Most Popular Books by David Ho

This volume is addressed to scholars as well as a popular audience, aimed to bridge the gap between academia and the general public. It deals with "who we are," concerning our sense of self and identity; and "how we live," concerning our ways of life in diverse cultures. It affirms that we may transcend our cultural-ethnic roots and redefine our identities, individual or collective. Transcendence opens the door not only to personal transformation but also to confront ethnic stereotypes and prejudices. Readers will gain fresh cultural knowledge from both the East and the West and be attuned to the theme of letting no ethnic group be alien to us. This book is at once about the immersion of life in culture and the remaking of culture by human action--reciprocal influence at work.  The idea of immersion underscores the powerful cultural forces that shape our perceptions, thinking, and emotions. Unlike other cultural psychology texts, this volume dwells on the accelerating alterations of culture by human action, and hence the remaking of our own being, in the age of the Internet. In the author's own words: "I write with the passion of a person who has lived life from being marginal, neither Eastern nor Western, to being a world citizen; turned to English like a duck to the water, thus circumventing my handicap of Chinese orthographic dyslexia. I have two cultural parents, one Chinese and one Western, who transformed me into a thoroughly bilingual-bicultural person, empowered to build intercultural bridges. The East is rising, and the West can ill-afford to remain ignorant of the East."

Chapter 1 compares the direct real estate (DRE) duration Beta estimates with the time-varying Beta regression estimates, for each of the three prime DRE sectors. Except for the prime office sector, both the duration Beta and the time-varying Beta profiles follow the same general trend. The luxury residential sector and the prime office sector are inclined to move in opposite direction. However, the prime office sector shows greater volatility in the duration Beta compared with the time-varying Beta. Chapter 2 demonstrates overall that in the presence of a set of limited available information comprising a direct real estate (DRE) asset’s passing (annual) rent, the current rental value, the expected yields and the yield-growth movements from a DRE sector analysis, conducted by a DRE consultancy or service provider, the risk-free rate and the lease maturity period; it is readily feasible to model and rigorously estimate several key risk measures and the expected total returns (TRs). Such a model and its estimations can be achieved through an ex-ante integrated DRE risk-measure model, which innovatively combines the bond duration-convexity risk conception, the Beta distribution function, and the DRE equivalent (rental) yield valuation conception. Finally, Chapter 3 looks at the structural and behavioural experience of the prepayment risk for the underlying mortgages of China’s rapidly developing residential mortgage life insurance (RMLI) market. A reliable private prepayment dataset for China’s commercial center - the city of Shanghai - is deployed. Chapter 3 estimates the relationship between RMLI’s underlying mortgage prepayment risk and the observable macroeconomic factors, loan specific factors and borrower specific characteristics. A Cox proportional hazard model is adopted for this purpose. Chapter 4 summarises the book’s findings and highlights the contributions and recommendations made

Chapter 1 explores the extent to which the fundamental structure and behaviour of the large-scale high-tech strategic industrial real estate development projects, can be shaped in terms of institutional and macroeconomic conditions. Capital budgeting techniques and copula risk functions, affirm the relative influence of uncertain macroeconomic and financial variables, on the profitability of Singapore’s Biopolis at the One North development. Chapter 2 looks at the dynamics of the large-scale high-tech strategic industrial real estate market. The Chapter aims to understand the fundamental structure and behaviour of the industrial real estate in Singapore, and to broadly indicate the relative impacts of macroeconomic conditions on such industrial real estate market dynamics. In Chapter 3 and for the case of Singapore, the Chapter adopts the unrestricted vector autoregressive (VAR) approach, to understand how the space and asset markets in industrial real estate, are shaped via endogenous and exogenous factors. Chapter 4 construes the knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) strategy, to be a significant form of urban renewal of post-industrial cluster-based industrial cities. Urban planners are compelled to explore mixed-use zoning, the knowledge-based urban development-land use design model (KBUD-LUDM), its knowledge interaction design criteria (KIDC) and the land-use cost criteria (LUCC). Chapter 5 concludes this book.

