This book brings together the state-of-the-art in energy and resources research. It covers wind, solar, hydro and geothermal energy, as well as more conventional power generation technologies, such as internal combustion engines. Related areas of research such as the environmental sciences, carbon dioxide emissions, and energy storage are also addressed.

How the ubiquitous human tendency to polarize--either or, nature nurture, body mind, yin yang--can be explained in terms of coordination dynamics, a new conception of brain function, and how such polar opposites can be reconciled.

This book brings together the state-of-the-art in energy and resources research. It covers wind, solar, hydro and geothermal energy, as well as more conventional power generation technologies, such as internal combustion engines. Related areas of research such as the environmental sciences, carbon dioxide emissions, and energy storage are also addressed.

Times have changed. No where is that more evident than in U.S. agriculture. Increasing global integration, expanding world agricultural markets, and broadening environmental priorities both at home and abroad are defining new policy challenges for the United States. This report provides information that can help align agricultural legislation with emerging needs and trends. Current policies do not ameliorate conflicts between agriculture production and environmental quality, between trade and the environment, and between agriculture and competitive trade.

The concept of platforms emerges in an increasing number of industries and affects customers' changing expectations, industries themselves, and new technologies' availability. Today, most platforms act as a technical foundation and distribution channel for complementary software products. Organizations can join platforms and use them to develop and distribute software products. They become complementors on the platforms. Platforms influence the motivations as well as the organization and affects software products of the complementors. Among other things, when using platforms, complementors must accept the platforms' specifications (for example, the technologies to be used). These requirements lead to additional work for complementors. The effort for complementors increases if software products are to be offered in parallel on multiple platforms. This publication examines how platforms affect organizations that use multiple platforms. It gives organizations recommendations for action on how to accommodate the platforms' influence.

The updated new edition of the classic strategic analysis textbook, addresses the emerging challenges that businesses face in an increasingly complex and dynamic environment A market-leading title across the world in upper-level undergraduate and MBA courses, Contemporary Strategy Analysis combines a rigorous approach to business strategy analysis with highly relevant examples of current practice and a rich collection of case studies. With a lively narrative style, expert strategist and lecturer Robert M. Grant introduces students to some of the latest thinking in the strategy field while addressing the strategic issues that business enterprises face today. Designed to be accessible for students from different backgrounds with varying levels of experience, the twelfth edition of Contemporary Strategy Analysis builds upon its tradition of clarity of exposition, emphasis on practicality, and concentration on the fundamentals of value creation and appropriation. A wide range of contemporary topics are presented alongside fully integrated business models, real-world examples of business model innovation, and practical tools for formulating and implementing business strategies. Contemporary Strategy Analysis, Twelfth Edition, remains the ideal textbook for core strategy courses in Business Studies, Management, and MBA programs, as well as for executive courses on competitive strategy, corporate strategy, and management consulting skills. It is also a valuable resource for managers, business owners, founders, and other professionals who are responsible for the strategic direction of a modern enterprise.

This two-volume-set (CCIS 188 and CCIS 189) constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Information Processing and Communications, ICDIPC 2011, held in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in July 2011. The 91 revised full papers of both volumes presented together with 4 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 235 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on network security; Web applications; data mining; neural networks; distributed and parallel processing; biometrics technologies; e-learning; information ethics; image processing; information and data management; software engineering; data compression; networks; computer security; hardware and systems; multimedia; ad hoc network; artificial intelligence; signal processing; cloud computing; forensics; security; software and systems; mobile networking; and some miscellaneous topics in digital information and communications.

Economics is a social science concerned mainly with description and analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Beyond the various theories and models, however, economics has close relationship with day to day life. This book reviews the economic journey of India over the last seventy years, and seeks to stimulate the readers’ thinking on some major issues and potentialities facing the Indian economy. Five main themes flow through the book – India’s potential to be the World’s third largest economic power by 2030, the challenges of socio-economic equity that India faces, the several opportunities that India has in that journey, the critical role of governance, leadership, management and administration, and the importance of mindset changes to power India’s futureeconomic growth. A special focus is laid on the role of government policies and projects in socio-economic development. The book sensitises the readers, including college students in general, and students of economics in particular, to the happenings around us which have significant economic import. The book makes all through its seventy chapters several suggestions to power India’s growth as a global economic superpower, on a plank of socioeconomic equity. This book serves as an expansive thought primer and focussed execution guide for an economically independent and resurgent India.