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Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and Their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight
by Amy TeitelSpaceflight historian Amy Shira Teitel tells the riveting story of the female pilots who each dreamed of being the first American woman in space. When the space age dawned in the late 1950s, Jackie Cochran held more propeller and jet flying records than any pilot of the twentieth century-man or woman. She had led the Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots during the Second World War, was the first woman to break the sound barrier, ran her own luxury cosmetics company, and counted multiple presidents among her personal friends. She was more qualified than any woman in the world to make the leap from atmosphere to orbit. Yet it was Jerrie Cobb, twenty-five years Jackie's junior and a record-holding pilot in her own right, who finagled her way into taking the same medical tests as the Mercury astronauts. The prospect of flying in space quickly became her obsession. While the American and international media spun the shocking story of a "woman astronaut" program, Jackie and Jerrie struggled to gain control of the narrative, each hoping to turn the rumored program into their own ideal reality-an issue that ultimately went all the way to Congress. This dual biography of audacious trailblazers Jackie Cochran and Jerrie Cobb presents these fascinating and fearless women in all their glory and grit, using their stories as guides through the shifting social, political, and technical landscape of the time.
Fighting Mac: The Downfall of Major-General Sir Hector Macdonald
by Trevor RoyleOn a spring morning in 1903, Major-General Sir Hector Macdonald, one of Britain's greatest military heroes, took his life in a hotel room in Paris. A few days later he was buried hastily in an Edinburgh cemetary as his fellow countrymen tried to come to terms with the fact that one of Scotland's most famous soldiers had ended his life rather than face charges against his character.The suicide and its aftermath created a national scandal and one which still reverberates long after those dramatic events - it is now clear that the official files dealing with his case, the papers of the Judge Advocate have been destroyed. Macdonald or 'Fighting Mac' as he was known to an adoring public, was no ordinary soldier. A crofter's son who had risen from the ranks in the Victorian army, he covered himself with glory during a long and successful military career and in 1898 was widely acknowledged as the true hero of the Battle of Omdurman, which cemented British Imperial rule in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Everything lay at his feet - a knighthood, honours, the respect of fellow generals such as Roberts and Kitchener - but Macdonald's career came to a shocking full stop when he stood accused of homosexuality and was ordered to face a court martial. Unable to come to terms with the disgrace, he committed suicide. That should have been the end of his story but so powerful was the myth created by Fighting Mac that people refused to believe he was dead. Soon rumours were circulating that Macdonald had faked his death and had adopted the persona of a prominent Prussian officer, the future Field Marshal August con Mackensen, one of Germany's great leaders during the First World War. FIGHTING MAC tells the true story behind his disgrace and sheds new light on the myths....
Fighting Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Multiple Roles of Legumes in Integrated Soil Fertility Management
by Boaz Waswa Jeremiah M. Okeyo Fredah Maina Andre Bationo Job Kihara Uzo MokwunyeLegumes play an important role in the cropping systems of sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Legumes are an important source of nutrition to both humans and livestock by providing the much needed protein, minerals, fibre and vitamins. The sale of legumes seed, leaves and fibre generates income for the marginalized communities especially women. Cultivation of legumes is essential for the regeneration of nutrient-deficient soils. By biologically fixing nitrogen (BNF) in the soil, legumes provide a relatively low-cost method of replacing otherwise expensive inorganic nitrogen in the soil. This enhances soil fertility and boosts subsequent cereal crop yields. Production of legumes in SSA is however; hampered by a number of constraints among them low and declining soil fertility, low soil pH, high salinity, drought and flooding, poor access to improved germplasm, diseases, pests and weeds. Farmers need to learn how to overcome these constraints if the full benefits of legumes are to be gained. This book presents a synthesis of research work on legumes and draws attention to the importance of legumes in integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and poverty alleviation in SSA.
