Search results for ""Author Irwin""

Rupert Murdoch is one of the most notorious and successful businessmen of our age. Now, for the first time, an insider within the Murdoch empire reveals the formidable method behind the man. Irwin Stelzer, an adviser to Murdoch for 35 years, reveals what makes Rupert tick - from his love of taking risks to his mistrust of the establishment - and how he grew from humble beginnings as the owner of an Adelaide newspaper, to becoming the head of a globe-spanning enterprise worth over $50 billion.

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A rollicking autobiography from the legendary producer of Goodfellas, Rocky, and Raging Bull, and an insider’s account of making movies in Hollywood over half a century The list of films Irwin Winkler has produced in his more-than-fifty-year career is extraordinary: Rocky, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, De-Lovely, The Right Stuff, Creed, and The Irishman. His films have been nominated for fifty-two Academy Awards, including five movies for Best Picture, and have won twelve. In A Life in Movies, his charming and insightful memoir, Winkler tells the stories of his career through his many films as a producer and then as a writer and director, charting the changes in Hollywood over the past decades. Winkler started in the famous William Morris mailroom and made his first film—starring Elvis—in the last days of the old studio system. Beginning in the late 1960s, and then for decades to come, he produced a string of provocative and influential films, making him one of the most critically lauded, prolific, and commercially successful producers of his era. This is an engrossing and candid book, a beguiling exploration of what it means to be a producer, including purchasing rights, developing scripts, casting actors, managing directors, editing film, and winning awards.Filled with tales of legendary and beloved films, as well as some not-so-legendary and forgotten ones, A Life in Movies takes readers behind the scenes and into the history of Hollywood.

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This book offers parents and teachers constructive methods of discipline, useful for everyday situations. It documents the long-term negative effects of spanking?how it brutalizes kids and creates violent adults. Irwin Hyman, an expert in the field of home and school discipline, explains in a passionate and compelling style why spanking or hitting children is abusive, destructive, and counterproductive. He then gives common sense advice on alternative forms of discipline, which help to raise happy and emotionally stable children.

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Covers enzyme kinetics from its most elementary aspects to such modern subjects as steady-state, multi-reactant kinetics and isotope exchange. Offers an understanding of the behavior of enzyme systems and the diagnostic tools used to characterize them and determine kinetic mechanisms. Illustrates and explains current subjects such as cumulative, concerted and cooperative feedback inhibition and metal ion activation.

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For introductory-level survey courses in American History. Using a thematic approach, this concise survey explores the many and varied threads of American history-social, intellectual, cultural, political, diplomatic, economic, and military-from the arrival of the first native American inhabitants thousand of years ago throught the historic 2008 election and the new administration of Barack Obama.

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Raymond is a talented young artist who carries his work from homeless shelter to homeless shelter in a tattered bag but has never even been inside a museum. He is emblematic of the children that the renowned pediatrician and children’s advocate Irwin Redlener has met over the course of his long and colorful career. Inadequate education, barriers to health care, and crushing poverty make it overwhelmingly difficult for many children to realize their dreams. In this memoir, Redlener draws on poignant personal experiences to investigate the nation’s healthcare safety net and special programs that are designed to protect and nurture our most vulnerable kids, but that too often fail to do so. The book follows Redlener’s winding career, from his work as a pediatrician in the Arkansas delta, to treating child abuse in a Miami hospital, to helping children in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. The reader accompanies him to the board of USA for Africa, to cofounding the Children’s Health Fund with Paul Simon, as he persuades Joan Baez to play a benefit concert for his clinic in rural Arkansas, and to dinner with Fidel Castro. But what has motivated him most powerfully are the children who struggle with terrible adversities yet dream of becoming paleontologists, artists, and marine biologists. These stories are his springboard for discussing larger policy issues that hinder us from effectively eradicating childhood poverty and overcoming barriers to accessible health care. Persistent deprivation and the avoidable problems that accompany poverty ensnare millions of children, with rippling effects that harm the health, prosperity, and creativity of the adults they become. Redlener argues that we must drastically change our approach to meeting the needs of children—for their sake and to ensure America’s resiliency and influence in an increasingly complex and challenging world.

