Böcker utgivna av IntechOpen

The present book offers an overall up-to-date overview of the biological diversity, comprising many interesting chapters focussing on the different aspects of biodiversity. Most of the chapters include findings of investigations and observations on biodiversity, whilst a few are based on statistically and theoretically derived information. The book produced sufficient information on the occurrence and distribution of many plant and animal species or groups of organisms with environmental estimates from a wide variety of interesting terrestrial and aquatic habitats. With 18 interesting and elaborately prepared chapters, the present book would definitely be an ideal source of scientific information to the advanced students, junior researchers, scientists and a portion of the public involved in ecology and other research areas involving biodiversity studies. It will also help to the development of the growing awareness of the close linkage between the conversation of biodiversity and economic development.

Today, Global Positioning System (GPS) has taken a significant place in human life with wide-scale applications. It is a multi-use, space-based radio-navigation system, embracing defense and security, civil, commercial, and scientific research needs. Taking into account the importance of the system, it has been suggested to present current advances of GPS with attention focused on vital aspects of technology. This book provides a general description of GPS, GNSS, and GLONASS with reference to the improvement of characteristics of the segments, including software applications and the equipment itself containing GPS. The book also provides information on application areas. Equally, a number of common shortcomings and errors are described, and elimination and mnimization of such consequences are demonstrated.

Nowadays, mobile communication services are penetrating into our society at an explosive growth rate. Applications in mobile devices offer limitations, restriction, and guidelines on how mobile software can be used in order to simplify the mobile usage. As smart phones and tablets are becoming the daily computing device of choice for young ages, it is expected that mobile applications and services should be as flexible, high quality, and secure as the desktop systems. In this book, latest trends in mobile computing will be discussed. In the first section, cloud computing topics will be discussed widely into four chapters to give information to the reader about topics such as challenges, services, edge computing, and distributed clouds needed to integrate this promising issue into the next generation.

This book arose from the combination of diverse areas of knowledge, experience, research, and points of view that try to demonstrate that mycobacteria are a complex science and very relevant to scientific studies that affect the human being in the world. Sophisticated techniques for improving human health do not guarantee that the "battle" against mycobacteria has been won, since tuberculosis, mycobacteriosis, and leprosy are a daily challenge in the world. The book includes contributions made by prestigious experts and research groups in different areas of mycobacteria, and they have contributed new perspectives of their area giving a comprehensive, important, and fascinating emphasis of this field that continues to offer challenges that lead various disciplines to understand their biology and pathogenicity. It is hoped that these chapters will be very useful for learning and discussion.

This book covers some of the most recent advances in the field of superfluids and superconductors. More specifically, it presents some of the most advanced theoretical formulations of superfluidity and superconductivity with special regard to their topological properties and vortex dynamics together with a description of the main experiments carried out via experimental techniques at the forefront to study these two such important phenomena in condensed matter physics. Special emphasis is given to ultracold Fermi gases, to clean liquid helium and to vortex membranes and knots for the class of superfluids and to the emerging superconductivity, to intermediate states in type-I superconductors, and to heat treatments to modulate the critical temperature for the class of superconductors.

This book Clinical Trials in Vulnerable Populations has 12 chapters divided into 4 sections: Minority Patients, Women, Medically Compromised Patients and Clinical Trials. Contributing authors came from several countries, from Serbia to Turkey. The book was edited by Professor Milica Prostran MD, Ph.D., specialist in Clinical Pharmacology. The potential reader is shown a modern approach to clinical trials in vulnerable populations, from different points of view. The chapters deal at length and clarity with their topics. Finally, I believe, that this book I edited and reviewed with dedication will capture the attention of many readers, from medical students to practicing doctors and pharmacists. All of whom must consider this very important field of medicine: clinical trials in vulnerable patients.

Excessive utilization of power electronic devices and the increasing integration of renewable energy resources with their inverter-based interfaces into distribution systems have brought different power quality problems in these systems. There is no doubt that the transition from traditional centralized power systems to future decentralized smart grid necessities is paying much attention to power quality knowledge to realize better system reliability and performance to be ready for the big change in the coming years of accommodating thousands of decentralized generation units. This book aims to present harmonic modeling, analysis, and mitigation techniques for modern power systems. It is a tool for the practicing engineers of electrical power systems that are concerned with the power system harmonics. Likewise, it is a key resource for academics and researchers who have some background in electrical power systems.

