This up-to-date reference book compiles the recent developments, innovations, and perspectives on second and third-generation bioplastics. It discusses the main commercialized bioplastics, such as polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). Chapters include the use of alternative raw materials and innovations in bioplastic production processes to reduce costs and decrease environmental impacts. It covers bioplastic production from lignocellulosic biomass, sugars, or oils produced by microbes and municipal waste material. It also includes techno-economic aspects. The book is meant for researchers and industry experts in biotechnology, environmental sciences, and applied microbiology.

During recent decades, tremendous progress and innovations have been made in rice science with the goal of increasing production to meet the world's growing demands. This new volume provides a concise overview of rice, covering the background and importance of rice; origin, evolution, and domestication of rice; and the world rice production. It goes on to provide new and important recent research advances on many different aspects of rice science and production. The authors look at advances in rice ideotypes, abiotic stress management techniques, biotic stress affecting crop productivity, new methods and technology for cultivation, and new methods and techniques in rice grain quality analysis and processing. It also describes new rice varieties, new hybrid rice technology, and new breeding methods for rice.

This study evaluates the state-initiated policies in post-1965 Zaire and their impact on the Zairean people. The author ascertains the overt and underlying relevancy of the priority that the state has accorded the agricultural and rural sector for socioeconomic development, and he examines the indicators provided by conventional agricultural and rural development theories. These indicators show that the sector has not received sufficient financial support and has lacked the political will to obtain the assigned goals. Thus, the author claims, the basic objective of the agricultural and rural policy has been political, not socioeconomic. The failure of the agricultural policy, the study suggests, is rooted in the nature and role of the state. In post-1965 Zaire, the state is a socialist political superstructure standing on a capitalist socioeconomic infrastructure. Both coexist with the traditional forms of production in the Zairean social structure. This incompatible juxtaposition of different systemic components engenders structural conflicts which work in favor of the few who hold key state offices. The study calls for the mastery of the state as the sine qua non without which Zaire will most likely remain in its present state of national and rural socioeconomic underdevelopment.

This book discusses how to use the wastewaters, liquid biowastes and soils unfit for agriculture to economically viable aquaculture practices; and putting the emphasis on, aquaculture posology, the science of quantification and administration of doses in aquatic health and aquaculture management. Broadly, aquaculture practices come across three types of problems each; in the context of water quality, and fin fish and shell fish diseases; and preventive, curative and noncurative diseases in fin fish and shell fish. Note: T&F does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives is an award-winning and groundbreaking exploration of the fundamental elements of the taxonomy, systematics, physiology, and ecology of sharks, skates, rays, and chimera. This edition presents current research as well as traditional models, to provide future researchers with solid historical foundations in shark research as well as presenting current trends from which to develop new frontiers in their own work. Traditional areas of study such as age and growth, reproduction, taxonomy and systematics, sensory biology, and ecology are updated with contemporary research that incorporates emerging techniques including molecular genetics, exploratory techniques in artificial insemination, and the rapidly expanding fields of satellite tracking, remote sensing, accelerometry, and imaging. With two new editors and 90 contributors from the US, UK, South Africa, Portugal, France, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, India, Palau, United Arab Emirates, Micronesia, Sweden, Argentina, Indonesia, Cameroon, and the Netherlands, this third edition is the most global and comprehensive yet. It adds six new chapters representing extensive studies of health, stress, disease and pathology, and social structure, and continues to explore elasmobranch ecological roles and interactions with their habitats. The book concludes with a comprehensive review of conservation policies, management, and strategies, as well as consideration of the potential effects of impending climate change. Presenting cohesive and integrated coverage of key topics and discussing technological advances used in modern shark research, this revised edition offers a well-rounded picture for students and researchers.

Now in its second edition, Agriculture in World History presents a unique exploration of farmers and farming, and their relationships to non-farmers and urban societies from the ancient world to the 21st century. From its origins, civilization has depended on the food, fiber, and other goods produced by farmers. This book illustrates how urban societies both exploited and supported farmers, and together endured economic and environmental crises. Viewing farmers as the crucial interface between civilization and the natural world, Mark Tauger examines the environmental changes, political and social transformations, and scientific and technological developments in farming. The second edition draws attention to the modern period, particularly the effects of war, depression, and authoritarianism on world agriculture, scientific advances and the problems they created, increased international competition between countries with the expanding role of corporations, the threats posed by climate change, and some of agriculture's future prospects. Accessibly written and following a chronological structure, the volume enables readers to easily gain a foundational understanding of an important aspect of world history. This survey will be an indispensable text for world history students and for anyone interested in the historical development of the present agricultural and food crises.

