Sunday 13 February 2011

Linear Control Theory: Structure, Robustness, and Optimization



Linear Control Theory: Structure, Robustness, and Optimization
Aniruddha Datta, Lee H. Keel, Shankar P. Bhattacharyya | 2009-01-01 00:00:00 | CRC | 924 | Control Theory
Linear Control Theory: Structure, Robustness, and Optimization (Control Engineering)
By Aniruddha Datta, Lee H. Keel, Shankar P. Bhattacharyya


* Publisher: CRC
* Number Of Pages: 924
* Publication Date: 2009-01-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0849340632
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780849340635



Product Description:

Successfully classroom-tested at the graduate level, Linear Control Theory: Structure, Robustness, and Optimization covers three major areas of control engineering (PID control, robust control, and optimal control). It provides balanced coverage of elegant mathematical theory and useful engineering-oriented results.


The first part of the book develops results relating to the design of PID and first-order controllers for continuous and discrete-time linear systems with possible delays. The second section deals with the robust stability and performance of systems under parametric and unstructured uncertainty. This section describes several elegant and sharp results, such as Kharitonov’s theorem and its extensions, the edge theorem, and the mapping theorem. Focusing on the optimal control of linear systems, the third part discusses the standard theories of the linear quadratic regulator, Hinfinity and l1 optimal control, and associated results.


Written by recognized leaders in the field, this book explains how control theory can be applied to the design of real-world systems. It shows that the techniques of three term controllers, along with the results on robust and optimal control, are invaluable to developing and solving research problems in many areas of engineering.
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Project Leadership



Project Leadership
Wendy Briner,Michael Geddes,Colin Hastings | 1990-09-15 00:00:00 | Springer | 188 | Management
In the changing world of project management, there seems to be less concern with planning and control and more with the management of people and a growing tendency to use projects as a mechanism for creating change. The net result has been the emergence of a new role, that of project leader. Over a number of years the authors of this book have worked with the new breed of project leaders, both as consultants and on their training course "Leading Projects Efficiently". They have also studied the many ways in which projects are being used in activities as diverse as manufacturing, financial services, retailing, entertaining and politics. Their book concentrates on the personal skills required for project leadership, including an awareness of the organizational context and the political dimensions. The book ends with an "action summary" and a guide to further sources of development.

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Ring Theory 2007, Proceedings Of The Fifth China-Japan-Korea Conference: Tokyo, Japan 10-15 September 2007



Ring Theory 2007, Proceedings Of The Fifth China-Japan-Korea Conference: Tokyo, Japan 10-15 September 2007
H. Marubayasi,K. Masaike,K. Oshiro,M. Sato | 2009-02-28 00:00:00 | World Scientific Publishing Company | 283 | Mathematics
Ring theory has been developing through the interaction between the investigation of its own algebraic structure and its application to many areas of mathematics, computer science, and physics among others. This volume consists of a collection of survey articles by invited speakers and original articles refereed by world experts that was presented at the fifth China-Japan-Korea International Symposium. The survey articles provide some ideas of the application as well as an excellent overview of the various areas in ring theory. The original articles exhibit new ideas, tools and techniques needed for successful research investigation in ring theory and show the trend of current research. The articles cover all of the most important areas in ring theory, making this volume a useful resource book for researchers in mathematics - both beginners and advanced experts.

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The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement: The Battle for Control of the Law (Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives)



The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement: The Battle for Control of the Law (Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives)
Steven M. Teles | 2008-01-28 00:00:00 | Princeton University Press | 360 | Law

Starting in the 1970s, conservatives learned that electoral victory did not easily convert into a reversal of important liberal accomplishments, especially in the law. As a result, conservatives' mobilizing efforts increasingly turned to law schools, professional networks, public interest groups, and the judiciary--areas traditionally controlled by liberals. Drawing from internal documents, as well as interviews with key conservative figures, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement examines this sometimes fitful, and still only partially successful, conservative challenge to liberal domination of the law and American legal institutions.

Unlike accounts that depict the conservatives as fiendishly skilled, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement reveals the formidable challenges that conservatives faced in competing with legal liberalism. Steven Teles explores how conservative mobilization was shaped by the legal profession, the legacy of the liberal movement, and the difficulties in matching strategic opportunities with effective organizational responses. He explains how foundations and groups promoting conservative ideas built a network designed to dislodge legal liberalism from American elite institutions. And he portrays the reality, not of a grand strategy masterfully pursued, but of individuals and political entrepreneurs learning from trial and error.

Using previously unavailable materials from the Olin Foundation, Federalist Society, Center for Individual Rights, Institute for Justice, and Law and Economics Center, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement provides an unprecedented look at the inner life of the conservative movement. Lawyers, historians, sociologists, political scientists, and activists seeking to learn from the conservative experience in the law will find it compelling reading.


Reviews
The author, a public policy professor at Maryland, has written the definitive study of the rise of conservative lawyers and entities to a position of legal dominance over the last 30 years or so. He has pulled together into one explanatory structure a number of diverse agents, so that we can see how they all interacted and contributed to this result. The book certainly cleared up my understanding of this phenomenon, which is essential to grasping political developments in this country over the last quarter century. Published by Princeton, the book is one of Princeton's outstanding "Studies in American Politics."



The initial introductory chapter I did not find particularly helpful and can be bypassed. The book begins to hit its stride in the second chapter on the "liberal legal network." It is helpful to have handy a copy of Laura Kalman's perceptive "The Strange Career of Legal Liberalism" to fully ingest the author's analysis. Basically, the author suggests, a combination of liberal legal groups (e.g., NAACP LDF; ACLU), elite law schools and their liberal faculty, the American Bar Association, and especially the Ford Foundation during the 1960's formed a potent coalition pushing the incorporate of liberal ideas into the law. This is, of course, also the era of Warren Court activism. Particular important in this regard was the "Gideon" decision which in turn led to the development of the Legal Services Program which unleashed numerous law suits pushing liberal ends in public interest litigation. Much of this activity was encouraged by generous support from the Ford Foundation. This activity generated a conservative response via conservative public interest law firms such as the Pacific Legal Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce. However, because of being controlled by business interests, lacking academic support, and making tactical mistakes, the first generation of conservative public interest firms generally was not successful.



A highly favorable development was the introduction of "law and economics" into legal analysis, and the two chapters devoted to this topic are among the best in the book. Particularly important in this regard are, of course, Judge Posner, Henry Manne (who established various programs at several schools and remade George Mason Law School), and the Olin Foundation, which becomes sort of the conservative Ford Foundation. Probably the strongest chapter in the book is devoted to the Federalist Society, which skillfully lays out its history, goals, and methods. The author is insistent that "boundary maintenance" separates the FS from its members'political activity, but I found this argument less than convincting. The FS did provide a network of highly skilled lawyers and faculty who generated vital legal analysis to support the conservative legal movement. So, when the second waive of conservative public interest law firms arrives in the late 1980's ("Center for Individual Rights" and the "Institute for Justice"), it is successful given the lessons of the past, the presence of the Federalist Society, the academic foundation laid by the law and economics movement, and highly effective leadership.



This summary touches upon but a bit of the richness of this fine volume. The author had done a superior job of research, including extensive interviews. Forty-three pages of extensive notes are included, but not a bibliography. It would have been helpful if the author had explained a bit more in detail what comprised "law and economics" analysis, but that is my only real complaint. This is not a book just for conservatives, which I certainly am not, but for anyone interested in gaining an understanding of this most critical development in American politics.



