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SiC and GaN devices have been around for some time. The first dedicated international conference on SiC and related devices, "ICSCRM," was held in Washington, DC, in 1987. But only recently, the commercialization of SiC and GaN devices has happened. Due to its material properties, Si as a semiconductor has limitations in high-temperature, high-voltage, and high-frequency regimes. With the help of SiC and GaN devices, it is possible to realize more efficient power systems. Devices manufactured from SiC and GaN have already been impacting different areas with their ability to outperform Si devices. Some of the examples are the telecommunications, automotive/locomotive, power, and renewable energy industries. To achieve the carbon emission targets set by different countries, it is inevitable to use these new technologies. This book attempts to cover all the important facets related to wide bandgap semiconductor technology, including new challenges posed by it. This book is intended for graduate students, researchers, engineers, and technology experts who have been working in the exciting fields of SiC and GaN power devices.

This book is intended to provide a deep understanding on the advanced treatments of thermal properties of materials through experimental, theoretical, and computational techniques. This area of interest is being taught in most universities and institutions at the graduate and postgraduate levels. Moreover, the increasing modern technical and social interest in energy has made the study of thermal properties more significant and exciting in the recent years. This book shares with the international community a sense of global motivation and collaboration on the subject of thermal conductivity and its wide spread applications in modern technologies. This book presents new results from leading laboratories and researchers on topics including materials, thermal insulation, modeling, steady and transient measurements, and thermal expansion. The materials of interest range from nanometers to meters, bringing together ideas and results from across the research field.

Weed populations in agriculture are a major cause of yield loss. Conventionally, crop rotation and tillage practices limit the number of weed flora. Several chemical herbicides are being applied to control weed growth, but the long-term use of those chemicals does not effectively control weeds, due to the development of resistant germplasms, which cause hazardous effects in living organisms. The global interest in organic farming endorses the alternative way of weed control against chemical herbicides. Recently, biological agents have been added to integrated weed management strategies. Several studies reveal that plant extracts, bacteria, fungi and their products effectively control weed seed germination and growth. The aim of this book is to discuss the current understanding of bioherbicides and strategies to weed control.

This book investigates the emerging use of biomarkers as a diagnostic tool for the identification of patients with an abnormal condition or as a tool for staging the extent of disease, as an indicator of disease prognosis. Chapters in Part I focus on biomarkers for cancer, including breast cancer and pancreatic cancer, as well as circulating microRNA profiling in cancer biomarker discovery. Chapters in Part II focus on biomarkers of other diagnoses/diseases, including sepsis, childhood renal diseases, pulmonary diseases, Alzheimer's, leishmaniasis, and heart failure. This book investigates the emerging use of biomarkers as a diagnostic tool for the identification of patients with an abnormal condition or as a tool for staging the extent of disease, as an indicator of diseases prognosis. The book is of considerable importance for a broad range of people including researchers, clinicians, and university students.

Porous ceramics have recently gained growing importance in industry because of their many applications like filters, absorbers, dust collectors, thermal insulation, hot gas collectors, dielectric resonators, bioreactors, bone replacement and automobile engine components. Generally, porous ceramics have good properties such as mechanical strength, abrasion resistance, and chemical and thermal stability. These porous network ceramic structures also have relatively low density, low mass and low thermal conductivity. Furthermore, permeability is one of the most important properties of porous ceramics for different applications such as membranes because this property directly relates to the pressure drop during filtration. Pore size control is one key factor in fabrication of porous ceramics. The size of particles and their distribution of the raw materials, manufacturing techniques, types of binder used, distribution of binder, and sintering affect the final porosity and pore connectivity, are important things that must be considered during the manufacturing of a porous ceramic body. Therefore, the development of porous ceramic research requires sufficient mechanical and chemical stability as well as permeability. This book covers a wide range of topics such as porous ceramic structure and properties, preparation, simulation and fabrication, sintering, applications for bioceramics, sensors, magnetics and energy saving.

This book consists of an introductory overview of secondary metabolites, which are classified into four main sections: microbial secondary metabolites, plant secondary metabolites, secondary metabolites through tissue culture technique, and regulation of secondary metabolite production. This book provides a comprehensive account on the secondary metabolites of microorganisms, plants, and the production of secondary metabolites through biotechnological approach like the plant tissue culture method. The regulatory mechanisms of secondary metabolite production in plants and the pharmaceutical and other applications of various secondary metabolites are also highlighted. This book is considered as necessary reading for microbiologists, biotechnologists, biochemists, pharmacologists, and botanists who are doing research in secondary metabolites. It should also be useful to MSc students, MPhil and PhD scholars, scientists, and faculty members of various science disciplines.

Pancreatic cancer is a growing source of cancer-related death and has poor survival rates, which have not improved in the last few decades. Its high-mortality rate is attributed to pancreatic cancer biology, difficulty in early diagnosis, and lack of standardized international guidelines in assessing the pancreatic masses. This book aims to provide an update in the current state of play in pancreatic cancer diagnosis and to evaluate the benefits and limitations of the available diagnostic technology and therapy. The main modalities for diagnosis are imaging with HCT, MRI, USE, and PET. Some chapters review the improvements in the techniques used. Timely and accurate diagnosis of pancreatic cancer can lead to improve in the current poor outcome of this disease.

Harmonic analysis is a diverse field including such branches as signal processing, medical imaging, power electrical systems, wireless telecommunications, etc. This book is primarily written with the objective of providing recent developments and new techniques in harmonic analysis. In the recent years, a number of methods of quality control of signals under different perturbations, and especially the harmonics, have emerged. Some of these techniques are described in this book. This book is the result of contributions from many researchers and is a collection of eight research works, which are focused around the harmonic analysis theme but with different applications. The topics mainly concern the areas of medical imaging, biopotential systems, renewable energy conversion systems, wireless telecommunications, power converters, as well as the different techniques for estimating, analyzing, reducing, and eliminating harmonics.

The public sector plays an important role for both regulation and in the delivery of services directly or indirectly. In this context, it is important to consider transformation, change, and innovation, which are the elements on which the main determinants that influence public management and the administration of economic, social, and political systems are based. This book describes the nature of the problem, its multidimensionality, and the need for original approaches, through the contribution of scholars belonging to different disciplines. This book contains nine chapters in a single section (Public Management and Administration), which, through the different approaches to the subject by the authors, help to explain the issues of the public sector.

The prevalence of anorectal disorders in the general population is probably much higher than that seen in clinical practice. Anorectal diseases have for a long time been considered of little interest, with their treatment considered of little prestige despite the social impact they cause to patients. Proctology was initiated late and developed slowly over the years. However, in the last 20 years, a renewed interest has begun, and today, we can say that proctology is a specialized branch of general surgery. This book "Proctological Diseases in Surgical Practice" provides a practical introduction to proctology, with a particular attention to the topics that have not yet been investigated. This book may be useful for the general physician as well as for the specialist.

The book "Listeria monocytogenes" describes different topics that deal with L. monocytogenes in medical research, modelling the behaviour of the organism in meat, quality assurance of raw food material and food products, the impact of environmental stresses in virulence traits of L. monocytogenes relevant to food safety, contamination, prevention and control in food processing and food service environments. The aim of this book is to introduce the reader to different approaches, methods, and tools in understanding the pathogen, Listeria monocytogens, with regard to primary and public health, food safety, pathogenicity, virulence, and its ubiquity. Topics covered in this book deal with L. monocytogenes in medical research. modelling the behaviour of the organism in meat, quality assurance of raw food material and food products, the impact of environmental stresses in virulence traits of L. monocytogenes relevant to food safety, contamination, prevention and control in food processing and food services environments.

Endocarditis is a disease process that involves an infection of the heart, cardiac structures, or implantable cardiac support devices and can be a difficult clinical problem. As patients get older and have more comorbidities, their risks for infection increase. In addition, the growing problem of intravenous substance abuse has led to a considerable increase in these patients developing endocarditis. Advances in medical technology have facilitated diagnosis and management, particularly with greater emphasis on early surgical intervention. Nevertheless, success requires a team approach and individualization of care in the setting of very complex medical, surgical, and ethical problems. The goal of this book is to illustrate some of the evolving challenges and controversies in managing these very complex and often extremely sick patients.

Nuclear engineering could be viewed as the engineering field that ensures optimum and sustainable technological applications of natural and induced radioactive materials in different industrial sectors. This book presents some advanced applications in radiation effects, thermal hydraulics, and radionuclide migration in the environment. These scientific contributions from esteemed experts introduce some nuclear safety principals, current knowledge about radiation types, sources and applications, thermal properties of heat transfer media, and the role of sorption in retarding radionuclide migration in the environment. This book also covers the advances in identifying radiation effects in dense gas-metal systems, application of dense granular materials as high power targets in accelerator driven systems and irradiation facilities, evaluation of boiling heat transfer in narrow channels, and application of fluorescence quenching techniques to monitor uranium migration.

