The twelfth volume in the Progress in International Business Research series presents extensive accounts of the contemporary scientific debate on how to assess the impacts of distance, both negative and positive ones, on the conduct of international business.

This paper aims to propose run-out distance predictive models for clay slopes using the material point method (MPM), which can simulate the progressive failure process of slopes considering the strain softening effect of soils. A suite of 100 ground motions is selected from the NGA-West2 database and then scaled for conducting the dynamic analysis of slopes. The permanent slope displacements (D) can be classified into two categories, namely the “un-failure” category with D smaller than 0.4 m and the “failure” category with D in the range of 10 m to 15 m. It is found that peak ground velocity (PGV) exhibits the highest correlation with D for the “un-failure” category, whereas all ground-motion intensity measures (e.g., PGV, peak ground acceleration) are less correlated with D for the “failure” category. Therefore, the run-out distance of collapsed clay slopes is more related to the failure model rather than the triggering shaking intensities. Moreover, thousands of slope models with various slope angles, slope heights (H), soil densities, and peak and residual strength parameters are developed based on MPM. The run-out distances for the slopes being collapsed are then collected. Predictive models for different slope angles are proposed, which predict the run-out distance as a function of H, unit weight, residual cohesion, and residual friction angle. The proposed models are applicable for clay slopes with slope angles in the range of 30° to 45° and H in the range of 10 m to 30 m.

The second edition of this award-winning book continues the mission of its predecessor, to provide a comprehensive compendium of research in all aspects of distance education, arguably the most significant development in education over the past quarter century. While the book deals with education that uses technology, the focus is on teaching and learning and how its management can be facilitated through technology. This volume will be of interest to anyone engaged in distance education at either the K-12 or college level. It is also appropriate for corporate and government trainers and for administrators and policy makers in all these environments.

Included in the program of The Fourth International Congress of Human Genetics, held in Paris on September ~-ll, 1971, was a Workshop of Genetic Distance. This session, or ganized by Newton E. Morton, included several papers anrl a discussion under the general chairmanship of James F. Crow. Many of the participants and members of the audience asled at the time that the papers be printed so as to have a per manent record. It has not been practical to record the dis cussion, but all the papers originally presented are includ ed in this volume. The idea behind the Workshop was to take advantage of the large number of people who would be attending the Con gress and bring together those who were interested in human population structure and measures of genetic distance. The emphasis was on methodology; the number of metbods almost equals the number of persons working in the field. The Workshop offered an opportunity to present and discuss the various procedures and review their accomplishments. The aim has been to have these papers either present the methods themselves, or give references as to where they can be found.

Spon's Architects' and Builders' Price Book 2004 is the most detailed, professionally relevant source of construction price information currently available anywhere. With competition growing fiercer throughout the industry and with increasing pressure to obtain a 'competitive advantage', the A and B's unique tender index will be more valuable than ever before. This is the only price book that publishes details of its cost base in such a way that it can be adjusted to allow for market conditions that affect building prices. A separate minor works section on coloured paper covers contracts of around £65,000 in value. The A and B comes with a 'free' CDROM that enables the reader to view the entire book on screen, cut and paste prices into other tender documents, export to other major packages, perform simple calculations, index search, produce estimate and tender documents and adjust rates and data. This complete package now means that Spon's Architects' and Builders' Price Book 2004 is now better than ever and is a resource that no building firm, surveyor or architect should be without. New features in this 129th edition include: an easier-to-read format; information on, and incorporating, the new CICJ three year wage agreement, effective from Monday, 30th June 2003. It also includes additional items for: hot and cold water piping systems; additional building boards and external wall cladding; further aluminium systems curtain walling; western red cedar external wall cladding; fire retardant steel beams; metal and glazed balustrading; sarnafil roofing and acoustic sliding partitions.

