Operations Research Methods

This cohesive treatment of cognitive radio and networking technology integrates information and decision theory to provide insight into relationships throughout all layers of networks and across all wireless applications. It encompasses conventional considerations of spectrum and waveform selection and covers topology determination, routing policies, content positioning and future hybrid architectures that fully integrate wireless and wired services. Emerging flexibility in spectrum regulation and the imminent adoption of spectrum-sharing policies make this topic of immediate relevance both to the research community and to the commercial wireless community. • Features specific examples of decision-making structures and criteria required to extend network density and scaling to unprecedented levels • Integrates sensing, control plane and content operations into a single cohesive structure • Provides simpler and more powerful models of network operation • Presents a unique approach to d

Semantic Leaps explores how people combine knowledge from different domains in order to understand and express new ideas. Concentrating on dynamic aspects of on-line meaning construction, Coulson identifies two related sets of processes: frame-shifting and conceptual blending. Frame-shifting is semantic reanalysis in which existing elements in the contextual representation are reorganized into a new frame. Conceptual blending is a set of cognitive operations for combining partial cognitive models. By addressing linguistic phenomena often ignored in traditional meaning research, Coulson explains how processes of cross-domain mapping, frame-shifting and conceptual blending enhance the explanatory adequacy of traditional frame-based systems for natural language processing. The focus is on how the constructive processes speakers use to assemble, link and adapt simple cognitive models underlie a broad range of productive language behaviour.

This account is a study of twofold symmetry in algebraic topology. The author discusses specifically the antipodal involution of a real vector bundle - multiplication by - I in each fibre; doubling and squaring operations; the symmetry of bilinear forms and Hermitian K-theory. In spite of its title, this is not a treatise on equivariant topology; rather it is the language in which to describe the symmetry. Familiarity with the basic concepts of algebraic topology (homotopy, stable homotopy, homology, K-theory, the Pontrjagin―Thom transfer construction) is assumed. Detailed proofs are not given (the expert reader will be able to supply them when necessary) yet nowhere is credibility lost. Thus the approach is elementary enough to provide an introduction to the subject suitable for graduate students although research workers will find here much of interest.

Deep learning on graphs has become one of the hottest topics in machine learning. The book consists of four parts to best accommodate our readers with diverse backgrounds and purposes of reading. Part 1 introduces basic concepts of graphs and deep learning; Part 2 discusses the most established methods from the basic to advanced settings; Part 3 presents the most typical applications including natural language processing, computer vision, data mining, biochemistry and healthcare; and Part 4 describes advances of methods and applications that tend to be important and promising for future research. The book is self-contained, making it accessible to a broader range of readers including (1) senior undergraduate and graduate students; (2) practitioners and project managers who want to adopt graph neural networks into their products and platforms; and (3) researchers without a computer science background who want to use graph neural networks to advance their disciplines.

English historical linguistics is a subfield of linguistics which has developed theories and methods for exploring the history of the English language. This Handbook provides an account of state-of-the-art research on this history. It offers an in-depth survey of materials, methods, and language-theoretical models used to study the long diachrony of English. The frameworks covered include corpus linguistics, historical sociolinguistics, historical pragmatics and manuscript studies, among others. The chapters, by leading experts, examine the interplay of language theory and empirical data throughout, critically assessing the work in the field. Of particular importance are the diverse data sources which have become increasingly available in electronic form, allowing the discipline to develop in new directions. The Handbook offers access to the rich and many-faceted spectrum of work in English historical linguistics, past and present, and will be useful for researchers and students intere

Forensic linguistics is at the cutting edge of the undercover policing of child sexual abuse on the open internet and dark web, and language and identity is a fundamental part of this. The authors have drawn on their extensive experience in training undercover officers to develop innovative methods in identifying the creation and performance of online personas, crucial in detecting identity disguise online. This groundbreaking book demonstrates these methods through case studies, whilst also exploring the link between language and identity. By bringing together previously opposed positions in forensic authorship analysis, the book develops a novel theory of linguistic identity, which will resonate not just in forensic authorship research but in sociolinguistics more widely. This unique forensic linguistic project has real-life impact in assisting the police in their investigation of online abusers, and has impact for students and researchers of linguistics, through its contribution to