The term extreme weather normally conjures up thoughts of massive storms or heat waves or overtly cold temperatures. These are all examples of what we might consider as weather events that occur out of the ordinary or what is regarded as the normal pattern of calm, heat, cold, dry, or wet conditions for one season of the year or another. The point is that if we consider an oscillation of data points in a weather pattern and plot a mean through it, extreme weather can be observed as a perturbation in a distribution of climatic events over time. These events may be short-lived, such as a wind gust occurrence, or of longer duration, such as heavy rain leading to flooding. Importantly, once initiated, a perturbation event has an associated consequence, which usually requires human intervention to rectify the event's consequences.

The present book is composed of modern theoretical and applied studies that highlight the core principles and evidence of sustainable agriculture. This work is systematically divided into two sections, which summarize crucial insights into this theme, such as agroecological concepts, case studies, soil health, and agroforestry systems. The chapters included in this book have been written by researchers whose expertise allows the relatively complex sustainable agroecosystem-related topics to be easily understood by any reader. Therefore, the target audience comprises not only scholars and specialists in the field but also common people and enthusiasts about this theme. Such chapter's collection is certainly a valuable resource about agricultural sustainable principles and a pleasure reading for those who are willing to dive more deeply into the study of "sustainability of agroecosystems."

Intelligent system is an advanced machine that can perceive, learn, and solve the problems with a great accuracy. Technologies with intelligent system are currently available in the market and used in real-world applications, i.e., self-driving cars, Siri, Alexa, Facebook, and so on. To exceed human cognitive capabilities, the important keys rely on the development of sensors and algorithms. Therefore, the insight into artificial intelligence (AI) methods becomes a fundamental building block for design and construction of intelligent system with particular applications. This book aims to describe the AI systems ranging from the basic knowledge, i.e., algorithm and mathematical models of AI techniques, fundamentals of machine learning, genetic algorithm, and fuzzy logic, to the current state-of-the-art applications, such as smart road and biomedical applications.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBO2) is a widely accepted adjuvant therapy in various health conditions that exhibit impaired tissue blood flow. At high pressures, the delivery of the dissolved oxygen in plasma is enhanced, which contributes to better tissue oxygenation, cellular metabolism and ultimately, healing. However, this is not the only beneficial outcome of HBO2 treatment since oxygen is a highly reactive molecule and can induce upregulation of many enzymatic systems in the cell at the cellular, genetic and molecular level. Particularly, vascular/endothelial function is affected by the HBO2. Our understanding of these mechanisms is still emerging. There have been many controversies related to the HBO2 protocols and indications. As well as exhibiting beneficiary effects on the tissue perfusion, it is known that HBO2 demonstrates high toxicity at higher pressures, due to increased oxidative stress and barotrauma. On the other hand, there is a lack of translation of the knowledge on the mechanisms of action of HBO2 obtained from the experimental research to the clinical practice. Thus, this book presents the reader with an overview of the current knowledge on the mechanisms of HBO2 effects in various experimental models and clinical treatment protocols, in an attempt to provide a better understanding of how and when HBO2 should be used as an effective therapy without unwanted side effects.

The book "Recent Developments in Optoelectronic Devices" is about the latest developments in optoelectronics. This book is divided into three categories: light emitting devices, sensors, and light harvesters. This book also discusses the theoretical aspects of device design for iridium complexes as organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), strategies for developing novel nanostructured materials, silicon-rich oxide (SRO) electroluminescent devices, and multifunctional optoelectronic devices developed on resistive switching effects. The worldwide participation of authors has contributed to the unifying effect of science. Furthermore, interested readers will also find information on the screen printed technology using semiconductor devices, nonlinear phenomena in quantum devices, experimental set up of optoelectronics flexible logic gate to realize logic operations, autonomous vehicles, and the latest developments in perovskites as solar cells.

