Biodesign in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Deep Green investigates the potential of nature based technology for shaping the evolution of contemporary architecture and design. It takes on the now pervasive topic of design intelligence, extending its definition to encompass both biological and digital realms. As in their first title, Systemic Architecture: Operating Manual for the Self Organizing City, the authors engage the topic through the specific lens of their innovative design practice, ecoLogicStudio and their research at the University of Innsbruck and at the Bartlett, UCL. Part One of the book, entitled PhotoSynthetica (TM), illustrates design solutions that engage the urban microbiome and seek to achieve an immediate impact, while Part Two, entitled Deep Green, includes synthetic landscapes and operates within a much larger spatio-temporal frame, going beyond human perception and life span to envision design as a geographical and geological force. In the age of catastrophic climate change, such perceptual expansion helps to clarify that change cannot simply be stopped or rolled back. We must instead establish more positive dynamics of change within the living world. To this end, this book proposes to engage with design and architecture as an extended cognitive interface, a sentient being that is co-evolutionary and symbiotic with the living planet, contributing to its beauty and to our continued enjoyment of it.

This work is a taxonomical, nomenclatural and historical account of the plants depicted in the Minickx Atlas and in the books by Jan and Casper Commelin.

Plants often encounter abiotic stresses including drought, salinity, flooding, high/low temperatures, and metal toxicity, among others. The majority of these stresses occur simultaneously and thus limit crop production. Therefore, the need of the hour is to improve the abiotic stresses tolerance of crop plants by integrating physiology, omics, and modern breeding approaches. This book covers various aspects including (1) abiotic stress responses in plants and progress made so far in the allied areas for trait improvements, (2) integrates knowledge gained from basic physiology to advanced omics tools to assist new breeding technologies, and (3) discusses key genes, proteins, and metabolites or pathways for developing new crop varieties with improved tolerance traits.

Plants often encounter abiotic stresses including drought, salinity, flooding, high/low temperatures, and metal toxicity, among others. The majority of these stresses occur simultaneously and thus limit crop production. Therefore, the need of the hour is to improve the abiotic stresses tolerance of crop plants by integrating physiology, omics, and modern breeding approaches. This book covers various aspects including (1) abiotic stress responses in plants and progress made so far in the allied areas for trait improvements, (2) integrates knowledge gained from basic physiology to advanced omics tools to assist new breeding technologies, and (3) discusses key genes, proteins, and metabolites or pathways for developing new crop varieties with improved tolerance traits.

"Algae are mysterious and fascinating organisms that hold great potential for discovery and biotechnology." -Dr. Thierry Tonon, Department of Biology, University of York "Science is a beautiful gift to humanity; we should not distort it." -A.P.J. Abdul Kalam In this book, we emphasize the importance of algal biotechnology as a sustainable platform to replace the conventional fossil-based economy. With this focus, Volume 2 summarizes the up-to-date literature and knowledge and discusses the advances in algal cultivation, genetic improvement, wastewater treatment, resource recovery, commercial operation, and technoeconomic analysis of algal biotechnology. FEATURES Discusses in detail recent developments in algae cultivation and biomass harvesting Provides an overview of genetic engineering and algal-bacteria consortia to improve productivity Presents applications of algae in the area of wastewater treatment and resource recovery Provides case studies and technoeconomic analysis to understand the algal biorefinery Shashi Kant Bhatia, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea. Sanjeet Mehariya, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Chemistry, Umea University, Umea, Sweden. Obulisamy Parthiba Karthikeyan, PhD, is a Research Scientist and Lecturer (Adjunct) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota, USA.

In this book we present recent studies that have been carried out on some widely used medicinal plants. The need for new and alternative treatments stem from the lack of efficiency of existing remedies for certain illnesses. We have compiled information that may be useful to researchers in their quest to develop new drugs.

Provides new insights into the persistent species "problem." Focuses on conceptual history and identifies pivotal landmarks in the history of the concept of species Argues for a scientific consistency of species pluralism. Discusses the "evolving species-hood" in the context of new essentialism.

