Commercially, D-xylitol is produced by chemical reactions that are tailored to the requirements of various sectors. However, due to the rising interest in sustainable development and ecologically benign practices, microbial transformation processes are generally preferred over the conventional chemical conversion process. The former have multiple advantages, including less chemical load on the environment, higher efficiency, and the ability to dilute multiple downstream transformation attempts while maintaining product yield and recovery.

This book aims to disseminate the most current advances in the biotechnological production of D-xylitol and its applications in medical and health care. It is a unique collection of 15 book chapters split into 5 sections and written by experts in their respective fields, who present critical insights into several topics, review current research, and discuss future progress in this area. This book also provides essential information on hemicellulose hydrolysis to recover D-xylose, detoxification of hemicellulose hydrolysates, and improved fermentation methods for increased D-xylitol production. The highlights of strain improvement to increase the D-xylitol titers and downstream recovery of D-xylitol are also discussed in several sections. The current applications of D-xylitol in medical and health care have been used to justify the cost incurred for setting up the demonstration plant for D-xylitol production in the market. Apart from researchers and post-graduate students in the field of microbial biotechnology, this book will assist those in the business community who deal with the economic analysis of bio-based products and their marketing.

This book focuses on biogas production by anaerobic digestion, which is the most popular bioenergy technology of today. Using anaerobic digestion for the production of biogas is a sustainable approach that simultaneously also allows the treatment of organic waste. The energy contained in the substrate is released in the form of biogas, which can be employed as a renewable fuel in diverse industrial sectors. Although biogas generation is considered an established process, it continues to evolve, e.g. by incorporating modifications and improvements to increase its efficiency and its downstream applications. The chapters of this book review the progress made related to feedstock, system configuration and operational conditions. It also addresses microbial pathways utilized, as well as storage, transportation and usage of biogas. This book is an up-to-date resource for scientists and students working on improving biogas production.

Bioelectronics is emerging as a new area of research where electronics can selectively detect, record, and monitor physiological signals. This is a rapidly expanding area of medical research, that relies heavily on multidisciplinary technology development and cutting-edge research in chemical, biological, engineering, and physical science. This book provides extensive information on the (i) fundamental concepts of bioelectronics, (ii) materials for the developments of bioelectronics such as implantable electronics, self-powered devices, bioelectronic sensors, flexible bioelectronics, etc, and (iii) an overview of the trends and gathering of the latest bioelectronic progress. This book will broaden our knowledge about newer technologies and processes used in bioelectronics.

The concepts of telemedicine and e-healthcare have eased as well as improved the reachability of experienced doctors and medical staff to remote patients. A patient who is living in a remote village area can directly connect to specialist doctors across the globe though his/her mobile phone using telemedicine systems and e-healthcare services. In pandemic situations like COVID-19, these online platforms helped society to get medical treatment from their residence without any physical movement. Technology is transforming human lives by playing an important role in the planning, designing, and development of intelligent systems for better service. This book presents a cross-disciplinary perspective on the concept of machine learning, blockchain and IoT by congregating cutting-edge research and insights. It also identifies and discusses various advanced technologies such as internet of things (IoT), big data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, cyber security, cloud computing, sensors and so on that are vital to foster the development of smart healthcare and telemedicine systems by providing effective solutions to the medical challenges faced by humankind.

This book explores opportunities and challenges in the field of IoE security and privacy under the umbrella of distributed ledger technologies and blockchain technology including distributed consensus mechanisms, crypto-sensors, encryption algorithms, and fault tolerance mechanisms for devices and systems. It focusses on the applicability of blockchain technology including architectures and platforms for blockchain and IoE, authentication and encryption algorithms for IoE, malicious transactions detection, blockchain for forensics and so forth. Outlines the major benefits as well as challenges associated with integration of blockchain with IoE Describes detailed framework to provide security in IoE using blockchain technology Reviews various issues while using distributed ledger technologies for IoE Provides comprehensive coverage of blockchain for IoE in securing information including encryption schemes, authentication, security issues, and challenges Includes case studies in realistic situations like healthcare informatics, smart industry, and smart transportation This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students in computing, cryptography, IoT, computer engineering, and networks.

The demand for advanced energy devices such as high-performance batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, electrolyzers, and flexible/wearable devices is increasing rapidly. To meet such demand, high-performance and stable materials which could be used as active materials in these devices are much needed. This book focuses on the use of hydrogels in such emerging applications. The main objective of this book is to provide current, state-of-the-art development in hydrogel-based materials, their applications in energy, and their future challenges. This book covers the entire spectrum of hydrogels for their applications in a range of energy devices in terms of materials, various synthetic approaches, architectural aspects, design and technology of energy devices, and challenges. This book covers the fundamentals of hydrogels, various composites of hydrogels, design concepts, various technologies, and applications in the diverse energy area. All chapters are written by experts in these areas around the world making this a suitable textbook for students and providing new guidelines to researchers and industries working in these areas. This book includes topics such as various approaches to synthesizing hydrogels, their characterizations, and emerging applications in the energy area. Fundamentals of energy devices, working principles, and their challenges are covered in this book. This book will provide new directions to scientists, researchers, and students to better understand hydrogel-based materials and their emerging applications in energy.

