Bücher veröffentlicht von Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Fungi range from being microscopic, single-celled yeasts to multicellular and heterotrophic in nature. Fungal communities have been found in vast ranges of environmental conditions. They can be associated with plants epiphytically, endophytically, or rhizospherically. Extreme environments represent unique ecosystems that harbor novel biodiversity of fungal communities. Interest in the exploration of fungal diversity has been spurred by the fact that fungi perform numerous functions integral in sustaining the biosphere, ranging from nutrient cycling to environmental detoxification, which involves processes like augmentation, supplementation, and recycling of plant nutrients--a particularly important process in sustainable agriculture. Fungal communities from natural and extreme habitats help promote plant growth, enhance crop yield, and soil fertility via direct or indirect plant growth promoting (PGP) mechanisms of solubilization of phosphorus, potassium, and zinc, production of ammonia, hydrogen cyanides, phytohormones, Fe-chelating compounds, extracellular hydrolytic enzymes, and bioactive secondary metabolites. These PGP fungi could be used as biofertilizers, bioinoculants, and biocontrol agents in place of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in eco-friendly manners for sustainable agriculture and environments. Along with agricultural applications, medically important fungi play significant role for human health. Fungal communities are useful for sustainable environments as they are used for bioremediation which is the use of microorganisms' metabolism to degrading waste contaminants (sewage, domestic, and industrial effluents) into non-toxic or less toxic materials by natural biological processes. Fungi could be used as mycoremediation for the future of environmental sustainability. Fungi and fungal products have the biochemical and ecological capability to degrade environmental organic chemicalsand to decrease the risk associated with metals, semi-metals, and noble metals either by chemical modification or by manipulating chemical bioavailability. The two volumes of "Recent Trends in Mycological Research¿ aim to provide an understanding of fungal communities from diverse environmental habitats and their potential applications in agriculture, medical, environments and industry. The books are useful to scientists, researchers, and students involved in microbiology, biotechnology, agriculture, molecular biology, environmental biology and related subjects.

Bringing much needed clarity and definition to the term 'minority entrepreneur,' this authoritative and timely handbook explores the distinctive challenges that minority communities face when founding and managing new ventures. The handbook is inclusive of any community who might be considered disadvantaged or under-represented in terms of entrepreneurial activity and included are women, youths, seniors, disabled, immigrants, Indigenous peoples, LBGTQ+, ex-offenders, Roma, refugees and many others. Chapters highlight the idiosyncratic nature of the many communities examined before offering frameworks and models that draw together the various findings. With a cast of international contributors, this scholarly handbook discusses the surrounding literature of minority entrepreneurship and takes an all-encompassing approach to its interpretation. It also addresses the sorely under-researched area of entrepreneurial behaviour among minorities and disadvantaged groups. This is particularly important for policymakers tasked with designing and delivering initiatives that are appropriate for the needs of these communities. Ultimately this handbook contributes to existing knowledge by:¿ providing a current understanding of the literature for each of the communities;¿ investigating the uniqueness of the entrepreneurial behaviour within the communities; ¿ offering new frameworks/models from which future researchers can build new knowledge.The handbook provides a comprehensive account of an important and fast emerging field of entrepreneurship, and is an invaluable resource for students, researchers and policymakers.

This book serves the teachers, researchers and the students as a handy and concise reference as well as guidebook while designing and planning for use of the advanced technologies for crop improvement.The content of the book is designed to cover the latest genome engineering techniques for crop improvement. The conventional breeding has got its limitations such as non-availability of desired genes within the genepool. In many cases, breeding has been highly used and it has nearly reached its highest limit so far as the productivity and production of crops are concerned. However, with increasing need of food and decreasing resources, including water, land, labour, etc., to feed the growing population, the alternative available ways of increasing crop productivity need to be explored and exploited. Genome engineering has a wide scope that includes technologies such as genetic engineering and transgenesis, RNA technologies, CRISPR, cisgenics and subgenics for better productivityand more efficient biotic and abiotic stress management. Therefore, the book is planned to enlighten the readers with the advanced technologies with examples and case studies, whenever possible. Efforts will be made to emphasize on general efforts on various major food crops; however, it would also be made clear that such efforts could be taken as proofs of concepts and that this could be extrapolated keeping the demand in mind.

