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Understanding Six Sigma: Concepts, Applications and Challenges includes seven excellent chapters that have been prepared using state-of-the-art methodologies by professional researchers in this domain from seven different countries. The chapters in the book are titled as follows: Sustainable Development of the Environment Using Six Sigma); DMAIC Six Sigma for Complex Processes Improvement); The Lean Six Sigma Methodology: Applications in Thoracic Surgery); The Link between Six Sigma and Business Performance); Integration of the Lean and Six Sigma Methodology to Improve Quality Performance in a Healthcare Organisation); Six Sigma: A Process Improvement Methodology); and Integrating Six Sigma into a Business Strategy: Workshop and Leadership.

Graphene oxide is a carbon-based material what produces a monolayer or a few layers of oxygen-functionalized graphene. The number of layers usually differentiate between graphene oxide and graphite oxide. Though a multilayer system, graphite oxide monolayer flakes and few-layer flakes can be found in a graphene oxide dispersion. Due to the presence of oxygen functionalities, graphene oxide can easily disperse in various organic solvents including water and is compatible with a different matrix that dramatically enhances electrical and mechanical properties when mixed with polymer and ceramic materials. Graphene oxide possesses a sp2 bonding network. Graphene oxide can be used as an intermediary in the production of single layer or few-layer graphene sheets. Graphene oxide can be reduced in solution and as a thin film using a variety of reducing conditions, and reduction converts the graphene oxide into a material that has a large enhancement in electrical conductivity. Graphene oxide has been used in a variety of applications not limited to materials science engineering and biotechnology. The present book describes the advances in research and applications of graphene oxide; in Chapter One, the general introduction on graphene oxide is introduced whereas in Chapter Two a broader summary of laser processing for graphene oxide/transition metal oxide nanocomposite coatings are described. Chapter Three discusses a graphene oxide template for the scaffolding transition metal/metal oxide ingredient. Chapter Four concludes the new advances in graphene oxide-metal nanocomposites for cancer theranostics. Chapter Five summarizes graphene oxide membranes as supercapacitor separators and Chapter Six contains details of graphene oxide in terms of the advances in research and applications of membranes. Chapter Seven speaks on the conductivity of graphene oxide films while Chapter Eight describes the application of graphene oxide based nanocomposites in heterogeneous photocatalysis for water purification. Chapter Nine deals with an immense uprising, detailing the functionalization and fine-tuning of 2D graphene designed for heterogeneous catalysis to make things greener. Chapter Ten summarizes graphene oxides for biomedical and therapeutic applications. Chapter Eleven describes graphene oxide as an outstanding material for advanced batteries while Chapter Twelve speaks on behalf of self-assembled graphene oxides and their different applications. Chapter Thirteen describes the versatile applications of graphene oxide in the field of nanoelectronic while Chapter Fourteen concludes this book with details about the design, fabrication, testing and delivery of graphene oxide in solar energy storage. This book will be highly beneficial to the researchers working in the area of graphene oxide, polymer/ceramic chemistry, materials science, engineering, drug delivery, medicine and environmental science. It also covers membrane and super capacitors with their advanced applications. This book also provides a platform for all researchers to carry out graphene oxide research and the advances in the area. The book also covers recent fundamentals, advancements and newer prospects about the future research in graphene oxides.

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a lymphoid neoplasm originating from a mature, follicular center B-cell that is phenotypically positive for CD10, BCL-6, LOM2, and HGAL, with a hallmark genetic translocation involving the MYC gene (at 8q24) and its partner either immunoglobulin heavy chain (14q) or light chain (kappa at 2q and lambda at 22q) and a very aggressive clinical nature. BL can be divided into three clinical subcategories: Endemic, sporadic and HIV/AIDS/immunodeficiency with prevalence in children, adolescents and young adults. Clinical manifestations could slightly be variable upon its clinical subcategories; however, they share certain similar features, e.g., fast growing mass, frequent extranodal presentation, are associated with EBV infection, and sensitive to tumor reduction therapy with a high risk of tumor lysis syndrome and uric acid nephropathy. It is important to differentiate BL from other aggressive types of B-cell lymphomas as with intensive, short-term chemotherapy, (eg: hyper-CVAD (hyperfractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, dexamethasone, methotrexate, and cytarabine). Additionally, CNS prophylaxis BL showed a much better clinical response. Nearly all types of BL lack or dimly express BCL-2, differentiating it from other mimickers. A diagnostic challenging variant of BL an MYC-negative harboring 11q abnormalities, namely Burkitt-like lymphoma with an 11q aberration has been recently proposed. Novel next generation sequencing and gene expression profiling has brought about new insights into BL. TCF3(E2A), a transcription factor involving the regulation of lymphoid cell survival and proliferation, its negative regulator known as ID3, and the downstream gene CCND3 were also frequently mutated in cases of BL. The characterization of molecular biology and the genetic profile of BL leads to the future of personalized medicine and targeted therapy. This book focuses on the epidemiology, etiology, clinical presentations/staging, differential diagnoses, MYC-driven pathogenesis and therapeutic options concerning BL. These updates in BL and associated EBV- or MYC-positive diseases will benefit trainees, physicians and basic scientists who engage in the diagnosis, treatment, and novel drug development for this disease.

