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This book is aimed at everyone preparing for the ISTQB® Certified Tester ¿ Foundation Level exam based on the Foundation Level syllabus (version 4.0) published in 2023. It provides candidates with reliable knowledge based on this document and thus distinguishes itself from all the information about ISTQB® syllabi and exams on the Internet, which is often of rather poor quality and may even contain serious errors. The book expands and details many issues that are described in the new 2023 version of the syllabus in a perfunctory or general way only. According to the ISTQB® guidelines for syllabus-based training, an exercise must be provided for each learning objective at the K3 level, and a practical example must be provided for each objective at the K2 or K3 level. In order to satisfy these requirements, the authors prepared numerous exercises and examples for all learning objectives at these levels. In addition, for each learning objective, one or more sample exam questions are presented which are similar to those that the candidate will see in the exam. This makes the book an excellent aid for studying and preparing for the exam and verifying acquired knowledge.

In recent years, the concept of customer engagement has evolved as a powerful tool in the managerial toolkit of firms to incorporate a profitable approach to customer management. There is a pressing need for an authoritative book that communicates the fundamentals of profitable customer engagement by proposing a customer engagement value framework. This book, Valuing Customer Engagement, is first of its kind on customer engagement that outlines the theory and methods of engaging customers profitably in business-to-consumer and business-to-business settings.Written by world-renowned scholar and thought leader V. Kumar, this seminal work book explains the definitions of the metrics within the CEV framework and analyzes ways to measure and maximize these metrics that can help in engaging customers profitably. Dr. Kumar also reveals the interrelationships between these metrics, i.e. how each metric impacts the other, with examples from all over the world.This updated edition introduces of Customer Valuation Theory as a way of quantifying direct and indirect engagement value while presenting newer applications and case studies. With practical examples of companies that have benefited by implementing these strategies, this guide is a must have for business executives who want to maximize companies profitability as well as students wanting to learn how to engage customers and build loyalty.

The book brings together diverse views from around the world and provides a comprehensive overview of academic integrity and how to create the ethical academy. At the same time, the Handbook does not shy away from some of the vigorous debates in the field such as the causes of academic integrity breaches. There has been an explosion of interest in academic integrity in the last 20-30 years. New technologies that have made it easier than ever for students to ¿cut and paste¿, coupled with global media scandals of high profile researchers behaving badly, have resulted in the perception that plagiarism is ¿on the rise¿. This, in combination with the massification and commercialisation of higher education, has resulted in a burgeoning interest in the importance of academic integrity, how to safeguard it and how to address breaches appropriately. What may have seemed like a relatively easy topic to address ¿ students copying sources without attribution ¿ has in fact, turned out to be a complex, interdisciplinary field of research requiring contributions from linguists, psychologists, social scientists, anthropologists, teaching and learning specialists, mathematicians, accountants, medical doctors, lawyers and philosophers, to name just a few.Because of this broad interest and input, this handbook serves as the single authoritative reference work which brings together the vast, growing, interdisciplinary and at times contradictory body of literature. For both established researchers/practitioners and those new to the field, this Handbook provides a one-stop-shop as well as a launching pad for new explorations and discussions.

This book aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current challenges in one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Environmental sustainability and climate change implications in the mountain ecosystems in general and mountainous regions of the Global South in particular are key concerns of the present-day world. In particular, the mountainous regions in the Global South are excessively being subjected to haphazard developmental activities making them vulnerable to all possible aspects of climate change. Ecologically fragile and biodiversity-rich (considered ¿hotspot¿ of biodiversity) Himalayan Region (HR) is subjected to high vulnerability due to climate change and unsustainable developmental activities. A major portion of the Indian HR, for instance, has gradually been endangered by intense environmental burden owing to rapid and haphazard urbanization, extreme weather events, etc. Unfortunately, environmental sustainability studies in many parts of the region are still inadequate. Accordingly, in this book, the authors provide a detailed account of the Himalayas in the epoch of Anthropocene¿¿the most recent period in Earth¿s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet¿s climate and ecosystems" (as defined by the National Geographic Society). It is no secret that the haphazard developmental activities in the Himalayas are having tremendous impacts on the local ecosystems. Many of such impacts are irreversible over the next hundreds of years and it should ring an alarm to all of us alike. Therefore, it becomes increasingly imperative that we document the existing anthropogenic challenges in the Himalayas, analyse them and find a way where environment and development can go hand in hand. This book is an attempt in that direction. The authors aim to address issues ranging from unorganized tourism practices to the big dams in the Himalayas and from mining and quarrying activities to climate change implications and sustainable development goals (SDGs).