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Handbook of Psychology, Biological Psychology (Volume 3)



Handbook of Psychology, Biological Psychology (Volume 3)
Michela Gallagher,Randy J. Nelson,Irving B. Weiner | 2004-04-16 00:00:00 | Wiley | 726 | Mental Health
* Includes established theories and cutting-edge developments.
* Presents the work of an international group of experts.
* Presents the nature, origin, implications, an future course of major unresolved issues in the area.

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Comparative Statistical Inference, 3 Edition



Comparative Statistical Inference, 3 Edition
Vic Barnett | 1999-01-01 00:00:00 | Wiley | 410 | Mathematics
This fully updated and revised third edition, presents a wide ranging, balanced account of the fundamental issues across the full spectrum of inference and decision-making. Much has happened in this field since the second edition was published: for example, Bayesian inferential procedures have not only gained acceptance but are often the preferred methodology. This book will be welcomed by both the student and practising statistician wishing to study at a fairly elementary level, the basic conceptual and interpretative distinctions between the different approaches, how they interrelate, what assumptions they are based on, and the practical implications of such distinctions.

As in earlier editions, the material is set in a historical context to more powerfully illustrate the ideas and concepts.

* Includes fully updated and revised material from the successful second edition

* Recent changes in emphasis, principle and methodology are carefully explained and evaluated

* Discusses all recent major developments

* Particular attention is given to the nature and importance of basic concepts (probability, utility, likelihood etc)

* Includes extensive references and bibliography

Written by a well-known and respected author, the essence of this successful book remains unchanged providing the reader with a thorough explanation of the many approaches to inference and decision making.
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Breakfast of Champions CD



Breakfast of Champions CD
Kurt Vonnegut | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | Caedmon | 0 | Literary

Breakfast of Champions is vintage Vonnegut. One of his favorite characters, aging writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth. The result is murderously funny satire as Vonnegut looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth.


"We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane." So reads the tombstone of downtrodden writer Kilgore Trout, but we have no doubt who's really talking: his alter ego Kurt Vonnegut. Health versus sickness, humanity versus inhumanity--both sets of ideas bounce through this challenging and funny book. As with the rest of Vonnegut's pure fantasy, it lacks the shimmering, fact-fueled rage that illuminates Slaughterhouse-Five. At the same time, that makes this book perhaps more enjoyable to read.

Breakfast of Champions is a slippery, lucid, bleakly humorous jaunt through (sick? inhumane?) America circa 1973, with Vonnegut acting as our Virgil-like companion. The book follows its main character, auto-dealing solid-citizen Dwayne Hoover, down into madness, a condition brought on by the work of the aforementioned Kilgore Trout. As Dwayne cracks, then crumbles, Breakfast of Champions coolly shows the effects his dementia has on the web of characters surrounding him. It's not much of a plot, but it's enough for Vonnegut to air unique opinions on America, sex, war, love, and all of his other pet topics--you know, the only ones that really count.

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Evolution and Extinction Rate Controls (Developments in Palaeontology and Stratigraphy)



Evolution and Extinction Rate Controls (Developments in Palaeontology and Stratigraphy)
Arthur J. Boucot | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | Elsevier Science Ltd | 444 | Evolution

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MCSE SQL Server 2000 Database Design Exam Cram (Exam: 70-229)



MCSE SQL Server 2000 Database Design Exam Cram (Exam: 70-229)
Sean Chase,Richard McMahon | 2001-09-13 00:00:00 | Coriolis Group Books | 464 | MCSE
The MCSE SQL 2000 Database Design Exam Cram is the ideal study aid for IT professionals aiming at the "Designing and Implementing Databases with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition" exam (70-229). Essential exam objectives like Logical Data Modeling, Database Objects, Data Integrity, XML, and Tuning and Optimizing Data Access are thoroughly covered. Readers can also complete their total exam preparation with insightful test taking strategies, helpful hints and tips, and realistic case studies and practice questions.
Reviews
Well, I was learning MS SQL with this book after I had some development experience with MySQL. This actually was the right book for me and I was able to quickly study those aspects of MS SQL that are different from MySQL. I was not only able to pass the exam but also acquired skills that I am currenty using on my job.



You know, I noticed that my fellow developers are trying to programm all database transactions with SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT and DELETE only. When they need to delete a record and all other records that are referenced from it they create a long list of quieries, which works, but is actully a time spent in vain because you can create a better, easier and FASTER solution by implementing only one feature available in MS SQL. So study this book and you will know how to deal with MS SQL Server correctly.






Reviews
I think the author did good but it all went to pot at the proofreaders. A typo, error, or omission in 1 out of 15 pages. I had to write stuff in and cross stuff out. It would throw the novice SQL person off on XML alone because of the thouroughly botched job between XML auto and XML raw and claiming that the ELEMENT phrase can be used with XML RAW which it can not. One of many errors. Buy the MS training book, read BOL, get transcenders, but stay clear of this unless you are a seasoned pro that can pick out the mistakes from the good stuff
Reviews
Of all the technical books I have read, this is probably by far the worst. There are many typos; errors where the book uses the wrong word and throws you off; and inconsistencies where the text says something then the answer to the practice question says something different. But additionally, the book covers some materials insufficiently to be at all useful, in other words it is too condensed. This book is not enough to pass the exam.
Reviews
I gave this one star for effort. Everything else gets lost in the number of errors and the superficial coverage. There are more typing errors than my usual first draft, and the number of technical errors is completely unacceptable. In addition, since Coriolis is out of business, there is no errata information available (although downloading 400 Gig of corrections is not my idea of fun).
The IDEA of the book is good, and the CONCEPT of the test questions is very good, but the final product is probably not worth your time -- unless, of course, you want to use it as a testing system to see if you too can find the 3 or more errors on every page!!

The Osborne press "MCDBA SQL Server 2000 Database Design Study Guide" 0-07-212693-0 is a much better book (although it has SOME errors).

The Microsoft Press "SQL Server 2000 database design and implementation" book is excellent, and the errors found in rev 1 are already corrected in rev 2 of the book!! But, it is a 'learning' book, andt a 'cram' book.

Good luck on your exam.
Reviews
I passed the exam but only because I got rid of this book and studied from MSDN a week before. The book covers most of the topics as if they were in a high school curriculum. I'd say if you are preparing for the MCSE/MCSD/MCP exam then DO NOT go by this book. But is fairly ok if you'd want an introduction to SQL Server 2000 before digging deeper into another detailed exam material.

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Mobilizing Invisible Assets



Mobilizing Invisible Assets
Hiroyuki Itami, Thomas Roehl | 1991-01-01 00:00:00 | Harvard | 200 | Management
Mobilizing Invisible Assets
By Hiroyuki Itami, Thomas Roehl


* Publisher: Harvard University Press
* Number Of Pages: 200
* Publication Date: 1991-10-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 067457771X
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780674577718



Product Description:

The author suggests that successful corporate strategies depend upon the marshalling of a firm's "invisible assets" - resources such as technical know-how, the visibility of a brand name, or knowledge of a customer base - as well as its tangible assets, such as people, goods and money. He emphasizes the ways strategy must fit the firm's external environment and also stresses the importance of internal fit within the organization.



Summary: Very valuable book on intangible assets
Rating: 5

This fine book gives a good introduction to why you need to consider the "invisible" resources in an organisation, and how to focus on building them. The text is very readable, and far away from typical american "verboseness" in mega-sized textbooks.

