“This is the second in a series of three volumes of proceedings of the 23rd Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference (PBNC 2022) which was held by Chinese Nuclear Society. As one in the most important and influential conference series of nuclear science and technology, the 23rd PBNC was held in Beijing and Chengdu, China in 2022 with the theme “Nuclear Innovation for Zero-carbon Future”. For taking solid steps toward the goals of achieving peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, future-oriented nuclear energy should be developed in an innovative way for meeting global energy demands and coordinating the deployment mechanism. It brought together outstanding nuclear scientists and technical experts, senior industry executives, senior government officials and international energy organization leaders from all across the world. The proceedings highlight the latest scientific, technological and industrial advances in Nuclear Safety and Security, Operations and Maintenance, New Builds, Waste Management, Spent Fuel, Decommissioning, Supply Capability and Quality Management, Fuel Cycles, Digital Reactor and New Technology, Innovative Reactors and New Applications, Irradiation Effects, Public Acceptance and Education, Economics, Medical and Biological Applications, and also the student program that intends to raise students’ awareness in fully engaging in this career and keep them updated on the current situation and future trends. These proceedings are not only a good summary of the frontiers in nuclear science and technology, but also a useful guideline for the researchers, engineers and graduate students.

Quality of Human Resources: Education is a component of Encyclopedia of Human Resources Policy, Development and Management which is part of the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme is organized into five different topics which represent the main scientific areas of the theme: Foundations of Educational Systems; Knowledge for Education; Structural Foundations of Educational Systems; Educational Systems: Case Studies and Educational Indices; Education for Sustainable Development. Each of these consists of a topic chapter emphasizing the general aspects and various subject articles explaining the back ground, theory and practice of a specific type of education which is a very important factor in human development and awareness for achieving global sustainable development. These three volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students, Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers and NGOs.

This book highlights the latest research on distributed computing and artificial intelligence. DCAI 2021 is a forum to present applications of innovative techniques for studying and solving complex problems in artificial intelligence and computing areas. The present edition brings together past experience, current work and promising future trends associated with distributed computing, artificial intelligence and their application in order to provide efficient solutions to real problems. This year’s technical program will present both high quality and diversity, with contributions in well-established and evolving areas of research. Specifically, 55 papers were submitted to main track and special sessions, by authors from 24 different countries representing a truly “wide area network” of research activity. Moreover, DCAI 2021 Special Sessions have been a very useful tool in order to complement the regular program with new or emerging topics of particular interest to the participating community. The technical program of the Special Sessions of DCAI 2021 has selected 23 papers. We would like to thank all the contributing authors, the members of the Program Committees, the sponsors (IBM, Armundia Group, EurAI, AEPIA, APPIA, CINI, OIT, UGR, HU, SCU, USAL, AIR Institute and UNIVAQ) and the Organizing Committee of the University of Salamanca for their hard and highly valuable work.