Böcker utgivna av IntechOpen

Operations management (OM) is the function concerned with the planning, design, implementation, and control of business operations in the production of goods and services. OM has expanded from its original factory-centric orientation to encompass the service industry and the respective, accompanying supply chains, with a broad, global range of applications, increasing reliance on quantitative analysis, and the development and the use of supporting computer-based information systems and technology. This book highlights some critical aspects and advances in the field of operations management. Topics covered include investigations in the area of sustainable supply chain management; the application of OM principles to the deployment of field laboratories to address epidemics; and novel approaches to applying operations management in response to increasingly diverse requirements, circumstances, and performance criteria.

Air conditioning system is one of the major consumers of electrical energy in many parts of the world today. It represents between 40 and 70% of the energy consumption in commercial buildings. The demand of energy for air conditioning systems is expected to increase further in the next decades due to the population growth, the new economic boom, and the urbanization development. The rapid growth of air conditioning and electricity consumption will contribute further to climate change if fossil and nonrenewable resources are used. More energy-efficient and renewable energy-based air conditioning systems to accomplish space cooling are needed. This book intends to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art in sustainable air conditioning technologies and focus on the most recent research and development on green air conditioning systems including energy-efficient and renewable energy-based air conditioning systems.

Drone technologies have constantly been developing for over 100 years. The latest models exhibit a previously unseen set of specifications available to the end users. The collective effort of distinguished international researchers, within the field of drone technologies, has been incorporated into this textbook suitable to the broader audience. The book has been edited by Prof. George Dekoulis, Aerospace Engineering Institute (AEI), Cyprus, an expert on state-of-the-art implementations of reconfigurable space engineering systems. The book consists of four main sections, namely, "Introduction," "Drone History," "Drone Design," and "Drone Applications." We hope this book will be beneficial to professionals, researchers, and academicians and, moreover, to inspire the younger generations into pursuing relevant academic studies and professional careers within the drone industry.

Diabetes is a global pandemic where many remedies have been recommended as means of combating the prevalence of this disease. However, dietary control appears to be more effective than others. This book focuses on interventions concerning glycemic control, the oxidative stress-based occurrence of the disease and its prevention, as well as novel remedies. While many books have been published recently on this aspect, the book aims to serve as an update to the scientific community, as well as to those who have been adversely affected by the disease. There are many unexplored territories when it comes to diabetes, and it is hoped that this publication will open up new avenues of successfully curbing its occurrence.

This book is an attempt to bring together current knowledge on the role and importance of organic acids in life processes. There are lots of compounds based on the chemical nature of this functional group, which makes this class of molecules to be present in our lives starting with the human body (Krebs cycle - the core of cellular metabolism) to the products we currently use (food, medicines and cosmetics). No overall consensus is sought in this book, and the following chapters are authored by dedicated researchers presenting a diversity of applications and hypotheses concerning organic acids. The five chapters in this book include general information on carboxylic acids and their applications in life sciences (use in organic synthesis, nanotechnology, plant physiology, plant nutrition and soil chemistry).

The fruit and nut crops are laden with health benefits. As people are becoming more conscious about their health and nutritional uptake, the worldwide demand and consumption of fruit and nut crops are steadily increasing. This has made it hard to keep pace between the rate of fruit and nut production and its consumption. To meet this increasing demand, there is a need to produce improved, better yielding, and high-quality fruit and nut crops. This book intends to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of the current status and future prospects of fruit and nut crops. Such information covered in this book will directly enhance both basic and applied research in fruit and nut crops and will particularly be useful for students, scientists, researchers, teachers, breeders, policy-makers, and growers.

The new technology and system communication advances are being employed in any system, being more complex. The system dependability considers the technical complexity, size, and interdependency of the system. The stochastic characteristic together with the complexity of the systems as dependability requires to be under control the Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety (RAMS). The dependability contemplates, therefore, the faults/failures, downtimes, stoppages, worker errors, etc. Dependability also refers to emergent properties, i.e., properties generated indirectly from other systems by the system analyzed. Dependability, understood as general description of system performance, requires advanced analytics that are considered in this book. Dependability management and engineering are covered with case studies and best practices. The diversity of the issues will be covered from algorithms, mathematical models, and software engineering, by design methodologies and technical or practical solutions. This book intends to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art, case studies, hardware and software solutions, analytics, and data science in dependability engineering.

Zika was an arbovirus not considered relevant until the epidemics of 2007, where in the islands of the Pacific, Yap, Micronesia, and others, and later in the Americas in 2015-2016, it created a significant public health threat. Zika is a flavivirus that has been especially important not just for the high number of cases but also for its related morbidity. In the case of adult population, multiple neurological diseases are already associated and in pregnant women because of its confirmed teratogenic capacity, leading to microcephaly as well as other central nervous system (CNS) birth defects. This book tried to update the significant epidemiological and clinical research in many aspects with a multinational perspective.

