Chiral Auxiliaries in Cycloadditions

Book Description

Since the days of Diels, Alder and Woodward, cycloadditions have been among the most versatile reactions for stereoselective synthesis ...

All relevant information is collected in this well-structured, practical handbook. Arranged according to the cycloaddition type, the suitable auxiliaries, reactants, stereoselectivities, yields, and references for each key reaction are compiled in compact tables. Scientists interested in the theoretical background of stereoselective cycloadditions will find an excellent selection of in-depth literature references.

... with this comprehensive data collection cycloadditions will become an even more powerful tool for every organic chemist working on stereoselective synthesis.

Amazon.com

Khalid Sayood's textbook-style Introduction to Data Compression is the definitive guide to all kinds of compression schemes. Early chapters establish the mathematics involved in basic compression techniques, including lossless and lossy compression as well as the fundamentals of information theory that lay the groundwork for common forms of compression. (The book contains all the relevant formulas, although those who don't need such mathematical detail will still be able to understand the book.)

A good portion of the book examines various compression schemes, their strengths and weaknesses, and what content they work best for. Introduction to Data Compression begins with lossless compression schemes, which lose no information during the compression/decompression process. Huffman Coding, a well-established compression scheme, and arithmetic and dictionary coding also receive excellent treatment. In addition, the author takes on lossless compression for images.

For lossy compression, Sayood discusses schemes that use quantization, where a range of values is compressed in some way. He also describes scalar, vector, and differential encoding and fractal compression. A final chapter looks at video encryption (which often combines techniques from earlier chapters). Many of the compression schemes include examples from image and sound files, but the book considers a wide variety of video schemes too. This rich and confidently written text collates a lot of research and can serve as both textbook and source for designers who need a readable and mathematically solid introduction to data compression.

Book Description

The second edition of Introduction to Data Compression builds on the features that made the first the logical choice-for practitioners who need a comprehensive guide to compression for all types of multimedia and instructors who want to equip their students with solid foundations in these increasingly important and diverse techniques.
This book provides an extensive introduction to the theory underlying today's compression techniques, with detailed, instruction for their application. All of the coverage has been updated to reflect the state of the art in data compression, including both new algorithms and older methods for which new uses are being found. And the downloadable software gives you the opportunity to see firsthand how various algorithms work, to choose and implement appropriate techniques in your own applications, and to build your own algorithms.

* Fully updated to cover the most recent lossy and lossless compression techniques, including wavelets, subband coding, predictive lossless techniques, and Huffman coding variants.
* Explains established and emerging standards in depth: JPEG 2000, JPEG-LS, MPEG 2, Group 3 and 4 Faxes, JBIG 2, ADPCM, LPC, CELP, and MELP.
* Includes an new chapter providing the mathematical background required for understanding wavelets and subband coding.
* Via the companion Web site, provides source code that enables you to experiment with a wide range of compression techniques, along with sample data and updates on the latest developments in the compression field.

Customer Reviews:

Accessible textbook on compression does not sacrifice rigor .......2007-05-19

This is one of those books that only gets a new edition when the author has something genuinely new to say, and this third edition of Sayood's excellent introduction to data compression is no exception. This particular edition is different from the second mainly in that there is a new chapter on audio compression that includes a description of the mp3 algorithm. Also there is additional information on the new video coding standards as well as the new facsimile standards.

As to the target audience for this book, if you are tasked with designing hardware or software implementations of data compression algorithms and you have some background in either electrical engineering or computer science, then this is a good book from which to learn and then to practice what you learn via some very good exercises. Some prior knowledge of information theory and random processes wouldn't hurt either. There is also an abundance of examples that are sprinkled throughout the book to illustrate concepts as they are presented. The author's approach in each chapter is to explain each concept in as an accessible manor as possible, present relevant equations, and then work an example using what has just been presented.