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This is an important resource for designers, textile lovers, and African art scholars. Over 200 color photographs beautifully illustrate the mud-cloth art of the Bogolan people in Mali, Africa. Their art form, in which geometric, abstract, and semi-abstract patterns are hand painted with mud dyes on hand woven cloth, has gained enormous popularity internationally. Informative text, by noted African art historian Irwin Hersey, examines the evolving cultural role of mud-cloth art, and gives technical information about traditional methods of its production. The mud-cloth designs featured in this book come from African artists, who have depicted scenes of African village life, and exciting geometric and abstract patterns in rich earth tones. The CD included with the book contains over 200 patterns, and is compatible with most graphic, design, and editing programs.

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On October 15, 1994, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was returned to power as Haiti's leader, the first time a democratically-elected president replaced the "de facto" military leaders who deposed him. Irwin Stotzky, an adviser to Aristide, an expert on Haitian refugee litigation, and a witness to this historical process, provides an account of Aristide's reinstatement and explores the uncertain fate of democracy in Haiti today. While theory plays an important role in trying to understand and resolve the difficulties in making the transition to democracy, Stotzky argues that theory must be grounded in the real conditions of a country's society. This study offers that grounding, showing how Haiti's history of political corruption and its rigid class structure led not only to the bloody dictatorship that ruled the country from 1991 to 1994 but to its current dilemmas as well. For Haiti to escape the repetition of history, its governmental institutions must incorporate the goals of deliberative democracy to foster a moral consciousness among its people. Mixing praise and blame for the actions taken by the Haitian government and the United States, Stotzky contends that the new system can take hold only if Haitian citizens come to respect the rule of law rather than live in fear of it. An unusual blend of political, historical, and moral concerns, the book recounts Haiti's halting and uncertain quest for democracy from the perspective of someone who played a leading part in every stage of that process.

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The submerged personality is one in which the ego is replaced by an introjected parental self. Needing their parents for security, these patients give up their own perceptions of reality and accept the reality imposed by their parents. The psychotherapy necessary to effect introject dispersion is described in this book.

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As human society continues to develop, we have increased the risk of large-scale disasters. From health care to infrastructure to national security, systems designed to keep us safe have also heightened the potential for catastrophe. The constant pressure of climate change, geopolitical conflict, and our tendency to ignore what is hard to grasp exacerbates potential dangers. How can we prepare for and prevent the twenty-first-century disasters on the horizon?Rethinking Readiness offers an expert introduction to human-made threats and vulnerabilities, with a focus on opportunities to reimagine how we approach disaster preparedness. Jeff Schlegelmilch identifies and explores the most critical threats facing the world today, detailing the dangers of pandemics, climate change, infrastructure collapse, cyberattacks, and nuclear conflict. Drawing on the latest research from leading experts, he provides an accessible overview of the causes and potential effects of these looming megadisasters. The book highlights the potential for building resilient, adaptable, and sustainable systems so that we can be better prepared to respond to and recover from future crises. Thoroughly grounded in scientific and policy expertise, Rethinking Readiness is an essential guide to this century’s biggest challenges in disaster management.

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The description for this book, Riemann Surfaces Related Topics (AM-97): Proceedings of the 1978 Stony Brook Conference. (AM-97), will be forthcoming.