This book on data mining explores a broad set of ideas and presents some of the state-of-the-art research in this field. The book is triggered by pervasive applications that retrieve knowledge from real-world big data. Data mining finds applications in the entire spectrum of science and technology including basic sciences to life sciences and medicine, to social, economic, and cognitive sciences, to engineering and computers. The chapters discuss various applications and research frontiers in data mining with algorithms and implementation details for use in real-world. This can be through characterization, classification, discrimination, anomaly detection, association, clustering, trend or evolution prediction, etc. The intended audience of this book will mainly consist of researchers, research students, practitioners, data analysts, and business professionals who seek information on the various data mining techniques and their applications.

This book aims to introduce the emerging technologies of graphene oxide (GO) in various fields such as industrial, medical, electronics, artificial intelligence, materials-alloys, energy storage devices, optical, physics, mechanical, nanomaterials, and sustainable chemistry. At the current level of development, the properties and binding structure of graphene are important toward the recent applications. The knowledge produced by the graphene oxide could be a much haunting basis for discovering innovative opportunities in the field of emerging trends of research. Future technology expected that the full development will depend only on graphene and its functionalized composite materials. This book highlights the challenges and opportunities associated with GOs. Subject of interest in this book is exploring the opportunities and technologies related to abundant clean energy, pure water, and noble long healthy life.

For the incisive tests of hydrological theory, manipulation experiments can create particular conditions, plan and define boundaries and inner structures, isolate individual mechanisms, and push systems beyond the range in a PhD timescale. The goals of this book are to stimulate the approach of manipulation in promoting watershed hydrological experimentation and to try to demonstrate that the controlled and artificial experiments are the promising way of useful and effective generation of tests of new theories. This book is organized on the basis of nine different manipulation types from six countries including field lysimeter, field runoff plot, field manipulated experimental basin, field artificial catchment, laboratory river segment, laboratory pedon (rock), laboratory lysimeter, laboratory hillslope, and phytotron artificial catchment.

The term "Internet of Things" (IoT) refers to an ecosystem of interconnected physical objects and devices that are accessible through the Internet and can communicate with each other. The main strength of the IoT vision is the high impact it has created and will continue to do so on several aspects of the everyday life and behavior of its potential users. This book presents some of the state-of-the-art research work in the field of the IoT, especially on the issues of communication protocols, interoperability of protocols and semantics, trust security and privacy issues, reference architecture design, and standardization. It will be a valuable source of knowledge for researchers, engineers, practitioners, and graduate and doctoral students who are working in various fields of the IoT. It will also be useful for faculty members of graduate schools and universities.

Remote sensing was the primary data source since the launch of the first environmental monitoring satellite back in 1972. In the past five decades, remote sensing technology has come a long way and evolved into a mature science. Even so, new technologies, new theories, new methodologies, and new applications continue to emerge. With the rapid pace of technological advancement, it is essential to share experiences especially between different disciplines, either on breakthroughs in new theory or understanding, or applications of remote sensing on real world issues. Disciplines or fields covered in this book include geography, geology, agriculture, forestry, botany, and oceanography. Though remote sensing may be used differently in various disciplines, the principles are similar, if not the same. This book will be valuable to scientists, scholars, working professionals, or students who use remote sensing in their work, and are interested in learning how others use remote sensing in different ways.

Evolving Strategies in Peritoneal Dialysis is intended as a concise compilation of articles designed to understand the basics of the current practice of the most cost-effective form of life support for patients with end-stage renal disease who require dialysis. Current strategies are understood best with a review of the historical development of catheter materials, solution packaging, and simplified machinery, which allow safe and effective nocturnal treatments. Quantitation of the efficacy of peritoneal dialysis is also reviewed because such calculations were also developed by the pioneers of nephrology to ensure adequacy of dialysis and daily fluid balance, which are responsible for the best chance for long-term patient survival. Comparison of methods for catheter placement is presented as well as the role that a dialysis center plays in the health and success of this form of end-stage renal disease patient care. The novel concept of assisted peritoneal dialysis for the infirm or institutionalized patients is probably the next direction needed to make available this treatment to many more patients than are currently eligible to receive it. This concept is explored in a separate chapter. Finally, professional dialysis staff must monthly assess individuals' nutritional status, bone health, and infection prevention and treatment to ensure the greatest functional status for these patients. This book concludes with a review of each of these topics to expand the mandatory monthly surveillance performed by dialysis centers for each patient who receives home peritoneal dialysis therapy.

