MCQs for MRCOG Part 1: A Self-Assessment Guide (Hodder Arnold Publication) (Pt. 1)

MCQs for MRCOG Part 1: A Self-Assessment Guide (Hodder Arnold Publication) (Pt. 1)
Richard De Courcy-Wheeler,Bernie McElhinney,Khaled El-Hayes,Tahani Abuzeineh,Beverley Adams | 2003-11-27 00:00:00 | A Hodder Arnold Publication | 128 | Internal Medicine
Queen's Univ., Belfast Northern Ireland. Exam review for those preparing to take the part 1 examination of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Includes 240 single and multiple stem questions. Full answers with explanatory text are provided. CD-ROM is also included for mock examinations. British-oriented. Softcover.

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Studies on the Ecology & Conservation of Butterflies in Europe: Species Ecology Along a European Gradient (Pensoft Series Faunistica)

Studies on the Ecology & Conservation of Butterflies in Europe: Species Ecology Along a European Gradient (Pensoft Series Faunistica)
Josef Settele | 2005-12-30 00:00:00 | Pensoft Pub | 305 | Conservation
The book contains extended abstracts on a wide variety of issues concerning the ecology and conservation of Large Blue butterflies of the genus Maculinea. It mainly consists of results of the EU funded research project MacMan. They have been presented at a conference held in Leipzig, 5-9th of December 2005.

Sections covered are: Maculinea as indicators; Functional and trophic relations in Maculinea systems; Population genetics, chemistry and physiology of Maculinea and Myrmica ants; Conservation and management for Maculinea. Keynote speakers at the Maculinea part of the conference are: Jeremy Thomas (UK), David Nash & Jacobus Boomsma (Denmark), Konrad Fiedler (Austria), Piotr Nowicki (Poland) and Thomas Hovestadt (Germany).

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PC Underground: Unconventional Programming Topics

PC Underground: Unconventional Programming Topics
M. Rasch | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | Abacus Software | 547 | PCs
Here's a book for intermediate to advanced programmers that covers techniques normally left out of other programming books. PC Underground is not a criminal's handbook; instead it's an in-depth programmer's guide to system level programming. It covers a diverse range of unconventional programming topics and includes extensive coverage of graphics.
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When I first started reading this book, I thought it was really great, because it told me how to do things I had never heard of before. But after some time, when I got further in programming, I discovered that most of the information in it is rather useless nowadays. Also, there are (in my Dutch copy of the book) many, many spelling mistakes, and errors in the layout, too. (Tables missing, empty pages where there should have been sourcecode). Overall, this is not a bad book, it's just outdated, and alot of the information just isn't correct.
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Well its the only book I've ever seen on demo coding. It may have been valid around 4 years ago but things have changed since then. The first mistake of this book is using pascal for a majority of the source code. Pascal was used only as a shell for Assembly, and treated like a high-level assembly language. But has very little use today. The second mistake is the graphical content of the book is very weak. It doesn't explain nor supply source code for any decent effect; and nothing new to speek of, even considering when the book was released. The 3d engine is useless. The only strong point is it has lengthy descriptions to several MOD based music file formats, and a decent explanation on how to code a mod player.
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Pc Underground is a very intense programming tutor dealing with many special effects seen in "demos" or cutting edge computer games. The information is given in such a manner that your preferred programming language does not matter. This book also contains essential sound card information not published by other sources on making "module" players that support SB and GUS cards. Simply put, if you are at all interested in game programming or demos, this is a must have!

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Miracle Cure: How to Solve America's Health-Care Crisis and Why Canada Isn't the Answer

Miracle Cure: How to Solve America's Health-Care Crisis and Why Canada Isn't the Answer
Sally C. Pipes | 2004-09-01 00:00:00 | Pacific Research Institute | 219 | Personal Health
America has wealth, innovation, and access to the best of everything. So why is our health-care system so broken? Why does it cost more than ever and deliver less? How do we solve the problems of the uninsured and seniors who lack drug coverage?

And equally important, why is the Canadian system, widely touted as a sparkling example of compassion and universal access, actually a disastrous model to be avoided?

This book cuts through the fear and confusion surrounding health-care policy. It explains in clear and simple terms why the system is broken and how to fix it.
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As an American who now lives in Canada, Sally Pipes is not at all correct. There are NO waiting lists and I call my doctor and I get in that day. I LOVE the health care system here. I used to pay for my health insurance before I moved to canada and now I don't and I get the same care for free!! Plus I get all the name brand drugs if I need them. When I was living in the US, my health insurance turned me down for pre-natal vitimans, which I thought was ridiculious. I don't know where sally gets her facts from.
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Interesting that the One-Star reviews below are from people who did not read the book and do not comment on its actual contents.