How To Have The Millionaire Mindset In Real Estate And Be The Millionaire Chapter 1 takes a close look at the intuitive build-up approach in the formation of the direct real estate (DRE) investment hurdle rates for new DRE investing. Chapter 2 first examines the existence of appraisal smoothing for international DRE, via adopting the first and fourth order autoregressive model, to de-smooth the DRE total returns (TRs). Secondly, the 3-factor AHP (analytic hierarchy process) SAA (strategic asset allocation) model is studied by city and country. Chapter 3 is concerned with the need to know the DRE sector, in which the DRE asset(s) are located and of interest to local and international investors Chapter 3 focuses on superior, comprehensive DRE market (sector) structural behaviour market (sector) analysis, Chapter 4 looks in-depth at the risk adjusted return on capital (RAROC) on an ex-ante basis. RAROC is found, by dividing the expected TR in US$ terms by the RAROC capital, for individual pan Asia office sectors “i”. Chapter 5 acknowledges the in-depth contribution via value investing principles and the approaches, to evaluate the SG real estate investment trust (SREIT) common stocks. The “margin of safety” is also examined and pivotal on analytical reasoning and empirical data. Chapter 6 looks at the zone of expectation, which may well be generated from relatively wide H (high) and L (low) bands. Such wide bands accord with the SG private residential sector conditions. Chapter 7 offers this book’s conclusion

Chapter 1 examines the significance of ‘green’ buildings on the operational and financial performance of REITs. The Chapter covers different direct real estate sectors, namely office, retail and residential, for the REITS concerned to evaluate the consistency of the results. Chapter 2 looks at the risk neutral and non-risk neutral pricing of real estate investment trusts in Singapore (S-REITs), via comparing the average of the individual ratios (of deviation between expected and observed closing price/observed closing price), with the ratio (of standard deviation/mean) for closing prices, via the binomial options pricing tree model. Chapter3 highlights that while the Markowitz portfolio theory (MPT) is popular in modern finance to model portfolios with maximum total returns (TRs) for a given systematic risk, the more flexible multivariate copula model is introduced that enables investors and portfolio managers to obtain the optimal portfolio. Chapter 4 looks at a value investing framework, in which a REIT and real estate comany investment operation is deemed to be one, where a “thorough analysis”, should promise the safety of a principal and an adequate total return. Chapter 5 examines the market reactions of Malaysia’s listed property trusts and property common stocks to corporate restructuring activities – direct real estate asset acquisitions and new listings. Chapter 6 reports the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) consultations with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF), to introduce the Income Tax Act (ITA) amendments, and a new temporary relief measure for real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Singapore. The Chapter also looks at the proposal by the Asian Public Real Estate Association (APREA) to the MAS, to create a private REIT structure Chapter 7 looks at the key issues and notes on the valuation of the public real estate investment trusts (REITs) and the real estate companies, adopting several valuation metrics to value REITs on a stand-alone and a relative basis. Chapter 8 looks at the unique Asian REIT institutional environment, pertaining to the S-REIT, while cross referencing it to that of the CapitaMall Trust (S-CMT) and the Hong Kong HK- Link REIT. Chapter 9 summarises the book’s findings and highlights the contributions and recommendations made.

