Bücher veröffentlicht von Springer Verlag, Singapore

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND license.Ambassadors are a kind of vehicle and bellwether for globalization. These diplomatic envoys serve as pivotal contact points between nations across a wide range of fields, from economics and culture to health and the environment. The special group of ambassadors in this book ¿ those based in Beijing ¿ are at the forefront of what for many countries is one of their most important bilateral relationships, as well one of the most striking and consequential aspects of global affairs in the 21st century: the rise of China on the world stage.This book aims to present an overview of China and the world from diverse angles. It brings together essays by ambassadors to China on a range of bilateral and multilateral issues, including trade and investment, regional economic cooperation, sustainable development, technology and innovation, and entrepreneurship. Given their familiarity with China and extensive international experience, the insights of these ambassadors are useful for policymakers, academics, entrepreneurs, students, and anyone trying to make sense of our rapidly changing world.

This book demonstrates fatigue crack growth under random loading graphically. This state-of-the-art monograph introduces an expert system for crack growth predictions, particularly based on crack closure. The system is developed after years of research by the authors by using the Math-type software consisting of 5 parts. This system is unique as it is fundamentally different from previous systems as it focuses on fatigue crack growth predictions based on fatigue crack closure. This book can be a useful guide for practicing engineers, researchers, and students in the fields of mechanical, aerospace, or civil engineering.

This book provides an overview of the use of nanoparticles, carbon-nanotubes, liposomes, and nanopatterned flat surfaces for specific biomedical applications. This book explains the chemical and physical properties of the surface of these materials that allow their use in diagnosis, biosensing and bioimaging devices, drug delivery systems, and bone substitute implants. The toxicology of these particles is also discussed in the light of a new field referred to as nanotoxicology in this book. This book will be useful for engineers, researchers and industry professionals primarily in the fields of polymer science and engineering, materials science, surface science, nanocatalysis, biotechnology and biomedicine.

This book reviews the relationship between receptors, carbohydrate moieties, and pathogenic surfaces and lectins¿ pathophysiology of immune responses and examines the mechanisms of action of the molecules for the treatment potentials. Increasing evidence has suggested that lectin-carbohydrate interactions perform important roles in various regulations of immune responses, but much remains to be learned about these crucial properties and their interplay with other molecules. In addition, a better understanding of the structural and functional properties of lectin and the activated immune response will be of critical importance for the development of new diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies. These key areas are the focus of this book, which documents the latest research findings in the field. Evidence is provided for the various lectin types from animal and plant as well as microbial or marine lectins, and this wide range of molecular knowledge directs us to variousdiseases, including infectious diseases and cancer. In presenting state-of-the-art knowledge on the interactions between lectin and its interactions,the book will help to pave the way for the development of novel targets for the prevention and treatment of many disorders.

This edited book brings together comprehensive information on various aspects of the biofortification of staple crops. It addresses the present status of food and nutritional security and highlights the importance of micronutrients in human health, a historical account of biofortification, current approaches and challenges, crop-specific biofortification efforts and various breeding approaches, including conventional, and genomics enabled improvement. It also explains the efficacy of biofortification, bioavailability, and future thrust. It is an inclusive source of information on different aspects of micronutrients in crops of global importance. Malnutrition is a serious global issue, with millions of people being undernourished, several suffering from micronutrient deficiencies, and the adult population struggling with obesity. Despite significant economic progress, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are still home to an undernourished population. Nutrition-related health problems are related to hidden hunger and are widespread in the developing world. Women and preschool children are more vulnerable. Even though global food production has increased manifolds, estimates indicate that over 60% of the world¿s population is deficient in essential micronutrients such as iron, zinc, iodine, and selenium, often causing health problems and developmental delays. Linking agricultural production with human nutrition and health is crucial for ensuring nutrition security. Much research has been carried out to assess genetic diversity related to micro-nutrients in staple crops, their bioavailability, and the efficacy of biofortified germplasm. Biofortified varieties developed in different crops through conventional breeding are being up-scaled for reducing the micronutrient deficiencies in other countries. This book is a ready reference for researchers, academicians, extension personnel, policymakers, students, and value chain stakeholders engaged in agriculture, nutrition, and health sectors promoting nutrition-sensitive diets.

This book addresses a special topic in the field of nonlinear dynamical systems, develops a new research direction of surface chaos and surface bifurcation. It provides a clear watershed for original nonlinear chaos and bifurcation research. The novel content of this book makes nonlinear system research more systematical and personalized.This book introduces the chaos and bifurcation behavior of surface dynamics in the sense of Li Yorke, the basic properties, Lyapunov exponent and Feigenbaum constant of nonlinear behavior of surface, and obtained the wave behavior of chaotic process in surface motion, the control of surface chaos and bifurcation, and the wide application of surface chaos in engineering technology.Through this book, readers can obtain more abundant and novel contents about surface chaos and surface bifurcation than the existing mixed fitting bifurcation of plane curve and space curve, which can also expand the realm andvision of research.

This book explores how stretching stories through posthuman and autoethnographic perspectives can produce new stories that decolon(ial)ize traditional thinking and approaches to Early Childhood Education (ECE). It demonstrates how stories can provide a different way of knowing, and a way of knowing differently: a way of decolon(ial)izing current discourses of early childhood education within educational institutions.The book uses research and practice in ECE to act as a canvas, a context with which to explore how autoethnography can become other when viewed through a posthumanist lens. As a consequence the chapters and stories within allow for an interplay between the posthumanist and the autoethnographic, an interplay that allows for a very specific type of meaning to emerge; a meaning that traffics in numerous and disruptive possibilities rather than settled certainties. In so doing, authors rethink and perturb the notion of child-centered approaches toknowing, be(com)ing, and doing within the Early Childhood Education context.