This book examines Ghana's use of the fingerprint biometric technology in order to further conversations about localization championed by technical communication scholars. Localization, in this case, refers to the extent to which users demonstrate their knowledge of use by subverting and reconfiguring the purpose of technology to solve local problems. Dorpenyo argues that the success of a technology depends on how it meets the users' needs and the creative efforts users put into use situations. In User Localization Strategies in the Face of Technological Breakdown, Dorpenyo advocates studying how users of technological systems construct knowledge about the technology and develop local strategies to solve technological breakdowns. By analyzing technical documents and interview transcripts, the author identifies and advances three user localization strategies: linguistic localization, subversive localization, and user-heuristic experience localization, and considers how biometric systems can become a tool of marginalization.

Rapid prototyping is used to design and develop medical devices and instrumentation. This book details research in rapid prototyping of bio-materials for medical applications. It provides a wide variety of examples of medical applications using rapid prototyping, including tissue engineering, dental applications, and bone replacement. Coverage also discusses the emergence of computer aided design in the development of prosthetic devices.

The observation of nature has been the inspiration for many materials, laws, and theories, as well as computational methods. Nature-Inspired computing Design, Development, and Applications covers all the main areas of natural computing, from methods to computationally synthesized natural phenomena, to computing paradigms based on natural materials. This volume is comprised of ideas and research from nature to develop computational systems or materials to perform computation. Researchers, academic educators, and professionals will find a comprehensive view of all aspects of natural computing with emphasis on its main branches.

The Keller-Segel model for chemotaxis is a prototype of nonlocal systems describing concentration phenomena in physics and biology. While the two-dimensional theory is by now quite complete, the questions of global-in-time solvability and blowup characterization are largely open in higher dimensions. In this book, global-in-time solutions are constructed under (nearly) optimal assumptions on initial data and rigorous blowup criteria are derived.

Applications of microbial nanotechnology are currently emerging with new areas being explored. Biosynthesis of nanomaterials by microorganisms is a recently attracting interest as a new, exciting approach towards the development of 'greener' nanomanufacturing compared to traditional chemical and physical approaches. This book will cover recent advances of microbial nanotechnology in agriculture, industry, and health sectors.

This book is a unique resource for state-of-the-art research findings on biotechnological innovations in the area of industrial and therapeutic enzymes, and special-function and extreme-nature enzymes such as ribozymes, therozymes, cold-adapted enzymes, etc, covering all aspects such as the producing micro-organisms, their mode of cultivation, downstream processing and applications. It provides a great deal of information on potential of enzymes for their commercial exploitation. This book gives up-to-date information on advances in enzyme research useful to both the expert and researchers entering the field as well. The vital information has been organized in an easy-to-use format that lets readers become familiar with highlights of the most relevant topics and includes photographs, figures, and tables.

Streptomycetes are unusually complex bacteria that are abundant in soil. They grow as branching filaments and form chains of spores. Most importantly, they have an extraordinary ability to make antibiotics, for which they are the main industrial source, as well as other metabolites with medicinal properties. In recent years, the search for new antibiotics and other drugs in streptomycetes has been augmented by genomic studies, genome mining, and new biotechnological approaches. With contributions from some of the leading scientists in the field, this book documents recent research and development in streptomycetes genomics, physiology, and metabolism. With a focus on biotechnology and genomics, the book provides an excellent source of up-to-date information. Topics include: genome architecture * conjugative genetic elements * differentiation * protein secretion * central carbon metabolic pathways * regulation of nitrogen assimilation * phosphate control of metabolism * gamma-butyrolactones and their role in antibiotic regulation * clavulanic acid and clavams * genome-guided exploration * gene clusters for bioactive natural products * genomics of cytochromes p450. The book is essential reading for research scientists, biotechnologists, graduate students, and other professionals involved in streptomycetes research, antibiotic and antimicrobial development, drug discovery, soil microbiology and related fields. It is a recommended text for all microbiology laboratories.

The Textbook of Ion Channels is a set of three volumes providing a wide-ranging reference source on ion channels for students, instructors, and researchers. Ion channels are membrane proteins that control the electrical properties of neurons and cardiac cells, mediate the detection and response to sensory stimuli like light, sound, odor, and taste, and regulate the response to physical stimuli like temperature and pressure. In non-excitable tissues, ion channels are instrumental for the regulation of basic salt balance that is critical for homeostasis. Ion channels are located at the surface membrane of cells, giving them the unique ability to communicate with the environment, as well as the membrane of intracellular organelles, allowing them to regulate internal homeostasis. Ion channels are fundamentally important for human health and diseases, and are important targets for pharmaceuticals in mental illness, heart disease, anesthesia, pain and other clinical applications. The modern methods used in their study are powerful and diverse, ranging from single ion-channel measurement techniques to models of ion channel diseases in animals, and human clinical trials for ion channel drugs. All three volumes give the reader an introduction to fundamental concepts needed to understand the mechanism of ion channels, a guide to the technical aspects of ion channel research, offer a modern guide to the properties of major ion channel families, and include coverage of key examples of regulatory, physiological, and disease roles for ion channels.