The book Ligand describes the diversity and versatility of ligands, covering structural features, donor-acceptor properties and secondary functions like molecular recognition. Moreover, this book also provides a comprehensive account on the applicability like catalysis, sensors, supramolecular assembly, photochemical property, bioinorganic chemistry, and so on. The advancement of fundamentals in ligand design and the control of physicochemical properties of coordination compounds has largely increased emphasis on understanding the structural and electronic features toward different perspectives in materials science. In this regard, this book has a special appeal to chemists, biologists and others. This book will be beneficial for the graduate students, teachers, researchers and other professionals who are interested to fortify and expand their knowledge in chemistry, biology, microbiology, biotechnology, materials science, environmental science and so on.

Pathophysiology is the convergence of pathology (the discipline of observed changes in a diseased state) with physiology (the mechanisms of systems operation). It represents the functional changes that occur because of injury or disease. This volume provides state-of-the-art up-to-date literature reviews on pathophysiological processes in a number of disease states. The book is organised methodically in a head-to-toe systems approach examining aspects of neuropathophysiology, endocrine pathophysiology, structural biology, renal pathophysiology and genitourinary pathophysiology. This short volume on pathophysiology is intended for general medical and biomedical students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In addition, it is a useful short update of recent advances in research and translational biology to those working in academia or healthcare science.

The world has recorded losses in terms of human life as well as extensive time spent in experimentation with development of new drugs, elucidation of disease mechanism(s), and therapeutic agent discovery. Ethical and legal issues cojoin in slowing down scientific discoveries in medicine and biology. The past two (2) decades, therefore, have seen tremendous attempts that largely are successful in developing animal models with the characteristics of mimicking, approximating, or expressing transplanted human organs/tissues. These models or rather approaches seem to be fast, cost-effective, and easy to maintain compared to primates. This book is a collection of expert essays on animal models of human diseases of global interest. A visible objective of the book is to provide real-time experimental approach to scientists, clinicians, ethicists, medicolegal/medical jurisprudence workers, immunologists, postgraduate students, and vaccinologists and informative and multidisciplinary approach for the identification of new therapeutic targets and biomarkers using animal models as well as investigating the pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies of human diseases. An increased understanding of the genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms responsible for the development of human diseases has laid out the foundation for the development of rational therapies mainly with animal models.

Spermatozoa, the haploid male gametes, are highly specialized cells capable to fertilize eggs in order to produce diploid zygote. The biogenesis of spermatozoa requires finely modulated occurrence of mitotic, meiotic, and differentiation events. Hence, the production of high-quality spermatozoa impacts fertilization with outcomes on the health of the offspring. This book provides a comprehensive overview on the biogenesis, maturation, functions and activities of spermatozoa in both physiological conditions and infertility. Particular attention has been addressed to the impact of environment on sperm quality and to the appropriate selection of high-quality spermatozoa for in vitro fertilization. Taken together, this book targets a wide audience of basic and clinical scientists, teachers and students, and offers a better understanding of spermatozoa health and disease.

State-of-the-Art Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Knowhow is a compilation of recent advancements in digital technologies embracing a wide arena of disciplines. Amazingly, this book presents less business cases of these emerging technologies, but rather showcases the scientific use of VR/AR in healthcare, building industry and education. VR and AR are known to be resource intensive, namely, in terms of hardware and wearables - this is covered in a chapter on head-mounted display (HMD). The research work presented in this book is of excellent standard presented in a very pragmatic way; readers will appreciate the depth and breadth of the methodologies and discussions about the findings. We hope it serves as a springboard for future research and development in VR/AR and stands as a lighthouse for the scientific community.

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is considered one of the major bioenergy crops grown globally. Thus, sugarcane research to improve sustainable production worldwide is a vital task of the scientific community, to address the increasing demands and needs for their products, especially biofuels. In this context, this book covers the most recent research areas related to sugarcane production and its applications. It is composed of 14 chapters, divided into 5 sections that highlight fundamental insights into the current research and technology on this crop. Sugarcane: Technology and Research intends to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview in technology, production, and applied and basic research of this bioenergy species, approaching the latest developments on varied topics related to this crop.

