What will our next public education system and its schools be like? It is a good question, but not one, unfortunately, that is on everyone's mind, at least not for now. We are too busy trying to fix the system we have, too busy to look ahead. We do not have to look very far. Our next public education system, and its new approach to learning, is already revealing itself. It is visible in the pressures from parents and their ceaseless efforts to influence profoundly the quality of the experience their children have in school. It is visible in the creative efforts of many dedicated teachers and school administrators as they surmount, day after day, the dehumanizing tendencies of large-scale mass education. This book is a look into the future. We must rethink the meaning of the values and beliefs that drove the creation of the public schools over 100 years ago. We must translate them into a new kind of learning that responds to the challenges and opportunities of our time and place in history.

This groundbreaking book uniquely focuses on the exploration of the green synthesis of metal nanoparticles and their characterization and applications. Metal nanoparticles are the basic elements of nanotechnology as they are the primary source used in the design of nanostructured devices and materials. Nanomaterials can be manufactured either incidentally, with physical or chemical methods, or naturally; and the high demand for them has led to their large-scale production by various toxic solvents or high energy techniques. However, due to the growing awareness of environmental and safety issues, the use of clean, nontoxic and environment-friendly ways to synthesize metal nanoparticles has emerged out of necessity. The use of biological resources, such as microbes, plant parts, vegetable wastes, agricultural wastes, gums, etc., has grown to become an alternative way of synthesizing metal nanoparticles. This biogenic synthesis is green, environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and nontoxic. The current multi-authored book includes recent information and builds a database of bioreducing agents for various metal nanoparticles using different precursor systems. Green Metal Nanoparticles also highlights different simple, cost-effective, environment-friendly and easily scalable strategies, and includes parameters for controlling the size and shape of the materials developed from the various greener methods.

Environmental analysis techniques have advanced due to the use of nanotechnologies in improving the detection sensitivity and miniaturization of the devices in analytical procedures. These allow for developments such as increases in analyte concentration, the removal of interfering species and improvements in the detection limits. Bridging a gap in the literature, this book uniquely brings together state-of-the-art research in the applications of novel nanomaterials to each of the classical components of environmental analysis, namely sample preparation and extraction, separation and identification by spectroscopic techniques. Special attention is paid to those approaches that are considered greener and reduce the cost of the analysis process both in terms of chemicals and time consumption. Advanced undergraduates, graduates and researchers at the forefront of environmental science and engineering will find this book a good source of information. It will also help regulators, decision makers, surveillance agencies and the organizations assessing the impact of pollutants on the environment.

This volume brings together innovative research, new concepts, and novel developments in the application of new tools for chemical and materials engineers. It contains significant research, reporting new methodologies and important applications in the fields of chemical engineering as well as the latest coverage of chemical databases and the development of new methods and efficient approaches for chemists. This authoritative reference source provides the latest scholarly research on the use of applied concepts to enhance the current trends and productivity in chemical engineering. Highlighting theoretical foundations, real-world cases, and future directions, this book is ideally designed for researchers, practitioners, professionals, and students of materials chemistry and chemical engineering. The volume explains and discusses new theories and presents case studies concerning material and chemical engineering. The book is divided into several sections, covering: Advanced Materials Chemoinformatics, Computational Chemistry, and Smart Technologies Analytical and Experimental Techniques

It is Christmas Eve, and 55-year-old Professor Pål Andersen is alone, drinking coffee and cognac in his living room. Lost in thought, he looks out of the window and sees a man strangle a woman in the apartment across the street. Professor Andersen fails to report the crime. The days pass, and he becomes paralysed by indecision. Desperate for respite, the professor sets off to a local sushi bar, only to find himself face to face with the murderer. Professor Andersen's Night is an unsettling yet highly entertaining novel of apathy, rebellion and morality. In flinty prose, Solstad presents an uncomfortable question: would we, like his cerebral protagonist, do nothing?

According to Communist Party discourse, China’s ‘New Era’ began when Xi Jinping was anointed Party boss in 2012. The shape of this New Era became eminently clear in 2023 when Xi commenced his third five-year term as General Secretary of the Party, a fortification of one-man authoritarian rule unprecedented in post-Mao China. Under Xi, the Party has expanded its influence over government, the economy and society. The Party-State is now more Party than State. The year 2023 saw other ‘new eras’ for China as well. Despite initial optimism sparked by the end of COVID-19 restrictions in late 2022, the Chinese economy in 2023 was buffeted by continuing property sector woes, record unemployment, and an unfolding local government debt crisis. Globally, China adopted a series of new and ambitious diplomatic initiatives to woo the Global South and amplify its voice on the world stage. The China Story Yearbook 2023: China’s New Era provides informed perspectives on these and other important stories that will resonate for years to come.

The book discusses Society 5.0 which fills the gap between cyber and physical space by providing a balanced environment between economic and social needs. The book is divided into two parts; part A focuses on various concepts related to Society 5.0 such as cyber space, physical space, information management and digital transformation. Part B discusses various integrated fields in Society 5.0, such as super-smart healthcare system, super-smart hospitality system, smart building, and transport management system. It also illustrates the concepts of big data, real-time analytics for smart Society 5.0 with an insight of real-time case studies.

Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Volume 4: Experimental Techniques and Methodical Developments provides a detailed yet easy-to-follow treatment of various techniques useful for characterizing the structure and properties of engineering materials. This timely volume provides an overview of new methods and presents experimental research in applied chemistry using modern approaches. Each chapter describes the principle of the respective method as well as the detailed procedures of experiments with examples of actual applications and then goes on to demonstrate the advantage and disadvantages of each physical technique. Thus, readers will be able to apply the concepts as described in the book to their own experiments. The book is broken into several subsections: Polymer Chemistry and Technology Computational Approaches Clinical Chemistry and Bioinformatics Special Topics This volume presents research and reviews and information on implementing and sustaining interdisciplinary studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

This new volume focuses on different aspects of composite systems that are associated with research and development, helping to bridge the gap between classical analysis and modern real-life applications. The chapters look at the experimental and theoretical aspects of composite materials, regarding preparation, processing, design, properties, and practical implications. It also presents recent advancements, research, and development prospects of advanced composite materials that provide new solutions for advanced technologies.

Intellectual property (IP) is a key component of the life sciences, one of the most dynamic and innovative fields of technology today. At the same time, the relationship between IP and the life sciences raises new public policy dilemmas. The Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and the Life Sciences comprises contributions by leading experts from academia and industry to provide in-depth analyses of key topics including pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and genes, plant innovations, stem cells, the role of competition law and access to medicines. The Research Handbook focuses on the relationship between IP and the life sciences in Europe and the United States, complemented by country-specific case studies on Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Kenya, South Africa and Thailand to provide a truly international perspective.