Ending hunger, achieving food security and promoting sustainable development are at the top of the list of United Nations (UN) sustainable global development priorities. In the times of high population growth and increasing pressure of agricultural systems, efficiency in use of natural resources has been at the epicenter of sustainable agricultural. The concept of 'Input efficiency' implies production of high quantity and quality of food, from using only finite natural resources as inputs, in the form of mainly land, water, nutrients, energy, or biological diversity. In this book, editors provide a roadmap to the food, nutritional, and environmental security in the agricultural systems. They share insight into the approaches that can be put in practice for increasing the input use efficiency in the cropping systems and achieve stability and sustainability of agricultural production systems. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, climate change scientists, capacity builders and policymakers. Also the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, agroforestry, agroecology, and environmental sciences. National and international agricultural scientists, policymakers will also find this to be a useful read.

Bioprinting: From Multidisciplinary Design to Emerging Opportunities describes state-of-the-art techniques and highlights open issues of different aspects that affect the efficiency of bioprinting protocols. Starting from a description of the main bioprinting technologies, the book addresses the most advanced approaches for the design of "on-demand" biomaterials suitable for incorporating biological components, along with the challenges associated with the development of a cellular model, and with the biological read-out. Coverage includes intelligent process design techniques, emerging technologies, and specific applications. Written by a highly interdisciplinary team of authors and presenting a unified approach to bioprinting, this book is ideal for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in biotechnology, engineering, and physics, as well as industrial researchers interested in the applications of bioprinting.

Dramatic advances in computing power enable simulation of DNA sequences generated by complex microevolutionary scenarios that include mutation, population structure, natural selection, meiotic recombination, demographic change, and explicit spatial geographies. Although retrospective, coalescent simulation is computationally efficient-and covered here-the primary focus of this book is forward-in-time simulation, which frees us to simulate a wider variety of realistic microevolutionary models. The book walks the reader through the development of a forward-in-time evolutionary simulator dubbed FORward Time simUlatioN Application (FORTUNA). The capacity of FORTUNA grows with each chapter through the addition of a new evolutionary factor to its code. Each chapter also reviews the relevant theory and links simulation results to key evolutionary insights. The book addresses visualization of results through development of R code and reference to more than 100 figures. All code discussed in the book is freely available, which the reader may use directly or modify to better suit his or her own research needs. Advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and professional researchers will all benefit from this introduction to the increasingly important skill of population genetic simulation.

Mendel's groundbreaking paper, which laid the foundation for further research upon heritage and genetics, is published here complete with the original illustrations and charts. When Mendel released this paper in 1865, it was after years of rigorous study and comparison in plant specimens and their offspring. His conclusion that variant traits were hereditary and could be determined, with a good degree of accuracy, through probability analysis were revolutionary in natural science at the time. Mendel's assertions regarding acquired characteristics, demonstrated through the comparison of peas and their seeds, would spark great interest in the nature and mechanisms behind heredity between generations of organisms. Seeking to gain high quality results, Mendel prefaces his explanations by noting that he artificially fertilized the plants described in the work.

Molecular and Cellular Therapies for Motor Neuron Diseases discusses the basics of the diseases, also covering advances in research and clinical trials. The book provides a resource for students that will help them learn the basics in a detailed manner that is required for scientists and clinicians. Users will find a comprehensive overview of the background of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease) and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), along with the current understanding of their genetics and mechanisms. In addition, the book details gene and cell therapies that have been developed and their translation to clinical trials.

Neuroprotection in Alzheimer's Disease offers a translational point-of-view from both basic and clinical standpoints, putting it on the cusp for further clinical development with its emphasis on nerve cell protection, including the accumulation of knowledge from failed clinical trials and new advances in disease management. This book brings together the latest findings, both basic, and clinical, under the same cover, making it easy for the reader to obtain a complete overview of the state-of-the-field and beyond. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. It is a progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory, thinking skills, and eventually, even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. It is characterized by death of synapses coupled to death nerve cells and brain degeneration which is manifested by loss of cognitive abilities. Understanding neuroprotection in Alzheimer's disease will pave the path to better disease management and novel therapeutics.

Stress: Neuroendocrinology and Neurobiology: Handbook of Stress Series, Volume 2, focuses on neuroendocrinology, the discipline that deals with the way that the brain controls hormonal secretion, and in turn, the way that hormones control the brain. There have been significant advances in our understanding of neuroendocrine molecular and epigenetic mechanisms, especially in the way in which stress-induced hormonal and neurochemical changes affect brain plasticity, neuronal connectivity, and synaptic function. The book features the topic of epigenetics, and how it enables stress and other external factors to affect genetic transmission and expression without changes in DNA sequence. Integrated closely with new behavioral findings and relevance to human disorders, the concepts and data in this volume offer the reader cutting-edge information on the neuroendocrinology of stress. Volume 2 is of prime interest to neuroscientists, clinicians, researchers, academics, and graduate students in neuroendocrinology, neuroscience, biomedicine, endocrinology, psychology, psychiatry, and in some areas of the social sciences, including stress and its management in the workplace.