If the writer has a particular viewpoint -- golly, maybe that's what motivated her to WRITE A BOOK. Duh. It would be a pretty bleak literary world if writers were not allowed to have opinions, or to write as a response to their own intellectual motivations.



Those of you who'd slam her simply becuase you can verify that her political and economic opinions vary from yours, might actually learn something from considering another viewpoint and indulging in the information that supports that viewpoint. If you read her book, and can spar with its content, fine, knock youself out.
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If you Google for Pacific Research Institute (Sally Pipes is President and CEO) and browse their offerings, you'll see strong evidence that this organization exists to promote conservative ideas and 'debunk' progressive 'myths' about women's issues, the environment, fairness, health care, globalization, drug importation, etc etc.



Here's a blurb from the "About" section of the PRI site:

_______________



The mission of the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) is to champion freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility for all individuals by advancing free-market policy solutions.



Since its founding in 1979, PRI has remained steadfast to the vision of a free and civil society where individuals can achieve their full potential.



Put simply, public policy is too important to be left just to the experts. Individuals are the real decision makers when it comes to their schools, health care, and environment.

_______________



So take Sally's book with a boulder-sized grain of salt and find other sources of info about Canada's system to supplement your education on the issue. I'm sure it's not perfect (Canadian system), but Sally Pipes has a strong idealogical bent (and conservative connections) that call into question her severe condemnation of the Canadian system.



Disclaimer: I have not read the book, but have just heard portions of her lecture at the Commonwealth Club on public radio and was alarmed enough at her horror stories about waiting lists to want to find out more about her background.



Oh, and Google Sally Pipes too! You'll turn up plenty of conservative links as well as some links that vigorously contest her characterizations of the Canadian system.



Thank goodness for Google and for Amazon comments!
Reviews
People who write books like this get invited to all the right places in this country. The reason is simple. Our system is is only possible medical system. It's not that other systems do not exist - it is that people in our system cannot even IMAGINE that other viable systems exist, must less that they function quite well. We never hear about them except in the negative. Sally Pipes would never be allowed to speak in our system unless she came with a satchel of critcisms of her own system. That was her ticket - that's how she got on stage. There's a pervasive sort of censorship going on here made all the worse because people in this country don't know how pervasive that censorhsip is. We are a free and open and intellectually closed shop.



Sally Pipes will hit the forum circuit down here and get invited to all the interview shows. This is because she criticizes the Canadian system. Were she to praise it, she might as well be sitting in an igloo.


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I love when a writer nails a problem and also recognizes the political and social difficulties we will face in trying to effect the solution. This Pipes has done well. As a young physician, I soon realized that the health of my community depended more on how I VOTED than how well I was trained. Now as a physician of 20 years, I have seen first hand how the current health care system fosters a sense of entitlement to "free" care with no accountability or responsibility on the part of the consumer(patients): here in the US not Canada! The solution is NOT more of the same government intervention and insulation of patients from their health care decisions. But try telling this to the media, academia or even politicos who are either ignorant of the facts or fearful of their constituents.

Should be required reading for all MDs in training.

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Decentralization Policies in Asian Development

Decentralization Policies in Asian Development
Shinichi Ichimura | 2008-12-29 00:00:00 | World Scientific Publishing Company | 440 | Economics
This book explores the important topic of fiscal decentralization in Asian countries, and focuses on how government finance and administration are being reformed to bring budgetary decisions closer to voters. The focus on Asia is especially important because all countries in this region have been undergoing serious fiscal reforms in the past decade. They include one of the biggest decentralization reforms in Indonesia, significant reforms in democratic Philippines and Vietnam which are in transition, and Japan, whose fiscal reconstruction program is covered extensively. India and China, which are also covered, are very special cases because of their size and because their policies must fit decentralization into a significant economic growth scenario.

