Brain-Machine Interfaces: Uses and Developments reports on advances in the development of a speech prosthetic, building on previous data as well as the results of detecting phonemes, words and phrases during overt and covert speech. The following study aims to quantify and qualify the electroencephalographic (EEG) patterns of commonly used control tasks in BCI systems under different task states. The analysed control tasks were: left hand MI, right hand MI, and a relaxed but focused mental state. The original feasibility study within this manuscript aimed to evaluate the scope of applications for a novel neurorehabilitation intervention. Important observations from that initial study and considers possible applications of TLNS Technology in the future are examined. The closing opinion piece seeks to outline why the development of an electrode that does not encourage growth into the electrode tip is ill-advised, with the core reasons being rejection and less is more.
In this collection, the authors review novel findings strongly suggesting that YS110, a humanized monoclonal antibody with high affinity to the CD26 antigen, represents a promising novel therapy for refractory cancers, immune disorders and MERS-CoV infection. This book show that in vivo administration of YS110 inhibits tumor cell growth, migration and invasion, and enhances survival of mouse xenograft models inoculated with malignant mesothelioma (MPM), renal cell carcinoma, non-small-cell lung carcinoma, ovarian carcinoma or T-cell lymphoma via multiple mechanisms of action. Afterwards, several of the antibacterial resistance mechanisms employed by bacteria are discussed, especially those that can be targeted by novel antibacterial agents to combat resistant organisms. These mechanisms include alterations of cell wall or cell wall metabolites, mutations in antibiotic target, antibiotic deactivation by bacterial enzymes and biofilm formation. Later, the authors introduce AdRx as a treatment modality in musculo-skeletal pain, explain its rationale and techniques offering indications and contraindications for its usage. While AdRx takes its original theory from Eunice Inghams teaching and from followers of her teachings, this chapter confines the content to AdRx as standalone therapy in the context of musculo-skeletal pain. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is also introduced as a non-invasive monitoring method that allows continuous real-time monitoring of cerebral hemoglobin oxygen saturation in a small area of the frontal cortex. This monitoring tool is based on the principle that some biological materials are relatively permeable to near-infrared light. In a separate study, trans-synaptic tracing from the visually responsive sites in the superior colliculus to the retina were studied using attenuated pseudorabies virus. The results demonstrated the presence of synaptic connections between the transplant and the host retina that contribute to the visual improvement observed in the superior colliculus. Continuing, in 2015, a novel pathogenesis of Crohns disease (the Hruska Postulate) was published. The authors aim to take what is known about Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, Crohns disease, and the Hruska Postulate and determine why Crohns disease is potentially curable. Several researchers have been trying to identify biomarkers that can be used for Crohns disease in clinical practice, however, further studies are required in order to validate most of their findings. The closing chapter introduces several diagnostic imaging techniques for kidney stone detection. A new imaging technique of C-arm tomosynthesis is described to generate volumetric information of the kidney to identify the size and location of kidney stones with limited amount of radiation dose.
Recycled Cooking Oil: Processing and Uses reviews the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polyamides (PAs), polyurethanes (PUs) and epoxies, along with their potential use as a plasticizer or in composite development. Some recommendations are suggested to rationalize the use of SCO as a low-cost, yet valuable raw material for the production of biomaterials. The authors present the main environmental problems caused by the incorrect disposal of waste cooking oil and possible bioprocesses that can be used for pretreatment and recycling of oil. The following topics are addressed: introduction; incorrect disposal of waste cooking oil and environmental problems; pretreatment of waste oil with the use of microorganisms and the enzyme lipase; recycling of waste cooking oil through the production of biodiesel; and future prospects of waste oil pre-treatment and recycling. Additionally, the use of heterogenous catalysts for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil are reviewed, maintaining that waste cooking oil offers significant potential as an alternative lowcost biodiesel feedstock which could partly decrease the dependency on petroleum-based fuel. Biodiesel is explored as a waste cooking oil with untapped potential that can be utilized to produce various useful products. The challenges of finding more efficient separation of products, simpler processes, lower energy consumption, and continuous pilot plant trials for processes that are still in their infancies are examined. Special attention is paid to the development of acid catalysts that can be recovered and reused in the WCO esterification reactions. The authors hope that this work can significantly contribute to the improvement of this important research field.
