Estuary birds of Britain and Ireland

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Anthony Barker and B. Guy Peters

All fields of public policy in all political systems require expert scientific or technical advice. This is the first study of how scientific knowledge and opinion (and sometimes speculation) are transmitted to government authorities for use in public policy-making. It discusses the formal and informal processes of scientific advice-giving, and applies these to case studies taken from all over Europe. These include: a description of the Italian Government's reaction to the effects of Chernobyl and the role played by radiation experts; official scientific advice on Swiss nuclear power; the Black report on Sellafield and leukaemia in children, as well as policy on nuclear safety in Britain; and advice given to the French and other governments on the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. It traces the growth of public awareness of scientific issues in government, concluding that the politics of expert advice will become even more sophisticated in the future.

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Julie E. Czerneda and Jana Paniccia

"In our modern-day world where rumors of conspiracies and covert organizations can spread with the speed of the internet, it's often hard to separate truth from fiction. Down through the centuries there have been groups sworn to protect important artifacts and secrets, perhaps exercising their power and connections -- possibly even mystical affiliations -- to guide the world's future. Now some of science fiction's and fantasy's finest minds offer up fourteen stories of those unseen powers operating for their own purposes, whether on our own world or in far-distant places and other times -- even in fantastical realms. From an unexpected ally who aids Lawrence in Arabia, to an assassin hired to target the one person he'd never want to kill, to a young woman who stumbles into an elfin war in the heart of London, to a man who steals time -- here are unforgettable tales that will start you wondering whether someone is watching you from the shadows or changing your destiny at this very moment"--P. [4] of cover.

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Robin McKinley

Jake Mendoza lives at the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies in Smokehill National Park. Smokehill is home to about two hundred of the few remaining draco australiensis, which is extinct in the wild. Keeping a preserve for dragons is controversial: detractors say dragons are extremely dangerous and unjustifiably expensive to keep and should be destroyed. Environmentalists and friends say there are no records of them eating humans and they are a unique example of specialist evolution and must be protected. But they are up to eighty feet long and breathe fire.On his first overnight solo trek, Jake finds a dragon—a dragon dying next to the human she killed. Jake realizes this news could destroy Smokehill— even though the dead man is clearly a poacher who had attacked the dragon first, that fact will be lost in the outcry against dragons.But then Jake is struck by something more urgent—he sees that the dragon has just given birth, and one of the babies is still alive. What he decides to do will determine not only their futures, but the future of Smokehill itself.

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Sanjoy Paul

This book covers the entire spectrum of multicasting on the Internet from link- to application-layer issues, including multicasting in broadcast and non-broadcast links, multicast routing, reliable and real-time multicast transport, group membership and total ordering in multicast groups. In-depth consideration is given to describing IP multicast routing protocols, such as, DVMRP, MOSPF, PIM and CBT, quality of service issues in network-layer using RSVP and ST-2, as well as the relationship between ATM and IP multicast. These discussions include coverage of key concepts using illustrative diagrams and various real-world applications. The protocols and the architecture of MBone are described, real-time multicast transport issues are addressed and various reliable multicast transport protocols are compared both conceptually and analytically. Also included is a discussion of video multicast and other cutting-edge research on multicast with an assessment of their potential impact on future internetworks. Multicasting on the Internet and Its Applications is an invaluable reference work for networking professionals and researchers, network software developers, information technology managers and graduate students.