This book offers a comprehensive introduction to novel absorption heating technologies for improving the energy efficiency of heating systems. The proposed low-temperature heating systems, based on an air source absorption heat pump (ASAHP), significantly increase heating efficiency and reduce pollution emissions. As the performance of ASAHPs deteriorates at lower ambient/driving temperatures, a series of advanced cycles is used to extend their applicability, with the compression-assisted ASAHP being the most outstanding example. The book discusses the generator-absorber-heat-exchange ASAHP as a promising solution to make the best of high driving temperatures, an aspect that can be improved further via compression. Further, it addresses the ground source absorption heat pump (GSAHP), which eliminates the soil thermal imbalance of the conventional ground source electrical heat pump (GSEHP), and also reduces the number of boreholes . Various hybrid GSAHP systems are proposed to further enhance applicability, efficiency, and economy: these include a combined GSAHP and GSEHP system, as well as ASAHP and GSAHP systems that incorporate design optimizations. In closing, the book explores the merits of novel working fluids and highlights recent advances concerning waste heat and renewable energy utilization.

This book provides a snapshot of the research activities of the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria. The topics are broad ranged including: * Centrifuge model testing * Constitutive model * Granular physics * Numerical simulation * Soil bioengineering The topics reflect our geotechnical research in a changing world. Traditional topics in foundation engineering are fading out and new topics are emerging. The European Commission is gratefully acknowledged for funding the following projects within its program FP7 and Horizon2020: MUMOLADE (Multiscale modelling of landslide and debris flow), REVENUES (Reinforced Vegetation Numerical Evaluation of Slopes) and GEORAMP (Geohazards - Risk Assessment, Mitigation and Prevention).

Landslides and debris flows belong to the most dangerous natural hazards in many parts of the world. Despite intensive research, these events continue to result in human suffering, property losses, and environmental degradation every year. Better understanding of the mechanisms and processes of landslides and debris flows will help make reliable predictions, develop mitigation strategies and reduce vulnerability of infrastructure. This book presents contributions to the workshop on Recent Developments in the Analysis, Monitoring and Forecast of Landslides and Debris Flow, in Vienna, Austria, September 9, 2013. The contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics from material behavior, physical modelling over numerical simulation to applications and case studies. The workshop is a joint event of three research projects funded by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Program: MUMOLADE (Multiscale modelling of landslides and debris flows, www.mumolade.com), REVENUES (Numerical Analysis of Slopes with Vegetations, http://www.revenues-eu.com) and HYDRODRIL (Integrated Risk Assessment of Hydrologically-Driven Landslides, www.boku.ac.at/igt/).

The tiny microRNAs (miRNAs) can have huge impacts on the regulation of a variety of genes and play crucial roles in the fundamental cellular processes. Recent miRNA studies change the landscape of cancer genetics by scrutinizing the alterations of genome-wide miRNA expressions in most common cancers and their regulatory functions during the development of cancer. The connections between miRNAs and cancer are widespread enough to warrant more comprehensive investigations in the systems biology perspective. In MicroRNA and Cancer: Methods and Protocols, internationally renowned experts provide the latest miRNA knowledge, the various techniques and methodologies currently available for cancer research application. Ranging from the fundamental concepts to practical applications, this book presents: * Overview of microRNA biogenesis, computational prediction of new miRNAs in the cancer genome, and miRNA-based therapeutic approaches for cancer treatment * Detailed experimental protocols in miRNA detection with novel and high-throughput technology, miRNA library cloning, miRNA epigenetic regulation, and miRNA pathway study * Stepwise computational and bioinformatic procedures for miRNA complex networks in cancer genomes with a variety of softwares and programs * Cross-cited notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls Authoritative and cutting-edge, MicroRNA and Cancer: Methods and Protocols serves researchers with the basic principles of experimental and computational methods for microRNA study in cancer research and provides a firm grounding for those who wish to further develop their own applications and tailor them to their own specific research needs.

