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This book is based on the results of the TRANSURBAN-EU-CHINA project. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770141. The material presented in this book reflects only the authors' views. It does not reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. The TRANS-URBAN-EU-CHINA project or the European Commission are not liable for the contents of the chapters or any use that may be made of the information contained therein. About The book Towards Socially Integrative Cities deals with the transition towards urban sustainability through socially integrative cities in Europe and China. It shares the impactful original research results of an EU-funded R&I project involving eight European and six Chinese partners (TRANS-URBAN-EU-CHINA; see www.transurbaneuchina.eu). Three each of the six editors come from European and Chinese universities and research institutions. The first articles (No. 1–4) provide an overview and insights into the conceptual basis of the book. The socially integrative city is framed by discussions in academia and practice, and it is defined in a comprehensive way as an element of urban sustainability. Sustainability transitions in China are linked to international discussions and the challenges are articulated. Moreover, the discussions touch on the strengths and weaknesses related to managing urban growth and the rapid expansion of cities. Land development tools are discussed with regard to the opportunities they offer for creating socially integrative cities. A second set of articles (No. 5–9) focus on socially integrative urban regeneration of cities. After an overview of policies and strategies in Europe and China, detailed aspects are discussed, such as community building through public engagement, challenges of place-making, and the role of education and life-long learning. Finally, a manuscript on heritage preservation and its impact on social integration in urban regeneration concludes this section. A third set of articles (No. 10–13) look into issues of the transformation of cities and sustainability transitions. Transformation is understood as a complex set of interactions. The development of tools, such as community platforms for information and dialogue transfer, are discussed as an instrument to facilitate transition processes. The transformative capacity of cities in Europe and China is discussed in an article that looks into possibilities to narrow the gaps between urban planning and development. Smart and eco-cities in Europe and China are taken as an empirical base. Advanced methods, such as the Social Cost–Benefit Analysis, may support social integration. Finally, an example of how the use of multiple data sources can speed up the digital transition in cities and provide decision support for social integration is presented. The final set of articles (No. 14 and 15) deal with questions of replicability of experiences and the role of concrete urban experiments in so-called Urban Living Laboratories. Methods to explore the replication potential of urban solutions for socially integrative cities are discussed. Finally, the potential of urban living laboratories for nurturing open urban innovation in Chinese cities is scrutinized. Several examples are discussed, and conclusions regarding the enhancement of social integration in cities are drawn. The book is edited by Bernhard Müller (Technische Universität Dresden, TUD), Baojun Yang (China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, CAUPD), Liu Jian (Tsinghua University), Jianming Cai (China Academy of Sciences, CAS), Paulina Schiappacasse (TUD) and Hans-Martin Neumann (Austrian Institute of Technology, AIT).

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Changing the temperature of a substance can stimulate dramatic changes of its state. These changes can be intermolecular (physical) and intramolecular (chemical) in nature. Physical changes occur without breaking intramolecular bonds, and lead to transitions between the four major phases: gas, liquid, crystal, and glass. Chemical changes are associated with chemical reactions that originate from breaking intramolecular bonds. Phase transitions as well as chemical reactions occur at finite rates. Measuring the rates of processes is the realm of kinetics. The kinetics of thermally stimulated processes is routinely measured using thermal analysis techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Knowing the process rates and their dependence on temperature is of vital importance for understanding the behavior of materials exposed to variations in temperature. In recent years, thermal analysis kinetics has made significant progress by developing computational tools for reliable kinetic analysis. It has also expanded its traditional application area to newly developed nano- and biomaterials. This Special Issue is a series of papers that reflect recent developments in the field and highlight the essential role of thermal analysis kinetics in understanding the processes responsible for the thermal behavior of various materials.

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Non-equilibrium plasma (or low-temperature plasma, LTP) offers a chemically rich medium without the need for high power and elevated temperatures. This unique characteristic has made LTP very useful for various industrial and biomedical applications where thermal effects are not desirable. In addition, the relative simplicity of the design of sources capable of generating non-equilibrium plasma at atmospheric pressure makes LTP a very attractive technology that can accomplish the same or better results than much more complex and expensive approaches. This book describes various low-temperature plasma sources and some of their environmental and biomedical applications. The plasma sources covered in this book include low-temperature plasma jets which are novel devices that can launch low-power, low-temperature plasma plumes in ambient air. These plasma plumes can accurately and reliably be aimed at a surface to be treated or at a biological target such as cells and tissues. The application of these plasma jets in medicine, including in cancer therapy, are thoroughly discussed in this book. The contents of this book will appeal to engineers, medical experts, academics, and students who work with plasma technology.

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This book includes both fundamental studies and applications in a multidisciplinary research field involving a high diversity of chiral compounds, including commercial substances with industrial applications, pharmaceuticals, and new chiral compounds with promising biological activities. Recent developments and innovative approaches to producing enantiomerically pure compounds of industrial and research interest are included. Enantiomeric separation in both the analytical and preparative scale, determination of the enantiomeric purity, insights into enantioselective synthesis and many different aspects of chiral recognition, including chiral sensors, recognition in biological systems, and in analytical methods, are presented. Original research and review articles show the broad scope of chirality in diverse analytical fields and the connection to enantioselective synthesis and biological activities.

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Buildings allow several kinds of human activity: work, eat, sleep, play, etc., and they have a role in determining quality of life: ugly and uncomfortable buildings can be the worst place to live. The energy performance of buildings has a special role in improving and guaranteeing quality of life because it concerns architectural design, energy cost, consumption and energy poverty, and thermal comfort—both indoor and outdoor. Following a multidisciplinary approach, we present several case studies and articles about the correlation between building and quality of life. The included research highlights the relationship between BEP and quality of life in terms of wellbeing and thermal comfort and household smartness following UE Directive 844/2018, as well as the reduction of energy poverty and the impact of buildings on the environment and global warming. Also in this book is a city-scale study that attempts to evaluate the effect of climate change on building performance and building energy efficiency mapping and, moreover, reports some cases of indoor environment quality as well as thermal comfort in nearly zero energy buildings; finally, detailed scientific literature on energy poverty and outdoor wellbeing quality of life are presented.

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