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Lost in the Labyrinth of Life Throughout the history of chess, elite players have been studied, celebrated and adored. But there also been players, while perhaps not regarded as world-class competitors, who had a precious gift, but who did not know (or could not find) the way to success. They were lost in the labyrinth of difficulties that life always places before every human being. In the end, for various reasons, history forgot this select group of masters. For some, their careers were very bright (as in the cases of von Kolisch, Neumann and Charousek) but also extremely short, limiting their renown and depriving them of deserved laurels. For others, chess turned out to be excessively demanding for which their minds were unprepared. Finally, for a truly unfortunate few, tragedy – always an unwelcome guest – took over their lives and then took life itself from them. An exceptionally researched historical work, these pages contain the stories of 23 players with a very unique way of understanding chess (sometimes ahead of their time) and who prioritized the artistic side of the game over the results: an approach that was not properly appreciated in their time. Now, for the first time, Spanish author and chess historian Javier Cordero puts these Forgotten Talents in the limelight. Archival photos and almost 200 selected games nicely supplement the biographies of these star-crossed players who became Lost in the Labyrinth of Life.

This book comprises state-of-the-art papers in manufacturing engineering & processes including computer-aided design and manufacturing, environmentally sustainable manufacturing processes, modelling, analysis, and simulation of manufacturing processes, composite materials manufacturing, nanomaterials and nano-manufacturing, semiconductor materials manufacturing, rapid manufacturing technologies, 3D printing and non-traditional manufacturing engineering and processes. In particular, the papers in the book cover latest advances especially in 3D printing and additive manufacturing techniques and processes for sustainable materials including ceramic and polymer-matrix composite where there is paucity of good papers in the literature. The contents of this volume will be useful to researchers and practicing engineers alike.

Pultrusion: State-of-the-Art Process Models with Applications, Second Edition is a detailed guide to pultrusion, providing methodical coverage of process models and computation simulation, governing principles and science, and key challenges to help readers enable process optimization and scale-up. This new edition has been revised and expanded to include the latest advances, state-of-the-art process models, and governing principles. The main challenges in pultrusion, such as the process induced residual stresses, shape distortions, thermal history, species conversion, phase changes, impregnation of the reinforcements and pulling force are described, with related examples are provided. Moreover, strategies for having a reliable and optimized process using probabilistic approaches and optimization algorithms are summarized. Another focus of this book is on the thermo-chemical and mechanical analyses of the pultrusion process for industrial profiles. - Provides a detailed summary and description of the practical and scientific challenges in pultrusion processes, and presents methods to overcome the challenges - Offers a comprehensive analysis of the thermokinetics, residual stresses, resistive forces, and fiber impregnation during pultrusion - Explains numerical process simulation, opening the door to reliable design and process optimization for pultrusion

This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of MINURSO (the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara), focused on its activities, composition, purpose, and operational future in Western Sahara, the world's last colony.The book's focus is broad, examining MINURSO from key historical, legal, military and political angles whilst assessing the future of UN peacekeeping missions in the Western Sahara. Supported by a diverse, international mix of perspectives and professions—including academics, lawyers, soldiers, and humanitarian aid workers—an in-depth view of MINURSO is provided, rooted in practical Western Saharan field experience. The authors reveal the complexities of the region and of the mission locally, but also analyze MINURSO through a global lens, focusing on relations with the United States, China, Russia, France, and African states. This approach emphasizes the importance of the region as a site of international struggle while remaining conscious of local contexts.A landmark contribution to peacekeeping studies, the book is vital reading for practitioners and academics focused on the Western Saharan conflict and the MENA region, but will also be of interest to those engaged in international relations, international law, and security studies.

