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Thứ Hai, 11 tháng 5, 2015

Exploring Engineering

Exploring Engineering



Nearly all 4-year college engineering programs, and even some 2-year engineering technology programs, have some form of introduction to engineering requirement for incoming freshman. Moreover,many incoming freshman engineers do not yet have an engineering major in mind. Yet at the same time, U.S. engineering schools are emphasizing engineering as a complex, interdisciplinary body of knowledge. Engineers when put into real jobs will have to at some point draw upon that diverse knowledge.




Thứ Hai, 6 tháng 4, 2015

The Implosion of Contemporary Capitalism

The Implosion of Contemporary Capitalism



Renowned political economist Samir Amin, engaged in a unique lifelong effort both to narrate and affect the human condition on a global scale, brings his analysis up to the present-the world of 2013. The key events of our times-financial crisis, the emerging nations, globalization, financialization, political Islam, Euro-zone implosion-are related in a coherent, historically based, account. Changes in contemporary capitalism require an updating of definitions and analysis of social classes, class struggles, political parties, social movements and the ideological forms in which they express their modes of action in the transformation of societies. Amin meets this challenge and lays bare the reality of monopoly capitalism in its general, global form. Ultimately, Amin demonstrates that this system is not viable and that the implosion in progress is unavoidable. Whether humanity will rise to the challenge of building a more humane global order free of the contradictions of capital, however, is yet to be seen.




Thứ Năm, 12 tháng 3, 2015

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal Energy



The internal heat of the planet Earth represents an inexhaustible reservoir of thermal energy. This form of energy, known as geothermal energy has been utilized throughout human history in the form of hot water from hot springs. Modern utilization of geothermal energy includes direct use of the heat and its conversion to other forms of energy, mainly electricity. Geothermal energy is a form of renewable energy and its use is associated with very little or no CO2-emissions and its importance as an energy source has greatly increased as the effects of climate change become more prominent. Because of its inexhaustibility it is obvious that utilization of geothermal energy will become a cornerstone of future energy supplies. The exploration of geothermal resources has become an important topic of study as geology and earth science students prepare to meet the demands of a rapidly growing industry, which involves an increasing number professionals and public institutions participating in geothermal energy related projects. This book meets the demands of both groups of readers, students and professionals. Geothermal Energy and its utilization is systematically presented and contains the necessary technical information needed for developing and understanding geothermal energy projects. It presents basic knowledge on the Earths thermal regime and its geothermal energy resources, the types of geothermal energy used as well as its future potential and the perspectives of the industry. Specific chapters of the book deal with borehole heat exchangers and with the direct use of groundwater and thermal water in hydrogeothermal systems. A central topic are Enhanced Geothermal Systems (hot-dry-rock systems), a key technology for energy supply in the near future. Pre-drilling site investigations, drilling technology, well logging and hydraulic test programs are important subjects related to the exploration phase of developing Geothermal Energy sites. The chemical composition of the natural waters used as a heat transport medium in geothermal systems can be used as an exploration tool, but chemistry is also important during operation of a geothermal power plant because of potential scale formation and corrosion of pipes and installations, which needs to be prevented. Graduate students and professionals will find in depth information on Geothermal Energy, its exploration and utilization.




Dataset Shift in Machine Learning

Dataset Shift in Machine Learning



Dataset shift is a common problem in predictive modeling that occurs when the joint distribution of inputs and outputs differs between training and test stages. Covariate shift, a particular case of dataset shift, occurs when only the input distribution changes. Dataset shift is present in most practical applications, for reasons ranging from the bias introduced by experimental design to the irreproducibility of the testing conditions at training time. (An example is -email spam filtering, which may fail to recognize spam that differs in form from the spam the automatic filter has been built on.) Despite this, and despite the attention given to the apparently similar problems of semi-supervised learning and active learning, dataset shift has received relatively little attention in the machine learning community until recently. This volume offers an overview of current efforts to deal with dataset and covariate shift.