Written by one of the leading figures in biosocial criminology and evolutionary psychology, this work explores the tight relationship between criminality and indiscriminate sexuality within the framework of life history theory. The underlying thesis is that traits associated with a strong libido, indiscriminately expressed, are intertwined with traits associated with criminal behavior; that is, excessive interest in sexual adventures pursued in an irresponsible way is undergirded by the same individual short-run hedonistic traits that define criminality. While traditional criminology tends to view sexual and criminal behavior as separate domains, many biosocial criminologists, evolutionary psychologists, neuroscientists, and behavioral and molecular geneticists are not at all surprised that a link exists between criminality and sexuality. Research shows that the statistical relationship between indiscriminate sexuality and criminal behavior is stronger than for most other variables associated with crime, although most studies dealing with this relationship are from outside the dominant environmentalism paradigm of criminology. Using life history theory as the theoretical umbrella for exploring the relationship between indiscriminate sexuality and criminal behavior, the book explores how and why criminal behavior is related to hypersexuality. Life history theory, which has a long and fruitful history of use among evolutionary biologists who use it to investigate the relationship between mating strategies and the environment among various species of animals (including humans) is particularly suited to understanding how an exclusive focus on mating effort is related to criminal behavior. This book will be of interest to scholars and students in criminology, psychology, and sociology, and anyone interested in examining the interconnection between biological, psychological, and socio-environmental factors in relation to criminal behavior.

Today, 20 percent of the global food supply relies on urban agriculture: social-ecological systems shaped by both human and non-human interactions. This book shows how urban agroecologists measure flora and fauna that underpin the ecological dynamics of these systems, and how people manage and benefit from these systems. It explains how the sociopolitical landscape in which these systems are embedded can in turn shape the social, ecological, political, and economic dynamics within them. Synthesizing interdisciplinary approaches in urban agroecology in the natural and social sciences, the book explores methodologies and new directions in research that can be adopted by scholars and practitioners alike. With contributions from researchers utilizing both social and natural science approaches, Urban Agroecology describes the current social-environmental understandings of the science, the movement and the practices in urban agroecology. By investigating the role of agroecology in cities, the book calls for the creation of spaces for food to be sustainably grown in urban spaces: an Urban Agriculture (UA) movement. Essential reading for graduate students, practitioners, policy makers and researchers, this book charts the course for accelerating this movement.

Jointly published with INRA, Paris.
What will people eat in the future and how can the food requirements in terms of quantity and quality be met? This EU-based study elucidates the need for a productivity level that will make agriculture competitive on the market and yet is reconciled with the need to manage natural resources and lands wisely. In this book the necessary changes for European agriculture from the biological, medical, economic and political perspective are discussed.

Identifies and describes the types of animal abuse crime scenes—including the different types of physical evidence to collect, log, and package, while maintaining chain of custody Explains the Fourth Amendment and outlines the legal issues surrounding the search and seizure of physical evidence at crime scenes Details appropriate crime scene documentation—written notes, sketches, photographs, and videography—and how to avoid potential sources of contamination at crime scenes Examines the role of the forensic veterinarian in animal abuse investigations

Agriculture is one of the oldest and most global human enterprises, and as the world struggles with sustainable practices and policies, agricultural chemistry has a clear role to play. This book highlights the ways in which science in agriculture is helping to achieve global sustainability in the 21st century, and demonstrates that this science can and should be a leading contributor in discussion on environmental science and chemistry. The four drivers of this subject are presented, those being economic, environmental, regulatory and scientific, and help showcase agricultural chemistry as a dynamic subject that is contributing to this necessity of global sustainability in the 21st century.

Nanomaterials is an encouraging field for scientists and researchers due to its numerous applications in different fields such as medicine, energy, pharmaceutical, environmental science, agricultural food science and technology. Researchers are shifting towards the synthesis of nanoparticles using various plant systems.

Originally published in 1990, this volume discusses the broad theme of rural restructuring looking at the nature of rural related responses to global processes of change. This book provides global viewpoints which show readers a more integral and critical analysis on rural areas based on the changing realities of the 1990s.

Originally published in 1990, this volume addresses issues surrounding global ecological changes and sustainability of present patterns of urbanisation and industrialisation. The book discusses these problems and other issues such as how rural environments in many developed and developing countries have been transformed by a technological revolution. Looking at a diverse range of topics from climate change to slurry pollution and the destruction of genetic resources to the risks of biotechnology, this volume addresses these issues which concern the dynamics and social relations of technological change in rural areas.

Originally published in 1992, the volume shows through the lens of labour processes how global forces are played out at the local level. A range of important issues is addressed, including the commoditization and transformation of rural labour, and the role played by state policy in restructuring rural labour markets.

Originally published in 1994, this volume brings together a set of essays reflecting the complex political, social and institutional problems encountered by modern states in seeking to manage their agricultural sectors. Drawing on different national and international viewpoints, the essays present original analyses of agricultural regulation in a comparative context. The aspects covered include the roots of the post-war food order; the roles of corporatism, agribusiness and technological change, the challenge of de-regulation and environmental reforms, the introduction of market principles and mechanisms into centrally planned economies and the efforts to forge a new order in international trade.

Originally published in 1994, this book brings together papers developing feminist analyses of the rural condition from a wide range of industrialised countries, informed by the national and local cultural constructions of gender and rurality which they interpret. The chapters address the gendered power relations of rural households and agricultural science; women's mobilisation in farming and environmental politics; the intersection of domestic and rural values and practices as they shape gender identities.