In this collection, the authors investigate a variety of hazards that drilling operations may be exposed to. Some may be location dependent and some may be activity-dependent and each can pose a different level of risk. The key elements of the framework to assess risk are: a hierarchy of major contributors to risk in two or more levels; a quantification of primary hazard categories with measurable attributes; a graphical representation of risk to aide distinguishing critical hazards; a layered, filtering approach to remove the less important hazards; and a weighted-score method, which is based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach. Next, the authors seek to develop a multi-criteria decision-making method for the evaluation of railway restructuring models through reviews of practices, alternatives, and criteria of railway restructuring. The development of the tool was based on the combination of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods. A paper is included which aims to present a new way of stakeholder assessment going beyond standard approaches, such as the Gardner Model and the Salience Model of Mitchell, Agle and Wood. The new approach is based on the Advanced Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Companies applying the method are placed in a position to design and implement their own stakeholder management without any reference to models presented in the literature. Later, an ICT oriented procurement model resulting from a partial re-engineering of the basic procurement process is proposed. This model was obtained by merging the traditional frameworks buygrid and buying centre to provide a consistent choice of procurement alternatives in a multiplicity of Web solutions. Following this, taking into account the suitability of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for evaluating electronic services or websites, the authors review on the evaluation experiments on e-government that are using the AHP theory. More specifically, the book presents evaluation experiments that use AHP, fuzzy AHP or their combination with other methods for e-government evaluation. The analytic hierarchy process method is employed in the closing chapter to reduce single parameter error and improve the accuracy of the prediction model, combined with the sensitivity and correlation of the characteristic parameters. The aging index of an actual case is assessed, and it is shown that the model is feasible and effective to provide a reference for optimizing maintenance cycle of polymer insulation in power distribution network.
Food, no matter of what kind, is a substance required for survival. Stripped of any cultural meanings, it is a primary means of biological nourishment and sustenance. But in a cultural context, the types of food, how they are eaten, what social rituals are involved in etiquette, and so on, take on a greater value. In other words, outside of a survival context, food is much more than substance for ensuring such survival. It constitutes a meaning system imbued with subtle unconscious cultural connotations of all kinds. We eat, first and foremost, to survive. But in a social ambiance, food takes on significance that transcends this biological function, affecting even our perceptions of edibility. In America, we do not normally eat insects, by and large, even though they would provide nourishment. We do not eat them because of the negative perceptions and emotions we have projected onto insects. In other cultures, insects are often considered to be a delicacy. Clearly, food tastes are cultural tastes. So, where does the fast food phenomenon fit into this line of reasoning, given that it seems to go against historically-based cultural systems of meaning? This book will attempt to answer this question by examining the origin, evolution and meanings of the fast food phenomenon, from its neurological and social meanings to its recreational ones. Does the contemporary penchant for fast food exist in the brain, or is it a fabrication of a consumerist culture gone insane, as the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy so eloquently and satirically emphasized? Much has been written about the phenomenon of fast food, given the importance of eating to health and cultural identity. The goal in this book is to go in a slightly different, but hopefully significant, direction; namely, to examine the meanings of fast food in relation to the birth and spread of mass consumerist society, and its role in future societies. Fast food originated in amusement and circus culture, but it soon spread to society via urbanization, the automobile, and the need for quick and easy solutions to almost everything, including the preparation and eating of food. The book argues that, in the end, we are what we have made ourselves to be. Fast food is of our own making, not something imposed cleverly by some master capitalist plan. We eat it because it is tasty and easily prepared. The cultural meanings of fast food might even be intertwined with an innate pleasure principle, into which fast foods seem to tap rather effectively. Above all else, fast food is a mirror of the contemporary worlds penchant for a quick-and-easy approach to virtually everything, for better or worse. Given its proliferation to all sectors and levels of society, fast food has changed the social paradigm of eating everywhere. The book will conclude by assessing what the implications of this paradigm for the future are.
