Xi Chen explores the question of why there has been a dramatic rise in and routinization of social protests in China since the early 1990s. Drawing on case studies, in-depth interviews and a unique data set of about 1,000 government records of collective petitions, this book examines how the political structure in Reform China has encouraged Chinese farmers, workers, pensioners, disabled people and demobilized soldiers to pursue their interests and claim their rights by staging collective ...

This book examines how e-assessment can be implemented in primary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing in an examination-oriented context. It provides valuable insights on e-assessment for learning (E-AfL) to teacher educators and teachers in both local and global contexts, especially teacher educators undertaking professional development programs of assessment in examination-oriented contexts. For researchers and graduate students who are interested in e-assessment for learning (E-...

This book uses the monographic study of litigation subjects, prosecution, trial, and enforcement to reveal the formation, operation, and development of criminal proceeding conventions in the Tang Dynasty. It also outlines the combination, coordination, and interaction of rules, conventions, and ideas in the traditional Chinese legal system, and presents an overview of the evolution and development of traditional litigation in China. This book is intended mainly for scholars and graduate an...

This book presents a systematic framework for risk assessment and predictions of extreme climate impacts using big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and intelligent monitoring technologies. Central to this effort is the concept of a smart water grid, a 'digital water network', capable of real-time monitoring, rapid transmission, accurate forecasting, optimized decision-making, precise allocation, and efficient management especially during floods and droughts.Building on case...

Reading in a Second Language offers a comprehensive survey of the phenomenon and process of reading in a second language, with graduate and upper-level undergraduate students in second language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and applied psychology as its primary audience. The book explores reading processes from a number of complementary standpoints, integrating perspectives from fields such as first and second language reading, second language acquisition, linguistics, psycholin...

Complexity theory aims to understand and classify computational problems, especially decision problems, according to their inherent complexity. This book uses new techniques to expand the theory for use with counting problems. The authors present dichotomy classifications for broad classes of counting problems in the realm of P and NP. Classifications are proved for partition functions of spin systems, graph homomorphisms, constraint satisfaction problems, and Holant problems. The book ass...

This book overviews modern theory of the turbulent motion flow in riverbeds answering many questions around this topic. It gives new generalization of the mathematical model for determining the hydrodynamic parameters of suspended particles and the interaction between the liquid and the solid carrier particles in various movements of suspended particles. It develops a new method for calculating the distribution of the averaged velocity of the carrier liquid and solid particles in the depth...

Web3 is a new frontier of internet architecture emphasizing decentralization and user control. This text for MBA students and industry professionals explores key Web3 concepts, starting from foundational principles and moving to advanced topics like blockchain, smart contracts, tokenomics, and DeFi. The book takes a clear, practical approach to demystify the tech behind NFTs and DAOs as well as the complex regulatory landscape. It confronts challenges of blockchain scalability, a barrier t...

Reforging the Central Bank presents an insightful comparison between financial development in China — a rising global economic superpower — under the old and new normal and an all-encapsulating study of current monetary transmission mechanism and monetary policy instruments. Focusing on the 'top-level design' for Chinese financial system and the reformation of People's Bank of China (PBoC), China's central bank, Dr Deng, head of the Fixed Income Research Department at CITIC Securities, and...

This book intends to report the new results of the efforts on the study of Layered Intelligence of the Machine Brain (LIMB). The book collects novel research ideas in LIMB and summarizes the current machine intelligence level as “five layer intelligence”- environments sensing, active learning, cognitive computing, intelligent decision making and automatized execution. The book is likely to be of interest to university researchers, R&D engineers and graduate students in computer science and...

This book aims to identify the impact of tourism on social and economic development in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan, and to predict the development of the tourism industry and identify any limiting factors for the development of the tourism industry in the Republic as a whole. The impacts of tourism on the region have been poorly understood since the country gained independence in 1991, and so improved methods for identifying and increasing the contribution of the tourism industry to...

This book analyses climate change influences on rainfall erosivity and soil erosion across Central Asia, provides an overview (past and projections) on the Central Asian countries where projected changes in rainfall erosivity and erosivity density are the greatest, and discusses the potential impacts on the environment across the region. This analysis is accomplished primarily using the RUSLE model with past and future climate projections, spatiotemporal variations of rainfall erosivity an...