Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Throughout history plague has been the cause of many major catastrophes. It was responsible for the 'Plague of Justinian' in 542, the Black Death of 1348, and the Great Plague of London in 1665, as well as for devastating epidemics in China and India between the 1890s and 1920s. In the 21st century Coronavirus pandemics have served as a powerful reminder that we have not escaped the global impact of epidemic diseases. In this Very Short Introduction, Paul Slack takes a global approach to explore the historical and social impact of plague over the centuries, looking at the ways in which it has been interpreted, and the powerful images it has left behind in art and literature. Examining what plague meant for those who suffered from it, and how governments began to fight against it, he demonstrates the impact plague has had on modern notions of public health, and how it has shaped our history. This new edition also includes evidence on the nature of plague taken from recent discoveries in ancient DNA as well as new research on plague in the Middle East. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
The idea of improvement - gradual and cumulative betterment - was something new in 17th century England. It became commonplace to assert that improvements in agriculture, industry, commerce, and social welfare would bring infinite prosperity and happiness. The word improvement was itself new, and since it had no equivalent in other languages, it gave the English a distinctive culture of improvement which they took with them to Ireland, Scotland, and America. Slack explains the political, intellectual, and economic circumstances which allowed notions of improvement to take root.
This book is a classic study of a disease which had a profound impact on the history of Tudor and Stuart England. Plague was both a personal affliction and a social calamity, regularly decimating urban populations. Slack vividly describes the stresses which plague imposed on individuals, families, and whole communities, and the ways in which people tried to explain, control, and come to terms with it.
Between the early sixteenth and the early eighteenth centuries, the character of English social policy and social welfare changed fundamentally. Aspirations for wholesale reformation were replaced by more specific schemes for improvement. Paul Slack's analysis of this decisive shift of focus, derived from his 1995 Ford Lectures, examines its intellectual and political roots. He describes the policies and rhetoric of the commonwealthsmen, godly magistrates, Stuart monarchs, Interregnum projectors, and early Hanoverian philanthropists, and the institutions — notably hospitals and workhouses - which they created or reformed. In a series of thematic chapters, each linked to a chronological period, he brings together what might seem to have been disparate notions and activities, and shows that they expressed a sequence of coherent approaches towards public welfare. The result is a strikingly original study, which throws fresh light on the formation of civic consciousness and the emergence of a civil society in early modern England.
Create powerful, useful, fast, and fun chat bots that make Slack better About This Book This is the first developer's guide to programming for Slack It covers everything you need to create chat bots for Slack's conversational UI It's full of realistic examples, usable code, and lucid explanations on everything you need to know Who This Book Is For This is a book for software developers who want to build Slack bots for their own company's use or for customers. You need to know JavaScript. What You Will Learn Receive and send messages sent in Slack Respond to user commands Process natural language Perform useful tasks on commands such as fetching data from external sources Use webhooks and slash commands Create a Google Classroom and add customized information for each individual class In Detail Slack promises that its users will "be less busy." Slack bots interact with users in Slack chatrooms, providing useful immediate information, and automating work. This book gives you everything you need to build powerful and useful Slack bots. You'll see how to hook into the Slack API to create software that can read and post to chatrooms, respond to commands and hints given in natural conversational language, and build fun and useful bots for your own place of work, both as a front end to your own service and to distribute and share as apps. You can even sell your bots and build a business as a Slack bot developer. Throughout the book, you'll build useful and fun example applications that you can modify for your own situations. These range from simple, fun applications to liven up discussions to useful, data-driven apps to help you make decisions quickly and manage work. Style and approach This is a friendly step-by-step guide to building powerful, friendly Slack bots.
Create powerful, useful, fast, and fun chat bots that make Slack better About This Book This is the first developer's guide to programming for Slack It covers everything you need to create chat bots for Slack's conversational UI It's full of realistic examples, usable code, and lucid explanations on everything you need to know Who This Book Is For This is a book for software developers who want to build Slack bots for their own company's use or for customers. You need to know JavaScript. What You Will Learn Receive and send messages sent in Slack Respond to user commands Process natural language Perform useful tasks on commands such as fetching data from external sources Use webhooks and slash commands Create a Google Classroom and add customized information for each individual class In Detail Slack promises that its users will "be less busy." Slack bots interact with users in Slack chatrooms, providing useful immediate information, and automating work. This book gives you everything you need to build powerful and useful Slack bots. You'll see how to hook into the Slack API to create software that can read and post to chatrooms, respond to commands and hints given in natural conversational language, and build fun and useful bots for your own place of work, both as a front end to your own service and to distribute and share as apps. You can even sell your bots and build a business as a Slack bot developer. Throughout the book, you'll build useful and fun example applications that you can modify for your own situations. These range from simple, fun applications to liven up discussions to useful, data-driven apps to help you make decisions quickly and manage work. Style and approach This is a friendly step-by-step guide to building powerful, friendly Slack bots.
