Taiwanese, formerly the lingua franca of Taiwan and currently the second largest language on the island, is genealogically related to Min from the Sino-Tibetan family. Throughout history, it has been influenced by many languages, but only Mandarin has exerted heavy influences on its phonological system. This Element provides an overview of the sound inventory in mainstream Taiwanese, and details its major dialectal differences. In addition, the Element introduces speech materials that coul...

STRUCTURAL RELIABILITYDiscover a new and innovative approach to structural reliability from two authoritative and accomplished authorsThe subject of structural reliability, which deals with the problems of evaluating the safety and risk posed by a wide variety of structures, has grown rapidly over the last four decades. And while the First-Order Reliability Method is principally used by most textbooks on this subject, other approaches have ...

Using steel and concrete together utilizes the beneficial material properties of both elements. Concrete filled steel tubes represent a good example of a concrete - steel composite structure, and are particularly useful as columns in high rise buildings and bridge piers. They can be used in a range of fields, from civil and industrial construction

The Westphalian model of international relations has given us a zero-sum game of winners and losers that has proven to be ineffective in addressing the pressing issues of our times. Philosopher Zhao Tingyang has argued that by conceptualizing international relations from the planetary perspective of tianxia, we can develop a sense of “worldness” that at once acknowledges the plurality of moral ideals defining of the world’s cultures and seeks practical ways to formulate a shared m...

Cloud Computing: Business Trends and Technologies provides a broad introduction to Cloud computing technologies and their applications to IT and telecommunications businesses (i.e., the network function virtualization, NFV). To this end, the book is expected to serve as a textbook in a graduate course on Cloud computing.The book examines the business cases and then concentrates on the technologies necessary for supporting them. In the process, the book addresses the princi...

Can the limitations of the Riemann integral be overcome? What is its relationship with modern analysis?The theory of Lebesgue integration is a crucial component in the development of modern analysis. This book is an in-depth real analysis textbook, which introduces the basic theory of modern analysis and the basic skills of analysis. Based on the knowledge of real analysis, the theory of interpolation of operators and the Fourier transform theory are further introduced systematical...

The biological life history (LH) theory has been increasingly utilized in psychology, especially in developmental psychology. However, there has not been a comprehensive text on the topic thatalso addresses applications in psychology. This Element fills this void. Organized into five sections, it initially delineates and explains the species-general concepts and principles forming LH theory, emphasizing that, although derived from observations between species, they can be used to explain i...

The book addresses and documents farmers' risks in developing and emerging economies. It draws lessons from experimental economics on measuring risk preferences, attitudes, gender differences in managing risks, and risk management strategies in countries across Africa and Asia. It argues policy makers, especially in emerging economies, need a better understanding of farmers' attitudes toward risk and choices of risk management strategies when designing policies to support production agricu...

The Resource Utilization of Plastic Waste with Supercritical Water Treatment discusses the types of plastic analysis, material characterization, technical principles of supercritical water treatment of waste plastics, the structure and process of the experimental platform, the selection of process parameters, and the establishment of kinetic models in professional areas of the field. - Provides a clear understanding of the basic principles and processes of supercritical water treatment of ...

This book proposes an integrated design method for intelligent adaptive controllers to overcome the negative effects of various constraints on nonlinear systems and nonlinear multiagent systems in practical applications. The book rigorously provides problem analysis, controller design, and stability theory. In addition, numerous simulation examples are given to demonstrate the validity of the corresponding intelligent control methods, and the simulation results are illustrated in detail wi...

Pediatric Nephrology-On-The-Go is a practical hands-on resource designed for pediatricians, pediatric nephrologists, dialysis nurses and physicians in training. This book is a compilation of the protocols and guidelines that are used in daily clinical practice at the Shaw-NKF-NUH Children's Kidney Centre at the Khoo Teck Puat - National University Children's Medical Institute, Singapore. This book focuses on the diagnostic approach and management of conditions seen in children with kidney ...

Second-Order Consensus of Continuous-Time Multi-Agent Systems focuses on the characteristics and features of second-order agents, communication networks, and control protocols/algorithms in continuous consensus of multi-agent systems. The book provides readers with background on consensus control of multi-agent systems and introduces the intrinsic characteristics of second-order agents' behavior, including the development of continuous control protocols/algorithms over various types of und...