Gareth Edwards directs this sci-fi adventure set in the 'Star Wars' universe, featuring a stand-alone story written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy. After being recruited by Rebel Alliance leader Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), former criminal Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is tasked with stealing the plans for the Death Star so that the weapon can be destroyed before it causes damage to the galaxy. Teaming up with Rebel Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), master swordsman Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) and a band of hardy freedom fighters, Jyn takes on the might of the Empire in a challenge tougher than anything she could have imagined. The cast also includes Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen and Alan Tudyk.

Large amounts of data obtained through environmental monitoring of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in 10 Asian countries and Australia have been compiled and explored using principles of environmental chemistry, toxicology, and risk assessment. This book also includes descriptions and discussions of current governmental policies, monitoring and surveillance programs, history of manufacturing and applications, emission sources, impacts on human health, and cross-boundary transport of POPs in these countries.
* Compiles up-to-date sources, distributions, transport, and fates of highly concerned persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
* Presents exploratory examinations of the data guided by the principles of environmental chemistry, toxicology, and risk assessment
* Includes important context and insight regarding government policies, monitoring and surveillance programs, history of manufacturing and applications, emission sources, impacts on human health, and cross-boundary transport of POPs

In 1654 Zen Master Yinyuan traveled from China to Japan. Seven years later his monastery, Manpukuji, was built and he had founded his own tradition called Obaku. The sequel to Jiang Wu's 2008 book Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China, Leaving for the Rising Sun tells the story of the tremendous obstacles Yinyuan faced, drawing parallels between his experiences and the broader political and cultural context in which he lived. Yinyuan claimed to have inherited the "Authentic Transmission of the Linji Sect" and, after arriving in Japan, was able to persuade the Shogun to build a new Ming-style monastery for the establishment of his Obaku school. His arrival in Japan coincided with a series of historical developments including the Ming-Qing transition, the consolidation of early Tokugawa power, the growth of Nagasaki trade, and rising Japanese interest in Chinese learning and artistic pursuits. While Yinyuan's travel has been noted, the significance of his journey within East Asian history has not yet been fully explored. Jiang Wu's thorough study of Yinyuan provides a unique opportunity to reexamine the crisis in the continent and responses from other parts of East Asia. Using Yinyuan's story to bridge China and Japan, Wu demonstrates that the monk's significance is far greater than the temporary success of a religious sect. Rather, Yinyuan imported to Japan a new discourse of authenticity that gave rise to indigenous movements that challenged a China-centered world order. Such indigenous movements, however, although appearing independent from Chinese influence, in fact largely relied on redefining the traditional Chinese discourse of authenticity. Chinese monks such as Yinyuan, though situated at the edge of the political and social arenas, actively participated in the formation of a new discourse on authenticity, which eventually led to the breakup of a China-centered world order.

Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis in Medicine provides a multivariate conceptual framework that allows readers to understand the interconnectivity and interrelations among variables, which maintains the intrinsic precision of statistical theories. With a strong focus on the fundamental concepts of multivariate statistical analysis, the book also gives insight into the applications of multivariate distribution in biomedical fields. In 14 chapters Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis in Medicine covers the main topics of multivariate analysis methods widely used in health science research. The content is organized progressively from fundamental concepts to sophisticated methods. It begins with basic descriptive statistics in multivariate analysis and follows with parameter estimation, in addition to the hypothesis testing of a multivariate normal distribution, which has heavy applications in biomedical fields where the relationships among approximately normal variables are of great interest. Keeping mathematics to a minimum, considerable emphasis is placed on explanations and real-world applications of core principles to maintain a good balance between introducing theory and cultivating problem-solving skills. This book is a very valuable reference text for clinicians, medical researchers, and other researchers across medical and biomedical disciplines, all of whom confront increasingly complex statistical methods during the analysis and presentation of their results.

