A family for keeps Time with his son is precious to surgeon Nick Devlin. He knows he hasn't been there enoughfor his boy, but going to Crocodile Creek Kids' Camp will change all that. The last person Miranda Carlisle expects to see at the camp is Nick. Their one passionatenight together in medical school left her brokenhearted. She's determined to keep herdistance, yet watching him struggle to bond with his child tugs at her heartstrings. She knows she can help Nick be a father to his son, but opening her heart to him againwill take courage. Luckily, the warmth of Nick's smile is making her feel brave….

Under the Tuscan sun... It's everything Thea has ever dreamed of. A Tuscan wedding, the perfect dress, a handsome groom...and her wedding will unite two families in more than business. So why is it only when her groom's brother Zeke Ashton arrives that things start feeling right? Watching the woman he once loved sacrifice her happiness for duty is impossible. Zeke has to remind her of the carefree, happy girl she once was before she says "I do" if Thea--or he--is ever to have a chance at happiness....

From one proposal…to another! Laurel Sommers's world crumbled when she discovered her father's other family. Now she's been roped into organizing her famous half sister's wedding… Plus, Laurel's ex-fiancé is invited. So when the groom's gorgeous brother proposes he play her convenient boyfriend, she agrees! Stuntman Dan Black's relationships are like the roles he steps into—temporary. But it's soon clear his and Laurel's chemistry is here to stay, and Dan starts considering a more permanent proposal…

This thoroughly researched, well-documented book presents a theoretically guided empirical analysis of developing and implementing gender equality policies in the European Union (EU). In spite of a wealth of research, many questions have long remained unanswered and these are addressed here. The author developed an international relations theoretical framework in order to explain the changing fortunes of women's activism, the changing attitudes of European institutions and the behaviour of member states in a multi-level setting. The book traces the history and development of EU gender policy to the present day and will be inspirational reading for those interested in European governance and the European Union, as well as gender issues and political sociology.

Computational Intelligence (CI) is a term corresponding to a new generation of algorithmic methodologies in artificial intelligence, which combines elements of learning, adaptation, evolution and approximate (fuzzy) reasoning to create programs that can be considered intelligent. Supply Chain Optimization, Design, and Management: Advances and Intelligent Methods presents computational intelligence methods for addressing supply chain issues. Emphasis is given to techniques that provide effective solutions to complex supply chain problems and exhibit superior performance to other methods of operations research.

The European Union (EU) Merger Directive removes certain tax disadvantages encountered by companies and their shareholders in the course of a restructuring operation. However, in spite of amendments and European Court of Justice's (ECJ) interpretations of its provisions, various shortcomings remain. This thoroughgoing analysis, broader and deeper than any prior work on the subject, addresses all the Directive's subtopics methodically, following the paragraphs of Articles 1-15 in their logical succession. The author analyses the points in which the Merger Directive falls short of attaining its stated objective, and he also examines how these shortcomings could be scaled. To do so, he tests the Merger Directive against its own objective, primary EU law (the fundamental freedoms and the unwritten general principles of EU law) and non-discrimination provisions in relevant treaties. Each of the following questions is addressed and responded to in depth: – Which entities have access to the Merger Directive and which entities should have access to it? – Which operations are covered by the Merger Directive and which operations should be covered? – Which tax disadvantages to cross-border restructuring operations does the Merger Directive aim to remove, which tax disadvantages have been actually removed, which tax disadvantages remain, and how should the Merger Directive be amended to remove the remaining tax disadvantages? – How tax avoidance should be combated under Article 15(1)(a) of the Merger Directive, which possible types of tax avoidance can be identi¬fied, and how the Merger Directive should be amended? – Which cases of double taxation does a taxpayer engaging in cross-border restructuring operations potentially encounter, and how they can be taken away by the Merger Directive? The key shortcomings that are identifi¬ed are: the Merger Directive’s objective is not stated precisely; minimum harmonisation does not lead to a common tax system; exhaustive lists are used as legislative technique; the Merger Directive does not add much to the outcomes reached through negative harmonisation; and the de¬finitions of qualifying operations are not fully aligned with corporate law. Chapter 6 contains a deeply informed and viable proposal for the amendment of the Merger Directive. This is the fi¬rst treatment not only to evaluate the Directive's effi¬cacy in detail but also to offer real solutions to its shortcomings. It will be welcomed by policymakers, judges, practitioners and academics, and the recommendations it contains are sure to affect ongoing amendments and jurisprudence on the Merger Directive.

Recent years have seen numerous applications across a variety of fields using various techniques of Computational Intelligence. This book, one of a series on the foundations of Computational Intelligence, is focused on learning and approximation.

Since the 1980s, software agents and multi-agent systems have grown into what is now one of the most active areas of research and development activity in computing generally. One of the most important reasons for the current intensity of interest in the agent-based computing paradigm certainly is that the concept of an agent as an autonomous system, capable of interacting with other agents in order to satisfy its design objectives, is a natural one for software designers. This recognition has led to the growth of interest in agents as a new paradigm for software engineering. This book reflects the state of the art in the field by presenting 14 revised full papers accepted for the second workshop on this topic, AOSE 2001, together with five invited survey articles. The book offers topical sections on societies and organizations, protocols and interaction frameworks, UML and agent systems, agent-oriented requirements capture and specification, and analysis and design.