Thin Film Coatings: Properties, Deposition, and Applications discusses the holistic subject of conventional and emerging thin film technologies without bias to a specific technology based on the existing literature. It covers properties and delves into the various methods of thin film deposition, including the most recent techniques and a direction for future developments. It also discusses the cutting-edge applications of thin film coatings such as self-healing and smart coatings, biomedical, hybrid, and scalable thin films. Finally, the concept of Industry 4.0 in thin film coating technology is examined. This book: Explores a wide range and is not specific to material and method of deposition Demonstrates the application of thin film coatings in nearly all sectors, such as energy and anti-microbial applications Details the preparation and properties of hybrid and scalable (ultra) thin materials for advanced applications Provides detailed bibliometric analyses on applications of thin film coatings Discusses Industry 4.0 and 3D printing in thin film technology With its broad coverage, this comprehensive reference will appeal to a wide audience of materials scientists and engineers and others studying and developing advanced thin film technologies.

The response to environmental and internal stimuli is one of the basic characteristics of living organisms. Inspired by this natural strategy and fast-developing nanotechnology and materials science, stimuli-responsive nanomedicine has emerged as an active and important field of nanomedicine. This book offers a fundamental and comprehensive overview of stimuli-responsive nanomedicine and compiles and details the recent cutting-edge findings and most impressive achievements in biomedical applications, from a pharmaceutical science perspective, making it the first book of its kind in this field. By providing readers a broad and in-depth coverage of endogenous and exogenous stimuli as well as their applicable nanomedicines, this book is valuable for students, researchers, and educators in biomedical sciences or anyone interested in this burgeoning field.

Jiangnan, that part of east-central China watered by the Yangzi River, is the ironically Edenic setting for these six powerful tales of devotion, betrayal, and defilement. Zhu Lin, a uniquely angry female voice on China's literary scene, takes a particular interest in the plight of young women whose exceptional qualities condemn them to exploitation by men. No other contemporary Chinese writer renders the hostility of rural society toward women in such stark and ultimately tragic terms. Serpents tyrannize the innocent in this fictional Jiangnan garden. The title story refers to a fragrant, blood-red flower known as the snake's pillow, which symbolizes an innocent girl betrayed and violated by a male figure of authority. Immersed in the heady and sensual imagery of the natural world, Zhu Lin's female protagonists invite comparisons not only with Eve but also with Thomas Hardy's Tess. Zhu Lin has said of her fiction that its purpose is to "summon the souls" of readers who have lost themselves in the turbulence of a society in the transition to modernity--and then to restore these lost souls to the bodies they have left. An evocation of both flesh and spirit, these Jiangnan stories give voice to the complex and disturbing experience of women in a changing society.