A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR "[A] poignant addition to the literature of moneyed glamour and its inevitable tarnish and decay…like something out of Fitzgerald or Waugh."—The New Yorker A parable for the new age of inequality: part family history, part detective story, part history of a vanishing class, and a vividly compelling exploration of the degree to which an inheritance—financial, cultural, genetic—conspired in one person's self-destruction. Land, houses, and money tumbled from one generation to the next on the eight-hundred-acre estate built by Scott's investment banker great-grandfather on Philadelphia's Main Line. There was an obligation to protect it, a license to enjoy it, a duty to pass it on—but it was impossible to know in advance how all that extraordinary good fortune might influence the choices made over a lifetime. In this warmly felt tale of an American family's fortunes, journalist Janny Scott excavates the rarefied world that shaped her charming, unknowable father, Robert Montgomery Scott, and provides an incisive look at the weight of inheritance, the tenacity of addiction, and the power of buried secrets. Some beneficiaries flourished, like Scott's grandmother, Helen Hope Scott, a socialite and celebrated horsewoman said to have inspired Katherine Hepburn's character in the play and Academy Award-winning film The Philadelphia Story. For others, including the author's father, she concludes, the impact was more complex. Bringing her journalistic talents, light touch, and crystalline prose to this powerful story of a child's search to understand a parent's puzzling end, Scott also raises questions about our new Gilded Age. New fortunes are being amassed, new estates are being born. Does anyone wonder how it will all play out, one hundred years hence?

This handbook is a unique compendium of knowledge on all aspects of the physics of liquid crystals. In over 500 pages it provides detailed information on the physical properties of liquid crystals as well as the recent theories and results on phase transitions, defects and textures of different types of liquid crystals. An in-depth understanding of the physical fundamentals is a prerequisite for everyone working in the field of liquid crystal research. With this book the experts as well as graduate students entering the field get all the information they need.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) in the 1970s as a cooperative activity with the cruise ship industry. The program assists the cruise ship industry in fulfilling its responsibility for developing and implementing comprehensive sanitation programs to minimize the risk for acute gastroenteritis. Every vessel that has a foreign itinerary and carries 13 or more passengers is subject to twice-yearly inspections and, when necessary, re-inspection.

The Road to Oz is a complete retelling of how The Wizard of Oz was influenced and created, and attained its iconic status. The new volume by Jay Scarfone and William Stillman will reflect recent research and much more through newly discovered period interviews, media resources of the era, transcriptions and unique contemporary interviews with those who were there. Additionally, never-before-published imagery accompanies the text. In its truth and candor, this new historical contribution is ideal to tie-in with the 2018-19 80th anniversary of the 1939 movie. Tantalizing highlights of the text include: · A thorough synopsis of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and the script, inspired by the book, of the 1903 Broadway musical-comedy extravaganza. · An overview of the plots of prior silent film adaptations of Oz and how they influenced the M-G-M film. · An analysis of newly-discovered audio transcriptions of Wizard of Oz radio programs from 1931-32 and 1937-38—all of which were previously unknown. · A complete accounting of Sam Goldwyn’s proposed (and aborted) 1934 Technicolor musical version of Oz starring Eddie Cantor (including commentary from Cantor’s sole surviving child). · A thorough analysis of the October 10, 1938 M-G-M shooting script (provided by descendants of comedian and Cowardly Lion actor Bert Lahr) that predates the beginning of production by seventy-two hours. · Startling revelations about the operetta that seemingly inspired “Over the Rainbow.” · Judy Garland’s trials and tribulations with the studio, including the threat that M-G-M was grooming a sound-alike who tested for Oz. · The supporting player who was cast in two roles in Oz’s fantasy sequence—the second role revealed for the first time in Scarfone and Stillman’s text. · The Munchkin midgets’ pre-1939 Wizard of Oz connection. · Oz’s film editor with a direct connection to Walt Disney and Snow White. · Studio nepotism, favoritism and politics at the height of Hollywood’s golden age on the making of the world’s most famous film. “The Road to Oz not only delivers exciting, previously unpublished information and insight, but does so in an extremely well-cited format. This is absolutely a must-have for any Oz fan or film historian.” —Sean Barrett, theatrical/film producer and artistic director, Land of Oz, North Carolina “A new and wonderful book penned by the foremost Oz movie history authors. This is a must-read for all old and new Oz fans worldwide.” —Roger S. Baum, author of Dorothy of Oz (on which the film Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is based) and great-grandson of L. Frank Baum “Numerous books have celebrated the fan appeal of MGM’s Wizard of Oz, but there’s far more to this story than nostalgia. Scarfone and Stillman delve deep into the history of this landmark film, exploring its place in the pantheon of classic fantasy films, as well as fascinating details of production. The Road to Oz is an important addition to the film-history bookshelf.” —J.B. Kaufman, film historian and author of The Fairest One of All: The Making of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs “The Road to Oz is a gamechanger in the world of motion picture history books. Long considered the leading authorities on the making of The Wizard of Oz, Scarfone and Stillman have crafted decades of extensive research into a new and unparalleled historical recalling of the classic film.” —Randy L. Schmidt, editor of Judy Garland on Judy Garland: Interviews and Encounters and author of Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter

Advances in Robotics - Modeling, Control and Applications is suitable for advanced undergraduate students and postgraduate students. It takes a practical approach rather than a conceptual approach. It offers a truly reader-friendly way to get to the subject, providing a definitive guide in this vibrant and evolving discipline. This book is an invaluable companion for students from their first encounter with the subject to more advanced studies, while the high quality artworks are designed to present the key concepts with simplicity, clarity and consistency. There are totally 18 chapters in this book. Chapter 1 proposes a simple control system for a biped robot using nonlinear oscillators based on the physiological concept of central pattern generator and physiological evidence of phase resetting. Chapter 2 presents work that attempts to extract principles by which spiders and other species achieve these features. Chapter 3 proposes methods for a robot manipulator with a racket to do two kinds of ball juggling, the paddle juggling and the wall juggling, based on discrete control systems of states of the hit ball. Chapter 4 proposed a new control algorithm in a robot arm based on active tactile slippage sensation. Chapter 5 provides a look at some possibilities of modern voice analysis technologies in the field of ambient assisted living, which seems to be a promising application for robotic systems. Chapter 6 focuses on adaptive filtering techniques for acoustics application. Adaptive acoustic in an important topic for signal processing in robots since robot sound inputs are usually recollected through acoustic sensors. Chapter 7 aims at examining the method and equipment of preliminary-announcement of the upcoming operation of a mobile robot moving on a two-dimensional plane to those who are in the surroundings. Chapter 8 introduces two kinds of instruction learning systems for partner robots: (1) a hand image instruction learning system; and (2) three kinds of voice learning systems, using Kohonen's self-organizing map (SOM) and its variations such as Transient-SOM (T-SOM), Parameter-less SOM (PL-T-SOM) and Parameter-less Growing SOM (PL-G-SOM). Chapter 9 presents the study on throw-over movement informing a receiver of the object landing distance as an example of the informative motion for human synergetic robots. In Chapter 10, the author examines the application of a touch screen to an operational interface of a mobile robot remote operation system. Chapter 11 describes low processing approach for identification of obstacles in a robotic soccer team. Chapter 12 couples a general purpose stat/space representation with a reactive algorithm for mobile robot navigation In Chapter 13, the author designs an general-purposed affective behavior decision system based on linear dynamics to solve the limitation that affective model is difficult to be applied to various social robots without redesigning. Chapter 14 proposes a control mechanism based on multiple-criteria decision making for autonomous control of ambient environment. Chapter 15 proposes an information gathering support system in post-disaster environment by utilizing a robot sensor network in which a teleoperated mobile robot deploys wireless sensor nodes (SNs). Chapter 16 proposes fault accommodation procedure in discrete-event robots. Chapter 17 deals with application of robotic technology for performing risky tasks, mainly for de-mining operations. Finally, Chapter 18 briefly describes an application of robot in medial health.