Chủ Nhật, 1 tháng 3, 2015

Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare

Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare



Through history armies of occupation and civil power have been repeatedly faced with the challenges of insurgency. US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan has highlighted this form of conflict in the modern world. Armies, sometimes reluctantly, have had to adopt new doctrines and tactics to deal with the problems of insurgency and diverse counterinsurgency strategies have been developed. These have ranged from conventional military operations to a combination of military and political strategy including propaganda, Psy-Ops, and other approaches.




Evolutionary Games in Complex Topologies

Evolutionary Games in Complex Topologies



There are many examples of cooperation in Nature: cells cooperate to form tissues, organs cooperate to form living organisms, and individuals cooperate to raise their offspring or to hunt. However, why cooperation emerges and survives in hostile environments, when defecting would be a much more profitable short-term strategy, is a question that still remains open. During the past few years, several explanations have been proposed, including kin and group selection, punishment and reputation mechanisms, or network reciprocity. This last one will be the center of the present study. The thesis explores the interface between the underlying structure of a given population and the outcome of the cooperative dynamics taking place on top of it, (namely, the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game). The first part of this work analyzes the case of a static system, where the pattern of connections is fixed, so it does not evolve over time. The second part develops two models for growing topologies, where the growth and the dynamics are entangled.




Heuristic Strategies in the Speeches of Cicero

Heuristic Strategies in the Speeches of Cicero



This book introduces a new form of argumentative analysis: rhetorical heuremes. The method applies the concepts of heuristic thinking, probability, and contingency in order to develop a better understanding of complex arguments in classical oratory. A new theory is required because Greek and Roman rhetoric cannot provide detailed answers to problems of strategic argumentation in the analysis of speeches. Building on scholarship in Ciceronian oratory, this book moves beyond the extant terminology and employs a concept of heuristic reasoning derived from the psychology of decision making and mathematical problem solving. The author analyses selected passages from Ciceros forensic speeches where arguments of probability are deployed, and shows that the Sophistic concept of probability can link ancient rhetoric and modern theories of argumentation. Six groups of heuremes are identified, each of which represents a form of probabilistic reasoning by which the orator plays upon the perception of the jurors.




Thứ Bảy, 21 tháng 2, 2015

Mesoscale-Convective Processes in the Atmosphere

Mesoscale-Convective Processes in the Atmosphere



‘This is the first modern textbook devoted solely to mesoscale-convective processes in the atmosphere. Such processes are realized in the form of thunderstorms and associated phenomena. Thunderstorms are dynamic and fast evolving, and can have high societal impact. For this reason it is becoming increasingly important that current and future generations of atmospheric scientists have a deep understanding of the dynamics, observations, and prediction of these phenomena. The book presents in-depth descriptions of the formation, dynamics, and qualitative characteristics of convective phenomena such as supercell thunderstorms and mesoscale convective systems. Although the descriptions pertain largely to the extratropical atmosphere, examples of related tropical phenomena are given for comparison and contrast. To provide a further holistic perspective, separate chapters are also included on mesoscale observations and data analysis, numerical modelling, and the theoretical predictability and actual numerical prediction of mesoscale weather. An additional chapter on interactions and feedbacks addresses ways in which convective storms affect and are affected by external processes, particularly on the synoptic and planetary scale. This textbook provides advanced students, researchers and weather professionals with a modern, accessible treatment of the convective processes that lie within the range of the atmospheric mesoscale’




Chủ Nhật, 15 tháng 2, 2015

How to Win Campaigns

How to Win Campaigns



* The essential one-stop, how-to guide for PR and communication specialists * For business and non-profit sectors * Start, conduct and win campaigns on any issue in any context * Written by campaign master Chris Rose, and distilled from his twenty years of experience directing and running campaigns for Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF International and other major organizations * Presents 100 key actionable steps to campaigning and shows what works and what doesn’t work Written for the new campaigner and the experienced communicator alike, this is a comprehensive and systematic exploration of what works in campaigning, and a practical how-to guide for using principles and strategy in campaigning as a new form of public politics. Applicable to any issue, the book’s 100 key steps and tools provide models of motivation, analysis, and communication structure. Content includes: how to begin a campaign; motivating people; research and development, including issue mapping; planning using the campaign planning star; organizing communications including visual language; constructing campaign propositions; insight into news media; how to keep a campaign going; how to use old and new media and what to do and what not to do. The final chapter reviews the bigger picture, including why campaigns need brands, and examines how campaigns became a form of politics and provides new research material on how issues mature and become ‘norms’, and the consequent problems for campaigning.




