The handbook has been composed on the basis of processing, systematization and classification of the results of a great number of investigations published at different time. The essential part of the book is the outcome of investigations carried out by the author. The present edition of this handbook should assist in increasing the quality and efficiency of the design and usage of indutrial power engineering and other constructions and also of the devices and apparatus through which liquids and gases move.

'The Road to Results: Designing and Conducting Effective Development Evaluations' presents concepts and procedures for evaluation in a development context. It provides procedures and examples on how to set up a monitoring and evaluation system, how to conduct participatory evaluations and do social mapping, and how to construct a "rigorous" quasi-experimental design to answer an impact question. The text begins with the context of development evaluation and how it arrived where it is today. It then discusses current issues driving development evaluation, such as the Millennium Development Goals and the move from simple project evaluations to the broader understandings of complex evaluations. The topics of implementing 'Results-based Measurement and Evaluation' and constructing a 'Theory of Change' are emphasized throughout the text. Next, the authors take the reader down 'the road to results, ' presenting procedures for evaluating projects, programs, and policies by using a 'Design Matrix' to help map the process. This road includes: determining the overall approach, formulating questions, selecting designs, developing data collection instruments, choosing a sampling strategy, and planning data analysis for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method evaluations. The book also includes discussions on conducting complex evaluations, how to manage evaluations, how to present results, and ethical behavior--including principles, standards, and guidelines. The final chapter discusses the future of development evaluation. This comprehensive text is an essential tool for those involved in development evaluation.

The extensively revised 8th edition thoroughly involves readers with Financial Statements by using real-world examples. The emphasis is on the analysis and interpretation of the end result of financial reporting and financial statements.

Are current testing practices consistent with the goals of the reform movement in school mathematics? If not, what are the alternatives? How can authentic performance in mathematics be assessed? These and similar questions about tests and their uses have forced those advocating change to examine the way in which mathematical performance data is gathered and used in American schools. This book provides recent views on the issues surrounding mathematics tests, such as the need for valid performance data, the implications of the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics for test development, the identification of valid items and tests in terms of the Standards, the procedures now being used to construct a sample of state assessment tests, gender differences in test taking, and methods of reporting student achievement.

As the nation's economic activities, security concerns, and stewardship of natural resources become increasingly complex and globally interrelated, they become ever more sensitive to adverse impacts from weather, climate, and other natural phenomena. For several decades, forecasts with lead times of a few days for weather and other environmental phenomena have yielded valuable information to improve decision-making across all sectors of society. Developing the capability to forecast environmental conditions and disruptive events several weeks and months in advance could dramatically increase the value and benefit of environmental predictions, saving lives, protecting property, increasing economic vitality, protecting the environment, and informing policy choices. Over the past decade, the ability to forecast weather and climate conditions on subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) timescales, i.e., two to fifty-two weeks in advance, has improved substantially. Although significant progress has been made, much work remains to make S2S predictions skillful enough, as well as optimally tailored and communicated, to enable widespread use. Next Generation Earth System Predictions presents a ten-year U.S. research agenda that increases the nation's S2S research and modeling capability, advances S2S forecasting, and aids in decision making at medium and extended lead times.