Members of Congress and Administrations have periodically considered reorganizing the federal governments trade and development functions to advance various policy objectives. This book examines the Trump administrations 2019 budget request to consolidate OPIC and other agency development finance functions, specifically the DCA of the USAID, into new US development foreign agencies. The second report shows in tabular form how much the Administration requested and how much Congress appropriated for US payments to the multilateral development banks (MDBs) since 2000. The third report included in this book looks at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) that provides economic assistance through a competitive selection process to developing nations that demonstrate positive performance in 1. Ruling justly, 2. Investing in people and 3. Fostering economic freedom. Next, an overview of US foreign assistance to Israel is provided. It includes a review of past aid programs, data on annual assistance and analysis of current issues. Finally, this book examines the legislative authorization and appropriation of funds for foreign aid and security cooperation which are potential vehicles for congressional responses to developments in Cameroon, along with oversight activities. Additionally, to date, the US has directed nearly $7.7 billion toward Syria-related humanitarian assistance, and Congress has appropriated billions more to support security and stabilization initiatives in Syria and in neighboring countries. The chapters herein provide an overview on the Syria conflict and the US response in what is now its seventh year of conflict.

Medical imaging grows to be a broad and modern scientific field. Imaging principles, methods and applications are important topics in this field. While applications and the generalization of techniques start with and rely on theoretical development and novel methodology, introduction and instructions of relatively new ideas, concepts and methods are of pivotal importance to students, beginners and general clinical practitioners in this field. Functional MRI (fMRI) has been widely used for the past 30 years to investigate brain functional changes under physiologic challenges or disease conditions in contrast to a resting state. The physiological contributors to the fMRI signal changes include the blood-oxygenation-dependent level (BOLD) effect and in-flow effect such as the increment in local CBF and arterial oxygenation. Improvement of spatiotemporal resolution of fMRI to enhance neuronal activity specificity and pinpoint the microvasculature activation is the ultimate goal. fMRI functional activity/connectivity and graph theory-based connectome analyses with a multiplex fast imaging technique are recently developed new techniques to provide both a whole-picture and regional specialization of brain resource utilization in a systematic way. The integration of neuroscience and mathematical as well as physical and physiological metrics also promote the innovation and applications of multi-modal imaging equipment development and multi-parametric utilizations in clinical environments, including disease diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this book is intended to provide a whole picture of new fMRI imaging methodological developments from principles to applications, to both beginners and experts in biomedical imaging and healthcare. Several fundamental principles and metrics including BOLD, microvasculature detection and fMRI/EEG coupling will be presented together with some new and up-to-date analytical methods. The conventional statistical methods and relatively new methods of wavelets, dynamic linear correlation coefficients, independent component analysis, EEG source imaging and multi-modal integration will be covered. The authors hope that this book will capture the interests of colleagues in the medical imaging field and could help convey the methodological, technical and developmental resources of neuroimaging applications. This book will provide the current state-of-the-art and frontiers of neuroimaging techniques in basic science and clinical neuroscience research. The authors will present some forefront and interesting multi-dimensional imaging techniques to serve as a textbook and reference manual in fMRI methodological training as well as in the research field. Several distinct imaging perspectives, including cutting-edge imaging methods from acquisition to data analysis as well as multi-modal and multi-parametric quantifications will be described. The relatively new and advanced principles and methods together with interesting examples and application demonstrations would hopefully contribute to the medical imaging teaching and research field and could help facilitate the generalization, interpretation and applications of the proposed neuroimaging methods.

