Microbial infections have been and continue to be a major threat to public health. China has a huge population, among which, microbial infections are of great concern. The Journal of Microbes and Infection, a nationwide journal in China with over 4000 subscriptions, publishes original research articles on microbes and infections in the Chinese language. This book contains selected research articles published in this journal from 2006 to 2007 that have been translated into English, and offers a glimpse of a broad range of microbial infections including the clinical and epidemiological aspects of various viral infections, current status of bacterial infections in hospitals, and severe cases of fungal infections. This book provides a rare opportunity for scientists and physicians abroad to see the completely original research data, rather than just the abstract, based on studies conducted in modern China. Articles on molecular biological and bioinformatic studies are also included. An overview of the recent research trend in medical microbiology and infectious diseases in China will be presented as well. Scientists and physicians working in the fields of virology, microbiology, immunology, epidemiology, vaccinology, and infectious diseases will find the articles in this book fascinating and relevant to their own research and practice.

This SpringerBrief presents the concept of the smart grid architecture and investigates the security issues of the smart grid and the existing encrypted data query techniques. Unique characteristics of smart grid impose distinguished challenges on this investigation, such as multidimensional attributes in metering data and finer grained query on each dimension. Three kinds of queries are introduced, namely, equality query, conjunctive query and range query. For the equality query over encrypted metering data, an efficient searchable encryption scheme is introduced and can be applied for auction in emerging smart grid marketing. Later chapters examine the conjunctive query and range query over encrypted data. Different techniques are used, including the Public key Encryption with Keyword Search (PEKS) and Hidden Vector Encryption (HVE), to construct the comparison predicate and range query predicate. Their correctness is demonstrated in the book. Concise and practical, Encrypted Data Querying in Smart Grids is valuable for professionals and researchers involved in data privacy or encryption. It is also useful for graduate students interested in smart grid and related technologies.

This book focuses on characterization of organic coatings by different testing methods and understanding of structure formation and materials properties. The knowledge of protective organic coatings and current test methods is based largely on empirical experience. This book aims at explaining the coating property changes during film drying and curing in terms of chemical and physical transformations. Current test methods are reviewed with emphasis on understanding their physical basis and expressing the test results in terms of comparable physical quantities. In general, this book provides readers a deeper understanding of the binder design, coating film formation process, properties build-up, appearance and defect formation, and automotive paint application. It also suggests manifold ways to improving the coatings performance. This book is designed for coating professionals to gain deeper understanding of characterization techniques and to select the right ones to solve their coating problems. It is ideal for both experienced and early career scientists and engineers. Also, it is useful for graduate students in the general area of protective coatings.