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Program administrators and planners face increasing pressure from funding sources, professional groups, and recipients of service to provide and to make use of systematic data. Until recently, administrators could rely on research consultants to assist them in performing these research tasks, but with increased costs and reduced funds, many administrators and planners have had to utilize research concepts and techniques themselves in developing, maintaining, and modifying social programs. "Research Techniques for Program Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation" is designed to provide research skills that will assist administrators directly in making program decisions. The book offers administrators of health, education, and social welfare programs, as well as students of social work and public administration, a wide range of research techniques for increasing the quality and effectiveness of administrative practice, lessening at the same time their dependence on costly research consultation. "Research Techniques" contains three major sections: program planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Each section begins with a description of the administrative function to which it is devoted, followed by a set of selected research techniques, each illustrated with a hypothetical case and an exercise for the reader in applying the technique to an existing social program or agency. Planning for a new agency program requires valid and reliable information about the needs of the target population, the existing programs to meet these needs, effective intervention stratifies, and the skills of the members of the agency staff. Professors Epstein and Tripodi suggest valuable guidelines for collecting these data. In addition, they outline the specific decisions that must be made so that realistic objectives can be set for relating client demand to the available supply of services. Among the research techniques for the program planning which they explore are questionnaires, interviews, research literature already available, and observational techniques. Monitoring measures the actual program performance against its planning objectives, enabling administrators to modify a program operation or report its success to sponsors. With program monitoring, an administrator can decide whether to reallocate staff, to ask for an increase in budget, or to realign policies in compliance with legal requirements. Separate chapters are devoted to sampling techniques for asserting staff performance as well as to the principles of data analysis. Program evaluation takes effectiveness and efficiency into account in assembling the achievement of program goals. Emphasizing administrative self-evaluation, "Research Techniques" explains the interrupted time series design, the replicated cross-sectional survey design, comparative designs, and the crossover design in terms the nonstatistician will find easy to understand. "Research Techniques for Program Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation" is an indispensable guide, offering administrators and planners sound professional advice on more responsible administrative decision making.

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As human society continues to develop, we have increased the risk of large-scale disasters. From health care to infrastructure to national security, systems designed to keep us safe have also heightened the potential for catastrophe. The constant pressure of climate change, geopolitical conflict, and our tendency to ignore what is hard to grasp exacerbates potential dangers. How can we prepare for and prevent the twenty-first-century disasters on the horizon?Rethinking Readiness offers an expert introduction to human-made threats and vulnerabilities, with a focus on opportunities to reimagine how we approach disaster preparedness. Jeff Schlegelmilch identifies and explores the most critical threats facing the world today, detailing the dangers of pandemics, climate change, infrastructure collapse, cyberattacks, and nuclear conflict. Drawing on the latest research from leading experts, he provides an accessible overview of the causes and potential effects of these looming megadisasters. The book highlights the potential for building resilient, adaptable, and sustainable systems so that we can be better prepared to respond to and recover from future crises. Thoroughly grounded in scientific and policy expertise, Rethinking Readiness is an essential guide to this century’s biggest challenges in disaster management.

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America's favorite flora are the homey ray flowers, a tribe featuring daisies, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, dahlias, coneflowers, and black-eyed Susans, combined with the elegant, multifaceted rose. Children pick ray flowers for their prepubescent crush or for their mom; when they get older, they graduate to the rose, a more sophisticated choice. Both high culture and pop culture embrace floral imagery; think of Annie Liebovitz's famous nude photograph of Bette Midler blanketed in long-stemmed American Beauties on the cover of Rolling Stone, or zombies featured in a Wars of the Roses comic book. Thousands of postcards and greeting cards are covered in a sea of roses and ray flowers. Meet Daisy Mae, see Daisy the dog, and view the presidential Rose Garden, as well as influential American and European works of art. These images are combined with the history and romance of our favorite flowers. A nonallergenic floral extravaganza!

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Heritage, or traditional, gardens and heirloom seeds are joined at the hip, but previous books have separated them. This is the first holistic look at several of the most vibrant trends in contemporary horticulture, both in vegetables and flowers. Lavishly illustrated, it is a how-to manual, a history, and a guide to gardens and historic landscapes. The basics of heritage garden design from California to the East Coast are here, with special attention to the Pennsylvania four-square garden. Plans and suggestions for your garden are included, and seed-saving techniques are clearly enumerated. A gallery of heirloom plants and lists of suppliers are featured. There are travel suggestions for visiting gardens ranging from Bethabara Park in North Carolina, to The Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum in Pennsylvania, to the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia. This book is sure to delight historians, traditionalists, green thumbs, and horticulturists alike.

