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Meat holds an important position in human nutrition. Although protein from this source has lower biological value than egg albumin, it is an exclusive source of heme iron and vitamins and minerals. Fat content and fatty acid profile from this source are a constant matter of concern. Though currently meat utilization is linked with an array of maladies, including atherosclerosis, leukemia, and diabetes, meat has a noteworthy role not only for safeguarding proper development and health, but also in human wellbeing. Enormous scientific investigations have proved that consuming meat has had a beneficial role in cranial/dental and gastrointestinal tract morphologic changes, human upright stance, reproductive attributes, extended lifespan, and maybe most prominently, in brain and cognitive development.

Environmental risks are a multi- and interdisciplinary topic with a great interest in current society. This book examines the issues of natural hazards (e.g., typhoons, landslides, wildfires), anthropogenic activities (construction of artificial dams, the operation of nuclear power plants), and their potential risks to the environment and/or quality of life at various scales, from local to regional and even at a global level. The book intends to discuss concepts, methods, and techniques to address environmental risks and vulnerabilities, revealing the complex interactions between nature and human communities and activities. Policies and practices for disaster risk management should be based on the best state-of-the-art methods and techniques, integration between natural and/or social approaches, interdisciplinary research, and multilevel cooperation.

Ion channels are proteins that make pores in the membranes of excitable cells present both in the brain and the body. These cells are not only responsible for converting chemical and mechanical stimuli into the electrical signals but are also liable for monitoring vital functions. All our activities, from the blinking of our eyes to the beating of our heart and all our senses from smell to sight, touch, taste and hearing are regulated by the ion channels. This book will take us on an expedition describing the role of ion channels in congenital and acquired diseases and the challenges and limitations scientist are facing in the development of drugs targeting these membrane proteins.

Corn or maize (Zea mays L.) plays an important role in global food security. The many uses of corn make it a central commodity and a great influence on prices. Because of its worldwide distribution and relatively lower price, corn has a wider range of uses. It is used directly for human consumption, in industrially processed foods, as livestock feed, and in industrial nonfood products such as starches, acids, and alcohols. Recently, there has been interest in using maize for the production of ethanol as a substitute for petroleum-based fuels. It is an important source of carbohydrate, protein, iron, vitamin B, and minerals. Climate change, however, is a growing concern among corn growers worldwide. Scientists estimate that corn production will need to be increased by 15% per unit area between 2017 and 2037. To increase corn yields, advanced and new production technology needs to be developed and distributed among corn growers. The advanced technology to boost corn yields and counteract climate change is important for food security for the growing global population. Nutritionally, maize seeds contain 60-68% starch and 7-15% protein. Maize oil is widely used as a cooking medium and for manufacturing hydrogenated oil. The oil has the quality of reducing cholesterol in the human blood similar to sunflower oil. Corn flour is used as a thickening agent in the preparation of many edibles such as soups, sauces, and custard powder. Integrated nutrients management improves corn growth, leaf area index and light interception, dry matter accumulation and distribution, grain and fodder quality, yield components, grain and biomass yields, harvest index, and shelling percentage, and reduces the problem of food insecurity.

This book covers a wide variety of topics related to the application of experimental methods, in addition to the pedagogy of chemical engineering laboratory unit operations. The purpose of this book is to create a platform for the exchange of different experimental techniques, approaches and lessons, in addition to new ideas and strategies in teaching laboratory unit operations to undergraduate chemical engineering students. It is recommended for instructors and students of chemical engineering and natural sciences who are interested in reading about different experimental setups and techniques, covering a wide range of scales, which can be widely applied to many areas of chemical engineering interest.

Ferroelectricity is a symptom of inevitable electrical polarization changes in materials without external electric field interference. Ferroelectricity is a phenomenon exhibited by crystals with a spontaneous polarization and hysteresis effects associated with dielectric changes when an electric field is given. Our fascination with ferroelectricity is in recognition of a beautiful article by Itskovsky, in which he explains the kinetics of a ferroelectric phase transition in a thin ferroelectric layer (¿lm). We have been researching ferroelectric materials since 2001. There are several materials known for their ferroelectric properties. Barium titanate and barium strontium titanate are the most well known. Several others include tantalum oxide, lead zirconium titanate, gallium nitride, lithium tantalate, aluminium, copper oxide, and lithium niobate. There is still a blue ocean of ferroelectric applications yet to be expounded. It is and hopefully always will be a bright future.

B-group vitamins are involved in numerous metabolic reactions and their widespread deficiency can cause a large series of health problems. The aim of this book is to provide an update on the current use and perspectives of B-group vitamins. Novel methods to detect folates in pregnant women, the use and role of folate dentistry, the use of genotype notification to modify food intake behavior, thiamin metabolism in Archaea and its role in plants and in crop improvement, the use of riboflavin in blood safety and niacin in metabolic stress and resistance in dairy cows are some of the subjects that are described in this multitopic book written by authors from seven different countries.

