Three things should be considered: problems, theorems, and applications. - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Dissertatio de Arte Combinatoria, 1666 This book grew out of several courses in combinatorics and graph theory given at Appalachian State University and UCLA in recent years. A one-semester course for juniors at Appalachian State University focusing on graph theory covered most of Chapter 1 and the first part of Chapter 2. A one-quarter course at UCLA on combinatorics for undergraduates concentrated on the topics in Chapter 2 and included some parts of Chapter I. Another semester course at Appalachian State for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students covered most of the topics from all three chapters. There are rather few prerequisites for this text. We assume some familiarity with basic proof techniques, like induction. A few topics in Chapter 1 assume some prior exposure to elementary linear algebra. Chapter 2 assumes some familiarity with sequences and series, especially Maclaurin series, at the level typically covered in a first-year calculus course. The text requires no prior experience with more advanced subjects, such as group theory.

Instructor Resources: PowerPoint slides of the book's exhibits and a transition guide to the new edition. The US healthcare delivery system is undergoing unprecedented transformation. In response to rapid and profound changes in technology, competition, consumerism, and other areas, healthcare leaders must help their organizations develop and implement effective strategies to survive and thrive. This fourth edition of Healthcare Strategic Planning, edited by John M. Harris (and previously authored by Alan M. Zuckerman), provides core insights into strategic planning practice and theory and shows how those insights can be applied to healthcare organizations. Examples from actual healthcare organizations add real-life detail and reinforcement. By following the book's step-by-step guide to the stages of strategic planning—analyzing the environment, determining organizational direction, formulating strategies, and transitioning to implementation—readers will learn how to answer the question everyone in healthcare management is asking: Where are we going? This new edition addresses strategic planning in the context of contemporary healthcare issues, particularly population health, value-based payment, and shifting provider–payer partnerships. It features the following new or enhanced material and more: Fresh strategies for incorporating strategic thinking into management routinesExpanded coverage of environmental analysis, including tips on organizing the data collection process and identifying market trendsNew strategy formulation examples that illustrate the relationship among between crucial issues, goals, and key metricsA step-by-step process for creating an effective implementation plan and guidance for gaining board approvalNew case studies that illustrate how successful organizations handle the annual strategic planning processA new chapter on addressing business model shifts and technological and clinical advances at each step of the planning process

This is the first full-length biography of New York surgeon and social activist Stephen Smith (1823–1922), who was appointed to fifty years of public service by three mayors, seven governors, and two U.S. presidents. The book presents the complex life of Stephen Smith, a consistent figure in the history of public health, mental health, housing reform in New York, and even urban reforestation. Utilizing Smith’s writings, public records, and recently discovered personal correspondence, this research shows how Smith succeeded where others failed. It also acknowledges that Smith was unsuccessful in convincing his fellow professionals to fight for a cabinet level public health department or to resist the rise of custodial care for the mentally impaired. Given Smith’s many accomplishments, the book asks us to consider if what stopped him stops us, highlighting the relevance of Smith’s story to contemporary debates. Pestilence, Insanity, and Trees is a readable and well-documented narrative and a resource for students and scholars, filling gaps in the history of American medicine, public health, mental health, and New York social reform.

It is widely recognized that spiral grain in trees severely reduces the value of sawn timber through warping and loss of strength, and that it also causes problems for other wood uses as diverse as transmission poles or plywood. Yet, paradoxically, there are highly valued grain patterns including wavy and interlocked grain, whose origins in the cambium invite direct comparison with those of spiral grain, so that many authorities believe them to be related phenomena. In recent years this concept has prompted extensive research into the anatomy, genetics, and physiology of all such grain patterns in wood. As a result it has become apparent that tree cambia provide excellent systems through which to study the origins of stem polarity and the complex processes of morphogenetic control in plants. Beside these and other pressing topics for research, the book examines methods of measuring grain deviations, and considers their influence on wood properties, on the economics of timber production, and on wood manufacturing.

This biography of James Edmund Reeves, whose legislative accomplishments cemented American physicians' control of the medical marketplace, illuminates landmarks of American health care: the troubled introduction of clinical epidemiology and development of botanic medicine and homeopathy, the Civil War's stimulation of sanitary science and hospital medicine, the rise of government involvement, the revolution in laboratory medicine, and the explosive growth of phony cures. It recounts the human side of medicine as well, including the management of untreatable diseases and the complex politics of medical practice and professional organizing. Reeves' life provides a reminder that while politics, economics, and science drive the societal trajectory of modern health care, moral decisions often determine its path.

Beginning with J.S. Bach's harpsichord concertos composed in the beginning of the eighteenth century, John Harris embarks on a musical tour that takes the reader from Germany and Austria through Europe, North America, South America, and Asia, tracing the history of music composed for harpsichord or piano and orchestra. Cloth edition originally published in 1997.

Healthcare Strategic Planning provides guidance for every stage of strategic planning and implementation: analyzing the environment, crafting strategy, putting the plan into action, and assessing the results. It describes the crucial decisions that must be made and the preparatory steps that must be taken for effective planning. This new edition contains the most recent research on strategic planning as well as updated best practices in light of current issues such as access to care, the national focus on health equity, and patient expectations in the wake of the pandemic. The authors have added new information on the importance of strategic thinking in management, effective stakeholder engagement, a seamless transition from planning to implementation, and ensuring strategic plan commitment. A new section highlights key issues specific to healthcare strategic planning. Each of these new chapters discusses its topic's history, organizational impacts, and strategic-planning implications. Healthcare Strategic Planning equips healthcare executives with the skills necessary to prepare their organizations for inevitable changes and challenges and to navigate them successfully.

Big cats such as lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars fascinate us like few other creatures. They are enduring symbols of natural majesty and power. Yet despite the magnetic appeal of the big cats, their origins and evolutionary history remain poorly understood—and human activity threatens to put an end to the big cats’ glory. On the Prowl is a fully illustrated and approachable guide to the evolution of the big cats and what it portends for their conservation today. Mark Hallett and John M. Harris trace the origins of these iconic carnivores, venturing down the evolutionary pathways that produced the diversity of big cat species that have walked the earth. They place the evolution and paleobiology of these species in the context of ancient ecosystems and climates, explaining what made big cats such efficient predators and analyzing their competition with other animals. Hallett and Harris pay close attention to human impact, from the evidence of cave paintings and analysis of ancient extinctions up to present-day crises. Their engaging and carefully documented account is brought to life through Hallett’s detailed, vivid illustrations, based on the most recent research by leading paleontologists. Offering a fresh look at the rise of these majestic animals, On the Prowl also makes a powerful case for renewed efforts to protect big cats and their habitats before it is too late.