This book is a novel treatment of modern project management from artificial intelligence (AI), entailing data analytics, neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms; and data visualisation deploying agent based modelling for the knowledge based urban development (KBUD). The book can be adopted by design engineers, urban planners, project managers, quantity and real estate surveyors, public and private real estate developers, architects and scholars. Chapter 1 discusses that the traditional statistical method, which needs a priori parametric knowledge of linear or non-linear functions between the input and output variables. Nneural networks do not need such information to predict future possible outcomes. Chapter 2 reiterates that new private office and residential supply like in Hong Kong depend on current market prices, relative to the replacement or building costs. The market should equate prices with replacement costs that include the cost of land. Prices and costs may diverge because of lags and delays in the building process. Chapter 3 discusses the specific tasks to be planned to develop life cycle models and metrics to analyse technology and innovation. Such models can look into life cycle cost analysis (LCA). Chapter 4 draws attention to the trend that in a highly volatile world, the best point estimate of classical DCF model is not a reliable indication of investment worth. The fuzzy discounted cash flow (DCF) model offers a natural and intuitive way, based on a set of fuzzy inputs. The fuzzy net present value (NPV) for an office-cum-retail development is so estimated to provide the approximated evaluation of investment worth. Chapter 5 discusses the fuzzy tactical asset allocation (FTAA) model, incorporating intuitive decision making into the direct real estate project (asset) allocation process, from the expert investor prospective. The FTAA model improves the efficiency of asset allocation, adopting fuzzy set theory and fuzzy optimization theory. Chapter 6 reiterates that today’s city planners see the KBUD strategy as a new form of urban renewal for industrial cities. Planners believe KBUDs bring economic, technological progress and sustainable socio-spatial order to the contemporary city. Chapter 6 addresses the need for an urban design criterion that aids in efficient land use planning for KBUDs.

Direct real estate market analysis is a rigorous investigative approach for academic research, and for direct real estate investment research in practice. ‘An Asian International Real Estate Review’ considers the subject in the context of economic theory pertaining to market disequilibria, utilizing data from major cities in Asia as case studies. Such an approach makes it possible to determine what really defines an Asian direct real estate sector. What is being measured? How does it behave (in terms of price and non-price factors)? How is it structured? How effectively does it achieve sustainable total returns? And how does it manage direct real estate market uncertainty? Direct real estate market uncertainty originates from both the demand-side and the supply-side of the market. The market responds to structural macroeconomic and microeconomic factors that in turn are affected by related public policies. Such factors and policies interact to affect Asian direct real estate in unique ways since the Asian currency crisis of 1997. ‘An Asian International Real Estate Review’ shows that while the details of direct real estate market analysis are different for the various Asian cities (and their direct real estate sectors) owing to their different stages of maturity, underlying principles nevertheless apply. ‘An Asian International Real Estate Review’ also looks at managing direct real estate market uncertainty at the portfolio level via the analytical techniques of direct real estate asset allocation, direct real estate value-at-risk (VaR), real option analysis and pricing.

This book is dedicated to real estate scholastic work, in advancing the greater understanding of real estate investment analysis. This is because there has been limited research in bringing out clearly the uncertainty or risk, which is quantifiable uncertainty in real estate market analysis. Even real estate market research, which is carried out as an industry practice among private real estate researches, is no exception. Another reason is that it has been widely accepted that while the financial revolution has substantially changed many sectors of the financial industry, it has made little impact on real estate development and investment practice as Ill as scholastic work. Furthermore, while it is readily acknowledged that despite its huge share in the world Ialth, real estate investment discipline and research is on the whole still a poorly researched subject area. As a result, the industry tends to be dominated by traditional real estate analysts with little understanding of real estate market uncertainty and capital markets. These commentators are widely regarded to spend too much time worrying about local space supply and demand conditions, while totally losing sight of the everchanging real estate market and capital market conditions. The theme of this book is real estate investment analysis of direct and indirect real, which in turn can be appropriately managed under economic theory and the theoretical conceptions of real estate finance, provided the uncertainty is quantifiable. The book deploys case studies involving Singapore and Asia. This Black over White background viii framework enables real estate market analysis to attempt what defines the Asian direct and indirect real estate sectors; what is being measured; how it behaves (in terms of price and non-price factors); how it is structured and how it effectively achieves the objectives of sustainable total returns and manageable real estate market uncertainty. Managing real estate market uncertainty optimally is achieved at the portfolio level through real estate asset allocation. This is important because the real estate portfolio is able to virtually eliminate the unique (i.e. specific) uncertainties among the various Asian real estate sectors; thus retaining within the portfolio only the systemic (i.e. market-wide) uncertainty. Apart from real estate asset allocation, the alternative and modern approach to risk management at the portfolio level, is the value-at-risk (VaR) approach. Another modern and important alternative to coping with uncertainty is real option analysis and pricing that help to better define real estate market uncertainty in extent and time. Real option analysis and pricing also represent uncertainty via a decision tree and the risk-neutral probability conception, in order to comprehend how uncertainty impacts on the value of real estate investment decisions. The pricing of uncertainty is based on the risk-free hedge security conception. These are best examined at the micro level of the investment in a real estate development opportunity on vacant land. Nevertheless, the real estate sectors in Singapore and Asia offer promising prospects since the Asian currency crisis of 1997. It is now timely to take stock and make an assessment of how the sectors would pan out for the future, Ill into at least rest the next century. I are very pleased to present our thinking and research in international real estate with particular emphasis on Asia. The region’s vast potential for real estate is itself a large incentive for international real estate research and education that has inspired me to document the significant work I have done over the years. Black over White background ix I wish all readers a pleasurable reading of this book, and I thank you sincerely for your support without which the publication of this book would be made all the more difficult. Dr HO, Kim Hin / David Honorary Professor (University of Hertfordshire, UK) (International Real Estate & Public Policy) March 2021.