This book presents a collection of scientific articles on recent research on innovations in biomedical engineering. Articles are divided into two chapters covering broad areas of experimental research and biomedical engineering, engineering of biomaterials as well as informatics and modelling in biomedical engineering. Given its scope, it offers a valuable resource for practitioners, researchers, and students alike. The topics include not only theoretical considerations but also practical applications of research conducted in cooperation between engineers, doctors, and physiotherapists.

The book provides an overview of the Slow Onset Disasters (SLOD) in the urban built environment discussing potential strategies to assess and mitigate multiple climate change related risks. Climate change evidence has been reported in the last decades, suggesting that the anthropogenic activities are accelerating these changes towards a warmer and more polluted environment. In this context, SLODs have been linked to climate change related disasters and have been stated to have a higher impact risk within dense built environment (BE). Therefore, the book presents a description of the most relevant SLODs, their significance, and confluence, the way in which scientists and entities are monitoring their progression at different scales, a structured risk assessment strategy and the deconstruction of the BE characteristics that make it more prone to SLODs risk. In addition, it highlights the necessity of adapting the traditional risk assessment methods, to account for different vulnerabilitytypes, including the morphology and materiality of the BE, and the BE users¿ characteristics. In fact, individual features influence users¿ responses and tolerance to environmental stressors, because of age, health, gender, habits, and behaviour, thus impacting the users¿ vulnerability. Exposure can then amplify these issues, since it defines the number of users that can be effectively affected by the SLOD. Starting from this perspective, the book first traces literature-based correlations between individual features, use behaviour, and individual response to the SLOD-altered open spaces. Then, a novel methodology, to quantify the variations of users¿ vulnerability and exposure, is offered, to support designers in quickly defining input scenarios for risk assessment and mitigation. Lastly, it demonstrates, through a case study, the SLOD risk assessment framework proposed and the evaluation of the efficacy of risk mitigation strategies.

This book provides a solution to the problem with the energy concept. This problem manifests itself in the fact that physicists clearly diverge regarding the question of what energy is. Some define it but others state that we do not know what it is. Although this is a problem for physicists who need to explain the concept, it is not a problem for physics that can be solved by laboratory means. Penetrating into the origin of the notion of energy, this book offers a clear idea of what was discovered and what was invented to interpret the findings.Following the development of the concept, it provides an explanation of the trends in contemporary textbooks. The author's repetition, in his "History and Philosophy of Physics Laboratory", of Joule¿s famous experiment ¿ the paddle wheel experiment ¿ with a calorimeter as originally used by Joule and with a calorimeter as proposed in textbooks, is presented, yielding new insight into the phenomenon. Thus, science teachers and students will benefit from reading the book as well as historians, philosophers, students of the history and philosophy of science, and all who are interested in knowing about what it is that we call energy.

This book reports on innovative research and developments in the broad field of transportation. It covers innovative solutions relating to intelligent vehicles and infrastructure, energy and combustion management, vehicle dynamics and engineering. It also reports on advances in railway transport, air transportation, as well as transportation safety and logistics. Chapters are based on peer-reviewed papers presented at the 14th international scientific conference "Transbaltica: Transportation Science and Technology", held on September 14-15, 2023, at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, in Vilnius, Lithuania. All in all, this book offers extensive and timely information to both researchers and practitioners in the field of transportation, logistics and related interdisciplinary areas.

The edited collection offers a comprehensive and intricate exploration of Ottoman cash waqfs, extending its scope from the early modern era to the onset of the twentieth century. It delves into the historical evolution of these private Islamic financial institutions, shedding light on their enduring influence and drawing insightful parallels with both contemporary Middle Eastern and European financial systems. Leveraging newly uncovered data spanning various regions of the Ottoman Empire, this work scrutinizes the dynamic functions of waqfs, revealing their significant imprint on today's financial paradigms. It advances existing scholarship by employing quantitative methodologies and systematic analysis of these emergent datasets, facilitating a sophisticated, longitudinal study of cash waqfs within the broader spectrum of historical interest rate trends and global credit markets. The chapters trace the transformation of waqfs from entities primarily holding immovable assets to those managing movable assets (cash waqfs), delineating their role in generating revenue for diverse purposes. These encompass funding state debts, fostering infrastructure development, and extending microcredit to economically marginalized segments of society. Additionally, the book explores the challenges and failures encountered in the transition of financial institutions during the Ottoman era, particularly in the context of the emergence of large public banks. The concluding segment of the book offers a comparative analysis of financial systems across various countries, including the shift from private to public banking in Italy, and contemplates the potential applicability of waqf models in contemporary microcredit initiatives and sustainable development strategies. This volume will appeal to scholars of financial history, economic history, Ottoman studies, and Islamic finance.