Adenosine A2A Receptor Antagonists, Volume 170 in the International Review of Neurobiology series highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on a variety of timely topics, including A2A Adenosine Receptor Agonists, Antagonists, Inverse Agonists and Partial Agonist, Chemistry – agonists, antagonists, partial agonists, inverse agonists, Functional roles of adenosine receptors – biochemistry and neuronal plasticity, A2A and Depression, A2AR and glial function, The adenosine A2A receptor in the basal ganglia: expression in health and disease, heteromerization, functional selectivity and signaling, How and why A2a receptor become to be a therapeutic target in Parkinson’s disease therapy, and much more.

Sustainable Crop Productivity and Quality under Climate Change: Responses of Crop Plants to Climate Change explores the physiological, biochemical, and molecular basis of the responses of major crop plants to a range of climate change scenarios. From the development of climate-resilient crop varieties which lead to enhanced crop productivity and quality to better utilization of natural resources to ensure food security through modern breeding techniques, it presents insights into improving yield while securing the environment. Understanding the impact of climate on crop quality and production is a key challenge of crop science. Predicted increases in climate variability necessitate crop varieties with intrinsic resilience to cooccurring abiotic stresses such as heat, drought, and flooding in a future climate of elevated CO2. This book presents a much-needed mechanistic understanding of the interactions between multiple stress responses of plants that is required to identify and take advantage of acclimation traits in major crop species as a prerequisite for securing robust yield and good quality. This book is an excellent reference for crop and agricultural scientists, plant scientists, and researchers working on crop plant ecophysiology/stress physiology and future crop production.

This timely Research Handbook brings together 24 chapters with a wide range of different theoretical perspectives, empirical research, and innovative thought provoking ideas relating to an area of organisation and management that has been neglected for many decades - line managers. With a resurgence of interest in the topic in recent decades, this Research Handbook argues that line managers are a critical element of both employee experiences and organisational performance and worthy of close attention. Split into three sections, chapters present various ways in which line managers can implement HRM practices in the organisation, considering the implementation of a variety of HRM policies and practices (content), a variety of implementation processes (process), and a variety of line management actors. It also develops future directions for research on line managers, such as the future of work, digitalisation, robotisation and AI and the gig economy. Integrating theoretical and empirical research, the Research Handbook on Line Managers will be a key resource for scholars in the fields of business leadership, human resource management and organisation studies. It also provides managerial practices for organisations and line managers who are looking to improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of their work.

This insightful book explores the importance and influence of contextual heterogeneity in the field of entrepreneurship research, illuminating the circumstances, conditions or environments that may enable or constrain entrepreneurship. Expert contributors present the results of empirical studies in a wide variety of contexts, describing their depth and meaning both for entrepreneurship research and practice. Chapters illustrate a range of topics and research methods, including business model innovation in start-up companies, the challenges and opportunities for women entrepreneurs in STEM, and the use of technology signalling in explaining the performance of immigrant entrepreneurship in market economies. Presenting new scientific evidence in the field, together with research-informed policy and practical implications, the book demonstrates that a multitude of research approaches must be used to reflect the multi-dimensional nature of context in entrepreneurship. Warning against simplistic interpretations and superficial conclusions of research, this book will prove to be an invaluable resource for scholars and students of entrepreneurship. Its use of empirical studies will also be beneficial for practitioners in this field.

PEDOT is currently the most widely used polymeric material in research and development. Over the past 10 years, PEDOT has been investigated for potential organic thermoelectric applications because of its superior thermoelectric and mechanical properties compared with other conductive polymers. However, many challenges remain to be solved before it is translated into key technologies. Advanced PEDOT Thermoelectric Materials summarizes current progress and the challenges of PEDOT thermoelectric materials, while clarifying directions for future development. This book provides a comprehensive overview of chemical, physical, and technical information about this organic thermoelectric polymer. The authors also give details about the theoretical basis of PEDOT, including preparation and characterization, and its development as a high-performance thermoelectric material.