This book includes CRS reports on various security, trade and oil issues such as the OPEC and Non-OPEC Crude Oil Production Agreement, in which, in an effort to stabilize declining oil prices, the OPEC announced an agreement that would reduce crude oil production by approximately 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for 6 months starting January 1, 2017. The second chapter presents data on US merchandise (goods) trade with its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partner countries. It also discusses the issues involved in using bilateral merchandise trade balances as a standard for measuring the economic effects of a particular FTA. The third chapter is a report that examines the differences in the trade data from the Peoples Republic of China and the United States. There is a large and growing difference between the official trade statistics released by the US and the Peoples Republic of China. According to the US, the 2017 bilateral merchandise trade deficit with China was $375.3 billion. According to China, its trade surplus with the US was $275.8 billion a $99.5 billion difference. The next chapter focuses on discussions of trade and trade agreements, including the role that trade plays in the US economy. The last three chapters examine Frequently Asked Questions of the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA); Chinas Retaliatory Tariffs on Selected US Agricultural Products (according to an unofficial translation of the list issued by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, China imposed an additional 25% tariff on US pork products, and an additional 15% tariff on certain varieties of US fresh and dried fruit, nuts, wine and ginseng), and the US engagement in significant civilian nuclear cooperation with other countries (which must adhere to a framework agreement that meets specific requirements under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act (AEA). In conclusion, WiMAX or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, based on IEEE 802.16, is proposed as the standard for broadband wireless access (BWA) over a large metropolitan area. WiMAX has received widespread support from both the computer and telecom industries worldwide, making this technology particularly cost-effective. Flexible bandwidths and different modulation schemes enable WiMAX systems to adaptive change of the speed and capacity of the wireless connection based on the demand.

While arthroplasty is the preferred treatment for most elderly patients with displaced femoral neck fractures, internal fixation is the treatment of choice in the majority of patients below the age of 65 as a joint-preserving procedure. The osteosynthesis of fractures of the femoral neck in the elderly has been partly abandoned during the last years due to the poor clinical outcomes following the conventional fixation with parallel screws or DHS. Based on clinical evidence and laboratory testing, the novel method of biplane double-supported screw fixation (BDSF) offers much better fixation stability, reflecting in excellent clinical outcomes. With its innovative biomechanic principle, the BDSF method provides supreme stability for cannulated screw fixation, achieving up to 44% higher axial fixation strength in vitro, and a rate of bone union reaching up to 96.6% in clinical practice, which is much higher than the conventional parallel screw fixation data. The method of BDSF provides supreme stability by buttressing two out of three medially diverging cannulated screws on the inferior femoral neck cortex and supporting the steeper inferior screw on the posterior femoral neck cortex. The two calcar screws are oriented in different coronal inclinations intended to provide constant fixation strength during different patient activities and load directions. Biomechanically, the most effective component is the inferior screw placed at an obtuse angle and supported on a large area along the inferior and posterior cortex of the femoral neck following its spiral anterior curve. Given the clinical outcomes, BDSF is the perfect technique for femoral neck fracture fixation, as the fracture healing rate is high at 96% with this approach. Therefore, BDSF is not only a treatment alternative to conventional fixation, but also a much better procedure. Thus, BDSF should be routinely applied, and conventional fixation gradually abandoned in clinical practice (this has been the approach in our institution over the last ten years). This book describes the full surgical technique of the method of BDSF for femoral neck fracture osteosynthesis; quality criteria and surgical recommendations for successful BDSF implementation, according to the vast clinical experience of ten years with this highly effective method. A novel surgical approach for hip arthroplasty is described in this book. The current trends aimed at decreasing operative trauma and blood loss have been not entirely satisfied with respect to most of the standard approaches for hip arthroplasty. These surgeries are often associated with considerable blood loss and the necessity for restricting patients'' activities in the postoperative period due to impaired joint stability and risk of dislocations. This book describes the full surgical technique of the novel anatomical direct lateral approach for hip arthroplasty, aimed at decreasing blood loss, minimizing operative trauma, and optimizing joint stability. This technique is associated with minimal blood loss and high joint stability. Patients are allowed to perform activities within the normal range of motion in the early postoperative period. This book describes also the history of internal fixation in femoral neck fractures, as well as the biomechanics of femoral neck fracture osteosynthesis and the role of the implants.

