With the rapid development of machinery, materials science and energy engineering technology in China, new theories and application results constantly appear. Higher and newer requirements in these fields are sought by business enterprises and members of the engineering profession.This conference was held to further promote the exchange and cooperation among local researchers, to upgrade the academic standards and international influence on the study of these fields in China, and to play a positive role in bridging the gap with the international research community.This volume consists of 106 peer-reviewed articles by local and foreign eminent scholars which cover the frontiers and hot topics in machinery and process equipment, materials science, energy engineering and mechatronics.

This book gathers the Proceedings of the International Conference on Mechatronics and Intelligent Robotics (ICMIR2017), held in Kunming, China, on May 20–21, 2017. The book covers a total of 172 papers, which have been divided into seven different sections: Intelligent Systems, Intelligent Sensors & Actuators, Robotics, Mechatronics, Modeling & Simulation, Automation & Control, and Robot Vision. ICMIR2017 provided a vital forum for discussing the latest and most innovative ideas from both the industrial and academic worlds, and for sharing best practices in the fields of mechanical engineering, mechatronics, automatic control, electrical engineering, finite element analysis and computational engineering. The main focus of the conference was on promoting interaction between academia and industry, allowing the free exchange of ideas and challenges faced by these two key stakeholders and encouraging future collaboration between the members of these groups. The proceedings cover new findings in the following areas of research and will offer readers valuable insights: Mechatronics Intelligent mechatronics, robotics and biomimetics; Novel and unconventional mechatronic systems; Modeling and control of mechatronics systems; Elements, structures and mechanisms of micro and nano systems; Sensors, wireless sensor networks and multi-sensor data fusion; Biomedical and rehabilitation engineering, prosthetics and artificial organs; Artificial Intelligence (AI), neural networks and fuzzy logic in mechatronics and robotics; Industrial automation, process control and networked control systems; Telerobotics, Human–Computer Interaction; and Human–Robot Interaction. Robotics Artificial Intelligence; Bio-inspired robotics; Control algorithms and control systems; Design theories and principles; Evolutional robotics; Field robotics; Force sensors, accelerometers, and other measuring devices; Healthcare robotics; Human–Robot Interaction; Kinematics and dynamics analysis; Manufacturing robotics; Mathematical and computational methodologies in robotics; Medical robotics; Parallel robots and manipulators; Robotic cognition and emotion; Robotic perception and decisions; Sensor integration, fusion, and perception; and Social robotics.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Proposals for more effective natural resource governance emphasize the importance of institutions and governance, but say less about the political conditions under which institutional change occurs. Governing Extractive Industries synthesizes findings regarding the political drivers of institutional change in extractive industry governance. It analyses resource governance from the late nineteenth century to the present in Bolivia, Ghana, Peru, and Zambia, focusing on the ways in which resource governance and national political settlements interact. The authors focus on the ways in which resource governance and national political settlements interact, exploring the nature of elite politics, the emergence of new political actors, forms of political contention, changing ideas regarding natural resources and development, the geography of natural resource deposits, and the influence of the transnational political economy of global commodity production.

This book provides insight into the Life Cycle Management (LCM) concept and the progress in its implementation. LCM is a management concept applied in industrial and service sectors to improve products and services, while enhancing the overall sustainability performance of business and its value chains. In this regard, LCM is an opportunity to differentiate through sustainability performance on the market place, working with all departments of a company such as research and development, procurement and marketing, and to enhance the collaboration with stakeholders along a company’s value chain. LCM is used beyond short-term business success and aims at long-term achievements by minimizing environmental and socio-economic burden, while maximizing economic and social value.

This book includes a selection of reviewed papers presented at the 49th Conference of the International Circle of Educational Institutes for Graphic Arts Technology and Management & 8th China Academic Conference on Printing and Packaging, which was held on May 14-16, 2017 in Beijing, China. The conference was jointly organized by the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication, China Academy of Printing Technology, and International Circle of Educational Institutes for Graphic Arts Technology and Management. With eight keynote talks and 200 presented papers on graphic communication and packaging technologies, the event attracted more than 400 scientists. The proceedings cover the latest advances in color science and technology; image processing technology; digital media technology; digital process management technology in packaging; packaging, etc., and will be of interest to university researchers, R&D engineers and graduate students in the graphic arts, packaging, color science, image science, material science, computer science, digital media and network technology.

The journey towards sustainability requires that companies must find innovative ways to make profits and at the same time extend the traditional boundaries of business to include the environmental and social dimensions, a process known as Life Cycle Thinking. This Guide contains many examples illustrating how business organizations are putting Life Cycle Thinking into practice all over the world.

This book is a selection of the most relevant contributions to the LCM 2011 conference in Berlin. The material explores scientific and practical solutions to incorporating life cycle approaches into strategic and operational decision making. There are several sections addressing methodological topics such as LCSM approaches, methods and tools, while more application-oriented sections deal with the implementation of these approaches in relevant industrial sectors including agriculture and food, packaging, energy, electronics and ICT, and mobility.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become the recognized instrument to assess the ecological burdens and human health impacts connected with the complete life cycle (creation, use, end-of-life) of products, processes and activities, enabling the assessor to model the entire system from which products are derived or in which processes and activities operate. This volume introduces the major new book series LCA Compendium - The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment. In this volume, the main drivers in the development of LCA are explored. The volume also discusses strengths and limitations in LCA as well as challenges and gaps, thus offering an unbiased picture of the state-of-the-art and future of LCA.

The first book of its kind, the Life Cycle Assessment Handbook: A Guide for Environmentally Sustainable Products will become an invaluable resource for environmentally progressive manufacturers and suppliers, product and process designers, executives and managers, and government officials who want to learn about this essential component of environmental sustainability. As the last several decades have seen a dramatic rise in the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in decision making, the interest in the life cycle concept as an environmental management and sustainability tool continues to grow. The LCA Handbook offers a look at the role that life cycle information, in the hands of companies, governments, and consumers, may have in improving the environmental performance of products and technologies. It concisely and clearly presents the various aspects of LCA in order to help the reader better understand the subject. The content of the book was designed with a certain flow in mind. After a high-level overview to describe current views and state-of-the-practice of LCA, it presents chapters that address specific LCA methodological issues including creating life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment, and capturing eco-systems services. These are followed by example applications of LCA in the agri-food industry; sustainable supply chain management; solid waste management; mining and mineral extraction; forest products; buildings; product innovation; and sustainable chemistry and engineering. The international success of the sustainability paradigm needs the participation of many stakeholders, including citizens, corporations, academia, and NGOs. The handbook links LCA and responsible decision making and how the life cycle concept is a critical element in environmental sustainability. It covers issues such as building capacity in developing countries and emerging economies so that they are more capable of harnessing the potential in LCA for sustainable development. Governments play a very important role with the leverage they have through procurement, regulation, international treaties, tax incentives, public outreach, and other policy tools. This compilation points to the clear trend for incorporating life cycle information into the design and development processes for products and policies, just as quality and safety concerns are now addressed throughout product design and development.