Introduction to the Special Issue on Electroceramics

The Electroceramics series of conferences has established itself over the past 20 years as a major international forum for presenting developments and innovations in the field of electroceramics. For Electroceramics XI, we combined forces with the UK Ferroelectrics Network, the UK Institute of Physics Materials and Characterisation Group, and COST539 to expand the scope of the meeting and provide opportunities for interactions with new groups. In response to the submission of almost 800 abstracts, Electroceramics XI was structured around 14 separated symposia. More than 300 papers were selected for oral presentation. This special issue contains a selection of the papers presented in symposium D2: Piezoelectric Ceramics.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Causal Discovery

Many empirical sciences, including the social sciences and life sciences, aim to study causal relationships. Researchers in these fields need computational methods for analyzing observed data and identifying causal structures among a set of variables. Such computational methods enable researchers to draw conclusions on the basis of both their assumptions and the observed data. Moreover, these methods are useful for developing hypotheses on causal relations, designing future observational studies, and planning future experimental studies that can potentially provide stronger evidence of estimated causal relations.

The objective of this special issue is to present an up-to-date overview of causal discovery methods, which have witnessed rapid advancements in recent years. The chief editor and guest editors invited the following three survey papers on various hot topics related to causal discovery:

     

Introduction to the Special Issue on the Applications of Ferroelectrics

This special issue of the Transactions is a compilation of the most important papers presented at the 17th IEEE International Symposium on Applications of Ferroelectrics (ISAF). This was a joint meeting with the Electronics Division of the American Ceramics Society that was held at the Eldorado Hotel and Spa in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from February 24?27, 2008. The meeting was host to over 300 conference attendees and over 250 technical presentations. Presentations covered a wide range of technical topics, including processing, advanced characterization, theory and modeling of ferroelectrics, FERAM devices, capacitors, piezoelectrics, ultrasonics, multiferroics, and energy harvesting materials and devices.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on High Resolution Ultrasonic Imaging in Industrial, Material and Biomaterial Applications

This special issue introduces recent advances in high-resolution ultrasonic imaging techniques and their applications to industrial materials and biomaterials evaluation. Various papers with novel results and techniques, developed by leaders in this field and some research groups are presented.     

法国青年设计师特刊作品介绍

由法国“阶梯”设计杂志最新出版的法国青年设计师作品特刊收录了三十一位法国设计新锐的作品，其中有Beef、Guillaume Dairou、Etienne Mineur、Jeanne Verdoux．Sylvia Tournerle和Ichet Kar等设计师的杰作，内容涵盖了包装设计、展览设计、时装设计、编辑设计、印刷和多媒体等领域。此书的出版将使人们有机会了解当今法国平面设计的走向。     

薄膜体声波滤波器的材料、设计及应用

薄膜体声波谐振器及滤波器具有工作频率高、工艺简单、尺寸小、易于集成等优点,成为目前应用于高频通信前置滤波器的首选.系统介绍了用于薄膜体声波谐振器的几种主要材料(AlN、ZnO、PZT)的具体特点、制备工艺及薄膜体声波谐振器与滤波器的结构、设计及其应用.