This book is authored by some of the renowned scholars in Africa who take on the task to understand how Kenya is governed in this century from a public policy perspective. The book¿s public policy approach addresses three general and pertinent questions: (1) how are policies made in a political context where change is called for, but institutional legacies tend to stand in the way? (2) how are power and authority shared among institutional actors in government and society? and, (3) how effective is policymaking at a time when policy problems are becoming increasingly complex and involving multiple stakeholders in Africa? This book provides an updated and relevant foundation for teaching policy, politics and administration in Kenya. It is also a useful guide for politicians, the civil society, and businesses with an interest in how Kenya is governed. Furthermore, it addresses issues of comparability: how does the Kenyan case fit into a wider African context of policymaking? ¿This volume is a major contribution to comparative policy analysis by focusing on the policy processes in Kenya, a country undergoing modernization of its economic and political institutions. Written by experts with a keen eye for the commonalities and differences the country shares with other nations, it covers a range of topics like the role of experts and politicians in policymaking, the nature of public accountability, the impact of social media on policy actors, and the challenges of teaching policy studies in the country. As a first comprehensive study of an African nation, Governing Kenya will remain a key text for years to come¿. ¿Michael Howlett, Burnaby Mountain Chair of Political Science, Simon Fraser University, Canada ¿A superb example of development scholarship which sets aside ¿best practice¿ nostrums and focuses on governance challenges specific to time and place while holding on to a comparative perspective. Useful to scholars and practitioners not only in Kenya but across developing areas. I strongly recommend it!¿ ¿Brian Levy teaches at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, USA, and the University of Cape Town, South Africa. ¿This book is an exploration of important deliberations - of interest for those of us interested in deepening the understanding of public policy theories and their application within a specific African setting¿. ¿Wilson Muna, Lecturer of Public Policy, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya ¿This collection of think pieces on public policy in Kenya gives the reader theoretical and practical hooks critical to the analysis of the implementation of the sovereign policy document in Kenya, the 2010 Constitution¿. ¿Willy Mutunga, Chief Justice & President of the Supreme Court, Republic of Kenya, 2011-2016 ¿Governing Kenya provides acomprehensive analysis of public policymaking in Kenya. The book integrates public policy theory with extensive empirical examples to provide a valuable portrait of the political and economic influences on policy choices in this important African country. The editors have brought together a group of significant scholars to produce an invaluable contribution to the literature on public policy in Africä. ¿B. Guy Peters, Maurice Folk Professor of American Government, University of Pittsburgh, USA

This book highlights cutting-edge studies in the development of cell-inspired biomaterials and synthetic materials that manipulate cell functions and provide the next generation with contemporary tools for treating complex human diseases. It explores the convergence of synthetic materials with cell and molecular biology and surveys how functional materials, when patterned with spatial and temporal precision, can be used effectively to maintain cell proliferation and phenotype in vitro, to trigger specific cell functions, and to redirect cell-fate decisions. Human stem cells are a frequently discussed subject in this book. This is an ideal book for students, cell biologists, researchers interested in interdisciplinary research, and biomedical engineers.This book also:Highlights successfully developed technologies in cell engineering that make possible new therapeutic development for previously untreatable conditionsCovers topics including bio-inspired micropatterning, DNA origami technology, synthetic NOS inspired by compartmentalized signaling in cells, and light-induced depolarization of the cell membraneIllustrates in detail the use of stem cells and synthetic scaffolds to model ethically sensitive embryonic tissues and organs

This book is designed as a guide for management of advanced clinical scenarios encountered by the contemporary pelvic floor surgeon. It is organized by pelvic floor disorder (PFD) and covers the evaluation and treatment of urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse. Opening chapters in each section cover the fundamentals of proper and comprehensive assessment of patient PFDs, as well as the treatment options that are available for each disorder. The book then focuses on more complex and challenging situations that are becoming more frequently encountered as the number of patients being treated for PFD increases and the length of patient follow-up grows. Each chapter finally includes an expert commentary to address these new scenarios and offers a shifted approach from that required for treatment-naïve patients.Female Pelvic Medicine: Challenging Cases with Expert Commentary teaches the reader how to approach the most difficultof clinical situations in a multidisciplinary fashion.