Developing Solid Oral Dosage Forms: Pharmaceutical Theory and Practice, Second Edition illustrates how to develop high-quality, safe, and effective pharmaceutical products by discussing the latest techniques, tools, and scientific advances in preformulation investigation, formulation, process design, characterization, scale-up, and production operations. This book covers the essential principles of physical pharmacy, biopharmaceutics, and industrial pharmacy, and their application to the research and development process of oral dosage forms. Chapters have been added, combined, deleted, and completely revised as necessary to produce a comprehensive, well-organized, valuable reference for industry professionals and academics engaged in all aspects of the development process. New and important topics include spray drying, amorphous solid dispersion using hot-melt extrusion, modeling and simulation, bioequivalence of complex modified-released dosage forms, biowaivers, and much more.

This book is an inclusive coverage of advances in aquaculture health management. It offers latest updates as well as explains the novel concepts and issues related to aquatic animal health management. To support the understanding of the concepts, there is extensive use of illustrations. Chapters emphasize on the state of art techniques and hold great promise for the sustainable development of aquaculture. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, aquatic biologists, capacity builders and policymakers. Also the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of aquatic sciences, marine sciences, biotechnology, ecology, and environmental sciences. National and international aquatic scientists, policy makers will also find this to be a useful read.

This collection vigorously addresses the religious implications of extreme human enhancement technology. Topics covered include cutting edge themes, such as moral enhancement, common ground to both transhumanism and religion, the meaning of death, desire and transcendence, and virtue ethics. Radical enhancement programs, advocated by transhumanists, could arguably have a more profound impact than any other development in human history. Reflecting a range of opinion about the desirability of extreme enhancement, leading scholars in the field join with emerging scholars to foster enhanced conversation on these topics.

Environmental heat stress is associated with a marked decrease in orthostatic tolerance (OT), which is defined as the ability to stand or sit upright without symptoms of dizziness, lightheadedness, presyncope, or fainting. In most healthy humans, the autonomic nervous system makes rapid and balanced adjustments to heart rate and peripheral blood flow, such that most people are able to stand up "successfully" most of the time, in most environments. The goal of this book is to discuss various aspects of the sympathetic neural response to heat stress, how the sympathetic nervous system coordinates the successful integrative physiological response to orthostasis, and what happens when it encounters both challenges simultaneously. We include overviews of mechanisms of thermoregulation and blood pressure regulation in humans, with particular focus on control of cardiac output and neurovascular control mechanisms during heat stress. We discuss the implications that these changes have for distribution of peripheral blood flow and, in particular, for blood flow to the cerebral circulation. The added stressor of dehydration is also discussed, as it so often goes hand in hand with heat stress. We end with a brief presentation of countermeasures against the decreases in OT with heat stress.

The technological innovations that have made "learning" computers possible are being met with utopian hopes as well as apocalyptic apprehensions. Will AI research eventually lead to software systems that have consciousness and are capable of autonomous decision making? The essays challenge "strong AI" from the perspective of human agency and moral judgment, explain the categorical difference between vulnerable humans and AI devices, and discuss diverse forms of applied AI, such as prograns of natural language processing, computional creativity, neuroenhancement, and the use of AI in international healthcare. These theoretical issues are illustrated in essays that focus on the encounter with artificial beings in film, literature and theater. Examining science fiction that blurs the borderline between humans and deep-learning androids, the essays explore, and challenge, ways of questioning human exceptionalism, for instance by visualizing non-conscious cognition and sentience. The book suggests a sober distinction between well-argued achievements of digital technology and excessive, unfounded expectations.

Translating microRNA to the Clinic reviews the possibilities of current methodological tools and experimental approaches used by leading translational researchers. The book features the uses of micro ribonucleic acid as deployed in cancer targeting in biomarkers, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration, among many others. Pedagogically, the work concentrates on the latest knowledge, laboratory techniques, and experimental approaches used by translational research leaders in this field, promoting a cross-disciplinary communication between the sub-specialities of medicine, but in common with other books on the topic. In addition, the book emphasizes recent innovations, critical barriers to progress, the new tools that are being used to overcome them, and specific areas of research that require additional study to advance the field as a whole.