Fighting the Great War at Sea: Strategy, Tactic and Technology
by Norman FriedmanWinner of the John Lyman Book Award for Naval and Maritime Science and Technology. &“A compelling and convincing historical analysis of World War I.&” —Navy News While the overriding image of the First World War is of the bloody stalemate on the western front, the overall shape of the war arose out of its maritime character. It was essentially a struggle about access to worldwide resources, most clearly seen in Germany&’s desperate attempts to counter the American industrial threat, which ultimately drew the United States into the war. This radical new book concentrates on the way in which each side tried to use or deny the sea to the other, and in so doing, describes rapid wartime changes not only in ship and weapons technology but also in the way naval warfare was envisaged and fought. Melding strategic, technical, and tactical aspects, Friedman approaches the First World War from a fresh perspective and demonstrates how its perceived lessons dominated the way navies prepared for the Second World War. &“Friedman is a master of the evolution of naval strategy, tactics and technology . . . a rewarding read that will leave many wanting to return again and again just to see what they might have missed the first time.&” —Australian Naval Institute &“Dr. Friedman&’s research credentials are impeccable, and the huge amount of factual detail he has unearthed will be sure to delight many . . . there is nothing comparable in either depth or scope out there, and for this reason, if no other, this book is likely to become a standard work on the naval aspects of the Great War.&” —Naval War College Review
Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City (Inside Technology)
by Peter D. NortonThe fight for the future of the city street between pedestrians, street railways, and promoters of the automobile between 1915 and 1930.Before the advent of the automobile, users of city streets were diverse and included children at play and pedestrians at large. By 1930, most streets were primarily a motor thoroughfares where children did not belong and where pedestrians were condemned as “jaywalkers.” In Fighting Traffic, Peter Norton argues that to accommodate automobiles, the American city required not only a physical change but also a social one: before the city could be reconstructed for the sake of motorists, its streets had to be socially reconstructed as places where motorists belonged. It was not an evolution, he writes, but a bloody and sometimes violent revolution. Norton describes how street users struggled to define and redefine what streets were for. He examines developments in the crucial transitional years from the 1910s to the 1930s, uncovering a broad anti-automobile campaign that reviled motorists as “road hogs” or “speed demons” and cars as “juggernauts” or “death cars.” He considers the perspectives of all users—pedestrians, police (who had to become “traffic cops”), street railways, downtown businesses, traffic engineers (who often saw cars as the problem, not the solution), and automobile promoters. He finds that pedestrians and parents campaigned in moral terms, fighting for “justice.” Cities and downtown businesses tried to regulate traffic in the name of “efficiency.” Automotive interest groups, meanwhile, legitimized their claim to the streets by invoking “freedom”—a rhetorical stance of particular power in the United States. Fighting Traffic offers a new look at both the origins of the automotive city in America and how social groups shape technological change.
Figs: The Genus Ficus (Traditional Herbal Medicines for Modern Times)
by Ephraim Philip Lansky Helena Maaria PaavilainenWith a history as ancient as any cultivated fruit, many believe the fig has been with us even longer than the pomegranate. The Ficus constitutes one of the largest and hardiest genera of flowering plants featuring as many as 750 species. Although the extraordinary mutualism between figs and their pollinating wasps has received much attention, the p
Filamentary Ion Flow: Theory and Experiments
by Vitantonio Amoruso Francesco LattaruloPresents all-new laboratory-tested theory for calculating more accurate ionized electric fields to aid in designing high-voltage devices and its components Understanding and accurately calculating corona originated electric fields are important issues for scientists who are involved in electromagnetic and electrostatic studies. High-voltage dc lines and equipment, in particular, can generate ion flows that can give rise to environmental inconveniences. Filamentary Ion Flow: Theory and Experiments provides interdisciplinary theoretical arguments to attain a final model for computational electrostatics in the presence of flowing space charge. Based on years of extensive lab tests pertaining to the physical performance of unipolar corona ion flows, the book covers the enlarging of conventional electrostatic applications, which allows for some emerging and uncharted interests to be explored. Filamentary Ion Flow: Examines the theoretical discussions for creating a model of computational electrostatics involved with flowing space charges Presents new theory and experimental data based on extensive testing Offers potential design applications utilizing the theory Helps scientists who are involved in electromagnetic and electrostatic studies understand and accurately calculate corona originated ion flow fields Filamentary Ion Flow: Theory and Experiments is ideal for electrical engineers and research scientists interested in high-voltage technology, computational electrostatics, and electromagnetic theory.