A recent trend in networked control systems is to interconnect the distributed elements by means of a multipoint broadcast network, instead of using the traditional point-to-point links. Within industrial communication systems, industrial networks are specially intended for the interconnection of process controllers, sensors, and actuators, at the lower levels of the factory automation hierarchy. It is known that time constraints are more stringent as we go down in the automation hierarchy. In this book, we consider the application of networked control system in its industrial environment. Some factors such as message cycle delay, the access and queuing delays, the transmission time (frame length/transmission rate), and the protocol processing time all have effects on control performance.

The authors begin this collection by linking human and ecological systems research to analyze resource management decisions for Alaskas first submerged aquatic invasive plant, Elodea spp.. A case study is presented which may aid other countries in management of elodea by outlining steps for future policy-making, with the goal of retaining the ecological integrity and economic value of Alaskas vast freshwater resources. Next, the authors use the De Martonne aridity index and the UNEP Index to determine the humidity of Alaskas Prince William Sound. The indices for climate variability indicate higher humidity in the western sides and lower humidity in the eastern sides. These results highlight the spatial distribution of the climate variables in Prince William Sound from southcentral Alaska. Following this, the Bering Glacier in South Alaska is analyzed for its size resultant from complexities of geographical position, accumulation area, and climate conditions. The results of the analysis illustrate the high variation of the Bering Glacier movements in response to climate change. The concluding chapter examines the beginning of orderly social policy in Russian America in 1784, when well-known merchant G.I. Shelikhov founded the first permanent Russian settlement on Kodiak Island off the southern coast of Alaska. A certain impetus to social policy was created by the monopoly Russian-American Company after their coming to power in Russian colonies of naval officers in 1818. The Russian-American Company abolished slavery, increased payments for furs, supplied natives with food during hunger strikes, and conducted mass vaccinations. Thus, the life of the Aleuts and dependent Eskimos slowly but gradually improved.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics collectively known as STEM are rapidly advancing fields in their own rights. As a book series, Current STEM aims to be a friendly forum for both academic researchers and industrial practitioners to present their work as book chapters. Hence, the chapters should be varied, and this is intended. Current STEM encompasses the type of work to encourage a generation of researcher-practitioners. The author hopes this inaugural volume will be a pleasure to a wide audience.

In this compilation, the authors begin by discussing the various theories on primitive soul-beliefs propounded by anthropologists and scholars of religion from the 19th century to the present day. While cultural evolutionism largely fell out of favor after the mid-20th century, theories on the origins of religious phenomena have made a recent comeback with the cognitive study of religion, which takes a largely evolutionary psychological approach to explaining beliefs in the supernatural. Next, the authors seek to understand Aristotles noetics within his psycho-physiological account of the human being. If its possible to argue for the embodied nature of the soul and of most of its affections, Aristotles claim about the separability of νοῦς from the body is notoriously puzzling. Lastly, this book discusses Goethes was familiar idea of a widely inhabited universe and the subject of the souls cosmic voyage, showing that Mans relation to the universe is strictly connected to Mans development at the microcosmic level.

Microgrids: Design, Applications and Control presents a comprehensive discussion on the modeling and analysis of microgrids. The authors discuss load modeling, renewable distributed generation insertion, local control strategies and a general load flow method designed for balanced and unbalanced microgrids capable of operating connected to the main grid. Two types of primary control are discussed in this book: conventional power control for a residential fuel cell, and virtual synchronous generator control for a battery. The proposed method enables surplus/shortage power in a transient microgrid to be effectively and autonomously interchanged among clusters without using any tertiary control. Later, the authors aim to devise a solution for optimal dispatch of the energy resources in a microgrid being used to continue supplying critical loads during power outages. The goal is to maximize the number of loads served subject to the operational and technical constrains of the microgrid. This compilation includes a novel optimal fractional order general type-2 fuzzy logic proportionalintegralderivative (FOGT2FPID) controller book for the load frequency control of Shipboard MGs. Later, the Load Frequency Control Model is considered for its propensity to stabilize the frequency of the system in the presence of Distributed Generation, two Electric Vehicles as energy storage, and intermittent load and wind power profiles as uncertainties. The authors analyze the details of Neuroscience Based Control approaches, human brain emotional learning and Hebb learning controllers. Next, a critical review of fundamental knowledge and theories underpinning the formation of Microgrids, as well as techniques and strategies that have been proposed in recent years for the purpose of maintaining their stability, are provided. Discussions of current trends and future work in Microgrid research will also be presented. Additionally, a comprehensive review of the current control technology is given with a discussion on challenges of microgrid controls. A networked system of systems approach is addressed to design a control for the islanded microgrid system consisting of distributed generation units and supplying a load.

