Drawing on original research I conducted in the late 1980s, the book argues for a critical approach to the study of children and television. It begins with critical reappraisals of previous empiricist and interpretative studies to set the ground for a different theoretical inquiry which links biography with history. The situated activity of children’s television viewing therefore has to be related to the broader historical and cultural formations in post-Mao China. By way of a methodologic...

This book focuses on the tribology of marine sliding bearings. It extensively investigates the lubrication characteristics of two special forms of marine sliding bearings including journal-thrust coupled bearings for diesel engine crankshafts and double-layer oil film floating bushings for diesel engine fuel supply mechanisms. Building upon conventional theories of lubrication in sliding bearings, the book considers the unique operational conditions and structural features of these bearing...

Seeking sparse solutions of underdetermined linear systems is required in many areas of engineering and science such as signal and image processing. The efficient sparse representation becomes central in various big or high-dimensional data processing, yielding fruitful theoretical and realistic results in these fields. The mathematical optimization plays a fundamentally important role in the development of these results and acts as the mainstream numerical algorithms for the sparsity-seek...

This book is devoted to the optimum design of the DCT in a hybrid AC/DC microgrid, which takes into account not only the influence of different inductors/capacitors values, but also numerous design goals (i.e., VCG, efficiency, stability and so on). This book examines the DCT's design problem in detail. It begins by reviewing existing DCTs in, the hybrid AC/DC microgrid and their design problems. Following that, this book proposes a family of DCT optimization design approaches to ensure th...

This volume theorizes the concept of citizenship in contemporary China by probing into the formation of Chinese citizenship and synthesizing the practices of citizenship by different social groups. The first section, “Imagining Chinese Citizenship,” analyses how Chinese citizenship was first imagined by means of translation and education at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Chinese citizenship was then compared with the concept of Western citizenship and that of other Asian count...

Presenting new and invaluable Chinese perspectives on international relations in general and Beijing's foreign policy in particular, this work offers the first balanced and thoroughly researched analysis by Chinese scholars. Drawing on original Chinese sources and interviews, In the Eyes of the Dragon explores Chinese views on sovereignty, national interest, security multilateralism, international human rights, nuclear nonproliferation, Taiwan, and the United States. Illuminating ...

One of the most important topics in soil science is understanding the relationship between soil biodiversity and soil ecosystem function. This relies on techniques able to accurately identify different soil organisms and how they interact in the soil microbiome.Measuring and assessing the biological health of soils provides a comprehensive overview of the range of techniques used to assess microbial/faunal diversity and activity in soils and its impact on key ecological pr...

Third-variable effect refers to the effect transmitted by third-variables that intervene in the relationship between an exposure and a response variable. Differentiating between the indirect effect of individual factors from multiple third-variables is a constant problem for modern researchers.Statistical Methods for Mediation, Confounding and Moderation Analysis Using R and SAS introduces general definitions of third-variable effects that are adaptable to...

The global population is projected to reach almost 10 billion by 2050, and food and feed production will need to increase by 70%. Wheat, maize and sorghum are three key cereals which provide nutrition for the majority of the world's population. Their production is affected by various abiotic stresses which cause significant yield losses. The effects of climate change also increase the frequency and severity of such abiotic stresses. Molecular breeding technologies offer real hope for impro...

Loess is a product of aeolian deposition during the Quaternary glaciation cycles and covers approximately 6% of the Earth’s land. The Loess Plateau of China, which is home to a population of nearly three hundred million, has the thickest and most complete loess strata, where loess geohazards occur most frequently due to the weak geoenvironment and dense human activities. In recent years, the engineering geological characteristics of loess and geohazards in loess areas have gradually receiv...

This book presents a detailed background to the circular economy in China, explores government measures to promote it in China’s market economy, and introduces the supporting laws and policies. The book goes on to describe, from a technology perspective, successful circular economy practices in sectors such as agriculture, iron and steel, cement, coal-fired power, chemistry, paper manufacturing and city mineral. This book sheds some light on what China has done and achieved to change the m...

This book constitutes the proceedings of the second International Workshop on Mechanism Design in Social Networks, MNet 2025, held in conjunction with IJCAI 2025, in Montreal, Canada, during August 16–22, 2025.The 5 full papers included in these proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from 11 submissions. They provide a cross-disciplinary study and communication on the research of mechanism design and social networks..