Author: Biz India

Authors: T.Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M. Campbell, MD Publisher: Ben Bella Books – 417 pages Book Review by Sonu Chandiram The China Study is essentially a well documented book on the relationship between nutrition and the various diseases that afflict people particularly in the United States and Western countries, mainly in Europe. Mostly importantly, these are various types of cancer and heart disease, but also diabetes, obesity, and diseases that affect the brain, bone, eye and kidney. The Campbells point out that improper nutrition and diet – mainly consumption of meat – also have causative factors on some 40 autoimmune diseases, which occur when the body attacks itself, and in many cases, the patients are the losers. This is a bestselling book (read about the ranking below) and I suspect that it is because health and disease-fighting has become a top issue in America. Notice I said disease-fighting and not disease-prevention. Prevention is obviously less costly in terms of money, time and effort than fighting disease through medication and hospitalization. And disease-prevention is an effort that does not produce stress but requires knowledge and an action plan. This excellent book provides you both. Add your discipline in carrying out your action plan to become healthier and less disease-prone. Read this book carefully several times and understand closely one term you may have not heard before: death by food....

Author: David Arrick, with Janice Kollar Publisher: Wiley Publishing – 192  pages Book Review by: Laxmi Chaandi This is a book about cupcakes but not of the kind you find at kids’ birthday parties. And also not the kind you would find in your typical bakery, which may be in pastel colors and have sparkles, sprinkles, or pretty designs of flowers or clowns on the top. What you will find here are recipes for delicious baked delights that have the flavors of bacon, rum, espresso and cayenne pepper. Yes, you read that right. These are cupcakes made for  men (or women who want manly tastes). For example, the B-52 (named after the World War II bomber) cupcake is made with Kahlua and Bailey’s Irish Cream, which in turn is made with Irish whiskey. This cupcake is prepared by soaking it in coffee-flavored Kahlua and using the Bailey’s Cream in the frosting. The other unique cupcakes besides the B-52 with strong flavors in the  first chapter named “Working” feature recipes in this unusual book named: Coffee Break, Driller, Jack Hammer, Rush Hour and Wake Up Call. All the recipes have something different , usually an ingredient or more that set them apart from others. For example, what’s different about the Coffee Break cupcake than most others? It is loaded with Kahlua and a double shot of Espresso butter cream! The...

Editors: Kevin J. Knoop, Lawrence B. Stack, Alan B. Storrow & R.Jason Thurman, MDs Publisher:  McGraw-Hill Medical – 876 pages Book Review by: Nano Khilnani This is a large book of almost 900 pages with broad coverage of trauma cases that emergency physicians face on a daily basis. It can be an abscess, allergy attack, blood clot in veins, broken bone, diabetic collapse, dislocation of the shoulder, fracture of the skull, inflammation in an internal organ, inhalation of a noxious gas, injury, hemorrhage, loss of vision, occlusion, rupture of the spleen, swallowing of a foreign object, or anything else that is life-threatening. This is the third (2010) edition of the book, which also functions as a reference manual. It has chapters on airway, electrocardiography and toxicology added to it, along with some images of tropical diseases. It has less text and more than twice the number of images contained in the second edition published in 2002. This book was first published in 1997. The four editors named above gathered and edited the materials from more than 50 medical specialists who are named as contributors in this book. In addition, there were more than 160 of photographs submitted that were used in this massive project. Compiling such a large mass of useful materials has made this book of an immense value to emergency room doctors and other members of the...

Authors: Kenneth Smith and Alexandra Reed Lajoux Publisher: McGraw-Hill – 348 pages Book Review by:  Paiso Jamakar There was a time when a company acquired another in order to squash its largest competitor, to increase its share of the market, to increase profit margins by buying products at lower prices based larger volume purchases (as a result of acquiring the customers of its acquired company) and for a host of other reasons. There was a time when it made sense to a company’s owners and management to be acquired or become part of another firm (when it did not have the cash, capital and credit facility) in order to generate more sales (with a larger customer base as a result of a merger) and larger operating income (as result of lower product costs based on volume-based pricing) that could be used to increase salaries and other forms of compensation. But in today’s business environment, it makes sense to embrace the strategy of mergers and acquisitions (M&A strategy) from the outset itself to get a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The question these days seems to be no longer whether a company should incorporate M&A strategy to grow its business. The question now is what is the best and fastest way to merge with, acquire or be acquired by another company for the largest overall benefit of everyone involved? This...

Authors: George Manning and Kent Curtis Publisher: McGraw-Hill – 503 pages Book Review by: Paiso Jamakar This book takes a look at leadership in nine basic ways. It discusses various aspects, attributes, mandates, powers, qualities and responsibilities of leadership. Among other things, it takes a look at basic leadership principles and variables, its power of vision, the importance of ethics in leadership, how it empowers people, understanding followers, multiplying leadership effectiveness, developing leaders, and last but not the least, managing leadership performance. The above paragraph is a summary of this book’s single-page contents in brief. The topics and sub-topics in its 20 chapters spanning over 500 pages are detailed in its regular table of contents. This is for those who want to read about a specific topic or want answers to particular questions. This book focuses on leadership in businesses and why good leadership, especially in larger organizations, is important to success, however that success is measured. Its unique value is that it is not just an exposition of behavior theory but actual practical application of theory with the purpose of helping readers learn important leadership principles and acquire skills through practice. Through involvement and participation in exercises, personal development and self-improvement is facilitated. This helps people gain self-confidence and improve their performance at work and in social situations. The book presents case studies as ways of learning. It...