This book provides a guide for those looking to understand the potential of blockchain technology and its impact on various industries. The book provides an in-depth exploration of blockchain technology, its use cases, and the opportunities and challenges it presents. From digital currencies and smart contracts to supply chain management and decentralized finance, the book covers all the key aspects of blockchain technology. The authors also go beyond the technical details, providing valuable insights and practical advice on how to navigate this new era of decentralization and trustless transactions. The book is an ideal read for researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, or anyone looking to stay ahead of the curve and stay informed about the future of blockchain technology.

The book presents original contributions to the theories and practices of emerging internet, data, and web technologies and their applicability in businesses, engineering, and academia. As a key feature, it addresses advances in the life-cycle exploitation of data generated from the digital ecosystem data technologies that create value for the knowledge and businesses toward a collective intelligence approach.Internet has become the most proliferative platform for emerging large-scale computing paradigms. Among these, data and web technologies are two most prominent paradigms, in a variety of forms such as data centers, cloud computing, mobile cloud, and mobile web services. These technologies altogether create a digital ecosystem whose corner stone is the data cycle, from capturing to processing, analysis, and visualization. The investigation of various research and development issues in this digital ecosystem is boosted by the ever-increasing needs of real-life applications, which are based on storing and processing large amounts of data. Researchers, software developers, practitioners, and students interested in the field of data and web technologies will find this book useful and a reference for their activity.

This book offers a timely snapshot of research, technologies and best practices in the broad area of bioengineering and clinical engineering. Contributions report on advances in biomechanics, biomaterials, and tissue engineering, biosensors and instrumentation, biomedical signal processing, and rehabilitation engineering. Further, it covers topics relating to quality engineering and management of health services, and of engineering education. The book gathers selected, peer-reviewed contributions to the XXIII Argentinian Congress of Bioengineering and the XII Clinical Engineering Conference, both known under the acronym ¿SABI 2022¿, held on September 13¿16, 2022, in San Juan, Argentina, and organized by the Sociedad Argentina de Bioingeniería.

This book argues for the necessity of a re-evaluation of our thinking about responsibly relating to future generations in the context of environmental philosophy. Using long-term nuclear waste disposal as its paradigmatic case, this book makes the case that the predominant mode of thinking the future in terms of continuity and repetition of the present requires a critique informed by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in order to think responsibility adequately. The book begins by surveying contemporary accounts of intergenerational responsibility before outlining the specifics of nuclear waste disposal policy. With these stakes established, the contributions of Jacques Derrida to future-oriented ethics are introduced. These include discussions of communication across contexts, the relationship between inheritance and responsibility, and the political imperatives that result from this critique. This book concludes by arguing for an intergenerational environmental policy that rejectspolicy and infrastructural projects that depend on the present reproducing itself indefinitely.

This contributed volume offers a wide variety of cases exploring how humanity can adapt to a changing climate. The volume features a wide variety of contributions from geographers, primarily in India but with plenty of global cases to provide a broad comparative perspective. A primary goal of this book is to bridge the gap from conceptual and data-driven analysis of climate change and adaptation to practical planning approaches and strategies. The book compiles contributions that address human well-being and environmental effects related to climate change, including analysis and modelling of ecosystem services, socio-ecological research and sustainable governance of ecosystems. Results reported in this book are conducive to a better understanding of the climate emergency, climate-related impacts and adaptation and mitigation strategies. The cases here also provide researchers with new examples of applications of vulnerability assessment methods. The volume offers insights regardingvulnerable areas in India, an exploration of how some regions have coped with these issues, and a discussion of the impacts that public policy has had on vulnerability in the regions studied. The focus on vulnerability will assist decision-makers in and outside India in targeting policies aimed at poverty reduction in agricultural communities as well. Though the cases here primarily focus on India, the methodologies presented here are transferable to many other parts of the world.

This book recognizes the fact that the vessels' intended operational profile may vary as some vessels are intended to operate with the assistance of an ice breaker and others are intended to operate independently. The guidance provided in this book is proposed to apply to all vessels that are designed, equipped and intended to operate in low-temperature environments. Special attention is given to those vessels operating for extended periods in the Arctic regions, as this presents specific and unique challenges for vessels and crew members. The application of the guidance in this book is optional. When a vessel is designed, equipped, built and surveyed in accordance with the relevant class rules, and when found satisfactory during class notation survey, a classification notation may be granted which demonstrates the vessel's compliance with the appropriate class requirements for vessels operating in low-temperature environments. Those vessels that are designed to meet the requirements of an ice class are typically required to meet specific class rules around ¿strengthening for navigation in ice¿ or other equivalent and recognized ice class rules. Accordingly, this book also provides guidance related to the requirements which address the duration of emergency electrical power. This extended emergency power duration is expressed in hours and may be appended to the base optional class notations. To provide as much context as possible, this book refers to the most relevant international regulations and standards that are considered to be applicable. It is recommended that readers of this book refer to the most recent text of those regulations and standards when seeking to apply the guidance set out herein, as it is the intent of the book to remain consistent with the pertinent international regulations and standards developed by the global maritime industry.