Innovations in music technology bring with them a new set of challenges for describing and understanding the electroacoustic repertoire. This edited collection presents a state-of-the-art overview of analysis methods for electroacoustic music in this rapidly developing field. The first part of the book explains the needs of differing electroacoustic genres and puts forward a template for the analysis of electroacoustic music. Part II discusses the latest ideas in the field and the challenges associated with new technologies, while Part III explores how analyses have harnessed the new forces of multimedia, and includes an introduction to new software programme EAnalysis, which was created by the editors as the result of an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant. The final part of the book demonstrates these new methods in action, with analyses of key electroacoustic works from a wide range of genres and sources.

This second edition of The Economics of Entrepreneurship is an essential resource for scholars following the current state of this fast-moving field, covering a broad range of topics in unparalleled depth. Designed to be used both as a textbook for specialist degree courses on the economics of entrepreneurship, and as a reference text for academic research in the field, the book draws on theoretical insights and recent empirical findings to show how economics can contribute to our understanding of entrepreneurship. New topics, such as crowdfunding, entrepreneurship education and microenterprise field experiments, appear for the first time, while existing treatments of topics like regional entrepreneurship, innovation and public policy are considerably deepened. Parker also discusses new empirical methods, including quasi-experimental methods and field experiments. Every section - indeed every page - of the new edition has been updated, resulting in a rigorous scientific account of entr

This second edition of The Economics of Entrepreneurship is an essential resource for scholars following the current state of this fast-moving field, covering a broad range of topics in unparalleled depth. Designed to be used both as a textbook for specialist degree courses on the economics of entrepreneurship, and as a reference text for academic research in the field, the book draws on theoretical insights and recent empirical findings to show how economics can contribute to our understanding of entrepreneurship. New topics, such as crowdfunding, entrepreneurship education and microenterprise field experiments, appear for the first time, while existing treatments of topics like regional entrepreneurship, innovation and public policy are considerably deepened. Parker also discusses new empirical methods, including quasi-experimental methods and field experiments. Every section - indeed every page - of the new edition has been updated, resulting in a rigorous scientific account of entr

Innovations in music technology bring with them a new set of challenges for describing and understanding the electroacoustic repertoire. This edited collection presents a state-of-the-art overview of analysis methods for electroacoustic music in this rapidly developing field. The first part of the book explains the needs of differing electroacoustic genres and puts forward a template for the analysis of electroacoustic music. Part II discusses the latest ideas in the field and the challenges associated with new technologies, while Part III explores how analyses have harnessed the new forces of multimedia, and includes an introduction to new software programme EAnalysis, which was created by the editors as the result of an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant. The final part of the book demonstrates these new methods in action, with analyses of key electroacoustic works from a wide range of genres and sources.

English historical linguistics is a subfield of linguistics which has developed theories and methods for exploring the history of the English language. This Handbook provides an account of state-of-the-art research on this history. It offers an in-depth survey of materials, methods, and language-theoretical models used to study the long diachrony of English. The frameworks covered include corpus linguistics, historical sociolinguistics, historical pragmatics and manuscript studies, among others. The chapters, by leading experts, examine the interplay of language theory and empirical data throughout, critically assessing the work in the field. Of particular importance are the diverse data sources which have become increasingly available in electronic form, allowing the discipline to develop in new directions. The Handbook offers access to the rich and many-faceted spectrum of work in English historical linguistics, past and present, and will be useful for researchers and students intere

