An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African

An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African

Dataset Shift in Machine Learning

Dataset Shift in Machine Learning

Dataset shift is a common problem in predictive modeling that occurs when the joint distribution of inputs and outputs differs between training and test stages. Covariate shift, a particular case of dataset shift, occurs when only the input distribution changes. Dataset shift is present in most practical applications, for reasons ranging from the bias introduced by experimental design to the irreproducibility of the testing conditions at training time. (An example is -email spam filtering, which may fail to recognize spam that differs in form from the spam the automatic filter has been built on.) Despite this, and despite the attention given to the apparently similar problems of semi-supervised learning and active learning, dataset shift has received relatively little attention in the machine learning community until recently. This volume offers an overview of current efforts to deal with dataset and covariate shift.

Dataset Shift in Machine Learning

Electro-Diffusion of Ions

Electro-Diffusion of Ions

This is one of the first texts in which electro-diffusion of ions in its different aspects is considered as a unified subject. As a subject it is relevant to understanding the behavior of apparently different physical objects such as electrolyte solution, ion-exchangers, ion-selective membranes, and semiconductors. This text treats a selection of topics in electro-diffusion of ions in an aqueous medium – a nonlinear transport process whose essence is diffusion of ions combined with their migration in a selfconsistent electric field. Electro-Diffusion of Ions is intended to enhance the understanding of particular electro-diffusional transport phenomena and to spark the interest of the mathematical community in the corresponding area of applications and development of a unified scientific vision. Contains some previously unpublished results for electro-diffusional problems.

Electro-Diffusion of Ions

Motion History Images for Action Recognition and Understanding

Motion History Images for Action Recognition and Understanding

Human action analysis and recognition is a relatively mature field, yet one which is often not well understood by students and researchers. The large number of possible variations in human motion and appearance, camera viewpoint, and environment, present considerable challenges. Some important and common problems remain unsolved by the computer vision community. However, many valuable approaches have been proposed over the past decade, including the motion history image (MHI) method. This method has received significant attention, as it offers greater robustness and performance than other techniques. This work presents a comprehensive review of these state-of-the-art approaches and their applications, with a particular focus on the MHI method and its variants.

Motion History Images for Action Recognition and Understanding

The Logic of Scientific Discovery

The Logic of Scientific Discovery

Described by the philosopher A.J. Ayer as a work of ‘great originality and power’, this book revolutionized contemporary thinking on science and knowledge. Ideas such as the now legendary doctrine of ‘falsificationism’ electrified the scientific community, influencing even working scientists, as well as post-war philosophy. This astonishing work ranks alongside The Open Society and Its Enemies as one of Popper’s most enduring books and contains insights and arguments that demand to be read to this day.

The Logic of Scientific Discovery

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 1

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 1

Following the pioneering discovery of alpha clustering and of molecular resonances, the field of nuclear clustering is presently one of the domains of heavy-ion nuclear physics facing both the greatest challenges and opportunities. After many summer schools and workshops, in particular over the last decade, the community of nuclear molecular physics decided to team up in producing a comprehensive collection of lectures and tutorial reviews covering the field. This first volume, gathering seven extensive lectures, covers the follow topics: * Cluster Radioactivity * Cluster States and Mean Field Theories * Alpha Clustering and Alpha Condensates * Clustering in Neutron-rich Nuclei * Di-neutron Clustering * Collective Clusterization in Nuclei * Giant Nuclear Molecules By promoting new ideas and developments while retaining a pedagogical nature of presentation throughout, these lectures will both serve as a reference and as advanced teaching material for future courses and schools in the fields of nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics.

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 1

Plastics in Dentistry and Estrogenicity

Plastics in Dentistry and Estrogenicity

This book provides a timely and comprehensive review of our current knowledge of BPA release from dental polymers and the potential endocrinological consequences. After a review of the history and evolution of the issue within the broader biomedical context, the estrogenicity of BPA is explained. The basic chemistry of the polymers used in dentistry is then presented in a simplified and clinically relevant manner. Key chapters in the book carefully evaluate the release of BPA from polycarbonate products and composite resins and the estrogenicity of these materials. Currently available evidence on the potential estrogenic action of dental composities, sealants, and adhesives is presented, and means are suggested by which adverse health effects can be minimized. The entire dental community will find this book to be an excellent source of information on the true risks posed by BPA, and an invaluable aid to safe practice.

Plastics in Dentistry and Estrogenicity

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 3

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 3

Following the pioneering discovery of alpha clustering and of molecular resonances, the field of nuclear clustering is today one of those domains of heavy-ion nuclear physics that faces the greatest challenges, yet also contains the greatest opportunities. After many summer schools and workshops, in particular over the last decade, the community of nuclear molecular physicists has decided to collaborate in producing a comprehensive collection of lectures and tutorial reviews covering the field. This third volume follows the successful Lect. Notes Phys. 818 (Vol. 1) and 848 (Vol. 2), and comprises six extensive lectures covering the following topics:

