Bücher veröffentlicht von IntechOpen

Parenting is a lifelong task and parents are always remaining as a parent. Parenting in the present situation faces many challenges which need to be reviewed and understood with profuse equanimity and alacrity. This book tries to consider the process of parenting in different conditions such as during COVID-19 lockdown, in the refugee camps, and in different cultural structures and economic conditions. Situations that families face due to changing conditions such as global changes which cause lifestyles, immigration patterns, social conflicts, and raising children with developmental disabilities have been discussed. Topics such as professional concern with child care and education, gender roles and caregiving, and father¿s involvement in parenting, have been covered in different chapters of the book.

Some sixty years after the experimental flights of the North American X-15 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft, sustained hypervelocity travel is still the next frontier in high-speed transportation. Today, there is much excitement and interest regarding hypersonic vehicles. In fact, many aerospace agencies, large industries, and several start-ups are involved in design activities and experimental campaigns both in wind tunnels and in-flight with full-scale experimental flying test beds and prototypes to make hypersonic travel almost as easy and convenient as airliner travel. Achieving this goal will radically revolutionize the future of civil transportation. This book contains valuable contributions that focus on various design issues related to hypersonic aircraft.

This book provides a glimpse into the dynamic process of genetic polymorphism by presenting studies carried out on different kinds of organisms at the DNA level or gene expression level. Chapters address such topics as genetic polymorphism in animals, gametocyte biomarkers, thrombotic disorders, prostate cancer, and more.

Concrete is a material used widely in building and construction applications worldwide; hence, it plays a significant role in the global construction sector. Cement is a major component of concrete and is used in construction applications, either on its own or as a composite with other materials, to improve workability, durability, strength, weight, and shrinkage. However, cement and concrete production and use have adverse environmental effects. Thus, great efforts have been made to produce eco-friendly concrete. This book examines several aspects of sustainable concrete technologies, including new forms of concrete as well as different approaches for creating sustainable cement.

The portfolio diversification strategy study is useful to help investors to plan for the best investment strategy in maximizing return with the given level of risk or minimizing risk. Further, a new set of generalized sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the solution and finite-time stability has been achieved by using Generalized Gronwall-Bellman inequality. Moreover, a novel development is proposed to solve classical control theory¿s difference diagrams and transfer functions. Advanced TCP strategies and free parametrization for continuous-time LTI systems and quality of operation of control systems are presented.

Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease raises awareness about the importance of early recognition and prevention of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors. Some non-modifiable factors, like diabetes, can even be impacted by lifestyle modification (like weight loss) early in the disease. This book also describes cardiovascular risk factors in different patient populations and work settings.

Gas chromatography is one of the most used analytical techniques in the industry. It is a powerful tool with a wide range of applications. This book presents recent advances in gas chromatography, multidimensional gas chromatography, and gas chromatography mass spectrometry. It also discusses inverse gas chromatography. The main focus is the use of gas chromatography techniques to analyze petroleum fluids, biomass, and ionic liquids in medical and petrochemical industries.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of current concepts in pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of diabetic retinopathy. It is a collection of chapters written by experts that discuss advances in the understanding of pathophysiology, inflammatory and immunological factors and emerging concepts, clinical aspects, diagnostic management, and treatment strategies.

Hypothyroidism is an endocrine disorder commonly caused by Hashimoto's disease. Nowadays, autoimmune diseases appear to be on the rise. As such, there is renewed interest in hypothyroidism. This book presents a comprehensive overview of the disorder with chapters on etiology and pathogenesis, precision medicine tools for detection, diagnosis and treatment, the morphology of the thyroid gland, the effect of hypothyroidism on various organ systems, and much more.

Light Pollution, Urbanization and Ecology presents a comprehensive review of light pollution, including scientific research on the ecological impacts of artificial illumination in urban regions. Chapters cover such topics as general ecological aspects, plants, invertebrate and vertebrate biology, and environmental and landscape architecture aspects of this interesting and important topic.

This book on low-temperature technology is a notable collection of different aspects of the technology and its application in varieties of research and practical engineering fields. It contains, sterilization and preservation techniques and their engineering and scientific characteristics. Ultra-low temperature refrigeration, the refrigerants, applications, and economic aspects are highlighted in this issue. The readers will find the low temperature, and vacuum systems for industrial applications. This book has given attention to global energy resources, conservation of energy, and alternative sources of energy for the application of low-temperature technologies.

