The Publisher — Elsevier

Elsevier is the leading publisher in the world for scientific and technical information. The group Reed Elsevier publishes thousands of scientific and technical journals, magazines and trade journals, in materials engineering, chemistry, physics, construction, medical sciences, etc. and also organises a number of very important trade shows such as BATIMAT, the biggest trade show for construction in the world, composite shows and as well as others. 

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V./Science Technology Division, P.O. Box 330, 1000 AH Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 

As intimated above, reaching this point, that is publication of this book, has not been a straightforward task the road has been sometimes rocky, with various professional and personal problems causing both the need to refine our original outline and the need along the way to commission late in the project new authors. To all our chapter authors, we are therefore truly indebted. For those whose chapters we have "sat on" for nearly two years, we especially thank you for your understanding and patience For those who "stepped into the breach" near the end, we especially thank you for coming to our aid We are also very thankful to the publishers, Elsevier Science B.V., for their patience too ... 

STORED IN A RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC, MECHANICAL, PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, OR OTHERWISE, WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER, ELSEVIER PUBLISHING COMPANY, JAN VAN GALENSTRAAT 335, AMSTERDAM... 

Fig. 2. Swelling behavior of cellulose ether gels synthesized from different polymer types. The gel transition temperature is near the linear polymer LCST a lower LOST indicates a more hydro-phobic polymer. At comparable crosslink densities, this means a reduction in swelling degree (HPC is less crosslinked than the other gels). Lines added are to guide the eye. Reprinted from the Journal of Controlled Release (1991) 17 175 by permission of the publishers, Elsevier Science Publishers BV [52]...

Fig. 16. The diffusion coefficient of acetaminophen in 10 x 4 PNIPAAm gels falls as the swelling degree (Q) of the gel decreases due to increasing temperature. Below the transition temperature of the gel, the linear relationship between log D and (Q — 1) 1 predicted by the free volume theory of Yasuda et al. [10] is observed. Above the transition temperature, the theory underestimates D by 35 times. Reprinted from the Journal of Controlled Release (1992) 18 1, by permission of the publishers, Elsevier Science Publishers BV [70]...

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