Publications

The main visible activity by which the Action fullfilled its goals was the organisation of workshops on the research topics. This book contains the COST 244bis Final Report as well as summaries from the workshops and other related reports.

Plasma polymerization is a rapidly growing part of materials science. Applications have been found in many fields and nowadays the interest turned especially into biomedical area. In order to push forward plasma polymerization as a part of material science in Europe a group of scientists about 5 years ago launched a COST Action 527 “Plasma Polymers and Related Materials” that gathered 48 projects from 15 European countries. Within this Action the work was performed in four working groups: A-Basic issues of plasma polymerization, B-Characterization of plasma polymers and surface modification, C-Deposition of plasma polymer films, D-Hard coatings and composites.

The Final Publication of the COST Action 868 on Biotechnical Functionalisation of Renewable Polymeric Materials gives an overview on the activities carried out by participating institutions and international experts in this area.

Along with windstorms, floods are the most common and widespread of all natural disasters. Although they can often be predicted, they cause loss of life, damage and destruction, as many urban communities are located near coasts and rivers. In terms of victims, floods are responsible for more than half the deaths caused by natural catastrophes. As flood events appear to be rapidly increasing world-wide, an advanced and universal approach of urban flood and how to manage will help reducing flood impact. This textbook integrates the expertise from disciplines such as hydrology, sociology, architecture, urban design, construction and water resources engineering. The subject is approached from an international perspective and various case studies, exercises, expert advises and literature recommendations are included to support the theory and illustrations.