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...

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...

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...

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 is a book with a difference: it produces a completely new perspective on lifelong learning and the learning society and locates them within humanity itself. Five themes run through this book:Humankind has always been aware of the imperfections of human society: as a consequence, it has looked back to a mythological past and forward to a utopian future that might be religious, political, economic or even educational to find something better.L...

An innovative introduction to Human Geography, exploring different ways of studying the relationships between people and place, and putting people at the centre of human geography. The book covers behavioural, humanistic and cultural traditions, showing how these can lead to a nuanced understanding of how we relate to our surroundings on a day-to-day basis. The authors also explore how human geography is currently influenced by 'postmodern' ideas stressing difference and diversity. While t...

Outlining sociology’s distinctive contribution to childhood studies and our understanding of contemporary children and childhood, The Sociology of Children, Childhood and Generation provides a thought provoking and comprehensive account of the connections between the macro worlds of childhood and the micro worlds of children’s everyday lives.Examining children’s involvement in areas such as the labour market, family life, education, play and leisure, the book provi...

An acknowledged challenge for humanitarian democratic education is its perceived lack of philosophical and theoretical foundation, often resulting in peripheral academic status and reduced prestige. A rich philosophical and theoretical tradition does however exist. This book synthesises crucial concepts from Critical Realism, Critical Social Theory, Critical Discourse Studies, neuro-, psycho-, socio- and cognitive-linguistic research, to provide critical global educators with a Cultural Hi...

′Written in a clear, accessible style, this inspirational book is both a practical guide and a survey of the different ways of doing ethnography. Drawing on wide-ranging examples and using classic and contemporary ethnographies, the authors demonstrate the importance of developing an ethnographic sensibility. A most valuable resource′- Cris Shore, University of AucklandEthnography in Education is an accessible guidebook to the different app...

How can sociology inform our understanding of young people's experiences? Introducing core theories by drawing on a range of cultural resources - from pioneering research to genre-defining films - this book demonstrates how a sociological imagination can enhance informal educational and social welfare approaches to work with young people.

This volume provides a multi-faceted and critical analysis of the Singapore curriculum in relation to globalization. First, it details reform initiatives established by the Singapore government to meet the challenges posed by globalization. Next, Globalization and the Singapore Curriculum presents how these reforms have been translated into programs, school subjects and operational frameworks and then examines, in turn, how well these have been implemented in schools and classroom...

BodySpace brings together some of the best known geographers writing on gender and sexuality today. Together they explore the role of space and place in the performance of gender and sexuality.The book takes a broad perspective on feminism as a theoretical critique, and aims to ground - and destabilize - notions of citizenship, work, violence, "race" and disability in their geographical contexts.The book explores the idea of knowledge as embodied, engendered and embe...