In the modern data-driven era, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies that allow a computer to mimic intelligent human behavior are essential for organizations to achieve business excellence and assist organizations in extracting useful information from raw data. AI and ML have existed for decades, but in the age of big data, this sort of analysis is in higher demand than ever, especially for customer support and analytics. AI and Machine Learning Applications and Implications in Customer Support and Analytics investigates the applications of AI and ML and how they can be implemented to enhance customer support and analytics at various levels of organizations. This book is ideal for marketing professionals, managers, business owners, researchers, practitioners, academicians, instructors, university libraries, and students, and covers topics such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, supervised learning, deep learning, customer sentiment analysis, data mining, neural networks, and business analytics.

Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this book focuses on recent milestones in basic and applied mycology, focusing on many and diverse applications in the agricultural, food, and biofuel sectors. Applied Mycology for Agriculture and Foods: Industrial Applications provides an informative update of the current biological status of fungi and advances in conventional and modern molecular tools in identification, taxonomy of fungi, and applications of different taxonomic groups of fungi in various sectors, such as agriculture, food development, postharvesting, biological control of crop diseases, biofertilizers, bioremediation, pigments, pharmaceuticals, enzymes, biofuel production, etc. The volume addresses fungal biodiversity conservation, the emerging field of fungal metagenomics, the role of fungi in eco-safety and warfare, and the bioprospecting of fungi for hydrocarbons for biofuel production. Several chapters discuss using fungi in agricultural management, such as for the biocontrol of plant diseases, using entomopathogenic fungi as a pesticide, using nematophagous fungi for controlling nematodes that eat crops, using fungi in the development of biofertilizers, and more. The role of fungi in post-harvest diseases management in horticultural crops is looked at as well. Key features: Provides up-to-date information and advances in biological status and classification of fungi Discusses the comprehensive role of fungi in various sectors, in food and agriculture, in biofuel production, in the production of production of antibiotics or antimicrobial agents, etc. Presents the recent systemic taxonomic classifications, developments, applications in molecular mycology and conservation strategies for mycoflora Aiming to bridge the knowledge gap between basic and applied aspects of mycology, this volume provides a wealth of information that will be valuable for researchers, industrial scientists, faculty and students in mycology and plant pathology as well as in botany, microbiology, food microbiology, pharmaceutical development, biotechnology and biofuel production, and other professional disciplines.

This new volume, Biofertilizers and Biopesticides in Sustainable Agriculture, presents strategies for the management of soil and crop diseases. Microbes have attracted worldwide attention due to their role in disease management and remediation of polluted soils. Taking a sustainable approach, this book explores the means of integrating various microbial management approaches to achieve the desired levels of crop yield under both conventional soils and neglected soils through the use of biopesticides and other botanicals as well as biomolecules. This book also presents a broad and updated view of molecular nitrogen fixation and phosphate-solubilizing and sulfur-transforming microbes for nutrition of crops in relation to the role of metal tolerant microbes in providing protection to plants grown in metal-contaminated soils. The preparation and application of biofertilizers, utilization of household waste materials, and use of genetically modified microorganisms (GMOs) in plant growth and development are also well discussed in the volume.

This valuable volume highlights biotechnological tools and their utilization for biotic stress management in the tomato plant, one of the world's most important vegetable crops consumed by us in our daily diet and which is vulnerable to over 200 diseases as well as the impact of global climate change. The chapters cover the major diseases of tomato along with practical biotic stress management strategies through biotechnological and molecular approaches. The focus is on molecular tools that can be used to prevent or mitigate damage from such diseases as bacterial wilt, bacterial canker, damping off seedlings, late blight, early blight, fusarium wilt, septorial leaf spot, cercospora leaf spot, verticilium wilt, tomato leaf curl virus, tobacco mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt virus, root knot nematode, fruit borer, and sucking pests. Gene stacking/pyramiding and postharvest management strategies are also systematically discussed. This book provides an up-to-date and comprehensive review that will be a greatly useful resource, containing basic facts and information on the new and recent discoveries for biotic stresses management of tomatoes.

This book, Biotic Stress Management in Rice: Molecular Approaches, addresses biotic stress of rice and its management through molecular approaches. It focuses on the biotechnological aspects of rice with the aim of reducing the fungicide and insecticides and ultimately ensuring safety of rice as a food as well as the environment. Rice is an important crop in much of the Asia-Pacific region, and there are a number of threats to rice production, including fungal, viral, and bacterial diseases and insect pests, both in temperate and tropical countries, which can cause the significant economic loss. Remarkable efforts are being made by scientists and breeders to raise rice productivity and safety by modifying and manipulating rice plants to survive under different types of stresses. The book provides an understanding of the genetic basis of resistance and susceptibility and goes on to present studies directed to understand the host-plant interaction in rice that have given rise to specialized breeding programs for resistance to diseases and insect-pests. In addition to these advancements in molecular breeding, marker-assisted selection and transgenic approaches open new ways to increase resistance in rice for better production under several biotic stresses. This book covers the most recent advancements and research strategies of molecular breeding, transgenic approaches, and other tools for effective biotic stress management in rice. This book should find a prominent place on the shelves of new plant breeders, biotechnologists, plant pathologists and entomologists working in academic and commercial rice research programs, and in the libraries of research establishments.