The book presents the mathematical preliminaries in chapter 2, and chapters 3 and 4 are dedicated to coding algorithms which include Huffman coding, arithmetic coding, Golumb-Rice codes, and Tunstall codes. Chapters 5 and 6 describe many of the popular lossless compression methods and their applications. These methods include LZW, BWT, and DMC. Chapter 7 describes various lossless image compression algorithms such as JBIG as well as their applications. Chapter 8 discusses the mathematical background of lossy compression standards. Chapters 9 and 10 concentrate on quantization since it is the basis of most lossy compression schemes. Chapter 11 discusses differential encoding techniques such as DPCM and delta modulation. Included is a discussion of the CCITT G.726 standard.

Chapter 12 is the third and final chapter dedicated to mathematical foundations. It is meant to prepare the reader for the chapters on transform, subband, and wavelet based methods that encompass the following three chapters. The JPEG standard is covered in chapter 13, the CCITT G.722 standard in chapter 14, and the EZW, SPIHT, and JPEG2000 standards are covered in chapter 15. Chapter 16 focuses on audio compression and includes descriptions of the various MPEG audio compression schemes including mp3. Chapter 17 switches gears somewhat and covers techniques in which the data to be compressed is analyzed and a model is produced. This model is then used to synthesize the data and is quite useful in speech compression. Chapter 18 deals with video compression and diverges from the book's central theme of dealing with techniques rather than applications. The chapter discusses the H.261 standard as well as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 standards.

The website for the book, found at the publisher's site, contains a large number of C programs dealing with compression. I haven't tried to use any of these yet, so I can't speak to their validity.

A great textbook.......2006-02-11

This book has all the ingredients for a great textbook. It provides good theoratical background without going into unnecessary details, gives lot of discussion about applications, provides great exercise problems, and above all it has outstanding examples that makes some of the difficult concepts easy to understand.

Data compression needs a lot of background in information theory and other areas specific to speech, image processing etc. It is impossible to give a rigourous theoratical treatment of all of those in one volume. A strong point of this book is that it gives you just enough background on a variety of topics - without making the whole book obscure. In that respect, it is very application and implementation oriented. It is in fact what it says it is: A very good "INTRODUCTION to Data Compression"

Very good coverage.......2004-12-27

The best thing about this book is the coverage and organization of the material. Sayood covers a wide variety of compression topics without getting into the nitty gritty details of them all. Thats why its an "Introductory" book. This book is a valuable resource for those who want to know the basics of various compression techniques and can be used as a starting point for further details. Some topics like arithmetic coding are covered in more detail than others. The book is also organized nicely with mathematical foundations provided as and when necessary.

"The" Definitive Guide.......2004-02-16

Amazon claims that this is "the definitive guide". I have to agree with them because this book is the only broad grey pages introduction to data compression that I have been able to find, and it is very well written.

If you are only casually interested in data compression this book is not for you.

If you are interested in adding compression to your application and your data falls into a common category, sound, video, text ect this book is probably not for you. You should look to the open source community or buy an off the shelf product.

But if your data is odd or unique like say telemtry data (I'm sure there are other examples I just can't think of any) and you need to design a compression scheme for your data this book is "the only" book for you.

If you want to begin research into data compression and you are a newbie this book is a must have.

Very well-written book, software not so good.......2003-04-25

The book is one of the clearest I have read as a text book. Why cant everybody write like this?? There is very good flow throughout the text.

Book Description

This book provides a basic introduction to both information theory and data compression. Although the two topics are related, this unique treatment allows readers to explore either topic independently of the other. The authors' presentation of information theory is pitched at an elementary level, making the book less daunting than most other texts. The second edition includes a detailed history of information theory that provides a solid background for the quantification of the topic as developed by Claude Shannon. It also covers the information rate of a code and the trade-off between error correction and rate of information transmission, probabilistic finite state source automata, and wavelet methods.