Filaments in Bioprocesses
by Rainer Krull Thomas BleyThis book review series presents current trends in modern biotechnology. The aim is to cover all aspects of this interdisciplinary technology where knowledge, methods and expertise are required from chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, chemical engineering and computer science. Volumes are organized topically and provide a comprehensive discussion of developments in the respective field over the past 3-5 years. The series also discusses new discoveries and applications. Special volumes are dedicated to selected topics which focus on new biotechnological products and new processes for their synthesis and purification. In general, special volumes are edited by well-known guest editors. The series editor and publisher will however always be pleased to receive suggestions and supplementary information. Manuscripts are accepted in English.
The Filing Cabinet: A Vertical History of Information
by Craig RobertsonThe history of how a deceptively ordinary piece of office furniture transformed our relationship with information The ubiquity of the filing cabinet in the twentieth-century office space, along with its noticeable absence of style, has obscured its transformative role in the histories of both information technology and work. In the first in-depth history of this neglected artifact, Craig Robertson explores how the filing cabinet profoundly shaped the way that information and data have been sorted, stored, retrieved, and used.Invented in the 1890s, the filing cabinet was a result of the nineteenth-century faith in efficiency. Previously, paper records were arranged haphazardly: bound into books, stacked in piles, curled into slots, or impaled on spindles. The filing cabinet organized loose papers in tabbed folders that could be sorted alphanumerically, radically changing how people accessed, circulated, and structured information.Robertson&’s unconventional history of the origins of the information age posits the filing cabinet as an information storage container, an &“automatic memory&” machine that contributed to a new type of information labor privileging manual dexterity over mental deliberation. Gendered assumptions about women&’s nimble fingers helped to naturalize the changes that brought women into the workforce as low-level clerical workers. The filing cabinet emerges from this unexpected account as a sophisticated piece of information technology and a site of gendered labor that with its folders, files, and tabs continues to shape how we interact with information and data in today&’s digital world.
Filing Patents Online: A Professional Guide
by Sarfaraz K. NiaziThe average cost of an uncomplicated patent application filing is about $10,000. This high cost can leave thousands of inventors out in the cold. Filing Patents Online: A Professional Guide is a complete manual that walks inventors through each step of filing and prosecuting the patent online at a fraction of the cost. The online filing system reco
Filled Polymers: Science and Industrial Applications
by Jean L. LeblancThe idea of mixing single available materials into compounds to fulfill a set of desired properties is likely as old as mankind. Highly sophisticated polymer applications would simply be impossible without the enhancement of some of their properties through addition of fine mineral particles or synthetic or natural short fibers. Many filled polymer
Fillers for Polymer Applications
by Roger RothonThis handbook provides an introduction to and reference information about the science behind the production and use of particulate fillers in polymer applications. Fillers play an important role and are used with practically all types of polymers: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers. Readers will find an introduction to the topic of particulate fillers for polymer applications and their importance. The first chapters describe the use and characteristics of fillers in different polymer types, such as thermoplastics, thermosets and elastomers. The following chapters compile and summarize comprehensive information about different filler materials which find application nowadays, including mineral fillers (for example feldspars, wollastonites, and many more) and inorganic fillers (barium sulphate, or clays), bio-fillers, recycled and sustainable fillers, and fillers for specific applications (for example flame-retardant fillers, fillers for electrically conductive applications, or thermally conductive additives). Offering key information, compiled by a mixed team of authors from academia and industry, this handbook will appeal to researchers and professionals working on and with particulate polymer fillers alike.
Film Art: An Introduction
by David Bordwell Kristin Thompson Jeff SmithFilm is an art form with a language and an aesthetic all its own. Since 1979, David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson and now, Co-Author, Jeff Smith's Film Art has been the best-selling and most widely respected introduction to the analysis of cinema. Taking a skills-centered approach supported by examples from many periods and countries, the authors help students develop a core set of analytical skills that will enrich their understanding of any film, in any genre. In-depth examples deepen students' appreciation for how creative choices by filmmakers affect what viewers experience and how they respond. Film Art is generously illustrated with more than 1,000 frame enlargements taken directly from completed films, providing concrete illustrations of key concepts. Along with updated examples and expanded coverage of digital filmmaking, the twelfth edition of Film Art delivers SmartBook, first and only adaptive reading experience currently available, designed to help students stay focused, maximize study time and retain basic concepts.