This book provides a broad overview how extremophiles can be used in biotechnology, including for the production and degradation of compounds. It reviews various recent discoveries and applications related to a large variety of extremophiles, considering both prokaryotes as well as eukaryotes.

This book bridges the communication gap between neuroscientists and engineers through the unifying theme of correlation-based learning

Developing brain-style signal processing or machine learning algorithms has attracted many sharp minds from a range of disciplines. Now, coauthored by four researchers with varying backgrounds in signal processing, neuroscience, psychology, and computer science, Correlative Learning unifies the many cross-fertilized ideas in computational neuroscience and signal processing in a common language that will help engineers understand and appreciate the human brain as a highly sophisticated biosystem for building more intelligent machines.

First, the authors present the necessary neuroscience background for engineers, and then go on to relate the common intrinsic structures of the learning mechanisms of the brain to signal processing, machine learning, kernel learning, complex-valued domains, and the ALOPEX learning paradigm.

This correlation-based approach to building complex, reliable (robust), and adaptive systems is vital for engineers, researchers, and graduate students from various fields of science and engineering. Figures, tables, worked examples, and case studies illustrate how to use computational tools for either helping to understand brain functions or fitting specific engineering applications, and a comprehensive bibliography covering over 1,000 references from major publications is included for further reading.

"J R not only focuses on creation itself, but he also addresses the impact of words upon its primal beginning and its controversies."

-Congressman Trent Franks

God spoke the words of creation, but Scripture does not elaborate on the intricacies of this action. In "SpiritQuest 2: Interface with Creation," author JR McElfresh investigates many of the issues and controversies related to creation and considers the lack of answers to key questions.

Designed for pastors, church leaders, and those who desire to learn more about pivotal creation issues and how the universe began, "SpiritQuest 2: Interface with" "Creation "probes into the issues of the relationship between scientific knowledge and the Word of God. This study takes a journey through quarks, quantum mechanics, sound, waveforms, creation's voice, energy, the miracles of Jesus, and a host of discoveries showing the relationship between God himself and the physical laws of the universe.

McElfresh elaborates on the importance of the spoken and written word in Scripture, science, and the arena of linguistics in relation to creation; he also discusses the far-reaching impact of words as sounds and visual images on the human mind and thought. "SpiritQuest 2: Interface with Creation "demonstrates that words have immense power and energy and that it is wise to know how to use them.

Agriculture is considered as a backbone of developing nations as it caters the needs of the people, directly or indirectly. The global agriculture currently faces enormous challenges like land degradation and reduced soil fertility, shrinking of land, low production yield, water accessibility and a dearth of labor due to evacuation of individuals from farming. Besides, the global population increases at an exponential rate and it is predicted that the global population will be 9 billion by 2050 that in turn leads to food crisis in near future. Although, green revolution revolutionizes the agriculture sector by enhancing the yield but it was not considered as a sustainable approach. Exorbitant use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to boost the crop yield is definitely not a convenient approach for agriculture sustainability in the light of the fact that these chemical fertilizers are considered as double-edged sword, which on one hand enhance the crop yield but at the same time possess deleterious effect on the soil microflora and thus declines its fertility. Besides, it cause irreversible damage to the soil texture and disrupts the equilibrium in the food chain across ecosystem, which might in turn lead to genetic mutations in future generations of consumers. Thus, the increased dependence on fabricated agricultural additives during and post green revolution has generated serious issues pertaining to sustainability, environmental impact and health hazards. Therefore, nano-biotechnology has emerged as a promising tool to tackle the above problems especially in the agriculture sector. Nano-agribusiness is an emerged field to enhance crop yield, rejuvenate soil health, provide precision farming and stimulate plant growth. Nano-biotechnology is an essential tool in modern agriculture and is considered as a primary economic driver in near future. It is evaluated that joining of cutting edge nanotechnology in agribusiness would push the worldwide monetary development to approximately US$ 3.4 trillion by 2020 which clearly indicates that how agri-nanobiotechnology plays a pivotal role in the agricultural sector, without any negative impact on the environment and other regulatory issues of biosafety. Agri-nanobiotechnology is an innovative green technology, which provides the solution to global food security, sustainability and climate change. The current book is presenting the role of nano-biotechnology in modern agriculture and how it plays a pivotal role to boost the agri-business.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the field of plasma catalysis, regarded as a promising alternative to thermal processes for energy and environmental applications. It bridges the gap between the plasma and catalysis research communities, covering both the fundamentals of plasma catalysis and its application in environmental and energy research. The first section of the book offers a broad introduction to plasma catalysis, covering plasma-catalyst systems, interactions, and modeling. The core of the book then focuses on different applications, describing a wide range of plasma-catalytic processes in catalyst synthesis, environmental clean-up, greenhouse gas conversion and synthesis of materials for energy applications. Chapters cover topics ranging from removal of NOx and VOCs to conversion of methane, carbon dioxide and the reforming of ethanol and methanol. Written by a group of world-leading researchers active in the field, the book forms a valuable resource for scientists, engineers and students with different research backgrounds including plasma physics, plasma chemistry, catalysis, energy, environmental engineering, electrical engineering and material engineering.