I think this is a textbook that should be read by all business students, to understand more about the issues of resources and assets that go into the Internet economy and brand management.
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Wandering on the Way



Wandering on the Way
Victor H. Mair | 1994-08-01 00:00:00 | Bantam | 402 | Philosophy
The author and translator of the Tao Te Ching uses his acclaimed skills and insight to provide the first complete, popular translation of the strangely beautiful stories and writings of ancient Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu. Illustrated throughout with woodcuts by the illustrator of the Tao Te Ching.
Reviews
The Chuang Tzu (rendered Zhuangzi in pinyin, which is becoming the standard transliteration these days) is second only to Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching in its popularity and veneration in the Taoist world. If you've not heard of or read this book before, you're in for a real treat! The first time I read the Inner Chapters of the Chuang Tzu was like a revelation--the thoughts and ideas expressed in these passages still resonate today for their acuity, humor, satire, stabbing profundity, and life-changing potential. Indeed, after better understanding the thought this book expresses, I felt like so many loose ideas and insights I'd gleaned from other philosophy, literature, music, and poetry had been tied up together and formulated into a concise and elegant package that is urgently relevant to every day life--pretty amazing for a text that is well over 2000 years old!



I recently finished reading Mair's translation of the Chuang Tzu--it was the third complete translation I've read, and while I found that it accurately conveys the spirit and ideas of the Chuang Tzu, it doesn't get my vote for best translation. As a side note, I chose Mair's Chuang Tzu translation after being very impressed by his excellent and illuminating rendering of the Tao Te Ching. As he states in his introduction, Mair's mission in translating the Chuang Tzu is to convey the fact that it is primarily a literary classic (as opposed to a philosophical classic), and rather than expose it to philosophical scrutiny, his desire is to provide the most philologically-accurate translation possible, attempting to translate both the exact words of the Chinese, but also the exact style of the writing (poetry vs. prose, etc.) in a way he feels hasn't been done by other translators. I think he succeeded in his mission, but that his success is not one that benefits readers of his translation in an extremely meaningful way.



The problem, I think, is that ancient Chinese is just so different from English that attempts to transfer the poetic and structural beauty of the Chinese to English are doomed to come up short. Although Mair sets off poetic passages in the text's formatting, this effect doesn't really enhance the writing or ideas, and it's tough to get a feeling for why the Chinese is so linguistically beautiful. Likewise, his goal of omitting ornamentation (e.g. a modern translator subbing "exclaimed" for the more boring and repetative [but accurate] "said") is noble, but really doesn't impact the force of the text. In my opinion, as long as the ideas and beauty of Chuang Tzu's thought is clearly expressed, the exact wording and accuracy of translation is not necessarily of paramount importance (it seems Chuang Tzu would agree, given his attitude toward the ultimate unreliability of language). Finally, Mair tends to translate the names of people and places into English (for example, he translates Lao Tan--Lao Tzu's given name--as "Old Longears"). These translations can be illuminating from an ideological perspective, but they tend to read very awkwardly and don't look like names on paper--I can't imagine a person named "Gorge Worker" or "Sir Square."



Nevertheless, Mair's translation is mostly very readable. Since modern understanding of ancient Chinese is so distant, the more translations you read of a book like the Chuang Tzu, the more likely you are to better understand all of its sections--there were numerous passages that I thought Mair rendered the most powerfully and insightfully out of all the translations I've read, and it was a worthwhile read for that reason alone. I do wish, though, that he had included footnotes or more in-depth introductions to each chapter. Especially with the Outer and Miscellaneous chapters, where the ideas and philosophy gets progressively more diluted with other traditions, some scholarly guidance really helps with understanding the text and enjoying it as much as the more readable Inner chapters.



If you haven't read the Chuang Tzu before, I'd recommend that you start with Burton Watson's Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings, which includes all the Inner chapters and most of the highlights from the rest of the book. If you're looking for your first complete translation, I'd go for Watson's The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, which is the same translation as his Basic Writings, but it includes the rest of the text as well. I find Watson's translation is the most accurate representation of the spirit imbued in the Chuang Tzu, the most flowing and beautifully-worded translation, and the perfect balance of commentary and uncluttered translation. If you're well familiar with the text and want to dive deeper into understanding it, A.C. Graham's difficult-to-read but very insightfully structured The Inner Chapters is the most academic translation I've read.
Reviews
The scholarly background, philological care and sweet writing that Mair provides, allow the reader to decide for himself what to make of and what to do with, (the) Chuang Tzu.
Reviews
This is an amazing book. Mair explains his methods in his introduction; he claims that Chuang Tzu is a literary writer first and a philosopher second. As such, Mair aims to capture the inimitable style of Master Chuang, whom he claims created new ways of expressing oneself in Chinese. The resulting text is a fabulously refreshing collection of parables, which seems to contain the essence of philosophical Taoism. Chuang Tzu has much to teach us about the utility of uselessness, the interchangeable nature of the large and small, and my favourite teaching, the futility of 'guarding against thieves.' Chuang Tzu explains in chapter 10 'Ransacking Coffers' that people who go to great lengths to guard against thieves are just preparing things for the 'great robber.' This seems to have something to say about the nature of capitalism, especially in this era of corporate takeovers and the like. Chuang Tzu is an antidote for modern life.



Mair includes the complete text of Chuang Tzu, not limiting himself to the 'Inner Chapters' (which are regarded as being actually written by Chuang Tzu). He includes the 'Outer' and 'Miscellaneous Chapters', many of which Mair claims are the equal or superior of the Inner Chapters. Each chapter is prefaced by a note giving context to the authorship of the chapter. For instance, Mair regards some of the chapters as being written by Confucianists who have somehow wormed their way into Chuang Tzu over the centuries.



This book compares favourably to other translations of Chuang Tzu I have read. My first exposure to Chuang came in Burton Watson's translation of the Inner Chapters, and while I have not read this book for many years, it was Watson who convinced me of the necessity to study this quasi-historical figure. 'The Essential Chuang Tzu' (Hammill & Seaton) was disappointing in comparison to this book. Thomas Merton's 'The Way of Chuang Tzu' is a nice little book, but not of the same calibre of this volume. In short, Mair's volume seems to me to be the definitive translation.



Chuang Tzu can change your life--quite literally--if you are willing and able to pursue a life of carefree wandering. It's a book not to be missed.
Reviews
One trusts this is probably the best English translation there is of the Chuang Tzu. The Chuang tzu has a unique place in the world of spiritual writings; it breathes the air of freedom like nothing else. Not knowing ancient Chinese, however, the only thing I can say is that I am very happy with this translation.
Reviews
Though Burton Watson's translation comes a close second, this version is the absolute best English translation I have found. Mair includes the "rhyming prose" the poetry and lots of the zaniness that somehow gets passed over in other translations. For those wishing to have more notes Mair generously refers them to his writings in the Sino-Platonic Papers. Mair is second to none in his understanding of archaic Chinese and takes us back to the truly revolutionary collection of writings that Chuang Tzu really is.