For many centuries, fenugreek has been one of the most popular spices and vegetables serving as an integral part of culinary practices across many cultures. Fenugreek contains exceptional nutritional and medicinal properties, but scientific evidence for its potential health benefits has been considerably understudied and is beginning to grow. This book is a comprehensive compilation and documentation on the scientific profile of fenugreek and its phytoconstituents, including their most known applications and health benefits. It features a wide range of chapters written by highly experienced academics and industrial professionals. Topics cover applications of fenugreek including information on nutrition, fitness supplements, functional food, and excipients of novel drug delivery systems. In addition, it features topics on related products in the areas of nutraceuticals, functional food preparations, and complementary medicines. Features: * Comprehensive review of traditional wisdom and modern scientific evidence on fenugreek * Presents scientific evidence of fenugreek as an ingredient for product development formulation * Contains information on extraction methods, risk assessment, claim validations, and the regulatory status of fenugreek-based products * Covers broad physiological benefits of fenugreek in management of diabetes mellitus, primary hyperlipidemia, inflammation and pain, neuropathy and neuroinflammation, neurological and psychological disorders, kidney and lung disorders, as well as immunological, infectious, and malignant disorders * Enhances awareness of existing scientific knowledge surrounding fenugreek, whilst encouraging future scientific research towards better and safer nutritional and medicinal applications This book is a valuable resource of information on fenugreek for researchers, students, nutritionists, sport medicine practitioners, fitness enthusiasts and trainers, naturopaths, traditional practitioners, and toxicologists. This book helps industries in the fields of nutraceuticals, fitness and sports medicine products to develop their future products. However, this book is not a substitute for medical advice or recommendations.

Focuses on cotton breeding and biotechnology Proposes ideas, data, and strategies to mount breeding programs for enhancing cotton production Details strategies for cotton quality improvement against abiotic and biotic stresses

Microbial biofilms have both positive and negative effects. This book considers new ways of controlling environmental microbial biofilm such as using phages, nanotechnology, and newly discovered microbial enzymes. A team of contributors shares current, relevant and original research to add weight and recognition to the book. Also, each chapter provides enlightening and relevant tabular information, charts, and illustrations. The book is, therefore, informative, precise, useful and easily digested by users.

Biofuels and Rural Poverty makes an original contribution to the current controversial global debate on biofuels, in particular the consequences that large-scale production of transport fuel substitutes can have on rural areas, principally in developing countries but also in some poor rural areas of developed countries.

Three key concerns are examined from a North-South perspective: ecological issues (related to land use and biodiversity), pro-poor policies (related to food and land security, gender and income generation) and equity of benefits within the global value chain. Can biofuels be pro-poor? Can smallholder farmers be equitably integrated in the biofuels global supply chain? Is the biofuels production chain detrimental to biodiversity?

Most other books available on biofuels take a technical approach and are aimed at addressing energy security or climate change issues. This title focuses on the socio-economic impacts on rural people's livelihoods, offering a unique perspective on the potential role of biofuels in reducing rural poverty.

Doing English Language provides a concise, lively and accessible introduction to the field of English Language studies for readers who are interested in taking courses at university level. This book addresses the fundamental questions about studying English Language, including: How is English Language studied and researched? Which subject areas does English Language draw on? How are different topics approached? How is the study of English Language relevant to real world contexts? What careers can English Language lead to? Written by an experienced teacher, researcher, and examiner, Doing English Language is both an essential guide for students at pre-university stage and a course companion for undergraduates choosing options within a degree programme.

Calcium Transport Elements in Plants discusses the role of calcium in plant development and stress signaling, the mechanism of Ca2+ homeostasis across plant membranes, and the evolution of Ca2+/cation antiporter (CaCA) superfamily proteins. Additional sections cover genome-wide analysis of Annexins and their roles in plants, the roles of calmodulin in abiotic stress responses, calcium transport in relation to plant nutrition/biofortification, and much more. Written by leading experts in the field, this title is an essential resource for students and researchers that need all of the information on calcium transport elements in one place. Calcium transport elements are involved in various structural, physiological and biochemical processes or signal transduction pathways in response to various abiotic and biotic stimuli. Development of high throughput sequencing technology has favored the identification and characterization of numerous gene families in plants in recent years, including the calcium transport elements.