The book concludes with my life achievements, then discusses my expanded work experience, my published articles, my published books and citations of my articles.

Professor (Dr) HO Kim Hin, David PhD (University of Cambridge), MPhil (1st Cl Hons with Distinction) (University of Cambridge); Honorary Professor (Development Economics & Land Economy) (University of Hertfordshire); Honorary Doctorate of Letters (International Biographical Centre) (Cambridge); Systems Engineering (US Naval Postgraduate School), MRES (UK), AM NCREIF (US), FARES (US), MAEA (US), MESS, MSIM.Retiree (31 May 2019 aged 62 years) (School of Design and Environment) (National University of Singapore). Professor (Dr) HO Kim Hin, David, spent 31 years across several sectors, including the military, oil refining, aerospace engineering, public housing, resettlement, land acquisition, reclamation and international real estate investing. 6 years were in Pidemco Land Ltd (now CapitaLand Ltd) and GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd. 17 years were in the NUS School of Design and Environment. Estate. He holds the Master of Philosophy (First Class Honors with Distinction), Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge; and is Honorary Professor at the University of Hertfordshire (UK). He has published widely in 275 articles (inclusive of 91 articles in top peer reviewed, international journals); pertaining to real estate investment, real estate development, public urban policy, consultancies, public cum private funded research projects and so also published 15 major books. He was a member (District Judge equivalent) of the Valuation Review Board under the Singapore Ministry of Finance and the Singapore Courts. He was a Governor of the St Gabriel's Foundation, Singapore, and a Commissioner of the Singapore Scouts Association.