Cavitation and Bubble Dynamics deals with the fundamental physical processes of bubble dynamics and the phenomenon of cavitation. It is ideal for graduate students and research engineers and scientists, and a basic knowledge of fluid flow and heat transfer is assumed. The analytical methods presented are developed from basic principles. The book begins with a chapter on nucleation and describes both the theory and observations in flowing and non-flowing systems. Three chapters provide a systematic treatment of the dynamics and growth, collapse, or oscillation of individual bubbles in otherwise quiescent fluids. The following chapters summarise the motion of bubbles in liquids, describe some of the phenomena that occur in homogeneous bubbly flows, with emphasis on cloud cavitation, and summarise some of the experimental observations of cavitating flows. The last chapter provides a review of free streamline methods used to treat separated cavity flows with large attached cavities.

With the signing in 1996 of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, interest has grown in forensic seismology: the application of seismology to nuclear test ban verification. This book, based on over 50 years of experience in forensic seismology research, charts the development of methods of seismic data analysis. Topics covered include: the estimation of seismic magnitudes, travel-time tables and epicentres; seismic signal processing; and the use of seismometer arrays. Fully illustrated with seismograms from explosions and earthquakes, the book demonstrates methods and problems of visual analysis. Each chapter provides exercises to help the reader familiarise themselves with practical issues in the field of forensic seismology, and figures and solutions to exercises are also available online. The book is a key reference work for academic researchers and specialists in the area of forensic seismology and Earth structure, and will also be valuable to postgraduates in seismology and s

This first book on greedy approximation gives a systematic presentation of the fundamental results. It also contains an introduction to two hot topics in numerical mathematics: learning theory and compressed sensing. Nonlinear approximation is becoming increasingly important, especially since two types are frequently employed in applications: adaptive methods are used in PDE solvers, while m-term approximation is used in image/signal/data processing, as well as in the design of neural networks. The fundamental question of nonlinear approximation is how to devise good constructive methods (algorithms) and recent results have established that greedy type algorithms may be the solution. The author has drawn on his own teaching experience to write a book ideally suited to graduate courses. The reader does not require a broad background to understand the material. Important open problems are included to give students and professionals alike ideas for further research.

Human resource departments increasingly use the statistical analysis of performance indicators as a way of demonstrating their contribution to organizational performance. In this book, Steve Fleetwood and Anthony Hesketh take issue with this 'scientific' approach by arguing that its preoccupation with statistical analysis is misplaced because it fails to take account of the complexities of organizations and the full range of issues that influence individual performance. The book is split into three parts. Part I deconstructs research into the alleged link between people and business performance by showing that it cannot explain the associations it alleges. Part II attributes these shortcomings to the importation of spurious 'scientific' methods, before going on to suggest more appropriate methods that might be used in future. Finally, Part III explores how HR executives and professionals understand their work and shows how a critical realist stance adds value to this understanding thro

This second edition presents the advances made in finance market analysis since 2005. The book provides a careful introduction to stochastic methods along with approximate ensembles for a single, historic time series. The new edition explains the history leading up to the biggest economic disaster of the 21st century. Empirical evidence for finance market instability under deregulation is given, together with a history of the explosion of the US Dollar worldwide. A model shows how bounds set by a central bank stabilized FX in the gold standard era, illustrating the effect of regulations. The book presents economic and finance theory thoroughly and critically, including rational expectations, cointegration and arch/garch methods, and replaces several of those misconceptions by empirically based ideas. This book will be of interest to finance theorists, traders, economists, physicists and engineers, and leads the reader to the frontier of research in time series analysis.