The book opens with an examination of suicidality as a complex issue. Suicides may be prevented by addressing the mode of reporting in the media, by restricting access to means of suicide, and training health workers and primary care physicians to identify people at risk, assess and manage respective crises, and provide adequate follow-up care. This book discusses the rates of suicidal behavior in inmates, risk factors, and provides a review on how these aspects may differ by offender type (female, juvenile, violent, and sex offenders). An assessment of reasons for living is provided with the hope that it may bolster long-term risk evaluation and may contribute to the clinical tools available to therapists working with high-risk clients. Nurturing clients reasons for living may aid in stopping passive suicidal ideation. A study that used data from 2,386 7th through 12th grades who completed Wave I of Add Health is exhibited, suggesting that sex, grade point average, self-esteem, depression, optimism, sense of school belongingness, and closeness to both mothers and fathers effected students propensity for experiencing bullying and suicidality. As youth suicide is a significant public health problem that requires urgent attention, the concluding chapter describes emerging ideation-to-action models and their implications for school-based youth suicide prevention.

Are you a manager who wants to have a satisfied and happy team to work with? Are you training to become one? Are you a business coach or aiming to become one? Are you a management or business student trying hard to learn how to be successful in the field? Are you an academician, a researcher, or a psychologist? Or are you simply someone who wants or has to work with people and thus needs to know how to do so effectively? If you answer yes to at least one of these questions, then the presented publication is designed particularly for you. It contains essential information on what managerial coaching is, how it works, how it can help in social interactions, and how it can enhance the social intelligence of managers as well as their subordinates. The book further presents information on what social intelligence is, how it can be developed and measured, and how it can be enhanced not only by successful managerial coaching, but also corporate training. It includes the results of several research studies dedicated to these matters, and provides two complete methodologies for measurement of social intelligence (MESI Measuring Social Intelligence) and coaching (AC Assessment of Coaching) as effective managerial tools.

Environmental Change and Sustainability: Management, Challenges and Research Opportunities examines a variety of underlying conceptions regarding sustainability, providing a number of different views on its causes and effects. A general model is necessary to understand the complexity and aggregate all strings to realize the notion of sustainable management for measurement and comparison of developments and therefore to stabilize the ecological footprint on an appropriate level. Additionally, the authors conducted a multi-level research project in a German grammar school, intending to find out how much students in the age from 13-15 years know about the described issues (climate change and missing sustainability) and how motivated they are in order to support addressing them. This study proved that an early training on environment and sustainability issues helps to raise awareness for these issues, as well as fosters a sensitized mind-set in tomorrows decision makers. Another study sets out to assess whether there is a relationship between environmentally sustainable practices carried out by hotels and consumer-based brand equity dimensions, such as brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, and brand associations. Quantitative research was performed, by way of a personal survey, to Spanish guests of three and four star hotels located in the Valencian region. The following chapter reviews extant theoretical and empirical research on the relationship between leadership and corporate social or environmental responsibility and suggests directions for further research on leadership and corporate environmental sustainability. Contemporary global businesses require leaders who can build sustainable businesses that benefit all the relevant stakeholders, indicating the necessity of an appropriate leadership model that highlights corporate environmental sustainability. Additionally, a new management tool for collection of used household batteries is presented in order to optimize the total costs and other environmental factors. The geographic information system (GIS) is used to provide spatial data management and service area analysis by methods implemented in the GIS network analysis extensions.

An Essential Guide to Cytogenetics explores the use of cytogenetic data for studies of frogs as well as the insights that hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships have added to this issue. The authors provide an overview of PcP190 satellite DNA, sex chromosome systems and B chromosomes found in Anura. This book also aim to establish the health effects of various activities and exposures by examining the levels of exposure and the biological effects resulting from the interaction between the organism and the chemical agent. Following this, a chapter is included which focuses on on the complex karyotype issues in myelodysplastic diseases, leukemias, lymphomas and multiple myelomas as the authors see them in daily practice in their center. The authors investigate hybridization, suggesting that the viability of a hybrid between species with a chromosomal discrepancy may offer important hypotheses to explain the morphological, molecular, and cytogenetic diversity of the genus. Trichorhinophalangeal syndrome is analyzed, suggesting that in cases of cytogenetically-invisible alterations, parental FISH analysis as well as aCGH should be considered as part of the clinical baseline testing.