Vaccination is the most effective and scientifically based means of protection against infectious diseases, especially in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic. This book examines several issues related to the development of vaccines against viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections.

Universities have two roles. As educational institutions, a university develops human resources with advanced expertise, and as research institutions, they promote the investigation of issues in researchers' specialized fields. In addition, the role of universities has recently expanded to include contributing to the local community. Universities should engage in social contributions by returning the knowledge acquired through their educational and research activities to the local community through related activities such as joint research and technology transfer as part of industry-academia-government cooperation, and improving the lives and welfare of local residents, leading to vitality and the formation of a prosperous society. This book describes the community contribution activities and social connections of our university since its establishment.

Global Trade in the Emerging Business Environment explores global trade dynamics in the emerging business environment. Globalization, technological advancements, Industry 4.0, China's Belt and Road Initiative, and the COVID-19 pandemic are changing the global trade ecosystem. Companies and countries need to evaluate these rapid changes and adjust their respective business strategies and policy formulations. This book discusses such strategies and how firms and countries can reposition themselves within the current environment.

Bats are widely distributed and vary enormously in their ecology, sociality, and behavior. They offer diverse cultural and economic contributions to human populations, such as ecotourism, guano, medicinal products, religious significance, and vector control, to name a few. Insectivorous bats consume massive quantities of insects and other arthropods, controlling important agricultural pests and potential disease vectors. Bats feeding on nectar help to maintain diversity in forests through the dispersal of seeds and pollen, essential to many plant species with high economic, biological, and cultural value. At the same time, bats are often associated with zoonotic disease risks, a trend that has been magnified by the global COVID-19 pandemic, although no direct infection from bat to human has been demonstrated. Rapid deforestation is also a major contributing factor to new viral emergences. This book suggests that education is a suitable tool to minimize prejudice against bats and a key step to creating a harmonious coexistence between humans and bats. Chapters address such topics as bats in folklore and culture, bat dispersal patterns, bats in ecosystem management, pesticide exposure risks, roost-tier preference, diversity and conservation, and ecology of white-nose syndrome.

This book is a collection of chapters on dermatoscopy, which is a fast, easy-to-learn, low-cost, and non-invasive diagnostic method utilizing the Rayleigh scattering phenomenon to visualize epidermal and subepidermal structures. Dermatoscopy has become increasingly popular for allowing visualization of structures that are impossible to see with the naked eye. Its use provides insight into the biological potential of skin lesions, enabling efficient management and follow-up. The book focuses on the features of some of the most common skin neoplasms, such as combined nevi, as well as those that are more challenging to assess, such as pigmented lesions of the eyelid margins. It also provides novel insights into the role of dermatoscopy in palmoplantar dermatoses and discusses precautions in dermatoscopy during the SARS-CoV2 pandemic.

Do brains create material reality in thinking processes or is it the other way around, with things shaping the mind? Where is the location of meaning-making? How do neural networks become established by means of multimodal pattern replications, and how are they involved in conceptualization? How are resonance textures within cellular entities extended in the body and the mind by means of mirroring processes? In which ways do they correlate to consciousness and self-consciousness? Is it possible to explain out-of-awareness unconscious processes? What holds together the relationship between experiential reality, bodily processes like memory, reason, or imagination, and sign-systems and simulation structures like metaphor and metonymy visible in human language? This volume attempts to answer some of these questions.

Maize is one of the most economically important food crops worldwide. It is used for livestock feeds and human nutrition. Recent strategies have been adopted for improving maize crops. This book brings together recent advances, breeding strategies, and applications in the biological control, breeding, and genetic improvement of maize genetic resources. It also provides new insights and sheds light on new perspectives and future research work that have been carried out for further improvement of maize crops. This book is a useful resource for students, researchers, and scientists.

Arsenic Monitoring, Removal and Remediation discusses methods for determining arsenic levels in the environment and removing arsenic pollution. Chapters in the first section comment on the principal methods for arsenic determination in environmental samples with emphasis on sample pretreatment, extraction, separation, and method validation techniques for speciation analysis. Attention is paid to the electrochemical methods for arsenic quantification as an alternative to the commonly used techniques and to the potential of the differential alternative pulses voltammetry for arsenic determination in the presence of interferences. Chapters in the second section highlight the benefits of using adsorption for arsenic species removal and suggest remedial approaches against arsenic pollution, including bioremediation, along with traditional techniques.

