This book is a simple and didactic account of the developments and practical applications of predictive, adaptive predictive, and optimized adaptive control from a perspective of stability, including the latest methodology of adaptive predictive expert (ADEX) control. ADEX Optimized Adaptive Control Systems is divided into six parts, with exercises and real-time simulations provided for the reader as appropriate. The text begins with the conceptual and intuitive knowledge of the technology and derives the stability conditions to be verified by the driver block and the adaptive mechanism of the optimized adaptive controller to guaranty the desired control performance. The second and third parts present strategic considerations of predictive control and related adaptive systems necessary for the proper design of driver block and adaptive mechanism and thence their technical realization. The authors then proceed to detail the stability theory that supports predictive, adaptive predictive and optimized adaptive control methodologies. Benchmark applications of these methodologies (distillation column and pulp-factory bleaching plant) are treated next with a focus on practical implementation issues. The final part of the book describes ADEX platforms and illustrates their use in the design and implementation of optimized adaptive control systems to three different challenging-to-control industrial processes: * waste-water treatment;* sulfur recovery; and* temperature control of superheated steam in coal-fired power generation. The presentation is completed by a number of appendices containing technical background associated with the main text including a manual for the ADEX COP platform developed by the first author to exploit the capabilities of adaptive predictive control in real plants. ADEX Optimized Adaptive Control Systems provides practicing process control engineers with a multivariable optimal control solution which is adaptive and resistant to perturbation and the effects of noise. Its pedagogical features also facilitate its use as a teaching tool for formal university and Internet-based open-education-type graduate courses in practical optimal adaptive control and for self-study.

Hilarious and heartwarming dog stories from nine renowned authors:
- Ann M. Martin
- Jon Muth
- Mark Teague
- Margarita Engle
- Thacher Hurd
- Valerie Hobbs
- Matt de la Pena
- Pam Munoz Ryan
- Wendy Orr For young readers who have ever wanted, known or loved a dog, the short stories in this anthology evoke the full spectrum of endearing doggy traits With stories ordered from easiest to most difficult to read, "Because of Shoe and Other Dog Stories "is a book for young readers of varying levels to enjoy.

A Baby-sitters Club graphic novel adapted by National Book Award longlister and Eisner-nominated cartoonist Ellen T. Crenshaw!

Stacey is so excited! Her friends from The Baby-sitters Club are coming to New York City for a long weekend. It's going to be perfect -- a party and a sleepover on Friday night, a big baby-sitting job on Saturday, and lots of sightseeing throughout.

But it turns out that the baby-sitters are way out of place in the big city. Mary Anne sounds like a walking guidebook, Dawn is afraid of everything, Kristy can't keep her mouth shut, Claudia is jealous of Laine -- Stacey's New York best friend -- and Mallory and Jessi feel intimidated by Stacey's classmates. With ten kids to baby-sit and a full schedule of activities, how will Stacey keep the weekend from becoming a complete disaster?

A graphic novel adapted and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier, the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of Smile! When The Baby-sitters Club gets into a huge fight, Mary Anne is left to her own devices. She has to eat alone in the school cafeteria, figure out how to make new friends, and deal with her overprotective father. But the worst happens when she finds herself in a baby-sitting emergency and can't turn to her friends for help. Will Mary Anne solve her problems and save The Baby-sitters Club from falling apart?

From the Dust of Death is a historical novel based on many actual events that took place after the Civil War during the years of the Southern Convict Lease System. The reader will follow the struggle and survival of heroine Grace Lively, a Southern lady who finds herself enmeshed in the evil society of the Southern Convict Lease System. Grace fights to stay alive in the lucrative system of leasing hundreds of prisoners to companies for pennies a day, an unforgiving system that became the primary penal caretaker following the war. The prisons were unclean and housed both male and female prisoners. Children were born and had to endure, along with adults, extreme heat and cold, starvation, and cruel punishment, which often resulted in death. This story will capture the attention of both young and older readers as they follow the chronicles of the heroine's journey from the time period 1865 to 1877. The story moves from the rice fields of Atlanta to the cotton fields of Mississippi to the coal mines of Tennessee. The heroine is joined in the struggle by a Northern Union officer she met for a brief period during the war. Finding each other again, years later, their work together becomes a journey to abolish the cruel system.

A brand-new Baby-sitters Club graphic novel adapted by Eisner-nominated artist Chan Chau! Jessi recently moved to Stoneybrook and is one of the newest members of The Baby-sitters Club. She's getting ready to start regularly sitting for the BSC's newest charge, Matt Braddock. Matt has been Deaf since birth and uses sign language to communicate, so Jessi has to use it, too. It's a secret language! Soon all the neighborhood kids want to learn how to sign, which keeps the BSC busy. Jessi's the busiest of all - she's preparing for her dance school's big show, plus working on another secret, just for Matt. Will Jessi be able to keep the secret and pull off her performance? a brand-new story from the original author the series that has been entertaining children for generations full-colour graphic novel