Potato is the world's fourth food crop after maize, wheat, and rice and is a staple crop in many diets throughout the world with a high source of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins. Biotic and abiotic stress factors give rise to decrease in yield. That is why improvement of new cultivars resistant to stress factors by conventional and biotechnological methods is extremely important. The most important factor in production increase is the use of healthy seed tubers along with using drought-, heat-, and salt-tolerant cultivars. On the other hand, protection and storage of surplus crops, which are the most important stage in its marketability, are the main problems in potato. In this book, all these issues are discussed, and it is hoped that the book Potato will help growers and researchers in solving problems in potato cultivation.

Pelvic floor disorders, which include urinary and fecal incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, are highly prevalent conditions in women. In the United States alone, this affects almost 25% of women. These disorders often affect women's daily life activities, their sexual function, their ability to exercise, and their social and psychological life. Pelvic floor disorders are usually diagnosed clinically, but in complicated cases, pelvic imaging and electromyographic studies may be required. This book attempts to discuss the pathophysiology of pelvic floor disorders, its treatment by the use of a new synthetic material, and treatment for recurrent POP. Although there are many books available on this topic, it includes some of the original research work and surgical innovation. We would like to acknowledge all the authors for their hard work in completing this book.

The idea of information on research and development carried out on bamboo has emerged with the paradigm shift in the area of utilization of natural fibres in various industries. Technological advancements in bamboo sustenance have involved chemical and physical modification that has led to products of high-performance index. This book provides the latest research developments in many aspects of bamboo process, manufacture and commercialization potential. Apart from the interest to facilitate a complete assessment of bamboo as well as assist readers in achieving their goals, this book is intended to be of value to both fundamental research and also to practicing scientists and will serve as a useful reference for researchers, agricultural practitioners and organizations involved in the bamboo-based industry.

The present book offers an overall up-to-date overview of the biological diversity, comprising many interesting chapters focussing on the different aspects of biodiversity. Most of the chapters include findings of investigations and observations on biodiversity, whilst a few are based on statistically and theoretically derived information. The book produced sufficient information on the occurrence and distribution of many plant and animal species or groups of organisms with environmental estimates from a wide variety of interesting terrestrial and aquatic habitats. With 18 interesting and elaborately prepared chapters, the present book would definitely be an ideal source of scientific information to the advanced students, junior researchers, scientists and a portion of the public involved in ecology and other research areas involving biodiversity studies. It will also help to the development of the growing awareness of the close linkage between the conversation of biodiversity and economic development.

Today, Global Positioning System (GPS) has taken a significant place in human life with wide-scale applications. It is a multi-use, space-based radio-navigation system, embracing defense and security, civil, commercial, and scientific research needs. Taking into account the importance of the system, it has been suggested to present current advances of GPS with attention focused on vital aspects of technology. This book provides a general description of GPS, GNSS, and GLONASS with reference to the improvement of characteristics of the segments, including software applications and the equipment itself containing GPS. The book also provides information on application areas. Equally, a number of common shortcomings and errors are described, and elimination and mnimization of such consequences are demonstrated.

Nowadays, mobile communication services are penetrating into our society at an explosive growth rate. Applications in mobile devices offer limitations, restriction, and guidelines on how mobile software can be used in order to simplify the mobile usage. As smart phones and tablets are becoming the daily computing device of choice for young ages, it is expected that mobile applications and services should be as flexible, high quality, and secure as the desktop systems. In this book, latest trends in mobile computing will be discussed. In the first section, cloud computing topics will be discussed widely into four chapters to give information to the reader about topics such as challenges, services, edge computing, and distributed clouds needed to integrate this promising issue into the next generation.

This book arose from the combination of diverse areas of knowledge, experience, research, and points of view that try to demonstrate that mycobacteria are a complex science and very relevant to scientific studies that affect the human being in the world. Sophisticated techniques for improving human health do not guarantee that the "battle" against mycobacteria has been won, since tuberculosis, mycobacteriosis, and leprosy are a daily challenge in the world. The book includes contributions made by prestigious experts and research groups in different areas of mycobacteria, and they have contributed new perspectives of their area giving a comprehensive, important, and fascinating emphasis of this field that continues to offer challenges that lead various disciplines to understand their biology and pathogenicity. It is hoped that these chapters will be very useful for learning and discussion.

This book covers some of the most recent advances in the field of superfluids and superconductors. More specifically, it presents some of the most advanced theoretical formulations of superfluidity and superconductivity with special regard to their topological properties and vortex dynamics together with a description of the main experiments carried out via experimental techniques at the forefront to study these two such important phenomena in condensed matter physics. Special emphasis is given to ultracold Fermi gases, to clean liquid helium and to vortex membranes and knots for the class of superfluids and to the emerging superconductivity, to intermediate states in type-I superconductors, and to heat treatments to modulate the critical temperature for the class of superconductors.