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Raymond is a talented young artist who carries his work from homeless shelter to homeless shelter in a tattered bag but has never even been inside a museum. He is emblematic of the children that the renowned pediatrician and children's advocate Irwin Redlener has met over the course of his long and colorful career. Inadequate education, barriers to health care, and crushing poverty make it overwhelmingly difficult for many children to realize their dreams. In this memoir, Redlener draws on poignant personal experiences to investigate the failures of our educational and health systems-and how we must drastically change our approach to the needs of children if the next generation of Americans is to fulfill its potential. Redlener's winding career-from his work as a pediatrician in the Arkansas delta, to treating child abuse in a Miami hospital, to helping children in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, to cofounding the Children's Health Fund with the musician Paul Simon-is his springboard for discussing larger policy issues that hinder us from effectively eradicating childhood poverty or overcoming barriers to accessible health care. As a young doctor, Redlener encountered firsthand the surprising trials of extreme poverty and the resilient kids and parents who struggle to overcome it. In the back of his mobile health clinic, Redlener meets children who are largely invisible to the system-homeless, in extended foster care, or rarely able to see a doctor-yet who nonetheless dream of becoming paleontologists, artists, and marine biologists. The problems these children face go far beyond barriers to health care. Persistent deprivation and the avoidable problems that accompany poverty ensnare millions of children, with rippling effects that harm the health, prosperity, and creativity of the adults they become. Redlener's recommendations for policy makers and concerned citizens show a way forward if we can come together to advocate for children.

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In addition to the presentation speeches and the Nobel lectures, this volume also includes an introduction to each lecture, endnotes of explanation and selected bibliographies. The introduction takes note of any relevant developments since the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded as well as any new biographical information. The Nobel Peace prizewinners during the period 2001-2005 include men, women and organizations whose principles, dedication and diligence continue to shape history. Below is a list of the prizewinners during the period 2001-2005. (2001) United Nations & Kofi Annan - for their work for a better organized and more peaceful World; (2002) Jimmy Carter - for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development; (2003) Shirin Ebadi - for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children; (2004) Wangari Maathai, - for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace; and, (2005) International Atomic Energy Agency & Mohamed Elbaradei - for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.

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Chart a Course to Excellence Sponsored by The American College of Physician Executives "A much-needed, practical guide to giving and receiving feedback . . . a guide that is essential to the successful conduct of one of humanity's most important activities productive conversation."--Edgar H. Schein, Sloan Fellows professor of management emeritus, MIT Sloan School of Management Managing relationships, building trust, and communicating effectively are all essential skills to improving performance and ensuring the quality of patient care. This timely book offers the tools and techniques necessary to face the challenges of being a leader and resolving conflicts to produce win-win outcomes. Irwin M. Rubin and Thomas Campbell show how to eliminate the pitfalls of traditional feedback approaches and enhance the win-win quality of all communication. With vignettes, a case study, and pithy cartoons, the authors detail two dynamic tools to help chart a course to excellence in giving and receiving championship-level feedback. Their integrated four-phase feedback model and practical behavioral tools provide the ingredients essential to plan for and learn from our daily experiences.

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This book is an academic publication about the global development of massive open online courses (MOOCs) and major MOOC platforms worldwide in the past decade, as well as the outlook of MOOCs in the future, with an emphasis on Greater China. The book also discusses the upsurge of the demand for online learning and MOOCs during the COVID-19 pandemic.The book is divided into three main parts - Part I: Overview of MOOCs introduces the origin and history of MOOCs and the development of MOOC platforms in Greater China and the global context; Part II: Key Issues discuss the MOOC policies, innovative pedagogy, technology, and ecosystems worldwide; and Part III: Beyond MOOCs probes into the roles and benefits of MOOCs in times of crises, as well as the outlook of MOOCs in the future. In terms of topic diversity, the book contains a comprehensive investigation of the past and latest MOOC developments, extracting and elaborating on relevant information regarding platforms, policies, pedagogy, technology, and ecosystems. Subsequently, in-depth analyses of MOOC data are utilized to deduce the current trends related to the MOOC movement and to extrapolate the likeliest direction of development for MOOCs in the years to come. The book can inform policymakers, education institutions, course instructors, platform developers, investors, researchers, and individual learners of MOOCs about critical information on the present and future of MOOC development, assisting them in making crucial decisions on what initiatives can optimize their advantages in the sector.