This book, Biotic Stress Management in Rice: Molecular Approaches, addresses biotic stress of rice and its management through molecular approaches. It focuses on the biotechnological aspects of rice with the aim of reducing the fungicide and insecticides and ultimately ensuring safety of rice as a food as well as the environment. Rice is an important crop in much of the Asia-Pacific region, and there are a number of threats to rice production, including fungal, viral, and bacterial diseases and insect pests, both in temperate and tropical countries, which can cause the significant economic loss. Remarkable efforts are being made by scientists and breeders to raise rice productivity and safety by modifying and manipulating rice plants to survive under different types of stresses. The book provides an understanding of the genetic basis of resistance and susceptibility and goes on to present studies directed to understand the host-plant interaction in rice that have given rise to specialized breeding programs for resistance to diseases and insect-pests. In addition to these advancements in molecular breeding, marker-assisted selection and transgenic approaches open new ways to increase resistance in rice for better production under several biotic stresses. This book covers the most recent advancements and research strategies of molecular breeding, transgenic approaches, and other tools for effective biotic stress management in rice. This book should find a prominent place on the shelves of new plant breeders, biotechnologists, plant pathologists and entomologists working in academic and commercial rice research programs, and in the libraries of research establishments.

Rice is a major food crop for people around the world; it is a major staple food and a source of nutrition for over 3.5 billion people worldwide. Rice is susceptible to a number of bacterial diseases that decrease its yield and quality. This book covers the various bacterial diseases of rice and their management. It focuses on various sustainable management methods-biological control, conventional breeding methods, and molecular methods, as opposed to chemical control, which can be hazardous to the environment. The book provides a comprehensive view of rice bacterial diseases starting from the identification of bacterial diseases and their ecology to the management of bacterial disease, which includes conventional as well as new and emerging methods. The book examines the impact of rice bacterial diseases on global food security that can lead to a food crisis worldwide. It discusses potential methods for bacterial disease identification and covers the biology of rice bacterial blight pathogen, virulence determinants, and various host defense factors of bacterial blight pathogen-rice interactions and traditional and recent tools for bacterial blight disease management. Different resistance rice cultivars, their resistance loci, and quantitative trait loci mapping in the important rice cultivars are also discussed. The book presents biological studies of the major rice bacterial diseases (rice bacterial brown stripe disease, bacterial leaf streak disease, rice bacterial panicle blight disease, rice bacterial foot rot, sheath brown rot disease) and presents comparative analyses of conventional, breeding, and molecular management approaches, along with a selection of examples. Also included is a review of bioinformatics tools for rice disease management. The up-to-date knowledge presented in Bacterial Diseases of Rice and Their Management will serve as a useful reference book for students, academicians, and scientists in plant pathology as well as for molecular breeders and biotechnologists working in the area of crop science.

Femtosecond lasers have been considered as a promising tool for micro/nano-scale patterning of various materials. This book describes the fundamental concepts of lasers, laser processing technologies, recent advances in forming a variety of micro/nano-metric structures in glasses & metals and their potential application areas. A comparative study among various material processing technologies have been discussed: lithographic technologies, vapor deposition technologies, and laser processing technologies. The fundamental concepts of femtosecond laser-material interactions are also discussed. The primary focus of the book is to provide in depth ideas about the fabrication of various structures including micro/nano-holes, micro/nano-gratings, self-organized nanogratings, nanocones, micro/nano-ripples, spherical-shaped nanostructures, and ring-shaped micropatterns in a variety of materials. These kinds of micro/nano-structures have definite applications in photonics/optical devices, superhydrophobic surfaces, 3D optical data storage, micro/nano-fluidic devices, glass cutting, metal colorizing, friction reduction, and forming metamaterials.

This new volume, Biofertilizers and Biopesticides in Sustainable Agriculture, presents strategies for the management of soil and crop diseases. Microbes have attracted worldwide attention due to their role in disease management and remediation of polluted soils. Taking a sustainable approach, this book explores the means of integrating various microbial management approaches to achieve the desired levels of crop yield under both conventional soils and neglected soils through the use of biopesticides and other botanicals as well as biomolecules. This book also presents a broad and updated view of molecular nitrogen fixation and phosphate-solubilizing and sulfur-transforming microbes for nutrition of crops in relation to the role of metal tolerant microbes in providing protection to plants grown in metal-contaminated soils. The preparation and application of biofertilizers, utilization of household waste materials, and use of genetically modified microorganisms (GMOs) in plant growth and development are also well discussed in the volume.