Professionals such as medical doctors, aeroplane pilots, lawyers, and technical specialists find that some of their peers have reached high levels of achievement that are difficult to measure objectively. In order to understand to what extent it is possible to learn from these expert performers for the purpose of helping others improve their performance, we first need to reproduce and measure this performance. This book is designed to provide the first comprehensive overview of research on the acquisition and training of professional performance as measured by objective methods rather than by subjective ratings by supervisors. In this collection of articles, the world's foremost experts discuss methods for assessing the experts' knowledge and review our knowledge on how we can measure professional performance and design training environments that permit beginning and experienced professionals to develop and maintain their high levels of performance, using examples from a wide range of

Professionals such as medical doctors, aeroplane pilots, lawyers, and technical specialists find that some of their peers have reached high levels of achievement that are difficult to measure objectively. In order to understand to what extent it is possible to learn from these expert performers for the purpose of helping others improve their performance, we first need to reproduce and measure this performance. This book is designed to provide the first comprehensive overview of research on the acquisition and training of professional performance as measured by objective methods rather than by subjective ratings by supervisors. In this collection of articles, the world's foremost experts discuss methods for assessing the experts' knowledge and review our knowledge on how we can measure professional performance and design training environments that permit beginning and experienced professionals to develop and maintain their high levels of performance, using examples from a wide range of

Given a data set, you can fit thousands of models at the push of a button, but how do you choose the best? With so many candidate models, overfitting is a real danger. Is the monkey who typed Hamlet actually a good writer? Choosing a model is central to all statistical work with data. We have seen rapid advances in model fitting and in the theoretical understanding of model selection, yet this book is the first to synthesize research and practice from this active field. Model choice criteria are explained, discussed and compared, including the AIC, BIC, DIC and FIC. The uncertainties involved with model selection are tackled, with discussions of frequentist and Bayesian methods; model averaging schemes are presented. Real-data examples are complemented by derivations providing deeper insight into the methodology, and instructive exercises build familiarity with the methods. The companion website features Data sets and R code.

A thorough account of the methods that underlie the theory of subalgebras of finite von Neumann algebras, this book contains a substantial amount of current research material and is ideal for those studying operator algebras. The conditional expectation, basic construction and perturbations within a finite von Neumann algebra with a fixed faithful normal trace are discussed in detail. The general theory of maximal abelian self-adjoint subalgebras (masas) of separable II1 factors is presented with illustrative examples derived from group von Neumann algebras. The theory of singular masas and Sorin Popa's methods of constructing singular and semi-regular masas in general separable II1 factor are explored. Appendices cover the ultrapower of a II1 factor and the properties of unbounded operators required for perturbation results. Proofs are given in considerable detail and standard basic examples are provided, making the book understandable to postgraduates with basic knowledge of von Neum

Recent work in artificial intelligence has increasingly turned to argumentation as a rich, interdisciplinary area of research that can provide new methods related to evidence and reasoning in the area of law. Douglas Walton provides an introduction to basic concepts, tools and methods in argumentation theory and artificial intelligence as applied to the analysis and evaluation of witness testimony. He shows how witness testimony is by its nature inherently fallible and sometimes subject to disastrous failures. At the same time such testimony can provide evidence that is not only necessary but inherently reasonable for logically guiding legal experts to accept or reject a claim. Walton shows how to overcome the traditional disdain for witness testimony as a type of evidence shown by logical positivists, and the views of trial sceptics who doubt that trial rules deal with witness testimony in a way that yields a rational decision-making process.

Recent work in artificial intelligence has increasingly turned to argumentation as a rich, interdisciplinary area of research that can provide new methods related to evidence and reasoning in the area of law. Douglas Walton provides an introduction to basic concepts, tools and methods in argumentation theory and artificial intelligence as applied to the analysis and evaluation of witness testimony. He shows how witness testimony is by its nature inherently fallible and sometimes subject to disastrous failures. At the same time such testimony can provide evidence that is not only necessary but inherently reasonable for logically guiding legal experts to accept or reject a claim. Walton shows how to overcome the traditional disdain for witness testimony as a type of evidence shown by logical positivists, and the views of trial sceptics who doubt that trial rules deal with witness testimony in a way that yields a rational decision-making process.