Filma il tuo romanzo: tecniche cinematografiche per potenziare la tua scrittura
by Emiliana Erriquez C. S. LakinVolete scrivere un romanzo visivamente forte? Filma il tuo romanzo analizza in profondità la tecnica cinematografica per gli scrittori di fiction. Nessun altro libro sul mestiere di scrivere vi insegna il segreto di come "Mostrare, non raccontare". Gli autori di best-seller di ogni genere conoscono il segreto per catturare l'attenzione dei lettori mostrando, non raccontando la loro storia. Ma agli scrittori non viene insegnato come "mostrare" le scene in modo cinematografico. Senza un metodo chiaro, conciso, e preciso per la costruzione di scene dinamiche, uno scrittore probabilmente finirà con il creare un romanzo piatto, senza vita. I registi, gli sceneggiatori utilizzano la tecnica cinematografica per creare capolavori visivi, e gli scrittori di romanzi POSSONO adattare i loro metodi alla loro scrittura narrativa. Con "Filma" il tuo romanzo, è possibile potenziare la vostra storia! Sol Stein, nel suo libro Stein on Writing ha detto, "I lettori, condizionati da film e TV, sono abituati a vedere le storie. L'esperienza di lettura. . . è sempre più visiva." Gli scrittori di romanzi di oggi, indipendentemente dal genere, devono imparare la narrazione cinematografica, perché questo è ciò che i lettori vogliono! All'interno, troverete: Il vero segreto del "Mostrare, non raccontare" e come sia tutta una questione di "momenti" Più di una dozzina di "inquadrature" che gli scrittori di romanzi possono prendere in prestito dagli sceneggiatori e dai registi per creare grandi scene Istruzioni su come mettere insieme le inquadrature per creare segmenti di scena cinematografici Esempi da romanzi e sceneggiature che mostrano ogni aspetto della tecnica cinematografica Come elaborare un sistema di immagine tematico delle principali inquadrature, idee dominanti e immagini Modi per utilizzare colori, forme, suoni, e angoli per un effetto subliminale intenzionale
Filme Sua Novela
by C. S. Lakin Ana Claudia AntunesQuer escrever um romance com visual poderoso? Filme sua Novela dirige o olhar em profundidade sobre técnica cinematográfica para os escritores de ficção . Nenhum outro livro escrito para o ofício ensina o segredo de como "mostrar, não dizer".Autores de best-sellers de todos os gêneros sabem o segredo para enganchar os leitores- ao mostrar, não dizer, a sua história. Mas os escritores não são ensinados a "mostrar" cenas de forma cinematográfica. Sem um método claro, conciso e preciso para a construção de cenas dinâmicas, um escritor provavelmente vai acabar com uma novela plana e sem vida.Cineastas, roteiristas e diretores de cinema utilizam a técnica cinematográfica para criar obras de artes visuais, e romancistas também podem fazer o mesmo - adaptando seus métodos em sua escrita de ficção.Ao "filmar" o seu romance, você vai turbinar a sua história!Sol Stein, em seu livro Stein na escrita disse: "Os leitores, transformados pelo cinema e TV, estão acostumados a ver histórias. A experiência da leitura. . . é cada vez mais visual. "Romancistas hoje, independentemente do gênero, necessitam aprender a escrever cinematograficamente, porque isso é o que os leitores querem!Lá dentro de "Filme sua Novela", você vai aprender:O verdadeiro segredo para "mostrar, não dizer" e como tudo se insere no "momento"Mais de uma dúzia de "tomadas de câmera" que os romancistas podem tomar emprestado de roteiristas e diretores para criar poderosas cenas Instrução ativa de como montar as peça de planos de câmera em conjunto para criar segmentos de cenas cinematográficasExemplos de romances e roteiros mostrando cada faceta da técnica cinematográficaComo conceber um sistema de imagem temática de planos-chave, motivos, e imagensManeiras de usar cores, formas, sons, e ângulos para efeito subliminar proposital"Filme sua Novela"
Filter Banks and Audio Coding: Compressing Audio Signals Using Python
by Gerald SchullerThis textbook presents the fundamentals of audio coding, used to compress audio and music signals, using Python programs both as examples to illustrate the principles and for experiments for the reader. Together, these programs then form complete audio coders. The author starts with basic knowledge of digital signal processing (sampling, filtering) to give a thorough introduction to filter banks as used in audio coding, and their design methods. He then continues with the next core component, which are psycho-acoustic models. The author finally shows how to design and implement them. Lastly, the author goes on to describe components for more specialized coders, like the Integer-to-Integer MDCT filter bank, and predictive coding for lossless and low delay coding. Included are Python program examples for each section, which illustrate the principles and provide the tools for experiments.Comprehensively explains the fundamentals of filter banks and audio coding;Provides Python examples for each principle so that completed audio coders are obtained in the language;Includes a suite of classroom materials including exercises, experiments, and examples.