This book presents a compilation of topics related to primary total knee arthroplasty. The chapters cover, in a clear and didactic way, the current themes, written by experts from the area, from different parts of the world. Topics related to the three surgical phases (before surgery, during surgery, and after surgery) are discussed here. This is very important because the surgeon is not a "factory worker." First of all, it is a medicine doctor who has to feel and understand the particularities of each patient. Demographic studies show an aging population. Osteoarthritis and inflammatory diseases are becoming much more prevalent. In addition, a worldwide epidemic of trauma has led to the need for arthroplasties much more frequently. Therefore, total knee arthroplasty will be an increasingly important subject.

This book entitled Cervical Cancer - Screening, Treatment and Prevention Universal Protocols for Ultimate Control is the fourth successful endeavor of the Editor with InTech publisher. The four books serve as four pillars in cervical cancer control, globally. This book is unique and sensational. Public health "topics" are assuming a status of "phenomenon," through deliberations and research. Screening is riddled with global limitations of availability, affordability, acceptability, and accessibility. The treatment of precancers has questionable efficiency. Prevention is costly with the inclusion of HPV vaccine. This book helps to find the solutions. The authors, editor, and InTech publisher wish the readers a pleasant and purposeful reading. This book is a "readers' feast," "receivers' choice," and "respondents' delight." Enjoy and treasure the international facts and flavors.

The aim of this book is to give readers a broad review of burn injuries, which may affect people from birth to death and can lead to high morbidity and mortality. The book consists of four sections and seven chapters. The first section consists of the introductory review chapter, which overviews the burn injuries. The second section includes chapter "Burn Etiology and Pathogenesis," which focuses on burn injuries and clinical findings. The third section consists of chapter "Controlling Inflammation in Burn Injury" and is devoted to the role of inflammatory response, which is fundamental to the healing process, while a prolonged inflammation may lead to scarring and fibrosis. The fourth section consists of four chapters as follows: "Therapeutic Effects of Conservative Treatments on Burn Scars," "Herbal Therapy for Burns and Burn Scars," "Platelet-Rich Plasma in Burn Treatment," and "Surgical Treatment of Burn Scars." The book is easy to read and includes hot topics on burn injury to enhance the reader's understanding and knowledge.

Climate change is a serious problem influencing agricultural production worldwide and challenging researchers to investigate plant responses and to breed crops for the changed growing conditions. Abiotic stresses are the most important for crop production, affecting about 96.5% of arable land worldwide. These stress factors include high and low temperature, water deficit (drought) and flooding, salinity, heavy metals, UV radiation, light, chemical pollutants, and so on. Since some of the stresses occurred simultaneously, such as heat and water deficit, causing the interactions of physiological processes, novel multidisciplinary solutions are needed. This book provides an overview of the present state in the research of abiotic stresses and molecular, biochemical, and whole plant responses, helping to prevent the negative impact of global climate change.

The ability to quantify residual stresses induced by welding processes through experimentation or numerical simulation has become, today more than ever, of strategic importance in the context of their application to advanced design. This is an ongoing challenge that commenced many years ago. Recent design criteria endeavour to quantify the effect of residual stresses on fatigue strength of welded joints to allow a more efficient use of materials and a greater reliability of welded structures. The aim of the present book is contributing to these aspects of design through a collection of case-studies that illustrate both standard and advanced experimental and numerical methodologies used to assess the residual stress field in welded joints. The work is intended to be of assistance to designers, industrial engineers and academics who want to deepen their knowledge of this challenging topic.

With international experts sharing their experience and knowledge on these different aspects in the management of colorectal cancer, this book has this opportunity to offer all physicians treating colorectal cancer, as well as researchers, updated information concerning the biology, diagnosis, screening, and treatment of colorectal carcinoma. This book provides a detailed evaluation of diagnostic modalities, in-depth analysis of screening for colorectal cancer, recent advances in treatment, and principles and trends in the management of colorectal cancer. This updated knowledge will be an interesting and informative read for any clinician involved in the management of patients with colorectal cancer. In addition, readers such as related physicians, researchers, and colorectal cancer patients are potential beneficiaries of this book.

