While most books approach power electronics and renewable energy as two separate subjects, Power Electronics for Renewable and Distributed Energy Systems takes an integrative approach; discussing power electronic converters topologies, controls and integration that are specific to the renewable and distributed energy system applications. An overview of power electronic technologies is followed by the introduction of various renewable and distributed energy resources that includes photovoltaics, wind, small hydroelectric, fuel cells, microturbines and variable speed generation. Energy storage systems such as battery and fast response storage systems are discussed along with application-specific examples. After setting forth the fundamentals, the chapters focus on more complex topics such as modular power electronics, microgrids and smart grids for integrating renewable and distributed energy. Emerging topics such as advanced electric vehicles and distributed control paradigm for power system control are discussed in the last two chapters. With contributions from subject matter experts, the diagrams and detailed examples provided in each chapter make Power Electronics for Renewable and Distributed Energy Systems a sourcebook for electrical engineers and consultants working to deploy various renewable and distributed energy systems and can serve as a comprehensive guide for the upper-level undergraduates and graduate students across the globe.

Focusing on shocks modeling, burn-in and heterogeneous populations, Stochastic Modeling for Reliability naturally combines these three topics in the unified stochastic framework and presents numerous practical examples that illustrate recent theoretical findings of the authors. The populations of manufactured items in industry are usually heterogeneous. However, the conventional reliability analysis is performed under the implicit assumption of homogeneity, which can result in distortion of the corresponding reliability indices and various misconceptions. Stochastic Modeling for Reliability fills this gap and presents the basics and further developments of reliability theory for heterogeneous populations. Specifically, the authors consider burn-in as a method of elimination of 'weak' items from heterogeneous populations. The real life objects are operating in a changing environment. One of the ways to model an impact of this environment is via the external shocks occurring in accordance with some stochastic point processes. The basic theory for Poisson shock processes is developed and also shocks as a method of burn-in and of the environmental stress screening for manufactured items are considered. Stochastic Modeling for Reliability introduces and explores the concept of burn-in in heterogeneous populations and its recent development, providing a sound reference for reliability engineers, applied mathematicians, product managers and manufacturers alike.

Translated by Christina E. Kramer Gavdos: a remote island south of Crete, the southernmost point of Europe, surrounded by an endless expanse of sea. To Oksana, who has come from Ukraine with her friends to recover from illness in the aftermath of Chernobyl, it seems like a dream to live in a blue-and-white house with a lemon tree. To Penelope, a Greek woman who was married off to an unsuitable man by nuns from the convent where she spent her teenage years, it is a kind of prison. Their two narratives, interwoven with other stories - of the other women of the sparse community, of their own past lives and loves - are skilfully combined with themes of otherness and the notions of 'foreign' and 'barbaric' in this poetic and timely short novel by acclaimed Macedonian writer Petar Andonovski, winner of the European Union Prize for Literature. Translated from Macedonian

Maschinendynamik ist die Lehre der Schwingungen von Maschinen. Ihre Bedeu- tung hat im Lauf der Entwicklung des Maschinenbaus aus verschiedenen Grunden standig zugenommen. Die Maschinen sollen mit geringem Materialaufwand viel leisten, sie sollen sicher genug funktionieren, ihre Sicherheit solI aber auch nicht unvernunftig groB sein und ihre Lebensdauer soIl lang sein. Um aIle diese Forde- rungen erfiillen zu k6nnen, sind unter anderem gute Kenntnisse der dynamischen Vorgange erforderlich. Die Kenntnisse wurden besonders in den letzten Jahren durch zahlreiche Ver6ffentIichungen vermehrt. Die groBe Zahl dieser Ver6ffent- lichungen und deren verschiedenartige Darstellung machen es jedoch oft selbst dem Fachmann schwer, das Wesentliche zu erkennen und praktisch zu verwerten. Mit dem vorliegenden Buch m6chte ich hierzu eine Hilfe geben. Das Buch ist in erster Linie fUr den Praktiker bzw. dessen Ausbildung ge- schrieben. Dabei wurde vorausgesetzt, daB er Kenntnisse in Technischer Mechanik und Mathematik hat, wie sie an einer Technischen Hochschule vermittelt werden. Wahrend der Praktiker fruher alles selbst rechnen und die Rechenmethoden bis ins einzelne kennen muBte, hat sich seine Tatigkeit mit der Verfugbarkeit von leistungsfahigen Computern und von Rechenprogrammen entscheidend geandert.

Since the September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United States has been at war with Al-Qaida. Over the past 10 years, counterterrorism efforts have disrupted its main training facilities and eliminated much of the core leadership structure, including the mastermind Usama Bin Ladin. Despite this, Al-Qaida has proved resilient. While the core leadership has been compromised, regional Al-Qaida offshoots and affiliated Islamist terrorist groups have formed, developed, and become prominent in their own right. To aid in examining and explaining Al-Qaida's trajectory, the Minerva Initiative at Marine Corps University hosted a conference in the spring of 2011, just days before Bin Ladin's demise. The panels at this conference addressed diverse issues such as Al-Qaida's overarching strategy; the degree of control that central Al-Qaida leadership maintains over regional franchises; and the strategies, tactics, successes, and failures in each theater of operation. The resulting papers in Al-Qaida after Ten Years of War contribute to the ongoing and ever-evolving net assessment of Al-Qaida and its future prospects, and they help inform the crafting of a war termination phase with Al-Qaida.

