Most Popular Books by M. Malone

I''m what some people call the bogeyman. Most people have the good sense to be afraid of me. Unfortunately, my best friend''s little sister is NOT most people. She''s not afraid of me at all. But she should be. She doesn''t know the secrets I''m hiding. Look, Lucia Demarco is a handful. She''s stubborn, gorgeous, a magnet for trouble, and sets my blood on fire. Ignore that last part. I can''t have her. I promised my best friend on his deathbed that I''d always take care of her. And I have...never you mind about the thoughts that plague me at night. The point is, she''s been poking her head where it doesn''t belong and now some idiots are about to find out why they call me the reaper. I hear former hitmen make the best bodyguards. True story! I''ll keep my word and keep Lucia safe. And I absolutely refuse to give in to her sunny smile or sharp wit. I can be strong. Or will I risk just one taste?

The Rule 30(b)(6) organization deposition is the most powerful and efficient discovery tool available in complex litigation. In this handy and practical pocket guide, David Malone will help you get the most out of your chance to talk to--and pin down--organizations.

Expert Rules answers the most commonly asked questions about experts: How do you approach an expert problem? What is the impact of Daubert on expert preparation, direct, and cross? How do you structure direct examination of an expert? How do you avoid fatal blunders when you prepare an expert? Even though Daubert is almost twenty-five years old, most attorneys are only familiar with its application to the experts they see most—local doctors. Expert Rules provides attorneys with the help they need to confront new fields manned by new or unusual experts. This concise, easy-to-follow guide provides practical and in-depth information on how to deal with an expert—from finding the expert, to helping the expert prepare her report, deposing and defending the expert, conducting expert direct and cross-examination, and helping the expert prepare factual, informative, and persuasive testimony. And this fourth edition contains new rules and strategies for experts, including strategies for preparation, mining the Internet in discovery, using exhibits, highlighting key points on direct, and more effective cross-examinations.

Rosalie It''s been twenty years since the event that shattered my childhood. My mom isn''t ready for me to move out but she still found me the perfect condo. It''s only on the second floor so I won''t have to brave the elevator and all the neighbors are either elderly or other young women. No men. Perfect.I thought I was ready to get a taste of what life has to offer. You know, kick agoraphobia''s ass and move past the fears that have held me back. Until the door across the hall opens and everything changes.There''s a man living across the hall from me. A man.I''m not ready for this. EthanOwning the building is stressful but comes in handy when I''m renovating my penthouse. My best friend bets me that I won''t last a week living in a regular apartment. For some reason he thinks that I isolate myself because I''ve forgotten where I come from.He doesn''t know I avoid women because they only want a guy like me (big, tatted and uncultured) to horrify their parents or for my money.But I''ve never been able to resist a bet so for the next month I''ll be in Apartment 2E and proving that the millions I''ve made haven''t changed me a bit. Until the door across the hall opens and everything changes.There''s a woman living across the hall from me. A woman who makes me want to slay dragons to protect her, bring her cupcakes to make her smile and challenges everything I thought I knew. A woman who makes me want to be better.I''m not ready for this.

Quality measurement serves as a foundation for child care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS). Understanding the variation that exists in quality measurement, the different contexts in which states make decisions, and the factors that play into their decisions can help administrators identify where their state may fall along the spectrum in practice (or the direction in which they should steer), and can help researchers design approaches that take these differences into account. Such information can also aid in identifying opportunities for moving toward some common practice and research goals. The quality components included in a QRIS define a state''s framework for measuring quality and signal to providers and parents the practices that should be included in high-quality early child care and education programs. There are commonalities in the quality categories that are included across QRIS (Tout et al. 2010), demonstrating that many states and communities are using a similar foundation upon which to build their rating systems. However, the manner in which states and localities combine and aggregate these quality categories to develop QRIS ratings has many nuances, producing rating systems with important variations that can impede direct cross-QRIS comparisons and research approaches. Recognizing the need for information on the quality measurement practices in QRIS, this in-depth study of select QRIS was launched as part of the Child Care Quality Rating Systems (QRS) Assessment project, funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families. Approaches used by states and communities to measure quality through the QRIS were examined by focusing on three research questions: (1) What is the variation in how select QRIS define and measure quality, and what accounts for the variation in their approaches?; (2) What are the specific processes used by select QRIS to measure each component of the quality rating and determine the overall rating level?; and (3) What is the availability of consistent and reliable data on quality ratings within select QRIS and how are the data currently being used? To answer these questions, five QRIS were selected for the in-depth study: Miami-Dade County, Florida; Illinois; Indiana; Pennsylvania; and Tennessee. A summary of key characteristics of the five QRIS is presented. Licensing and NAEYC Accreditation Requirements for Center-Based Programs are appended.

Thermal imaging is an important, though challenging, diagnostic for shockwave experiments. Shock-compressed materials undergo transient temperature changes that cannot be recorded with standard (greater than ms response time) infrared detectors. A further complication arises when optical elements near the experiment are destroyed. We have designed a thermal-imaging system for studying shock temperatures produced inside a gas gun at Sandia National Laboratories. Inexpensive, diamond-turned, parabolic mirrors relay an image of the shocked target to the exterior of the gas gun chamber through a sapphire vacuum port. The 3000-5000-nm portion of this image is directed to an infrared camera which acquires a snapshot of the target with a minimum exposure time of 150 ns. A special mask is inserted at the last intermediate image plane, to provide dynamic thermal background recording during the event. Other wavelength bands of this image are split into high-speed detectors operating at 900-1700 nm, and at 1700-3000 nm for timeresolved pyrometry measurements. This system incorporates 90-degree, off-axis parabolic mirrors, which can collectlow f/# light over a broad spectral range, for high-speed imaging. Matched mirror pairs must be used so that aberrations cancel. To eliminate image plane tilt, proper tip-to-tip orientation of the parabolic mirrors is required. If one parabolic mirror is rotated 180 degrees about the optical axis connecting the pair of parabolic mirrors, the resulting image is tilted by 60 degrees. Different focal-length mirrors cannot be used to magnify the image without substantially sacrificing image quality. This paper analyzes performance and aberrations of this imaging diagnostic.