This book Clinical Trials in Vulnerable Populations has 12 chapters divided into 4 sections: Minority Patients, Women, Medically Compromised Patients and Clinical Trials. Contributing authors came from several countries, from Serbia to Turkey. The book was edited by Professor Milica Prostran MD, Ph.D., specialist in Clinical Pharmacology. The potential reader is shown a modern approach to clinical trials in vulnerable populations, from different points of view. The chapters deal at length and clarity with their topics. Finally, I believe, that this book I edited and reviewed with dedication will capture the attention of many readers, from medical students to practicing doctors and pharmacists. All of whom must consider this very important field of medicine: clinical trials in vulnerable patients.

Excessive utilization of power electronic devices and the increasing integration of renewable energy resources with their inverter-based interfaces into distribution systems have brought different power quality problems in these systems. There is no doubt that the transition from traditional centralized power systems to future decentralized smart grid necessities is paying much attention to power quality knowledge to realize better system reliability and performance to be ready for the big change in the coming years of accommodating thousands of decentralized generation units. This book aims to present harmonic modeling, analysis, and mitigation techniques for modern power systems. It is a tool for the practicing engineers of electrical power systems that are concerned with the power system harmonics. Likewise, it is a key resource for academics and researchers who have some background in electrical power systems.

The book Ligand describes the diversity and versatility of ligands, covering structural features, donor-acceptor properties and secondary functions like molecular recognition. Moreover, this book also provides a comprehensive account on the applicability like catalysis, sensors, supramolecular assembly, photochemical property, bioinorganic chemistry, and so on. The advancement of fundamentals in ligand design and the control of physicochemical properties of coordination compounds has largely increased emphasis on understanding the structural and electronic features toward different perspectives in materials science. In this regard, this book has a special appeal to chemists, biologists and others. This book will be beneficial for the graduate students, teachers, researchers and other professionals who are interested to fortify and expand their knowledge in chemistry, biology, microbiology, biotechnology, materials science, environmental science and so on.

Pathophysiology is the convergence of pathology (the discipline of observed changes in a diseased state) with physiology (the mechanisms of systems operation). It represents the functional changes that occur because of injury or disease. This volume provides state-of-the-art up-to-date literature reviews on pathophysiological processes in a number of disease states. The book is organised methodically in a head-to-toe systems approach examining aspects of neuropathophysiology, endocrine pathophysiology, structural biology, renal pathophysiology and genitourinary pathophysiology. This short volume on pathophysiology is intended for general medical and biomedical students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In addition, it is a useful short update of recent advances in research and translational biology to those working in academia or healthcare science.

The world has recorded losses in terms of human life as well as extensive time spent in experimentation with development of new drugs, elucidation of disease mechanism(s), and therapeutic agent discovery. Ethical and legal issues cojoin in slowing down scientific discoveries in medicine and biology. The past two (2) decades, therefore, have seen tremendous attempts that largely are successful in developing animal models with the characteristics of mimicking, approximating, or expressing transplanted human organs/tissues. These models or rather approaches seem to be fast, cost-effective, and easy to maintain compared to primates. This book is a collection of expert essays on animal models of human diseases of global interest. A visible objective of the book is to provide real-time experimental approach to scientists, clinicians, ethicists, medicolegal/medical jurisprudence workers, immunologists, postgraduate students, and vaccinologists and informative and multidisciplinary approach for the identification of new therapeutic targets and biomarkers using animal models as well as investigating the pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies of human diseases. An increased understanding of the genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms responsible for the development of human diseases has laid out the foundation for the development of rational therapies mainly with animal models.

Spermatozoa, the haploid male gametes, are highly specialized cells capable to fertilize eggs in order to produce diploid zygote. The biogenesis of spermatozoa requires finely modulated occurrence of mitotic, meiotic, and differentiation events. Hence, the production of high-quality spermatozoa impacts fertilization with outcomes on the health of the offspring. This book provides a comprehensive overview on the biogenesis, maturation, functions and activities of spermatozoa in both physiological conditions and infertility. Particular attention has been addressed to the impact of environment on sperm quality and to the appropriate selection of high-quality spermatozoa for in vitro fertilization. Taken together, this book targets a wide audience of basic and clinical scientists, teachers and students, and offers a better understanding of spermatozoa health and disease.

State-of-the-Art Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Knowhow is a compilation of recent advancements in digital technologies embracing a wide arena of disciplines. Amazingly, this book presents less business cases of these emerging technologies, but rather showcases the scientific use of VR/AR in healthcare, building industry and education. VR and AR are known to be resource intensive, namely, in terms of hardware and wearables - this is covered in a chapter on head-mounted display (HMD). The research work presented in this book is of excellent standard presented in a very pragmatic way; readers will appreciate the depth and breadth of the methodologies and discussions about the findings. We hope it serves as a springboard for future research and development in VR/AR and stands as a lighthouse for the scientific community.

