A well written, eye opener of a book! This book explains the basic dental procedures we've all endured with emphasis on how that dental work affects our health. The authors include a very interesting perspective of dental history, current procedures, solutions to previously performed faulty procedures, and even some well founded nutritional advice. This is a must read for anyone with chronically ill health or for anyone who desires to make well informed decisions regarding their health. I never would have thought a book on dentistry and health could ever be such a "page-turner"!

This book was a wonderful eye opener to the world of holistic dentistry. Dr. Hansen's techniques and data are so up to date that what I had been learning and reading from other book on the same topic were all outdated. This book has completley changed how I am having my dentistry, and how my family is having dentistry. My father is a dentist and after reading htis he is seriously re evaluating his practice. This book is even easy for the lay person to read and understand. It goes over mercury removal, detoxing, how the entire body and nutritional aspect play a role as well. I was even able to prevent a rool canal from being done. I would strongly advise that before any dental treatment people read this bookto at least know what there options are as a consumer. So many times we are in the dark as to whatother alternatives are out there. Not with this book.

Mary Ellen Flora is a spiritual teacher, healer, and clairvoyant reader who brings her remarkable insights on spirituality, daily meditation, and the Chakras to her introduction to how the chakras affect everything we do. She reveals just what the chakras are and how we can access the information in them to benefit our lives. The text comprising Chakras: Key To Spiritual Opening is clear, concise, and offers techniques to open our chakras, creating the life we truly desire -- and a welcome addition to students of metaphysics and spirituality.

The fundamental role of information technology (IT) in the identification and transformation of business processes is clear in this outstanding contribution from Peter Keen and Ellen Knapp. This concise work serves to promote the dialogue between the IT staff and the business experts. It communicates powerfully like a well-written executive summary. Although it reviews in a critical way and consolidates gains in the task of coordinating business processes undertaken by total quality management (TQM), business process reengineering (BPR), the learning organization, time-based competition (and a host of related -isms), at another level it provides a breakthrough way of looking at old things in new ways. "It is because there are so many approaches to coordinating business processes, with information technology a major enabler of dramatic change, that so much of the process movements' ideas seem at once old and new" (p. 23). That breakthrough is entitled the "business process investment" framework (p. 30ff.). It is a framework for a conversation between the IT and the business roles and functions in the modern firm. If any doubt existed as to the fundamental significance of the business - IT conversation, then the references in this work on client-server, groupware, electronic data interchange (EDI), image processing, (computer system) integration, and UNIX, will put to rest any question as to the salience of the task. As usual, IT is the "enabler," the catalyst, the provider of infra-structure. For example: "Image processing joins client/server computing and groupware as a core technology for process innovation. It does not create but rather enables many forms and degrees of innovation that are simply not possible when physical documents drive the process" (p. 125). The inquiry undertaken by Keen and Knapp aims at solving what they call the "process paradox" (p. 165). Major business process reengineering efforts fail to furnish value-added, bottom line profits, in spite of being successful technically and even organizationally. That is the paradox: great benefits, no value-added. The resolution: the wrong processes were reengineered. A fundamental distinction exists between "...getting a process right and getting the right process right" (p. 165). But how do we tell what are the right processes to get right? The short answer is to distinguish "identity processes," which are a lot like "core competencies" (what a company does best), from "liability and background processes". An identity process is what makes a company what it is. For example, the guaranteed on-time delivery for Fed Ex; product innovation for 3M; Nordstrom's customer service; Managed Care in health insurance. In each case, the process stands for the company. That is the process into which development effort should be committed. What should be done with the other processes? If they can't be stopped, e.g., because they are mandated by law or the IRS, then they are candidates for out-sourcing. Find a company for whom the preparation of the candidate (liability) back-office process is an (asset) identity process. Then contract with them to do the (now out sourced) job. The success of ADP in processing payrolls for firms of all sizes is an example of this. "...Tax reporting and accounting are background liability processes for British Petroleum but identity asset processes or the Big Six accounting firms" (p. 49). This defines a "win-win" situation. Likewise, you can be sure that IT is a major cog in the mechanism generating this success. Implicit in the solution of what might be called the asset - liability process accounting equation is a detailed analysis of how the economics of processes add value to organizations. As usual, the genius is in the details. And Keen and Knapp provide plenty of them. One significant spin that is nowhere else available is to distinguish a process as a workflow from one as a coordination cost. The latter in particular is where IT shines and can make a significant difference. "Information technology is transforming coordination costs" (p. 22). Time after time, Keen and Knapp display a sophisticated understanding of the role of information as a strategic asset in the life of the organization. The argument is that companies exist at all because at particular times and places the coordination costs of goods and services are less than the transaction costs. That is, a firm can organize internally to coordinate processes to produce a good less expensively than it can purchase that good by means of a transaction in the market. IT is the fulcrum of this production lever: "...Information technology affects what is most fundamental to organizations: coordination costs versus transaction costs" (p. 21). From yet another perspective, Keen and Knapp offer a wealth of insights and new ways of seeing old things. For example, they cite the work of Nobel laureate Arno Penzias on information theory. Their Penzias Axiom is that anything that comes between the customer and the computer system that will completely fulfill his request will be removed (p. 157). When IT reduces the cost of obtaining the information needed for decision makes it promotes centralization; when it reduces coordination costs for customers and suppliers, it encourages decentralization (p. 74). Identify sources in telecommunications and computing technology of "discontinuities" that "change the rules of competition" (p. 90). Examples of this kind can be multiplied greatly. The subtitle of the work, "A Glossary of Key Terms and Concepts," sounds as though the book can be used as a reference. That is true. The harried business or technology manager or senior analyst can profitably dip in and out, and usefully follow the "see also" cross-references. Be aware, however, the alphabetic organization of concepts sustains a thematic and narrative coherence that fully supports and deserves a cover-to-cover reading. That in itself is a remarkable accomplishment in the context of an already break through contribution to the process development literature. --excerpt from my published review in COMPUTING REVIEWS, December 1996