The theories of evolution are themselves evolving with new findings and changes in the fundamental underlying concepts. It is true that today's theory, which goes back to Darwin, is persistently successful. But there remain many unanswered questions. Increasingly strong calls are emerging to expand synthetic evolutionary theory comprehensively. Scientific findings of the last decades require continuous rethinking and integration of new data and concepts into the theory of evolution. This comprehensibly written and excellently researched book provides the exciting new insights on constantly transforming view of evolutionary theory using fascinating new examples from evolutionary biology. Key Features Comprehensively reviews the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis Understandably written for a broad audience Includes interviews with world-leading evolutionary biologists Outlines the historical outline of evolutionary theory with explanations of the open, unanswered questions Explains concepts with powerful illustrations

From the animal world to the forces that make things go, young minds have big questions about how the world works. The answers to these questions wait in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Unlock the world around you with STEM and Me.

The growth of human population has increased the demand for improved yield and quality of crops and horticultural plants. However, plant productivity continues to be threatened by stresses such as heat, cold, drought, heavy metals, UV radiations, bacterial and fungal pathogens, and insect pests. Long noncoding RNAs are associated with various developmental pathways, regulatory systems, abiotic and biotic stress responses and signaling, and can provide an alternative strategy for stress management in plants. Long Noncoding RNAs in Plants: Roles in development and stress provides the most recent advances in LncRNAs, including identification, characterization, and their potential applications and uses. Introductory chapters include the basic features and brief history of development of lncRNAs studies in plants. The book then provides the knowledge about the lncRNAs in various important agricultural and horticultural crops such as cereals, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and fiber crop cotton, and their roles and applications in abiotic and biotic stress management.

While there are a few plant cell biology books that are currently available, these are expensive, methods-oriented monographs. The present volume is a textbook for "upper" undergraduate and beginning graduate students." This textbook stresses concepts and is inquiry-oriented. To this end, there is extensive use of original research literature. As we live in an era of literature explosion, one must be selective. These judgements will naturally vary with each investigator. Input was sought from colleagues in deciding the literature to include. In addition to provision of select research literature, this volume presents citations and summaries of certain laboratory methods. In this connection, the textbook stresses quantitative data to enhance the student?s analytical abilities. Thus the volume contains computer-spread sheets and references to statistical packages, e.g. Harvard Graphics and Statistica.

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.

This study presents an systematic approach to water quality assessment, hybrid modelling and decision support for eutrophication management in deep reservoirs. It is found that during the summer monsoon the catchment runoff into the Yongdam reservoir induces a trandsfer of pollutants from a middle stratified layer to the surface layer. Although the transport mechanism limits nutrient accumulation on the bottom of the reservoir, it also offers an opportunity for on-going algae production in the surface water. Physically based modelling is used to understand the process of micro-scale turbulent mixing and its impact on the nutrient uptake by algae. Further, a data-driven model using clustering and partial least squares regression which uses results from a physically based model of the reservoir successfully predicts Chlorophyll-a concentrations.

'Biopiracy' refers either to the unauthorized extraction of biological resources, such as plants with medicinal properties, and associated traditional knowledge from indigenous peoples and local communities, or to the patenting of spurious 'inventions' based on such knowledge or resources without compensation. Biopiracy cases continue to emerge in the media and public eye, yet they remain the source of considerable disagreement, confusion, controversy and grief. The aim of this book is to provide the most detailed, coherent analysis of the issue of biopiracy to date.

The book synthesizes the rise of the issue and increasing use of the term by activists and negotiators in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to form a critical understanding of the themes, implications and politics of biopiracy. Taking a case-study based approach, derived from interviews and fieldwork with researchers, government, industry, local farmers, healers and indigenous people, the author sequentially documents events that have occurred in biopiracy and bioprospecting controversies. Implications and ethical dilemmas are explored, particularly relating to work with local communities, and the power relations entailed. Detailing international debates from the WTO, CBD and other fora in an accessible manner, the book provides a unique overview of current institutional limitations and suggests ways forward. Options and solutions are suggested which are relevant for local communities, national governments, international negotiators, NGO and interest groups, researchers and industry.