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Encyclopedia of the Elements: Technical Data - History - Processing - Applications



Encyclopedia of the Elements: Technical Data - History - Processing - Applications
Per Enghag | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | Wiley-VCH; 1 edition (October 8, 2004) | 1309 | Chemical Engineering
"…a valuable reference book for any scientist or engineer…professional chemists, physicists, mineralogists, and metallurgists as well as students…will find the history of the elements, their discovery and properties interesting." (Energy Sources, June 2005)

"…a useful compendium of the science, technology, culture, and history of the elements…for anyone interested in the history of chemistry, it should be a pleasure to pick an element at random and read one of these delightful essays…" (American Reference Books Annual, 2005)

"Here, in an encyclopedia that brims with life-long reference value, the student has the whole and complete record of the elements at his fingertips." (Electric Review, April/May 2005)

"... full of fascinating accounts of the history of the elements and the uses to which they are put." (Chemistry & Industry, No.5, 7th March 2005)

"... the most comprehensive one-stop compilation of factual data on the chemical elements and their history, occurrence and applications." (E-STREAMS, February 2005)

"...in an encyclopedia that brims with life-long reference value, the student has the whole and complete record of the elements at his fingertips." (Electric Review, October/ November 2004)

"... goes beyond just listing properties and chemical facts. It is full of interesting historical information, anecdotes and fascinating asides" (Chemistry World, Vol.1, No.12, December 2004)


Review
"The book is well researched and very accurate, providing the reader with reliable information. ... The Encyclopedia of the Elements is a highly interesting addition to the chemical literature. ... I do not know of any other book that could at this moment be listed as a serious competitor. ... The Encyclopedia of the Elements is a full-sized academic source of reference that will probably rapidly find lots of friends in all fields from (of course) inorganic chemistry, mineralogy and material science but probably among solid-state physics and geochemists, too."
--Dr. Thomas Lazar for The Chemical Educator
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How to Stop Worrying and Start Living



How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
Dale Carnegie | 2007-01-01 00:00:00 | Vermilion; New Ed edition | 304 | Psychology
Going back to the basics is essential to feeding your mind the kind of thoughts that lead to success. While this book doesn't necessarily reveal any startling revelations, it reminds you that if you persist in doing what you should, you will arrive at the desired destination. As such, this is a book that can be referred back to periodically. Such re-readings provide a refreshing dip in a crisp,clear pool.

Along with teaching success principles, the author provides examples of people who have applied them. Historically the reader is placed in good company. Connecting with people who made a positive different in their generation is good food to mentally digest.

This book is for doers. The emphasis is on action. If one takes the right action, consistently, those small steps have significant results. Carnegie's advice is solid, time-tested, and practical.
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Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic: Ecstasy and Neo-Shamanism in North European Paganism



Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic: Ecstasy and Neo-Shamanism in North European Paganism
Jenny Blain | 2001-12-14 00:00:00 | Routledge | 208 | Mythology
This accessible case-study of Northern European shamanistic practice, or seidr, explores the way in which the ancient Norse belief systems evoked in the Icelandic Sagas and Eddas have been rediscovered and reinvented by groups in Europe and North America. Drawing on ethnography, religious studies, anthropology and sociology, the book examines the phenomenon of altered consciousness and the interactions of seid-workers or shamanic practitioners with their spirit worlds in historical and political contexts.

Written by a follower of seidr, this study not only investigates, but also addresses those new communities involved in a postmodern quest for spiritual meaning.
Reviews
Jenny Blain is AFAIK the only author who analyzes what is really there AND describes various attempts to reconstruct Seidr today. Off course she disappoints lots of people who like to create a new magical fantasy world or want to live in a New Age world created for them by an author. The less we really know the better for the New Ager.....But she is an Ethnologist, totally commited to truth and a practioner of Seidr herself.

Jenny Blains description of Seidr is a realistic piece of hard research work and I can feel the oblique and powerful craft of our ancestors in her work. It's definetely not a game, it never was and Jenny warns her audience about the consequences throughout the book. That's another aspect New Agers "dislike" because it is not only blond Elbs, funny dwarfs and honest gods you will find in that other world. So better be prepared and protected. There may be bitter consequences if someone is doing just one little mistake during a Seidr trance "The whole luck of a person can change 100% for the rest of her life with one offended spirit in a session." Ooops! But she doesn't hand out "Do it yourself" ritual kits to her readers anyway. Her real Seidr is far too dangerous for that. She is practizing in a well protected group and she reports incidents I don't want to be part of.

Very well done! The only points that turn me off are that postmodern academic phony discussions about i.e "Transgenderism in shamanic blababla...." ;-)))

But you can't have it all....
Reviews
I think that the title of her book is misleading, there was very little in the way of 'magic'. Though maybe my definition of magic may be different than some. She barely talks about ecstasy as I understand it as well. Oracular Seidhr as she writes it, to me is basically jumped up 'led meditation'someone leads you there, then you go on your own way. But this may not be her fault, I just wish she'd written more about utiseta which seems to me to be the closest thing to 'shamanism', not seidhr itself, or to be specific, oracular seidhr. It also could be WHEN she wrote the book... every day, there is more information out there and opinions change over night.

Not knowing much about Heathenism, I really liked her book. A good balance of involvement and distance. I think the 'involvement' of both the writer and the heathen population in ergi is humorous, which I think is due to the fact that a LOT of heathens are of the hard mead drinking "let's go bang our swords' type, to whom ergi may be a serious consideration. As some know, a lot of people actually chosen by the spirits to do 'shamanism' have issues with dualism and sexuality and 'being normal'. To some, being normal is more important than anything else in life and to them, ergi would be a big problem. I say let them be afraid of ergi and the rest of us do what we wish, they can discuss it into the ground and they can avoid seidhr. Who cares? Give them a bigger sword and they will feel better.


Reviews
Blain does an excellent job of examining the shamanic aspects of Seid. She does seem to come off as mildly apologetic that an academic would be involved in such inquiries. This is most apparent in the intensity with which she qualifies and defines the various concepts addressed in _Nine_Worlds_.



As the subtitle indicates, _Nine_Worlds_ focuses on the shamanic aspect of the Old Germanic Religion. It does so from a distinctly Asatru perspective. I've said many times that the 'Trar can be a bit too serious at times, and Blain is no exception. But in this case, the earnestness can be endearing. One comes away from _Nine_Worlds_ with a great deal of respect, and a bit of compassion, for Blain's intense attitude.



_Nine_Worlds_ is a survey of Seid shamanic practice, and in no way a how-to manual. That being said, it is a must-read for anyone interested in European Shamanism.




Reviews
Ms. Blain does an excellent job of studying seidr not only from a practical stance but a historical and philosophical one as well. She mixes scholarship and historical theory with stories of personal experience and accounts of modern-day practice. It does only cover one way of practicing seidr though, that being the Hrafnar style oracular seidr of Diana Paxson's group. As limited as the scope is however it is still an excellent work.
Reviews
This was an interesting read...The author explores her own participation in a subculture as well as explaining the historal aspects of the subculture. She does a fairly good job explaining some of the historical roots, and to some degree the present activities of the subculture. She could've touched on the contemporary subculture more though.



A lot of her analysis seemed focused on how she reconciled the differences between herself as a heathen and as an academic. This was particularly interesting, but what stood out to me was that she could never entirely just submit to an experience but was constantly analyzing it...so that for her it seemed the identity of an academic was predominant over that of a heathen. It does lead one to ask whether she really critically engaged the experience in and of itself or used the academic way of thinking as a distancing tool. Nonetheless she does question her own attitudes and this is evident in her work.

