Identification of desirable genotypes with traits of interest is discernible for making genetic improvement of crop plants. In this direction, screening of a large number of germplasm for desirable traits and transfer of identified traits into agronomic backgrounds through recombination breeding is the common breeding approach. Although visual screening is easier for qualitative traits, its use is not much effective for quantitative traits and also for those, which are difficult to score visually. Therefore, it is imperative to phenotype the germplasm accessions and breeding materials precisely using high throughput phenomics tools for challenging and complex traits under natural, controlled and harsh environmental conditions. Realizing the importance of phenotyping data towards identification and utilization of a germplasm as donors, global scientific community has exerted increased focus on advancing phenomics in crop plants leading to development of a number of techniques and methodologies for screening of agronomic, physiological, and biochemical traits. These technologies have now become much advanced and entered the era of digital science. This book provides exhaustive information on various aspects related to phenotyping of crop plants and offers a most comprehensive reference on the developments made in traditional and high throughput phenotyping of agricultural crops.

This edited book brings together comprehensive information on various aspects of the biofortification of staple crops. It addresses the present status of food and nutritional security and highlights the importance of micronutrients in human health, a historical account of biofortification, current approaches and challenges, crop-specific biofortification efforts and various breeding approaches, including conventional, and genomics enabled improvement. It also explains the efficacy of biofortification, bioavailability, and future thrust. It is an inclusive source of information on different aspects of micronutrients in crops of global importance. Malnutrition is a serious global issue, with millions of people being undernourished, several suffering from micronutrient deficiencies, and the adult population struggling with obesity. Despite significant economic progress, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are still home to an undernourished population. Nutrition-related health problems are related to hidden hunger and are widespread in the developing world. Women and preschool children are more vulnerable. Even though global food production has increased manifolds, estimates indicate that over 60% of the world's population is deficient in essential micronutrients such as iron, zinc, iodine, and selenium, often causing health problems and developmental delays. Linking agricultural production with human nutrition and health is crucial for ensuring nutrition security. Much research has been carried out to assess genetic diversity related to micro-nutrients in staple crops, their bioavailability, and the efficacy of biofortified germplasm. Biofortified varieties developed in different crops through conventional breeding are being up-scaled for reducing the micronutrient deficiencies in other countries. This book is a ready reference for researchers, academicians, extension personnel, policymakers, students, and value chain stakeholders engaged in agriculture, nutrition, and health sectors promoting nutrition-sensitive diets.

This highly informative and carefully presented book offers a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of thermal engineering. The book focuses both on the fundamentals and more complex topics such as the basics of thermodynamics, Zeroth Law of thermodynamics, first law of thermodynamics, application of first law of thermodynamics, second law of thermodynamics, entropy, availability and irreversibility, properties of pure substance, vapor power cycles, introduction to working of IC engines, air-standard cycles, gas turbines and jet propulsion, thermodynamic property relations and combustion. The author has included end-of-chapter problems and worked examples to augment learning and self-testing. This book is a useful reference to undergraduate students in the area of mechanical engineering.

This edited book covers all aspects of grain legumes including negative impact of abiotic and biotic stresses under the changing global climate. It discusses the role of various subject disciplines ranging from plant breeding, genetics, plant physiology, molecular biology, and genomics to high-throughput phenotyping and other emerging technologies for sustaining global grain and fodder legume production to alleviate impending global food crises. The book offers strategies to ensure plant-based dietary protein security across the globe. It covers all major commercial legume crops used as food, feed and fodder. This book is targeted to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, progressive farmers and policymakers to inform them of the importance of cultivating grain and fodder legumes for future global food and nutritional security and for maintaining sustainable ecosystem.

This book covers various aspects of cancer chemoprevention, including an overview of chemoprevention in the process of tumorigenesis; the roles of various phytochemicals, functional foods, and dietary interventions in disease prevention; and techniques such as cancer stem cell targeting, nano-formulations, and so forth. The nutrigenomic and epigenetic effects of natural products at the molecular and genetic levels are also covered alongside their potential for additive and synergistic effect, as well as overcoming drug resistance. The key selling features of the book are as follows: Discusses holistic and comprehensive areas of chemoprevention Includes diverse techniques, such as cancer stem cell targeting, nano-formulations, and nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems Introduces various mechanisms involved in prevention of the diseases, including targeting cancer stem cells Reviews various aspects which can reduce the toxicity and cost of treatment of diseases by alternative medicine Explores various sources, mechanisms, and ways to develop cancer chemopreventive agents with minimal toxicity compared to traditional cancer therapy drugs This book is focused on researchers and graduate students in drug delivery and formulation, nanobiotechnology, cancer chemoprevention, prevention, and therapeutics.

This highly informative and carefully presented book offers a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of thermal engineering. The book focuses both on the fundamentals and more complex topics such as the basics of thermodynamics, Zeroth Law of thermodynamics, first law of thermodynamics, application of first law of thermodynamics, second law of thermodynamics, entropy, availability and irreversibility, properties of pure substance, vapor power cycles, introduction to working of IC engines, air-standard cycles, gas turbines and jet propulsion, thermodynamic property relations and combustion. The author has included end-of-chapter problems and worked examples to augment learning and self-testing. This book is a useful reference to undergraduate students in the area of mechanical engineering.