In this collection, the authors develop a mathematical model of kinetics adsorption in solid microporous mediums. This approach allows for the introduction of two new terms in Ficks law: The first term characterizes the direct adsorption, represented by random function and dependent on the average speed but not on speed itself. The second characterizes the fluctuation of adsorbed quantity and heat dissipation, phenomena which are at the origin of irreversibility adsorption and desorption. Next, residual enzyme activity was investigated to monitor stabilization/destabilization of hen egg-white lysozyme at low, intermediate, and high water content in acetone at 25 oC. The results demonstrate that the stabilization/destabilization of lysozyme depends significantly on water content in acetone. Another study is presented with the goal of providing a thermochemical description of the stabilizing/destabilizing effects of organic solvents on the enzyme stability to elucidate what intermolecular processes produce the main effect on the stability and functions of the enzymes at low, intermediate, and high water content in organic liquids. Following this, the authors examine the part that acetone may play in increasing the use of lignocellulosic biomass through exploitation of all constituents, especially lignin. Examples include the use of acetone in studies of the chemical composition of LCB and the utility of acetone in organosolv pulping and pretreatment of LCB. With the commercialization of biorefineries, it is expected that acetone will continue to play a significant role in the processing of lignin, the most abundant natural aromatic polymer on earth with immense potential to reduce dependence on fossil-based aromatic products. The authors also propose an efficient acetone chemical sensor based on the analytical performances such as sensitivity, limit of detection (LOD), good linearity, and reproducibility. This proposed acetone chemical sensor was introduced by the implementation of ZnO/SnO2/Yb2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) as a successful electron mediator with glassy carbon electrode (GCE) assembly. The concluding paper presents an experimental system of isopropanol-acetone-hydrogen chemical heat pump (IAH CHP) for the recovery of low-grade (
The Diversified Benefits of Cocoa and Chocolate begins with an analysis of Theobroma cacao L, a species that is cultivated for butter and chocolate production. This fruit is a drupe comprised of a husk, mucilage and seed, with the potential for each one of these parts to be used for different purposes. Next, a chapter is included which discusses the cocoa plant, contributing to clarifying its phytochemical function and chemical structure. The cocoa plant produces purine type alkaloids or methylxanthines, fatty acids, amines, polyamine and derivates, and polyphenols, each one of them having a specific function in the plant. A separate chapter discusses probiotics, live microorganisms; which when administered in adequate amounts confer health benefit to the host. Probiotics are available in the form of foods, drugs, and dietary supplements. The authors discuss the definition and properties of probiotics, their survival factors, as well as the potential health effect of probiotic strains. The authors go on to highlight the versatility, nutritional and culinary practices of cacao, chocolate and copulate, as well as the use of both products as elements in the sweet and savory cuisine. The authors go on to maintain that due to their versatility, byproducts prepared with Theobroma cacao and grandiflorum are traditional, contemporary in a variety of beautiful and fancy dishes in the gourmet cuisine. Couverture, powder, liquor, nibs, and butter are essential in the preparation of gourmet food. The versatility, nutritional and culinary practices of cacao, chocolate and copulate are highlighted, in addition to the use of both products as elements in the sweet and savory cuisine. Later, the different available methodologies for analysis, quantification, isolation, purification, and structure elucidation of polyphenols in cocoa and cocoa-derived products are reviewed. Taking into account that there is evidence that demonstrates that the bioactivity of flavanols is significantly influenced by their stereochemical configuration, enantioselective methods have also been included such as chiral capillary electrophoresis, micellar electrokinetic chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography. The authors state that about forty million people die annually as a consequence of noncommunicable diseases accounting for approximately 70% of all death globally. Therefore, the current research concerning the benefits of dark chocolate regarding noncommunicable diseases and the associated risk factors is examined. Following this, a study carried out in the Fako division is presented. The principal objective of this work was to evaluate the floristic diversity and biomass quantity of three different categories of cocoa agro forest, and the plot or quadrate method was used to collect the floristic data. A subsequent chapter introduces chocolate as a cocoa carrier of probiotics and bioactive whey protein hydrolysate. This research examined the influence of additional ingredients on the functional properties and rheology of the final product. The potential health benefits of cocoa and dark chocolate are discussed. It is clearly demonstrated that cocoa components have an important antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and photo-protective role in pathologies, including: cognitive impairment, inflammatory bowel disease, dental health, skin photo-protection and cancer. Another study is included with the objective of exploring the potential of NIR usage for monitoring the cocoa powder and sugar mixtures composition. Based on the obtained results, NIRs analysis in combination with the PCA and the PLS has proved to be an adequate, fast and non-invasive method for the cocoa powder drink mix composition prediction. A separate study attempts to confirm the relationship between increased pollinator abundance and higher yields of cocoa pods at one locality in Costa Rica. While cocoa pollination can depend upon a diverse array of ceratopogonid midges, in this study, one species Forcipomyia youngii, dominated the samples. Research is included with the aim of assessing the proteins contents, digestibility, and amino acid profile of the milled cocoa bean husks from the roasted cocoa, and to propose it as an ingredient for PKU food formulations. The authors determine that Cocoa can be used as a raw material in products destined for special regimes, after verification of its microbiological safety. The final study examined and compared the content of total polyphenols, minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese), total dietary fiber and soluble dietary fiber in in different chocolate products collected from the market.
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