Dark Shadows is a compelling portrait of Kazakhstan, a country that is little known in the West. Strategically located in the heart of Central Asia, sandwiched between Vladimir Putin's Russia, its former colonial ruler, and Xi Jinping's China, this vast oil-rich state is carving out its place in the world as it contends with its own complex past and present. Journalist Joanna Lillis paints a vibrant picture of this emerging nation through vivid reportage based on 13 years of on-the-ground coverage, and travels across the length and breadth of this enigmatic country that lies along the ancient Silk Road and at the geopolitical and cultural crossroads where East meets West.Featuring tales of murder and abduction, intrigue and betrayal, extortion and corruption, this book explores how a president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, transformed himself into a potentate and the economically-struggling state he inherited at the fall of the USSR into a swaggering 21st-century monocracy. A colourful cast of characters brings the politics to life: from strutting oligarch to sleeping villagers, from principled politicians to striking oilmen, from crusading journalists to courageous campaigners.Traversing dust-blown deserts and majestic mountains, taking in glitzy cities and dystopian landscapes, Dark Shadows conjures up Kazakhstan as a living, breathing place, full of extraordinary people living extraordinary lives.

This book summarizes what is actually known about the biology of Leaf Beetles. It is the most recent study in the field.As we are well aware, Chrysomelidae, one of the three largest families of beetles, are of great economic importance since they can be a serious pest to crops or, on the other hand, can be used to destroy imported weeds. This is due to the selectivity of their feeding preferences. In this way, Chrysomelidae are an invaluable tool for studying plant selection mechanisms. The many and varied topics dealt with in this book cover almost all aspects of phylogeny, classification, paleontology, parasitology, biogeography, defenses, population biology, genetics and biological control as well as many other subjects. The most renowned specialists in these fields have been chosen to put together a diverse, state-of-the-art publication. Few beetle families have been studied in such detail as the Chrysomelids. This is not only due to their economic importance, but also to their incredible variety of forms and behaviors. There are no less than 40,000 species currently in existence worldwide, but probably 100,000 species have existed since the Jurassic, when they first came into being with the Cycadoids and other primitive plant families, later to diversify during the Cretaceous with the advent of flowering plants.

Selected peer-reviewed papers from the 4th ICMEM, 3rd ICMDA and 2nd ICBBM (2020)

Dark Shadows is a compelling portrait of Kazakhstan, a country that is little known in the West. Strategically located in the heart of Central Asia, sandwiched between Vladimir Putin's Russia, its former colonial ruler, and Xi Jinping's China, this vast oil-rich state is carving out its place in the world as it contends with its own complex past and present. Journalist Joanna Lillis paints a vibrant picture of this emerging nation through vivid reportage based on 13 years of on-the-ground coverage, and travels across the length and breadth of this enigmatic country that lies along the ancient Silk Road and at the geopolitical and cultural crossroads where East meets West.Featuring tales of murder and abduction, intrigue and betrayal, extortion and corruption, this book explores how a president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, transformed himself into a potentate and the economically-struggling state he inherited at the fall of the USSR into a swaggering 21st-century monocracy. A colourful cast of characters brings the politics to life: from strutting oligarch to sleeping villagers, from principled politicians to striking oilmen, from crusading journalists to courageous campaigners.Traversing dust-blown deserts and majestic mountains, taking in glitzy cities and dystopian landscapes, Dark Shadows conjures up Kazakhstan as a living, breathing place, full of extraordinary people living extraordinary lives.

The Red Star and the Crescent provides an in-depth and multi-disciplinary analysis of the evolving relationship between China and the Middle East. Despite its increasing importance, very few studies have examined this dynamic, deepening, and multi-faceted nexus. James Reardon- Anderson has sought to fill this critical gap. The volume examines the'big picture'of international relations, then zooms in on case studies and probes the underlying domestic factors on each side. Reardon- Anderson tackles topics as diverse as China's security strategy in the Middle East, its military relations with the states of the region, its role in the Iran nuclear negotiations, the Uyghur question, and the significance and consequences of the Silk Road strategy. A comprehensive study of the changing forces driving one of the world's most important strategic, economic and cultural relationships

With loss of habitats throughout the world occurring at a staggering rate, it is critical to document what is being lost. This book strives to do that by focusing on longhorned woodboring beetles in Bolivia. Wholesale clearing of large tracts of land kills everything or forces species to move quickly to other areas, disrupting the balance of the ecosystem. This book will help people discover and appreciate some of the amazing diversity of life that exists in the undeveloped and/or remote natural areas of Bolivia. Nearly 1,900 species of longhorned woodboring beetles (Disteniidae, Vesperidae, and Cerambycidae) are known from Bolivia (with more than 200 species yet to be determined). This work features 500 of them, representing the breadth of morphological evolution.