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A solutions manual to accompany Statistics and Probability with Applications for Engineers and Scientists Unique among books of this kind, Statistics and Probability with Applications for Engineers and Scientists covers descriptive statistics first, then goes on to discuss the fundamentals of probability theory. Along with case studies, examples, and real-world data sets, the book incorporates clear instructions on how to use the statistical packages Minitab® and Microsoft® Office Excel® to analyze various data sets. The book also features: Detailed discussions on sampling distributions, statistical estimation of population parameters, hypothesis testing, reliability theory, statistical quality control including Phase I and Phase II control charts, and process capability indices A clear presentation of nonparametric methods and simple and multiple linear regression methods, as well as a brief discussion on logistic regression method Comprehensive guidance on the design of experiments, including randomized block designs, one- and two-way layout designs, Latin square designs, random effects and mixed effects models, factorial and fractional factorial designs, and response surface methodology A companion website containing data sets for Minitab and Microsoft Office Excel, as well as JMP ® routines and results Assuming no background in probability and statistics, Statistics and Probability with Applications for Engineers and Scientists features a unique, yet tried-and-true, approach that is ideal for all undergraduate students as well as statistical practitioners who analyze and illustrate real-world data in engineering and the natural sciences.

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These 580+ juicy images capture the fact that throughout history, artists and artisans have depicted vegetables in remarkable ways. Still lifes, photographs, amusing antique postcards, seed packet art—all sorts of vegetable illustrations have been created to arouse physical and aesthetic appetites, and they are displayed here together with interesting botanical and historical insights. This wealth of vegetable art includes paintings by American artists like Lily Martin Spencer, Ernest Lawson, and Charles Demuth; engravings and lithographs by major printmaking companies like Louis Prang and Company; botanical illustrations; and commercial images drawn from vintage catalogs and seed packets. Vegetables are represented in colorful glory, from the hundreds we appreciate daily—like tomatoes, potatoes, peas, and carrots—to less-familiar vegetables like sea kale, cardoon, and walking onions.

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Pelvic pain can lead to embarrassment, silence, and misdiagnosis. It can hurt your relationship as well as your sense of self. Tackling the stereotypes, myths, and realities of pelvic pain, this easy-to-understand, accessible guide will help readers get the help they need and deserve, offering key information on:- The most urgent questions about the causes of pelvic pain- The more than twenty causes of pelvic pain- How to find the right doctor- The relationship between pelvic sex and genetics- The newest in treatment for pelvic pain and pelvic pain indications- How psychological factors can contribute to and reduce pelvic painFeaturing groundbreaking research and stories from people who've lived it, When Sex Hurts provides the tools you need to stop hurting and start healing.

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Providing new insights into the role of librarianship in an age of socioeconomic, environmental, and political transformation, Global Librarianship illustrates how globally networked environments promote and increase the sharing and dissemination of ideas, information, and solutions to obstacles affecting libraries. This reference showcases methods to tailor and build collections and technologies that continually support worldwide scholarly and business communities through the utilization of digital tools and electronic media. It Illustrates breakthroughs in the organization, management, and dissemination of information to facilitate easy access to libraries anywhere in the world.

