Best Selling Books by Scott Smith

*************Honorable Mention, Glimmer Train Press, Inc., June 2014 Open Fiction Contest*************"Why am I here? First of May, I was gasping for air, grasping for intention but underneath my black mind and sick heart was this tiny window of light from a deeper place and I don't know if it originated from me or from outside the way a match lights a candle but eventually in any event it was mine and still the master of me rather it was my true self saying look you sometimes planetarian where your feet trod despite your sorrow you are still standing nurture yourself be your own mother be your own father and the rest of me the fabric the house the shell that was seeing this warm yellow illumination this possibility this way out the brain the heart the body ... was acutely afraid."

"This report presents and analyzes new approaches for determining when a sector should be alarted by the Monitor Alert capability of the Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS). TFMS currently alerts a fifteen-minute interval for a sector if the demand for any minute in that interval exceets the Monitor Alert Parameter (MAP). ... This report presents new approaches for improving the way that TFMS determines if a sector is alerted. The deterministic demand pattern approach as well as the probabilistic weighted average approach have the advantage of being a smaller change from the traditional and long accepted way of doing business, while the fully probabilistic approach has the advantage of providing a more satisfactory way of looking at demand. The FAA can now compare these approaches to the current approach and determine which is more attractive for the long run. If one of the new approaches is deemed desirable, additional work would be needed to flesh the proposals out into fully operational tools."--Executive Summary (p. ii).

They're quirky. They're queer. They're vigilantes. Lawless and political thugs are pushing poison on the street and corrupting City Hall. But a new force emerges when four close, quirky friends step up to save their city, proving that the whole can be far greater than the sum of its parts. Investigative reporters have been chasing down countless conspiracy theories. When they join forces with our superheroes, the united team closes in on the exploding chaos. THE LGBT SUPERHEROES! BOOK I BOOK III is written to read like a fun, farcical movie on the page - full of action, drama, romance, humor, endearing main characters, a cool supporting cast, and engaging story lines. Diversity, acceptance and prejudice weave threads throughout, and the reader is taken on an exhilarating ride. This cozy action-adventure is written for an accepting audience by an LGBT ally. You have permission to feel good. Own THE LGBT SUPERHEROES! BOOK III today! Everyone deserves their very own superheroes. From a 5 star review: This is such a fun and enjoyable read! You've got the spooky City, lovable, kick-ass characters, the creepy bad-guy element and a mystery underlying it all. ... I would strongly recommend this book. It's a real page-turner, loaded with action and some real tongue-in-cheek. ... The book reads like a movie. Hollywood take note! From a 5 star review: This is a cozy, curl up with my coffee, get to know some delicious characters kind of mystery! Didn't know how the author would handle the diversity... he got it! With a light and caring and laughing hand! I could really relax into the story.

This book explores the history of immigration and development of cultural identities on the island of Martinique from 1635 to the present with particular attention to the major cultural groups--African, French, and Indian--as well the role of the indigenous Caribs in cultural hybridization. This interdisciplinary study of intertwined adaptive strategies to emigration and resettlement provides insight into the complicated tapestry of contemporary Martinican identity, including Martinique's chosen status as an Overseas Department of France. To help students navigate nearly 400 years of complex history, the authors provide a glossary and questions for reflection.

Enjoy a vicarious trip to Highland Bayou, Texas to enjoy our 4th of July 2019 fireworks display. It was a cool summer evening and the fireworks display did not disappoint . . . it was beautiful . . . so take a look.

