Eighteen year old Tatum O'Shea is a naive, shy, little rich girl. Twenty-three year old Jameson Kane is smart, seductive, and richer. They come together for one night, one explosion, one mistake, and Tate is hurled into space – no family, no money, and no Jameson.Seven years later, life is going pretty good for Tate, when she runs into Jameson again. This time, she thinks she's ready for him. She doesn't have a naive bone left in her body, and she can't even remember what shy feels like. Jameson has evolved into Satan – sharp teeth, sharper claws, and a tongue that can cut her in half. It all sounds like fun to a girl like Tate, and she is ready to play, determined to prove that she isn't the same girl he conquered once before. A series of games start, each one more devious than the last.But the devil likes to play dirty, and she learns that playing for souls is playing for keeps. The lines between games and reality, heaven and hell, get blurry. Can she beat Jameson at his own game before someone gets hurt? Or will he leave her soulless, making him the winner, once and for all?WARNING: contains a wannabe B-rate porn star, an impersonal personal assistant, and the F-word, A LOT. Also graphic sexual situations and sadomasochistic themes

Nothing stays the same for ever. The environmental degradation and corrosion of materials is inevitable and affects most aspects of life. In industrial settings, this inescapable fact has very significant financial, safety and environmental implications. The Handbook of Environmental Degradation of Materials explains how to measure, analyse, and control environmental degradation for a wide range of industrial materials including metals, polymers, ceramics, concrete, wood and textiles exposed to environmental factors such as weather, seawater, and fire. Divided into sections which deal with analysis, types of degradation, protection and surface engineering respectively, the reader is introduced to the wide variety of environmental effects and what can be done to control them. The expert contributors to this book provide a wealth of insider knowledge and engineering knowhow, complementing their explanations and advice with Case Studies from areas such as pipelines, tankers, packaging and chemical processing equipment ensures that the reader understands the practical measures that can be put in place to save money, lives and the environment. The Handbook's broad scope introduces the reader to the effects of environmental degradation on a wide range of materials, including metals, plastics, concrete,wood and textiles For each type of material, the book describes the kind of degradation that effects it and how best to protect it Case Studies show how organizations from small consulting firms to corporate giants design and manufacture products that are more resistant to environmental effects

The development of polymers as an important class of material was inhibited at the first by the premature failure of these versatile compounds in many applications. The deterioration of important properties of both natural and synthetic polymers is the result of irreversible changes in composition and structure of polymers molecules. As a result of these reactions, mechanical, electrical and/or aesthetic properties are degraded beyond acceptable limits. It is now generally recognized that stabilization against degradation is necessary if the useful life of polymers is to be extended sufficiently to meet design requirements for long-term applications. Polymers degrade by a wide variety of mechanisms, several of which affect all polymers through to varying degree. This monograph will concentrate on those degradation mechanisms which result from reactions of polymers with oxygen in its various forms and which are accelerated by heat and/or radiation. Those stabilization mechanisms are discussed which are based on an understanding of degradation reaction mechanisms that are reasonably well established. The stabilization of polymers is still undergoing a transition from an art to a science as mechanisms of degradation become more fully developed. A scientific approach to stabilization can only be approached when there is an understanding of the reactions that lead to degradation. Stabilization against biodegradation and burning will not be discussed since there is not a clear understanding of how polymers degrade under these conditions.

In view of the grave consequences of soil degradation on ecosystem functions, food security, biodiversity and human health, this book covers the extent, causes, processes and impacts of global soil degradation, and processes for improvement of degraded soils. Soil conservation measures, including soil amendments, decompaction, mulching, cover cropping, crop rotation, green manuring, contour farming, strip cropping, alley cropping, surface roughening, windbreaks, terracing, sloping agricultural land technology (SALT), dune stabilization, etc., are discussed. Particular emphasis is given to soil pollution and the methods of physical, chemical and biological remediation of polluted soils. This book will lead the reader from the basics to a comprehensive understanding of soil degradation, conservation and remediation.

The oil crisis during the 1970s turned interest towards the utilization of renewable resources and towards lignocellulosics in particular. The 1970s were also the cradle period of biotechnology, and the years when biotechnical utilization of lignocellulosic waste from agriculture and forestry gained priori ty. This was a logical conclusion since one of nature's most important biologi cal reactions is the conversion of wood and other lignocellulosic materials to carbon dioxide, water and humic substances. However, while biotechnology in other areas like medicine and pharmacology concerned production of expen sive products on a small scale, biotechnical utilization and conversion of ligno cellulosics meant production of inexpensive products on a large scale. Biotechnical utilization of lignocellulosic materials is therefore a very difficult task, and the commercial utilization of this technology has not progressed as rapidly as one would have desired. One reason for this was the lack of basic knowledge of enzyme mechanisms involved in the degradation and conversion of wood, other lignocellulosics and their individual components. There are also risks associated with initiating a technical development before a stable platform of knowledge is available. Several of the projects started with en thusiasm have therefore suffered some loss of interest. Also contributing to this failing interest is the fact that the oil crisis at the time was not a real one. At present, nobody predicts a rapid exhaustion of the oil resources and fuel production from lignocellulosics is no longer a high priority.

Enzymatic Plastic Degradation, Volume 648 in the Methods in Enzymology series, continues the legacy of this premier serial with chapters authored by leaders in the field. Chapters in this latest release include Evaluating plastic pollution and environmental degradation, Assessment methods for microplastic pollution in the oceans and fresh water, Exploring microbial consortia from various environments for plastic degradation, Characterization of filamentous fungi for attack on synthetic polymers via biological Fenton chemistry, Synthesis of radioactive-labeled nanoplastics for assaying the environmental (microbial) PS degradation, Exploring metagenome for plastic degrading enzymes, Cutinases from thermophilic bacteria (actinomycetes): from identification to functional and structural characterization, and much more. - Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors - Presents the latest release in the Methods in Enzymology series - Covers the latest research and technologies in enzymatic plastic degradation

Land Degradation explores the substantial decrease in an area's biological productivity or usefulness to humans due to human activities. The second edition of Johnson and Lewis's well-received text thoroughly examines this growing area of study using a global perspective, as well as up-to-date information. The various case studies cover the history of land degradation, look at local and regional effects of human interactions with the environment, and compare creative destruction with destructive creation.