Intercultural language education has redefined the modern languages agenda in Europe and North America. Now intercultural learning is also beginning to... impact on English Language Teaching. This accessible book introduces teachers of EFL to intercultural language education by describing its history and theoretical principles, and by giving examples of classroom tasks.

This book explores image processing from several perspectives: the creative, the theoretical (mainly mathematical), and the programmatical. It explains... the basic principles of image processing, drawing on key concepts and techniques from mathematics, psychology of perception, computer science, and art, and introduces computer programming as a way to get more control over image processing operations. It does so without requiring college-level mathematics or prior programming experience. The content is supported by PixelMath, a freely available software program that helps the reader understand images as both visual and mathematical objects. The first part of the book covers such topics as digital image representation, sampling, brightness and contrast, color models, geometric transformations, synthesizing images, stereograms, photomosaics, and fractals. The second part of the book introduces computer programming using an open-source version of the easy-to-learn Python language. It covers the basics of image analysis and pattern recognition, including edge detection, convolution, thresholding, contour representation, and K-nearest-neighbor classification. A chapter on computational photography explores such subjects as high-dynamic-range imaging, autofocusing, and methods for automatically inpainting to fill gaps or remove unwanted objects in a scene. Applications described include the design and implementation of an image-based game. The PixelMath software provides a "transparent" view of digital images by allowing the user to view the RGB values of pixels by zooming in on an image. PixelMath provides three interfaces: the pixel calculator; the formula page, an advanced extension of the calculator; and the Python window.

Numerical Methods for Linear Control Systems Design and Analysis is an interdisciplinary textbook aimed at systematic descriptions and implementations... of numerically-viable algorithms based on well-established, efficient and stable modern numerical linear techniques for mathematical problems arising in the design and analysis of linear control systems both for the first- and second-order models. MATLAB-based software is included for implementing all of the major algorithms from the book. * Unique coverage of modern mathematical concepts such as parallel computations, second-order systems, and large-scale solutions* Background material in linear algebra, numerical linear algebra, and control theory included in text* Step-by-step explanations of the algorithms and examples* Includes MATLAB-based solution software

The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a solid background and understanding of the basic results and methods in probability theory... before entering into more advanced courses. The first six chapters focus on the following central areas of probability: multivariate random variables, conditioning, transforms, order variables, the multivariate normal distribution, and convergence. A final chapter is devoted to the Poisson process as a means both to introduce stochastic processes and to apply many of the techniques introduced earlier in the text. Students are assumed to have taken a first course in probability, though no knowledge of measure theory is assumed. Throughout, the presentation is thorough and includes many examples that are discussed in detail. Thus, students considering more advanced research in probability will benefit from this wide-ranging survey of the subject that provides them with a foretaste of the subject's many treasures.

This is the only book that gives a rigorous and comprehensive treatment with lots of examples, exercises, remarks on this particular level between the... standard first undergraduate course and the first graduate course based on measure theory. There is no competitor to this book. The book can be used in classrooms as well as for self-study.

An Intermediate Guide to SPSS Programming: Using Syntax for Data Management introduces the major tasks of data management and presents solutions using... SPSS syntax. This book fills an important gap in the education of many students and researchers, whose coursework has left them unprepared for the data management issues that confront them when they begin to do independent research. It also serves as an introduction to SPSS programming. All the basic features of SPSS syntax are illustrated, as are many intermediate and advanced topics such as using vectors and loops, reading complex data files, and using the SPSS macro language.

Did you ever think about starting your own business? Bill Partridge does, especially when he’s laid off by the company where he’s worked for 14... years. Facing a long unemployment, he decides to go into business for himself. He starts a contracting company selling radiant heating and soon encounters the "two-by-four rule" — everything costs twice as much and takes four times longer than expected. He’s running out of time and money when he makes an important discovery — he can sell his systems over the Internet. He re-invents his business and finds success selling to customers all over the country. Bill joins the growing number of Internet entrepreneurs who are using the web to create new kinds of businesses and re-invent old ones. These Interpreneurs are quietly opening new markets and offering products and services in ways that were never before possible. Bill’s story is fiction but it realistically depicts the start-up experience and how a traditional business can be transformed using the Internet. It also serves as a "how to" guide for aspiring Interpreneurs, describing the steps and pointing out some of the pitfalls. The book includes lessons at the end of each chapter and a website where readers can find more start-up tips, planning tools and other helpful information.

A standard in many colleges and seminaries, Yoder makes a strong case for the Anabaptist view of Jesus radical critique of society as well as for an... intense, though pacifistic involvement.

