This thesis presents an experimental study of quantum memory based on cold atomic ensembles and discusses photonic entanglement. It mainly focuses on experimental research on storing orbital angular momentum, and introduces readers to methods for storing a single photon carried by an image or an entanglement of spatial modes. The thesis also discusses the storage of photonic entanglement using the Raman scheme as a step toward implementing high-bandwidth quantum memory. The storage of photonic entanglement is central to achieving long-distance quantum communication based on quantum repeaters and scalable linear optical quantum computation. Addressing this key issue, the findings presented in the thesis are very promising with regard to future high-speed and high-capacity quantum communications.

Before the therapeutic potential of cell replacement therapy or the development of therapeutic drugs for stimulating the body 's own regenerative ability to repair cells damaged by disease and injury can be fully realized, control of stem cell fate, immuno-rejection, and limited cell sources must be overcome. In Cellular Programming and Reprogramming: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers cover the most recent technologies and their related mechanisms involved in the programming and reprogramming of cell fate. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, laboratory protocols, and notes to highlight tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Essential and cutting-edge, Cellular Programming and Reprogramming: Methods and Protocols promises to aid scientists attempting to advance stem cell biology in order to better treat devastating human diseases, including cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, musculoskeletal disease, diabetes, and cancer.

State-society relations and governance are closely related areas of study and have become important topics in the social sciences in the past decades, not only in developed countries but also in the developing world. In China, state-society relations have been changing in the new era of reform and opening, and governance has become a central concern in policy practice and in academia. In this wide-ranging collection of essays, written by scholars from both inside and outside China, the contributors explore the complexity of the changing state-society relationship and the modes and practices of governance in China by combining theoretical exploration and empirical case studies.

Harmonious World and China's New Foreign Policy consists of essays by China specialists on the Chinese government's characterization of foreign policy as a "harmonious world." The essays deal with such topics as "harmonious world" and China's new diplomacy, China's multilateral diplomacy after the Cold War, China's changing image of and engagement with the world order, China's energy security diplomacy, and China's trade diplomacy. These insightful contributions will help students in this academic field understand the new concepts and programs adopted by the Chinese new leadership and their important implications for China's new foreign policy behavior in the years to come.

Toward Better Governance in China takes a fresh look at the latest efforts made by Chinese leaders to promote governance-based reform. It asserts that the improvement of governance has now become one of the breakthrough points of the much anticipated political reform. Although the Chinese government continues to play down expectations about political reform, many small-scale reform experiments have been quietly undertaken by Chinese leaders at various levels in recent years, including the new round of administrative reform centered on the creation of "super ministries," the enlargement of inner-party democracy within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the strengthening of local legislative bodies, and judicial reform designed to promote judicial independence and rule of law. This strategy calls for strengthening governing capacity and changing government functions. One of the advantages in placing the improvement of governance first is that it is less risky than embarking upon a full-scaled electoral reform. Electoral democracy is undoubtedly an important element in a functional democracy. But equally important is the effectiveness, transparency, accountability, and openness of the governing process. Better governance implies greater transparency, open deliberation and participation, and less adversarial political confrontation and conflict. If constructed properly, China may become the sort of democratic administration or administrative democracy that Robert Dahl discussed in 1947. Clearly, political reform of this kind does not follow the conventional wisdom of a democratic transition which places heavy emphasis on electoral reform or the precedence of the electoral reform to the government reform. This book is intended to shed some new light on the ongoing debate about the direction of China's political development.

'Harmonious World' and China's New Foreign Policy consists of essays by China specialists on the Chinese government's characterization of foreign policy as a 'harmonious world.' The essays deal with such topics as 'harmonious world' and China's new diplomacy, China's multilateral diplomacy after the Cold War, China's changing image of and engagement with the world order, China's energy security diplomacy, and China's trade diplomacy. These insightful contributions will help students in this academic field understand the new concepts and programs adopted by the Chinese new leadership and their important implications for China's new foreign policy behavior in the years to come.

