Amongst thermoplastic biodegradable polymers, polylactic acid (PLA) has been widely used in many different applications but it still has limited use in various industrial sectors such as medical, packaging, textile, water, and wastewater treatment.To increase the use of these materials more information is needed on their properties, characterization, processing, safety, and sustainability. Natural Fibre-reinforced PLA-Based Composites: Processing, Characterization and Applications reviews the thermal, physico-chemical, fire retardant, mechanical, tribological, biodegradable and anti-microbial properties of these materials. Fabrication of PLA-based biocomposites using advanced fabrication techniques like additive manufacturing and electrospinning are also discussed in detail.The book will be a valuable reference for academic and industrial researchers, materials scientists and engineers working in the development of polymers, bioplastics, polymer composites and biocomposites as well as industrial manufacturers.

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) stands for an intriguing phenomenon in which a series of non-emissive molecules in solutions are induced to emit strongly in the aggregate or solid state. The concept of AIE was first coined by author Ben Zhong Tang in 2001, when he and his co-workers serendipitously discovered that 1-methyl-1,2,3,4,5-pentaphenylsilole was almost non-emissive in ethanol solution but became extremely bright in water-ethanol mixtures. Over the past 15 years, AIE has grown into a research field with high visibility and broad impact across both science and technology. Aggregation-Induced Emission: Materials and Applications summarizes the recent advances in AIE research, ranging from fundamentals, such as design, synthesis, and optical properties of AIE-active molecules, to mechanism studies supported by modeling and experimental investigations, and further to promising applications in the fields of energy, environment, and biology. The topics covered in Volume 2 include: AIE polymers; AIE-induced chirogenesis; Room-temperature phosphorescent AIE molecules; Liquid crystalline AIE molecules; AIE materials for energy devices; New chemo- and biosensors with AIE molecules; Cell structure and function imaging with AIE molecules; and AIE materials in drug delivery and therapy.

AI in Biomedical and Modern Healthcare Informatics provide a deeper understanding of current trends in AI and machine learning within health care diagnosis. Its practical approach in healthcare gives insight into wearable sensors and device modules to help doctors and their patients in enhanced healthcare systems. The book helps readers detect common difficulties and their solutions for early detection and prediction of any disease. In 34 chapters AI in Biomedical and Modern Healthcare Informatics provides beginners and experts in the medical science field with general pictures and detailed descriptions of imaging and signal processing principles and clinical applications. With forefront applications and up-to-date analytical methods, this book captures the interests of colleagues in the medical imaging research field and is a valuable resource for healthcare professionals who wish to understand the principles and applications of signal and image processing and its related technologies in healthcare

Psychological drama starring John Malkovich and Romain Duris. New York lawyer Nathan (Duris) learns from unconventional Doctor Kay (Malkovich) that his life may be coming to an end. Nathan is successful in his profession but he has recently divorced Claire (Evangeline Lilly), the love of his life. At first he is not convinced by the mysterious doctor, who suggests he should put his life in order before it is too late, but as strange events unfold, Nathan begins to sense that maybe he really isn't long for this world.

The scope and depth of family business research have been quickly expanding in the last two decades. The editors and contributors to this book present eight recent studies examining the impact of external or internal family conditions on the innovation, growth, and succession of family firms in Asia. By examining the influence of families on firm behaviors and decisions, researchers have been pushing the boundaries of this field. As researchers develop a better understanding of how families influence their businesses, the family conditions, including the properties and dynamics of families, have been found to play significant roles in the business decisions. In addition, globalization as a pressing issue has brought new opportunities and challenges to families and their businesses. This volume comprises diverse topics, including less commonly examined issues such as kinship, immigrant family enterprises, and family asset management. This book is a rich resource for researchers, students, and family business consultants.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This Advanced Introduction provides a critical review and discussion of research concerning spatial statistics, differentiating between it and spatial econometrics, to answer a set of core questions covering the geographic-tagging-of-data origins of the concept and its theoretical underpinnings, conceptual advances, and challenges for future scholarly work. It offers a vital tool for understanding spatial statistics and surveys how concerns about violating the independent observations assumption of statistical analysis developed into this discipline. Key Features: A concise overview of spatial statistics theory and methods, looking at parallel developments in geostatistics and spatial econometrics, highlighting the eclipsing of centography and point pattern analysis by geostatistics and spatial autoregression, and the emergence of local analysis Contemporary descriptions of popular geospatial random variables, emphasizing one- and two-parameter spatial autoregression specifications, and Moran eigenvector spatial filtering coupled with a broad coverage of statistical estimation techniques A detailed articulation of a spatial statistical workflow conceptualization The helpful insights from empirical applications of spatial statistics in agronomy, criminology, demography, economics, epidemiology, geography, remotely sensed data, urban studies, and zoology/botany, will make this book a useful tool for upper-level students in these disciplines.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