Filter-Based Fault Diagnosis and Remaining Useful Life Prediction
by Yong Zhang Zidong Wang Ye YuanThis book unifies existing and emerging concepts concerning state estimation, fault detection, fault isolation and fault estimation on industrial systems with an emphasis on a variety of network-induced phenomena, fault diagnosis and remaining useful life for industrial equipment. It covers state estimation/monitor, fault diagnosis and remaining useful life prediction by drawing on the conventional theories of systems science, signal processing and machine learning. Features: Unifies existing and emerging concepts concerning robust filtering and fault diagnosis with an emphasis on a variety of network-induced complexities. Explains theories, techniques, and applications of state estimation as well as fault diagnosis from an engineering-oriented perspective. Provides a series of latest results in robust/stochastic filtering, multidate sample, and time-varying system. Captures diagnosis (fault detection, fault isolation and fault estimation) for time-varying multi-rate systems. Includes simulation examples in each chapter to reflect the engineering practice. This book aims at graduate students, professionals and researchers in control science and application, system analysis, artificial intelligence, and fault diagnosis.
The Filter Bubble
by Eli PariserAn eye-opening account of how the hidden rise of personalization on the Internet is controlling-and limiting-the information we consume. In December 2009, Google began customizing its search results for each user. Instead of giving you the most broadly popular result, Google now tries to predict what you are most likely to click on. According to MoveOn. org board president Eli Pariser, Google's change in policy is symptomatic of the most significant shift to take place on the Web in recent years-the rise of personalization. In this groundbreaking investigation of the new hidden Web, Pariser uncovers how this growing trend threatens to control how we consume and share information as a society-and reveals what we can do about it. Though the phenomenon has gone largely undetected until now, personalized filters are sweeping the Web, creating individual universes of information for each of us. Facebook-the primary news source for an increasing number of Americans-prioritizes the links it believes will appeal to you so that if you are a liberal, you can expect to see only progressive links. Even an old-media bastion like The Washington Post devotes the top of its home page to a news feed with the links your Facebook friends are sharing. Behind the scenes a burgeoning industry of data companies is tracking your personal information to sell to advertisers, from your political leanings to the color you painted your living room to the hiking boots you just browsed on Zappos. In a personalized world, we will increasingly be typed and fed only news that is pleasant, familiar, and confirms our beliefs-and because these filters are invisible, we won't know what is being hidden from us. Our past interests will determine what we are exposed to in the future, leaving less room for the unexpected encounters that spark creativity, innovation, and the democratic exchange of ideas. While we all worry that the Internet is eroding privacy or shrinking our attention spans, Pariser uncovers a more pernicious and far- reaching trend on the Internet and shows how we can- and must-change course. With vivid detail and remarkable scope, The Filter Bubble reveals how personalization undermines the Internet's original purpose as an open platform for the spread of ideas and could leave us all in an isolated, echoing world. .