When renowned British geneticist J. B. S. Haldane was asked what could be inferred about God from a study of his works, Haldane replied, “An inordinate fondness for beetles.” With 350,000 known species, and scientific estimates that millions more have yet to be identified, their abundance is indisputable as is their variety. They range from the delightful summer firefly to the one-hundred-gram Goliath beetle. Beetles offer a dazzling array of shapes, sizes, and colors that entice scientists and collectors across the globe. The Book of Beetles celebrates the beauty and diversity of this marvelous insect. Six hundred significant beetle species are covered, with each entry featuring a distribution map, basic biology, conservation status, and information on cultural and economic significance. Full-color photos show the beetles both at their actual size and enlarged to show details, such as the sextet of spots that distinguish the six-spotted tiger beetle or the jagged ridges of the giant-jawed sawyer beetle. Based in the most up-to-date science and accessibly written, the descriptive text will appeal to researchers and armchair coleopterists alike. The humble beetle continues to grow in popularity, taking center stage in biodiversity studies, sustainable agriculture programs, and even the dining rooms of adventurous and eco-conscious chefs. The Book of Beetles is certain to become the authoritative reference on these remarkably adaptable and beautiful creatures.

Today, history is being written about much differently than used to be the case: more variedly, more vividly, more grippingly. In modern historical writing humans and their actions stand at the center of attention – as well as their everyday life and their emotions. We learns about the many diverse experiences men and women have, and the symbolic forms they use to communicate with each other. Politics is considered an area of representation and power, economics as a marketplace for chances, and society as the attempt to establish cultural order. This volume collects contributions by renowned historians from the Humboldt University in Berlin, who show how they have come to think about and pursue historical matters. These studies stretch over many eras and give us an intellectually stimulating look at the diversity of modern historical thought.

More than one fifth of all known life forms on this planet are beetles. They are extraordinarily visually diverse: renowned British geneticist JBS Haldane, when asked what could be inferred about God from a study of His works, replied, An inordinate fondness for beetles. The Book of Beetles uncovers 600 significant examples, selected as part of a genome program. They are shown in glorious photographs, life size and in detail, alongside an engraving offering a side or open-winged view. Each profile includes a population distribution map, a table of essential information, and a commentary revealing notable characteristics, related species, and a diagnosis of the specimens importance in terms of taxonomy, rarity, behaviour, and scientific significance. Arranged taxonomically, this essential reference reveals the variety and importance of beetles for the first time.

This three-volume series represents a comprehensive treatment of the beetles of Australia, a relatively under-studied fauna that includes many unusual and unique lineages found nowhere else on Earth. Volume 1 contains keys to all 117 beetle families found in Australia, and includes over 1100 illustrations of adults, larvae and anatomical structures. This volume is based in part on Lawrence & Britton's out-of-print Australian Beetles, but is fully updated and expanded. The biology and morphology for all major beetle lineages is described and illustrated, along with anatomical terms which clarify the characters and terminology used in the keys; few other resources for beetle identification include such a detailed morphological background. A chapter on the fossil record is also included, and family sections provide full descriptions of adults and larvae, including the world distribution of each family. The revised identification keys (currently recognised as one of the most valuable keys worldwide) will aid quarantine agents, biologists and students in identifying members of the most species-rich order of animals.