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From the inner-city to the suburbs, thousands of school childrenare being systematically subjected to mandatory classroom policieswhich inflict both physical and emotional harm. Hundreds of schoolofficials from across the country have been found guilty of sexualharassment, the illegal use of undercover agents, strip searches,corporal punishment, verbal abuse, punitive isolation, and otherforms of institutional abuse. In Dangerous Schools, Professor IrwinHyman and Pamela Snook, passionate advocates against theinstitutional maltreatment of children, reveal exactly what isgoing on in our nation's schools and what we must do aboutit. "This book makes a strong argument against school abuses and offersclear and proven strategies for change. It will appeal to parentswho suspect that their children have been maltreated by educatorsand for advocates who desire a blueprint for socialchange."---James Garbarino, codirector, Family Life DevelopmentCenter, Cornell University; author, What Children Can Tell Us

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This volume has long been an invaluable resource for students and practitioners of social work. It thoroughly and clearly presents research concepts and skills, uniquely organizing them according to assessment and treatment formulation, treatment implementation and monitoring, and evaluation. Also, numerous practice cases and detailed exercises offer a complete grasp of crucial concepts and techniques. This new edition reflects contemporary developments in practice research, such as an emphasis on empirical or evidence-based practice; the importance of evaluation within the managed-care environment; the role of social work ethics in practice research; the value of qualitative research methodology for particular aspects of monitoring and evaluation; and the role of computer technology and the use of the Internet.

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Psychological Science Under Scrutiny explores a range of contemporary challenges to the assumptions and methodologies of psychology, in order to encourage debate and ground the discipline in solid science. Discusses the pointed challenges posed by critics to the field of psychological research, which have given pause to psychological researchers across a broad spectrum of sub-fields Argues that those conducting psychological research need to fundamentally change the way they think about data and results, in order to ensure that psychology has a firm basis in empirical science Places the recent challenges discussed into a broad historical and conceptual perspective, and considers their implications for the future of psychological methodology and research Challenges discussed include confirmation bias, the effects of grant pressure, false-positive findings, overestimating the efficacy of medications, and high correlations in functional brain imaging Chapters are authored by internationally recognized experts in their fields, and are written with a minimum of specialized terminology to ensure accessibility to students and lay readers

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"Elegant and iconoclastic ...refreshing ...persuasive."-NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Here is the first biography to offer a complete picture of the life of George C. Marshall, chief of staff of the U.S. Army from 1939 to 1945 and the military leader who actually ran World War II for America as he oversaw all personnel and logistics. Following Marshall from his childhood in western Pennsylvania and his training at the Virginia Military Institute to his role during and after World War II and his death in 1959 at the age of seventy-eight, this biography casts light on the inspiration he took from historical role models, such as George Washington and Robert E. Lee, and his relationships with military brass, the Washington political establishment, and world leaders, from Harry Truman to Chiang Kai-shek. It also explores Marshall's triumphs and defeats during World War II, and his contributions through two critical years of the emerging Cold War-including the transformative Marshall Plan, which saved Western Europe from Soviet domination, and his failed attempt to unite China's Nationalists and Communists. Based on exhaustive research and filled with rich detail, George Marshall is sure to be hailed as the definitive work on one of the most influential figures in American history. "A grand but judicious biography of a fascinating man."-Evan Thomas, author of Ike's Bluff

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The co-founder of EVA shows how to apply it in today's new economy EVA-economic valued added-is a measure of the true financial performance of a company, and a strategy for creating corporate and shareholder wealth. It is also a method of changing corporate priorities and behavior throughout a company, right down to the "shop floor." In The EVA Challenge, the authors outline how to implement EVA-from training employees to answering the most frequently encountered implementation problems faced by companies. This detailed "how-to" guide represents the second phase in the "EVA Revolution", showing executives around the world how to customize and implement EVA at their companies. Here, EVA converts learn how to work some "EVA magic" through company-specific initiatives and case study examples. Coverage includes completely new materials on "real options", leveraged stock options, and other concepts critical to corporations in both new and old economy industry sectors.

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Created in response to requests from longtime users, this addition to the acclaimed book, Lichens of North America, compiles updated and expanded keys for the identification of these fascinating organisms. An ideal laboratory resource, this large spiral-bound volume covers over 2,000 species of lichens indigenous to the continent. There is no comparable volume available for classroom, workshop, or private use. The revised keys are an indispensable identification tool for botanists, students, scientists, and enthusiasts alike.