Thứ Bảy, 14 tháng 2, 2015

North-East India

North-East India



North-East India, comprising the seven contiguous states around Assam, the principal state of the region, is a relatively unknown, yet very fascinating region. The forest clad peripheral mountains, home to indigenous peoples like the Nagas, Mizos and the Khasis, the densely populated Brahmaputra valley with its lush green tea gardens and the golden rice fields, the moderately populated hill regions and plateaus, and the sparsely inhabited Himalayas, form a unique mosaic of natural and cultural landscapes and human interactions, with unparalleled diversity.




Thứ Năm, 12 tháng 2, 2015

In the Beginning

In the Beginning



‘Applying extensive original sources and social movement theory, Lienesch begins with fundamentalism, describing how early twentieth-century fundamentalists worked to form a collective identity, to develop their own institutions, and to turn evolution from an idea into an issue. He traces the emerging antievolution movement through the 1920s, examining debates over Darwinism that took place on college campuses and in state legislatures throughout the country. With fresh insights and analysis, Lienesch retells the story of the 1925 Scopes monkey trial and reinterprets its meaning. In tracking the movement from that time to today, he explores the rise of creation science in the 1960s, the alliance with the New Christian Right in the 1980s, and the development of the theory of intelligent design in our own time. He concludes by speculating on its place in the politics of the twenty-first century.




Thứ Ba, 10 tháng 2, 2015

You Remind Me of Me

You Remind Me of Me



With his critically acclaimed Among the Missing and Fitting Ends, award-winning author Dan Chaon proved himself a master of the short story form. He is a writer, observes the Chicago Tribune, who can convincingly squeeze whole lives into a mere twenty pages or so. Now Chaon marshals his notable talents in his much-anticipated debut novel.




Chủ Nhật, 8 tháng 2, 2015

The Language Question in Europe and Diverse Societies

The Language Question in Europe and Diverse Societies



Recent developments in the European integration process have raised, amongst many things, the issue of linguistic diversity. This is regarded by some as a stumbling block to the creation and sustainability of a European democratic polity and to the fair working of its legal and social institutions. The ‘question of language,’ in this sense, concerns the nature and role of public communication and public discourse, both as sources of information and understanding, and as modes of legitimacy in law and politics. Its solution involves an understanding of the role played by natural languages as the main forms of social communication, and the consequent design of policies and institutional mechanisms, which may facilitate inter-linguistic and intercultural communication. Put in this way, this is not an exclusively European problem. Nor is it an entirely new problem, for it also presents itself in the form of the relationship between linguistic majorities and minorities.




Systemic Functional Grammar in Natural Language Generation

Systemic Functional Grammar in Natural Language Generation



This volume deals with the computational application of systemic functional grammar (SFG) for natural language generation. In particular, it describes the implementation of a fragment of the grammar of German in the computational framework of KOMET-PENMAN for multilingual generation. The text also presents a specification of explicit well-formedness constraints on syntagmatic structure which are defined in the form of typed feature structures. It thus achieves a model of systemic functional grammar that unites both the strengths of systemics, such as stratification, functional diversification.




Women and Mass Consumer Society in Postwar France

Women and Mass Consumer Society in Postwar France



Women and Mass Consumer Society in Postwar France examines the emergence of a citizen consumer role for women during postwar modernization and reconstruction in France, integrating the history of economic modernization with that of women and the family. This role both celebrated the power of the woman consumer and created a gendered form of citizenship that did not disrupt the sexual hierarchy of home, polity, and marketplace. Redefining needs and renegotiating concepts of taste, value, and thrift, women and their families drove mass consumer society through their demands and purchases at the same time that their very need to consume came to define them.