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Tooth Movement with Removable Appliances



Tooth Movement with Removable Appliances
J D Muir,R T Reed | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | Pitman Med. | 167 | Subjects

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D & S Vol. 20 - B-17 Flying Fortress - More Derivatives Part 3



D & S Vol. 20 - B-17 Flying Fortress - More Derivatives Part 3
Alwyn T. Lloyd | 1986-01-01 00:00:00 | Arms and Armour Press A&AP | 72 | Subjects

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Principles of Transactional Memory (Synthesis Lectures on Distributed Computing Theory)



Principles of Transactional Memory (Synthesis Lectures on Distributed Computing Theory)
| 2010-09-24 00:00:00 | | 0 | Miscellaneous

Transactional memory (TM) is an appealing paradigm for concurrent programming on shared memory architectures. With a TM, threads of an application communicate, and synchronize their actions, via in-memory transactions. Each transaction can perform any number of operations on shared data, and then either commit or abort. When the transaction commits, the effects of all its operations become immediately visible to other transactions; when it aborts, however, those effects are entirely discarded. Transactions are atomic: programmers get the illusion that every transaction executes all its operations instantaneously, at some single and unique point in time. Yet, a TM runs transactions concurrently to leverage the parallelism offered by modern processors. The aim of this book is to provide theoretical foundations for transactional memory. This includes defining a model of a TM, as well as answering precisely when a TM implementation is correct, what kind of properties it can ensure, what are the power and limitations of a TM, and what inherent trade-offs are involved in designing a TM algorithm. While the focus of this book is on the fundamental principles, its goal is to capture the common intuition behind the semantics of TMs and the properties of existing TM implementations. Table of Contents: Introduction / Shared Memory Systems / Transactional Memory: A Primer / TM Correctness Issues / Implementing a TM / Further Reading / Opacity / Proving Opacity: An Example / Opacity vs. Atomicity / Further Reading / The Liveness of a TM / Lock-Based TMs / Obstruction-Free TMs / General Liveness of TMs / Further Reading / Conclusions
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Wie die Dinge sind. Ein zeitgemäße Einführung in die Lehre Buddhas



Wie die Dinge sind. Ein zeitgemäße Einführung in die Lehre Buddhas
| 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | | 0 | Others
Lama Ole Nydahl - Wie die Dinge sind. Ein zeitgemäße Einführung in die Lehre Buddhas
Pages:77 | PDF | Joy-Verlag (2002-10) | ISBN 3928554131 | 0,5 MB
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Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis



Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis
Jimmy Carter | 2005-01-01 00:00:00 | Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group | 212 | Fiction
Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis
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Eclipse 3 Live



Eclipse 3 Live
| 2004-12-31 00:00:00 | | 0 | Eclipse




User review
Don't buy this if you are using Linux
First of all, I could not download the PDF file using Firefox browser on Linux. My friend kindly downloaded it using her Windows PC. However, I was not able to read it on Linux since it requres Acroread 6.0 or higher. The latest acroread for Linux is still the version 5.0. I thought it would be handy to have the e-book on the machine I write Java programs using Eclipse but it is now just sitting in my friend's Windows PC. Amazon.com should clearly state required OS, software, and hardware to view e-books they sell. I am sorry for the authors but if a book, especially a computer book, is not readable to Linux users, I must say that it is a bad book regardless the contents. I hope that the author complains to the publisher about this situation and that everyone will be able to read this book soon.

User review
Excellent step-by-step instructions for folks new to Eclipse
If you are completely unfamiliar with the Eclipse IDE, while a small tidbit or two may have changed since Eclipse 3.0M6, the edition of Eclipse covered in the May edition of this book, `Eclipse 3 Live` contains the detailed step-by-step instructions to get you started learning the basic features and uses of the Eclipse IDE. The May Edition* of `Eclipse 3 Live` comes in at 274 pages, and didn't take long to download all 16MB at 110 KB/sec, during peak internet hours. `Eclipse 3 Live` includes detailed coverage of Eclipse basics, including the different views and perspectives available for Java source code editing and navigating, as well as running and debugging Java applications. Advanced topics, Ant integration, working in a team with CVS integration, and JUnit, are also covered in detail in their own chapters, while the very important and nice to use refactoring features are described in multiple chapters - two in the current May edition, with a third refactoring chapter on the planning table. SWT, the windowing API used to develop Eclipse, is not covered in much detail, though the author, Bill Dudney, has suggested that he'd welcome requests to add a chapter on SWT. Kudos to the SourceBeat subscription-based model that such reader/author feedback and response can exist.

I'd recommend this book to anyone new to the Eclipse IDE, or otherwise interested in the more advanced features previously mentioned.

* You might have noticed that this book is not available in print edition. The publisher, SourceBeat, instead offers a subscription-based service through their website at SourceBeat.com. $30 gets one access to all editions of a single title for a year, with three titles currently available. Since March, three editions of `Eclipse 3 Live` have been made available. (Only the initial March edition is sold here on Amazon, if I understand correctly.)

A very nice feature of this subscription-based, multiple release model is the author interaction available to readers. Bill Dudney encourages suggestions for future content be sent him through email, while he also maintains a blog for the book (linked from the book's website at SourceBeat.com), where, on occasion, he discusses putting together parts of the book.


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The Chinese Century: The Rising Chinese Economy and Its Impact on the Global Economy, the Balance of Power, and Your Job



The Chinese Century: The Rising Chinese Economy and Its Impact on the Global Economy, the Balance of Power, and Your Job
Oded Shenkar | 2004-01-01 00:00:00 | | 208 | Management
Within 20 years -- possibly far sooner -- China will have the world’s largest economy. That will powerfully impact you: your job, your company, your economic future, and your country. In The Chinese Century, Oded Shenkar shows how China is restoring its imperial glory by infusing modern technology and market economics into a non-democratic system controlled by the Communist party and bureaucracy.

Shenkar shows why China’s accelerating growth differs radically from predecessors such as Japan, India, and Mexico -- and how it will lead to a radical restructuring of the global business system. Discover why the U.S. is most vulnerable to China’s ascent... how China’s disregard for intellectual property creates sustainable competitive advantage... and how China’s growth impacts every global business and consumer.

Above all, Shenkar shows what you must do to survive and prosper in "the Chinese Century."

· Cheap labor + millions of high-skilled professionals

· How China will sustain dominance in low-tech industries as it enters high-tech realms

· Building tomorrow’s Toyotas and Sonys... faster and cheaper

· Chinese multinationals: learning from joint ventures, preparing to lead

· Leveraging Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and the "Chinese diaspora"

· Bringing together the world’s most powerful pool of human resources

· $2 Rolexes, and beyond

· Piracy, counterfeiting, bootlegging, and stolen intellectual property

· From economics to geopolitics: counterbalancing America

· Previewing China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy
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Framework for Credit Risk Management (Risk Management Series)



Framework for Credit Risk Management (Risk Management Series)
Alastair Graham | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | AMACOM | 156 | Finance
Topics include: * establishing corporate goals in credit risk management * integrating credit risk management with operating procedures * credit risk modeling techniques * sample exercises and case studies

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Vectors, Matrices and Geometry



Vectors, Matrices and Geometry
Kam-Tim Leung, S.N. Sven | 1995-05-31 00:00:00 | Hong Kong University Press ) | 356 | Mathematics
downloaded from googlebooks
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"My Dear Friend": Further Letters to and about Joseph Conrad. (Conrad Studies 3)



"My Dear Friend": Further Letters to and about Joseph Conrad. (Conrad Studies 3)
Owen Knowles | 2008-09-30 00:00:00 | Rodopi | 248 | British
A sequel to A Portrait in Letters: Correspondence to and about Joseph Conrad (Rodopi, 1995), this volume collects and annotates letters to Joseph Conrad by his family, friends, admirers, and publishers. An indispensable companion to the writer's own letters, it restores the quality of exchange, interaction, and debate that belongs to a major correspondence. It also leads to a fuller, more rounded picture of Conrad in his personal and professional dealings: both of the mutualities and rituals that underpinned his close friendships and of the terms underlying his mutual disagreements with others. Familiar names are here - Arnold Bennett, John Galsworthy, Edward Garnett, Ford Madox Ford, Bertrand Russell, and H. G. Wells - although in largely unfamiliar form, through unpublished or inaccessible materials. Another notable feature of the volume is the newly recovered correspondence relating to the implementation, by Henry Newbolt and William Rothenstein, of the Royal Bounty Fund grant awarded during one of Conrad's most severe financial crises (1904-06). An essential resource for the scholar, this vivid collection can also be read with pleasure by the general reader for the light it throws on Conrad the man and writer and the rich context in which he moved.