Customer Reviews:

Well balanced!.......2003-01-31

The authors of this well balanced textbook succeed admirably well in teaching the subject to the union of students in math and in cs, and to engineers. The danger with subjects that cut accross fields is that they might appeal to the intersection of audiences involved rather than to the much larger union. The authors seem to be at home with all the types of readers, they realize that the lingo and the aim is different for the different and diverse groups of students. Indeed, the tools of information theory, data compression, and arithmetic coding are widely used in science. While the mathematical parts of the subject is old[Shannon, Kolmogorov..., measurements of information, entropy, channel capacity], the applications are still going strong, with new things coming out at a fast rate right up to the present. So the emphasis in the book on data and image compression is very appropriate. There is even a JPEGtool user's guide in the appendix.

Best Book on Compression.......2001-08-29

I read a lot of books on Compression, but this is indeed the best one I ever bought. I love this book and read it frequently.

Great Book on Compression.......2001-08-29

I am a gradute student in computer science and I have read a lot of books on this subject, including 1- Digital Image Compression, by Weidong Kou, 2- The Data Compression Book, by Mark Nelson, 3- JPEG Still Image Data Compression Standard, by Pennebaker. I have also browsed few other books on this subject, but one thing I can say for sure, that this is the best book ever written on the subject of Compression. It explains the information theory and data Compression in the best possible way, with best examples. Once read, you will never forget the algorithms. I just love this book, and read it every once in a while.

Book Description

One cold Moscow night, Comrade Tulayev, a high government official, is shot dead on the street, and the search for the killer begins. In this panoramic vision of the Soviet Great Terror, the investigation leads all over the world, netting a whole series of suspects whose only connection is their innocence—at least of the crime of which they stand accused. But The Case of Comrade Tulayev, unquestionably the finest work of fiction ever written about the Stalinist purges, is not just a story of a totalitarian state. Marked by the deep humanity and generous spirit of its author, the legendary anarchist and exile Victor Serge, it is also a classic twentieth-century tale of risk, adventure, and unexpected nobility to set beside Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls and André Malraux's Man's Fate.

Customer Reviews:

A Russian classic you probalby haven't read.......2007-09-03

A voracious reader I thought I finished the Russian classics when I completed Cancer Ward and the First Circle having devoured Crime and Punishment and War and Peace years before. Not so . Victor Serge has it all :the prose of Tolstoy, the impending doom of Dosteyesky and the currency of the Stalin era. Don't miss this one. FPB Ann Arbor

Brilliant Appalling Account.......2007-06-01

A repressive shadow looms over the destiny of these men of all age, beliefs, and ranks ... insidious terror creeps into those innocent minds and their lives ends before they know it or before their hearts stopped beating. Some vainly fight back, some don't, but all are hopeless.
The implacable and revengeful wave of the Soviet rotten bureaucracy destroys the life of innocent men. When tyranny and deception shutters the greatest hope of and for humanity, one ought to question if it had to be that way.

Not to be missed-truly one of a kind........2006-10-13

This book is amazing for its ability to communicate the intimate thoughts of the characters and employ beautiful prose to describe the physical settings in which the action takes place, without abandoning the larger narrative. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in Soviet history or literature. I read it after reading several other books on the period, and felt that they were an excellent preparation for this one (The Unquiet Ghost - Hochschild, Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar - Montefiore, The Gulage Archipeligo), but even without the background this is a fantastic read.

A Chilling, But Important Classic.......2006-09-14

Most of the other reviews of this book are right on the money and more articulate than I could be, so I won't try to repeat them. But I will say that I found this book to be a compelling piece of work; a classic. I never quite appreciated the depth of dysfunction, even depravity, of the Soviet system. It bewilders me that such an abomination took place in my lifetime. It frightens me that it could happen again. I just finished reading about the Spanish Inquisition, where the same terrible mechanics were perpetrated on the Spanish. Whether the motivating spark is political ideology or religious orthodoxy, demented societies like this can spring up like mushrooms. Communism was a massive crime upon the Russian people. And it provides little satisfaction that the criminals were often the victims of their own crimes. A devastating but outstanding book!