The book focuses on original approaches intended to support the development of biologically inspired cognitive architectures. It bridges together different disciplines, including artificial intelligence, linguistics, neuro- and social sciences, psychology and philosophy of mind, among others. The chapters are based on contributions presented at the 2023 Annual International Conference on Brain-Inspired Cognitive Architectures for Artificial Intelligence (the 14th Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, BICA*AI 2023), organized in collaboration with the University of Ningbo and held on October 13-15, 2023, in Ningbo, China. The book discusses emerging methods, theories and ideas towards the realization of general-purpose humanlike artificial intelligence or fostering a better understanding of the ways the human mind works. It provides engineers, mathematicians, psychologists, computer scientists and other experts with a timely snapshot of recent research and a source of inspiration for future developments in the broadly intended areas of artificial intelligence and biological inspiration.

This book offers a systematic acoustic phonetic analysis of both language and dialect death in the region of Béarn, southwestern France. Focusing on Béarnais, a localised dialect of Gascon which is under pressure from French, the author explores the socio-political process of language shift, whereby members of a speech community cease to speak their indigenous language in favour of an incoming dominant language. Gascon is at an advanced stage of this process, making its remaining speakers excellent candidates for the study of language obsolescence, and this unique study will be of interest to researchers working in a broad range of disciplines, including language variation and change, language and dialect contact, Occitan and French, sociophonetics and phonology.

Environmental impacts created by the entire textile and fashion supply chain have been an important topic of discussion in recent decades. Different life cycle phases of a textile product from raw material extraction through manufacturing to consumer use and disposal are all responsible for various magnitudes of environmental impact. Mitigating the environmental impacts created by the textile manufacturing sector is of paramount import as manufacturing is a critical point to alleviate the impacts arising from the entire textiles and clothing supply chain. This contributed volume is meant to illustrate and draw useful conclusions from initiatives taken by the textile manufacturing sector and to identify key practices invented and being practiced by textiles and clothing manufacturers toward making the industry more sustainable.

This book constitutes revised selected papers from the 15th International Conference on Computer Supported Education, CSEDU 2023, which took place in Prague, Czech Republic, during April 21¿23, 2023.CSEDU 2023 accepted 34 full and 54 papers out of 162 papers submissions. Out of these, 8 contributions have been selected for inclusion in this book. The papers included in this book contribute to the understanding of relevant trends in the current research on Computer Supported Education, with a particular focus on: eLearning Platforms, Portals, Feedback and Learning Support, Game-Based and Simulation-Based Learning, Active Learning, Tools to Assess Learning, Learning with AI Systems, Higher Order Thinking Skills, Flipped Classroom, Faculty Development and Constructivism and Social Constructivism.

This book provides a definition of the developing field of environmental memory studies. It reflects on the possibilities, challenges, prospects and limitations of culturally and collectively remembering (in) the Anthropocene. Located at the intersection of environmental humanities and memory studies, the analysis draws on and surveys a series of Anthropocene-related memorials, from a sculpture lost in Welsh waterways to cat colonies and perennial chickens. This leads to an examination of different memory agents across histories ¿ past, present and future ¿ and an investigation of memorialisation politics under new ecological regimes, within and beyond the human.

This book presents Blockchain technology and its various applications in educational environments. The authors show how Blockchain has the potential to revolutionize the field of education by creating decentralized and secure platforms for connecting students and educators across borders. The book also discusses the challenges and limitations of implementing Blockchain in education, such as technical complexity, lack of standardization, and regulatory issues. The authors provide several examples and case studies that demonstrate how Blockchain technology can be used to improve various aspects of education. The authors also recognize that Blockchain technology evolves rapidly and address the potential impact of the technology on the field of education in the future. In addition to general educational applications, the authors also provide a global perspective, addressing the potential impact of technology on education in various countries and regions.

This book provides a critical account of federal asymmetry in India - its origins, context, forms and functioning - by taking into account the institutional effectiveness of asymmetric institutions in the regions for identity fulfillment, development and governance. It argues that while some asymmetry, de jure/ or de facto, is part of all federations for meeting some special circumstances, in India, which has followed a different path of federation building, asymmetric institutional solutions especially in the border areas have played a crucially important role in accommodating ethno-cultural diversity, ensuring law and order, a level of development and governance in a process that has turned the ¿rebels into stakeholders¿. Indiäs federal asymmetric designs and their working has been a key to holding the peripheries within the Union of India. The book utilizes both archival research and empirical survey data, as well as elite interviews.