Filter Design for System Modeling, State Estimation and Fault Diagnosis
by Ziyun Wang Yan Wang Zhicheng JiFilter Design for System Modeling, State Estimation and Fault Diagnosis analyzes the latest methods in the design of filters for system modeling, state estimation and fault detection with the intention of providing a new perspective of both theoretical and practical aspects.This book also includes fault diagnosis techniques for unknown but bounded systems, their real applications on modeling and fault diagnosis for lithium battery systems, DC-DC converters and spring damping systems. It proposes new methods based on zonotopic Kalman filtering, a variety of state estimation methods of zonotope and its derived algorithms, a state estimation method based on convex space, set inversion interval observer filtering-based guaranteed fault estimation and a novel interval observer filtering-based fault diagnosis. The methods presented in this text are more practical than the common probabilistic-based algorithms, since these can be applied in unknown but bounded noisy environments. This book will be an essential read for students, scholars and engineering professionals who are interested in filter design, system modeling, state estimation, fault diagnosis and related fields.
Filterbänke und Audiocodierung: Komprimierung von Audiosignalen mit Python
by Gerald SchullerDieses Lehrbuch stellt die Grundlagen der Audiocodierung vor, die zur Komprimierung von Audio- und Musiksignalen verwendet wird. Dabei werden Python-Programme sowohl als Beispiele zur Veranschaulichung der Prinzipien als auch für Experimente für den Leser verwendet. Zusammen bilden diese Programme dann komplette Audiocodierer. Der Autor beginnt mit grundlegenden Kenntnissen der digitalen Signalverarbeitung (Abtastung, Filterung), um eine gründliche Einführung in Filterbänke, wie sie in der Audiocodierung verwendet werden, und deren Entwurfsmethoden zu geben. Er fährt dann mit der nächsten Kernkomponente fort, den psycho-akustischen Modellen. Der Autor zeigt schließlich, wie man sie entwirft und implementiert. Schließlich beschreibt der Autor Komponenten für speziellere Kodierer, wie die Integer-to-Integer MDCT-Filterbank und prädiktive Kodierung für verlustfreie und verzögerungsarme Kodierung. Zu jedem Abschnitt gibt es Python-Programmbeispiele, die die Prinzipien veranschaulichen und die Werkzeuge für Experimente bereitstellen. Umfassende Erläuterung der Grundlagen von Filterbänken und Audiocodierung; Bietet Python-Beispiele für jedes Prinzip, so dass fertige Audiocodierer in der Sprache erhalten werden; Enthält eine Reihe von Unterrichtsmaterialien mit Übungen, Experimenten und Beispielen.
Filtered Repetitive Control with Nonlinear Systems
by Quan Quan Kai-Yuan CaiThough there have been significant advances in the theory and applications of linear time-invariant systems, developments regarding repetitive control have been sporadic. At the same time, there is a dearth of literature on repetitive control (RC) for nonlinear systems.Addressing that gap, this book discusses a range of basic methods for solving RC problems in nonlinear systems, including two commonly used methods and three original ones. Providing valuable tools for researchers working on the development of repetitive control, these new and fundamental methods are one of the major features of the book, which will benefit researchers, engineers, and graduate students in e.g. the field of control theory.
Filtering and Control of Wireless Networked Systems
by Dan Zhang Qing-Guo Wang Li YuThis self-contained book, written by leading experts, offers a cutting-edge, in-depth overview of the filtering and control of wireless networked systems. It addresses the energy constraint and filter/controller gain variation problems, and presents both the centralized and the distributed solutions. The first two chapters provide an introduction to networked control systems and basic information on system analysis. Chapters (3-6) then discuss the centralized filtering of wireless networked systems, presenting different approaches to deal with energy efficiency and filter/controller gain variation problems. The next part (chapters 7-10) explores the distributed filtering of wireless networked systems, addressing the main problems of energy constraint and filter gain variation. The final part (chapters 11-14) focuses on the distributed control of wireless networked systems. In view of the rapid deployment and development of wireless networked systems for communication and control applications, the book represents a timely contribution and provides valuable insights, useful methods and effective algorithms for the analysis and design of wireless networked control systems. It is a valuable resource for researchers in the control and communication communities
Filtering, Control and Fault Detection with Randomly Occurring Incomplete Information
by Hongli Dong Zidong Wang Huijun GaoIn the context of systems and control, incomplete information refers to a dynamical system in which knowledge about the system states is limited due to the difficulties in modelling complexity in a quantitative way. The well-known types of incomplete information include parameter uncertainties and norm-bounded nonlinearities. Recently, in response to the development of network technologies, the phenomenon of randomly occurring incomplete information has become more and more prevalent. Filtering, Control and Fault Detection with Randomly Occurring Incomplete Information reflects the state-of-the-art of the research area for handling randomly occurring incomplete information from three interrelated aspects of control, filtering and fault detection. Recent advances in networked control systems and distributed filtering over sensor networks are covered, and application potential in mobile robotics is also considered. The reader will benefit from the introduction of new concepts, new models and new methodologies with practical significance in control engineering and signal processing. Key Features: Establishes a unified framework for filtering, control and fault detection problem for various discrete-time nonlinear stochastic systems with randomly occurring incomplete information Investigates several new concepts for randomly occurring phenomena and proposes a new system model to better describe network-induced problems Demonstrates how newly developed techniques can handle emerging mathematical and computational challenges Contains the latest research results Filtering, Control and Fault Detection with Randomly Occurring Incomplete Information provides a unified yet neat framework for control/filtering/fault-detection with randomly occurring incomplete information. It is a comprehensive textbook for graduate students and is also a useful practical research reference for engineers dealing with control, filtering and fault detection problems for networked systems.
