This book is a detailed and comprehensive examination of the physical, symbolic and cultural uses of bamboo in China, where it has long had a ubiquitous presence in all aspects of the lives of the Chinese people: how and what they eat, what they wear, where they live, how they travel, as well as their productive activities, writing, religion, art and philosophy. The authors adopt the theoretical methods of culturology, axiology and semiotics to understand the implications and characteristi...

This book highlights the advances in the technology , instrumentation , method developments , and applications of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ( AMS ). It systematically introduces the principles and structure of AMS . The authors put emphasis on the new techniques and measurement methods of AMS , with detailed descriptions of its applications in the fields of nuclear science , archaeology , geoscience , biomedicine , and environmental science . The advances made by global researchers are...

Fundamentals of Matrix-Analytic Methods targets advanced-level students in mathematics, engineering and computer science. It focuses on the fundamental parts of Matrix-Analytic Methods, Phase-Type Distributions, Markovian arrival processes and Structured Markov chains and matrix geometric solutions.New materials and techniques are presented for the first time in research and engineering design. This book emphasizes stochastic modeling by offering probabilistic interpretati...

As China strengthens its links with its neighbours through its Belt and Road initiative, there is growing interest in the indigenous peoples of China’s western and southwestern borderlands. This book, based on extensive original research, considers the indigenous peoples of Yunnan province, which is a major gateway between China and the countries of south and south-east Asia. Unlike many books on China’s indigenous peoples which are written by foreigners who have lived for a while in China...

Metal-dielectric interfaces are ubiquitous in modern electronics. As advanced gigascale electronic devices continue to shrink, the stability of these interfaces is becoming an increasingly important issue that has a profound impact on the operational reliability of these devices. In this book, the authors present the basic science underlying the thermal and electrical stability of metal-dielectric interfaces and its relationship to the operation of advanced interconnect systems in gigascal...

Thermoelectric materials have received a great deal of attention in energy-harvesting and cooling applications, primarily due to their intrinsic low cost, energy efficient and eco-friendly nature. The past decade has witnessed heretofore-unseen advances in organic-based thermoelectric materials and devices. This title summarises the significant progress that has been made in the molecular design, physical characterization, and performance optimization of organic thermoelectric materials, f...