Written by leading international experts in the field, Uveitis Management serves as a practical tool for daily work in an ophthalmic clinic, helping you through the first steps of investigation, management and treatment decisions for these complex patients, highlighting pitfalls, how to avoid them, and how to manage complications as they occur.

This volume presents a pedagogical review of the functional distribution of anomalous and nonergodic diffusion and its numerical simulations, starting from the studied stochastic processes to the deterministic partial differential equations governing the probability density function of the functionals. Since the remarkable theory of Brownian motion was proposed by Einstein in 1905, it had a sustained and broad impact on diverse fields, such as physics, chemistry, biology, economics, and mathematics. The functionals of Brownian motion are later widely attractive for their extensive applications. It was Kac, who firstly realized the statistical properties of these functionals can be studied by using Feynman's path integrals.In recent decades, anomalous and nonergodic diffusions which are non-Brownian become topical issues, such as fractional Brownian motion, Lévy process, Lévy walk, among others. This volume examines the statistical properties of the non-Brownian functionals, derives the governing equations of their distributions, and shows some algorithms for solving these equations numerically.

The roles of gene transcription in cancer have long been appreciated. However, posttranscriptional processes also contribute significantly to alterations in gene expression that lead to tumor initiation, formation, and progression.We have known for decades that alterations in the expression of key genes, such as those involved in cell proliferation, signaling, apoptosis, and immune responses, are major molecular events in cancer. This book presents our current understanding of selected posttranscriptional control mechanisms and the RNAs that they regulate. Each chapter provides an overview of a specific RNA-directed regulatory system and the RNA/protein factors involved, then discusses major findings in the field and their relationships to the development and/or treatment of cancer and associated diseases. Future questions serve to address "where do we go from here" and stimulate the reader's thinking about these important problems.This compendium of chapters from experts in the field is essential reading for anyone interested in the myriad ways that RNAs contribute to tumorigenesis: from graduate students, researchers, and clinical scientists interested in mRNA processing and translation, RNA-binding proteins that promote turnover/stability of specific mRNAs, how small noncoding RNAs control inflammation and signaling, roles of the epitranscriptome, and future and emerging RNA-based, anti-tumor therapeutics.

Pioneer Merchants of Singapore tells the stories of some of Singapore's earliest merchants, including Alexander Laurie Johnston, Edward Boustead, Alexander Guthrie, and eleven others, including Tan Che Sang, Dr Jose d'Almeida, and D S Napier. Much has been written about Sir Stamford Raffles and Lt. Col. Farquhar, but almost nothing has been published about these merchants of all races operating in Singapore during the first few years following its acquisition by the East India Company in 1819. It includes never-before-published information drawn from letters dating back to 1818. These, including letters from Johnston's first employee and business partner Andrew Hay and a previously unrecorded letter from Raffles himself, shed light on much which otherwise would have been lost to us.This book aims to fill a gap in our knowledge of the early days of Singapore and the challenges faced by its early residents. It is a must-read for those who are interested in the history of Singapore's early years as a trading colony.

This book studies the main characteristics of the operation of the Chinese economy and the world economy after the financial crisis in 2008. The analysis starts from the core logic of the dilemma of the anti-crisis and rebalancing growth of the world economy. It further analyzes the impact of major countries' macro-economic policies on the global economy and the external risks and countermeasures faced by the Chinese economy. In addition, this book studies the development of foreign direct investment and the service industry in major countries after the crisis.

Spiritual Competence for Mental Health Professionals takes a holistic developmental approach toward spirituality in psychotherapy and counseling. This means that it considers an understanding of spiritual development to be as germane to mental health practice as an understanding of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development and that it views spirituality as shaped by developmental processes. Common spiritual issues at each stage in the individual and family life course are discussed. Tools for understanding one's own and one's clients' spiritual orientations and goals along with interventions and practices that foster spiritual growth in the client and the practitioner are presented. Reflection and discussion topics are provided at the end of each chapter. Ultimately, this book aims to help mental health practitioners, educators and students to change their approach from "meet the client where they are spiritually" to "meet the client where they are spiritually and help them develop further."