Discusses design chemistry, modification, and processing of biomaterials Describes the efficacy of biomaterials at various scales for biological response and drug delivery Demonstrates technological advances from conventional to additive manufacturing Covers future of biofabrication and customized medical devices

This book discusses the commercialization of biofuels and the Brazilian government policies for the promotion of renewable energy program in Brazil, which could be a learning module for several countries for implementing biofuels policy to improve their socioeconomic status and make them energy independent.

Researchers in academia and industries, policy makers, and economic analysts will be assisted by important source of information in their ongoing research and future perspectives.

This book will benefit graduate and postgraduate students of chemical and biochemical engineering, forestry, microbiology, biochemistry, biotechnology, applied chemistry, environmental science, sustainable energy, and biotech business disciplines by signifying the applied aspects of bioenergy production from various natural sources and their implications. Graduate and postgraduate students as well as postdoctoral researchers will find clear concepts of feedstock analysis, feedstock degradation, microbial fermentation, genetic engineering, renewable energy generation and storage, climate changes, and techno-economic analysis of biofuels production technologies.

Transitioning to DevOps requires a change in culture and mindset. At its simplest, DevOps is about removing the barriers between two traditionally siloed teams, development, and operations. In some organizations, there may not even be separate development and operations teams; engineers may do both. With DevOps, the two teams work together to optimize both the productivity of developers and the reliability of operations. They strive to communicate frequently, increase efficiencies, and improve the quality of services they provide to customers. They take full ownership for their services, often beyond where their stated roles or titles have traditionally been scoped by thinking about the end customer’s needs and how they can contribute to meeting those needs. Quality assurance and security teams may also become tightly integrated within these teams. Organizations using a DevOps model, regardless of their organizational structure, have teams that view the entire development and infrastructure lifecycle as part of their responsibilities. In this book, we introduce the DevOps culture, and the tools and techniques under this technical cultural umbrella. We explain microservice, containers, Docker Container, Kubernetes, etc., and the significance of these in adopting the DevOps culture for successful software development.

Converging Ideas and computing domains. Novel CPS architectures and Models Dependable, reliable and autonomic computing Privacy and trust in edge computing Truthful Computing

This book explores recent advances in the microbial production of xylitol and its applications in food and medical sector. Xylitol is an important biomolecule from lignocellulose biorefinery which is produced from the xylose by chemical reactions or microbial fermentation methods. Currently, the demand of xylitol at commercial scale is being met through chemical methods. However, recent breakthroughs made in plant cell wall destruction, genetic engineering to develop the designer microorganisms, fermentation methods and media formulations and downstream processing have led the ways for sustainable production of xylitol at commercial scale in lignocellulose biorefineries. Microbial production of xylitol is preferred over the chemical processes as it is environmentally friendly, higher process efficiency with the desired product yield, and product recovery with minimum impurities. This book is a unique compilation of 11 book chapters written by experts in their respective fields. These chapters present critical insights and discuss the current progress and future progress in this area into fermentative xylitol production. Chapter 9 is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For further details see license information in the chapter.

This volume details different genomic methods and resources to explore cereal genomics. Chapters guide readers through crop genomes, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, protocol for CRISPR editing, transgenic wheat, NGS approach, virus induced gene silencing (VIGS), genomic tools, computational prediction of ncRNAs (miRNAs & ceRNAs) in cereal crops, genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), Bayesian method, single cell sequencing, genome-wide association study (GWAS), QTL interval mapping, whole genome bisulfite sequencing, genome imprinting, and methods for study the receptor-metabolite interaction. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Genomics of Cereal Crops aims to be a useful and practical guide to new researchers and experts looking to expand their knowledge.

This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on drought-resistant crops. The first chapter assesses the genes involved in drought and heat tolerance, as well as the physiological traits related to increased tolerance to abiotic stress in wheat. It reviews advances in our understanding of the molecular markers associated with these physiological traits, and the roles of key genes in determining a wheat plant's response to heat and drought stress. The second chapter discusses mechanisms of drought resistance in rice. It reviews ways of assessing drought tolerance performance, identifying genes promoting drought tolerance through quantitative trait loci (QLT) analysis, as well as breeding for drought tolerance. The third chapter highlights the genetic diversity and quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with the traits contributing to drought and heat tolerance in soybean. It also reviews genomic resources that can facilitate a better understanding of phenotype-genotype associations and formulate genomic-assisted breeding strategies. The final chapter addresses the polygenic nature of tolerance to drought and to heat in grain legumes. It reviews advances in understanding plant adaptation to stress, the assembly of molecular and phenotyping tools to support breeding and the development of tolerance through traditional and molecular breeding techniques.