Now a major Netflix series! Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey are best friends and founding members of THE BABYSITTERS CLUB. Whatever comes up cranky toddlers, huge dogs, scary neighbours, prank calls you can count on them to save the day. Stacey McGill is moving back to New York! That means no more Stoneybrook Middle School, no more Charlotte Johanssen, and worst of all... No more Babysitters Club. Stacey's friends are crushed when they hear that Stacey's moving, especially Claudia. Stacey is her best friend. What kind of going-away present is good enough for someone so special? And how will the BSC go on without Stacey? BOOKS IN THE SERIES Kristy's Great Idea (book 1) Truth About Stacey (book 2) Mary Anne Saves the Day (book 3) Claudia and Mean Janine (book 4) Dawn and the Impossible Three (book 5) Kristy's Big Day (book 6) Boy-Crazy Stacey (book 7) Logan Likes Mary Anne (book 8) Claudia and the New Girl (book 9) Kristy and the Snobs (book 10) Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye (book 11)

Have you ever started to make a dessert only to find, somewhere in the fine print, a hidden ingredient which is not in your spice cupboard? I can't count the number of times this scenario has happened to me. I get everything ready to create something, and find another ingredient which I don't have, try to substitute, and ruin the dish. With that in mind, I created a "Thumbnail" shopping list which I guarantee has all of the ingredients you will need for the dessert you are going to make, so you can always be prepared when baking with these recipes. Another frustration I have, is being instructed to turn to another page to complete the dessert I am working on. There I am, with my fingers covered with some unknown ingredient, flipping through the cookbook, feeling like Hansel and Gretel depositing crumbs which are destined to stick to the pages being turned, instead of staying in the bowl to become part of the tasty delicacy. Hence, complete recipes I organized everything onto one page for simplicity. You may find a filling in the filling section, but you will also find that filling on the same page when it is used in a specific dessert. With everyone being more aware of healthy eating habits, I added nutritional facts about each recipe. With this cookbook, you can still enjoy that "home cooking" and know exactly what you are adding to your diet.

A graphic novel adapted and illustrated by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Gale Galligan! Kristy's mom is getting married, and Kristy is going to be a bridesmaid! The only problem? Fourteen kids are coming to town for the wedding. Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey, Dawn, and Mallory think they can handle it, but that's before they spend a week changing diapers, stopping arguments, solving mix-ups, and planning activities. It's the biggest job the BSC has ever had, but they'll work together to make sure Kristy's big day is a success!

Now a major Netflix series! Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey are best friends and founding members of THE BABYSITTERS CLUB. Whatever comes up - cranky toddlers, huge dogs, scary neighbors, prank calls - you can count on them to save the day. Babysitting isn't always easy though, and neither is dealing with strict parents, new families, fashion emergencies, and mysterious secrets. But no matter what, the BSC have what they need most: friendship. Raina Telgemeier, using the signature style featured in her acclaimed graphic novels Smile and Sisters, perfectly captures all the drama and humor of the original novel! BOOKS IN THE SERIES Kristy's Great Idea (book 1) Truth About Stacey (book 2) Mary Anne Saves the Day (book 3) Claudia and Mean Janine (book 4) Dawn and the Impossible Three (book 5) Kristy's Big Day (book 6)

Now a major Netflix series! Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey are best friends and founding members of THE BABYSITTERS CLUB. Whatever comes up - cranky toddlers, huge dogs, scary neighbors, prank calls - you can count on them to save the day. It's the first day of a new school year, and while Mary Anne doesn't know what to expect from the eighth grade, she's looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. One thing she definitely doesn't expect is to meet Logan Bruno, who just moved to Stoneybrook! Logan has a dreamy southern accent, he's awfully cute... and he might be interested in joining the BSC. But the baby-sitters aren't sure if Logan would make a good club member, so they send him on a job with Mary Anne as a test. Logan and Mary Anne hit it off, but Mary Anne isn't sure of where their friendship could go. Life in the Baby-sitters Club has never been this complicated - or this fun! BOOKS IN THE SERIES Kristy's Great Idea (book 1) Truth About Stacey (book 2) Mary Anne Saves the Day (book 3) Claudia and Mean Janine (book 4) Dawn and the Impossible Three (book 5) Kristy's Big Day (book 6) Boy-Crazy Stacey (book 7) Logan Likes Mary Anne (book 8) Claudia and the New Girl (book 9)

This book presents a complete and coherent view of the subject of Common European Sales Law from a range of European perspectives. The book offers a comparison of the CESL with the CISG, as well as pre-existing instruments, including the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) and the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL). It analyses the process of enactment of CESL and its scope of application, covering areas such as the sale of goods, the supplying (licensing) of digital content, the supply of trade-related services, and consumer protection. It examines the design of the CESL bifurcating businesses into large and small-to-medium sized enterprises, and the providing of rules covering digital content and the supply of trade-related services. Lastly, it studies the field of application of the CESL combined with the already existing EU consumer protection laws, as well as nation-specific laws.