Early summer, '86, sipping whiskey on a Friday night perched in his regular spot at Eddy's Café on New England's South Coast. Finally getting over a spring fling that left him wondering what the hell. He'd met her on a case that winter, and she'd left his life as sudden as she'd entered it. Left it better, maybe, but left it empty. Women, yeah, what the hell. And then Margot walked through the door. "The only time I met Margot Constant was at her father's funeral, a few years back, and I'll tell you right now she was a serious looker. It was the rest that didn't impress me. So when I saw Margot walk through Eddy's open door I felt a sudden sense of déjà vu, the hair-raising kind that pops nerve endings and clangs alarms. She paced quickly toward me, seeming to pick up speed as her slim hips swished snug, faded denim. She wore a Western shirt and cowboy boots. He fiery auburn hair flashed back. I turned and watched. She strode up to me and stopped. 'Malcomb told me you'd be here.' Uh oh." Malcomb Whitney was Peter MacAlister's boss at the Fall River Gazette. Peter did deep dives into the seamier sides of the small coastal city, immersed himself into unknown stories that he turned into page turners for his boss, who had given him a second chance years back based on gut instinct. Malcomb's instinct proved right, and Peter had carved out a unique niche as his favorite reporter. Now he needed Peter's help. It seemed Margot, little sister to Malcomb's wife, Betty, was in a hurt of trouble - a million bucks' worth. And the grande dame of the Constant family, and executor of her considerable Marple Family Trust, Katherine Constant wanted the dough back - and to kick some ass in the process. And what Katherine wants.... Malcomb was aware of some of Peter's sideline activities over the past few years - that is, his and his partner, aging attorney Mory Wilbur's. It was Mory who got Peter involved in helping others who couldn't help themselves. Usually it was about turning a scam on its head. Or recovering a swindled property. In Peter's first published case, 'Edie,' it meant taking on a nouveau mob in Rhode Island that had filched an inheritance to fund their gambling and drug operation. In his second published case, 'Monique', Peter helped an old flame from New Hampshire find her missing hippy brother, who'd disappeared from right under his family's nose. And now it seemed that Margot was the victim of a possible investment scam back home in Vermont. Margot, Malcomb, Betty and Katherine had met as a family to figure out what to do. And as Malcomb said to Peter, who had just wanted to quietly toss back a couple that Friday night at Eddy's, "I'm sorry, but we're at wit's end here. Which made me think of you." Tag along with wise-cracking reporter/sleuth Peter MacAlister as he takes on crisis cases all over New England in this somewhat dark, moody series with a decidedly noir tilt. And take a look at Scott C. Smith's Amazon author page. He is also the author of the farcical, warm action series THE LGBT SUPERHEROES! Books I-III, which celebrates diversity with stories about a fearsome foursome of queer vigilantes who take on the criminal and political chaos that threatens their beloved city. They team up with a hot reporter duo who has been chasing down conspiracies to the point where their paths cross to jointly confront the crises. The lead reporter? Yup, one Peter MacAlister nearly 30 years later, who at 63 finally found the love of his life. Action, drama, humor, romance - all the makings of a warm, entertaining series that reads like a movie on the page.

Lineage commitment and differentiation of skeletal cells requires coordinated regulation of multiple signaling systems by microRNAs (miRNAs). Transforming growth factor Î2 (TGFÎ2) is important for osteoblastogenesis, chondrogenesis and adipogenesis. Here, we show that miR-433 limits TGFÎ2 signaling and is a negative regulator of osteoblastogenesis and chondrogenesis. miR-433 has also been found to target the glucocorticoid receptor, and rhythmic secretion of glucocorticoids is critical for synchronizing circadian clocks. We hypothesized that miR-433 regulates the circadian clocks by regulating glucocorticoid signaling. In vivo, miR-433 displays robust rhythmicity in mouse calvaria. Its expression pattern was anti-phasic in relation to Bmal1, peaking after light removal. To determine if miR-433 regulates circadian rhythm in vitro, its activity was inhibited using a miR-433 competitive inhibitor (miR-433 decoy) in stably transduced C3H/10T1/2 cells. miR-433 inhibition modestly affected Bmal1 rhythm and it dramatically altered the phase of Per2. Inhibiting miR-433 activity amplified the glucocorticoid responsive genes Dusp1 and Per2, and induced nuclear localization of the glucocorticoid receptor. In vivo inhibition of miR-433 activity using a Col1a1 driven miR-433 decoy transgenic model altered the phase and amplitude of the circadian clocks. Overall, we found that miR-433 displays a circadian rhythm in calvaria, alters the phase of circadian clocks, and regulates sensitivity to glucocorticoids. BMSCs cultured in osteogenic medium caused a progressive decline in miR-433. In contrast, miR-433 was dramatically increased in BMSCs and iPSCs cultured in micromass to induce chondrogenesis. miR-433 levels remained constant during adipogenesis. miR-433 decoy cells were differentiated with BMP2 and miR-433 inhibition induced alkaline phosphatase, Runx2, and osteocalcin mRNAs. In micromass cultures treated with BMP2 and TGFÎ2, miR-433 inhibition promoted expression of chondrogenic mRNAs, Sox9 and Col2a1. In cells treated with an adipogenic cocktail, miR-433 inhibition failed to alter adipogenic gene markers or Oil-red O staining. Bioinformatic analyses suggested that miR-433 might target critical components of the TGFÎ2 pathway. miR-433 inhibition amplified TGFÎ2 signaling, evidenced by increased activity of a TGFÎ2-responsive SBE4 luciferase reporter and enhanced TGFÎ2-induced pSMAD2. To determine underlying mechanisms, we used Luciferase-3’UTR reporter assays, and experimentally validated SMAD2 and TGFBR1 as novel miR-433 targets. Overall, miR-433 attenuates TGF-ß signaling, and restrains osteoblastic and chondrogenic differentiation.