Final Answers
by Greg DinalloGreg Dinallo, the heralded author of Rockets&’ Red Glare and Purpose of Evasion, has written his most chilling and disturbing thriller yet: A novel of intrigue that explores the emotionally charged issue of Vietnam War MIAs. Final Answers is provocative, authentic, and powerful fictionAmong the 58,176 names etched on the long black wall of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, are names of those who never came home—of MIAs whose families are still waiting for final answers.During a business trip to Washington, a veteran, now a statistics expert, has an experience at the Memorial that will shatter his carefully constructed life with the impact of a Claymore mine. Touching the names carved in the wall, he finds one all too familiar: his own. A. Calvert Morgan understands cold, hard numbers. But how did his name get on the wall? Morgan&’s wife, Nancy, does some research for him that leads him to Kate Ackerman. Kate&’s husband had been listed as missing in action after being shot down in Laos twenty years earlier; during those years, she has joined the National League of Families and become a dedicated MIA activist.At first, Morgan believes that he is part of a bizarre military snafu—a data entry error made in the field. But when Kate guides him to the Army&’s Central Identification Lab in Hawaii, he begins to realize that his &“death&” was not an accident. In the war zone, another man took his name and serial number for his own —and then was killed. Morgan finds out that his impersonator was no ordinary GI He was, in fact, a key player in a macabre conspiracy that reaches back to the poppy fields of Laos.Morgan has set off a deadly alarm; the drug lord is still operating and has targeted him for elimination. Coming after Morgan—a man more comfortable with a computer than a handgun—the hit man commits a murder so brutal that Morgan&’s life is turned into a raging fight for survival.From the San Francisco mortuary that received the bodies of American servicemen during the war to Southeast Asia in the &’90s, Morgan is venturing into ever more violent territory. And he is not alone. Kate Ackerman has joined him on a trip to Thailand—hopeful that her husband is still alive, his fate possibly linked to those who have targeted Morgan for death.Amid Bangkok&’s steamy nightclubs and brackish, twisting canals, their quest pushes them into the jungle, across the Mekong River into Laos, where they move toward a brutal final answer to the mystery of Vietnam MIAs . . .Electrifying and filled with suspense, Final Answers confirms Greg Dinallo&’s reputation as a novelist who poses daring questions, takes extraordinary risks, and delivers searing excitement from first page to last.
Final Approach
by John J. NanceA government investigator looks into the cover-up of a deadly plane crash in this aviation thriller from the New York Times–bestselling author of Lockout. In the control tower at Kansas City International Airport, all the radar displays are red. But for the experienced pilots of North America Airlines, the thunderstorms aren&’t the problem: NAA has been cutting costs to stave off bankruptcy, and will do anything to keep their planes in the air. Unfortunately, no matter what they do, one is on its way down. After the aircraft collides with another plane on the Kansas City runway, in one of the worst aviation disasters of the decade, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Joe Wallingford arrives on the scene. As he studies the wreckage and pieces together the events that led to the tragedy, he realizes there&’s far more at play than pilot error or equipment malfunction. Wallingford will have to risk his career—and perhaps even his life—to solve the puzzle of the crash.