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The first truly up-to-date look at the theory and capabilities of nonlinear dynamical systems that take the form of feedforward neural network structures Considered one of the most important types of structures in the study of neural networks and neural-like networks, feedforward networks incorporating dynamical elements have important properties and are of use in many applications. Specializing in experiential knowledge, a neural network stores and expands its knowledge base via strikingly human routes-through a learning process and information storage involving interconnection strengths known as synaptic weights. In Nonlinear Dynamical Systems: Feedforward Neural Network Perspectives, six leading authorities describe recent contributions to the development of an analytical basis for the understanding and use of nonlinear dynamical systems of the feedforward type, especially in the areas of control, signal processing, and time series analysis. Moving from an introductory discussion of the different aspects of feedforward neural networks, the book then addresses: * Classification problems and the related problem of approximating dynamic nonlinear input-output maps * The development of robust controllers and filters * The capability of neural networks to approximate functions and dynamic systems with respect to risk-sensitive error * Segmenting a time series It then sheds light on the application of feedforward neural networks to speech processing, summarizing speech-related techniques, and reviewing feedforward neural networks from the viewpoint of fundamental design issues. An up-to-date and authoritative look at the ever-widening technical boundaries and influence of neural networks in dynamical systems, this volume is an indispensable resource for researchers in neural networks and a reference staple for libraries.

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A comprehensive reference for the diagnosis and treatment of female sexual pain disorders Female Sexual Pain Disorders: Evaluation and Management, 2nd Edition compiles the most cutting-edge and modern research on sexual pain disorders in women into a single reference. It is the first book of its kind devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of sexual pain in women and is now fully updated in a second edition. The book includes diagnostic tools to differentiate among different forms of dyspareunia, discussions of potential causes of sexual pain, and current knowledge in multi-disciplinary treatments for dyspareunia. Focused on providing practical guidance to the working practitioner, this book includes information to: Help evaluate and distinguish the causes of sexual pain in women Assist in the differentiation of the many forms of sexual pain Implement multi-disciplinary treatments Female Sexual Pain Disorders is perfect for any healthcare worker who is involved in treating women's sexual health, including gynecologists, urologists, internists, family practitioners, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, midwives, psychologists, and sex therapists.

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Lichens are a unique form of plant life, the product of a symbiotic association between an alga and a fungus. The beauty and importance of lichens have long been overlooked, despite their abundance and diversity in most parts of North America and elsewhere in the world. This stunning book—the first accessible and authoritative guidebook to lichens of the North American continent—fills the gap, presenting superb color photographs, descriptions, distribution maps, and keys for identifying the most common, conspicuous, or ecologically significant species. The book focuses on 805 foliose, fruticose, and crustose lichens (the latter rarely included in popular guidebooks) and presents information on another 700 species in the keys or notes; special attention is given to species endemic to North America. A comprehensive introduction discusses the biology, structure, uses, and ecological significance of lichens and is illustrated with 90 additional color photos and many line drawings. English names are provided for most species, and the book also includes a glossary that explains technical terms. This visually rich and informative book will open the eyes of nature lovers everywhere to the fascinating world of lichens.Published in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Nature

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Although the study of politics dates to ancient Greece, the basic questions that interested those earliest political scientists still linger with us today: What are the origins of government? What should government do? What conditions foster effective governance? Rational choice theory offers a new means for developing correctable answers to these questions. This volume illustrates the promise of rational choice theory and demonstrates how theory can help us develop interesting, fresh conclusions about the fundamental processes of politics. Each of the book’s three sections begins with a pedagogical overview that is accessible to those with little knowledge of rational choice theory. The first group of essays then discusses various ways in which rational choice contributes to our understanding of the foundations of government. The second set focuses on the contributions of rational choice theory to institutional analysis. The final group demonstrates ways in which rational choice theory helps to understand the character of popular government.

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