Chapter 1 takes a close look at two types of heterogeneous investors (momentum and disposition) to form a unique difference model, to interpret housing price dynamics. Three parameters are crucial, namely, auto-correlation, the rate of mean reversion and the contemporaneous adjustment towards long-term equilibrium price. The key implication is that the 2006 boom of the Singapore private housing market does not offer as large a magnitude as that from the price gain in the 1990’s boom-and-recovery over the long-term. Singapore’s private housing market is low risk, offering stable returns owing to virtually no divergence even in the speculative 1990s. The best way to invest is to consider the momentum strategy and avoid the herd behaviour for profit sustainability. For policy makers, the Singapore private housing market is over-damped in the long run. Chapter 2 adopts game theory to look at the private residential development oligopolistic market; the determination of residential development sale prices in an uncertain market and under incomplete information of competing developers; the dynamic interaction among developers; the time lags of the development project completion from project start; and the launching of the residential development for sale before completion and the residential development’s own capacity constraints. Developers tend to cooperate for long-term benefit, leading to a sales slowdown. Relatively high profits, earnable in the first few periods, provide an allowance to price undercut others, to sell much faster. First-mover advantage in a new market is evident. As uncertainty rises, prices decrease while price variability increases. Chapter 3 looks at the institutional nature of legal origin and the total returns (TRs), derived from investing in a country’s direct real estate, and via the adoption of a multi-factor arbitrage pricing theory (APT) model. The 1st and 4th order autoregressive model is adopted to de-smooth the TRs. De-smoothed data is used in conjunction with 2 macroeconomic variables (real GDP growth rate and interest rate) and 1 real estate risk factor (vacancy rate) to form the multi-factor structural model. A pooled panel analysis is conducted with the law-system dummies, denoting British legal origin and French legal origin, and the factor loadings (i.e. the sensitivity of the risk factor to the TRs). Macroeconomic and real estate risk factors in equilibrium affect the TRs. Vacancy rate commands high and significant risk premium owing to its direct impact on the TRs, relative to GDP growth rate and interest rate. Chapter 4 is concerned with the real estate mezzanine investment (REMI), a new financial instrument for Asia’s real estate market, and examines the REMI structure, the measurement and characteristics of its risks and returns via a forward-looking binomial asset tree (BAT) model. Risk neutral pricing probability is adopted. REMI bears more risk than typical commercial bank loans, resulting in higher interest rates than pure equity. Different risk issues focus on two major sources - the financial loan to value (LTV) ratio risk and the real estate and capital markets risk. Chapter 4 fulfils the need to close the gap concerning the REMI structure and performance in the steady state, utilizing reliable, authoritative information and data sources. Lastly, Chapter 5 offers this book’s conclusion.

Chapter 1 takes a close look at a unique and state-of-the-art dynamic, structural public housing macroeconomic model (DSPHM), based on an open economy for several key macroeconomic variables, actual and expected, as well as the demand for new HDB flats sold. This Chapter readily adopts the DSPHM for simulating two scenarios, namely a “no change” first scenario and a public housing “deregulation” second scenario. Chapter 2 explores the relationship between several economic factors and the demand for public housing in Singapore and Hong Kong, deploying the innovative and versatile system dynamics model, to shed better understanding on the policy implications of assisted ownership housing. The Chapter assesses the demand for new flats of the Singapore and Hong Kong economies, under certain macroeconomic policy changes, suitable for their unique situations. Chapter 3 is concerned with the underlying structural relationships that affect Singapore’s public housing policy to potentially privatize the HDB concessionary-rate mortgages for HDB homebuyers. Such a potential privatization infuses and sustains price competitiveness among the domestic private banks in Singapore, and lead to improved efficiency among them as well as the Singapore economy at large. Chapter 4 is concerned with the binomial option-pricing model, proposed by Cox, Ross and Rubinstein (1979), which is appropriate to represent the movement of the underlying HDB resale flat prices, subject to private market forces in HDB’s large scale public housing secondary resale market. The HDB Main Upgrading Program (MUP) is a heavily subsidized and highly targeted public housing policy. Since its inception in 1992, the HDB has budgeted some S$3 billion to finance the MUP policy. Chapter 5 recognizes housing affordability to be always an issue of concern to many Singaporean homebuyers because shelter forms one of the basic life necessities. The corresponding private residential market in Singapore offers quality and premium private residential accommodation for homebuyers, who prefer the private residential market. The appropriate affordability model is a multi-factor housing affordability index (HAI) model, which considers the ability to provide down payment and to service the mortgage taken up. Lastly, Chapter 6 offers the book’s conclusion.