Contents: Promise and Reality of Fiscal Decentralization (R Bahl); Political Decentralization in Asia: Case Studies/A Review of Decentralization:; Trinity Reform of Local Fiscal System in Japan (H Ikawa); Political Decentralization and Fiscal Reconstruction in Japan (T Ihori); China's Decentralization and Its Impact on Urbanization (X-J Zuo); Fiscal Federalism in India - Trends and Reform (M G Rao); Administrative Reform in Taiwan - An Uneasy and Unfinished Political Task (J N Shih); Decentralization in the Philippines After Ten Years - What Have We Learned? (B E Diokno); Thailand's Decentralization: Progress and Prospects (C Suwanmala & D Weist); Political and Administrative Decentralization in Vietnam (N K Hung); Managing Indonesia's Rapid Decentralization: Achievements and Challenges (W Fengler & B Hofman); The Reform of Local Public Finance:; The Reform of Japanese Local Governments (S Saito & H Yunoue); Local Public Finance in Taiwan: Reform and Trend (C-W Tseng & H-F Lee); The Revenue Performance of Malaysian Local Government (A Setapa & E Y S Lin); Local Public Finance in the Philippines - Balancing Autonomy and Accountability (R G Manasan).

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Imaging of Orbital and Visual Pathway Pathology (Medical Radiology / Diagnostic Imaging)

Imaging of Orbital and Visual Pathway Pathology (Medical Radiology / Diagnostic Imaging)
Wibke S. Müller-Forell,N. Pfeiffer,K.. Sartor,E. Boltshauser,S. Kollias,W. Lieb,E. Martin,W.S. Müller-Forell,S. Pitz,U. Schwarz,W. Wichmann | 2005-12-20 00:00:00 | Springer | 458 | Internal Medicine

This is one of the first books to deal with imaging of pathology of the entire visual system. It is divided into two parts, general and special. In the general part, the most important basics of modern imaging methods are discussed, but with less emphasis on the physical background than in purely neuro-/radiological textbooks. Chapters are devoted to the meticulous presentation of imaging anatomy of the orbit and intracranial visual pathway. The latest knowledge on the indication, technique, and results of functional MR imaging is presented. Visual system impairment in the pediatric age group is also discussed. The special part of the book provides detailed descriptions of the symptoms and clinical and imaging findings in individual patients with orbital and intracranial pathologies. This book is specifically designed to be of value not only to neuroradiologists but also to ophthalmologists, neurosurgeons, oto-/rhino-laryngologists, and neurologists who require more detailed information on these special diseases.

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Storage Networks: The Complete Reference

Storage Networks: The Complete Reference
Robert Spalding | 2003-03-04 00:00:00 | McGraw-Hill Osborne Media | 564 | Osborne-McGraw-Hill
Keep tabs on the vast array of storage network technologies, including SAN, NAS, Fibre Channel, file systems, virtualization, database storage, and snapshots. Plus, discover emerging technology standards such as iSCSI, InfiniBand, and storage provisioning. A profoundly useful resource for troubleshooting and coping with legacy issues such as interoperability and storage resource management.
Reviews
I picked this up in a remainder bookshop, and I can see why. The useful content could be summarised in two sheets of A4. It is littered with diagrams, each virtually identical to the last. The text, in explaining diagrams, refers to labels that do not exist. It appears not to have been proof-read (revised paragraphs can appear after the version they were presumably intended to replace). The first 200 pages are irrelevant, offering vague generalisations repeated ad nauseam. Then SANs are introduced and treated dismissively. Altogether the worst book on any topic that I've ever read.
Reviews
The book explains the concept of Storage Network very well.



Firstly, it tells you why the enterprise need a storage network by discussing the current storage problem. Then, it introduces how storage network can help. The explaination is both descriptive and quantitative, which is helpful when you explain to your customer how good storage is.



Next, the components of storage network are introduced. It let you understand the features of the building block of storage network.



SAN and NAS, the two different storage network, are explained in details later. This part tells several userful architecture of using SAN and NAS.





After this, Design of Storage Network is explained to the reader. It tells you how to go through the cycle of capacity planning, performance monitoring, change management and problem handling.



Appendix include several real world case that shows how people analyzed the storage problem, decision they made to use storage network. It's particularly useful for technical consultant.



Diagram of architecture and calculation of storage network performance are always available when they are needed.



Overall, it's a great book that let you understand Storage Network and how to design, implement and maintain it.
Reviews
Try wrapping your brain around this sentence:



"Unless the hardware and firmware release levels are inventoried and tracked in conjunction with the network, the NAS systems become unassociated storage servers unbound to the confines of the network in which they operate."



Or this:



"The corollary, or trade-off to this condition, is the economics of speed and capacity to price."



I'm sure the contributors worked very hard to fill up the 526 pages of this book, but oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.....

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