This book provides a holistic, interdisciplinary overview of offshore wind energy, and is a must-read for advanced researchers. Topics, from the design and analysis of future turbines, to the decommissioning of wind farms, are covered. The scope of the work ranges from analytical, numerical and experimental advancements in structural and fluid mechanics, to novel developments in risk, safety & reliability engineering for offshore wind.The core objective of the current work is to make offshore wind energy more competitive, by improving the reliability, and operations and maintenance (O&M) strategies of wind turbines. The research was carried out under the auspices of the EU-funded project, MARE-WINT. The project provided a unique opportunity for a group of researchers to work closely together, undergo multidisciplinary doctoral training, and conduct research in the area of offshore wind energy generation. Contributions from expert, external authors are also included, and the complete work seeks to bridge the gap between research and a rapidly-evolving industry.

This text provides a comprehensive treatment of virtual world design from one of its pioneers. It covers everything from MUDs to MOOs to MMORPGs, from text-based to graphical VWs.

Evidence of violence and hatred worldwide - from the bombing of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 to the war in Iraq to the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah - call special attention to the critical importance of empathy in human affairs. Only when we begin to understand more fully the workings of empathy do we begin to be able to make sense of what happens to humans on a global scale. In Empathy in a Global World, Carolyn Calloway-Thomas examines the nature and zones of empathy, exploring how an understanding of empathy shapes global talk and action. This text presents the foundations of empathy, the historical beginnings of empathy, and the global practices of empathy, all with an eye toward understanding how and why this important concept matters. This book explores how empathetic literacy is crucial in addressing intercultural issues; how it is needed in decision making; how it is communicated via the media; and how it affects global issues such as poverty and environmental diasters. Second, the book goes beyond existing knowledge on empathy and extends into the realms of media, global class issues, the world of NGOs, and natural disasters. As such, the book takes readers on a tour of empathys nature, uses, practices and potentials in this manner. In this regard, the proposed book breaks new and compelling ground.Third, in its scope, the book exploits the disciplines of communication, black studies, education, history, cultural studies, media, philanthropy, psychology, religious studies, and sociology to bring fresh insights into the discourse, dynamics, patterns, and practices of empathy.

Young Pinto has from his childhood been an out-of-the box thinker, finding solutions in his everyday surroundings to a myriad ancient global problems. A certain machine he invents in his childhood makes him a hero in his village but it's not sufficient to change the mindset of naysayers for Pinto to pursue his career in hardcore science. Pinto Has an Idea is the tale of Dr Pinto, a small-town boy, an IITian and a scientist working in MIT, who suddenly experiences a life-changing revelation in the early days of his research, throwing away his work on theoretical physics and setting out to solve the practical everyday problems of the world he lives in. Returning to his native India, he finds his noble quest beset by unexpected adversaries, obstacles and trials, but emerges triumphant from each battle. Pinto does not like to appear a romantic person, and keeps women at bay. But when Lavanya returns to haunt his life, and eventually shoe-horns him into marriage, he obligingly falls in love. Because Lavanya is not just a pretty face, she's his partner in research. And Pinto, a newbie in romance, discovers a whole new craze. But life takes directions never aimed for. Pinto is on the road to becoming rich and famous. He invents a mechanism to eradicate corruption in the land, and in that process moves towards politics. That impinges on the couple's relationship so severely that Lavanya disappears suddenly without telling Pinto. Why does she leave their child with Pinto? Will he lose his greatest 'idea', Lavanya, and thereby, himself? Sure, Pinto's ideas bring dramatic changes to society. But how much romance can a scientist handle as well? Rajeev Saxena, in his debut novel, shows you just how much.