Traditional methods in synthetic chemistry produce chemical waste and byproducts, yield smaller desired products, and generate toxic chemical substances, but the past two centuries have seen consistent, greener improvements in organic synthesis and transformations. These improvements have contributed to substance handling efficiency by using green-engineered forerunners like sustainable techniques, green processes, eco-friendly catalysis, and have minimized energy consumption, reduced potential waste, improved desired product yields, and avoided toxic organic precursors or solvents in organic synthesis. Green synthesis has the potential to have a major ecological and monetary impact on modern pharmaceutical R&D and organic chemistry fields. This book presents a broad scope of green techniques for medicinal, analytical, environmental, and organic chemistry applications. It presents an accessible overview of new innovations in the field, dissecting the highlights and green chemistry attributes of approaches to green synthesis, and provides cases to exhibit applications to pharmaceutical and organic chemistry. Although daily chemical processes are a major part of the sustainable development of pharmaceuticals and industrial products, the resulting environmental pollution of these processes is of worldwide concern. This edition discusses green chemistry techniques and sustainable processes involved in synthetic organic chemistry, natural products, drug syntheses, as well various useful industrial applications.

Fungi are an understudied, biotechnologically valuable group of organisms. Due to their immense range of habitats, and the consequent need to compete against a diverse array of other fungi, bacteria, and animals, fungi have developed numerous survival mechanisms. However, besides their major basic positive role in the cycling of minerals, organic matter and mobilizing insoluble nutrients, fungi have other beneficial impacts: they are considered good sources of food and active agents for a number of industrial processes involving fermentation mechanisms as in the bread, wine and beer industry. A number of fungi also produce biologically important metabolites such as enzymes, vitamins, antibiotics and several products of important pharmaceutical use; still others are involved in the production of single cell proteins. The economic value of these marked positive activities has been estimated as approximating to trillions of US dollars. The unique attributes of fungi thus herald great promise for their application in biotechnology and industry. Since ancient Egyptians mentioned in their medical prescriptions how they can use green molds in curing wounds as the obvious historical uses of penicillin, fungi can be grown with relative ease, making production at scale viable. The search for fungal biodiversity, and the construction of a living fungi collection, both have incredible economic potential in locating organisms with novel industrial uses that will lead to novel products. Fungi have provided the world with penicillin, lovastatin, and other globally significant medicines, and they remain an untapped resource with enormous industrial potential. Volume 1 of Industrially Important Fungi for Sustainable Development provides an overview to understanding fungal diversity from diverse habitats and their industrial application for future sustainability. It encompasses current advanced knowledge of fungal communities and their potential biotechnological applications in industry and allied sectors. The book will be useful to scientists, researchers, and students of microbiology, biotechnology, agriculture, molecular biology, and environmental biology.

The Core Model: A Collaborative Paradigm for the Pharmaceutical Industry and Global Health Care develops the innovative core model, an organizational research and design paradigm and economic theory that proposes a collaborative approach to resolving global health issues and improving the productivity of drug development. The model proposes that scientific collaboration does not occur in an unstructured manner, but actually takes place within a highly structured order where knowledge is transferred, integrated and finally translated into commercial products. An understanding of this model will help solve the global pharmaceutical industrys productivity problems and address important global health care and economic issues. This book is useful to researchers, advanced students, regulators, and management in pharmaceutical industries, as well as healthcare professionals, those working in health economics, and those interested in scientific innovation processes.