Since the September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United States has been at war with Al-Qaida. Over the past 10 years, counterterrorism efforts have disrupted its main training facilities and eliminated much of the core leadership structure, including the mastermind Usama Bin Ladin. Despite this, Al-Qaida has proved resilient. While the core leadership has been compromised, regional Al-Qaida offshoots and affiliated Islamist terrorist groups have formed, developed, and become prominent in their own right. To aid in examining and explaining Al-Qaida's trajectory, the Minerva Initiative at Marine Corps University hosted a conference in the spring of 2011, just days before Bin Ladin's demise. The panels at this conference addressed diverse issues such as Al-Qaida's overarching strategy; the degree of control that central Al-Qaida leadership maintains over regional franchises; and the strategies, tactics, successes, and failures in each theater of operation. The resulting papers in Al-Qaida after Ten Years of War contribute to the ongoing and ever-evolving net assessment of Al-Qaida and its future prospects, and they help inform the crafting of a war termination phase with Al-Qaida.

The award-winning international sensation that poses the question: Was Sigmund Freud responsible for the death of his sister in a Nazi concentration camp?
"The boy in her memories who strokes her with the apple, who whispers to her the fairy tale, who gives her the knife, is her brother Sigmund."
Vienna, 1938: With the Nazis closing in, Sigmund Freud is granted an exit visa and allowed to list the names of people to take with him. He lists his doctor and maids, his dog, and his wife's sister, but not any of his own sisters. The four Freud sisters are shuttled to the Terezin concentration camp, while their brother lives out his last days in London.
Based on a true story, this searing novel gives haunting voice to Freud's sister Adolfina--"the sweetest and best of my sisters"--a gifted, sensitive woman who was spurned by her mother and never married. A witness to her brother's genius and to the cultural and artistic splendor of Vienna in the early twentieth century, she aspired to a life few women of her time could attain.
From Adolfina's closeness with her brother in childhood, to her love for a fellow student, to her time with Gustav Klimt's sister in a Vienna psychiatric hospital, to her dream of one day living in Venice and having a family, "Freud's Sister" imagines with astonishing insight and deep feeling the life of a woman lost to the shadows of history.

It started with a simple bet shortly after I became a widow left with nine children to raise. Leafing through a National Geographic, losing myself in the world of possibilities, I'd often comment, "Maybe someday we'll visit there." (Fill in the blank: Holland, Ireland, France, Austria, whatever the magazine was serving up as country du jour in any edition. I wasn't fussy.) Fields of tulips with a windmill in the background whispered Holland was calling, men and boys bedecked in lederhosen and Tyrolean hats were equally fascinating.
Anne, sixteen, threw down the gauntlet with, "We'll never go to Europe. You just talk about it whenever you read an article about it."
"Want to bet?" I challenged.
We agreed on five dollars to be paid to me on the plane as soon as we were airborne. The rest, as they say, is history. As we wended our way merrily through most of the trip, I exulted in having won the bet, but on other occasions, such as going over the Alps by mistake, I wished I had let her win the five bucks.

Here's the first complete, definitive account of the career, music, and legacy of Jimi Hendrix, based entirely on first-person recollections and new, exclusive interviews with musicians and key figures in the Hendrix inner circle. Authors John McDermott and Eddie Kramer (Jimi's longtime producer) take readers inside the studio and on tour to reveal the creative process of a true rock pioneer. Two 8-page inserts.

Macedonian, the official language of the Republic of Macedonia, is spoken by two and a half million people in the Balkans, North America, Australia, and other emigre communities around the world. Christina E. Kramer's award-winning textbook provides a basic introduction to the language. Students will learn to speak, read, write, and understand Macedonian while discussing family, work, recreation, music, food, health, housing, travel, and other topics.
Intended to cover one year of intensive study, this third edition updates the vocabulary, adds material to help students appreciate the underlying structure of the language, and offers a wide variety of new, proficiency-based readings and exercises to boost knowledge of Macedonian history, culture, literature, folklore, and traditions.
Winner, Best Contribution to Language Pedagogy, American Association of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages

One key factor that emerged from the various presentations was the sheer variety of issues, leaderships, local security environments, and prospects for the local gorups that are affiliated with Al-Qaida in some way. Other key judgments are also revealed including that Al-Qaida continues to harbor implacable hostility toward the international system, the United States, Israel, and many local governments.
Each presentation by the various contributors are represented as separate essays within this text.
Regional and territorial maps are interspersed throughout the book to showcase key areas to the group. Some may find interest in the metrics set by Al-Qaida as well as the Goods and Services Exchanged Between Al-Qaida and its partners that are showcased through charts and tables.