Why this book? There are plenty of books about social media marketing on the bookstore shelves; what makes this one different is that Paul Slack cuts through the hype and gets down to business basics that can come only from hands-on business successes. Paul speaks the language of business owners and CEOs and creates efficient and effective methods for capitalizing on social media marketing. Social Rules! provides strategic dos and don'ts and helps you determine how to implement the best tools. Whether you do this in-house by utilizing a current employee or hire a consultant to help you accomplish these goals, you'll learn the optimal rules of engagement and how to measure results. With Social Rules! you will understand and apply your new-found knowledge to answer these questions: How does social media relate directly to my business marketing? What are the best practices in social media and how can I use them effectively? Why is it so important from the consumer perspective? How can I effectively shift my advertising budget from nontraditional marketing to social media?
Stress testing is becoming a widely used tool to assess potential vulnerabilities in a financial system. This paper is intended to answer some of the basic questions that may arise as part of the process of stress testing. The paper begins with a discussion of stress testing in a financial system context, highlighting some of the differences between stress tests of systems and of individual portfolios. The paper provides an overview of the process itself, from identifying vulnerabilities, to constructing scenarios, to interpreting the results. The experience of the IMF in conducting stress testing as part of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) is also discussed.
Mobility is fundamental to economic and social activities, including commuting, manufacturing, or supplying energy. This book focuses on understanding how mobility is linked with geography. It links spatial constraints and attributes with the origin, destination, extent, nature and purpose of movements.
Elevate your testing game to the next level using advanced techniques and proven strategies with this book for WebdriverIO beginners and automation pros alike Key Features Improve your coding skills and empower your automation journey Leverage self-healing objects and adaptive frameworks for cutting-edge WebdriverIO automation Overcome script stability challenges and ensure robust, dependable test execution Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book DescriptionThis book helps you embark on a comprehensive journey to master the art of WebdriverIO automation, from installation through to advanced framework development. You’ll start by following step-by-step instructions on installing WebdriverIO, configuring Node packages, and creating a simple test. Here you’ll gain an understanding of the mechanics while also learning to add reporting and screen captures to your test results to enhance your test case documentation. In the next set of chapters, you’ll delve into the intricacies of configuring and developing robust method wrappers, a crucial skill for supporting multiple test suites. The book goes beyond the basics, exploring testing techniques tailored for Jenkins as well as LambdaTest cloud environments. As you progress, you’ll gain a deep understanding of both TypeScript and JavaScript languages and acquire versatile coding skills. By the end of this book, you’ll have developed the expertise to construct a sophisticated test automation framework capable of executing an entire suite of tests using WebdriverIO in either TypeScript or JavaScript, as well as excel in your test automation endeavors and deliver reliable, efficient testing solutions.What you will learn Discover techniques to efficiently maintain and enhance your Page Object Model, saving time and effort Gain insight into diagnosing and resolving script instability issues to ensure reliable test execution Improve test resilience by building objects that adapt to changing element locators Enhance your testing productivity by learning to write effective test cases with TypeScript Explore strategies for comprehensive result analysis to enable data-driven decision-making Develop frameworks that adapt to evolving user journeys, ensuring long-term test sustainability Who this book is forWhether you are a novice software development engineer in test (SDET) joining your first WebdriverIO automation project building test cases in TypeScript, or a seasoned lead framework architect experienced in solutioning daily test automation challenges, this book is for you. This book will also help developers and framework architects with basic knowledge of JavaScript or TypeScript who are looking to gain expertise in functional frontend testing. A basic understanding of CSS and XPath will help you get the most out of this book.