Originally published in 1991, this book includes a detailed case study of Kenya’s co-operative movement – one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa. Co-operatives have been given a major role in rural development strategies in both socialist and capitalist states. However in both context the results they have achieved have fallen short of expectations. The book focuses on specific elements of the institutional setting within which agricultural marketing co-operatives operate. Factors like land tenure, market regulations, co-operative legislation and direct development support are discussed and shown to have had dire effects on the managerial behaviour and social impact of the co-operative sector.

Originally published in 1995, Early Creationist Journals is the ninth volume in the Creationism in Twentieth-Century America series, reissued in 2021. The book is a concise primary source collection containing a selection of journal articles from the early twentieth century outlining discoveries in biology, geology, physiology and archaeology and their relation to Christianity. The aim of the journals was to provide a platform for creationists of the 1920s to voice their theories on new science and how more recent discoveries fit within creationist beliefs, including flood theory. These interesting and unique journals will be of interest to academics working in the field of religion and natural history and provide a unique snapshot into the debates between evolutionists and Christianity during a period of great scientific change.

Originally published in 1995, Creation and Evolution in the Early American Scientific Affiliation is the tenth volume in the series, Creationism in Twentieth Century America, reissued in 2021. The volume comprises of original primary sources from the American Science Affiliation, a group formed following an invitation from the president of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, in answer to the perceived need for an academic society for American Evangelical Scientists to explicate the relationship between science and faith. The society confronted the debate between creation and evolution head on, leaving a paper trail documenting their thoughts and struggles. This diverse and expansive collection includes 53 selections that appeared during the organisation’s first two decades and focuses on the encounter between science and American evangelicalism in the twentieth century, in particular the debates surrounding the ever-increasing preference for evolutionary theory. The collection will be of especial interest to natural historians, and theologians as well as academics of philosophy, and history.

Identifying, interpreting, and managing soil constraints are major challenges, especially when multiple constraints occur in the same soil at various depth zones. Although amelioration tools and strategies are available to manage some of these constraints, field adoption of these technologies is a major challenge to the farming community. Soil Constraints and Productivity helps in identifying and understanding soil constraints, focusing on management practices to alleviate problems associated with these restrictions, and their impacts on crop productivity. Soil Constraints and Productivity aims to: * Describe various amendments suitable for mitigating soil constraints * Provide data on cost-benefit analysis of managing soil constraints * Provide case studies of managing soil constraints to increase productivity Soil is essential for the doubling of major grain production proposed to be necessary to avoid major food security collapses in the future. This book will be a key resource for soil and environmental scientists, farmers, students majoring in agricultural and environmental sciences, and crop consultants.

discusses the long evolution of the idea that foreign state and private financing can be used to protect tropical forests and the carbon stored within them, resulting in both local economic development and global climate benefits. links the literature on REDD+ with that covering Indonesias recent democratic regression, highlighting how the countrys environmental performance is inextricably linked to the timbre of its political governance. This book will be of great interests to students and scholars of political ecology, deforestation, climate change, environmental politics, natural resource management and environmental conservation.

Fish Vaccines: Health Management for Sustainable Aquaculture is a timely reference book that highlights the role of vaccination in the fast-growing aquaculture industry. It discusses topics such as vaccine formulation, vaccine delivery and enhancing the immune response of fish using nanoparticles. Information related to vaccine safety, ethical approval and regulations is also discussed, together with dissemination of vaccines to fish farms across the globe. This cutting-edge book presents novel strategies to meet the growing demand for vaccines in finfish aquaculture. The book is useful to students, academics, clinicians, and professionals in the field of fisheries sciences, aquaculture, and veterinary sciences.

Identifies and describes the types of animal abuse crime scenes—including the different types of physical evidence to collect, log, and package, while maintaining chain of custody Explains the Fourth Amendment and outlines the legal issues surrounding the search and seizure of physical evidence at crime scenes Details appropriate crime scene documentation—written notes, sketches, photographs, and videography—and how to avoid potential sources of contamination at crime scenes Examines the role of the forensic veterinarian in animal abuse investigations

This book brings together a unique collection of chapters to facilitate a broad discussion on food education that will stimulate readers to think about key policies, recent research, curriculum positions and how to engage with key stakeholders about the future of food. Food education has gained much attention because the challenges that influence food availability and eating in schools also extend beyond the school gate. Accordingly, this book establishes evidence-based arguments that recognise the many facets of food education, and reveal how learning through a futures' lens and joined-up thinking is critical for shaping intergenerational fairness concerning food futures in education and society. This book is distinctive through its multidisciplinary collection of chapters on food education with a particular focus on the Global North, with case studies from England, Australia, the Republic of Ireland, the United States of America, Canada and Germany. With a focus on three key themes and a rigorous food futures framework, the book is structured into three sections: (i) food education, pedagogy and curriculum (ii) knowledge and skill diversity associated with food and health learning (iii) food education inclusivity, culture and agency. Overall, this volume extends and challenges current research and theory in the area of food education and food pedagogy and offers insight and tangible benefits for the future development of food education policies and curricula. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, policymakers and education leaders working on food education and pedagogy, food policy, health and diet and the sociology of food.