Among energy sources, hydrogen gas is clean and renewable and has the potential to solve the growing energy crisis in today's society because of its high-energy density and noncarbon fuel properties. It is also used for many potential applications in nonpolluting vehicles, fuel cells, home heating systems, and aircraft. In addition, using hydrogen as an energy carrier is a long-term option to reduce carbon dioxide emissions worldwide by obtaining high-value hydrocarbons through the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide. This book presents the recent progresses and developments in water-splitting processes as well as other hydrogen generation technologies with challenges and future perspectives from the point of energy sustainability.

Today, the application of phase change materials (PCMs) has developed in different industries, including the solar cooling and solar power plants, photovoltaic electricity systems, the space industry, waste heat recovery systems, preservation of food and pharmaceutical products, and domestic hot water. PCMs use the principle of latent heat thermal storage to absorb energy in large quantities when there is a surplus and release it when there is a deficit. This promising technology has already been successfully implemented in many construction projects. The aim of this book is to assist the scientists and to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of the properties that characterize the phase change materials from theoretical and experimental perspectives with a focus on their technological applications. The present status and future perspectives of phase change material are discussed.

This book is devoted to a description of the modeling of nanosystems and a detailed exposition of the application of molecular dynamics methods to problems from various fields of technology: material science, the formation of composite molecular complexes, and transport of nanosystems. The research results of the modeling of various nanosystems are presented: soft supramolecular nanostructures, nanosized beams of single-crystal Cu, metallic nanosized crystals, drug delivery systems, and systems stabilized by hydrogen bonds. The information from this book will be useful for engineers, technologists, researchers, and postgraduate students interested in the study of the whole complex of computer simulation based on the concept of molecular dynamics methods for the task of designing and producing nanomaterials with controlled properties.

The book "Dental Anatomy" is one of the most important and basic areas of dentistry. This book is a collection of nine chapters divided into five sections as follows: Chapter 1: "Permanent Maxillary and Mandibular Incisors", Chapter 2: "The Permanent Maxillary and Mandibular Premolar Teeth", Chapter 3: "Dental Anatomical Features and Caries: A Relationship to be Investigated", Chapter 4: "Anatomy Applied to Block Anaesthesia", Chapter 5: "Treatment Considerations for Missing Teeth", Chapter 6: "Anatomical and Functional Restoration of the Compromised Occlusion: From Theory to Materials", Chapter 7: "Evaluation of the Anatomy of the Lower First Premolar", Chapter 8: "A Comparative Study of the Validity and Reproducibility of Mesiodistal Tooth Size and Dental Arch with the iTero Intraoral Scanner and the Traditional Method", Chapter 9: "Identification of Lower Central Incisors".The book is aimed toward dentists and can also be well used in education and research.

In this book, we learn about organizational conflict, highlighting different perspectives of conflict resolution and conflict management in different settings and areas, as well as different theoretical views on this subject. The authors from Norway, Estonia, Nigeria, Israel, USA, Slovakia, Turkey, Finland, Uruguay, and Italy bring ideas, studies, findings, and experiences to enhance our knowledge in the field of organizational conflict. The book is divided into two sections, and their respective chapters refer to two different perspectives of study. The first section covers Conceptual Frameworks on Organizational Conflict, considering management and conflict resolution, conflict in organizations as an indicator for organizational values, organizational trust as a conflict management tool, conflicts and social capital, and team conflict in complex adaptive systems. The second section deals with Empirical Studies on Organizational Conflict, emphasizing research on conflict resolution from the perspective of managers and project teams, resistance to change and conflict of interest, conflicts as a springboard for Metallica's success, drivers of innovation deployment affecting marketing relationships, and impacts of national culture on the use of bonuses for teamwork. Thus, we consider this book will be of interest to readers with a diverse group of interests in different specialties such as management, social psychology, education, law, and sociology.

Heterogeneous kinetics plays an important role in many scientific disciplines and industrial branches such as physical chemistry, materials science, chemical industry, ceramic industry, etc. Although many excellent books on theories and methods can be found, the aim of this book is to provide an unconventional insight into the heterogeneous kinetics and properties of the activated complex. The introduction of the effective mass of this instanton enables to calculate many other properties, such as the most probable speed of activated complex, the momentum, the energetic density, the mass flux, etc., and to define two quantum numbers of activated state, i.e., the activation energy and the momentum. The monograph is organized into three chapters. The first of them deals with a short historical background, which introduces the beginning of chemical kinetics in the historical context. The second chapter is dedicated to the transition state theory, and the third one explains the concept of effective mass and effective rate of activated state as well as other properties of activated complex.