Quality Of Life Technology Handbook

A collaboration between leading scientists, practitioners, and researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, this book is a comprehensive resource describing Quality of Life technologies and their development, evaluation, adoption, and commercialization. It takes an interdisciplinary team approach to the process of technology development for disabled and older persons and discusses the state of the art and future directions of technologies. This work provides direction on how to identify user needs and preferences, engage end-users in the design and development process, and evaluate and commercialize the technologies.

A collaboration between leading scientists, practitioners, and researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, this book is a comprehensive resource describing Quality of Life technologies and their development, evaluation, adoption, and commercialization. It takes an interdisciplinary team approach to the process of technology development for disabled and older persons and discusses the state of the art and future directions of technologies. This work provides direction on how to identify user needs and preferences, engage end-users in the design and development process, and evaluate and commercialize the technologies.

The aim of the Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research is to create an overview of the field of Quality of Life (QOL) studies in the early years of the 21st century that can be updated and improved upon as the field evolves and the century unfolds. Social indicators are statistical time series “...used to monitor the social system, helping to identify changes and to guide intervention to alter the course of social change”. Examples include unemployment rates, crime rates, estimates of life expectancy, health status indices, school enrollment rates, average achievement scores, election voting rates, and measures of subjective well-being such as satisfaction with life-as-a-whole and with specific domains or aspects of life. This book provides a review of the historical development of the field including the history of QOL in medicine and mental health as well as the research related to quality-of-work-life (QWL) programs. It discusses several of QOL main concepts: happiness, positive psychology, and subjective wellbeing. Relations between spirituality and religiousness and QOL are examined as are the effects of educational attainment on QOL and marketing, and the associations with economic growth. The book goes on to investigate methodological approaches and issues that should be considered in measuring and analysing quality of life from a quantitative perspective. The final chapters are dedicated to research on elements of QOL in a broad range of countries and populations.

Academic entrepreneurship is a multifactorial and multidimensional phenomenon. This book presents research featuring aspects of academic entrepreneurship at the regional, institutional, and organizational levels of analysis. Phillip H. Phan and the authors illustrate that the more interesting aspects of this subject are in the ‘tails of the distribution,’ where counter-intuitive findings from the data call simple theories into question and inspire a vigorous discussion of alternatives. This edited collection covers a variety of topics including, but not limited to: • corporate governance of innovation • technology commercialization in pharmaceuticals and life sciences • institutional impediments to technology development and economic growth • economic impact of universities • academic labor markets and technology commercialization • translational research and development • technology commercialization in regenerative medicine. The contributors also consider the relative value of general versus specific human capital development and the implications for entrepreneurship and wealth creation. The audience for this book comprises PhD students, new scholars in technology commercialization research, university technology transfer office personnel, economic development specialists and policymakers, and students studying the management of technology.

Handbook on High-Speed Rail and Quality of Life outlines global experiences of high-speed rail development, including its construction, impacts, and planning, with a special focus on countries that are planning implementation in the coming decade. High-speed rail infrastructure can bring considerable socioeconomic benefits that cannot be captured through econometric modeling alone. Thus, analysis of the true impacts requires a scalar as well as a temporal lens. The studies in this handbook discuss transport infrastructure projects of varying geographic scale and describe the underlying complexities of developing an infrastructure system while focusing on the aspects that can enhance quality of life. The cases, concepts, and ideas presented in this handbook were discussed and refined during a conference and seminar series held at the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo and special sessions on transport and quality of life at the 15th World Conference on Transport Research at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in Mumbai. The special sessions were jointly organized by the Asian Development Bank Institute and World Conference on Transport Research Society Special Interest Group A4, "High-Speed Rail: Policy, Investment, and Impacts". The conference and special sessions highlighted critical issues and delivered key messages on the broad research on high-speed rail and quality of life.

Omics Technologies and Bio-Engineering: Towards Improving Quality of Life, Volume 1 is a unique reference that brings together multiple perspectives on omics research, providing in-depth analysis and insights from an international team of authors. The book delivers pivotal information that will inform and improve medical and biological research by helping readers gain more direct access to analytic data, an increased understanding on data evaluation, and a comprehensive picture on how to use omics data in molecular biology, biotechnology and human health care. Covers various aspects of biotechnology and bio-engineering using omics technologies Focuses on the latest developments in the field, including biofuel technologies Provides key insights into omics approaches in personalized and precision medicine Provides a complete picture on how one can utilize omics data in molecular biology, biotechnology and human health care

Quality of Life: An Interdisciplinary Perspective presents the Quality of Life using a contemporary and interdisciplinary approach. Various socio-cultural, spiritual, technological, and human factors aspects, which have an immense bearing on our lives, are an integral part of this book. This book highlights cultural differences in terms of Quality of Life. It recognizes the presence of cultural differences resulting from the social status attributed to an individual’s age, gender, class, race, and ethnicity. It can be used as a guide in the field of global well-being and for future research. It presents clues to complex problems and empirical materials, and attempts to bring out a more comprehensive picture of global and contemporary Quality of Life and well-being. This book can also fill a gap in teaching and research. Those who will find this book useful are researchers, academicians, practitioners, and students of management, behavioral science, human factors, psychology, health economics, sociology, public health, and politics.

Because the field of plastics is one of the fastest changing areas today, the need arises to offer relevant, comprehensive material on polymers. An established source of information on modern plastics, the Plastics Technology Handbook continues to provide up-to-date coverage on the properties, processing methods, and applications of polymers. Retaining the easy-to-follow structure of the previous editions, this fourth edition includes new topics of interest that reflect recent developments and lead to better insights into the molecular behavior of polymers. New to the Fourth Edition Advances in supramolecular polymerization, flame retardancy, polymer-based nanomedicines, and drug delivery The new concept of oxo-biodegradable polymers Broadened discussion on plastic foams and foam extrusion processes More information on the processing and applications of industrial polymers, including the emerging field of nanoblends Developments in polymer synthesis and applications, such as polymeric sensors, hydrogels and smart polymers, hyperbranched polymers, shape memory polymers, polymeric optical fibers, scavenger resins, polymer nanocomposites, polymerization-filled composites, and wood-polymer composites A state-of-the-art account of the various available methods for plastics recycling Advances in the use of polymers in packaging, construction, the automotive and aerospace industries, agriculture, electronics and electrical technology, biomedical applications, corrosion prevention, and sports and marine applications Plastics Technology Handbook, Fourth Edition thoroughly covers traditional industrial polymers and their processing methods as well as contemporary polymeric materials, recent trends, and the latest applications.