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The Future of Aging: Pathways to Human Life Extension



The Future of Aging: Pathways to Human Life Extension
Gregory M. Fahy,Michael D. West,L. Stephen Coles,Steven B. Harris | 2010-10-02 00:00:00 | Springer | 866 | Philosophy

Just as the health costs of aging threaten to bankrupt developed countries, this book makes the scientific case that a biological "bailout" could be on the way, and that human aging can be different in the future than it is today. Here 40 authors argue how our improving understanding of the biology of aging and selected technologies should enable the successful use of many different and complementary methods for ameliorating aging, and why such interventions are appropriate based on our current historical, anthropological, philosophical, ethical, evolutionary, and biological context. Challenging concepts are presented together with in-depth reviews and paradigm-breaking proposals that collectively illustrate the potential for changing aging as never before. The proposals extend from today to a future many decades from now in which the control of aging may become effectively complete. Examples include sirtuin-modulating pills, new concepts for attacking cardiovascular disease and cancer, mitochondrial rejuvenation, stem cell therapies and regeneration, tissue reconstruction, telomere maintenance, prevention of immunosenescence, extracellular rejuvenation, artificial DNA repair, and full deployment of nanotechnology. The Future of Aging will make you think about aging differently and is a challenge to all of us to open our eyes to the future therapeutic potential of biogerontology.



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The Throws and Takedowns of Sombo



The Throws and Takedowns of Sombo
Geoff Thompson | 2001-03-23 00:00:00 | Summersdale Publishers | 96 | Martial Arts
Ground fighting is taking the martial arts world by storm, but how do you get to the ground safely and end in a prone position? What are the dangers of throwing and taking an opponent over? In this book on throwing and take-down techniques of Sambo, the author teaches how to control vertical grappling and destroy an assailant with a demolishing throw. Including the original "blow before throw" techniques banned from sport grappling at the beginning of the century.
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Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems



Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems
Gilbert M. Masters | 2004-08-11 00:00:00 | Wiley-IEEE Press | 680 | Engineering
This is a comprehensive textbook for the new trend of distributed power generation systems and renewable energy sources in electric power systems. It covers the complete range of topics from fundamental concepts to major technologies as well as advanced topics for power consumers. As a textbook it will serve undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines such as mechanical, chemical, civil and environmental engineering, and electrical engineering.
Reviews
I've been a practicing solar energy professional for over 10 years: My bachelor's was in EE, master's degree in solar energy engineering and now work as a solar project developer and investor. I picked up this book at the PV America conference a couple of days ago - and read the whole PV grid-connected section towards the end of the book. I also read through the early "intro" chapters and the



The book covers a huge, but highly relevant selection of topics. Bottoms up, if you're building up from basics, it covers all the relevant basics in the early chapters, and technology-specific basics wherever relevant. e.g. the PV coverage of cell-basics, equivalent circuits and modeling, and adding up to modules and array performance, system sizing and economic analysis is very well done - you have enough knowledge after reading these chapters to do calculations, basic-to-advanced designs, and understand more detailed texts.



As a reference, almost anyone would benefit from the more advanced and thorough discussions. e.g. in the discussion on DC, standalone PV systems, you can quickly go through key issues relating to PV module performance with specific types of loads, e.g. resistors, DC motors etc, and understand the impact of max power point trackers, and design issues. The author has thought through the text from the readers' point of view: Every relevant angle was discussed and covered with clear text, plus wherever relevant, numerical calculation examples are given such that a reader can replicate in real-life situations.



A complaint and a couple of warnings. My one gripe: Much of the industry data in the book is "old", i.e. 2002-2003 vintage. I have access to more recent data, but an update to the book might be useful. Caution (who's this book for): If you're not an engineer by training, have no technical background, and don't like numbers, this book will be of limited use to you - though far from useless. Also, if you're an experienced engineer working in either solar or wind design, your main utility for this book will be as a reference, a quick overview of basics and less-used topics.



All in all, I was waiting for a book like this for a while. I'm glad I bought this, despite a discounted (conference) price above $120, and look forward to using it as a reference for a long time.
Reviews
I bought mainly for verification of wind stochastics (Weibull vs normal distribution questions). But I also work in solar energy as well. Found the text to be well written, sufficient formulas and derivations to understand and do necessary calculations, and a very useful reference. Not cheap, but a bargain for a working engineer. Have correlated wind section with other references, and although variable terms are slightly different, all seem to be verifiable with other sources.
Reviews
I've scoured several texts, journals and articles on renewable energy to make sense of the various technologies and their underlying economics, but wasn't until I stumbled upon this hidden treasure that the cloud lifted and the light dawned on my bewildered mind. And it took me a few months to scrub the book cover-to-cover - I was so taken in by the author's mastery of the subject matter and its concise, cogent and crystal-clear presentation.



Prof. Masters assumes nothing of the reader and takes her/him through a narrative that is just so-perfectly blended with rigorous, yet first-order analytical methods to enable the joyous discovery and lucid understanding of most of the major renewable sources of energy - from the gusty wind to the brilliant sun. He explains, proves and illustrates the logic, the math and the mechanics of the what, why and how it all works. He then gets under the hood and crunches the numbers (the economics) of if, when and where it all makes sense.



For instance, he'd prove Betz's law for the maximum efficiency of a wind turbine or derive the average wind power with a Rayleigh p.d.f by totally simplifying the convoluted math and soon follow it up with a practical example of whether it makes economic sense for a farmer to lease his land to a wind farm. Every concept is suffused with first-rate real-world examples:

* should a house in Boulder, CO use a single-axis tracker for a photo-voltaic installation? How about Madison, WI?

* what is the carbon spewed out by a coal-fired power plant? How does that compare to a combined cycle natural gas plant?



In addition to a fair amount of coverage of various renewable and distributed energy resources, a complete soup-to-nuts analysis of photo-voltaic design, sizing and analysis is presented. And it doesn't stop there. Energy efficiency is a major theme - ever heard of absorption cooling? All of this material is developed in the context of `basic electricity' that powers and runs most everything today (except vehicles of course, but that's also soon coming...) The beauty of it all is the seemingly effortless simplicity in which the concepts are explained/analysed without sacrificing rigor - it just flows!



In this age of hype and bias, a certain amount of disinformation coming from the media is understandable. But, living in Silicon Valley, I find it amusing to hear even respectable venture capitalists touting/undermining this technology or that without getting their facts/numbers right - perhaps they are vested or they are simply clueless, like I once was and still continue to be often. Whereas, having earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering at Stanford, Prof. Masters has spent his entire lifetime around these issues (has been there, done that) and has distilled the better part of some of what he's learned into this book. Reading it is a bit like peering into a beautiful mind, indeed. Whether you are a serious student out to change the world, an academic do-gooder, a VC moneybag, a hobbyist moonlighter, I cannot recommend this book enough. It is by far, the best such introductory text in this field.


Reviews
Here is a book that is needed by those (especially engineers) interested in energy systems for the future. It has broad coverage and yet enough depth to allow design of new systems. Professor Masters' casual writing style and his sense of humor make the book fun to read.



The book covers wind systems, photovoltaic cells(PV) and PV systems, distributed generation (concentrating solar power, microhydro, fuel cells, biomass), and economics of renewable electric power generation and comparison with conventional thermal power plants. This book is important as the engineering world moves into the era of rising energy prices and is compelled to provide alternatives to fossil and nuclear fueled generation. There are abundant very helpful examples worked out in the text.



