Regenerative therapy has rapidly developed as one of the most promising treatments for patients suffering from severe heart failure. Autologous bone marrow-derived cells and cardiac stem cells have been clinically applied for cell injection therapy for heart failure. As a next-generation therapy, tissue-engineered myocardial-patch transplantation has also been started clinically. As further advanced therapy, several researchers have started to fabricate three-dimensional beating myocardial tissues. One of the main problems in myocardial tissue engineering is neovascularization within the tissues during scale-up. Several innovative technologies have been developed to overcome the vascularization problem. This book broadly summarizes myocardial tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, which consists of myocardial cell sources, cell therapy for damaged hearts, and tissue engineering technologies for fabricating beating hearts. With respect to myocardial cell source, it focuses on cardiac cells differentiated from embryonic stem and induced pluripotent stem cells. It describes the remarkable results obtained in the past and the present to control neovascularization and presents the future challenges in myocardial tissue engineering research.

This is the first book that analyzes the growth of the Peruvian fresh fruit and vegetable (FFV) export industry from the view point of the industrial development. Instead of pointing out comparative advantages in production factors such as favorable climate and cheap labor, this book focuses on the strategies of agribusiness companies, industrial organizations, and the public sector in the FFV export industry. The analysis is based on the theoretical frameworks of coordination, integration, and upgrades in value chains, business strategies to overcome seasonality and mitigate risks in agriculture, and cluster development based on joint actions among players in the industry. Based on the field studies with major FFV production and export companies and industrial organizations, the case studies describe specific innovations in management and organizations taken by key actors in the industry. This book can help policymakers in developing countries seek industrial development options based on agricultural exports.

This is the first experimental protocol book that covers the differentiation of bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs) into specific cell types, targeted at the undergraduate and graduate student level. The 19 chapters deal with the differentiation methods using small molecules, cytokines and polymeric scaffolds.BMSCs are pluripotential in that they not only act as myelo-regenerative and supportive cells, but can also differentiate into almost any kind of cells in our body. In addition, when implanted in vivo, they could help repair multiple tissues such as blood vessels, heart, liver and so on.For the differentiation of BMSCs, many methods have been introduced to adjust their microenvironment (chemical and physical cues), including chemical induction methods using large or small molecules and pellet culture; mechanical stimulation induction methods using cyclic mechano-transduction or ultrasonication; cytokine-released method using scaffolds; and so on.