This comprehensive volume examines the historic and contemporary role of the state legislatures and assemblies of all 50 states, offering insight into important details of how each of these legislative bodies functions. The Legislative Branch of State Government: People, Process, and Politics is one of three titles in ABC-CLIO's About State Government set, offering comprehensive coverage of contemporary American politics at the state level. Each of the three volumes focuses on a specific governmental branch, providing both general information and comparative details on how that branch operates in each state. Ranging from colonial times to the present, this volume takes a broad look at how the nation's state legislative institutions have evolved and operate. Combined with the other two volumes in the set, a clear overview of state government emerges. The Legislative Branch of State Government covers the historical, constitutional, and political environment in which state legislatures exist, then focuses on their functions and processes, the people who serve in them, and their interaction with other key political institutions. A concluding chapter looks at characteristics that make each of the 50 state legislative bodies fascinating and unique. A narrative chronology of the development of state legislatures in America from the colonial era to the present, including remarkable stories and traditions of the nation's legislative bodies Easy-to-follow graphics depicting, for example, how a bill becomes a law and how the separation of powers and the principle of checks and balances define the relationship among the branches of government

Get fifty years of industry-defining expertise in a single volume John Bogle on Investing is a compilation of the best speeches ever delivered by one of the 20th century's towering financial giants. Individually, each of these speeches delivers a powerful lesson in investing; taken together, Bogle's lifelong themes ring loud and clear. His investing philosophy has remained more or less constant throughout his illustrious career, and this book lays it out so you can learn from the very best. You'll learn what makes a successful investment strategy, consider the productive economics of long-term investing, and how emotional investment in financial markets is often counterproductive enough to forfeit success. Bogle discusses the "fiscal drag" of investing, and shows you how to cut down on sales charges, management fees, turnover costs, and opportunity costs, as he unravels a lifetime's worth of expertise to give you deep insight into the mind of a master at work. John C. Bogle founded Vanguard in 1974, then in the space of a few years, introduced the index mutual fund, pioneered the no-load mutual fund, and redefined bond fund management. This book wraps up the essence of his half-century of knowledge to deepen your understanding and enhance your investment success. * Learn why simple strategies are best * Discover how emotions can ruin the best investment plan * Examine the universality of indexing in the financial markets * Minimize the costs financial and otherwise associated with investing John Bogle is still in there fighting, still pushing the industry onward and upward. Take this rare opportunity to have industry-shaping expertise at your fingertips with John Bogle on Investing.

• A practical guide for selecting and utilizing outcome assessment measures
• Expert advice includes case examples, callout boxes, and "Test Yourself" questions
• Conveniently formatted for rapid reference

Use outcome measures to ensure productive treatment for clients

Essentials of Outcome Assessment provides crucial information about selecting and administering outcome assessment measures, collecting and interpreting data, and using outcome information in practice. It narrows in on the most useful strategies and techniques, offering practical, down-to-earth advice on using outcome assessment data to develop the treatment plan, track progress for the individual client, evaluate therapists, enhance clinical supervision, and conduct program evaluation.

Choosing the appropriate outcome assessment measure to monitor a client’s treatment progress can be complicated, as dozens of outcome measures exist. Professionals need an authoritative resource to guide them through the broad variety of possibilities–and to help them ensure third-party payment for services rendered. Written by the leading outcome assessment authorities, Essentials of Outcome Assessment offers expert instruction in selecting the appropriate instrument and the training needed to use it.

As part of the Essentials of Mental Health Practice series, this book provides the information mental health professionals need to practice knowledgeably, efficiently, and ethically in today’s behavioral health environment. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as "Test Yourself" questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered.

Other titles in the Essentials of Mental Health Practice series:

Essentials of Interviewing
Essentials of Treatment Planning

For a complete list of books in our Essentials of Mental Health Practice series, visit us on the Web at www.wiley.com/go/essentialsmhp

This book covers different topics on optimal design and operations with particular emphasis on chemical engineering applications. A wide range of optimizations methods -- deterministic, stochastic, global and hybrid -- are considered. Containing papers presented at the bilateral workshop by British and Lithuanian scientists, the book brings together researchers' contributions from different fields -- chemical engineering including reaction and separation processes, food and biological production, as well as business cycle optimization, bankruptcy, protein analysis and bioinformatics.