Thứ Sáu, 6 tháng 2, 2015

Generic and Indexed Programming

Generic and Indexed Programming



Generic programming is about making programs more widely applicable via exotic kinds of parametrization—not just along the dimensions of values or of types, but also of things such as the shape of data, algebraic structures, strategies, computational paradigms, and so on. Indexed programming is a lightweight form of dependently typed programming, constraining flexibility by allowing one to state and check relationships between parameters: that the shapes of two arguments agree, that an encoded value matches some type, that values transmitted along a channel conform to the stated protocol, and so on. The two forces of genericity and indexing balance each other nicely, simultaneously promoting and controlling generality. The 5 lectures included in this book stem from the Spring School on Generic and Indexed Programming, held in Oxford, UK, in March 2010 as a closing activity of the generic and indexed programming project at Oxford which took place in the years 2006-2010.




Thứ Năm, 5 tháng 2, 2015

Structural Bodywork

Structural Bodywork



Providing an advanced introduction to the field of structural bodywork, this valuable resource combines coverage of both skills and theory into one comprehensive guide to this specialized form of bodywork practice. Featuring numerous illustrations with photographs and drawings, it provides extensive information on the theory of structural bodywork related to human anatomy and clinical presentations. Focusing on issues related to dysfunctions of structure, posture, and gait, this reader-friendly text also discusses the background of structural bodywork, how it has developed, and how it is understood today.




Thứ Tư, 28 tháng 1, 2015

Solution Thermodynamics and its Application to Aqueous Solutions

Solution Thermodynamics and its Application to Aqueous Solutions



As the title suggests, we introduce a novel differential approach to solution thermodynamics and use it for the study of aqueous solutions. We evaluate the quantities of higher order derivative than the normal thermodynamic functions. We allow these higher derivative data speak for themselves without resorting to any model system. We thus elucidate the molecular processes in solution, (referred to in this book mixing scheme ), to the depth equal to, if not deeper, than that gained by spectroscopic and other methods. We show that there are three composition regions in aqueous solutions of non-electrolytes, each of which has a qualitatively distinct mixing scheme. The boundary between the adjacent regions is associated with an anomaly in the third derivatives of G. The loci of the anomalies in the temperature-composition field form the line sometimes referred as Koga line . We then take advantage of the anomaly of a third derivative quantity of 1-propanol in the ternary aqueous solution, 1-propanol sample species H2O. We use its induced change as a probe of the effect of a sample species on H2O. In this way, we clarified what a hydrophobe, or a hydrophile, and in turn, an amphiphile, does to H2O. We also apply the same methodology to ions that have been ranked by the Hofmeister series. We show that the kosmotropes (salting out, or stabilizing agents) are either hydrophobes or hydration centres, and that chaotropes (salting in, or destablizing agents) are hydrophiles.




Chủ Nhật, 25 tháng 1, 2015

Bone Idle

Bone Idle



Revd Francis Oughterard is in the grip of a blackmailer and under orders to steal a valuable figurine. Relief at success is short-lived when the theft backfires, and further skulduggery ensues. The Reverend’s efforts to distance himself from yet another murder lead to embarrassing complications for him and his pompous bishop, Horace Clinker. When things come to a head in the form of crazily menacing Victor Crumpemeyer, it is once again up to the Reverend’s world-weary cat, Maurice, and intrepid mongrel, Bouncer, to save his bacon.




Thứ Hai, 19 tháng 1, 2015

Planning and Decision Making for Aerial Robots

Planning and Decision Making for Aerial Robots



This book provides an introduction to the emerging field of planning and decision making for aerial robots. An aerial robot is the ultimate form of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, an aircraft endowed with built-in intelligence, requiring no direct human control and able to perform a specific task. It must be able to fly within a partially structured environment, to react and adapt to changing environmental conditions and to accommodate for the uncertainty that exists in the physical world. An aerial robot can be termed as a physical agent that exists and flies in the real 3D world, can sense its environment and act on it to achieve specific goals. So throughout this book, an aerial robot will also be termed as an agent.