A young girl who is confined to a wheelchair receives a magical pen and is able to draw herself into the enchanted world of Wrush where she will become the empress. A magical adventure ensues.

Control Theory Applications for Dynamic Production Systems Apply the fundamental tools of linear control theory to model, analyze, design, and understand the behavior of dynamic production systems In Control Theory Applications for Dynamic Production Systems: Time and Frequency Methods for Analysis and Design, distinguished manufacturing engineer Dr. Neil A. Duffie delivers a comprehensive explanation of how core concepts of control theorical analysis and design can be applied to production systems. Time-based perspectives on response to turbulence are augmented by frequency-based perspectives, fostering new understanding and guiding design of decision-making. The time delays intrinsic to decision making and decision implementation in production systems are addressed throughout. Readers will discover methods for calculating time response and frequency response, modeling using transfer functions, assessing stability, and design of decision making for closed-loop production systems. The author has included real-world examples emphasizing the different components of production systems and illustrating how practical results can be quickly obtained using straightforward Matlab programs (which can easily be translated to other platforms). Avoiding unnecessary theoretical jargon, this book fosters an in-depth understanding of key tools of control system engineering. It offers: A thorough introduction to core control theoretical concepts of analysis and design of dynamic production systems Comprehensive and integrated explorations of continuous-time and discrete-time models of production systems, employing transfer functions and block diagrams Practical discussions of time response, frequency response, fundamental dynamic behavior, closed-loop production systems, and the design of decision-making In-depth examples of the analysis and design of complex dynamic behavior requiring approaches such as matrices of transfer functions and modeling of multiple sampling rates Perfect for production, manufacturing, industrial, and control system engineers, Control Theory Applications for Dynamic Production Systems will also earn a place in the libraries of students taking advanced courses on industrial system digitalization, dynamics, and design.

Legendary New York Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry recounts his years playing for one of the most storied and celebrated teams in sports history--the world champion New York Yankees during their heyday in the Bronx Zoo years, with manic manager Billy Martin, headline loving owner George Steinbrenner, and an ego-driven all-star cast that included everyone from slugger Reggie Jackson and All star catcher Thurman Munson to Cy Young Award winners Sparky Lyle and Catfish Hunter. Ron Guidry, known as Gator and Louisiana Lightning to his teammates, quickly rose in 1977 to become the ace of the Yankees' stellar pitching staff, helping the team regarded as the most famous and notorious in Yankee history win the World Series. In 1978, he went 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA and won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in baseball, helping to bring home the Yankees' second straight World Series championship. A four-time All Star and five-time Golden Glove winner, he played from 1976 to 1988, served as the Yankees' captain in the 1980s, and remains one of the greatest pitchers in Yankee history. In Gator, Guidry takes us inside the clubhouse to tell us what it was like to play amidst the chaos and almost daily confrontations between Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner, Martin's altercations with star slugger Reggie "the straw that stirs the drink" Jackson. He talks poignantly about the death of Thurman Munson in 1979, and the impact that had on Ron and on the club. He tells stories about players like Lou Pinella, Willie Randolph, Bucky Dent, Catfish Hunter, Chris Chambliss, and Mickey Rivers, and coach Yogi Berra (who in 1984 became the Yankees' manager) and Elston Howard.

For more than a century, no US adversary or coalition of adversaries - not Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, or the Soviet Union - has ever reached sixty percent of US GDP. China is the sole exception, and it is fast emerging into a global superpower that could rival, if not eclipse, the United States. What does China want, does it have a grand strategy to achieve it, and what should the United States do about it? In The Long Game, Rush Doshi draws from a rich base of Chinese primary sources, including decades worth of party documents, leaked materials, memoirs by party leaders, and a careful analysis of China's conduct to provide a history of China's grand strategy since the end of the Cold War. Taking readers behind the Party's closed doors, he uncovers Beijing's long, methodical game to displace America from its hegemonic position in both the East Asia regional and global orders through three sequential "strategies of displacement." Beginning in the 1980s, China focused for two decades on "hiding capabilities and biding time." After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, it became more assertive regionally, following a policy of "actively accomplishing something." Finally, in the aftermath populist elections of 2016, China shifted to an even more aggressive strategy for undermining US hegemony, adopting the phrase "great changes unseen in century." After charting how China's long game has evolved, Doshi offers a comprehensive yet asymmetric plan for an effective US response. Ironically, his proposed approach takes a page from Beijing's own strategic playbook to undermine China's ambitions and strengthen American order without competing dollar-for-dollar, ship-for-ship, or loan-for-loan.