A new generation of Asian entrepreneurs is bringing their creativity, innovation, and digital expertise to market, assisting the region in becoming a disruptive force on the global stage. Live commerce, which combines fast purchases with entertainment, is revolutionizing China's retail industry, and new applications are making users' lives easier and more intertwined. A relatively young and increasingly well-educated population, driven by Millennials and Gen Zs, is driving such high levels of internet and mobile usage. In the following decade, these "digital natives" (born between 1997 to 2012) will account for one-third of Asia's consumption. Despite its relevance, there is a scarcity of research on digital natives and transformation in Asia or reflections of the same in a global context. The Handbook of Research on Digital Natives as a Disruptive Force in Asian Businesses and Societies fosters multidisciplinary collaboration in order to uncover fresh theoretical and empirical views on digital natives, digital technology, and digital revolutions in Asian enterprises and society. Covering key topics such as the digital divide, internet marketing, and social commerce, this major reference work is ideal for government officials, business owners, managers, policymakers, scholars, researchers, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

The Resource Utilization of Plastic Waste with Supercritical Water Treatment discusses the types of plastic analysis, material characterization, technical principles of supercritical water treatment of waste plastics, the structure and process of the experimental platform, the selection of process parameters, and the establishment of kinetic models in professional areas of the field.

There are two Pupil Books in Jin bu, one for each year group. Each one includes a wide variety of activities so lessons can be tailored for different abilities. Every chapter of the Pupil Book includes: activities covering all four language skills on every spread plenty of illustrations and photographs to keep pupils engaged grammar tips on every spread to help pupils understand key concepts writing exercises to help with character acquisition an 'Investigating characters' unit to show pupils how radicals relate to their meanings making them easier to remember a unit exploring Chinese culture. Audio files to accompany our Student Books are sold separately.

Digital transformation in organizations optimizes the business processes but also brings additional challenges in the form of security threats and vulnerabilities. Cyberattacks incur financial losses for organizations and can affect their reputations. Due to this, cybersecurity has become critical for business enterprises. Extensive technological adoption in businesses and the evolution of FinTech applications require reasonable cybersecurity measures to protect organizations from internal and external security threats. Recent advances in the cybersecurity domain such as zero trust architecture, application of machine learning, and quantum and post-quantum cryptography have colossal potential to secure technological infrastructures. Cybersecurity Issues and Challenges for Business and FinTech Applications discusses theoretical foundations and empirical studies of cybersecurity implications in global digital transformation and considers cybersecurity challenges in diverse business areas. Covering essential topics such as artificial intelligence, social commerce, and data leakage, this reference work is ideal for cybersecurity professionals, business owners, managers, policymakers, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

This book provides an overview of recent developments of complexity theory within the realm of social sciences. At a time when global and local social, political, cultural, and economic affairs are engulfed in chaos, this book sheds light on the mechanisms of uncertainties, offering new visions and frameworks for analyzing the nonlinear interactions between individuals, societies, and the environment. From exploring the foundational elements that shape our understanding of humanity, such as worldviews, justice, and trust, to applying complexity theory in the realms of politics, economics, management, strategies, and wars, this monograph provides a comprehensive examination of its far-reaching implications. By examining historical bifurcations and structural changes in American history and China's modern development, it emphasizes how complexity theory can serve as a bridge for intellectual and cultural communication between Western (Newtonian) and East Asian (yin-yang-based) civilizations. Moreover, the book elucidates that nonlinear phenomena, including bifurcations, catastrophes, structural changes, emergence of structures, and chaos, are integral aspects of human evolution. It unveils the positive potential within chaos, demonstrating that a comprehensive understanding of catastrophic mechanisms enables humanity to prevent global disasters by leading systems to chaotic attractors without destructive consequences. Through an exploration of the intricate interdependencies among individuals, societies, and the environment, this book offers a unique and comprehensive introduction to the application of complexity theory to the realm of humanity.

High Plasticity Magnesium Alloys focuses on the microstructure, mechanical properties and processing methods of magnesium alloy materials. The title offers theory and methods on high-plasticity magnesium alloys, including phase diagram construction, alloying and deformation. Four typical high-plasticity magnesium alloys are discussed through thermodynamic phase diagram construction and the characterization of their microstructure, mechanical properties and texture at as-cast, extruded, rolled and heat-treated states. Chapters update principle calculations for the effects of alloying elements, Mg-Gd-Zr medium strength and high-plasticity alloys, medium strength and high-plasticity Mg-Mn based alloys, medium strength and high-plasticity Mc-Sn based alloys, and Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Mn high-strength and high-plasticity magnesium alloys. This book presents the plasticity of magnesium alloys, and guides the design and development of new high-strength and high-plasticity magnesium alloys. It provides detailed solutions for practicing industrial engineers.

Emerging Contaminants in Soil and Groundwater Systems: Occurrence, Impact, Fate and Transport addresses the current need for comprehensive and detailed information on emerging contaminants in the environment. Due to increasing industrial expansion and evolving technologies, novel contaminants are being found in the environment with little information on their analysis, fate and transport. This book covers pharmaceuticals and personal care products, perfluorinated compounds, engineered nanoparticles and microplastics, providing the information environmental scientists require to study their occurrence and interactions, including case studies for each contaminant. This book is a valuable read for postgraduate students, academics, researchers, engineers and other professionals in the fields of Environmental Science, Soil Science, and Hydrology who need the most up-to-date information and analytical methods for analyzing newly emerging contaminants in soil and groundwater.