Rather than offering variations in "world view" as evidence for linguistic relativity, this book views language related differences in terms of the facility with which information is processed. Distinctive perceptual, memory, and neurolinguistic aspects of the Chinese language are discussed, as is the cognitive style of the Chinese people. Chinese orthography and other features of morphology and syntax are examined in relation to both bottom-up and top-down cognitive processes. While providing an extensive review of the experimental literature published in English on the Chinese language, this volume also offers a significant sample of the literature originally published in Chinese.
Lakes and reservoirs hold about 90% of the world's surface fresh water, but overuse, water withdrawal and pollution of these bodies puts some one billion people at risk. The Encyclopedia of Lakes and Reservoirs reviews the physical, chemical and ecological characteristics of lakes and reservoirs, and describes their uses and environmental state trends in different parts of the world. Superbly illustrated throughout, it includes some 200 entries in a range of topics, including acidification, artificialisation, canals, climate change effects, dams, dew ponds, drainage, eutrofication, evaporation, fisheries, hydro-electric power, nutrients, organic pollution, paleolimnology, reservoir capacities and depths, sedimentation, water resources and more.
In this first systematic study of the legal problems relating to the convention clause, Russell Caplan shows that repeated constitutional crises have given rise to state drives for a national convention nearly every twenty years since the Constitution was enacted. He deftly examines the politics of constitutional brinksmanship between Congress and the states to reveal the ongoing tension between state and federal rights and constitutional tradition and reform.
Dams and Earthquakes deals with the association of earthquakes and large artificial lakes, particularly on the part that pore pressure plays in inducing earthquakes. The book also contains methods for recording seismic activity, before, during, and after the filling of reservoir dams through the installation of a network of portable seismographs. The text assesses the parameters and macroseismic effects of the Koyna earthquake in India in December 1967, as well as the instrumental and macroseismic data showing that the Koyna earthquake is a multiple seismic event. The book investigates the geology, hydrology, and seismicity of seismic reservoir sites, including three cases of induced seismicity after fluid injections in deep wells. A possible correlation between the reservoir level or volume of the injected fluid and the tremor frequency exists. The characteristic seismic features of reservoir associated earthquakes can reflect changes in the mechanical properties of rock masses near the reservoirs. The book also investigates the part played by increased pore-fluid pressures in triggering the earthquakes at Denver, Rangely, Kariba, Kremasta and Koyna. The UNESCO Working Group on "Seismic Phenomena Associated with Large Reservoirs" recommends the adoption of a two-phase planning in instrumental studies and surveys at sites to be used for large reservoirs. The book can be beneficial for meteorologists, environmentalists, geologists, civil engineers, structural engineers, or for officers of river and lake authorities.
The coastal zone is one of the most dynamic environments on our planet and is much affected by global change, especially sea-level rise. Coastal environments harbour valuable ecosystems, but they are also hugely important from a societal point of view. This book, which draws on the expertise of 21 leading international coastal scientists, represents an up-to-date account of coastal environments and past, present and future impacts of global change. The first chapter of the book outlines key principles that underpin coastal systems and their behaviour. This is followed by a discussion of key processes, including sea level change, sedimentation, storms, waves and tides, that drive coastal change. The main part of the book consists of a discussion of the main coastal environments (beaches, dunes, barriers, salt marshes, tidal flats, estuaries, coral reefs, deltas, rocky and glaciated coasts and coastal groundwater), and how these are affected by global change. The final chapter highlights strategies for coping with coastal change. Readership: final year undergraduate and postgraduate-level students on coastal courses in a wide range subjects, including geography, environmental management, geology, oceanography and coastal/civil engineering. The book will also be a valuable resource for researchers and applied scientists dealing with coastal environments. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/masselink/coastal
A large number of boreal lakes are ice-covered in winter. However, research and literature of these lakes concerns by far only the open water season. In particular, no textbook on physics of ice-covered lakes exists, and now it would be a proper time to prepare such. Winter limnology has become an increasing active field of research recently. A series of winter limnology symposia was started in 2008 in Finland with nearly 100 participants. The second symposium was held in Berlin in 2010 and the third one is coming in 2012 in Norway. Winter limnologists need strongly a textbook on lake ice physics since the ice acts as their boundary condition.