The Dragon's Hidden Wings is the first comprehensive study on China's use of soft power. Sheng Ding provides the reader with an insightful empirical study that details China's economic and political rise on the global scene over the course of the last three decades. This book not only endeavors to examine the connections between the ongoing rise of China and what Joseph Nye defines as soft power, but also attempts to give readers a more complete understanding of China's national power and modernization process. The main questions addressed are: What are the theoretical and empirical connections between the soft power concept and the rise of China? What are China's own soft power resources? How has Beijing used soft power to become a major player in the world? What opportunities and challenges does the use of soft power present to China? This study is essential reading for scholars of Chinese politics and foreign policy, and for scholars of international relation interested in the concept and application of soft power.

The Dragon's Hidden Wings is the first comprehensive study on China's use of soft power. Sheng Ding provides the reader with an insightful empirical study that details China's economic and political rise on the global scene over the course of the last three decades. This book not only endeavors to examine the connections between the ongoing rise of China and what Joseph Nye defines as soft power, but also attempts to give readers a more complete understanding of China's national power and modernization process. The main questions addressed are: What are the theoretical and empirical connections between the soft power concept and the rise of China? What are China's own soft power resources? How has Beijing used soft power to become a major player in the world? What opportunities and challenges does the use of soft power present to China? This study is essential reading for scholars of Chinese politics and foreign policy, and for scholars of international relation interested in the concept and application of soft power.

This thesis presents an experimental study of quantum memory based on cold atomic ensembles and discusses photonic entanglement. It mainly focuses on experimental research on storing orbital angular momentum, and introduces readers to methods for storing a single photon carried by an image or an entanglement of spatial modes. The thesis also discusses the storage of photonic entanglement using the Raman scheme as a step toward implementing high-bandwidth quantum memory. The storage of photonic entanglement is central to achieving long-distance quantum communication based on quantum repeaters and scalable linear optical quantum computation. Addressing this key issue, the findings presented in the thesis are very promising with regard to future high-speed and high-capacity quantum communications.

Before the therapeutic potential of cell replacement therapy or the development of therapeutic drugs for stimulating the body's own regenerative ability to repair cells damaged by disease and injury can be fully realized, control of stem cell fate, immuno-rejection, and limited cell sources must be overcome. In Cellular Programming and Reprogramming: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers cover the most recent technologies and their related mechanisms involved in the programming and reprogramming of cell fate. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, laboratory protocols, and notes to highlight tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Essential and cutting-edge, Cellular Programming and Reprogramming: Methods and Protocols promises to aid scientists attempting to advance stem cell biology in order to better treat devastating human diseases, including cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, musculoskeletal disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Action adventure comedy written, produced by and starring Jackie Chan. Set during the turbulent warring states period in ancient China, the film tells the story of an old foot soldier (Chan) who kidnaps a wounded young general from a rival state (Rongguang Yu) in the hope of using his captured enemy as a means to securing an honourable discharge from the army.

This book provides a comprehensive and complete overview of biomarkers in clinical practice for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) bringing together the literature in a clear and concise manner. The book bridges the gap between growing knowledge at the bench and current and future applications of biomarkers in clinical practice. The central structure of the book focuses on prognostic and predictive biomarkers in IBD with an emphasis on the fields of research and scientific techniques (genomics, proteomics and metabonomics) that have led to biomarker discovery and places these biomarkers within a clinical context to help understand their utility in clinical practice. This book will be of use to clinicians who have an interest in using biomarkers in clinical practice as well as clinician researchers and scientists involved in the biomarker research pipeline. The author team comprises experts from around the world in order to bring together the literature in an effort to inform clinicians and researchers about the current state-of-the art in biomarker discovery. It is intended to assist future research efforts and indicate how biomarkers might be best applied to clinical practice both at present and in the future.