Complex fuzzy set (CFS) is a recent development in the field of fuzzy set (FS) theory. The significance of CFS lies in the fact that CFS assigned membership grades from a unit circle in the complex plane, i.e., in the form of a complex number whose amplitude term belongs to a [0, 1] interval. The interval-valued complex fuzzy set (IVCFS) is one of the extensions of the CFS in which the amplitude term is extended from the real numbers to the interval-valued numbers. The novelty of IVCFS lies in its larger range comparative to CFS. We often use fuzzy distance measures to solve some problems in our daily life. Hence, this paper develops some series of distance measures between IVCFSs by using Hamming and Euclidean metrics. The boundaries of these distance measures for IVCFSs are obtained. Finally, we study two geometric properties include rotational invariance and reflectional invariance of these distance measures.

Walter's life is a struggle to survive, there are times when he has to fight for every breath. This book will impress, inspire and enlighten readers on how extreme obstacles can be overcome by sheer guts and determination in the face of a chronic illness. It is also an entertaining travelogue of parts of Eastern Europe that few of us would visit, and certainly not on a 4,000 Km journey by bicycle with a less than 50% lung capacity. The story covers the planning and execution of an amazing journey by a small band of people, some of whom had not met each other before and who are thrown together in funny, poignant, and sometimes almost unendurable and frustrating circumstances. Central is the author, Walter who is 42 and has cystic fibrosis, which as many will know is a chronic and debilitating condition from which most people are lucky to survive into their 30's.

This revised second edition presents 15 years of data on Virtual Distance metrics and their predictive impact on organizational success factors shedding new light on how to correct for communication challenges that often show up as a foggy set of digital disconnects where the vitality of the virtual workforce often gets lost in transmission. This still-evolving Digital Age conundrum continues to present new complications. The rise of remote work which rests on an increasing reliance on electronic communication and the overall growth of virtual interactions has led to the escalation of a phenomenon called Virtual Distance. Virtual Distance, which influences our behavior through three components Physical Distance, Operational Distance, and Affinity Distance affects not only how we relate to others thousands of miles away but even to co-workers sitting right next to each other! Perhaps even more problematic, Virtual Distance causes measureable malfunctions in teamwork, innovation, leader effectiveness and overall performance. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Power of Virtual Distance offers specific, proven and predictable solutions that can reverse these trends and turn Virtual Distance into a unification strategy to capture untapped competitive advantage. Surprised? The Power of Virtual Distance, 2nd Edition is a must-read for leadership who want to understand the true and quantifiable costs of the virtual workplace. For the first time ever, readers can take the guesswork out of managing the virtual workforce by applying a mathematical approach derived from the extensive Virtual Distance data set: The Virtual Distance Ratio. The Virtual Distance Ratio can precisely pinpoint the particular impacts of Virtual Distance on the organization’s critical success factors. Beyond business metrics, Virtual Distance solutions also detail ways to restore meaningfulness and well-being into people’s experience of work, enhancing life lived in the Digital Age. The Power of Virtual Distance reveals an updated set of data, including the first award-winning analysis, collected from an extended range of executives to individual contributors, that represent situations and solutions in more than 36 industries in 55 countries across the globe. Readers will get a “first look” at the data and its revelations on how to be less isolated and more integrated. Helping managers globally, this book: Offers new, real-world case studies and a chance for readers to participate in thought experiments to help with personal performance, group synergy and by extension, relationship dynamics of all kinds Demonstrates (with statistically significant trend analyses) that Virtual Distance is growing at exponential rates in every corner of communities worldwide Offers expert advice on how to manage the “unintended human consequences” of today’s digital technologies Companies that successfully harness the power of Virtual Distance demonstrate better performance. The second edition of The Power of Virtual Distance is a valuable, one-of-a-kind resource for everyone – from the C-suite to human resource professionals; from divisional leaders to project managers. Everyone in the organization can benefit by discovering how to improve financials, innovation, trust, employee engagement, satisfaction, organizational citizenship and other key performance indicators. And perhaps best of all, by following the prescriptions on how to reduce Virtual Distance, the entire workforce will have the tools they need to bring about a revival of meaning, purpose and an enlivened sense of “humanhood” back into everyday work and everyday life.