We used this book in a one semester introduction to renewable power taught as an elective for senior and first year graduate students. Since this was the first time the course was taught by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of NH, and our first time through the book, the course covered only a subset of chapters.



The book provides solid engineering background for topics discussed in applied "how to" books on renewable energy systems. It will appeal to that person who wants deeper understanding of principles. The ideas - both theoretical and practical - are carefully developed.



We read a good number of the problems at the end of the chapters we covered and assigned a subset of those. We found the book problems to be very enlightening and carefully thought out. Many of the problems provided profound insight and preparation for understanding and using the material studied. Even the first chapter on basic electrical and magnetic circuits has problems involving models for photovoltaic modules.



Michael J. Carter, Associate Professor of ECE at UNH

Filson H. Glanz, Professor Emeritus of ECE at UNH
Reviews
Gil Masters is a master teacher, as every page in this book makes clear. The best summary is found in the preface:



"Engineering for sustainability is an emerging theme for the twenty-first century, and the need for more environmentally benign electric power systems is a critical part of this new thrust. Renewable energy systems that take advantage of energy sources that won't diminish over time and are independent of fluctuations in price and availability are playing an ever-increasing role in modern power systems. Wind farms in the United States and Europe have become the fastest growing source of electric power; solar-powered photovoltaic systems are entering the marketplace; fuel cells that will generate electricity without pollution are on the horizon. Moreover, the newest fossil-fueled power plants approach twice the efficiency of the old coal burners that they are replacing while emitting only a tiny fraction of the pollution.



There are compelling reasons to believe that the traditional system of large, central power stations connected to their customers by hundreds or thousands of miles of transmission lines will likely be supplemented and eventually replaced with cleaner, smaller plants located closer to their loads. Not only do such distributed generation systems reduce transmission line losses and costs, but the potential to capture and utilize waste heat on site greatly increases their overall efficiency and economic advantages. Moreover, distributed generation systems offer increased reliability and reduced threat of massive and widespread power failures of the sort that blacked out much of the northeastern United States in the summer of 2003.



It is an exciting time in the electric power industry, worldwide. New technologies on both sides of the meter leading to structural changes in the way that power is provided and used, an emerging demand for electricity in the developing countries where some two billion people now live without any access to power, and increased attention being paid to the environmental impacts of power production are all leading to the need for new books, new courses, and a new generation of engineers who will find satisfying, productive careers in this newly transformed industry.



This book has been written primarily as a textbook for new courses on renewable and efficient electric power systems. It has been designed to encourage self-teaching by providing numerous completely worked examples throughout. Virtually every topic that lends itself to quantitative analysis is illustrated with such examples. Each chapter ends with a set of problems that provide added practice for the student and that should facilitate the preparation of homework assignments by the instructor.



While the book has been written with upper division engineering students in mind, it could easily be moved up or down in the curriculum as necessary. Since courses covering this subject are initially likely to have to stand more or less on their own, the book has been written to be quite self-sufficient. That is, it includes some historical, regulatory, and utility industry context as well as most of the electricity, thermodynamics, and engineering economy background needed to understand these new power technologies.



Engineering students want to use their quantitative skills, and they want to design things. This text goes well beyond just introducing how energy technologies work; it also provides enough technical background to be able to do first-order calculations on how well such systems will actually perform. That is, for example, given certain windspeed characteristics, how can we estimate the energy delivered from a wind turbine? How can we predict solar insolation and from that estimate the size of a photovoltaic system needed to deliver the energy needed by a water pump, a house, or an isolated communication relay station? How would we size a fuel cell to provide both electricity and heat for a building, and at what rate would hydrogen have to be supplied to be able to do so? How would we evaluate whether investments in these systems are rational economic decisions? That is, the book is quantitative and applications oriented with an emphasis on resource estimation, system sizing, and economic evaluation."

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The Official Patient's Sourcebook on Dipylidium Infection: A Revised and Updated Directory for the Internet Age



The Official Patient's Sourcebook on Dipylidium Infection: A Revised and Updated Directory for the Internet Age
Icon Health Publications | 2002-09-02 00:00:00 | ICON Health Publications | 108 | Internal Medicine
This book has been created for patients who have decided to make education and research an integral part of the treatment process. Although it also gives information useful to doctors, caregivers and other health professionals, it tells patients where and how to look for information covering virtually all topics related to dipylidium infection (also caninum infection), from the essentials to the most advanced areas of research. The title of this book includes the word official. This reflects the fact that the sourcebook draws from public, academic, government, and peer-reviewed research. Selected readings from various agencies are reproduced to give you some of the latest official information available to date on dipylidium infection. Given patients' increasing sophistication in using the Internet, abundant references to reliable Internet-based resources are provided throughout this sourcebook. Where possible, guidance is provided on how to obtain free-of-charge, primary research results as well as more detailed information via the Internet. E-book and electronic versions of this sourcebook are fully interactive with each of the Internet sites mentioned (clicking on a hyperlink automatically opens your browser to the site indicated). Hard-copy users of this sourcebook can type cited Web addresses directly into their browsers to obtain access to the corresponding sites. In addition to extensive references accessible via the Internet, chapters include glossaries of technical or uncommon terms.

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From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs



From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs
Winifred Rosen,Andrew Weil | 1993-03-22 00:00:00 | Mariner Books | 240 | Substance Abuse
This essential, authoritative source book is newly revised and updated and covers a wide range of substances, from coffee to marijuana, from antihistamines to psychedelics, from steroids to the new "smart" drugs. In a way that neither condemns nor condones drug use, the authors describe the likely effects of each drug and discuss precautions and alternatives, allowing readers to make informed and intelligent choices. Illustrations.
Reviews
I highly recommend this book. It's easy to read and provides a non-bias view of drugs, opening the mind instead of putting one on the defensive.
Reviews
Australian readers may be interested to know that the book has been "refused classification" by the Office of Film and Literature Classification, which means it is a banned import!



It is not possible to get a list of books which have been refused classification in Australia, but be assured this is not the only title for which a ridiculous decision has been made.
Reviews
This is such a great book. I'm happy Dr. Weil wrote it.

It is very informative, and shows the truth as well as it can.

It also has a great section of the drugs that arise naturally within the human body, and how external drugs just trigger your body to notice the highs etc. I learned alot from this book. I've gone on to check for Weil's other works, he is so great. It talks about all the drugs, their safety, myths etc... most importantly the truth behind them, which is not influenced by propaganda.

I highly recommend this work.


Reviews
Its very informational and is exactly what i wanted. Read this book if your interested in find out about all different kinds of drugs for either ur own knowlege or for a paper for school
Reviews
The title really says everything that needs to be said. This is a wonderful, unbiased book that's almost 100% scientifically accurate, which is far more than can be said about most books that purport to tell you everything you need to know about drugs and/or drug use and especially about drug users.



EDIT: After reading other reviews I've discovered that there's a lot of misunderstanding about the purpose of FCtM. It's meant to be a basic primer on responsible drug use -- not an encyclopedia of every bit of information about specific drugs, not a guide to the Nasty Gritty World of Drug Abuse, and not a DARE handbook. If you read it expecting something it's not intended to give, you'll be disappointed. It is a basic handbook that attempts to teach conservative, sensible methods for using drugs (including caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs our society approves of) intelligently, safely, and hence responsibly. If that's what you're looking for, continue. If not, keep looking. (But you should read it anyway to shed your biases, just in case.)



