Peng Xu

Peng Xu’s The Courtesan’s Memory, Voice, and Late Ming Drama argues that courtesans of the era played an active role in the theater and their impact manifested in Chinese literary history, albeit concealed or erased. In the late Ming dynasty (1368–1644), theater was dominated by male performers with professional actresses largely absent from the stage, unlike in the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), where women performed without restriction in theater troupes. Despite the prevailing assumption that women played no part in the theatrical movement, The Courtesan’s Memory, Voice, and Late Ming Drama illuminates how courtesans, as serious theater artists and playwrights, left a significant mark on the male-dominated dramatic and literary landscapes. This study profoundly remaps the textbook narratives of gender bias, challenges modern prejudices prevalent in the literary history of Chinese drama, and reveals how theatrical conditions and writing styles shifted to accommodate courtesan performances. Utilizing a wide range of sources such as scripts, city guides, biographies, diaries, letters, wood-block illustrations, and paintings, this study distinguishes itself from earlier studies of Chinese courtesans by not thematizing courtesans for their allegorical values, but rather pinpointing their agency in shaping the features of Chinese theater and recognizing courtesans as a source of creativity and development in the medium. Xu’s focus on courtesan performance culture allows for fresh readings of canonical Chinese plays, opening up new ways of understanding the history of Chinese drama written by women, thus deviating from standard historiography based solely on the writings of men.

Peng Xu’s The Courtesan’s Memory, Voice, and Late Ming Drama argues that courtesans of the era played an active role in the theater and their impact manifested in Chinese literary history, albeit concealed or erased. In the late Ming dynasty (1368–1644), theater was dominated by male performers with professional actresses largely absent from the stage, unlike in the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), where women performed without restriction in theater troupes. Despite the prevailing assumption that women played no part in the theatrical movement, The Courtesan’s Memory, Voice, and Late Ming Drama illuminates how courtesans, as serious theater artists and playwrights, left a significant mark on the male-dominated dramatic and literary landscapes. This study profoundly remaps the textbook narratives of gender bias, challenges modern prejudices prevalent in the literary history of Chinese drama, and reveals how theatrical conditions and writing styles shifted to accommodate courtesan performances. Utilizing a wide range of sources such as scripts, city guides, biographies, diaries, letters, wood-block illustrations, and paintings, this study distinguishes itself from earlier studies of Chinese courtesans by not thematizing courtesans for their allegorical values, but rather pinpointing their agency in shaping the features of Chinese theater and recognizing courtesans as a source of creativity and development in the medium. Xu’s focus on courtesan performance culture allows for fresh readings of canonical Chinese plays, opening up new ways of understanding the history of Chinese drama written by women, thus deviating from standard historiography based solely on the writings of men.

Gain well-rounded knowledge of AI methods in cybersecurity and obtain hands-on experience in implementing them to bring value to your organization Key Features Familiarize yourself with AI methods and approaches and see how they fit into cybersecurity Learn how to design solutions in cybersecurity that include AI as a key feature Acquire practical AI skills using step-by-step exercises and code examples Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book DescriptionArtificial intelligence offers data analytics methods that enable us to efficiently recognize patterns in large-scale data. These methods can be applied to various cybersecurity problems, from authentication and the detection of various types of cyberattacks in computer networks to the analysis of malicious executables. Written by a machine learning expert, this book introduces you to the data analytics environment in cybersecurity and shows you where AI methods will fit in your cybersecurity projects. The chapters share an in-depth explanation of the AI methods along with tools that can be used to apply these methods, as well as design and implement AI solutions. You’ll also examine various cybersecurity scenarios where AI methods are applicable, including exercises and code examples that’ll help you effectively apply AI to work on cybersecurity challenges. The book also discusses common pitfalls from real-world applications of AI in cybersecurity issues and teaches you how to tackle them. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to not only recognize where AI methods can be applied, but also design and execute efficient solutions using AI methods. What you will learn Recognize AI as a powerful tool for intelligence analysis of cybersecurity data Explore all the components and workflow of an AI solution Find out how to design an AI-based solution for cybersecurity Discover how to test various AI-based cybersecurity solutions Evaluate your AI solution and describe its advantages to your organization Avoid common pitfalls and difficulties when implementing AI solutions Who this book is forThis book is for machine learning practitioners looking to apply their skills to overcome cybersecurity challenges. Cybersecurity workers who want to leverage machine learning methods will also find this book helpful. Fundamental concepts of machine learning and beginner-level knowledge of Python programming are needed to understand the concepts present in this book. Whether you’re a student or an experienced professional, this book offers a unique and valuable learning experience that will enable you to protect your network and data against the ever-evolving threat landscape.

This book provides cases and analyses of causes and consequences of difficulty in downsizing and exiting in the electronics industry during the “two lost decades” in Japan. Because of excess capacity in the industry, many electronics companies have been required for downsizing and exit since the 1990s. Exploiting corporate financial and segment datasets, it shows empirical evidence of misallocation of internal funds to “zombie” segments—intra-firm businesses suffering losses consecutively. The topics addressed in the book include the failure of Japanese corporate internal control systems, the lack of capital market pressure, employment protection, and misallocation of internal funds to businesses with few prospects. The last two decades indicate that the Japanese corporate governance systems have failed to resolve problems of excess capacity, as did US systems in the 1980s. Zombie lending is no more than one phase of the difficulty of downsizing and exit in response to excess capacity in the banking sector. Supported by both data analyses and rich anecdotal evidence, this book is highly recommended to readers who seek a convincing and comprehensive explanation of Japan's two lost decades from the points of view of difficulty in downsizing and exit. The authors’ analyses have implications not only for accelerating downsizing and exit in corporate Japan, but also for the world economy.

Over the past decades, great progress has been made in both Indirect Evaporative Cooling (IEC) technology R&D and its commercial application. The book proposes a novel dew point air cooler (DPC) which achieves breakthroughs in cooling performance and energy use by incorporating a variety of innovation into a counter-flow regenerative unit. It features an innovative structure of the heat and mass exchanger, a novel water distribution and control scheme, the application of new material and new process and an exclusive self-developed simulation tool. The book presents an in-depth investigation of the novel DPC that is undertaken through an extensive and critical literature review, optimal concept design, theoretical analysis, development of dedicated simulation programme, prototype construction, laboratory-controlled tests, validation of the simulation models and socio-technical acceptance analysis. A significant leap forward has been achieved with this study and this is expected to open enormous global business in the very near future, thus bringing about great economic, environmental and sustainability benefits worldwide.