crossover appeal for both teens and adults. WINNER, High Plains Book Award, Fall 2016SELECTION, Moonbeam Award, Fall 2016"Madder Carmine is a masterpiece... Enfield's fever dream of a classical quest is dizzying, poetic and original... a major work that deserves to be celebrated." - High Plains Book Award JudgesWinner of the High Plains Book Award Selected for the Moonbeam Award After three years in the Mexican War, colour-blind Dannon Lereaux sets out across the mountains in search of "love, red, and a new class of salvation," expecting to find all three in a girl called Madder Carmine. Set in the year 1849, amidst a vividly reconceived Appalachia, young Dannon has returned from the war only to discover home was finer when remembered from afar. Disenchanted and confused, he puts all hope of deliverance in a girl he once met and embarks on an epic journey to find her. But hard on his trail is Will Lawson, the vengeful owner of the slave Dannon stole. As Dannon is pushed deeper into the world of the hunted, his mind slips into a world of its own. Suddenly the mountains of his youth are transformed into the Nine Circles of Hell and the slave named Virgil becomes his soul-guide through the underworld. With this notion firm in his mind, Dannon commends himself to a surreal journey as he seeks redemption in the heart of the Inferno. Many archetypal themes and great works of world literature come together in this story from 1849 Appalachia - CM Magazine Like The Sisters Brothers . . . only better." - Laurie Greenwood, CBC Radio

Featured in The Globe and Mail's Winter books preview: 36 reads to get you through till spring On 49th Shelf's Most Anticipated: Spring 2020 Fiction Preview List On CBC Books' list of 47 works of Canadian fiction to watch for in spring 2020 The Coen Brothers meets Kurt Vonnegut. Francis Blackstone is a fourteen-year-old gunslinger with a heart of gold. He's fallen for the mayor's daughter and resolves to make his mark, and his fortune, to win her favour. And what better way than to rob a Manhattan Company bank? Enter Bob Temple, the volatile outlaw who takes Francis under his wing-- though not without a degree of suspicion-- and so begins the adventures of the Blackstone Temple Gang as they crisscross the west in search of treasure, redemption, and the possibility of requited love. After an encounter with a rival gang, Francis and Bob Temple are chased over the Sierras to California, where they enjoy unexpected fame as gentleman bandits. But their newfound celebrity brings hardships as well, and when their final job takes a startling turn, Francis is forced to discover what it means to make peace with a world that stands against him. At once a tribute to boyhood enthusiasm and the heroes of classical quests, Like Rum-Drunk Angels is an offbeat, slightly magical, entirely original retelling of Aladdin as an American western.

An inspiring memoir that “shows how service dogs can save lives . . . Hardiman shares his story of faith and perseverance” (North Dallas Gazette.com). A dog. A man. A miracle. In Bailey’s Remarkable Plan, David R. Hardiman shares his poignant story of struggle, prejudice, and pain. But this is also a story of perseverance, triumph, and love. Hardiman discovers that his four-footed companion, delivered to him by chance, is more than his best friend. Bailey is also his service dog, a shih tzu with an extraordinary gift—part of God’s “remarkable plan”—that allows her to assist, to protect, and to love. Bailey’s Remarkable Plan will inspire you, inform you, and challenge you to feel compassion for those suffering silently among us because of circumstances beyond their control. God sent Bailey to this earth as part of His plan, an angel in the form of a remarkable dog. Not the typical service dog, Bailey performs a miracle in the life of her owner and friend. And Hardiman’s story will touch your heart as you journey along with the boy who became a man encircled by love. “This book takes the reader on the author’s decades-long journey living with a rare medical condition coupled with post-traumatic stress disorder and Bailey’s intuitive ability to help him cope.”—Fort Worth Magazine “Bailey’s Remarkable Plan is a powerful, true story about a service dog that breaks all stereotypes and reveals a timely message of hope.”—Mike Norris, film director

To explore what extended competition between the United States and China might entail out to 2050, the authors of this report identified and characterized China’s grand strategy, analyzed its component national strategies (diplomacy, economics, science and technology, and military affairs), and assessed how successful China might be at implementing these over the next three decades.

Elizabeth thinks she knows the gloomy Fenlen Forest. But when her treasured unicorn fawn, Sida, goes missing, Elizabeth tracks her into a strange land where the people think Elizabeth is a changeling, a malignant being who too-closely resembles a missing girl. If Elizabeth can find her fawn and uncover the fate of her lost double, can she stop the fear from turning into hate? To solve the deepening mystery, Elizabeth befriends a handsome, skeptical young shepherd whose stories hint at a dark secret lurking at the forest's edge, and tame a herd of wild unicorns with the ability to unlock the past.