The Navier-Stokes equations were firmly established in the 19th Century as the system of nonlinear partial differential equations which describe the motion of most commonly occurring fluids in air and water, and since that time exact solutions have been sought by scientists. Collectively these solutions allow a clear insight into the behavior of fluids, providing a vehicle for novel mathematical methods and a useful check for computations in fluid dynamics, a field in which theoretical research is now dominated by computational methods. This 2006 book draws together exact solutions from widely differing sources and presents them in a coherent manner, in part by classifying solutions via their temporal and geometric constraints. It will prove to be a valuable resource to all who have an interest in the subject of fluid mechanics, and in particular to those who are learning or teaching the subject at the senior undergraduate and graduate levels.

In this short and very practical 2002 introduction to econometrics Philip Hans Franses guides the reader through the essential concepts of econometrics. Central to the book are practical questions in various economic disciplines, which can be answered using econometric methods and models. The book focuses on a limited number of the essential, most widely used methods, before going on to review the basics of econometrics. The book ends with a number of case studies drawn from recent empirical work to provide an intuitive illustration of what econometricians do when faced with practical questions. Throughout the book Franses emphasises the importance of specification, evaluation and implementation of models appropriate to the data. Assuming basic familiarity only with matrix algebra and calculus the book is designed to appeal as either a short stand-alone introduction for students embarking on an empirical research project or as a supplement to any standard introductory textbook.

This book describes the Bayesian approach to statistics at a level suitable for final year undergraduate and Masters students. It is unusual in presenting Bayesian statistics with a practical flavor and an emphasis on mainstream statistics, showing how to infer scientific, medical, and social conclusions from numerical data. The authors draw on many years of experience with practical and research programs and describe many statistical methods, not readily available elsewhere. A first chapter on Fisherian methods, together with a strong overall emphasis on likelihood, makes the text suitable for mainstream statistics courses whose instructors wish to follow mixed or comparative philosophies. The other chapters contain important sections relating to many areas of statistics such as the linear model, categorical data analysis, time series and forecasting, mixture models, survival analysis, Bayesian smoothing, and non-linear random effects models. The text includes a large number of practi

Wealth ownership in the United States has always concentrated in the hands of a small minority of the population. Because of scarce data on wealth ownership, the nature of wealth ownership distribution and knowledge about wealth inequality has received little attention from social scientists. Keister synthesizes theory and data from various sources to present a picture of househould wealth distribution from 1962 to 1995. Utilizing existing survey data and a unique simulation model, she isolates and examines processes that create this distribution, paying particular attention to the wealth ownership and accumulation of top wealth holders, those who control the bulk of household wealth. She identifies trends in wealth mobility that are not possible to estimate with traditional research methods. The results underscore the importance of wealth as an indicator of well-being, identify important causes of wealth inequality, and propose methods of lessening the recent increase in the concentra

Wealth ownership in the United States has always concentrated in the hands of a small minority of the population. Because of scarce data on wealth ownership, the nature of wealth ownership distribution and knowledge about wealth inequality has received little attention from social scientists. Keister synthesizes theory and data from various sources to present a picture of househould wealth distribution from 1962 to 1995. Utilizing existing survey data and a unique simulation model, she isolates and examines processes that create this distribution, paying particular attention to the wealth ownership and accumulation of top wealth holders, those who control the bulk of household wealth. She identifies trends in wealth mobility that are not possible to estimate with traditional research methods. The results underscore the importance of wealth as an indicator of well-being, identify important causes of wealth inequality, and propose methods of lessening the recent increase in the concentra

This book describes the Bayesian approach to statistics at a level suitable for final year undergraduate and Masters students. It is unusual in presenting Bayesian statistics with a practical flavor and an emphasis on mainstream statistics, showing how to infer scientific, medical, and social conclusions from numerical data. The authors draw on many years of experience with practical and research programs and describe many statistical methods, not readily available elsewhere. A first chapter on Fisherian methods, together with a strong overall emphasis on likelihood, makes the text suitable for mainstream statistics courses whose instructors wish to follow mixed or comparative philosophies. The other chapters contain important sections relating to many areas of statistics such as the linear model, categorical data analysis, time series and forecasting, mixture models, survival analysis, Bayesian smoothing, and non-linear random effects models. The text includes a large number of practi