This volume reviews the historical roots and theoretical foundations of biological systematics in an approachable text. The author outlines the structure and main tasks of systematics. Conceptual history is characterized as a succession of scientific revolutions. The philosophical foundations of systematic research are briefly reviewed as well as the structure and content of taxonomic theories. Most important research programs in systematics are outlined. The book includes analysis of the principal problematic issues as "scientific puzzles" in systematics. This volume is intended for professional taxonomists, biologists of various specialties, students, as well as all those interested in the history and theory of biology and natural sciences. Key Features Considers the conceptual history of systematics as the framework of evolutionary epistemology Builds a hierarchically organized quasi-axiomatic system of taxonomic theory Contends that more reductionist taxonomic concepts are less objective Supports taxonomic pluralism by non-classic philosophy of science as a normal condition of systematics Documents that "taxonomic puzzles" result from conflict between monistic and pluralistic attitudes Related Titles de Queiroz, K. et al., eds. Phylonyms: A Companion to the PhyloCode (ISBN 978-1-1383-3293-5) Sigwart, J. D. What Species Mean: A User's Guide to the Units of Biodiversity (ISBN 978-1-4987-9937-9) Rieppel, O. Phylogenetic Systematics: Haeckel to Hennig (ISBN 978-1-4987-5488-0) Wilkins, J. S. Species: The Evolution of the Idea, 2nd ed. (ISBN 978-1-1380-5574-2)

The instant New York Times bestseller | A Washington Post Notable Book | One of NPR's Best Books of the Year "Expert storytelling . . . [Pollan] masterfully elevates a series of big questions about drugs, plants and humans that are likely to leave readers thinking in new ways." -New York Times Book Review From #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Pollan, a radical challenge to how we think about drugs, and an exploration into the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants-and the equally powerful taboos. Of all the things humans rely on plants for-sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber-surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable. So, then, what is a "drug"? And why, for example, is making tea from the leaves of a tea plant acceptable, but making tea from a seed head of an opium poppy a federal crime? In This Is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan dives deep into three plant drugs-opium, caffeine, and mescaline-and throws the fundamental strangeness, and arbitrariness, of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs while consuming (or, in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants. Why do we go to such great lengths to seek these shifts in consciousness, and then why do we fence that universal desire with laws and customs and fraught feelings? In this unique blend of history, science, and memoir, as well as participatory journalism, Pollan examines and experiences these plants from several very different angles and contexts, and shines a fresh light on a subject that is all too often treated reductively-as a drug, whether licit or illicit. But that is one of the least interesting things you can say about these plants, Pollan shows, for when we take them into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways we can. Based in part on an essay published almost twenty-five years ago, this groundbreaking and singular consideration of psychoactive plants, and our attraction to them through time, holds up a mirror to our fundamental human needs and aspirations, the operations of our minds, and our entanglement with the natural world.

This technical and well-illustrated guide for archaeologists and conservators aims to 'provide a methodology for the identification of the woody taxa used to manufacture artefacts recovered from archaeological excavations', to provide the anatomical descriptions of the taxa and to present a list of characters of the taxa. The guide is heavily illustrated with photographs, maps, and tables to allow easy identification.

Camptothecin and Camptothecin Producing Plants: Botany, Chemistry, Anticancer Activity and Biotechnology provides updated information on camptothecin yielding plants, chemical diversity of camptothecin, extraction and exploitation methods, biosynthesis, biotechnological production and enhancement for drug delivery, and the pharmacological properties of the drugs. The book focuses on camptothecin anticancer properties based on recent developments of biotechnology. Topics emphasize anticancer activities, biosynthesis, potent derivatives currently undergoing experimental phases, and biotechnological methods to enhance the production. This book is a valuable source for cancer researchers, oncologists, biotechnologists, pharmacologists and members of the biomedical field who are interested in camptothecin and its applicability in cancer treatment.