This volume provides an interdisciplinary perspective of applying Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology to cancer research. It aims to systematically introduce the concept of NGS, a variety of NGS platforms and their practical implications in cancer biology.This unique and comprehensive text will integrate the unprecedented NGS technology into various cancer research projects as opposed to most books which offer a detailed description of the technology. This volume will present true experimental results with concrete data processing pipelines, discuss the bottleneck of each platform for real project in cancer research. In additional, single cancer cell sequencing as the proof of concept will be introduced in this book, along with cutting-edge information provided will help the intended audience to develop a comprehensive understanding of the NGS technology and practical whole genome sequencing data analysis and rapidly translate into their own research, specifically in the field of cancer biology.

This book compiles the second part of contributions to the China-Europe Conference on Geotechnical Engineering held 13.-16. August 2018 in Vienna, Austria. About 400 papers from 35 countries cover virtually all areas of geotechnical engineering and make this conference a truly international event. The contributions are grouped into thirteen special sessions and provide an overview of the geoengineering research and practice in China, Europe and the world: * Constitutive model * Micro-macro relationship * Numerical simulation * Laboratory testing * Geotechnical monitoring, instrumentation and field test * Foundation engineering * Underground construction * Environmental geotechnics * New geomaterials and ground improvement * Cold regions geotechnical engineering * Geohazards - risk assessment, mitigation and prevention * Unsaturated soils and energy geotechnics * Geotechnics in transportation, structural and hydraulic Engineering

Thisbookisacollectionof31paperspresentedattheInternationalWorkshop on Modern Trends in Geomechanics, held on 27-29 June 2005 in Vienna. This workshop was run under the motto to bring together di?erent schools of thought in geomechanics research. The workshop was attended by about 50 participants from 15 countries. Besides the presentations, the workshop also o?ered welcoming occasions for stimulating discussions. The contributions in this book cover a wide range of topics from applied mathematics to geoengineering applications, re?ecting the breadth and depth of geomechanics research. The articles are peer reviewed and arranged in six parts: general aspects, constitutive modelling, micromechanics, analytical and numerical methods, granular materials and engineering applications. Wewouldliketothankallcontributorsfortheirdiligencetoprovidetimely their contributions. The generous support received from the following orga- zations is gratefully acknowledged: - Alpine Mayreder Construction Ltd - Bank Austria - Credit Institute - Austrian Geomechanics Society Our thanks also go to the managing editors at Springer, in particular Ms. Heather King and Dr. Thomas Ditzinger, who have enabled the qu- ity publication of this book at reasonable price. Last but not least, we would like to express our thanks to our co-workers in Vienna and Nottingham for theirhelpduringtheworkshop.Inparticular, oursecretaries, AnkePriewasser (Vienna) and Caroline Dolby (Nottingham), deserve our heartfelt thanks for their e?ort in organising the workshop and compiling this boo

This book compiles the first part of contributions to the China-Europe Conference on Geotechnical Engineering held 13.-16. August 2016 in Vienna, Austria. About 400 papers from 35 countries cover virtually all areas of geotechnical engineering and make this conference a truly international event. The contributions are grouped into thirteen special sessions and provide an overview of the geoengineering research and practice in China, Europe and the world: * Constitutive model * Micro-macro relationship * Numerical simulation * Laboratory testing * Geotechnical monitoring, instrumentation and field test * Foundation engineering * Underground construction * Environmental geotechnics * New geomaterials and ground improvement * Cold regions geotechnical engineering * Geohazards - risk assessment, mitigation and prevention * Unsaturated soils and energy geotechnics * Geotechnics in transportation, structural and hydraulic Engineering

Latest generation sequencing revolutionizes the fields of cancer research and oncology. This follow-up volume focuses more extensively on single cell sequencing of cancer and trials in drug resistance. Another exciting feature is the bioinformatics tools given, that can be used on cancer genome studies. Scientists around the world are attempting to find the root cause of cancer. A reasonable cancer treatment plan and potential cure is more optimistic now with the unfolding of the cancer genome. The collective knowledge of how to leverage next generation sequencing in cancer research is paving the way. The important information provided in this volume will move the field forward in developing novel targeted cancer therapies.

5G is becoming a critically important supporting technology for industrial evolvement.The World of 5G series consists of five salient volumes - Internet of Everything, Intelligent Manufacturing, Intelligent Home, Intelligent Transportation, and Intelligent Medicine.Aim to capture new opportunities brought by 5G, this compendium set focuses on the key technologies, requirements, users' experiences, industry applications, and industrial reforms from the perspective of experts, and comprehensively introduces the related knowledge of 5G.These reference volumes inform readers the essences of 5G, potential changes to the development of public life and society brought by 5G, as well as the potential security and risks such as the legal, moral and ethical aspects.The set also prominently reflects the latest business status in different industrial and social fields, and the great changes that follow.

