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Behavioral Genetics - An introduction to how genes and environments interact through development to shape differences in mood, personality, and intelligence.pdf

November 8, 2009 · Filed Under Medical Textbook · Comment  · Tags: , , , , ,

Taken from Introduction: Why do humans range so widely in their susceptibility to mental illness, in their willingness to take risks, and in their performance on intelligence tests? One answer to this question comes from scientists in the field of behavioral genetics. They say that the variation in behavioral traits across a population is due, in part, to the genes. So many studies have pointed to connections between genes and particular behaviors that most scientists now feel comfortable stating that there is such a link for every possible behavior. But what does it really mean to say that there is a link between genes and behavior?
Does it mean that there is a gene that makes some of us blush when embarrassed; that there is one gene that makes you prefer classical music and another gene that makes you dislike it; that there is a bunch of genes that each provides for different levels of skill in playing poker? The answer to all these questions is no. Does it mean behavior passes down from generation to generation, i.e., is inherited, just like baldness and eye color? Again, the answer is no.
So when next you see an article that proclaims, “Gene for [insert a human behavior here] discovered,” read it with a critical eye. Or when you next hear someone say, “He inherited his [insert a human behavior here] from his father,” receive that with skepticism, too.
The pervasive role of genes in behavior does not mean what it is commonly misunderstood to mean. It does not mean that a gene or even several genes can make you act in any particular way. It does not mean that a behavior can “pass down through the genes.” Such claims are not accepted in behavioral genetics.
It does mean that genes play a vital role in the body’s development and physiology, and it is through the body, acting in response to and upon surrounding environments, that behavior manifests itself. So while we do inherit our genes, we do not inherit behavior traits in any fixed sense. The effect of our given set of genes on our behavior is entirely dependent upon the context of our life as it unfolds day to day.

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Fundamentals of Die Casting Design.pdf

November 7, 2009 · Filed Under Mechanical & Industrial Engineering · Comment  · Tags: , , , ,

Taken from Abstract: Die-casting engineers have to compete not only with other die-casting companies, but also against other industries such as plastics, and composite materials. Clearly, the ”black art” approach, which has been an inseparable part of the engineer’s tools, is in need of being replaced by a scientific approach. Excuses that “science has not and never will work” need to be replaced with “science does work”. All technologies developed in recent years are described in a clear, simple manner in this book. All the errors of the old models and the violations of physical laws are shown. For example, the “common” pQ2 diagram violates many physical laws, such as the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Furthermore, the “common” pQ2 diagram produces trends that are the opposite of reality, which are described in this book.
The die casting engineer’s job is to produce maximum profits for the company.
In order to achieve this aim, the engineer must design high quality products at a minimum cost. Thus, understanding the economics of the die casting design and process are essential. These are described in mathematical form for the first time in this volume. Many new concepts and ideas are also introduced. For instance, how to minimize the scrap/cost due to the runner system, and what size of die casting machine is appropriate for a specific project.
The die-casting industry is undergoing a revolution, and this book is part of it. One reason (if one reason can describe the situation) companies such as Doehler Jorvis (the biggest die caster in the world) and Shelby are going bankrupt is that they do not know how to calculate and reduce their production costs. It is my hope that die-casters will turn such situations around by using the technologies presented in this book. I believe this is the only way to keep the die casting professionals and the industry itself, from being “left in the dust.”

Evolution of Physical Oceanography.pdf

October 12, 2009 · Filed Under Oceanography · Comment  · Tags: ,

Taken from Introduction: We have tried to tie the individual chapters together in a variety of ways. The book includes a general index of subjects and names, and also a reference list that gives the page number for each citation in the text. We hope that these features will make possible a rapid’ entry into the book by anyone seeking a discussion of a particular piece of work. Special care was taken in compiling the reference list to correct many common miscitations, some of which extend back nearly 100 years. The reader will notice overlap between chapters and even some dispute among them. We regard this as inevitable and healthy in a field undergoing the ferment of active progress. A consequence of this activity is that we did not attempt to impose a common notation upon the book, but we did ask the authors to avoid idiosyncratic schemes.
In the context of the question to the authors posed above, we are impressed in reading these chapters with how far we have come. When Henry Stommel entered physical oceanography in the early 1940s, the three authors of The Oceans, H. U. Sverdrup, Martin W.
Johnson, and Richard H. Fleming, could cover authoritatively, in one volume, the entirety of oceanography-physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. Today no single volume could cover one of these fields, and probably no three authors would have the temerity to attempt comprehensive descriptions of any. But we believe that the reader will find here a broad description of the present state and the historical evolution of physical oceanography.

Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry - IUPAC Recommendations 2005.pdf

October 12, 2009 · Filed Under Chemistry · Comment  · Tags: ,

Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry: IUPAC Recommendations 2005 is the definitive guide for scientists working in academia or industry, for scientific publishers of books, journals and databases, and for organizations requiring internationally approved nomenclature in a legal or regulatory environment.

The Thermodynamics of Phase Equilibrium.pdf

October 9, 2009 · Filed Under Physics · Comment  · Tags: ,

Taken from Introduction: This paper is the first in a series in which thermodynamics is developed beyond its usual scope from a new postulational basis. The postulational basis of classical thermodynamics is firmly established in tradition and a new departure calls for an explanation of the underlying ideas. It is widely believed that thermodynamics consists essentially of the implications of the first, second, and third law of thermodynamics. Actually, however, few if any significant results can be derived from these postulates without using a number of additional assumptions concerning the properties of material systems, such as the existence of homogeneous phases, validity of equations of state and the like.




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