Volume 1: From Brownian Motion to Renormalization and Lattice Gauge Theory. Volume 2: Strong Coupling, Monte Carlo Methods, Conformal Field Theory, and Random Systems. This two-volume work provides a comprehensive and timely survey of the application of the methods of quantum field theory to statistical physics, a very active and fruitful area of modern research. The first volume provides a pedagogical introduction to the subject, discussing Brownian motion, its anticommutative counterpart in the guise of Onsager's solution to the two-dimensional Ising model, the mean field or Landau approximation, scaling ideas exemplified by the Kosterlitz-Thouless theory for the XY transition, the continuous renormalization group applied to the standard phi-to the fourth theory (the simplest typical case) and lattice gauge theory as a pathway to the understanding of quark confinement in quantum chromodynamics. The second volume covers more diverse topics, including strong coupling expansions and the

Volume 1: From Brownian Motion to Renormalization and Lattice Gauge Theory. Volume 2: Strong Coupling, Monte Carlo Methods, Conformal Field Theory, and Random Systems. This two-volume work provides a comprehensive and timely survey of the application of the methods of quantum field theory to statistical physics, a very active and fruitful area of modern research. The first volume provides a pedagogical introduction to the subject, discussing Brownian motion, its anticommutative counterpart in the guise of Onsager's solution to the two-dimensional Ising model, the mean field or Landau approximation, scaling ideas exemplified by the Kosterlitz-Thouless theory for the XY transition, the continuous renormalization group applied to the standard phi-to the fourth theory (the simplest typical case) and lattice gauge theory as a pathway to the understanding of quark confinement in quantum chromodynamics. The second volume covers more diverse topics, including strong coupling expansions and the

This is the first full-length study of Ecclesiastes using methods of philosophical exegesis, specifically those of the modern French philosophers Levinas and Blanchot. T. A. Perry opens up new horizons in the philosophical understanding of the Hebrew Bible, offering a series of meditations on its general spiritual outlook. Perry breaks down Ecclesiastes' motto 'all is vanity' and returns 'vanity' to its original concrete meaning of 'breath', the breath of life. This central and forgotten teaching of Ecclesiastes leads to new areas of breath research related both to environmentalism and breath control.

Originally published during the early part of the twentieth century, the Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature were designed to provide concise introductions to a broad range of topics. They were written by experts for the general reader and combined a comprehensive approach to knowledge with an emphasis on accessibility. An Introduction to Experimental Psychology by Charles S. Myers was first published in 1911 and reissued as this third edition in 1914. The volume discusses the typical research themes and methods of observation in experimental psychology at the time of publication.

First published by the Cambridge University Press in 1911, this volume represents the result of three years of research into the subject of diarrhoea, which was one of the chief causes of child mortality in Great Britain at the turn of the century. It begins with a statistical study of age incidence, prevalence, and fatality of the condition and then in successive chapters examines clinical features, immunity, social relations, sanitation, food, and epidemiological features. The final chapters touch on possible methods of prevention and treatment and offer a general summary of conclusions.

First published in 1962 this book is a graduate-level introduction to the theory of electro-magnetic flow-measurement. Electromagnetic flowmeters have been in use for many years and are still one of the most widely used methods of measuring flow rates. Although the sophistication of the instrumentation has changed radically since Shercliff's book was first published, the theoretical principles expounded in the book are still relevant and sound. Students of mechanical engineering and research workers will find this reissue to be a useful and lucid exposition of the basic theory.