Decision Making is a book where each chapter has been contributed to by a different author(s). The book synthesizes the analytical principles with business practice of Decision Making. Specifically, the book provides an interface between the main disciplines of engineering/technology and the organizational, administrative, and planning abilities of decision making. It is complementary to other sub-disciplines such as economics, finance, marketing, decision and risk analysis, etc. The chapters introduce and demonstrate decision making theory in practical case studies. It demonstrates key results for each sector with diverse real-world case studies. The theory is accompanied by relevant analysis techniques, with a progressional approach building from simple theory to complex and dynamic decisions with multiple data points, including big data, etc. Computational techniques, dynamic analysis, probabilistic methods, and mathematical optimization techniques are expertly blended to support analysis of multi-criteria decision-making problems with defined constraints and requirements.

Photochemistry and photophysics are as old as our planet Earth. Photosynthesis in plants and vision in our eyes are natural examples of their importance. This book entitled "Photochemistry and Photophysics - Fundamentals to Applications" presents various advanced topics that inherently utilize core concepts of photochemistry and photophysics. There are eleven chapters in this book, which are divided into four 'parts'. While the first and second parts contain chapters describing the fundamentals of photochemistry and photophysics, respectively, the third part is on computational photochemistry. The last part deals with applications of photochemistry and photophysics. The goal of this book is to familiarize both research scholars and postgraduate students with recent advances in this exciting field.

Although trauma victims constitute around one-tenth to one-eighth of the total patient volume in hospital emergency departments, the burden of trauma on humankind is beyond these statistics. The twenty-first century is witnessing a growing threat on human beings imposed by many sources, namely natural disasters, terrorism and other conflicts, warfare, and transportation accidents; all of which ignite the rise of major trauma incidents worldwide. Physicians, therefore, get involved in trauma management more and more frequently in time. They need to evaluate, diagnose, treat, and stabilize victims and help them take part in active and productive life as soon as possible. Technological advances have provided many techniques to augment trauma care and resuscitation, fracture healing, wound care, casts and splints, sutures, and transfusions. However, the successful management of trauma warrants a collaboration of emergency medicine, surgical disciplines, intensive care medicine, and almost all the resources of a hospital. This work is an example of a multidisciplinary approach that is a must to maximize synergistic efforts to deliver contemporary care for trauma victims of all ages throughout the world.

Aging is characterized by functional decline in every organ due to several cellular, biological, and physiological changes over time. Molecular and cellular damages are gradually decreasing in the physical and mental capacities of the human body. Health results have shown that lifespan has dramatically increased during the twenty-first century. Increasing elderly population naturally deals with many health problems leading to a rise in health expenditure and labor loss. The good news is that the clinical trials in gene therapy have almost stopped and/or reversed human aging. Regenerative medicine can repair and reverse aging in all body cells. Thus, the body's own repair mechanisms may struggle with aging and age-related diseases. Research is promising and suggests that human aging will be eradicated on earth.

Asphalt modification is an important area in the development of new road and pavement materials. There is an urgent demand for road materials that can minimize fracture at low temperatures and increase resistance to deformation at high temperatures. The function of asphalt is to bind aggregate to protect it from water and other harmful agents. In the beginning asphalt was ideal for this purpose, but recently traffic loads have increased and environmental factors have deteriorated more rapidly than before. Asphalt is a byproduct of crude oil in the refining process, and it is considered a complex heterogeneous mixture of hydrocarbons. Asphalt modification has become an important research area, using several methods and new materials as modifiers.

This book is intended as both an introduction to the discipline for students of landscape architecture, architecture, and planning, and a source of continuing interest for more experienced environmental designers. The book offers various materials for landscape architects and other planning professionals. The book is divided into 4 parts and 17 chapters. Part I "Introduction to the Landscape Architecture Theme" is general reading on landscape architecture. Part II "Art's Replica and Landscape Architecture Model" includes three chapters. This part represents a theoretical and sensitive visual interpretation of landscape architecture. Part III "Sustainable Prototypes of a Contemporary Landscape Architecture" includes four chapters, with sustainability as a concept and guiding thought. Part IV "Landscape Architecture Around the World (Study Cases)" includes 9 chapters with many examples from different geographical practical cases.

Metallic glasses are very promising engineering and functional materials due to their unique mechanical, chemical, and physical properties, attracting increasing attention from both scientific and industrial communities. However, their practical applications are greatly hindered due to three main problems: dimensional limit, poor tension plasticity, and difficulty in machining and shaping. Therefore, further investigation of these issues is urgently required. This book provides readers with recent achievements and developments in the properties and processing of metallic glasses, including mainly thermoplastic forming of metallic glasses (Chapter 2), atomic-level simulation of mechanical deformation of metallic glasses (Chapter 3), metallic glass matrix composites (Chapter 4), and tribo-electrochemical applications of metallic glasses (Chapters 5 and 6).

This book presents a collection of chapters from different areas of science and engineering, where Petri Nets have been shown to be a useful tool for the design and modeling of the problems that arise in such fields. The areas covered in this book include manufacturing systems, authentication and cyber-security, computer architectures, mechanical systems, process mining, control theory and time analysis. The main focus of the chapters was to be illustrative, to help the development of intuitive ideas that may guide the reader to adopt Petri Nets in their scientific or engineering work. However, there are other chapters with deep mathematical basis such as time analysis. Whenever possible, models, graphics and examples illustrate the developed concepts.