The Economics of The Modernisation of Direct Real Estate and The National Estate - A Singapore Perspective Chapter 1 takes a close look the vector auto regression (VAR) model, offering a dynamic system of solely direct real estate variables, for international direct real estate investors and policy makers, to enable their decision-making. Chapter 2 examines the association of residential price and aggregate consumption. A cross-spectra analysis is helps to so validate, because of its model-free characteristics Chapter 3 is concerned with the underlying housing market dynamics and housing price time-series variation, via the Singapore (SG) generalized dynamic factor model (GDFM). Chapter 4 is concerned with the in-depth market analysis and empirical analysis of the structural behavior of the important SG private housing sector. Chapter 5 acknowledges that an in-depth sector analysis and an empirical analysis are imperative to better understand the structural behavior of the SG office sector. Chapter 6 is concerned with the Main Upgrading Programme (MUP), a highly targeted subsidized Housing Development Board (HDB) policy, since the 1990s. Chapter 7 recognizes the ‘National Estate’, denoting SG’s built environment, due to physical planning, integrated urban design, and the direct influence of the SG government in providing physical infrastructure via government ministries, statutory boards and public authorities. Chapter 8 offers the book’s conclusion.

Chapter 1 explores the extent to which the fundamental structure and behaviour of the large-scale high-tech strategic industrial real estate development projects, can be shaped in terms of institutional and macroeconomic conditions. Capital budgeting techniques and copula risk functions, affirm the relative influence of uncertain macroeconomic and financial variables, on the profitability of Singapore's Biopolis at the One North development. Chapter 2 looks at the dynamics of the large-scale high-tech strategic industrial real estate market. The Chapter aims to understand the fundamental structure and behaviour of the industrial real estate in Singapore, and to broadly indicate the relative impacts of macroeconomic conditions on such industrial real estate market dynamics. In Chapter 3 and for the case of Singapore, the Chapter adopts the unrestricted vector autoregressive (VAR) approach, to understand how the space and asset markets in industrial real estate, are shaped via endogenous and exogenous factors. Chapter 4 construes the knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) strategy, to be a significant form of urban renewal of post-industrial cluster-based industrial cities. Urban planners are compelled to explore mixed-use zoning, the knowledge-based urban development-land use design model (KBUD-LUDM), its knowledge interaction design criteria (KIDC) and the land-use cost criteria (LUCC). Chapter 5 concludes this book.

Conrad Navarro is a champion of the Pageant, a modern day gladiatorial exhibition held in secret arenas across the globe. He becomes indentured by a cabal of ultra-rich patrons, and his sister vanishes while traveling in Mexico. Imogene is a special agent for the FBI following on the trail of a scientist whose eugenics experiments landed him on a most-wanted list. Imogene left behind clues that indicate she uncovered evidence of an occult conspiracy against civilization itself. Now, Conrad is searching for his missing sister while these malign forces seek to destroy him. He becomes enmeshed within a web of primordial evil that stretches back to prehistory.

This book is a novel treatment of modern project management from artificial intelligence (AI), entailing data analytics, neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms; and data visualisation deploying agent based modelling for the knowledge based urban development (KBUD). The book can be adopted by design engineers, urban planners, project managers, quantity and real estate surveyors, public and private real estate developers, architects and scholars. Chapter 1 discusses that the traditional statistical method, which needs a priori parametric knowledge of linear or non-linear functions between the input and output variables. Nneural networks do not need such information to predict future possible outcomes. Chapter 2 reiterates that new private office and residential supply like in Hong Kong depend on current market prices, relative to the replacement or building costs. The market should equate prices with replacement costs that include the cost of land. Prices and costs may diverge because of lags and delays in the building process. Chapter 3 discusses the specific tasks to be planned to develop life cycle models and metrics to analyse technology and innovation. Such models can look into life cycle cost analysis (LCA). Chapter 4 draws attention to the trend that in a highly volatile world, the best point estimate of classical DCF model is not a reliable indication of investment worth. The fuzzy discounted cash flow (DCF) model offers a natural and intuitive way, based on a set of fuzzy inputs. The fuzzy net present value (NPV) for an office-cum-retail development is so estimated to provide the approximated evaluation of investment worth. Chapter 5 discusses the fuzzy tactical asset allocation (FTAA) model, incorporating intuitive decision making into the direct real estate project (asset) allocation process, from the expert investor prospective. The FTAA model improves the efficiency of asset allocation, adopting fuzzy set theory and fuzzy optimization theory. Chapter 6 reiterates that today's city planners see the KBUD strategy as a new form of urban renewal for industrial cities. Planners believe KBUDs bring economic, technological progress and sustainable socio-spatial order to the contemporary city. Chapter 6 addresses the need for an urban design criterion that aids in efficient land use planning for KBUDs.