This new book discusses the concepts while also highlighting the challenges in the field of quantum cryptography and also covering cryptographic techniques and cyber security techniques, in a single volume. It comprehensively covers important topics in the field of quantum cryptography with applications, including quantum key distribution, position-based quantum cryptography, quantum teleportation, quantum e-commerce, quantum cloning, cyber security techniques' architectures and design, cyber security techniques management, software-defined networks, and cyber security techniques for 5G communication. The text also discusses the security of practical quantum key distribution systems, applications and algorithms developed for quantum cryptography, as well as cyber security through quantum computing and quantum cryptography. The text will be beneficial for graduate students, academic researchers, and professionals working in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics and communications engineering, computer science, and information technology.

This volume details different genomic methods and resources to explore cereal genomics. Chapters guide readers through crop genomes, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, protocol for CRISPR editing, transgenic wheat, NGS approach, virus induced gene silencing (VIGS), genomic tools, computational prediction of ncRNAs (miRNAs & ceRNAs) in cereal crops, genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), Bayesian method, single cell sequencing, genome-wide association study (GWAS), QTL interval mapping, whole genome bisulfite sequencing, genome imprinting, and methods for study the receptor-metabolite interaction.   Authoritative and cutting-edge, Genomics of Cereal Crops aims to be a useful and practical guide to new researchers and experts looking to expand their knowledge. 

This book focuses on biogas production by anaerobic digestion, which is the most popular bioenergy technology of today. Using anaerobic digestion for the production of biogas is a sustainable approach that simultaneously also allows the treatment of organic waste. The energy contained in the substrate is released in the form of biogas, which can be employed as a renewable fuel in diverse industrial sectors. Although biogas generation is considered an established process, it continues to evolve, e.g. by incorporating modifications and improvements to increase its efficiency and its downstream applications. The chapters of this book review the progress made related to feedstock, system configuration and operational conditions. It also addresses microbial pathways utilized, as well as storage, transportation and usage of biogas. This book is an up-to-date resource for scientists and students working on improving biogas production.

This book discusses the commercialization of biofuels and the Brazilian government policies for the promotion of renewable energy program in Brazil, which could be a learning module for several countries for implementing biofuels policy to improve their socioeconomic status and make them energy independent. Researchers in academia and industries, policy makers, and economic analysts will be assisted by important source of information in their ongoing research and future perspectives. This book will benefit graduate and postgraduate students of chemical and biochemical engineering, forestry, microbiology, biochemistry, biotechnology, applied chemistry, environmental science, sustainable energy, and biotech business disciplines by signifying the applied aspects of bioenergy production from various natural sources and their implications. Graduate and postgraduate students as well as postdoctoral researchers will find clear concepts of feedstock analysis, feedstock degradation, microbial fermentation, genetic engineering, renewable energy generation and storage, climate changes, and techno-economic analysis of biofuels production technologies.

Commercially, D-xylitol is produced by chemical reactions that are tailored to the requirements of various sectors. However, due to the rising interest in sustainable development and ecologically benign practices, microbial transformation processes are generally preferred over the conventional chemical conversion process. The former have multiple advantages, including less chemical load on the environment, higher efficiency, and the ability to dilute multiple downstream transformation attempts while maintaining product yield and recovery. This book aims to disseminate the most current advances in the biotechnological production of D-xylitol and its applications in medical and health care. It is a unique collection of 15 book chapters split into 5 sections and written by experts in their respective fields, who present critical insights into several topics, review current research, and discuss future progress in this area. This book also provides essential information on hemicellulose hydrolysis to recover D-xylose, detoxification of hemicellulose hydrolysates, and improved fermentation methods for increased D-xylitol production. The highlights of strain improvement to increase the D-xylitol titers and downstream recovery of D-xylitol are also discussed in several sections. The current applications of D-xylitol in medical and health care have been used to justify the cost incurred for setting up the demonstration plant for D-xylitol production in the market. Apart from researchers and post-graduate students in the field of microbial biotechnology, this book will assist those in the business community who deal with the economic analysis of bio-based products and their marketing.

Functional Nanocomposite Hydrogels: Synthesis, Characterization, and Biomedical Applications reviews how the unique properties of nanoscale composite materials make them ideal candidates for use in biomedical hydrogels. The book covers a range of key nanocomposite materials for use in biomedical hydrogels, including graphene quantum dot, cellulose and collagen nanocomposites. A wide selection of biomedical applications for functional nanocomposite hydrogels is explored, from drug delivery and cancer therapy, to wound healing and bioimaging. This is a key reference for those working in the fields of biomaterials, nanotechnology, pharmacology, biomedical engineering, and anyone with a particular interest in composites and hydrogels. To improve the properties of conventional hydrogels, nanoparticles or nanostructures are incorporated into the hydrogel networks, forming a composite hydrogel with specialized functional properties which are tailored to a specific biomedical application.

This book offers a thorough overview of the most popular and researched meta-heuristic optimization techniques and nature-inspired algorithms. Their wide applicability makes them a hot research topic and an effi cient tool for the solution of complex optimization problems in various fi elds of sciences, engineering, and in numerous industries.