This book focuses on the woven arch bridge, an arch-shaped structure that is one of the most extraordinary timber building traditions of the world. The woven arch bridge exists widely in different cultures and its specific nature is conceptualized by the author as a kind of “universal uniqueness,” challenging widespread viewpoints on its origin and genealogy.Taking this argument as its main thread, the book traces the histories of different woven-arch-bridge-cultures and investigat...

A literary fantasy novel about Zhang Yaowei, a disciplined cultivator, and Jin Zhan'er, a fox spirit whose forced shared-fate bond becomes the beginning of a journey through ghosts, demons, local gods, underworld law, old hatred, forbidden arts, resurrection, and a final battle against an ancient rage. Blending xianxia atmosphere, supernatural romance, ghost-story mystery, and mythic conflict, the story follows two unlikely companions as they choose mercy over inherited cruelty and seek a ...

A literary historical-fantasy novel set amid the fall and renewal of Great Yong. After the disastrous defeat and death of Jinghai Prince Cui Baye, his daughter Cui Ling enters a world of court intrigue, military crisis, hidden evidence, family revenge, imperial succession, and forbidden tenderness. Her bond with Xiao Zhuo develops through banquets, interrogations, poisoned arrows, public trials, war councils, imperial edicts, accession, and a great wedding that marks the beginning of a new...

This book integrates the fundamentals of asymptotic theory of statistical inference for time series under nonstandard settings, e.g., infinite variance processes, not only from the point of view of efficiency but also from that of robustness and optimality by minimizing prediction error. This is the first book to consider the generalized empirical likelihood applied to time series models in frequency domain and also the estimation motivated by minimizing quantile prediction error without a...

Modern Chinese for Heritage Beginners aims to serve as a stepping-stone for Chinese heritage language learners’ future Chinese learning, inspiring them to reflect on their identities, learn Chinese American history, and embrace their cultural heritage.The book starts with talking about individuals and families and then expands to the Chinese and Asian American communities in the U.S. and eventually to the entire American society, all from the unique perspective of Chinese ...

Demonstrates how to solve reliability problems using practical applications of Bayesian modelsThis self-contained reference provides fundamental knowledge of Bayesian reliability and utilizes numerous examples to show how Bayesian models can solve real life reliability problems. It teaches engineers and scientists exactly what Bayesian analysis is, what its benefits are, and how they can apply the methods to solve their own problems. To help readers get started qui...

**Winner of the 2023 William H. Welch Medal, sponsored by the American Association for the History of MedicineA revealing study of risky cures in classical Chinese pharmacy**At first glance, medicine and poison might seem to be opposites. But in China’s formative era of pharmacy (200–800 CE), poisons were strategically deployed as healing agents to cure everything from chills to pains to epidemics. Healing with Poisons explores the ways physicians, religious devote...

Urban development and migration from rural to urban areas are impacting prime agricultural land and natural landscapes, particularly in the less developed countries. These phenomena will persist and require serious study by those monitoring global environmental change. To address this need, various models have been devised to analyze urbanization a

This book reports on important nonlinear aspects or deterministic chaos issues in the systems of multi-phase reactors. The reactors treated in the book include gas-liquid bubble columns, gas-liquid-solid fluidized beds and gas-liquid-solid magnetized fluidized beds. The authors take pressure fluctuations in the bubble columns as time series for nonlinear analysis, modeling and forecasting. They present qualitative and quantitative non-linear analysis tools which include attractor phase pla...

This book combines the ideologies of parentocracy and consumer theory as theoretical lenses to view the private supplementary tutoring, also known as shadow education, with a focus on the demand at primary and lower secondary levels in China. It first explains parents’ motivations of seeking private tutoring and their decision-making dynamics, and then explores the evolving micro-level process of demand that has changed over time. It further investigates how demand for private tutoring var...

As mobile technology becomes integral to everyday life, libraries rework their services to meet the needs of their users. Advancing library services for mobile users requires seamless, intuitive experiences that support research, learning, and engagement. From mobile-friendly catalogs and e-book platforms to personalized notifications and virtual assistance, libraries leverage innovative tools to ensure patrons connect with information effortlessly, from any location. This transformation e...

When faced with those who act with impunity, we seek the protection of law. We rely upon the legal system for justice, from international human rights law that establishes common standards of protection, to international criminal law that spearheads efforts to end impunity for the most heinous atrocities. While legal processes are perceived to combat impunity, and despite the ready availability of the law, accountability often remains elusive. What if the law itself enables impunity?