A bridge is a structure built to span the physical obstacles without closing the way underneath, such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing the passage over the obstacle. Bridge engineering is an engineering discipline branching from civil engineering that involves the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of bridges to ensure safe and effective transportation of vehicles, people and goods. This book Bridge Engineering includes the main topics and the basic principles of bridge engineering and provides the full scope of current information necessary for effective and cost-conscious contemporary bridge. It reflects new engineering and building developments, the most current design methods, and the latest industry standards and policies. It provides a comprehensive overview of the significant characteristics for bridge engineering. It highlights the recent advancements, requirements, improvements, and details of the latest techniques in the global market. It contains a collection of the latest research developments on the bridge engineering. It comprehensively covers the basic theory and practice in sufficient depth to provide a solid grounding to bridge engineers. It helps readers to maximize effectiveness in all facets of bridge engineering. This professional book as a credible source and a valuable reference can be very applicable and useful for all professors, researchers, engineers, practicing professionals, trainee practitioners, students and others who are interested in the bridge projects.

In Slovenia, attorneys as a part of the justice system represent an autonomous and independent service that is regulated by law. As set out in the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia, there is no doubt that the legislature has to adopt the law to regulate the attorneys' profession, but in its attempt of such regulation, the legislature always collides with the constitutional requirement that the attorneys are autonomous and independent. Therefore, when regulating the attorneys' profession, the legislature has to address the issues of autonomy and independence and thus also the question of determining attorney tariffs, while certain issues must be left to be autonomously regulated within the attorneys' profession. The attorney tariff does not determine a mandatory price of legal services because an attorney and his client may always reach an agreement that is different from the attorney tariff. However, the tariff is binding when the court decides on the obligation to reimburse the party who has succeeded in a dispute for their attorney costs. With our research, we have empirically demonstrated that the existing attorney tariff in Slovenia unjustifiably drains smaller law firms, which guarantee an efficient coverage of population and smaller undertakings with a network of legal services. As a result, the economic autonomy and independence of law firms are compromised, and the right to effective judicial protection is unjustifiably restricted for the parties who succeed in a dispute.

"Nanomaterials" is a special topic of recent research and is a milestone of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Nanoscale materials are a series of substances/compounds, in which at least one dimension has smaller size than 100 nm. Nanomaterials have a broad area of development, which is growing rapidly day by day. Their impact on commercial applications as well as on the respective academia and education is huge. The basic points of this book can be divided into synthesis of nanomaterials and their applications. For example, special mention is about metal-oxide nanostructures, nanocomposites, and polymeric nanomaterials. Also, synthesis, characterizations, various processes, fabrications and some promising applications are also developed and analyzed.

Hepatology is the medical specialty that studies the normal functioning of the liver and its diseases. It has experienced a steady progress in recent decades, as well as occurred in other medical specialties. It deals with the acute and chronic inflammatory processes of the liver, among which is the viral hepatitis. Recently, very effective drugs have been introduced in this field that achieves the elimination of the hepatitis C virus in the great majority of patients. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis has increased markedly worldwide especially in Western countries in relation to overweight, diabetes, and other metabolic conditions. Cirrhosis and its complications are better managed, and patients live longer, thanks also to the earlier detection of hepatocarcinoma and the generalization of the use of liver transplants. This book deals with all of these interesting topics, thanks to the excellent collaboration of a great group of specialists that have collaborated with their knowledge and expertise in this edition.

This book seeks to introduce the reader to current methodologies in analytical calibration and validation. This collection of contributed research articles and reviews addresses current developments in the calibration of analytical methods and techniques and their subsequent validation. Section 1, "Introduction," contains the Introductory Chapter, a broad overview of analytical calibration and validation, and a brief synopsis of the following chapters. Section 2 "Calibration Approaches" presents five chapters covering calibration schemes for some modern analytical methods and techniques. The last chapter in this section provides a segue into Section 3, "Validation Approaches," which contains two chapters on validation procedures and parameters. This book is a valuable source of scientific information for anyone interested in analytical calibration and validation.

The book is divided into two sections and represents the current trend of research in aquatic bioresource. In the section "Biology, Ecology and Physiological Chemistry", high-impact articles are contributed on reproduction, population genetics, evolution, biodiversity, biology and ecology of different aquatic faunas. Physiological chemistry of lipid, bioactive pharmaceuticals and chemical ecological aspects of aquatic organisms were discussed. In the section entitled "Conservation and Sustainable Management", authors highlighted conservation- and management-related issues of various bioresources in different regions of the earth. The book mentions the biological, ecological, physiological and genetic significance of aquatic organisms with resource potential. The authors stressed on rational utilisation and management of bioresource ensuring minimal damage of the aquatic ecosystem. This book would provide a direction towards sustainable ecological management of bioresource.