I do not have any real problems with the book or with Dr. Weil's work in general. Things have happened since 2004, including extremely important new scientific information on the role of GABA and endorphins in anxiety and depression, which Dr. Weil and Ms. Rosen may or may not have been aware of and which has enormous implications regarding the use and abuse of heroin and other opiates.



The only out-and-out error I've noticed thus far in the book is a statement that claims the prescription medicine Adderall contains 'dextroamphetamine and methamphetamine'. It contains d-amp. and amphetamine, not methamphetamine.



He is more cautious than I would be, and I disagree with some of his conclusions (for example, that certain routes of administration are inherently abusive and/or more dangerous than others); compared to what else is out there and what others have said and done, however, this is an incredible book with few, if any, true peers in quality and comprehensiveness.



This book will not completely correct the damage done by DARE and years of social conditioning, but it will certainly help. It should be required reading in Health class for every single high schooler, at least. Enough said.

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Exchange Server 2007 SP1 und Outlook Kompendium: Messaging, Mails und mehr - für Profis



Exchange Server 2007 SP1 und Outlook Kompendium: Messaging, Mails und mehr - für Profis
| 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | | 1144 | Subjects
Thomas Joos, "Exchange Server 2007 SP1 und Outlook Kompendium: Messaging, Mails und mehr - für Profis "
Markt und Technik | 2008 | ISBN: 3827243602 | 1144 pages | PDF | 69,2 MB
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Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal



Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal
Irv Muchnick | 2007-01-01 00:00:00 | Ecw Press | 200 | Health and Care
Professional wrestling’s most notorious scandals and drug-fueled spectacles are laid out using insider details and investigative journalism in this powerful expose of the sport. Featuring pieces previously published in magazines such as Penthouse and People, this book examines the demise of the old Mafia-like territories, whose wake, with the help of cable television and deregulation, helped fuel the astonishing growth of professional wrestling. These solemn and thoroughly investigated accounts—of Hulk Hogan’s drug use, the untimely death of Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka’s girlfriend, the ill-fated Von Erich clan, and various scandals associated with World Wrestling Entertainment’s Vince McMahon—go beyond the theatrics to illustrate what really goes on behind the curtain and where the sport now stands.
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Truman Capote - Das Geheimnis



Truman Capote - Das Geheimnis
| 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | | 0 | Others
Truman Capote - Das Geheimnis
Publisher: Insel Verlag | 1999 | ISBN: 3458191119 | PDF | 52 pages | 1.10 MB
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Assessment of Mission Size Trade-offs for NASA's Earth and Space Science Missions



Assessment of Mission Size Trade-offs for NASA's Earth and Space Science Missions
Space Studies Board Ad Hoc Committee on the Assessment of Mission Size Trade-Offs for Earth and Space Science Missions,Mathematics, and Applications Commission on Physical Sciences,National Research Council,National Research Council | 2000-01-15 00:00:00 | National Academies Press | 91 | Engineering
Report addresses fundamental issues of mission architecture in the nation's scientific space program and responds to the FY99 Senate conference report which requested that NASA commission a study to assess the strengths and weaknesses of small, medium, and large missions. Softcover.

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Reductions by the Alumino- and Borohydrides in Organic Synthesis



Reductions by the Alumino- and Borohydrides in Organic Synthesis
Jacqueline Seyden-Penne | 1997-09-01 00:00:00 | Wiley-VCH | 224 | Internal Medicine
A complete guide to selection and use of the best reagents for a wide range of transformations

This book is the updated and expanded Second Edition of Jacqueline Seyden-Penne's practical guide to selection of reducing reagents in organic synthesis. It is an indispensable working resource for organic synthetic chemists-the only reference focusing exclusively on aluminohydrides and borohydrides and their derivatives.

Simple to use, it is organized according to specific reductions so that chemists can more easily match the best reagent to a given transformation. Throughout, Dr. Seyden-Penne emphasizes four crucial categories: compatibility, possibilities for partial reduction, the regio- and stereoselectivity of reductions that are altered or controlled by neighboring groups, and asymmetric reductions.

Extremely well-referenced, Reductions by the Alumino- and Borohydrides in Organic Synthesis provides the most up-to-date, detailed coverage of:
* Successful techniques for performing highly selective reductions
* Chemo-, regio-, stereo-, and enantioselective reductions of both simple and complex compounds
* Best methods for obtaining the main functional groups by hydridereduction, provided in quick-reference tabular form
* New and more selective reagents developed within the last five years
* Experimental conditions, including solvent and temperature, and yields for most cases described.

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Macromolecular Anticancer Therapeutics (Cancer Drug Discovery and Development)



Macromolecular Anticancer Therapeutics (Cancer Drug Discovery and Development)
L. Harivardhan Reddy,Patrick Couvreur | 2009-11-12 00:00:00 | Springer | 500 | Internal Medicine

In spite of the development of various anticancer drugs, the therapy of cancer has remained challenging for decades. The current therapy of cancer is overwhelmed because of the inability to deliver therapeutics to all regions of a tumor in effective therapeutic concentrations, intrinsic or acquired resistance to the treatment with currently available agents via genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, and toxicity. As a result, cancer therapy using conventional therapeutics and different types of treatment regimens using this therapeutics has not led to a convincing survival benefit of the patients. In this context, Macromolecular therapeutics offer several advantages over conventional low molecular therapeutics by various ways such as, enable the use of larger doses of these agents by limiting the toxicity, by enhanced permeability and retention into tumors, by tumor targeting using tumor-specific antibodies, by specific inhibition of oncogenes using anticancer oligonucleotides etc. Cancer treatment using this macromolecular therapeutics has considerably improved the survival benefit for patients. As a result, various macromolecular therapeutics are already commercialized or are under clinical development. Although we are far from a real magic bullet today, looking at the pace of research and current success in this field of macromolecular therapeutics, it appears that we are approaching a magic bullet for the efficient treatment of cancer. Thus, we believe that the subject of this book is very timely, and that the book will fill an unmet need in the market.

This book is unique and assembles various types and aspects of macromolecular anticancer therapeutics for cancer therapy in one shell and conveys the importance of this interdisciplinary field to the broad audience. Thus, in a nutshell, this book details the basics of cancer, and various therapeutic strategies such as those based on macromolecular therapeutics hence can become an important reference for practitioners, oncologists, medical pharmacologists, medicinal chemists, biomedical scientists, experimental pharmacologists, pharmaceutical technologists, and particularly it can essentially become a handbook of macromolecular therapeutics for cancer therapy for graduates, post-graduates and Ph.D. students in these fields.



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Forex Conquered: High Probability Systems and Strategies for Active Traders



Forex Conquered: High Probability Systems and Strategies for Active Traders
John L. Person | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | Wiley | 304 | Finances and Money
* Publisher: Wiley
* Number Of Pages: 304
* Publication Date: 2007-03-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0470097795
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780470097793
* Binding: Hardcover
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The Economics of Social Protection



The Economics of Social Protection
Lars Soderstrom | 2008-11-30 00:00:00 | Edward Elgar Publishing | 180 | Economics
This book focuses on arrangements for redistributing consumption opportunities over the life cycle and for providing compensation for income losses or large expenditures due to reasons such as illness and unemployment. After extensive coverage of the nature of inequalities in income and wealth in a market economy, and various notions of social justice, the author discusses public and private transfers in cash or in kind related to old age, childhood, illness and the like. Importantly, the book takes into account both equity and efficiency aspects.

This concise discussion of the welfare state and its alternatives will be of great interest to students of economics at the intermediate level as well as to graduate students of sociology, social work and other social sciences. It will also appeal to politicians and civil service managers with an interest in the fundamentals of social policy.

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