This book presents a state-of-the-art account of the recent developments and needs for project management in developing countries. It adds to the current state of knowledge on project management in general by capturing current trends, how they widen the content and scope of the field, and why there is a need for a specialist body of knowledge for developing countries. Eminent experts in this domain address the specific nature and demands of project management in developing countries, in the context of its scope and priorities, and discuss the relationships between this emerging field and established bodies of knowledge. The book also addresses the future of project management in developing countries and how this might influence mainstream project management. This important book will be an essential reference for practitioners, students, researchers and policymakers engaged in how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of project management in developing countries.

Information Technology project management has changed dramatically over recent years. Drawing on the experiences of successful project management beyond the IT industry and synergizing cutting edge research with well-established practices in the IT industry, this book prefigures the 'next normal' in IT project management.As a milestone publication, this book augments and boosts the specialized body of knowledge in IT project management by capturing and consolidating key elements of this knowledge base. Chapters are presented in four distinct sections, each examining a different aspect of IT project management which includes - generic project management methodologies; teambuilding in relation to stakeholder management; the Iron Triangle of Time, Cost, Quality, and Risk; and new and innovative technologies and software for improved project management. Substantiated case studies and practical guidelines are designed to be of value to practitioners at all levels of IT project management: from novices' to experienced practitioners, while collectively elevating the body of knowledge and skills needed. This book aims to upgrade and update the knowledge of current practice to novices; offer pointers to experienced practitioners on potential areas for improvement; and provide innovative insights to undergraduates, researchers and other academics on the development, appreciation and application of IT project management knowledge.

Why and how do politics, society and economics shape the growth and failure of labour markets? Does government intervention help or harm labour market reforms/adjustments in times of economic downturn? What forces drive such government intervention and do they differ from society to society?In addressing these big-picture questions, this book's analytical scope is heavily centred around the topic of labour markets' performance. The book argues that performance in labour markets across countries are influenced by their labour market policies. In turn, these policies are shaped, in varying degrees, by the country's politics. Each chapter in this book dives into the labour market experiences in various countries to demonstrate why in some countries, labour markets perform better than in other countries. Major findings from this book suggest that countries can produce better economic and social outcomes (e.g. lower socio-economic inequality) if their labour market policies are aimed at fostering a socially and politically stable society via greater equity in wealth distribution across various socio-cultural and income groups.This book is an essential read for any public policy researchers, policy practitioners and undergraduate/graduate students who are interested or vested in the topic of labour markets' performance in the political, social and economic dimensions. Particularly, this book provides a critical synthesis of the labour market experiences in many countries. Hence, the book serves as an ideational tool to advance future labour market research and policy.

There are reasons to believe the 21st century will be the best ever for astrophysics: the James Webb Space Telescope will extend nearly twenty times the present observational limit of visible light; neutrino massiveness opens a new window for exploration on dark energy and dark matter physics and is expected to provide insights into the fate of the Universe; the Higgs boson may allow for an understanding of the weakness of gravity; gravitational waves produced at the birth of the Universe and by compact stellar objects (supermassive black holes, black hole/neutron star mergers, gamma-ray bursts, white dwarf inspirals) have unveiled a new area of astronomy. Against this background, compact stars, the theme of this volume, present unique astrophysical laboratories for probing the fabric of space-time and the building blocks of matter and their interactions at physical regimes not attainable in terrestrial laboratories.

The mechanics of Newton and Galileo is based on the postulate of a universal time which plays the role of an evolution parameter as well as establishing dynamical correlations between interacting systems. The Michelson-Morley experiment, explained by Einstein in terms of Lorentz transformations, appeared to imply that the time is not absolute, but rather suffers from changes when a system is in motion. Einstein's thought experiment involving a moving system and a laboratory frame of observation, however, indicates that the action of the Lorentz transformation corresponds to an observed effect recorded in the laboratory on a clock that must be running in precise synchronization with that of the observed system. Therefore one concludes that there must be a universal time, as postulated by Newton, and the time that suffers Lorentz transformation becomes an observable dynamical variable. This book describes the effect this observation had on the development of the theory of Stueckelberg, Horwitz and Piron, and the corresponding conceptual basis for many phenomena which can be described in a relativistically covariant framework.