"In time flesh will wear out chains .......2006-08-31

in time the mind will make chains snap." Victor Serge.

Victor Serge's novel "The Case of Comrade Tulayev" is set in the Soviet Union in the late 1930s, long before "the chains wore out." It is a classic and haunting look at Soviet society during an era of party purges, show trials, and executions that deserves a place of honor on any reading list that also includes Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon", George Orwell's "1984" and Vasily Grossman's "Forever Flowing" .

Serge, born in Brussels in 1890 to Russian emigre parents, returned to Russia early in 1919 in order to support the newly created Soviet Union. He served as both a writer and journalist. However, Serge was one of the first of the old-line revolutionaries to oppose Stalin's concentration of power. He was arrested, expelled from the party, released, and arrested again. Finally, in 1936 after a public campaign by leading European political and literary figures, Serge was released and deported to France. He eventually found his way to Mexico where he died, penniless, in 1947.

The Case of Comrade Tulayev mirrors in some respects the murder of Sergei Kirov that set off Stalin's first great purge beginning in 1934. The story begins with the almost accidental murder of a leading member of the Central Committee, Comrade Tulayev by a disaffected clerk. The Chief (Serge's allusion to Stalin) immediately commences a round of purges, investigations, show trials and executions. The rest of the book takes us on a chapter-by-chapter account of a group of individuals caught up in the aftermath of the murder. Each individual represents a different component of Soviet society, from the lowly clerk to the high-ranking party functionary to the `oppositionist' already living in exile in Siberia.

Serge paints an intimate, vivid picture of each individual as they meet their fate. Like a storm at seas these people can see the storm on the horizon but they all seem powerless to either flea. They are swept up and prepared for show trials. The only option available to each is their ability to fight the omnipotent forces that want them to admit to crimes they did not commit and to implicate others in these same acts. The power of Serge's writing lies in his examination of the inner lives of his protagonists and their reasons for either accepting this fate or fighting to retain some shred of inner dignity. The outcome of each protagonist's story provides a cross section of human responses ranging from cringing supplication to death-defying resistance. The story of Ryzshik, the exiled oppositionist is particularly haunting. As with the others, he knows what is expected of him but he chooses to starve himself to death rather than confess to some non-existent crime.

The Case of Comrade Tulayev is most often compared to Koestler's Darkness at Noon. Although the comparison is very apt there are some critical differences in approach that bear mentioning. Darkness at Noon focuses on the self-reflection of one key player in the creation of the Soviet state, Rubashov. Koestler took one life, Rubashov's, and reflected on his own role (or guilt) in creating the state that was about to murder him. The emotional heart of Darkness at Noon (for me) is whether and why Rubashov would perform one last act for `The State". Serge, takes a broader look at the questions of individual guilt and collective responsibility. I think that by taking this broader look both Serge and the reader begin to think about, if not find a rational explanation for, how a society based on egalitarian ideals can allow itself to be transformed into a compliant, totalitarian state in less than a generation.

Victor Serge's Case of Comrade Tulayev is an excellent piece of writing. Highly recommended. L. Fleisig

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The Case of Comrade Tulayev
Victor Serge
Manufacturer: Doubleday & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Product Description

Stated 1st edition. Black cloth over boards, red letters.

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The Case of Comrade Tulayev
Victor Serge
Manufacturer: Doubleday Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000J0Q1ZO

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The Revolution Devours Its Own

Case of Comrade Tulayev -Ppd
Victor Serge
Manufacturer: Writers & Readers Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0863160549

Customer Reviews:

The Revolution Devours Its Own.......2006-01-30

Generally historical novels leave me dissatified as real history provides enough dramatic tension for me. However, every once in a while a novel comes along that illuminates a historical situation better than a history and begs for some attention. Victor Serge's political parable falls in that category. His subject is a fictional treatment of the Great Terror highlighted by the Moscow Trials in the Soviet Union of the 1930's. This Great Terror liquidated almost the whole generation of those who made the October Revolution of 1917 and administered the early Soviet state as well as countless other victims. Moreove, as an official journalist of the Communist International Serge knew many of that generation personally. The political and psychological devastation created by this catastrophe is certainly worthy of novelistic treatment. In fact it may be the only way to truly comprehend its effects. Serge is particularly well placed to tell this story since he was a long time member of the Trotsky-led Left Opposition in the Soviet Union and barely got out of there at the height of the Terror as a result of an international campaign of fellow writers to gain his freedom. The insights painfully learned from his experiences in the Soviet Union place his book in the first rank.

