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This book discusses how teaching and research have been weighted differently in academia in 18 countries and one region, Hong Kong SAR, based on an international comparative study entitled the Changing Academic Profession (CAP). It addresses these issues using empirical evidence, the CAP data. Specifically, the focus is on how teaching and research are defined in each higher education system, how teaching and research are preferred and conducted by academics, and how academics are rewarded by their institution. Since the establishment of Berlin University in 1810, there has been controversy on teaching and research as the primary functions of universities and academics. The controversy increased when Johns Hopkins University was established in 1876 with only graduate programs, and more recently with the release of the Carnegie Foundation report Scholarship Reconsidered by Ernest L. Boyer in 1990. Since the publication of Scholarship Reconsidered in 1990, higher education scholars and policymakers began to pay attention to the details of teaching and research activities, a kind of ‘black box’ because only individual academics know how they conduct teaching and research in their own contexts.

This book contains papers presented at the International Conference on Emerging Smart Cities (ICESC2022), previously known as the International Conference on Civil, Offshore and Environmental Engineering (ICCOEE). ICESC is held under the banner of World Engineering, Science and Technology Congress (ESTCON2022) from 1 to2 December 2022 at Borneo Convention Centre, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. This proceeding contains papers presented by academics and industrial practitioners showcasing the latest advancements and findings in civil engineering areas with an emphasis on emerging smart cities for the ultimate shape of urban living in the near future. The papers are categorized under the following tracks: (1) Climate Adaptive materials; (2) Environmental sustainability; (3) Infrastructure efficiency.

Biophysical studies in the 1950ies and 1960ies led to the realization that the water permeability of certain biological membranes must be due to the presence of water transporting proteins. This hypothesis was confirmed in 1991 and 1992 with the pioneering discovery of the first molecular membrane water channel, CHIP28, by Agre and coworkers. This integral membrane protein, which is abundant in the erythrocyte membrane and in many epithelial cells, is now called aquaporin-1 or AQP1. Thus the terms water channel or aquaporin are synonymous. In July 2000 more than 200 researchers came together in Gothenburg, Sweden, for the `3rd International Conference on the Molecular Biology and Physiology of Water and Solute Transport" to discuss progress in this emerging research field. 58 different presentations from this conference are the basis for this book. Cumulatively, these 58 short chapters provide a balanced overview complementing numerous recent reviews in this field.

Undoubtedly, pain conditions the quality of life of millions of people worldwide suffering a wide range of diseases. Major research efforts are being made by the international scientific community to determine the mechanisms underlying nociception. Growing evidence points out a complex network including oxidative and nitrosative stress, inflammatory response and cation signaling. In this sense, transient receptor potential (TRP) channels have attracted researchers’ attention. Expression levels are very different in tissues and cells mediating a myriad of processes in our organism. At the neurological level, it has been observed that the expression levels of four TRP channels (TRPA1, TRPM2, TRPV1, and TRPV4) are high in neurons related to nociception, including dorsal root ganglion and trigeminal ganglia neurons. For this reason, this research field promises to shed light on this intricated matrix linking oxidative stress, calcium signaling (via TRP channels), and inflammatory signals in different pain modalities, including neuropathic pain and chemotherapy-induced peripheral pain. In such a way, all this intense research activity will enable us to design individual and rational treatment strategies for pain relief, such as the use of molecular neurosurgery.

First Published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.