Successful companies must strive to improve business processes on a comprehensive, coordinated level. Integral Logistics Management: Planning and Control of Comprehensive Supply Chains, Second Edition examines logistics in areas beyond the flow of goods, investigating administrative and planning logistics, or process control. What's New in
Once renowned as a customer relationship management tool, Salesforce has evolved into a cloud-first application and capability ecosystem. With dedicated components for tasks such as middleware, big data, reporting, ETL, data loading, and API orchestration, Salesforce has become more prevalent in modern architectures. This concise yet comprehensive guide provides an overview of Salesforce architecture for enterprise architects and Salesforce ecosystem architects. Author Paul McCollum, Salesforce Technical Architect at Accenture, provides a roadmap for integrating major elements of the Salesforce ecosystem with planned or existing enterprise architecture. You'll learn how to use these components to address the diverse needs of different organizations. Many companies today are adding or building multicloud capabilities and incorporating various elements from the Salesforce ecosystem. With this book, you'll learn: Strengths, weaknesses, and growth areas of Salesforce's enterprise architecture domain features How Salesforce compares to other cloud providers Methods for using the Salesforce ecosystem effectively to address your organization's needs How to integrate Salesforce with planned or existing enterprise architectures Ways to manage and forecast performance, complexity, and ease of operation across the Salesforce platform
Riding the Wild Ocean is a compilation of author Paul Krantz's wildest adventures over the years, which takes us from coastal New England to the Dry Tortugas -- all in small boats under twenty-feet in length. Beyond the sheer thrill of adventure, Riding the Wild Ocean is a how-to manual for the serious sailor contemplating trying his or her hand at such open ocean adventuring in small boats, including how to select and equip a boat for all-weather, day and night sailing; and how to prepare one's self as well through gradual exposure to extreme conditions in controlled situations.
McFedries provides savvy consumers foolproof instruction in techniques that work and those that don't. The information is delivered with unbiased recommendations not influenced by the company, product or organization. Targeted to intermediate users, this guide provides comprehensive coverage of Windows Millennium while evaluating the pros and cons of the vital features.
This book is primarily a Microsoft Project book and designed to teach project management professionals, who understand the PRINCE2 2009 and earlier versions of the PRINCE2 methodology, to use Microsoft Project to plan and control a PRINCE2 projects. It identifies which PRINCE2 processes may be handled with Microsoft Project and how the software may be effectively used to assist in managing a project. The book is based on Microsoft Project 2007, but may be used with Microsoft Project 2003, 2002 or 2000 as the book outlines the differences between the versions.
Most major recent advances in understanding the history of life on Earth have been through the study of exceptionally well preserved biotas (Fossil-Lagerstätten). These are windows on the history of life on Earth and can provide a fairly complete picture of the evolution of ecosystems through time. This book follows the success of Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems by the same authors which covered Fossil-Lagerstätten around the world. The success of the first book prompted this new book which draws on four localities from the original book and adds another ten, all located in North America. Following an introduction to Fossil-Lagerstätten, each chapter deals with a single fossil locality. Each chapter contains a brief introduction placing the Lagerstätte in an evolutionary context; there then follows a history of study of the locality; the background sedimentology, stratigraphy and palaeoenvironment; a description of the biota; discussion of the palaeoecology, and a comparison with other Lagerstätten of a similar age and/or environment. At the end of the book is an Appendix listing museums in which to see exhibitions of fossils from each locality and suggestions for visiting the sites.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. loved the fried catfish and lemon icebox pie at Memphis's Four Way restaurant. Beloved nonagenarian chef Leah Chase introduced George W. Bush to baked cheese grits and scolded Barack Obama for putting Tabasco sauce on her gumbo at New Orleans's Dooky Chase's. When SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael asked Ben's Chili Bowl owners Ben and Virginia Ali to keep the restaurant open during the 1968 Washington, DC, riots, they obliged, feeding police, firefighters, and student activists as they worked together to quell the violence. Celebrated former Chicago Sun-Times columnist Dave Hoekstra unearths these stories and hundreds more as he travels, tastes, and talks his way through twenty of America's best, liveliest, and most historically significant soul food restaurants. Following the "soul food corridor" from the South through northern industrial cities, The People's Place gives voice to the remarkable chefs, workers, and small business owners (often women) who provided sustenance and a safe haven for civil rights pioneers, not to mention presidents and politicians; music, film, and sports legends; and countless everyday, working-class people. Featuring lush photos, mouth-watering recipes, and ruminations from notable regulars such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, jazz legend Ramsey Lewis, Little Rock Nine member Minnijean Brown, and many others, The People's Place is an unprecedented celebration of soul food, community, and oral history.
The first edition of Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems was widely praised for its coverage and approach in describing and illustrating 14 well-known fossil sites from around the world. The authors have now updated the text and added 6 new chapters with many new color illustrations. Following a general introduction to fossil Lagerstätten, each chapter deals with a single site and follows the same format: its evolutionary position and significance; its background sedimentology, stratigraphy and palaeoenvironment; a description of the biota and palaeoecology; a comparison with other similar Lagerstätten; and a list of relevant museums and suggestions for visiting the sites. This study of exceptionally well-preserved fossil sites from different periods in geological time provides a picture of the evolution of ecosystems through the ages. Covers several sites that are not listed in other Lagerstatten books making this the most comprehensive book on the topic; Beautifully illustrated throughout with more than 450 color photographs and diagrams; Provides value to a wide range of students and professionals in palaeontology and related sciences.