Chapter 1 highlighting that of utmost important to Bart HIEW is his immediate family. Bart's immediate family is an essential social building block in society that is faithful to the Christian Infinitely Almighty God the Holy Trinity, and that ultimately fosters peace, harmony, hope, charity and love at the societal level. Bart's immediate family is no exception. Chapter 2 recognizes that the mainstay of Bart's steadfastness is his commitment to undertake his utmost best from start to finish in all his pursuits and scholastic interests. He prays at the start for the Infinitely Almighty God The Son Jesus Christ to bless his work and life. This way Bart leaves the rest to Christ's divine intervention and will. Chapter 3 brings to light the outstanding and pedigree education, fully funded abroad, and that Professor (Dr) Bart HIEW works for a long while at the globally reputable local University. Bart practices joyously and diligently while taking hard knocks in due stride. Chapter 4 reiterates that of utmost importance to Bart is his immediate family, an essential social building block in society that ultimately fosters peace, harmony, hope, charity, and love at the societal level. Bart attributes his life peers to be his live long friends. He has a substantial pool of acquaintances but few friends in earnest. Each of them is patient and understanding. Bart would like to put in some appreciative words for his caregiver of six and a half five years to September 2022, Ms MelissaMay Baturi Narag. from Isabelle in The Philippines. She is a woman of impeccable integrity and simpleness. Over the years, they have all become Bart HIEW's friends in earnest. Chapter 5 concludes the novel.

Written by a professor of clinical psychology, this extraordinary book (expanded edition) tells the story of how a psychologist-cum-patient performs a self-study of "madness" in great detail. The author does not lament over his madness. Instead, he says: "During episodes, manic symptoms are manifest. Yet, I become more colorful, sensitive, generous, and loving. I see beauty everywhere and delight in the simple things of life. I glimpse into mystical magnanimity. My mind explodes: Creative thoughts rain down fast. Now, I can bear testimony that on balance the creative energy of madness may enrich rather than damage one's life, and that it is possible to retain a measure of madness in dignified living and of dignity even in a state of madness." Having experienced twenty episodes of madness--all of exuberance, none of depression--the author's condition can hardly be labeled as a bipolar mood disorder. His atypical case has been cited in the March 2019 issue of Scientific American in support of treating unipolar mania as distinct disorder. Confronting these life-changing episodes of unusual mood elevation one after another, the author has learned to view them as high points in his journey of spiritual discoveries, where the dynamics of spirituality and spiritual emptiness play out. The benefits, both professional and personal, he has derived from his encounters with madness are immense. This propels him to challenge the psychiatric establishment for having failed to acknowledge the potentially positive or creative aspects of mental disorders and to share his insights with readers in search of a good life. By the blessing of circumstance, this book is the work of a most unusual author. In separation, being a psychologist, steeped in a bilingual-bicultural background, experiencing fleeting moments of enlightenment, or having episodes of madness may not be that uncommon. But the confluence of all these is rare, if not unique. Inspired by the wisdom of the East, the author has raised profound questions about the place of madness in human life, replete with captivating tales or refreshing ideas on every page. The book has been endorsed by eminent scholars of various disciplines. In the words of Evelin Lindner, Founding President of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, "Written in an accessible style, the book should appeal to readers from diverse backgrounds, especially those interested in the interface between psychology and spirituality, comparative religion, or bicultural development. It is particularly useful not only to mental health professionals but also to readers who have had experiences similar to those of the author. I have tremendously enjoyed the passion and the sparkling prose with which the book is written."