This book is a simple and didactic account of the developments and practical applications of predictive, adaptive predictive, and optimized adaptive control from a perspective of stability, including the latest methodology of adaptive predictive expert (ADEX) control. ADEX Optimized Adaptive Control Systems is divided into six parts, with exercises and real-time simulations provided for the reader as appropriate. The text begins with the conceptual and intuitive knowledge of the technology and derives the stability conditions to be verified by the driver block and the adaptive mechanism of the optimized adaptive controller to guaranty the desired control performance. The second and third parts present strategic considerations of predictive control and related adaptive systems necessary for the proper design of driver block and adaptive mechanism and thence their technical realization. The authors then proceed to detail the stability theory that supports predictive, adaptive predictive and optimized adaptive control methodologies. Benchmark applications of these methodologies (distillation column and pulp-factory bleaching plant) are treated next with a focus on practical implementation issues. The final part of the book describes ADEX platforms and illustrates their use in the design and implementation of optimized adaptive control systems to three different challenging-to-control industrial processes: waste-water treatment; sulfur recovery; and temperature control of superheated steam in coal-fired power generation. The presentation is completed by a number of appendices containing technical background associated with the main text including a manual for the ADEX COP platform developed by the first author to exploit the capabilities of adaptive predictive control in real plants. ADEX Optimized Adaptive Control Systems provides practicing process control engineers with a multivariable optimal control solution which is adaptive and resistant to perturbation and the effects of noise. Its pedagogical features also facilitate its use as a teaching tool for formal university and Internet-based open-education-type graduate courses in practical optimal adaptive control and for self-study.

Now a Netflix series! Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey are best friends and founding members of THE BABYSITTERS CLUB. Whatever comes up - cranky toddlers, huge dogs, scary neighbours, prank calls - you can count on them to save the day. Kristy's mum got remarried and their family moved to the ritzy neighbourhood across town. The other members of The Babysitters Club think it's a good opportunity to get some new business, but the kids who live nearby aren't very friendly. They criticise Kristy's clothes and make fun of the BSC. And, worst of all, they laugh at Louie, Kristy's pet collie, who's getting old and not feeling well. These kids are total snobs! But if anyone can put them in their place, it's The Babysitters Club! Full-colour graphic novel A new addition to the much loved series adapted by Eisner-nominated artist Chan Chau!

This book deals with macro and micro aspects of population change and their inter-face with socio-economic factors and impact. It examines theoretical notions and pursues their empirical manifestations and uses multidisciplinary approaches to population change and diversity. It investigates the organic nature of the relationships between socio-economic factors and population change and the feedback loops that affect socio-economic organisation and behaviour. The book brings together material often scattered in a number of sources and disciplines that helps to understand population change and their socio-economic aspects. In addition to dealing with the more conventional factors in population dynamics in the form of fertility, mortality and migration, the book examines socio-economic forces that influence them. It discusses population evolving attributes that affect population characteristics and social and behaviour and impact on the environment. Further, it deals with social organisation and pathways that lead to different social and economic development and standards of living of diverse populations.

Global Women Leaders: Studies in Feminist Political Rhetoric demonstrates the ways in which women have used political rhetoric and political discourse to provide leadership, or assert their right to leadership, on a global level. This collection fits into the robust research area of international political women and their use of language in gaining and maintaining political power. It casts a wider net in terms of discussing women's efforts to assert and preserve their roles of authority, particularly when their audiences may perceive their authority as illegitimate due to gender. Chapters dedicated to Elizabeth II and Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser discuss the more traditional ways in which women leaders use language to construct political power. Other chapters focus on women who serve as political activists, either individually or as part of a group, including Aasma Mahfouz of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and the women who help direct United Nations policy through their speeches in the General Assembly. Global Women Leaders will appeal to scholars of political communication and international rhetoric.

This book provides an up-to-date overview of demographic analysis and methods, including recent developments in demography. Concepts and methods, from the nature of demographic information through data collection and the basics of statistical measures and on to demographic analysis itself are succinctly explained. Measures and analyses of fertility, mortality, life tables, migration and demographic events such as marriage, education and labour force are described while later chapters cover multiple decrement tables, population projections, the importance of testing and smoothing demographic data, the stable population model and demographic software. An emphasis on practical aspects and the use of real-life examples based on data from around the globe make this book accessible, whilst comprehensive references and links to data and other resources on the internet help readers to explore further. The text is concise and well written, making it ideally suited to a wider audience from students to academics and teachers. Students of demography, geography, sociology, economics, as well as professionals, academics and students of marketing, human resource management, and public health who have an interest in population issues will all find this book useful.

A graphic novel adapted and illustrated by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Gale Galligan! Stacey and Mary Anne are baby-sitting for the Pike family for two weeks at the New Jersey shore. Things are great in Sea City: There's a gorgeous house right on the beach, a boardwalk, plenty of sun and sand... and the cutest boy Stacey has ever seen!Mary Anne thinks that Stacey should leave Scott alone and focus on the Pike kids, but Stacey's in love. Looking for reasons to hang around his lifeguard stand takes up all her time, which means Mary Anne has to do the job of two baby-sitters! How can she tell Stacey that Scott just isn't interested without ruining their friendship and breaking Stacey's heart?