Diffusion Foundations

Why do law reforms spread around the world in waves? Leading theories argue that international networks of technocratic elites develop orthodox solutions that they singlehandedly transplant across countries. But, in modern democracies, elites alone cannot press for legislative reforms without winning the support of politicians, voters, and interest groups. As Katerina Linos shows in The Democratic Foundations of Policy Diffusion, international models can help politicians generate domestic enthusiasm for far-reaching proposals. By pointing to models from abroad, policitians can persuade voters that their ideas are not radical, ill-thought out experiments, but mainstream, tried-and-true solutions. The more familiar voters are with a certain country or an international organization, the more willing they are to support policies adopted in that country or recommended by that organization. Aware of voters' tendency, politicians strategically choose these policies to maximize electoral gains. Through the ingenious use of experimental and cross-national evidence, Linos documents voters' response to international models and demonstrates that governments follow international organization templates and imitate the policy choices of countries heavily covered in national media and familiar to voters. Empirically rich and theoretically sophisticated, The Democratic Foundations of Policy Diffusion provides the fullest account to date of this increasingly pervasive phenomenon.

Handbook of Solid State Diffusion, Volume 1: Diffusion Fundamentals and Techniques covers the basic fundamentals, techniques, applications, and latest developments in the area of solid-state diffusion, offering a pedagogical understanding for students, academicians, and development engineers. Both experimental techniques and computational methods find equal importance in the first of this two-volume set. Volume 1 covers the fundamentals and techniques of solid-state diffusion, beginning with a comprehensive discussion of defects, then different analyzing methods, and finally concluding with an exploration of the different types of modeling techniques. Presents a handbook with a short mathematical background and detailed examples of concrete applications of the sophisticated methods of analysis Enables readers to learn the basic concepts of experimental approaches and the computational methods involved in solid-state diffusion Covers bulk, thin film, and nanomaterials Introduces the problems and analysis in important materials systems in various applications Collates contributions from academic and industrial problems from leading scientists involved in developing key concepts across the globe

Handbook of Solid State Diffusion, Volume 2: Diffusion Analysis in Material Applications covers the basic fundamentals, techniques, applications, and latest developments in the area of solid-state diffusion, offering a pedagogical understanding for students, academicians, and development engineers. Both experimental techniques and computational methods find equal importance in the second of this two volume set. Volume 2 covers practical issues on diffusion phenomena in bulk, thin film, and in nanomaterials. Diffusion related problems and analysis of methods in industrial applications, such as electronic industry, high temperature materials, nuclear materials, and superconductor materials are discussed. Presents a handbook with a short mathematical background and detailed examples of concrete applications of the sophisticated methods of analysis Enables readers to learn the basic concepts of experimental approaches and the computational methods involved in solid-state diffusion Covers bulk, thin film, and nanomaterials Introduces the problems and analysis in important materials systems in various applications Collates contributions from academic and industrial problems from leading scientists involved in developing key concepts across the globe

The purpose of this volume is to present recent results of developments and applications of novel materials, namely, nontoxic ecological materials, green and nanomaterials, advanced membrane technologies and building materials.

Special topic volume with invited peer-reviewed papers only

This book presents the fundamental theory for non-standard diffusion problems in movement ecology. Lévy processes and anomalous diffusion have shown to be both powerful and useful tools for qualitatively and quantitatively describing a wide variety of spatial population ecological phenomena and dynamics, such as invasion fronts and search strategies. Adopting a self-contained, textbook-style approach, the authors provide the elements of statistical physics and stochastic processes on which the modeling of movement ecology is based and systematically introduce the physical characterization of ecological processes at the microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic levels. The explicit definition of these levels and their interrelations is particularly suitable to coping with the broad spectrum of space and time scales involved in bio-ecological problems. Including numerous exercises (with solutions), this text is aimed at graduate students and newcomers in this field at the interface of theoretical ecology, mathematical biology and physics.

The book covers such diverse topics as cellulose fibers in cement paste and concrete, biodegradable materials for dental applications, coconut and pineapple fiber composites, biodegradable plastic composites, durability against fatigue and moisture, physical and mechanical characterization of fiber composites, improving the hydrophobic nature of fiber composites, and hybrid natural fiber composites. Keywords: Fiber Reinforced Composites, Biodegradable Composites, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Cellulose Fibers, Coconut Fibers, Biocomposites, Resol-Vegetable Fibers, Pineapple Natural Fiber Composite, Dental Applications, Cement Paste, Concrete, Thermoplasticity, Fatigue, Moisture, Thermal Conductivity.

Diffusion studies in the Ni- and Fe-aluminium based multicomponent systems are very important for understanding the performance and reliability of products in various sectors such as aviation and power generation industries. This volume deals with different aspects of diffusion-related studies covering thermodynamics, phase stability, fundamental diffusion studies in binary, ternary and multicomponent systems.