In this classic work, prominent religious philosopher John Hick presents a global interpretation of religion, arguing for a religious response to our... ambiguous universe and showing how the world’s different religions are culturally conditioned forms of that response. For this Second Edition, Hick addresses the major critics of his interpretation of religion, thereby enabling fresh discussion of his work.Praise for the first edition:“This book strengthens Hick’s position as one of the most significant thinkers of the second half of the twentieth century. . . . I highly recommend [it] to students of philosophy, history of religions, and comparative studies, as well as theology.”—Chester Gillis, Journal of Religion“The most persuasive philosophical advocacy for religious pluralism ever written."—Yandall Woodfin, Southwestern Journal of Theology“[This work] evinces Hick’s many virtues: ingenuity; fairness toward all arguments; deference to the standards of analytic philosophy; familiarity with Eastern as well as Western religions; and, not least, a clean, clear prose.”—Robert A. Segal, Christian Century“A leader in interfaith interpretation of religion, Hick has written what will probably become a classic. . . . Clear, readable, and comprehensive.”—Library Journal“Should be read by the adherents of all faiths.”—Rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok

To followers of Islam, the Qur'an is the literal word of God, revealed through Muhammad, the last of the line of prophets, containing all that is... necessary to lead a life of righteousness. This new bilingual edition, approved by Al-Azhar University, the chief center of Islamic and Arabic learning in the world, offers a comprehensive and accurate rendering of the Qur'an into modern English. The clear, rigorous translation, one of the only English translations available by a native Arabic speaker, is laid out here in dual column format directly opposing the Arabic text to allow the reader to make careful verse by verse comparisons. • approved by Al-Azhar University, Cairo • easy-to-read translation into modern English • index of surahs (chapters)• English and Arabic headers • verse numbers within text in English and Arabic • explanatory footnotes in English

The complete and user-friendly introduction to graphic design--in a new editionNow with information on Web site design, plus examples, exercises, and... more!Today, anyone with a good basic computer setup can produce a newsletter or a Web page--but to create effective, professional-quality pieces that stand out from the competition, you need more than a hard drive and some decent software. You need an understanding of how visual communication works and a solid grasp of the principles of design, composition, and typography. You need Graphic Design on the Desktop.Written specifically for those who have little or no design background or experience, this accessible guide teaches you the fundamentals of sound graphic design and gives you the practical know-how to put them to work on your own projects, from initial concept through final production.This new edition covers every key element of the design process, including format, layout and page design, typesetting, color, and illustrations--and offers clear explanations of type terminology, printing terms, and more. It guides you step-by-step through the design and production of ads, posters, brochures, and other promotional materials, as well as newsletters and magazines. A separate chapter on designing for the Web helps you make the most of home page and Web site designs.Complete with helpful examples, exercises, hints, and checklists, plus tips on common pitfalls and how to avoid them, Graphic Design on the Desktop is the ideal design partner for projects that get attention and get results.

Intimate apparel, a term in use by 1921, has played a crucial role in the development of the "naughty but nice" feminine ideal that emerged in the... twentieth century. Jill Fields's engaging, imaginative, and sophisticated history of twentieth-century lingerie tours the world of women's intimate apparel and arrives at nothing less than a sweeping view of twentieth-century women's history via the undergarments they wore. Illustrated throughout and drawing on a wealth of evidence from fashion magazines, trade periodicals, costume artifacts, Hollywood films, and the records of organized labor, An Intimate Affair is a provocative examination of the ways cultural meanings are orchestrated by the "fashion-industrial complex," and the ways in which individuals and groups embrace, reject, or derive meaning from these everyday, yet highly significant, intimate articles of clothing.

The characteristic act of men at war is not dying, but killing. Politicians and military historians may gloss over human slaughter, emphasizing the... defense of national honor, but for men in active service, warfare means being - or becoming - efficient killers. In An Intimate History of Killing, historian Joanna Bourke asks: What are the social and psychological dynamics of becoming the best ”citizen soldiers?” What kind of men become the best killers? How do they readjust to civilian life?These questions are answered in this groundbreaking new work that won, while still in manuscript, the Fraenkel Prize for Contemporary History. Excerpting from letters, diaries, memoirs, and reports of British, American, and Australian veterans of three wars (World War I, World War II, and Vietnam), Bourke concludes that the structure of war encourages pleasure in killing and that perfectly ordinary, gentle human beings can, and often do, become enthusiastic killers without being brutalized.This graphic, unromanticized look at men at war is sure to revise many long-held beliefs about the nature of violence.