From May 3-7,1997, the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on'Biological Electron Transfer Chains'was organized in Tomar, Portugal. In the application for support the choice of the topic was justified as follows:'[Until recently efforts] have concentrated on the study of the structure and function of individual redox enzymes and proteins. Enough information is now available to make a start with the study of biological electron transfer (E1) at the next higher level of organization, that of the complete ET chain.'The interest in the workshop was high: the majority of participants had registered before the workshop was formally announced, which illustrates the popularity of the topic within the biochemical and biophysical communities. The present volume contains a number of reports based on the lectures presented by the key speakers during the meeting. The workshop dealt with the following three themes: a) Electron transfer, which is the subject of Chapter 1. The analysis of ET at the molecular level is still fundamental for an understanding of how ET chains operate in vivo. After 40 years of research the contours of the subject are becoming clear now. b) Bacterial redox chains. This is the subject of Chapter 2. Its contents show how complicated these chains can be, often involving a number of gene clusters. Our understanding of the regulatory aspects and control mechanisms of these chains is only in its beginning.

Selected, peer reviewed papers from the Third International Workshop on Performance, Protection and Strengthening of Structures under Extreme Loading, PROTECT 2011, 30 August – 1 September, 2011, Lugano, Switzerland

A comprehensive work covering the about 100,000 species of Coleoptera known to occur in the Palaearctic Region. The complete work is planned for 8 volumes that will be published in intervals of about 18 months. The information provided for each species will be the following: • Primary taxonomic information of all available names in the genus and species levels published by the end of 1999. • The taxonomic information below subfamily will be organized alphabetically. • The type species of genera and subgenera, incl. synonyms, are given. • The area covered also includes the Arabian Peninsula, Himalayas and China. • The distributional data of species and subspecies is given per country. • Detailed distributional information for strict endemics is given. • Introduced species are indicated. The catalogue is a collective work of about one hundred coleopterists from Europe, Japan, America and Australia.

This volume is dedicated to Professor Igor Konstantinovich Lopatin in celebration of his 80th birthday. Igor Konstantinovich is a renown taxonomist, prolific author, innovative biological explorer, and respected teacher who trained hundreds of students and during his professional life was (and still is) an inspiration and a mentor for scores of taxonomists. His tireless enthusiastic work shaped generations of Belarusian zoologists, brought a wide and steady respect of systematics into a local scientific community. But most important, he taught us that collecting and studying beetles, small and big, bright and dull, is a noble thing to do. Contributions assembled in this volume reflect Lopatin's intellectual breadth and diverse scientific interests. Some dwells on Lopatin's interest in biogeography of arid areas of the Palearctic describing zoogeographic connections between desert faunas of Middle Asia, Iran, and Afghanistan, and leaf beetle fauna of the Hermon Mountains in Israel. Other contributions reflect Lopatin's interest in host plant relationships, e.g. discovery of a rare crucifer in Turkey being eaten by an even rarer flea beetle. Many contributions are revisions and keys for identification in nearly all major groups of beetles. Some are checklists, faunistic notes, ecological studies, and many contain descriptions of new taxa in many beetle families. This book will be an indispensable source of information on beetle taxonomy, diversity, biogeography, and host plant relationships. It will be useful for entomologists, ecologists, extension scientists, entomology students, comparative morphologists and evolutionary biologists working across beetle taxa and anybody interested in beetle identification.

'Machine translation (MT) was one of the first non-numerical applications of the computer in the 1950s and 1960s. With limited equipment and programming tools, researchers from a wide range of disciplines (electronics, linguistics, mathematics, engineering, etc.) tackled the unknown problems of language analysis and processing, investigated original and innovative methods and techniques, and laid the foundations not just of current MT systems and computerized tools for translators but also of natural language processing in general. This volume contains contributions by or about the major MT pioneers from the United States, Russia, East and West Europe, and Japan, with recollections of personal experiences, colleagues and rivals, the political and institutional background, the successes and disappointments, and above all the challenges and excitement of a new field with great practical importance. Each article includes a personal bibliography, and the editor provides an overview, chronology and list of sources for the period.'