An update of the successful first edition, this handbook adds critical information about safe-school planning and response. It is geared for those involved in school safety planning, preparedness, prevention and mitigation, response, and recovery.

This book resents expert knowledge, opinions and experiences, and provides valuable insight into the scope of problems involved in protecting schools and their occupants from earthquakes.

How do children become eager, motivated learners and caring, responsible citizens? Educating Hearts and Minds, first published in 1995, is a portrait of Japanese preschool and early elementary education which examines these questions. Its thesis - which will surprise many Americans - is that Japanese schools are successful because they meet children's needs for friendship, belonging, and contribution. This book brings to life what actually happens inside Japanese classrooms. What do children learn? How do they learn? What values are emphasised, and how are they taught? In a sharp departure from most previous accounts, this book suggests that Japanese education succeeds because all children - not just the brightest or best-behaved - somehow come to feel like valued members of the school community. Ironically, Japanese teachers credit John Dewey and other progressive Western educators for many of the techniques that make Japanese schools both caring and challenging. This book brings to a wider readership the voices of Japanese classroom teachers - voices that are at once deeply consonant with Western aspirations and deeply provocative.

Lessons in Danger, the result of a joint OECD-US Department of Education collaboration, provides valuable insight into how school safety and security, particularly in emergency situations, are addressed in over 14 countries.

Advanced Science and Technology, Advanced Communication and Networking, Information Security and Assurance, Ubiquitous Computing and Multimedia Appli- tions are conferences that attract many academic and industry professionals. The goal of these co-located conferences is to bring together researchers from academia and industry as well as practitioners to share ideas, problems and solutions relating to the multifaceted aspects of advanced science and technology, advanced communication and networking, information security and assurance, ubiquitous computing and m- timedia applications. This co-located event included the following conferences: AST 2010 (The second International Conference on Advanced Science and Technology), ACN 2010 (The second International Conference on Advanced Communication and Networking), ISA 2010 (The 4th International Conference on Information Security and Assurance) and UCMA 2010 (The 2010 International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing and Multimedia Applications). We would like to express our gratitude to all of the authors of submitted papers and to all attendees, for their contributions and participation. We believe in the need for continuing this undertaking in the future. We acknowledge the great effort of all the Chairs and the members of advisory boards and Program Committees of the above-listed events, who selected 15% of over 1,000 submissions, following a rigorous peer-review process. Special thanks go to SERSC (Science & Engineering Research Support soCiety) for supporting these - located conferences.

Japan’s unusual position in the realm of international politics encapsulates a three-fold juxtaposition: both in and out of Asia, both occupied by and a close ally of the United States, and both a key trade partner and a strategic rival of China. Whilst international relations theory offers a number of ways to analyse these relations, this book instead utilizes the concept of risk to provide an innovative perspective on Japan’s relations with China, North Korea and the US. The book elucidates how risk, potential harm and harm are faced disproportionately by certain groups in society. This is demonstrated by providing an empirically rich analysis of the domestic implications of security relations with China, North Korea and the United States through the presence of US troops in Okinawa. Beginning with a theoretical discussion of risk, it goes on to demonstrate how the concept of risk adds value to the study of international relations in three senses. First, the concept helps to break down the boundaries between the international and domestic. Second, the focus on risk and the everyday directs us to ask basic questions about the costs and benefits of a security policy meant to secure the national population. Third, what implications do these two points have for governance? The question is one of governance as Japan’s externally oriented security policy produces domestic insecurity shared disproportionately, not equally, as this volume makes clear. Developing the theory of risk as a tool for understanding international relations, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Asian politics, Japanese politics, international relations and security studies, as well as to policy makers and practitioners working in the field.

Mechatronics for Safety, Security and Dependability in a New Era contains selected leading papers from the International Conference on Machine Automation 2004, the work of researchers from USA, Japan, China and Europe. The topics covered include: manufacturing systems such as CAD/CAM, machining and, human factors in manufacturing; robotics in relation to sensors and actuators, new control technology and, measuring and monitoring; the application of new technologies in connection with wireless communication, human behavior analysis and welfare. Mechatronics has been rapidly developing as an important area that affects all areas of society from industrial robots, automobiles, electrical appliances, computers and consumer goods etc. It also plays a role in safety recovery, such as for rescue tasks after disasters, destruction of hazardous and abandoned weapons and the restoration of polluted environments. The increasing need for safe, secure and dependable technology means that the advancement of mechatronics plays an essential role in the development of products and systems. This book provides an insight into developments in essential new methodologies and tools to design and to build machines to achieve this. - Covers key topics in manufacturing, such as machining, robotics, sensors, monitoring, etc. - Reviews modern applications of new technologies in connection with wireless communication, human behavior analysis, and welfare