Chih-Wei Yang Libri

Focusing on Mechatronic Reliability, this monograph explores the intersection of mechanics and electronics, targeting professionals and students in related fields. It is structured into four parts, covering electric failures, mechanical-electrical coupling, domain switching, and mass-flow instability. The book identifies typical failure modes in materials subjected to electrical and mechanical loads, analyzing their mechanisms and proposing new theories for assessing reliability. This comprehensive approach provides valuable insights for advancing research in solid mechanics and material sciences.

Joint venture parent companies utilize various control mechanisms to achieve their objectives within the venture. Key elements include the joint venture boards of directors, top management compensation, and career development, which serve to safeguard and provide resources for the realization of parent goals. Interviews with 25 top managers from Sino-German joint ventures reveal several findings: (1) The parent company with a majority stake appoints the chairman of the board. (2) Shared equity ownership results in a larger board compared to majority ownership. (3) Joint venture top managers typically receive fixed salaries and bonuses, but rarely deferred compensation like stocks or options. Ventures that offer bonuses to their top managers tend to perform better than those that do not. (4) Compensation for joint venture top managers is often covered by the venture itself rather than the parent company, with better performance noted when the venture pays fixed salaries. (5) German parent companies are more proactive in appointing joint venture top managers compared to their Chinese counterparts, and these managers often continue to work with the parent firms post-tenure. (6) Interestingly, a top manager's prior experience with the parent firm does not significantly impact joint venture performance.

Leptospirosis, the most prevalent zoonotic disease globally, affects over 1 million individuals each year, with the kidney being the primary site of colonization for Leptospira during systemic infection. This occurs mainly in the interstitium and renal tubule epithelial cells. In cases of acute kidney injury (AKI), the key histological findings include acute tubulo-interstitial nephritis and acute tubular necrosis, often presenting with hypokalemia and non-oliguria. The damage from Leptospira's outer membrane protein components activates innate immunity pathways, including Toll-like receptors and complement cascades, leading to extracellular matrix accumulation as the infection progresses to chronic kidney disease (CKD). Recent research suggests that leptospira may induce CKD in humans through either an AKI-CKD continuum or subclinical infections. This highlights leptospirosis kidney disease as a newly recognized area that demands urgent medical and public health focus. This publication features contributions from leading experts, offering insights into the clinical and research aspects of leptospirosis kidney disease. It emphasizes the significant kidney injury caused by this often underestimated infection, providing valuable information and perspectives for future research in this field.

This is the first mechatronics book dealing with coupled mechanical and electrical actions, an emerging branch of modern technology. Authored by the leading scientist in this field, the book treats various subjects along the interface between mechanics and electronics.