This book examines the conciliatory institutions that operate within criminal law in the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. Despite having the same legal traditions, the two countries have taken very different political and social roads over the past century. Taking these important factors into account, the book compares the conciliatory mechanisms that have emerged in the two countries, particularly focusing on the influence of Confucian tradition in current criminal reconciliation practices. By drawing upon in-depth interviews with multiple experts in the area, the role of tradition in the discipline of modern Xingshi Hejie is explored, alongside an analysis of the reasons that lead victims and offenders to choose this conciliatory procedure. The book offers a fascinating account of this feature of criminal justice in China and Taiwan, and will be of particular interest to scholars interested in comparative approaches to criminology and criminal justice.

Polyurethanes are formed by reacting a polyol (an alcohol with more than two reactive hydroxyl groups per molecule) with a diisocyanate or a polymeric isocyanate in the presence of suitable catalysts and additives. Because a variety of diisocyanates and a wide range of polyols can be used to produce polyurethane, a broad spectrum of materials can be produced to meet the needs of specific applications. During World War II, a widespread use of polyurethanes was first seen, when they were used as a replacement for rubber, which at that time was expensive and hard to obtain. During the war, other applications were developed, largely involving coatings of different kinds, from airplane finishes to resistant clothing. Subsequent decades saw many further developments and today we are surrounded by polyurethane applications in every aspect of our everyday lives. While polyurethane is a product that most people are not overly familiar with, as it is generally "hidden" behind covers or surfaces made of other materials, it would be hard to imagine life without polyurethanes.

Computing is ubiquitous and if you think otherwise, that in itself might be the best evidence that it is so. Computers are omnipresent in modern life and the multimedia computing environment of today is becoming more and more seamless.Bringing together contributions from dozens of leading experts, Ubiquitous Multimedia Computing educates readers on

This book features 15 country reports on the patent enforcement practice of the world's most litigated countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Litigation strategies for both right owners and alleged infringers are explained against the background of case law on: types of action, standing to sue, jurisdiction, obtaining evidence, provisional and final measures, trial practice, types of infringement, remedies and counterclaims, costs and issues of retrial, threats and wrongful enforcement. Special chapters cover the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Agreement provisions on enforcement, enforcement issues in the European Community, international cross-border litigation and border measures. The reports are written by patent practitioners or academic experts in the field, and the homogenous structure of the country reports allows for an easy identification of best practices and strategic considerations on the choice of jurisdiction.

This book aims to attract researchers and practitioners who are working in information technology and computer science. This edited book is about basics and high-level concepts regarding blockchain technology and application, multimedia security, information processing, security of network, cloud and IoT, cryptography and information hiding, cyber-security and evidence investigations, and learning and intelligent computing. It is becoming increasingly important to develop adaptive, intelligent computing-centric, energy-aware, secure, and privacy-aware mechanisms in high-performance computing and IoT applications. The book serves as a useful guide for industry persons and also helps beginners to learn things from basic to advance in the area of better computing paradigm. Our aim is intended to provide a platform for researchers, engineers, academicians as well as industrial professionals from all over the world to present their research results in security-related areas. We believe that this book not only presents novel and interesting ideas but also will stimulate interesting discussions from the participants and inspire new ideas.

Animal cell technology is becoming an increasingly important part of biotechnology and many products are now used in human health care and for veterinary applications. However, there are many times more products actually in the developmental pipelines of the biotechnology industry, including various phases of clinical trials. The Proceedings of the 15th Meeting of the European Society for Animal Cell Technology (Tours, France, September 1997) presents the actual current state as well as New Developments and Applications in Animal Cell Technology for the benefit of society. These Proceedings represent both the current state and applications of animal cell technology and the way the technology is expanding into new areas to give a unique insight into new products and applications for human and animal health care.

In this book, the authors expertly examine the issue of adolescent well-being in the light of their exposure to and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) at school and home. The authors discuss a new form of inequality especially noticeable among youth, which is, digital inequality/divide, created through rapid developments in ICT. They analyze the relation between digital divide and educational inequality among youth, describe patterns of social exclusion from technology and education, and discuss related policies in industrialized nations to see how well-being issues can be addressed in this context. Comparing results based on nationally representative and internationally comparative datasets across 28 countries, the authors ask how and why the benefits accruing from ICT are substantially greater for some adolescents, but apparently smaller for others and how such differences may be reduced. They provide policy suggestions that are broadly based in the fields of well-being, secondary education, and technology use. This book is of interest to researchers and students of quality of life and well-being studies and a wide range of social science and education disciplines, including the sociology of education, media sociology, sociology of childhood and adolescence, communication studies, and science and technology education.