The plot line is rather simple- a disaffected Russian youth of indeterminate politics kills, an act of hubris, a high level Soviet official in the then Stalinized Soviet Union and sets in motion a whirlwind of governmental reaction. As if to mock everything the Russian Revolution had stood until that time this youth ultimately goes free while a whole series of oppositionalists of various tendencies, officials investigating the crime and other innocent, accidental figures are made to `confess' or accept responsibility for the crime with their lives in the name of defending the Revolution (read Stalinist rule).

While the plot line is simple the political and personal consequences are not, especially for anyone interested in drawing the lessons of what went wrong with the Russian Revolution. The central question Serge poses is this- How can one set of Communists persecute and ultimately kill another set of Communist who it is understood by all parties stand for the defense of the same revolution? Others such as Arthur Koestler in Darkness at Noon, Andre Malraux in Man's Fate and George Orwell in several of his books have taken up this same theme of political destruction with mixed success and ambiguous conclusions. Aside from the tales of bureaucratic obfuscation in turning a simple criminal matter into a political vendetta which Serge treats masterfully the answer does not resolve itself easily.

What Serge concludes, based I believe on his own personal trial of fire in that same period, and makes his novel more valuable than the others listed above is that one must defend ones revolutionary integrity at all costs. His personal conduct bears this out. The history of the period also bears this out not only in the Soviet Union but in Spain and elsewhere. For every Bukharin, Zinoviev or out of favor Stalinist factionalist who compromised himself or herself there were many, mainly anonymous Left Oppositionists and other such political people who did not confess, who did not abandon their political program and went to exile and death rather than capitulate. History being a cruel and, at times, arbitrary master may have not honored them yet. However, those courageous fighters need no revolutionary good conduct certificate before it, the reader of these lines or me.

A literary river.(Book Review): An article from: New Criterion

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A literary river.(Book Review): An article from: New Criterion
Stephen Schwartz
Manufacturer: Foundation for Cultural Review
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New Criterion, published by Foundation for Cultural Review on September 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1164 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A literary river.(Book Review)
Author: Stephen Schwartz
Publication: New Criterion (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2004
Publisher: Foundation for Cultural Review
Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Page: 68(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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The Case of Comrade Tulayev
Victor Serge
Manufacturer: Anchor Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NNB15M

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The Case Of Comrade Tulayev
Victor Serge
Manufacturer: Penguin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIQ6R4

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Case of Comrade Tulayev
Victor Serge
Manufacturer: HAMISH HAMILTON LTD (ENGLAND)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SNZ5F4

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Case of Comrade Tulayev
Victor Serge
Manufacturer: HAMISH HAMILTON LTD (ENGLAND)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UE71ZS

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Case of Comrade Tulayev
Victor Serge
Manufacturer: HAMISH HAMILTON LTD (ENGLAND)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PXF3IQ

Book Description

The most comprehensive and authoritative practitioner's guide available to the bankruptcy litigation process, the 1997-98 edition reflects the important new trends and recent decisions in this field. With a special focus on business bankruptcy litigation, it covers new precedents and vital developments on such issues as valuing collateral retained by a debtor under a cramdown reorganization plan, claims classification and financing disputes, bad faith filings, limitations on avoiding power suits, the "new value exception," charitable gifts as fraudulent filings under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the automatic stay and adequate protection, valuing collateral under a cramdown reorganization, environmental liabilities, and more.

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