This book concerns the different aspects of forest fires, the impact of fire on both forest resources (e.g. forest cover) and communities that use different forest functions. Therefore, forest fires have their environmental, economic and social consequences, and none of them is less important. Forest fires can be caused by both natural forces and anthropogenic factors, and in the latter case, it is extremely interesting to profile the potential arsonist. Forest fires may also cause conflicts, stronger or weaker, in local communities that have been using forests for years. These conflicts can be solved both by gradually changing the law itself and through education at the local level. Not less important is the ability to detect fires early, which can be helped by the development of modern technologies. In limiting the effects of forest fires, it may also be helpful to develop mathematical models that indicate various factors affecting the possibility of a fire or affecting the rate of its spread. Not less important is the attempt to assess the direction of forest regeneration after the fire has ceased, in understanding what the help of modern technology is. These aspects of forest fire are the subject of this book. I realize, however, that the contents in it can only be an incentive for the reader to learn more, in an interesting aspect. I assume that this book will be valuable to researchers as well as students who are interested in different aspects connected to forest fires, not only from the ecological point of view but also from the social one. Both are extremely important in future forest protection and sustainable use of forest by local communities.

The demand for electricity and heat production is still largely covered by conventional thermal power plants based on fossil fuel combustion. Thermal power stations face a big challenge to meet the environmental requirements constantly keeping high process efficiency and avoiding lifetime shortening of critical components. In recent years, many activities have been observed to reduce pollutant emissions and optimize performance in thermal power plants. Increased share of renewable sources of energy in domestic markets enforces flexible operation and fast adjustment to actual demand. Gas power plants start to play a very important role in this process, allowing for rapid change of load and emission reduction. Operation under changing load together with keeping emissions at the accurate level requires constantly introducing new solutions and technologies as well as carrying out many research and development activities for optimization of the electricity and heat production process. The edited book is aimed to present new technologies, innovative solutions, measurement techniques, tools and computational methods dedicated to thermal power plants in the light of new trends and challenges.

Dendrimers are defined as nanoscale macromolecules having a particular architecture consisting of treelike arms or branches. They are characterized by special properties that make them promising candidates in medicine, biology, materials science, synthetic organic chemistry, biotechnology, environmental engineering, optics, electronics, catalysis, electrochemistry, photochemistry, and sensors and even for production of cosmetics and personal care products. The dendrimers research field is growing day by day, and scientists are exploring new synthesis and functionalization methods in order to improve and to determine new properties and thus new applications. The main purpose of this book is to highlight the issues regarding properties and applications of dendrimers in the field of biology, medicine, liquid crystal devices, electronics, quantum devices, and self-healing technology.

The main idea of this study is to scrutinize the performance efficiency and enhancement of modelling and simulations of PEM fuel cell. Besides, the research of PEM fuel cell performance can figure out many critical issues for an alternative resource energy. The chapters collected in the book are contributions by invited researchers with a long-standing experience in different research areas. I hope that the material presented here is understandable to a wide audience, not only energy engineers but also scientists from various disciplines. The book contains nine chapters in three sections: (1) "General Information About PEM Fuel Cell", (2) "PEM Fuel Cell Technology" and (3) "Many Different Applications of PEM Fuel Cell". This book presents detailed and up-to-date evaluations in different areas and was written by academics with experience in their field. It is anticipated that this book will make a scientific contribution to PEM fuel cell and other alternative energy resource workers, researchers, academics, PhD students and other scientists both in the present and in the future.

This book focuses on recent and innovative methods on vibration analysis, system identification, and diverse control design methods for both wind energy conversion systems and vibrating systems. Advances on both theoretical and experimental studies about analysis and control of oscillating systems in several engineering disciplines are discussed. Various control devices are synthesized and implemented for vibration attenuation tasks. The book is addressed to researchers and practitioners on the subject, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students and other experts and newcomers seeking more information about the state of the art, new challenges, innovative solutions, and new trends and developments in these areas. The six chapters of the book cover a wide range of interesting issues related to modeling, vibration control, parameter identification, active vehicle suspensions, tuned vibration absorbers, electronically controlled wind energy conversion systems, and other relevant case studies.