Renowned physicist Lance Everett has two great passions: donuts and time travel. The only thing that rivals them is Juliet Bradley, the redheaded beauty who captured his heart at a college football game. After reconnecting with her a decade later, Lance can't imagine his life being more complete. Even without a time machine, he foresees a happy marriage and a breakthrough in his scientific pursuits. Until the unthinkable happens. Now Lance is left searching for answers and questioning what he values the most. A chance encounter with a mysterious man offers him some unexpected solace, as well as the opportunity of a lifetime. But the stakes are higher than he ever imagined. Will he risk it all to gain back what he lost, even if the consequences can never be reversed?

Skillfully executed dementias and creepy surrealism. Giger meets Dali, sort of.

Success. As the word rolls off your tongue, it sounds so tempting and seductive. Perhaps there has never been anything that has driven more people mad than the pursuit of success. From an early age, we are conditioned by our family and society to seek success. Young toddlers are showered with praise and cheered as they take their first steps or form their first words. As they enter school, they are rewarded with happy faces, stickers, and more praise. As they grow older, the happy faces and stickers are replaced with percentages, numbers, and letter grades.

If you don't believe in miracles, you will. If you don't think people can turn their lives around and in the process, turn around the lives of others, you will and if you don't think angels are beside us and within us, you will. In what has been hailed as "A Christmas Carol" meets "It's a Wonderful Life", "The Beautiful Angel... A Christmas Love Story" is a tender and heartwarming story about life and death, hope and despair, compassion and indifference...and second chances. Meet Morgan Stern. Morgan is in her thirties. She is bright, successful, wealthy, and as Director of Sales for Hightower Health and Fitness, she is making her mark in the Chicago business world. But while she may be wealthy and successful in the material sense, spiritually she is all but bankrupt. Her life choices have brought her great acclaim and a penthouse apartment, but little in the way of deep connections to those around her. She has reached the goals she set for herself years earlier, but at the expense of others for whom she has little regard and less empathy. Then, on a cold December morning, her past literally collides with her present as she is struck by a car and seriously, maybe even fatally, injured. In that moment, as Morgan faces her death, she leaves the "real" world and meets the angel that will guide her into her future. A future that Morgan herself must create by revisiting her past. Suddenly it is 15 years earlier and Morgan is back in high school. And like all the other popular kids at Lincoln High, Morgan has thorough disdain for clumsy, wimpy, four-eyed George Hornsby. George annoys her, is constantly running into her, and for the most part, is useless. Or so she thinks! Only this time around, Morgan discovers the real George Hornsby: he is bright, ambitious, extremely intelligent, and a devoted son to his widowed mother. George is also a resident of Westside Homeless Shelter, a fact that he has managed to hide from his classmates, including Morgan. That is, until now. Following him home one day, Morgan discovers George's secret, but instead of being disdainful, the "new" Morgan feels a flicker of warmth, and she and George become friends. As the friendship grows between the two, it comes to light that Westside has lost its funding and within weeks its residents will, once again, be on the streets. Morgan, with her newfound sense of compassion, is determined to save the shelter. But can the shelter be redeemed? Where will the money come from? Can the enterprising 18-year-old Morgan use her future skills to solve a present problem? Can Morgan Stern...be redeemed?

Designing photonic structures and obtaining optimal responses is still a difficult task. A large number of gradient based algorithms and adjoint solvers are used, and the results have been effective in that complex free form geometries of devices are capable of being created. The fact remains, however, that many solvers still tend to be black boxes, and there is very little transparency in how the solver comes to its conclusion. Furthermore, because many of these solvers are gradient based, additional knowledge of the device is needed, otherwise the solver can get trapped in a local minimum and not reach the true optimal geometry. To this end, an inverse design framework that combines adjoint optimization, automated machine learning (AutoML), and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) is presented in order to determine both the relation between device structure and performance and also minimize the effect of local minima trapping. This framework is used in the inverse design of waveguides and achieves an average of 43\% increase in performance. Consequently, this study portrays how to extend beyond traditional inverse design solvers in terms of both performance and ability to elucidate the solvers' decisions.