Ashlee Quosigk explores the diversity of opinions within the largest religious group in the US – Evangelical Christians – on the topic of Islam. Evangelicals are often characterized as monolithically antagonistic toward Muslims. This book challenges that stereotype, exposing the sharp divides that exist among Evangelicals on Islam and examines why there is division. Drawing on qualitative research on two congregations in the US, as well as on popular Evangelical leaders, this book details the surprisingly diverse views Evangelicals hold on Muhammad, the Qur’an, interfaith dialogue, syncretism, and politics. This research is invaluable for providing a better understanding of what Evangelicals think, and why. This book also offers insight into why conflict exists and why Evangelicals differ, while advancing culture war theory and qualitative methods. Specifically, it explores differences in moral authority (assumptions that guide one’s perceptions of the world) among Evangelicals and exp

The thalamus is a key structure in the mammalian brain, providing a hub for communication within and across distributed forebrain networks. Research in this area has undergone a revolution in the last decade, with findings that suggest an expanded role for the thalamus in sensory processing, motor control, arousal regulation, and cognition. Moving beyond previous studies of anatomy and cell neurochemistry, scientists have expanded into investigations of cognitive function, and harness new methods and theories of neural computation. This book provides a survey of topics at the cutting edge of this field, covering basic anatomy, evolution, development, physiology and computation. It is also the first book to combine these disciplines in one place, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of thalamus research, and will be an essential resource for students and experts in biology, medicine and computer science.

Time-tested features from previous editions -- including "Demonstrations" illustrating principles in action, "Methods" sections and "Developmental Dimension" segments -- have been updated and carried over into the 11th edition.The Exploration feature in MindTap -- the digital learning experience available with the text -- enables students to view experimental stimuli, perceptual demonstrations and short film clips about the research discussed in the text. These features have been thoroughly updated, and new items have been added to the labs carried over from the previous edition. Most of the items have been generously provided by researchers in vision, hearing and perceptual development.Reflecting the latest developments from the field, the 11th edition has been updated throughout with discussions of cutting-edge research. Especially noteworthy are a revised and more "student friendly" Chapter 1: Introduction to Perception and an expanded treatment of basic auditory mechanisms and musi

Language plays a key role in religion, framing how people describe spiritual experience and giving structure to religious beliefs and practices. Bringing together work from a team of world-renowned scholars, this volume introduces contemporary research on religious discourse from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives. It introduces methods for analysis of a range of different kinds of text and talk, including institutional discourse within organised religions, discourse around spirituality and spiritual experience within religious communities, media discourse about the role of religion and spirituality in society, translations of sacred texts, political discourse, and ritual language. Engaging and easy-to-read, it is accessible to researchers across linguistics, religious studies, and other related disciplines. A comprehensive introduction to all the major research approaches to religious language, it will become a key resource in the emerging inter-disciplinary fiel

Connecting theory with real-life applications, this is the first ever textbook to equip students with a comprehensive knowledge of all the key concepts in bionanotechnology. By bridging the interdisciplinary gap from which bionanotechnology emerged, it provides a systematic introduction to the subject, accessible to students from a wide variety of backgrounds. Topics range from nanomaterial preparation, properties and biofunctionalisation, and analytical methods used in bionanotechnology, to bioinspired and DNA nanotechnology, and applications in biosensing, medicine and tissue engineering. Throughout the book, features such as 'Back to basics' and 'Research report' boxes enable students to build a strong theoretical knowledge and to link this to practical applications and up-to-date research. With over 200 detailed, full-colour illustrations and more than 100 end-of-chapter problems, this is an essential guide to bionanotechnology for any student studying this exciting, fast-developin

This volume provides a practical introduction to the method of maximum likelihood as used in social science research. Ward and Ahlquist focus on applied computation in R and use real social science data from actual, published research. Unique among books at this level, it develops simulation-based tools for model evaluation and selection alongside statistical inference. The book covers standard models for categorical data as well as counts, duration data, and strategies for dealing with data missingness. By working through examples, math, and code, the authors build an understanding about the contexts in which maximum likelihood methods are useful and develop skills in translating mathematical statements into executable computer code. Readers will not only be taught to use likelihood-based tools and generate meaningful interpretations, but they will also acquire a solid foundation for continued study of more advanced statistical techniques.