Integrated Nano-Biomechanics provides an integrated look into the rapidly evolving field of nanobiomechanics. The book demystifies the processes in living organisms at the micro- and nano-scale through mechanics, using theoretical, computational and experimental means. The book develops the concept of integrating different technologies along the hierarchical structure of biological systems and clarifies biomechanical interactions among different levels for the analysis of multi-scale pathophysiological phenomena. With a focus on nano-scale processes and biomedical applications, it is shown how knowledge obtained can be utilized in a range of areas, including diagnosis and treatment of various human diseases and alternative energy production. This book is based on collaboration of researchers from a unique combination of fields, including biomechanics, computational mechanics, GPU application, electron microscopy, biology of motile micro-organisms, entomological mechanics and clinical medicine. The book will be of great interest to scientists and researchers involved in disciplines, such as micro- and nano-engineering, bionanotechnology, biomedical engineering, micro- and nano-scale fluid-mechanics (such as in MEMS devices), nanomedicine and microbiology, as well as industries such as optical devices, computer simulation, plant based energy sources and clinical diagnosis of the gastric diseases.

Over the past four decades polymers containing imide groups (usually as build ing blocks of the polymer backbone) have attracted increasing interest of sci entists engaged in fundamental research as well as that of companies looking into their application and commercialization. This situation will apparently continue in the future and justifies that from time to time reviews be published which sum up the current state of knowledge in this field. Imide groups may impart a variety of useful properties to polymers, e. g., thermal stability chain stiffness, crystallinity, mesogenic properties, photoreactivity etc. These lead to a broad variety of potential applications. This broad and somewhat heteroge neous field is difficult to cover in one single review or monograph. A rather com prehensive monograph was edited four years ago by K. Mittal, mainly concen trating on procedures and properties of technical interest. Most reviews presented in this volume of Advances in Polymer Science focus on fundamen tal research and touch topics not intensively discussed in the monograph by K. Mittal. Therefore, the editor of this work hopes that the reader will appreci ate finding complementary information. Finally I wish to thank all the contributors who made this work possible and I would like to thank Dr. Gert Schwarz for the revision of the manuscripts of the contributions 3 and 4. Hamburg, September 1998 Hans R. Kricheldorf Contents Rapid Synthesis of Polyimides from Nylon Salt Type Monomers Y. Imai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .