Bøger udgivet af IntechOpen

This book presents recent developments and research activities that highlight the importance of clay science and engineering in the environment and medical and civil engineering. The book contains nine chapters separated into three main sections: (1) Clay for the Environment, (2) Clay in Civil Engineering, and (3) Clay in Medical Applications. There are four chapters in the first section and the focus is made on the topics related to an introduction to the natural sources and chemical structure of one of the important clay types, montmorillonite. The application of waste recycling and the removal of arsenic and fluoride are the focus of next two chapters. In addition, a technique for corrosion protection is presented as the fourth chapter within this section. In the second section, special emphasis has been placed on the importance and application of clay in civil engineering, which is demonstrated in two chapters. In the third section, new research and development on utilizing clay minerals in medical applications is presented. Intended for readers wishing to acquire an understanding of the current trends in clay science and engineering and comprehension of the issue, this book addresses exciting topics in this field.

In recent years, all over the world, the attention paid to local and traditional productions is growing, especially in the agro-food sector. Maybe, it is not only due to the impact of globalization and the social and economic changes but also due to the increased consideration to health and nutritional aspects of food. Hence, for economic, social, historical, and nutritional reasons, this trend has led to the rediscovery and reuse of landraces of many different crops, responding to requests for more and more demanding market. This volume collects examples of local crops and old landraces of different areas of the planet that testify the extreme importance of the relation existing among a land, the local productions, the historical traditions, the conservation of biodiversity, the health benefits, the environmental impact and the local economies, also including the significance to dedicate resources to scientific researches in local crops.

Advances in the understanding of cardiomyopathies and the growth of cardiology have paralleled one another. Over the years, many classification methods have been developed for cardiomyopathies based on aetiology, structural models and the functional approach. The new concepts and events that have occurred in cardiology generally and in cardiomyopathies specifically are sufficient changes to justify this book. Developments in cardiomyopathies have advanced at a rapid rate, largely because of the progress that has been made in instrumental analysis and the integration of clinical cardiology with other fields of basic research. The material in this book encompasses and blends the knowledge recently acquired in genetics, pathology and physiology with the practical matters of diagnosis and treatment.

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microorganisms that inhabit almost all geographic locations, including oceans, caves, ponds, lakes, soil, snow, and hot springs. Their acumen to survive and succeed in a plethora of ambiance is due to their extraordinary metabolism and adaptations. Their wide applications include therapeutics, cosmeceuticals, wastewater remediation, biofuels, antioxidative enzymes, agriculture, and so on. This book highlights the important aspects pertinent to the fascinating world of cyanobacteria covering diverse topics such as electron microscopic dimension, cultivation, stress, and adaptations. This book provides insights into the world of tiny microbial factories and unravels the potentials for their futuristic innovative applications as precursors of drug molecules, eco-friendly renewable energy sources, remediation, and reservoirs of diverse value-added products for a better and brighter tomorrow.

"Vasculitis" describes an inflammatory process that involves the blood vessels and contributes to vascular damage. Autoimmunity, infections, drugs, and malignancies have been considered among potential etio-pathogenic factors. In vasculitis, the inflammation might develop in either a systemic or an organ-specific form and might exist as an independent pathology "primary vasculitis" or as a presentation of an existing primary pathology, that is, "secondary vasculitis". This book Vasculitis In Practice-An Update on Special Situations - Clinical and Therapeutic Considerations unlike many publications in the field, uses a different evidence-based approach to organ-specific vascular inflammatory diseases. The authors highlighted the unmet needs from the 1994 Chapel Hill Consensus Conference introducing the latest clinically relevant definitions for the different forms of vasculitis revised in 2012. The identification, classification, and management of kidney disease with different types of vasculitis with an evidence-based update on proposed therapeutic strategies are presented in this publication.

Health sciences require up-to-date and reliable information for decision-making related to the provision of health services and care. For this it is necessary that health professionals carry out relevant and correct research or appraise the available clinical research. Among the different research designs, cohort studies were developed over a century ago as a powerful methodological tool to determine risk factors for different events or health outcomes. Despite their potential biases and limitations, which are inherent in any epidemiological study, the findings derived from cohort studies provide a high level of evidence for health decision-making. In addition, for many questions derived from health care, and due to the ethical concern or logistic impossibility of conducting a clinical trial, the cohort study can be the best option for clinical research. This book highlights the main characteristics of cohort studies: comparative advantages and disadvantages and their main strengths and limitations; and through examples shows the contribution of findings from cohort studies to be used in the health field.

Epidemiological studies show that weight loss has many health benefits, so different strategies have been explored to lose weight, with health and esthetic reasons being the base of those strategies. Weight loss may be the result of pathologies, so both intentional and unintentional weight loss are different situations, each being a relevant focus of study. Along with that distinction, gender and ethnic topics are also relevant aspects, and different chapters of this book are related to male vs. female topics as well as to cultural differences related to weight loss. Childhood obesity from a parenting style perspective is also developed in this book. Finally, it must be noted that activity is essential to improve body composition and also to keep an ideal weight.

SiC and GaN devices have been around for some time. The first dedicated international conference on SiC and related devices, "ICSCRM," was held in Washington, DC, in 1987. But only recently, the commercialization of SiC and GaN devices has happened. Due to its material properties, Si as a semiconductor has limitations in high-temperature, high-voltage, and high-frequency regimes. With the help of SiC and GaN devices, it is possible to realize more efficient power systems. Devices manufactured from SiC and GaN have already been impacting different areas with their ability to outperform Si devices. Some of the examples are the telecommunications, automotive/locomotive, power, and renewable energy industries. To achieve the carbon emission targets set by different countries, it is inevitable to use these new technologies. This book attempts to cover all the important facets related to wide bandgap semiconductor technology, including new challenges posed by it. This book is intended for graduate students, researchers, engineers, and technology experts who have been working in the exciting fields of SiC and GaN power devices.

This book is intended to provide a deep understanding on the advanced treatments of thermal properties of materials through experimental, theoretical, and computational techniques. This area of interest is being taught in most universities and institutions at the graduate and postgraduate levels. Moreover, the increasing modern technical and social interest in energy has made the study of thermal properties more significant and exciting in the recent years. This book shares with the international community a sense of global motivation and collaboration on the subject of thermal conductivity and its wide spread applications in modern technologies. This book presents new results from leading laboratories and researchers on topics including materials, thermal insulation, modeling, steady and transient measurements, and thermal expansion. The materials of interest range from nanometers to meters, bringing together ideas and results from across the research field.

Weed populations in agriculture are a major cause of yield loss. Conventionally, crop rotation and tillage practices limit the number of weed flora. Several chemical herbicides are being applied to control weed growth, but the long-term use of those chemicals does not effectively control weeds, due to the development of resistant germplasms, which cause hazardous effects in living organisms. The global interest in organic farming endorses the alternative way of weed control against chemical herbicides. Recently, biological agents have been added to integrated weed management strategies. Several studies reveal that plant extracts, bacteria, fungi and their products effectively control weed seed germination and growth. The aim of this book is to discuss the current understanding of bioherbicides and strategies to weed control.

This book investigates the emerging use of biomarkers as a diagnostic tool for the identification of patients with an abnormal condition or as a tool for staging the extent of disease, as an indicator of disease prognosis. Chapters in Part I focus on biomarkers for cancer, including breast cancer and pancreatic cancer, as well as circulating microRNA profiling in cancer biomarker discovery. Chapters in Part II focus on biomarkers of other diagnoses/diseases, including sepsis, childhood renal diseases, pulmonary diseases, Alzheimer's, leishmaniasis, and heart failure. This book investigates the emerging use of biomarkers as a diagnostic tool for the identification of patients with an abnormal condition or as a tool for staging the extent of disease, as an indicator of diseases prognosis. The book is of considerable importance for a broad range of people including researchers, clinicians, and university students.

Porous ceramics have recently gained growing importance in industry because of their many applications like filters, absorbers, dust collectors, thermal insulation, hot gas collectors, dielectric resonators, bioreactors, bone replacement and automobile engine components. Generally, porous ceramics have good properties such as mechanical strength, abrasion resistance, and chemical and thermal stability. These porous network ceramic structures also have relatively low density, low mass and low thermal conductivity. Furthermore, permeability is one of the most important properties of porous ceramics for different applications such as membranes because this property directly relates to the pressure drop during filtration. Pore size control is one key factor in fabrication of porous ceramics. The size of particles and their distribution of the raw materials, manufacturing techniques, types of binder used, distribution of binder, and sintering affect the final porosity and pore connectivity, are important things that must be considered during the manufacturing of a porous ceramic body. Therefore, the development of porous ceramic research requires sufficient mechanical and chemical stability as well as permeability. This book covers a wide range of topics such as porous ceramic structure and properties, preparation, simulation and fabrication, sintering, applications for bioceramics, sensors, magnetics and energy saving.

This book consists of an introductory overview of secondary metabolites, which are classified into four main sections: microbial secondary metabolites, plant secondary metabolites, secondary metabolites through tissue culture technique, and regulation of secondary metabolite production. This book provides a comprehensive account on the secondary metabolites of microorganisms, plants, and the production of secondary metabolites through biotechnological approach like the plant tissue culture method. The regulatory mechanisms of secondary metabolite production in plants and the pharmaceutical and other applications of various secondary metabolites are also highlighted. This book is considered as necessary reading for microbiologists, biotechnologists, biochemists, pharmacologists, and botanists who are doing research in secondary metabolites. It should also be useful to MSc students, MPhil and PhD scholars, scientists, and faculty members of various science disciplines.

Pancreatic cancer is a growing source of cancer-related death and has poor survival rates, which have not improved in the last few decades. Its high-mortality rate is attributed to pancreatic cancer biology, difficulty in early diagnosis, and lack of standardized international guidelines in assessing the pancreatic masses. This book aims to provide an update in the current state of play in pancreatic cancer diagnosis and to evaluate the benefits and limitations of the available diagnostic technology and therapy. The main modalities for diagnosis are imaging with HCT, MRI, USE, and PET. Some chapters review the improvements in the techniques used. Timely and accurate diagnosis of pancreatic cancer can lead to improve in the current poor outcome of this disease.

Harmonic analysis is a diverse field including such branches as signal processing, medical imaging, power electrical systems, wireless telecommunications, etc. This book is primarily written with the objective of providing recent developments and new techniques in harmonic analysis. In the recent years, a number of methods of quality control of signals under different perturbations, and especially the harmonics, have emerged. Some of these techniques are described in this book. This book is the result of contributions from many researchers and is a collection of eight research works, which are focused around the harmonic analysis theme but with different applications. The topics mainly concern the areas of medical imaging, biopotential systems, renewable energy conversion systems, wireless telecommunications, power converters, as well as the different techniques for estimating, analyzing, reducing, and eliminating harmonics.

The public sector plays an important role for both regulation and in the delivery of services directly or indirectly. In this context, it is important to consider transformation, change, and innovation, which are the elements on which the main determinants that influence public management and the administration of economic, social, and political systems are based. This book describes the nature of the problem, its multidimensionality, and the need for original approaches, through the contribution of scholars belonging to different disciplines. This book contains nine chapters in a single section (Public Management and Administration), which, through the different approaches to the subject by the authors, help to explain the issues of the public sector.

The prevalence of anorectal disorders in the general population is probably much higher than that seen in clinical practice. Anorectal diseases have for a long time been considered of little interest, with their treatment considered of little prestige despite the social impact they cause to patients. Proctology was initiated late and developed slowly over the years. However, in the last 20 years, a renewed interest has begun, and today, we can say that proctology is a specialized branch of general surgery. This book "Proctological Diseases in Surgical Practice" provides a practical introduction to proctology, with a particular attention to the topics that have not yet been investigated. This book may be useful for the general physician as well as for the specialist.

The book "Listeria monocytogenes" describes different topics that deal with L. monocytogenes in medical research, modelling the behaviour of the organism in meat, quality assurance of raw food material and food products, the impact of environmental stresses in virulence traits of L. monocytogenes relevant to food safety, contamination, prevention and control in food processing and food service environments. The aim of this book is to introduce the reader to different approaches, methods, and tools in understanding the pathogen, Listeria monocytogens, with regard to primary and public health, food safety, pathogenicity, virulence, and its ubiquity. Topics covered in this book deal with L. monocytogenes in medical research. modelling the behaviour of the organism in meat, quality assurance of raw food material and food products, the impact of environmental stresses in virulence traits of L. monocytogenes relevant to food safety, contamination, prevention and control in food processing and food services environments.

Endocarditis is a disease process that involves an infection of the heart, cardiac structures, or implantable cardiac support devices and can be a difficult clinical problem. As patients get older and have more comorbidities, their risks for infection increase. In addition, the growing problem of intravenous substance abuse has led to a considerable increase in these patients developing endocarditis. Advances in medical technology have facilitated diagnosis and management, particularly with greater emphasis on early surgical intervention. Nevertheless, success requires a team approach and individualization of care in the setting of very complex medical, surgical, and ethical problems. The goal of this book is to illustrate some of the evolving challenges and controversies in managing these very complex and often extremely sick patients.

Nuclear engineering could be viewed as the engineering field that ensures optimum and sustainable technological applications of natural and induced radioactive materials in different industrial sectors. This book presents some advanced applications in radiation effects, thermal hydraulics, and radionuclide migration in the environment. These scientific contributions from esteemed experts introduce some nuclear safety principals, current knowledge about radiation types, sources and applications, thermal properties of heat transfer media, and the role of sorption in retarding radionuclide migration in the environment. This book also covers the advances in identifying radiation effects in dense gas-metal systems, application of dense granular materials as high power targets in accelerator driven systems and irradiation facilities, evaluation of boiling heat transfer in narrow channels, and application of fluorescence quenching techniques to monitor uranium migration.

The term extreme weather normally conjures up thoughts of massive storms or heat waves or overtly cold temperatures. These are all examples of what we might consider as weather events that occur out of the ordinary or what is regarded as the normal pattern of calm, heat, cold, dry, or wet conditions for one season of the year or another. The point is that if we consider an oscillation of data points in a weather pattern and plot a mean through it, extreme weather can be observed as a perturbation in a distribution of climatic events over time. These events may be short-lived, such as a wind gust occurrence, or of longer duration, such as heavy rain leading to flooding. Importantly, once initiated, a perturbation event has an associated consequence, which usually requires human intervention to rectify the event's consequences.

The present book is composed of modern theoretical and applied studies that highlight the core principles and evidence of sustainable agriculture. This work is systematically divided into two sections, which summarize crucial insights into this theme, such as agroecological concepts, case studies, soil health, and agroforestry systems. The chapters included in this book have been written by researchers whose expertise allows the relatively complex sustainable agroecosystem-related topics to be easily understood by any reader. Therefore, the target audience comprises not only scholars and specialists in the field but also common people and enthusiasts about this theme. Such chapter's collection is certainly a valuable resource about agricultural sustainable principles and a pleasure reading for those who are willing to dive more deeply into the study of "sustainability of agroecosystems."

Intelligent system is an advanced machine that can perceive, learn, and solve the problems with a great accuracy. Technologies with intelligent system are currently available in the market and used in real-world applications, i.e., self-driving cars, Siri, Alexa, Facebook, and so on. To exceed human cognitive capabilities, the important keys rely on the development of sensors and algorithms. Therefore, the insight into artificial intelligence (AI) methods becomes a fundamental building block for design and construction of intelligent system with particular applications. This book aims to describe the AI systems ranging from the basic knowledge, i.e., algorithm and mathematical models of AI techniques, fundamentals of machine learning, genetic algorithm, and fuzzy logic, to the current state-of-the-art applications, such as smart road and biomedical applications.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBO2) is a widely accepted adjuvant therapy in various health conditions that exhibit impaired tissue blood flow. At high pressures, the delivery of the dissolved oxygen in plasma is enhanced, which contributes to better tissue oxygenation, cellular metabolism and ultimately, healing. However, this is not the only beneficial outcome of HBO2 treatment since oxygen is a highly reactive molecule and can induce upregulation of many enzymatic systems in the cell at the cellular, genetic and molecular level. Particularly, vascular/endothelial function is affected by the HBO2. Our understanding of these mechanisms is still emerging. There have been many controversies related to the HBO2 protocols and indications. As well as exhibiting beneficiary effects on the tissue perfusion, it is known that HBO2 demonstrates high toxicity at higher pressures, due to increased oxidative stress and barotrauma. On the other hand, there is a lack of translation of the knowledge on the mechanisms of action of HBO2 obtained from the experimental research to the clinical practice. Thus, this book presents the reader with an overview of the current knowledge on the mechanisms of HBO2 effects in various experimental models and clinical treatment protocols, in an attempt to provide a better understanding of how and when HBO2 should be used as an effective therapy without unwanted side effects.

The book "Recent Developments in Optoelectronic Devices" is about the latest developments in optoelectronics. This book is divided into three categories: light emitting devices, sensors, and light harvesters. This book also discusses the theoretical aspects of device design for iridium complexes as organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), strategies for developing novel nanostructured materials, silicon-rich oxide (SRO) electroluminescent devices, and multifunctional optoelectronic devices developed on resistive switching effects. The worldwide participation of authors has contributed to the unifying effect of science. Furthermore, interested readers will also find information on the screen printed technology using semiconductor devices, nonlinear phenomena in quantum devices, experimental set up of optoelectronics flexible logic gate to realize logic operations, autonomous vehicles, and the latest developments in perovskites as solar cells.

This book on data mining explores a broad set of ideas and presents some of the state-of-the-art research in this field. The book is triggered by pervasive applications that retrieve knowledge from real-world big data. Data mining finds applications in the entire spectrum of science and technology including basic sciences to life sciences and medicine, to social, economic, and cognitive sciences, to engineering and computers. The chapters discuss various applications and research frontiers in data mining with algorithms and implementation details for use in real-world. This can be through characterization, classification, discrimination, anomaly detection, association, clustering, trend or evolution prediction, etc. The intended audience of this book will mainly consist of researchers, research students, practitioners, data analysts, and business professionals who seek information on the various data mining techniques and their applications.

This book aims to introduce the emerging technologies of graphene oxide (GO) in various fields such as industrial, medical, electronics, artificial intelligence, materials-alloys, energy storage devices, optical, physics, mechanical, nanomaterials, and sustainable chemistry. At the current level of development, the properties and binding structure of graphene are important toward the recent applications. The knowledge produced by the graphene oxide could be a much haunting basis for discovering innovative opportunities in the field of emerging trends of research. Future technology expected that the full development will depend only on graphene and its functionalized composite materials. This book highlights the challenges and opportunities associated with GOs. Subject of interest in this book is exploring the opportunities and technologies related to abundant clean energy, pure water, and noble long healthy life.

For the incisive tests of hydrological theory, manipulation experiments can create particular conditions, plan and define boundaries and inner structures, isolate individual mechanisms, and push systems beyond the range in a PhD timescale. The goals of this book are to stimulate the approach of manipulation in promoting watershed hydrological experimentation and to try to demonstrate that the controlled and artificial experiments are the promising way of useful and effective generation of tests of new theories. This book is organized on the basis of nine different manipulation types from six countries including field lysimeter, field runoff plot, field manipulated experimental basin, field artificial catchment, laboratory river segment, laboratory pedon (rock), laboratory lysimeter, laboratory hillslope, and phytotron artificial catchment.

The term "Internet of Things" (IoT) refers to an ecosystem of interconnected physical objects and devices that are accessible through the Internet and can communicate with each other. The main strength of the IoT vision is the high impact it has created and will continue to do so on several aspects of the everyday life and behavior of its potential users. This book presents some of the state-of-the-art research work in the field of the IoT, especially on the issues of communication protocols, interoperability of protocols and semantics, trust security and privacy issues, reference architecture design, and standardization. It will be a valuable source of knowledge for researchers, engineers, practitioners, and graduate and doctoral students who are working in various fields of the IoT. It will also be useful for faculty members of graduate schools and universities.

Remote sensing was the primary data source since the launch of the first environmental monitoring satellite back in 1972. In the past five decades, remote sensing technology has come a long way and evolved into a mature science. Even so, new technologies, new theories, new methodologies, and new applications continue to emerge. With the rapid pace of technological advancement, it is essential to share experiences especially between different disciplines, either on breakthroughs in new theory or understanding, or applications of remote sensing on real world issues. Disciplines or fields covered in this book include geography, geology, agriculture, forestry, botany, and oceanography. Though remote sensing may be used differently in various disciplines, the principles are similar, if not the same. This book will be valuable to scientists, scholars, working professionals, or students who use remote sensing in their work, and are interested in learning how others use remote sensing in different ways.