This book examines what constitutes power in rural China, its structure, how it is exercised, and its practical consequences. The author’s explorations are motivated by two key concerns. On one hand, theoretical questions about what rural political reforms in the first half of the 20th century did or did not accomplish continue to demand an adequate answer. On the other hand, any reasonable explanation for the recent surge in social conflicts in rural areas must begin with a sound understa...

In four chapters and an introduction, this book systematically helps readers understand the development of the Geographical Sciences both in China and in the world during the past 30 years.Through data analysis of methodologies including CiteSpace, TDA, qualitative analysis, questionnaires, data mining and mathematical statistics, the book explains the evolution of research topics and their driving factors in the Geographical Sciences and its four branches, namely Physical Geograph...

This book focuses on environmental engineering, and on wastewater treatment and reuse in particular, which is a vital aspect for countries and regions suffering from water shortages. It introduces a new water cycle management concept for designing water systems that mimic the hydrological cycle, where reclaimed water is produced, stored/regulated, supplied and used in a semi-natural manner so that its self-purification capacity and system efficiency can be maximized. To ensure safe water t...

Condensation Particle Counting Technology and Its Applications introduces the principles, key components, calibration methods, and applications of condensation particle counting systems.This book delves into the adverse effects of fine particles on human health, along with the existing detection technologies for these particles. It discusses the theories and methods of optical measurement for fine particles and elaborates on the applicable conditions for each light scatter...

The book provides an overview of III-nitride-material-based light-emitting diode (LED) technology, from the basic material physics to the latest advances in the field, such as homoepitaxy and heteroepitaxy of the materials on different substrates. It also includes the latest advances in the field, such as approaches to improve quantum efficiency and reliability as well as novel structured LEDs. It explores the concept of material growth, chip structure, packaging, reliability and applicati...

Andrew Sancton combines his own broad knowledge of global changes with an outline and comparison of the viewpoints of prominent social scientists to argue that city regions in western liberal democracies will not and cannot be self-governing. Self-government requires a territory delineated by official boundaries but the multiple boundaries of city-regions unlike the clear and undisputed boundaries of provinces and states continue to move outward due to the constant growth and expansion of urb...

A plethora of different theories, models, and concepts make up the field of community ecology. Amid this vast body of work, is it possible to build one general theory of ecological communities? What other scientific areas might serve as a guiding framework? As it turns out, the core focus of community ecology—understanding patterns of diversity and composition of biological variants across space and time—is shared by evolutionary biology and its very coherent conceptual framework, populati...

A plant anatomy textbook unlike any other on the market today. Carol A. Peterson described the first edition as 'the best book on the subject of plant anatomy since the texts of Esau'. Traditional plant anatomy texts include primarily descriptive aspects of structure, this book not only provides a comprehensive coverage of plant structure, but also introduces aspects of the mechanisms of development, especially the genetic and hormonal controls, and the roles of plasmodesmata and the cytos...

Urban Remote Sensing is designed for upper level undergraduates, graduates, researchers and practitioners, and has a clear focus on the development of remote sensing technology for monitoring, synthesis and modeling in the urban environment. It covers four major areas: the use of high-resolution satellite imagery or alternative sources of image date (such as high-resolution SAR and LIDAR) for urban feature extraction; the development of improved image processing algorithms and tec...

For microbiology and environmental microbiology courses, this leading textbook builds on the academic success of the previous edition by including a comprehensive and up-to-date discussion of environmental microbiology as a discipline that has grown in scope and interest in recent years. From environmental science and microbial ecology to topics in molecular genetics, this edition relates environmental microbiology to the work of a variety of life science, ecology, and environmental scienc...

Explaining the what, the how and the why of climate science, this multidisciplinary new book provides a review of research from the last decade, illustrated with cutting-edge data and observations. A key focus is the development of analysis tools that can be used to demonstrate options for mitigating and adapting to increasing climate risks. Emphasis is given to the importance of Earth system feedback mechanisms and the role of the biosphere. The book explains advances in modelling, proces...

This new edition of the universally acclaimed and widely-used textbook on fungal biology has been completely re-written, drawing directly on the authors' research and teaching experience. The text takes account of the rapid and exciting progress that has been made in the taxonomy, cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, pathology and ecology of the fungi. Features of taxonomic relevance are integrated with natural functions, including their relevance to human affairs. Special emphasis is...