Frozen Ground Engineering first introduces the reader to the frozen environment and the behavior of frozen soil as an engineering material. In subsequent chapters this information is used in the analysis and design of ground support systems, foundations, and embankments. These and other topics make this book suitable for use by civil engineering students in a one-semester course on frozen ground engineering at the senior or first-year-graduate level. Students are assumed to have a working knowledge of undergraduate mechanics (statics and mechanics of materials) and geotechnical engineering (usual two-course sequence). A knowledge of basic geology would be helpful but is not essential. This book will also be useful to advanced students in other disciplines and to engineers who desire an introduction to frozen ground engineering or references to selected technical publications in the field. BACKGROUND Frozen ground engineering has developed rapidly in the past several decades under the pressure of necessity. As practical problems involving frozen soils broadened in scope, the inadequacy of earlier methods for coping became increasingly apparent. The application of ground freezing to geotechnical projects throughout the world continues to grow as significant advances have been made in ground freezing technology. Freezing is a useful and versatile technique for temporary earth support, groundwater control in difficult soil or rock strata, and the formation of subsurface containment barriers suitable for use in groundwater remediation projects.
Describes types of mind control such as cult conversion, hypnosis, prefrontal lobotomies, brainwashing, and electric shock treatment, some of which are extremely controversial, especially when applied against one's will.
Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman is a personal and in depth overview of the all time great music maestro SD Burman. Hardly a situation goes by when one does not see a reference to "SDB" or "SD Burman" or "Sachin Karta" when Hindi film music or modern Bengali songs are discussed. He was part of the DNA of these genres. What began in the early thirties of the last century continues to draw attention even today as his music had an allure and flavour that remains unprecedented. He was an institution ... as a composer, as a singer. Here was a master who also drew out the best from his singers, lyricists and instrumentalists and helped them excel in their craft. Dhaka-based author HQ Chowdhury, offers a full fledged story of the composer-singer SD Burman covering his successes, failures, idiosyncrasies and what peers thought of him. A Special Foreword written by Santoor maestro Padma Vibhushan Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and an Introduction by Film Music Historian Manek Premchand lend valuable added perspectives to the remarkable personality and genius of SD Burman. Painstakingly meticulous and accurate, this biography of music maestro SD Burman is written with incredible thoroughness by HQ Chowdhury. It chronicles his family background, childhood, early days in Comilla and Calcutta, his amazing passion for music of the rustic hinterland and his rigorous training under his gurus. His work in the world of Hindi film music, his association with his singers, lyricists, fellow composers and stars and filmmakers is detailed with indepth research, archival material and the author's own personal interactions with the people who worked with the maestro. In the world of Hindi film music, he was popularly known as the music composer SD Burman or Burman Dada. But in West Bengal and Bangladesh he was an all-time great singer, Sachin Karta or Sachindev. The book traverses the two musical worlds of Sachin Dev Burman - one as a composer and the other, as a singer - and makes it available in a language common to all. Burman Dada's thoughts and beliefs, successes and failures, his innocence and penchant for perfection, and his style of working - all come through in the detailed descriptions, facts, analyses, interviews and anecdotes, collected and written by HQ Chowdhury. The complete and detailed Discography lists all the songs Burman Dada has sung or given music for in Bengali and Hindi. Along with a collection of rare pictures this book will serve as a great resource of students of modern Bengali songs, Hindi film songs and vintage Bollywood films. About HQ Chowdhury HQ Chowdhury is a freelance writer on music and films. He first wrote in the late 1960s for the People, an English daily from Dhaka and then for a while in the early 1970s for Cine Advance, published from Kolkata and Mumbai. He is a recipient of the 2006 'Sachin Dev Burman Award' from the Government of Tripura, India. HQ Chowdhury is the CEO of Plasma Plus, an application laboratory of science and technology of which he is also the founder. He was listed in the Marquis WHO's WHO in the World of Professionals from 1997 to 2002.