Four years ago I retired from the military and came back to education. One of the first expenditures I made was this book--the best decision I made at that time. This book, full of wonderfully thoughtful "boiler plate" in English and Spanish, really helped me out as a bilingual elementary teacher in La Joya, Texas. This is a definite must buy for a starting teacher--when will the author do an update?

This wonderful period mystery unfolds like a rose, beautifully. Every SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) mystery reader should read this book. Mary Ellen Cooper's writing made me feel as though I was walking the streets of Bologna, Italy in 1489. Avisa, the female locksmith/sleuth has the exact qualities to mesmerize the reader and to connect the ensemble cast of characters that Mary Ellen has written into one story. Avisa is feminine, strong, kind, resourceful, and intelligent. Mary Ellen thank you for giving us this character, my words come nowhere near yours. Read this book!

M.E. Cooper has three published crime books to her credit: Unlikely Assassins, Blood & Pity, and Fatal Trust. She has also published two mysteries written in the cozy tradition: The Wright Special and Murder At The Locksmith Convention. Key Deceptions is her first historical mystery novel.

Set in the 15th Century Italian Renaissance, Key Deceptions features Aviva, an attractive young widow who is a member of the locksmith guild. Aviva has a heart of gold, and takes in a young Jewish boy, Bernardo, against all prohibitions against Jews. When Aviva, her friend Lucia, and Bernardo attend a feast at the Duke's palazzo, the theft of donated silver intended for use for new bells for the city places them in direct danger, since the authorities suspect Jewish involvement. To make matters worse, Ippolito, the Mayor's nephew, has been using threats and intimidation to gain sexual favors from Aviva. Ippolito tricks Aviva into a bad section of town using subterfuge, forcing Aviva to kill him by shutting him in a trunk. His subsequent death by suffocation presents a big problem of how to dispose of the body for Aviva and her friends:

"Avisa thought of her friend, the mendicant friar. 'What is we went openly to the cemetery. Very early in the morning, before most people are up. If we had Brother lead a group in prayer?' Avisa paused. She twisted a strand of her hair, while thinking aloud at the possibilities. 'If we had several brothers chanting loudly, the noise would cover the sound of our digging, and they could stand in a circle, concealing our actions."

Key Deceptions isn't exactly a whodunit. It is more of an adventure story that eventually winds its way towards a murder. M.E. Cooper does a nice job of creating a sense of tension throughout the story, using historical conventions. 15th Century Italy is a dangerous place indeed for women, especially a young widow with an unusual craft.

Cooper weaves a few subplots into the matrix, incorporating the story of a beautiful young aspiring artist who has come from the village to participate in court politics. She is determined not to be "shackled" by a marriage. Her story parallels Aviva's, and at times their paths intersect, creating even more danger and tension. Key Deceptions is a sweetly written entertainment.

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer

Key Deceptions is the first in a cleverly created historical mystery series set during the 15th century Italian Renaissance Period. The place is Bologna, Italy. The year is 1489. Avisa Boylatoni and Lucia Colascco, the only female locksmiths the Street of Guilds, are the main characters. Together they attend meetings at the Guild Hall, work their crafts, and solve mysteries. Others who join in the mystery are Avisa's apprentice and an injured solider.

The Duke and Duchess arrive back in town with some extra company. The Duchess brings with her a poor relation who pursues not a man, but a professional skill for her future. The Duke allows a gentleman, who will cast the perfect bells for Bologna, collect the silver from the people. When the Duke's best solider is killed and the silver is taken, Avisa's fear of being sucked into the intrigue of the rulers is brought to life. She and her locksmith skills maybe the only way to protect those she cares most about.

It takes all kinds to make a fascinating sub-genre and Ms. Cooper is doing her part in historical mysteries. I found the historical atmosphere intriguing and simple, and the characters perfectly imperfect, which makes them more believable. As the characters are introduced and settle into their places, I am captivated by the subject matter and settle myself into the fact that this is a winning new series with a very interesting amateur sleuth as lead character. I liked the way the story ended with "and this is just the beginning feeling". Look for Key Confrontations and Key Confessions coming soon from M.E. Cooper and Padlock Mystery Press.