MicroLEDs', Volume 106 is currently recognized as the ultimate display technology and one of the fastest-growing technologies in the world as technology giants utilize it on a wide-ranging set of products. This volume combines contributions from MicroLED pioneers and world's leading experts in the field who focus on the MicroLED development, current cutting-edge technologies of pursuing for realizing MicroLED large flat panel displays and televisions, virtual reality and 3D displays, light source for LI-FI data communications, neural interface and optogenetics, and future MicroLED technology trends.

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.

Micro- and Nano-Bionic Surfaces: Biomimetics, Interface Energy Field Effects, and Applications synthesizes the latest research in bio-inspired surfaces and devices for tactile and flow field perception. The book provides solutions to common problems related to flow field/tactile perception, intelligent MEMS sensors, smart materials, material removal methods, cell/particle control methods, and micro-nano robot technology. With a heavy emphasis on applications throughout, the book starts by providing insights into biomimetic device design, outlining strategies readers can adopt for various engineering applications. From there, it introduces the controlling methods of smart materials, controlling methods from external energy input, and more. Sections demonstrate how to solve problems of high efficiency, high quality, and low damage material removal for metals, composites, soft tissues, and other materials by applying bionic wave-motion surface characteristics. The latest theoretical and technical developments in field control methods applied to biological interfaces are also discussed, and the book concludes with a chapter on fabrication strategies to synthesize micro/nano functional particles based on bio-templates.

Theories and Technologies of Bionic Drilling Fluids covers the development and use of bionics in drilling fluids. The book considers technical challenges and upgrades to existing drilling fluid technology, presenting a case for the use of bionics in the petroleum industry alongside environmental protection. In response to the increasing need for novel technologies, the title includes insights on how nature-inspired technologies can be successfully developed to help researchers and technicians harness the power of bionics to solve practical challenges. This volume presents over a decade's worth of original research on bionic drilling fluids, offering scientists and engineers a comprehensive handbook. Drilling fluid has contributed to the safe, efficient and smooth implementation of drilling engineering for over a century. However, in recent years, oil and gas reserves have been discovered in difficult-to-access, extreme environments such as the deep ocean. Consequently, geological and ground conditions have become increasingly complex, posing a challenge to resource exploration and development. Bionics, the imitation of characteristics, structures, functions and principles from nature, offers a new approach to drilling fluid technology.

This proceedings book contains selected and expanded contributions presented at the 7th International Symposium of Space Optical Instruments and Applications, held in Beijing, China, on Oct 21–23, 2022. The meeting was organized by the Sino-Holland Space Optical Instruments Joint Laboratory and supported by Beijing Institute and Space Mechanics and Electricity. In the recent years, space optical payloads are advancing toward high spatial resolution, high temporal resolution, high radiometric resolution, and high spectral resolution and becoming more and more intelligent. Commercial remote sensing industry has made steady progress in terms of the scope of satellite systems and applications. Meanwhile, space optical remote sensing data has been extensively applied to monitoring of resources, meteorology, ocean, environment, disaster reduction, and many other fields. The symposium focused on key innovations of space-based optical instruments and applications and the newest developments in theory, technology, and applications in optics, in both China and Europe. It thus provided a platform for exchanges on the latest research and current and planned optical missions. The major topics covered in these conference proceedings are: 1) Advanced space optical remote sensing application technology. 2) Deep space exploration and astronomical observation technology. 3) Advanced space optical remote sensing instrument technology. 4) Commercial optical observation technology and services.

Maritime Transport and Regional Sustainability is a critical examination on how the maritime transport sector helps regions to achieve their sustainability goals, especially focusing on the challenges posed by climate change. This book analyzes maritime transport from multiple perspectives, establishing a strong theoretical framework drawn on evidence from both the developed and emerging economies across the globe. It identifies commonalities that contribute to a coherent transportregion relationship, including how maritime operations, planning, and management impact regional governance. Tracing the vital threads linking transport to its regional surroundings, Maritime Transport and Regional Sustainability analyses the major issues and challenges that maritime transport researchers, planners, and policymakers are facing.