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is considered one of the major bioenergy crops grown globally. Thus, sugarcane research to improve sustainable production worldwide is a vital task of the scientific community, to address the increasing demands and needs for their products, especially biofuels. In this context, this book covers the most recent research areas related to sugarcane production and its applications. It is composed of 14 chapters, divided into 5 sections that highlight fundamental insights into the current research and technology on this crop. Sugarcane: Technology and Research intends to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview in technology, production, and applied and basic research of this bioenergy species, approaching the latest developments on varied topics related to this crop.

This book presents a compilation of topics related to primary total knee arthroplasty. The chapters cover, in a clear and didactic way, the current themes, written by experts from the area, from different parts of the world. Topics related to the three surgical phases (before surgery, during surgery, and after surgery) are discussed here. This is very important because the surgeon is not a "factory worker." First of all, it is a medicine doctor who has to feel and understand the particularities of each patient. Demographic studies show an aging population. Osteoarthritis and inflammatory diseases are becoming much more prevalent. In addition, a worldwide epidemic of trauma has led to the need for arthroplasties much more frequently. Therefore, total knee arthroplasty will be an increasingly important subject.

This book entitled Cervical Cancer - Screening, Treatment and Prevention Universal Protocols for Ultimate Control is the fourth successful endeavor of the Editor with InTech publisher. The four books serve as four pillars in cervical cancer control, globally. This book is unique and sensational. Public health "topics" are assuming a status of "phenomenon," through deliberations and research. Screening is riddled with global limitations of availability, affordability, acceptability, and accessibility. The treatment of precancers has questionable efficiency. Prevention is costly with the inclusion of HPV vaccine. This book helps to find the solutions. The authors, editor, and InTech publisher wish the readers a pleasant and purposeful reading. This book is a "readers' feast," "receivers' choice," and "respondents' delight." Enjoy and treasure the international facts and flavors.

The aim of this book is to give readers a broad review of burn injuries, which may affect people from birth to death and can lead to high morbidity and mortality. The book consists of four sections and seven chapters. The first section consists of the introductory review chapter, which overviews the burn injuries. The second section includes chapter "Burn Etiology and Pathogenesis," which focuses on burn injuries and clinical findings. The third section consists of chapter "Controlling Inflammation in Burn Injury" and is devoted to the role of inflammatory response, which is fundamental to the healing process, while a prolonged inflammation may lead to scarring and fibrosis. The fourth section consists of four chapters as follows: "Therapeutic Effects of Conservative Treatments on Burn Scars," "Herbal Therapy for Burns and Burn Scars," "Platelet-Rich Plasma in Burn Treatment," and "Surgical Treatment of Burn Scars." The book is easy to read and includes hot topics on burn injury to enhance the reader's understanding and knowledge.

Climate change is a serious problem influencing agricultural production worldwide and challenging researchers to investigate plant responses and to breed crops for the changed growing conditions. Abiotic stresses are the most important for crop production, affecting about 96.5% of arable land worldwide. These stress factors include high and low temperature, water deficit (drought) and flooding, salinity, heavy metals, UV radiation, light, chemical pollutants, and so on. Since some of the stresses occurred simultaneously, such as heat and water deficit, causing the interactions of physiological processes, novel multidisciplinary solutions are needed. This book provides an overview of the present state in the research of abiotic stresses and molecular, biochemical, and whole plant responses, helping to prevent the negative impact of global climate change.

The ability to quantify residual stresses induced by welding processes through experimentation or numerical simulation has become, today more than ever, of strategic importance in the context of their application to advanced design. This is an ongoing challenge that commenced many years ago. Recent design criteria endeavour to quantify the effect of residual stresses on fatigue strength of welded joints to allow a more efficient use of materials and a greater reliability of welded structures. The aim of the present book is contributing to these aspects of design through a collection of case-studies that illustrate both standard and advanced experimental and numerical methodologies used to assess the residual stress field in welded joints. The work is intended to be of assistance to designers, industrial engineers and academics who want to deepen their knowledge of this challenging topic.

With international experts sharing their experience and knowledge on these different aspects in the management of colorectal cancer, this book has this opportunity to offer all physicians treating colorectal cancer, as well as researchers, updated information concerning the biology, diagnosis, screening, and treatment of colorectal carcinoma. This book provides a detailed evaluation of diagnostic modalities, in-depth analysis of screening for colorectal cancer, recent advances in treatment, and principles and trends in the management of colorectal cancer. This updated knowledge will be an interesting and informative read for any clinician involved in the management of patients with colorectal cancer. In addition, readers such as related physicians, researchers, and colorectal cancer patients are potential beneficiaries of this book.