Control systems are an integral aspect of modern society and exist across numerous domains and applications. As technology advances more and more, the complexity of such systems continues to increase exponentially. Model-Based Design for Effective Control System Development is a critical source of scholarly information on model-centric approaches and implementations for control and other similar dynamic systems. Highlighting innovative topics such as configuration management, controllability analysis, and modeling requirements, this book is ideally designed for engineers, researchers, academics, project managers, and professionals interested in the design of embedded control systems.

Providing quality public service is one of the essential functions of a government. In the turbulent time, however, governments worldwide are experiencing a variety of unprecedented challenges to meet citizens' increasing demands and expectations. In China, building a service-oriented government and a harmonious society is central to the 12th Five-Year Plan and challenges the governance philosophies, capacities and competencies of Chinese government at every level. Researchers of Nanyang Centre for Public Administration (NCPA) at Nanyang Technological University systematically examined the concept of service-oriented government in the context of China and developed an assessment scheme to evaluate the performance of building service-oriented government in Chinese cities. Under the auspices of the Lien Foundation in Singapore, based on the assessment scheme, they conducted large-scale telephone surveys of citizens and businesses in 32 major Chinese cities in 2011. This book presents their findings and empirical studies on public service performance, citizen satisfaction, political trust and government transparency based on the data collected from the 2011 Lien project. Moreover, it also includes selected papers presented at the 2012 Lien International Conference on Public Administration in Singapore. Contributed by scholars from Mainland China, the US, Hong Kong and Singapore, these papers discuss various important issues related with building a service-oriented government including public ethical values, the roles of NGO, social accountability, urban integration, performance measurement and emotional labor in public service.

Women in Traditional Chinese Theatre seeks to introduce Western readers to Chinese classical drama as well as investigate how women have traditionally been portrayed on stage by presenting original translations of six plays from the fourteenth to twentieth centuries. Framed with a comprehensive introduction to the Chinese theatre and its representation of women, each play is preceded by an interpretative summary of the plot, and an analysis of each play's theme and significance. The selections in this volume feature women representing the most popular female archetypes in Chinese literature: the paragon of virtue, the stoic sufferer, the faithful wife, the femme fatal, and others. Appealing to both scholars and general enthusiasts of theatre, literature, and women's studies, this book reveals how the cultural constructs of Chinese women are represented in dramatic literature, and how the theatre, in turn, shapes this representation into the cultural perception of women.

This text presents a comprehensive mathematical theory for elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic differential equations. It compares finite element and finite difference methods and illustrates applications of generalized difference methods to elastic bodies, electromagnetic fields, underground water pollution, and coupled sound-heat flows.

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to novel absorption heating technologies for improving the energy efficiency of heating systems. The proposed low-temperature heating systems, based on an air source absorption heat pump (ASAHP), significantly increase heating efficiency and reduce pollution emissions. As the performance of ASAHPs deteriorates at lower ambient/driving temperatures, a series of advanced cycles is used to extend their applicability, with the compression-assisted ASAHP being the most outstanding example. The book discusses the generator-absorber-heat-exchange ASAHP as a promising solution to make the best of high driving temperatures, an aspect that can be improved further via compression. Further, it addresses the ground source absorption heat pump (GSAHP), which eliminates the soil thermal imbalance of the conventional ground source electrical heat pump (GSEHP), and also reduces the number of boreholes . Various hybrid GSAHP systems are proposed to further enhance applicability, efficiency, and economy: these include a combined GSAHP and GSEHP system, as well as ASAHP and GSAHP systems that incorporate design optimizations. In closing, the book explores the merits of novel working fluids and highlights recent advances concerning waste heat and renewable energy utilization.

