Shrouded in secrecy on the peak of Mount K2, commonly known as the Savage Mountain, there is a concealed ashram where the custodians of a rare Vital Knowledge dwell. The mastery of this Vital Knowledge bestows immortality and unparalleled cosmic power called siddhi. Bubba, a sinister master tantric, has partly accessed this Vital Knowledge using treachery and attained certain siddhi. Asura, cosmic conquerors, who have been searching for the Vital Knowledge have detected Bubba's brazen use of siddhi. Eons ago, Asura had decimated Earth believing Earth to be the cradle of Vital Knowledge. Suspecting that Vital Knowledge could still be on Earth, Asura want to know how Bubba, an earthly being, attained siddhi and became a siddha. A pact is made between Bubba and Asura to hunt for the complete Vital Knowledge on Earth once again. Earth is in abysmal danger. To avert the looming disaster, a young American woman Gerua is chosen by the custodians to receive Vital Knowledge and partake in an ancient prophecy. Gerua, along with her five-year-old son Danta, must find a cosmic shape-shifting gate that traverses space and time. If they are successful in finding the gate, Danta may become a super siddha and be able to protect Earth as well as the Vital Knowledge. Gerua does not know what this gate looks like or where it is going to be. Meanwhile Bubba, who suspects Gerua knows the hiding place of the Vital Knowledge, has unleashed his uncanny army upon Gerua and Danta in a ploy to procure the complete Vital Knowledge. Bubba's army, unlike any other to have walked Earth before, threatens to frustrate any attempts to find the gate and capture Gerua and Danta. Beguiling creatures, ascetic warriors, and immortals join Gerua and Danta on their perilous quest. Together they must tackle Bubba's demonic ire, confront his army, and find the gate.

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is an environment-friendly pest control method that fits into area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes. This book describes the principles and practice of SIT, frankly evaluating its strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures. SIT is useful against pests that have considerable impact on plant, animal and human health, and criteria are provided to guide in the selection of pests appropriate for SIT.

Calculus with Vectors grew out of a strong need for a beginning calculus textbook for undergraduates who intend to pursue careers in STEM fields. The approach introduces vector-valued functions from the start, emphasizing the connections between one-variable and multi-variable calculus. The text includes early vectors and early transcendentals and includes a rigorous but informal approach to vectors. Examples and focused applications are well presented along with an abundance of motivating exercises. The approaches taken to topics such as the derivation of the derivatives of sine and cosine, the approach to limits and the use of "tables" of integration have been modified from the standards seen in other textbooks in order to maximize the ease with which students may comprehend the material. Additionally, the material presented is intentionally non-specific to any software or hardware platform in order to accommodate the wide variety and rapid evolution of tools used. Technology is referenced in the text and is required for a good number of problems.

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is an environment-friendly method of pest control that integrates well into area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes. This book takes a generic, thematic, comprehensive, and global approach in describing the principles and practice of the SIT. The strengths and weaknesses, and successes and failures, of the SIT are evaluated openly and fairly from a scientific perspective. The SIT is applicable to some major pests of plant-, animal-, and human-health importance, and criteria are provided to guide in the selection of pests appropriate for the SIT. In the second edition, all aspects of the SIT have been updated and the content considerably expanded. A great variety of subjects is covered, from the history of the SIT to improved prospects for its future application. The major chapters discuss the principles and technical components of applying sterile insects. The four main strategic options in using the SIT — suppression, containment, prevention, and eradication — with examples of each option are described in detail. Other chapters deal with supportive technologies, economic, environmental, and management considerations, and the socio-economic impact of AW-IPM programmes that integrate the SIT. In addition, this second edition includes six new chapters covering the latest developments in the technology: managing pathogens in insect mass-rearing, using symbionts and modern molecular technologies in support of the SIT, applying post-factory nutritional, hormonal, and semiochemical treatments, applying the SIT to eradicate outbreaks of invasive pests, and using the SIT against mosquito vectors of disease. This book will be useful reading for students in animal-, human-, and plant-health courses. The in-depth reviews of all aspects of the SIT and its integration into AW-IPM programmes, complete with extensive lists of scientific references, will be of great value to researchers, teachers, animal-, human-, and plant-health practitioners, and policy makers.