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 3

The Newcom++ Vision Book

The Newcom++ Vision Book

The Book contains the Vision of the researchers of the European Network of Excellence NEWCOM++ (Network of Excellence on Wireless COMmunication) on the present and future status of Wireless Communication Networks. In its content, the community of NEWCOM++ researchers, shaped under the common ground of a mainly academic network of excellence, have distilled their scientific wisdom in a number of areas characterized by the common denominator of wireless communications, by identifying the medium-long term research tendencies/problems, describing the tools to face them and providing a relatively large number of references for the interested reader. The identified areas and the researchers involved in their redaction reflect the intersection of the major topics in wireless communications with those that are deeply investigated in NEWCOM++; they are preceded by an original description of the main trends in user/society needs and the degree of fulfilment that ongoing and future wireless communications standards will more likely help achieving. The appendix of the Book contains a list of ‘Millenium Problems’, seminal problems in the area of wireless communication networks, characterized by being crucial and still unsolved. The problems have been identified by NEWCOM++ researchers and filtered by the editors of the Vision Book.

The Newcom++ Vision Book

In Search of Muhammad

In Search of Muhammad

Who was Muhammad? What do Muslims believe about him? What have non-Muslims said about him? Why has he been such a controversial figure? Why have non-Muslims called him a charlatan, and oppurtunist? Why Muslims call him the ‘perfect man’? Why have his sexuality and his military exploits attracted censure? Are the texts available for constructing his biography reliable or suspect? There are some of the questions and issues which Clinton Bennett explores in his book. His preference for a conservative evaluation of the historical record will not please everyone, nor will his sympathetic treatment of Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses. In his effort to gain an insider-like understanding of Muhammad, the author found himself discussing at length some contentious issues, such as whether or not Muhammad performed miracles. His encounters with Muslims suggested that whilst non-Muslims have tended to dismiss the miracle stories as pious fiction, Muslims accept their authenticity. The author, who develops what he calls and ‘anthropological theology’ to pursue his study, argues that our preconceptions about Muhammad, rather than our reserch methods, determine how we reply to the question. ‘What do you thin of Muhammad?’. The book takes diversity of Muslim opinion seriously and explores what theologians, mystics, philosophers and politicians have said about Muhammad. In addition, the book, which combines textual and interpersonal research, concludes with an attempt to incorporate regard for Muhammad within the authors own Christian worldview. Clinton Bennett’s overall approach ensures the book’s usefulness as a guide to Islamic thought and history. Clinton Bennett, newly appointed Associate Professor of Religion and Baylor University, Texas, was Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, and assistant chaplain, at Westminster College, Oxford. He has worked in Bangladesh, in Birmingham as a community development worker, and on the staff of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland. he has also written Victorian Images of Islam (1992) and In Search of the Sacred: Athropology and the Study of Religions (1996) and is the editor of Discernment: An Ecumenical Journal of Inter-Religious Encounter. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and of the Royal Anthropological Institute.

In Search of Muhammad

Eutrophication - Volume 2

Eutrophication - Volume 2

Eutrophication continues to be a major global challenge and the problem of eutrophication and availability of freshwater for human consumption is an essential ecological issue. The global demand for water resources due to increasing population, economic developments, and emerging energy development schemes has created new environmental challenges for global sustainability. Accordingly, the area of research on eutrophication has expanded considerably in recent years. Eutrophication, acidification and contamination by toxic substances are likely to pose increasing threats to freshwater resources and ecosystems. The consequences of anthropogenic-induced eutrophication of freshwaters are severe deterioration of surface waters and growing public concern, as well as new interest among the scientific community. Eutrophication: causes, consequences & control provides the latest information on many important aspects of the processes of natural and accelerated eutrophication in major aquatic ecosystems around the world.

Eutrophication - Volume 2

Nitrosation Reactions and the Chemistry of Nitric Oxide

Nitrosation Reactions and the Chemistry of Nitric Oxide

Since 1988, there has been much literature published on the chemistry of nitric oxide, particularly in the field of S-nitrosation and the chemistry of S-nitroso compounds. Written by a chemist for the chemistry community, this book provides an update of the chemistry of nitrosation reactions, dealing with both the synthetic and mechanistic aspects of these reactions. It also looks at the chemistry of nitric oxide in relation to the amazing biological properties of this simple diatomic molecule, which were unknown until around 1990.

Nitrosation Reactions and the Chemistry of Nitric Oxide

Markov Networks in Evolutionary Computation

Markov Networks in Evolutionary Computation

Markov networks and other probabilistic graphical modes have recently received an upsurge in attention from Evolutionary computation community, particularly in the area of Estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs). EDAs have arisen as one of the most successful experiences in the application of machine learning methods in optimization, mainly due to their efficiency to solve complex real-world optimization problems and their suitability for theoretical analysis.This book focuses on the different steps involved in the conception, implementation and application of EDAs that use Markov networks, and undirected models in general. It can serve as a general introduction to EDAs but covers also an important current void in the study of these algorithms by explaining the specificities and benefits of modeling optimization problems by means of undirected probabilistic models. All major developments to date in the progressive introduction of Markov networks based EDAs are reviewed in the book. Hot current research trends and future perspectives in the enhancement and applicability of EDAs are also covered. The contributions included in the book address topics as relevant as the application of probabilistic-based fitness models, the use of belief propagation algorithms in EDAs and the application of Markov network based EDAs to real-world optimization problems. The book should be of interest to researchers and practitioners from areas such as optimization, evolutionary computation, and machine learning.