This book compiles the first part of contributions to the China-Europe Conference on Geotechnical Engineering held 13.-16. August 2016 in Vienna, Austria. About 400 papers from 35 countries cover virtually all areas of geotechnical engineering and make this conference a truly international event. The contributions are grouped into thirteen special sessions and provide an overview of the geoengineering research and practice in China, Europe and the world: * Constitutive model * Micro-macro relationship * Numerical simulation * Laboratory testing * Geotechnical monitoring, instrumentation and field test * Foundation engineering * Underground construction * Environmental geotechnics * New geomaterials and ground improvement * Cold regions geotechnical engineering * Geohazards - risk assessment, mitigation and prevention * Unsaturated soils and energy geotechnics * Geotechnics in transportation, structural and hydraulic Engineering

This book compiles the second part of contributions to the China-Europe Conference on Geotechnical Engineering held 13.-16. August 2018 in Vienna, Austria. About 400 papers from 35 countries cover virtually all areas of geotechnical engineering and make this conference a truly international event. The contributions are grouped into thirteen special sessions and provide an overview of the geoengineering research and practice in China, Europe and the world: * Constitutive model * Micro-macro relationship * Numerical simulation * Laboratory testing * Geotechnical monitoring, instrumentation and field test * Foundation engineering * Underground construction * Environmental geotechnics * New geomaterials and ground improvement * Cold regions geotechnical engineering * Geohazards - risk assessment, mitigation and prevention * Unsaturated soils and energy geotechnics * Geotechnics in transportation, structural and hydraulic Engineering

Landslides and debris flows belong to the most dangerous natural hazards in many parts of the world. Despite intensive research, these events continue to result in human suffering, property losses, and environmental degradation every year. Better understanding of the mechanisms and processes of landslides and debris flows will help make reliable predictions, develop mitigation strategies and reduce vulnerability of infrastructure. This book presents contributions to the workshop on Recent Developments in the Analysis, Monitoring and Forecast of Landslides and Debris Flow, in Vienna, Austria, September 9, 2013. The contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics from material behavior, physical modelling over numerical simulation to applications and case studies. The workshop is a joint event of three research projects funded by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Program: MUMOLADE (Multiscale modelling of landslides and debris flows, www.mumolade.com), REVENUES (Numerical Analysis of Slopes with Vegetations, http://www.revenues-eu.com) and HYDRODRIL (Integrated Risk Assessment of Hydrologically-Driven Landslides, www.boku.ac.at/igt/).

The tiny microRNAs (miRNAs) can have huge impacts on the regulation of a variety of genes and play crucial roles in the fundamental cellular processes. Recent miRNA studies change the landscape of cancer genetics by scrutinizing the alterations of genome-wide miRNA expressions in most common cancers and their regulatory functions during the development of cancer. The connections between miRNAs and cancer are widespread enough to warrant more comprehensive investigations in the systems biology perspective. In MicroRNA and Cancer: Methods and Protocols, internationally renowned experts provide the latest miRNA knowledge, the various techniques and methodologies currently available for cancer research application. Ranging from the fundamental concepts to practical applications, this book presents: * Overview of microRNA biogenesis, computational prediction of new miRNAs in the cancer genome, and miRNA-based therapeutic approaches for cancer treatment * Detailed experimental protocols in miRNA detection with novel and high-throughput technology, miRNA library cloning, miRNA epigenetic regulation, and miRNA pathway study * Stepwise computational and bioinformatic procedures for miRNA complex networks in cancer genomes with a variety of softwares and programs * Cross-cited notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls Authoritative and cutting-edge, MicroRNA and Cancer: Methods and Protocols serves researchers with the basic principles of experimental and computational methods for microRNA study in cancer research and provides a firm grounding for those who wish to further develop their own applications and tailor them to their own specific research needs.

This volume provides an interdisciplinary perspective of applying Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology to cancer research. It aims to systematically introduce the concept of NGS, a variety of NGS platforms and their practical implications in cancer biology.This unique and comprehensive text will integrate the unprecedented NGS technology into various cancer research projects as opposed to most books which offer a detailed description of the technology. This volume will present true experimental results with concrete data processing pipelines, discuss the bottleneck of each platform for real project in cancer research. In additional, single cancer cell sequencing as the proof of concept will be introduced in this book, along with cutting-edge information provided will help the intended audience to develop a comprehensive understanding of the NGS technology and practical whole genome sequencing data analysis and rapidly translate into their own research, specifically in the field of cancer biology.