Grain legumes are characterised by their nutritional value, an ability to grow rapidly and improve soil health. This makes them a key rotation crop in promoting food security. However, yields are constrained by factors such as pests and diseases as well as vulnerability to poor soils, drought and other effects of climate change. This collection reviews the wealth of research addressing these challenges. Volume 2 assesses key research on particular types of grain legume with chapters on developing improved varieties as well as improvements in cultivation techniques. The book covers common beans, lentils, soybeans, groundnuts, cowpea, faba beans and pigeonpea. With its distinguished editorial team and international range of expert authors, this will be a standard reference for the grain legume research community and farmers of these important crops. It is accompanied by a companion volume which reviews general advances in breeding and cultivation techniques.

Grain legumes are characterised by their nutritional value, an ability to grow rapidly and improve soil health by fixing nitrogen. This makes them a key rotation crop in promoting food security amongst smallholders in particular. However, yields are constrained by factors such as pests and diseases as well as vulnerability to poor soils, drought and other effects of climate change. This collection reviews the wealth of research addressing these challenges. Volume 1 focusses on breeding and cultivation. Part 1 summarises advances in understanding crop physiology and genetic diversity, and how this understanding has informed the development of new varieties. Part 2 reviews improvements in cultivation techniques to make the most of these new varieties, from variety selection and seed quality management, through pest and disease management to storage and quality assessment. With its distinguished editorial team and international range of expert authors, this will be a standard reference for the grain legume research community and farmers of these important crops as well as government and other agencies responsible for agricultural development. It is accompanied by a companion volume which reviews particular grain legumes.

The Lentil Genome is a comprehensive volume on this important legume, from its economic importance to the latest in sequencing. The book includes botanical descriptions, discussion of lentil genetics, cytogenetics and breeding, molecular mapping genes and QTLs, as well as structural and functional genomics, genome sequencing, assembly, repetitive genome, gene annotation and synteny. Lentil [Lens culinaris ssp. culinaris Medikus] is among the earliest domesticates from the Near-East Fertile Crescent and plays a vital role in nutritional wellbeing and livelihood for the small-scale farmers in the dryland agricultural ecosystems of South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia, and North Africa. The classical plant breeding approach of selection-recombination-selection has been used successfully for genetic improvement in lentil. However further genetic improvement for developing the high yielding cultivars is required knowledge of gene network underlying the complex traits. Realizing the importance of genomics enabled improvement in crop plants, the scientific community has recently placed major emphasis on whole genome sequencing in many major crops including lentil. This compilation of the latest lentil genome research serves the immediate needs of students, scientists and is needed to strengthen conventional crop improvement strategies of lentil.

This book has been written for the introductory course of fluid mechanics for students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It provides the fundamental knowledge allowing students in engineering and natural sciences to enter fluid mechanics and its applications in various fields where fluid flows need to be dealt with. Volume 2 of this book contains ten chapters to help build the basic understanding of the subject matter. It adequately addresses the more complex and advanced issues on fluid mechanics in simplest of manners. The book covers laminar flow (viscous flow), turbulent flow, boundary layer theory, flow through pipe, pipe flow measurement, orifices and mouthpieces, flow past submerged bodies, flow through open channels, notches and weirs, and compressible flows. The concepts are supported by numerous solved examples and multiple-choice questions to aid self-learning in students. The book also contains illustrated diagrams for better understanding of the concepts. The book is extremely useful for the undergraduate and postgraduate students of engineering and natural sciences.

This book is a collection of over 225 multiple choice type questions (MCQs) and more than 40 practice/exam questions with solutions. This book complements a 2-volume textbook set titled Thermal Engineering  by the same author. The answers are adequately supported by well-illustrated diagrams wherever necessary for better understanding of the concepts. The book also included steam tables as an appendix to aid in problem solving .This book proves useful for undergraduate students of mechanical engineering and related disciplines. The book is used in conjunction with the author's textbook set on thermal engineering or as a supplement to other core textbooks and lecture materials. It is used to support classroom teaching or as a self-study guide. The problem-solution format also proves useful for students and professionals involved in exam prep for graduate university entrance tests and professional certifications. 

This edited book covers all aspects of grain legumes including negative impact of abiotic and biotic stresses under the changing global climate. It discusses the role of various subject disciplines ranging from plant breeding, genetics, plant physiology, molecular biology, and genomics to high-throughput phenotyping and other emerging technologies for sustaining global grain and fodder legume production to alleviate impending global food crises. The book offers strategies to ensure plant-based dietary protein security across the globe. It covers all major commercial legume crops used as food, feed and fodder. This book is targeted to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, progressive farmers and policymakers to inform them of the importance of cultivating grain and fodder legumes for future global food and nutritional security and for maintaining sustainable ecosystem.

This book provides the fundamental knowledge allowing students in engineering and natural sciences to enter fluid mechanics and its applications in various fields where fluid flows need to be dealt with. This textbook is written for the introductory course of fluid mechanics for students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Volume 1 of this textbook contains seven chapters to help build the basic understanding of the subject matter. It adequately covers the properties of fluids, pressure and its measurement, hydrostatic forces on surface, buoyancy, and floatation, kinematics of fluid motion, dynamics of fluid flow, and dimensional and model analysis. The concepts are supported by numerous solved examples and multiple-choice questions to aid self-learning in students. The textbook also contains illustrated diagrams for better understanding of the concepts. The book is extremely useful for the undergraduate and postgraduate students of engineering and natural sciences.