Markov Networks in Evolutionary Computation

More Than Moore

More Than Moore

In the past decades, the main stream of microelectronics progress has been mainly powered by Moore’s law which focuses on IC miniaturization down to nanoscale. While the microelectronics community around the world continues to invent new solutions to keep Moore’s law alive, there is a fast increasing need for non-digital and mixed-signal ‘More than Moore’ (MtM) type technologies that are still based upon or derived from silicon technologies, but do not simply scale with Moore’s law. Typical examples are devices incorporating RF, power/high voltage, passive components, sensors and actuators, MEMS, Bio-chip/bio-systems, microfluidics, solid-state lighting, etc.. The increasing momentum of MtM is triggered by the increasing needs for high level heterogeneous system integration including non-digital functions, the necessity to speed up innovative product creation and to broaden the product portfolio of IC fabs, and the limiting cost and time factors of advanced system-on-chip (SoC) development. It is believed that MtM will add value to society on top of and beyond advanced semiconductors technologies, with fast increasing marketing potentials, and that it will drive paradigm shift for technologies, applications and business models.

More Than Moore

Psychiatric Rehabilitation - Third Edition

Psychiatric Rehabilitation - Third Edition

The third edition of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, discusses interventions to help individuals with mental illness improve the quality of their life, achieve goals, and increase opportunities for community integration so they can lead full and productive lives. This person centered approach emphasizes strengths, skill development, and the attainment of valued social roles. The third edition has been fully updated with new coverage indicating how to address medical problems while treating for mental illness, wellness and recovery, evidence based practices, and directions for future research. Retaining the easy to read, engaging style, each chapter includes key terms with definitions, case studies, profiles of leaders in the field, special issues relating to treatment and ethics, and class exercises. Providing a comprehensive overview of this growing field, the book is suitable as an undergraduate or graduate textbook, as well as a reference for practitioners and academic researchers.

Psychiatric Rehabilitation - Third Edition

Damascus Texts

Damascus Texts

The Damascus document is one of the most important texts from the Qumran caves. Part One of this Companion offers a lucid and up-to-date introduction to all the manuscripts, including the eight recently published from Qumran Cave 4. It also provides a review of the key areas of scholarly research on this important Qumran text. Part Two is devoted to the recently published text 4QMiscellaneous Rules (4Q265; olim Serekh Damascus). This text has already become the subject of intense interest among students of the Dead Sea Scrolls because of its unique relationship to both the Community Rule and the Damascus Document.

Damascus Texts

Victorian Freaks

Victorian Freaks

While freaks have captivated our imagination since well before the nineteenth century, the Victorians flocked to shows featuring dancing dwarves, bearded ladies, missing links, and six-legged sheep. Indeed, this period has been described by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson as the epoch of consolidation for freakery: an era of social change, enormously popular freak shows, and taxonomic frenzy. Victorian Freaks: The Social Context of Freakery in Britain, edited by Marlene Tromp, turns to that rich nexus, examining the struggle over definitions of freakery and the unstable and sometimes conflicting ways in which freakery was understood and deployed. As the first study centralizing British culture, this collection discusses figures as varied as Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man; Daniel Lambert, King of the Fat Men; Julia Pastrana, The Bear Woman; and Laloo The Marvellous Indian Boy and his embedded, parasitic twin. The Victorian Freaks contributors examine Victorian culture through the lens of freakery, reading the production of the freak against the landscape of capitalist consumption, the medical community, and the politics of empire, sexuality, and art. Collectively, these essays ask how freakery engaged with notions of normalcy and with its Victorian cultural context.

Victorian Freaks

Endgame 1758

Endgame 1758

The story of what happened at the colonial fortified town of Louisbourg between 1749 and 1758 is one of the great dramas of the history of Canada, indeed North America. This book presents the dramatic military and social history of this short-lived and significant fortress, seaport, and community, and the citizens who made it their home.

Endgame 1758

Sentimental Literature and Anglo-Scottish Identity, 1745-1820

Sentimental Literature and Anglo-Scottish Identity, 1745-1820

What did it mean to be British, and more specifically to feel British, in the century following the parliamentary union of Scotland and England? Juliet Shields departs from recent accounts of the Romantic emergence of nationalism by recovering the terms in which eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century writers understood nationhood. She argues that in the wake of the turmoil surrounding the Union, Scottish writers appealed to sentiment, or refined feeling, to imagine the nation as a community. They sought to transform a Great Britain united by political and economic interests into one united by shared sympathies, even while they used the gendered and racial connotations of sentiment to differentiate sharply between Scottish, English, and British identities. By moving Scotland from the margins to the center of literary history, the book explores how sentiment shaped both the development of British identity and the literature within which writers responded creatively to the idea of nationhood.

Sentimental Literature and Anglo-Scottish Identity, 1745-1820

The Visionist

The Visionist

An enthralling debut novel about a teenage girl who finds refuge–but perhaps not–in an 1840s Shaker community.

The Visionist