On Human Nature: Biology, Psychology, Ethics, Politics, and Religion covers the present state of knowledge on human diversity and its adaptative significance through a broad and eclectic selection of representative chapters. This transdisciplinary work brings together specialists from various fields who rarely interact, including geneticists, evolutionists, physicians, ethologists, psychoanalysts, anthropologists, sociologists, theologians, historians, linguists, and philosophers. Genomic diversity is covered in several chapters dealing with biology, including the differences in men and apes and the genetic diversity of mankind. Top specialists, known for their open mind and broad knowledge have been carefully selected to cover each topic. The book is therefore at the crossroads between biology and human sciences, going beyond classical science in the Popperian sense. The book is accessible not only to specialists, but also to students, professors, and the educated public. Glossaries of specialized terms and general public references help nonspecialists understand complex notions, with contributions avoiding technical jargon.

Handbook of Basal Ganglia Structure and Function, Second Edition, offers an integrated overview of the structural and functional aspects of the basal ganglia, highlighting clinical relevance. The basal ganglia, a group of forebrain nuclei interconnected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and brainstem, are involved in numerous brain functions, such as motor control and learning, sensorimotor integration, reward, and cognition. These nuclei are essential for normal brain function and behavior, and their importance is further emphasized by the numerous and diverse disorders associated with basal ganglia dysfunction, including Parkinson's disease, Tourette's syndrome, Huntington's disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dystonia, and psychostimulant addiction. This updated edition has been thoroughly revised to provide the most up-to-date account of this critical brain structure. Edited and authored by internationally acclaimed basal ganglia researchers, the new edition contains ten entirely new chapters that offer expanded coverage of anatomy and physiology, detailed accounts of recent advances in cellular/molecular mechanisms and cellular/physiological mechanisms, and critical, deeper insights into the behavioral and clinical aspects of basal ganglia function and dysfunction.

Neuroepidemiology covers the foundations of neuroepidemiological research and the epidemiology of disorders primarily affecting the nervous system, as well as those originating outside the nervous system. The etiology of many important central nervous system disorders remains elusive. Even with diseases where the key risk determinants have been identified, better prevention and therapy is needed to reduce high incidence and mortality. Although evolving technologies for studying disease provide opportunities for such, it is essential for researchers and clinicians to understand how best to apply such technology in the context of carefully characterized patient populations. By paying special attention to methodological approaches, this volume prepares new investigators from a variety of disciplines to conduct epidemiological studies in order to discern the etiologic factors and underlying mechanisms that influence the onset, progression, and recurrence of CNS disorders and diseases. The book also provides current information on methodological approaches for clinical neurologists seeking to expand their knowledge in research.

Chromatin Signaling and Diseases covers the molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression, which govern everything from embryonic development, growth, and human pathologies associated with aging, such as cancer. This book helps researchers learn about or keep up with the quickly expanding field of chromatin signaling. After reading this book, clinicians will be more capable of explaining the mechanisms of gene expression regulation to their patients to reassure them about new drug developments that target chromatin signaling mechanisms. For example, several epigenetic drugs that act on chromatin signaling factors are in clinical trials or even approved for usage in cancer treatments, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's diseases. Other epigenetic drugs are in development to regulate various class of chromatin signaling factors. To keep up with this changing landscape, clinicians and doctors will need to stay familiar with genetic advances that translate to clinical practice, such as chromatin signaling. Although sequencing of the human genome was completed over a decade ago and its structure investigated for nearly half a century, molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression remain largely misunderstood. An emerging concept called chromatin signaling proposes that small protein domains recognize chemical modifications on the genome scaffolding histone proteins, facilitating the nucleation of enzymatic complexes at specific loci that then open up or shut down the access to genetic information, thereby regulating gene expression. The addition and removal of chemical modifications on histones, as well as the proteins that specifically recognize these, is reviewed in Chromatin Signaling and Diseases. Finally, the impact of gene expression defects associated with malfunctioning chromatin signaling is also explored.

Managing Treatment-Resistant Depression: Road to Novel Therapeutics defines TRD for readers, discussing the clinical and epidemiological predictors, economic burden and neurobiological factors. In addition, staging methods for treatment resistance are fully covered in this book, including serotonin specific reuptake inhibitors, serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, other classes of antidepressants, including tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, augmentation strategies, and newer antidepressant treatments like ketamine and esketamine. In addition, evidence supporting the use of psychotherapies and neuromodulation strategies are also reviewed. Written by top experts in the field, this book is the first of its kind to review all methods of treatment for TRD.

Insights into Enzyme Mechanisms and Functions from Experimental and Computational Methods is the latest volume in the popular Advances in Protein Chemistry and Structural Biology series, an essential resource for protein chemists. Each volume brings forth new information about protocols and analysis of proteins, with each thematically organized volume guest edited by leading experts in a broad range of protein-related topics.