This book, based on the research experience and outcomes of a group of international contributors, addresses a range of advanced energy efficiency technologies and their applications in solar heating, cooling and power generation, while also providing solutions for tackling recurring low efficiency problems in today's systems. It highlights the latest technologies and methods, which can significantly improve the performance of solar systems, enabling readers to design, construct and apply high-performance solar systems in or for their own projects. The contributors provide a systematic introduction to state-of-the-art energy efficiency technologies that demonstrates how to implement innovative solar systems. These technologies include: * heat pipes and loop heat pipes; * phase change materials (PCMs) and PCM slurries; * micro-channel panels; * desiccant/adsorption cycling; * ejector cooling and heat pumps; and * solar concentration and thermoelectric units. The book shows how innovative solar systems applicable to rural and urban buildings can be analysed and demonstrates the successful implementation of these advanced technologies. It delivers the design principles and associated energy performance assessment methods for a range of selected solar heating, cooling and power generation projects. This book offers a valuable source of information for final-year undergraduate students, as well as graduate students and academic lecturers, as it promotes the widespread deployment of advanced solar heating, cooling and power generation technologies applicable for buildings across the globe. The book is also a good point of reference for design engineers and energy consultants who wish to extend their knowledge of advanced technologies used to achieve energy efficiency.

This book discusses the relationship, interaction and conflict between everyday life and various institutions in a specific village in North China, with a focus on the formal and informal legal systems. It vividly describes the village's "legal construction problems" as well as the customs and laws, and such it can be seen as a historical and innovative comment on China's problems. The book is based on the author's field investigations assessing vast amounts of material concerning local organizations, formal and informal authorities, economic exchange, religious rituals, as well as interviews with villagers and numerous court files. It presents an in-depth exploration of "pluralism of authority" in China's rural society, and examines how various authorities were formed. It also summarizes how various local disputes are resolved and discusses the villagers' understanding of the concept of "justice." Lastly, it suggests ways in which national law and local customs could communicate and collaborate.

This book, based on the research experience and outcomes of a group of international contributors, addresses a range of advanced energy efficiency technologies and their applications in solar heating, cooling and power generation, while also providing solutions for tackling recurring low efficiency problems in today's systems. It highlights the latest technologies and methods, which can significantly improve the performance of solar systems, enabling readers to design, construct and apply high-performance solar systems in or for their own projects. The contributors provide a systematic introduction to state-of-the-art energy efficiency technologies that demonstrates how to implement innovative solar systems. These technologies include: * heat pipes and loop heat pipes; * phase change materials (PCMs) and PCM slurries; * micro-channel panels; * desiccant/adsorption cycling; * ejector cooling and heat pumps; and * solar concentration and thermoelectric units. The book shows how innovative solar systems applicable to rural and urban buildings can be analysed and demonstrates the successful implementation of these advanced technologies. It delivers the design principles and associated energy performance assessment methods for a range of selected solar heating, cooling and power generation projects. This book offers a valuable source of information for final-year undergraduate students, as well as graduate students and academic lecturers, as it promotes the widespread deployment of advanced solar heating, cooling and power generation technologies applicable for buildings across the globe. The book is also a good point of reference for design engineers and energy consultants who wish to extend their knowledge of advanced technologies used to achieve energy efficiency.

This book presents high-quality original contributions on positive systems, including those with positivity in compartmental switched systems, Markovian jump systems, Boolean networks, interval observer design, fault detection, and delay systems. It comprises a selection of the best papers from POSTA 2018, the 6th International Conference on Positive Systems, which was held in Hangzhou, China, in August 2018. The POSTA conference series represents a targeted response to the growing need for research that reports on and critically discusses a wide range of topics concerning the theory and applications of positive systems. The book offers valuable insights for researchers in applied mathematics, control theory and their applications.