Behind the great successes in this world, there is systematically a flawless way of working and organization. For every person who wants to improve in music, there is eventually a possibility of success. The problem is that for the majority of people, they don't have a tool that helps them evolve in an organized and efficient way. This is how they spend hours in music without achieving a satisfactory result. You have all the potential you need to obtain the results you want to have, but this potential is not put to good use because you lack an adequate tool to accompany you and guide you clearly through an organized and efficient work. This is not your fault. Let me ask you a question: Would you like to have a notebook that allows you to make a difference? A notebook specially designed to help you in your music sessions? If the answer is yes then let me tell you: You've come to the right place. We have spent a lot of time researching what makes the difference between bad and successful musicians. All you need to boost your results is a tool that helps you in your music sessions in an organized and efficient way. This notebook has been specially designed to help you improve, you will find : A summary to allow you to find a particular session easily 10 tips or tricks to improve yourself if you're new to music The program of the week (what you will do, the day, the start and stop times of the sessions) The date The objective of the day The day What you want to do today (create, learn, exercise) Additional notes Tablatures Chord diagrams All pages are also numbered And others... Ladies and Gentlemen, You have in front of you the notebook you absolutely need if you want to improve your music sessions. It is 6x9 (150 pages). You won't find a better gift to give to musicians. Don't wait any longer, click to buy it !!!

Adhesion, friction, and wear are the principal failure mechanisms that have limited the use of contacting and sliding surfaces in commercial MEMS applications. As the size of mechanical structures reaches the micro- and nano-scales, surface forces such as van der Waals, capillary, and electrostatic forces dominate the interactions between contacting surfaces. At these scales, the magnitude of the friction force is very sensitive to the complicated interaction between the surface properties, material properties, contact conditions, and environmental conditions. This work investigates the role of the contact conditions on the friction forces and wear rate of a MEMS probe array of small-scale tips in contact with a flat sliding surface. The friction measurement experiment involves a laterally unconstrained slider that sits on top of a MEMS probe array. As the array is laterally actuated, solely friction forces at the tips govern the motion of the slider. MEMS probe arrays enable precise control over the shape and the total number of contact points between the two surfaces. The results show that the friction forces are very sensitive to small changes in the contact or environment conditions. But for a given, well-controlled set of conditions, the friction forces scale linearly with the normal force. However, the friction coefficient is strongly dependent on the total number of contact points and the local conditions around those contact points. Factors such as humidity or adsorbed water on the surfaces further increase the linear relationship between the friction forces and the number of contacts. In addition, the wear rate of the tips is linearly related to the normal force acting at each tip. Factors such as the presence of water on the surface and a stiff vertical contact also lead to high wear rates. This work concludes with a set of recommendations to minimize the detrimental effects of friction and wear at the micro- and nano-scales.

"Abstract: This project will investigate and test truck-mounted LIDAR and optical sensors to determine their feasibility for detecting hazardous bridge/tunnel heights for warning the driver of an overheight truck. This document, which describes the problem and reviews potential solutions, is the first deliverable of the project. "--Technical report documentation page.

The first of its kind, this fully illustrated book examines the evolution of domestic architecture on Prince Edward Island up until the advent of WWI. It describes 82 of the most significant heritage houses on the Island and includes the exquisite black and white and colour photography of Lionel Stevenson, floor plans of selected buildings and interesting aerial photographs of some of these houses in their rural context. Author Scott Smith has won several awards and is himself an historian, publisher and architect.

Use amazon Alexa built in to get quick news and information, check the weather, set timers and alarms, control your smart home devices and more all through the sound of your voice (third party app may be required; amazon Alexa not available in all countries) Based on your heart rate, time asleep and restlessness, sleep score helps you better understand your sleep quality each night; also track your time in light, deep and REM sleep stages and get personal insights Control your Spotify app, download Pandora stations and add Deezer playlists, plus store and play 300+ songs on your wrist (subscription required; Pandora is us only) With a larger display and an always on option, your information's always a quick glance away (always on display requires more frequent charging) Track heart rate 24/7, steps, distance, calories burned, hourly activity, active minutes and floors climbed. Syncing range - up to 6.1 meters Works around the clock with 6 plus day battery life (varies with use and other factors) Get a call, text, calendar and smartphone app notifications when your phone is nearby; plus send quick replies and a voice replies on android only. Works with Bluetooth headphones & 200+ leading iOS and Android devices.