This book is an update of the book published in 2007, it includes new workshops and some new text. It designed to teach project management professionals how to use Microsoft Project in a project environment. The book is based on Microsoft Office Project 2007 but may be used with Microsoft Project 2000, 2002 or 2003 as the book outlines the differences between the versions. This book may be used with Microsoft Project as either: a self teach book, or a user guide, or a training manual for a two day training course. A user guide written for Project Management Professionals in any industry who wish to learn or improve their skills in Microsoft Project 20007 and discover how to get the most out of the software up to an intermediate level in a single project environment using Standard or Professional versions.
Foundations of Organisational Economics: Histories and Theories of the Firm and Production delves into a range of key topics to do with the history of the mainstream approach to the theory of production and the theory of the firm. This includes the frameworks used to analyse production, the division of labour and its application to the firm and the development of the neoclassical model of production. The first topic explored is the change from a normative approach to a largely positive approach to the analysis of the theory of production, which occurred around the seventeenth century. The next topic is an examination of the relationship (or the lack of a relationship) between the division of labour and the theory of the firm. In the fourth chapter, the focus is on the development of the proto-neoclassical approach to production. Here, the development of the theories of monopoly, oligopoly and perfect competition are discussed, as well as the theory of input utilisation. Chapter 5 looks at Marshall’s idea of the representative firm, which was the main early neoclassical approach to the theory of industry-level production. The penultimate chapter considers the criticisms made of the neoclassical model between 1940 and 1970. This work is an illuminating reference for students and researchers of the history of economic thought, industrial organisation, microeconomic theory and organisational studies.
Praise for the Second Edition: "This is quite a well-done book: very tightly organized, better-than-average exposition, and numerous examples, illustrations, and applications." —Mathematical Reviews of the American Mathematical Society An Introduction to Linear Programming and Game Theory, Third Edition presents a rigorous, yet accessible, introduction to the theoretical concepts and computational techniques of linear programming and game theory. Now with more extensive modeling exercises and detailed integer programming examples, this book uniquely illustrates how mathematics can be used in real-world applications in the social, life, and managerial sciences, providing readers with the opportunity to develop and apply their analytical abilities when solving realistic problems. This Third Edition addresses various new topics and improvements in the field of mathematical programming, and it also presents two software programs, LP Assistant and the Solver add-in for Microsoft Office Excel, for solving linear programming problems. LP Assistant, developed by coauthor Gerard Keough, allows readers to perform the basic steps of the algorithms provided in the book and is freely available via the book's related Web site. The use of the sensitivity analysis report and integer programming algorithm from the Solver add-in for Microsoft Office Excel is introduced so readers can solve the book's linear and integer programming problems. A detailed appendix contains instructions for the use of both applications. Additional features of the Third Edition include: A discussion of sensitivity analysis for the two-variable problem, along with new examples demonstrating integer programming, non-linear programming, and make vs. buy models Revised proofs and a discussion on the relevance and solution of the dual problem A section on developing an example in Data Envelopment Analysis An outline of the proof of John Nash's theorem on the existence of equilibrium strategy pairs for non-cooperative, non-zero-sum games Providing a complete mathematical development of all presented concepts and examples, Introduction to Linear Programming and Game Theory, Third Edition is an ideal text for linear programming and mathematical modeling courses at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It also serves as a valuable reference for professionals who use game theory in business, economics, and management science.
Post-Marxism versus Cultural Studies is an innovative exploration of the ethical and political significance of Cultural Studies and Post-Marxist discourse theory. It argues that although Cultural Studies and post-Marxism tend to present themselves as distinct entities, they actually share a project - that of taking on the political. Post-Marxism presents itself as having a developed theory of political strategy, while Cultural Studies has claimed to be both practical and political. Bowman examines these intertwined, overlapping, controversial and contested claims and orientations by way of a deconstructive reading that is led by the question of intervention: what is the intervention of post-Marxism, of Cultural Studies, of each into the other, and into other institutional and political contexts and scenes?Through considerations of key aspects of Cultural Studies and cultural theory, Post-Marxism versus Cultural Studies argues that the very thing that is fundamental to both of these 'politicised' app
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