Structural testing and assessment, process monitoring, and material characterization are three broad application areas of acoustic emission (AE) techniques. Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of AE waves have been studied widely in the literature. This book reviews major research developments in the application of AE in numerous engineering fields. It brings together important contributions from renowned international researchers to provide an excellent survey of new perspectives and paradigms of AE. In particular, this book presents applications of AE in cracking and damage assessment in metal beams, asphalt pavements, and composite materials as well as studying noise mitigation in wind turbines and cylindrical shells.

Carbenes are important molecules in chemistry because of their photochemistry and high reactivity. They have many potential applications in medicinal and materials chemistry. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to carbenes and discusses their characteristics, structure, and synthesis procedures. It gives special emphasis to N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and their metal complexes.

In ancient times, people benefited from ingesting different parts of various weeds (root, stem, shoot, leaf, flower, fruit, seed, etc.) to maintain a healthy life. People have obtained the vegetables we grow today by succeeding in cultivating these weeds. This book explains the health benefits of vegetable crops, organic vegetable growing, greenhouse management, and principles of irrigation management for vegetable crops.

Digital image processing can refer to a wide variety of techniques, concepts, and applications of different types of processing for different purposes. This book provides examples of digital image processing applications and presents recent research on processing concepts and techniques. Chapters cover such topics as image processing in medical physics, binarization, video processing, and more.

This book provides an overview of sheep husbandry in different parts of the world, including information on production and management systems, reproduction, and animal health. Chapters discuss different types of sheep and sheep husbandry in Poland, India, Africa, Spain, and North America, as well as zoonotic diseases such as cryptosporidiosis and their adverse impacts on the economics of sheep herding. This book is a useful resource for producers, veterinarians, animal scientists, researchers, biologists, students, and other interested readers.

Modern transportation systems have adverse effects on the climate, emitting greenhouse gases and polluting the air. As such, new modes of non-polluting transportation, including electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, are a major focus of current research and development. This book explores the future of transportation. It is divided into four sections: "Electric Vehicles Infrastructures," "Architectures of the Electric Vehicles," "Technologies of the Electric Vehicles," and "Propulsion Systems." The chapter authors share their research experience regarding the main barriers in electric vehicle implementation, their thoughts on electric vehicle modelling and control, and network communication challenges.

It is well recognized that music is a unique and cost-effective solution for the rehabilitation of patients with cognitive deficits. However, music can also be used as a non-invasive and non-pharmacological intervention modality not only for the management of various disease conditions but also for maintaining good health overall. Music-based therapeutic strategies can be used as complementary methods to existing diagnostic approaches to manage cognitive deficits as well as clinical and physiological abnormalities of individuals in need. This book focuses on various aspects of music and its role in enhancing health and recovering from a disease. Chapters explore music as a healing method across civilizations and measure the effect of music on human physiology and functions.

The availability of big data due to computerization and automation has generated an urgent need for new techniques to analyze and convert big data into useful information and knowledge. Data mining is a promising and leading-edge technology for mining large volumes of data, looking for hidden information, and aiding knowledge discovery. It can be used for characterization, classification, discrimination, anomaly detection, association, clustering, trend or evolution prediction, and much more in fields such as science, medicine, economics, engineering, computers, and even business analytics. This book presents basic concepts, ideas, and research in data mining.

Leishmaniasis is a major global health challenge, affecting approximately 12 million of the poorest people in 100 countries. It is a deforming and fatal disease in the visceral form. Therapies for leishmaniasis are numerically restricted, basically consisting of the administration of miltefosine, pentavalent antimonials, amphotericin B, or pentamidine. This is an important vulnerability against therapy efficiency that must be overcome by the scientific community. This book discusses important aspects of the disease, such as treatment, epidemiology, and molecular and cell biology. The information contained herein is important for young researchers as they seek to develop safe and effective treatments for this neglected tropical disease.

Learning disabilities are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by failure to acquire, retrieve, and use information competently. These disorders have a multifactorial aetiology and are most common and severe in children, especially when comorbid with other chronic health conditions. This book provides current and comprehensive information about learning disorders, including information on neurobiology, assessment, clinical features, and treatment. Chapters cover such topics as historical research and hypotheses of learning disorders, neuropsychological assessment and counselling, characteristics of specific disorders such as autism and ADHD, evidence-based treatment strategies and assistive technologies, and much more.