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Synthetic and Mineral Fibers, Their Composites and Applications reviews recent advances and technological developments in this important research field. The book provides an up-to-date record of significant research findings and observations along with an update on current and future potential applications. The book provides vital information on recent advancements, modern processing technologies, manufacturing, and applications and summarizes lifecycle and performance parameters for these types of composites. This book will be a valuable reference resource for academic and industrial researchers and materials scientists and engineers working in the development of polymer composite materials reinforced with synthetic and mineral fibers for applications in aerospace, medical, defense, automotive and construction sectors. - Covers both synthetic and mineral fibers, their composites, and applications - Highlights recent advances in mineral fiber- reinforced polymer composites, modern processing methods, and functionalization - Provides updates on hybrid (combination of both synthetic and mineral fiber) composite technologies - Features applications in aerospace, medical, defense and the construction industries

Plant‑based medicines and aromatics are increasingly in demand in the healthcare sector all over the globe where they are used, not only for the treatment of various diseases, but also for maintaining good human health. Plants as Medicine and Aromatics: Uses of Botanicals reviews modern uses of ancient botanicals as medicine and aromatics, including chapters on both traditional usage and modern drug discovery development, as well as clinical research and development in ancient medicinal herbs.Features: Assesses the status of aromatics and medicinal plants as well as their modern uses. Elucidates the uses of plants within traditional culture practices for the prevention and treatment of diseases. Examines contemporary approaches being used to explore medicinal botany. A volume in the Exploring Medicinal Plants series, Plants as Medicine and Aromatics: Uses of Botanicals presents a comprehensive understanding in terms of modern uses of botanicals of medicinal and aromatic plants. It is useful to researchers, teachers, cultivators, students, and for those interested in herbal medicine.

Fiber-reinforced polymers play an important role in the progress of materials science. Fiber-Reinforced Polymer: Processes and Applications presents the science of fiber-reinforced polymer composites from the manufacturing stage to its applications. Apart from the fabrication of the composites, its machinability properties are also discussed. This book considers both natural and synthetic fibers in polymer composites, as well as their utility for different sectors such as automotive, aviation and biomedical engineering. In addition to the overview of fiber-reinforced polymers, engineering properties of these materials are discussed. The book also discusses the impact of environmental aspects such as moisture uptake on the properties of fiber-reinforced polymer composites. Since nano-engineering is a hot topic in the field of composites, the benefits of nano-fibers are discussed, as well as their fabrication methods, properties and applications. Moreover, fiber selections in polymer matrices are discussed by considering the interactions between fibers and matrices, as well as taking their applications into account.

This book covers the biotechnology of all the major perennial fruit and nut species. Since the publication of the first edition of this book in 2005, there has been significant progress in cell culture, genomics and genetic transformation for many of these species. This book covers these biotechnologies and also traditional ones, such as regeneration pathways, protoplast culture, in vitro mutagenesis, and ploidy manipulation that have been applied to many of these species. Three species, Diospyros kaki (persimmon), Punica granatum (pomegranate) and Eriobotrya japonica (loquat) are included for the first time, and several Prunus species now receive separate coverage. The species are organized by plant family to facilitate comparisons among related ones. Each species is discussed in relation to its family and its related wild forms, and most are accompanied by full colour illustrations. This book is a vital resource for those working on the improvement of perennial fruit, nut and plantation crops. The book features: Detailed coverage of major perennial fruit and crop species. Coverage of traditional and new biotechnologies. Full colour illustrations to aid identification This book is an essential resource for scientists and postgraduate students who are engaged in the improvement of perennial fruit, nut and plantation crops and will also be an important accession for university and agricultural research libraries.

The pomegranate, Punica granatum L., is one of the oldest known edible fruits and is associated with the ancient civilizations of the Middle East. This is the first comprehensive book covering the botany, production, processing, health and industrial uses of the pomegranate. The cultivation of this fruit for fresh consumption, juice production and medicinal purposes has expanded more than tenfold over the past 20 years. Presenting a review of pomegranate growing, from a scientific and horticultural perspective, this book provides information on how to increase yields and improve short- and medium-term grower profitability and sustainability. It covers: practices to mitigate pests, diseases and abiotic stresses; yield-based nutrition management; cultural practices for cultivars with horticultural traits such as earliness, high yield, improved taste, soft seeds, disease resistance, and low splitting and sunscald rates; increasing crop diversity to aid crop security; and composition, food uses and medicinal uses. This book is essential literature for researchers in horticulture, for growers and for those involved in the pomegranate industry.

This collection reviews current advances in the breeding and cultivation of key tropical and subtropical fruits.Chapters summarise key advances across the value chain for citrus fruit cultivation, including citrus genetics, nutrition and other aspects of cultivation, the use of precision agriculture and developments in integrated pest management (IPM). Two case studies on limes and mandarins highlight the range of improvements in cultivation.The book also summarises recent developments in breeding and cultivation techniques for a range of soft tropical fruits, including banana, kiwifruit, lychee, papaya, pineapple and pomegranate. The final part of the book covers developments in breeding and cultivation techniques for a range of stone and other tropical fruit, including avocado, coconut, guava, jackfruit, mangos and olives.

Sugarcane is the source of over three quarters of the world's sugar, and is grown widely in the tropics and sub-tropics. Despite rising demand, average yields have not increased significantly, partly because of continued vulnerability to pests and diseases. In addition, cultivation has been seen as damaging biodiversity and soil health with a negative effect on both yields and the environment. This volume summarises the wealth of research addressing these challenges. Volume 2 reviews advances in breeding and the management of pests and diseases. Part 1 assesses the latest research on sugarcane genetics, physiology and genetic diversity, and how this is informing advances in conventional, marker-assisted and transgenic breeding techniques. Part 2 discusses progress in understanding bacterial, fungal and viral diseases and their management, as well as the management of insect and nematode pests as well as weeds. With its distinguished editor and international team of expert authors, this will be a standard reference for sugarcane scientists, growers, government and non-governmental agencies responsible for supporting and monitoring the impact of sugarcane cultivation. It is accompanied by a companion volume reviewing cultivation and sustainability issues.

Current successes in omics research have accelerated the production of high quality foods. Various mutation methodologies have been developed to achieve this progress, showing the importance of mutagenesis for food security.'Mutagenesis: exploring novel genes and pathways'describes the latest achievements in induced mutagenesis, with a particular focus on the development of crops. The book details experimental studies on functions of particular genes of interest, the mechanisms involved in physiological processes, and occurring chemical reactions. Also, the creation of new mutants and lines by use of genomic data banks is discussed. The book will be of mutual interest to end-users in modern breeding programs as well as to scientific research.

Drought stress is one of the most deleterious environmental factors responsible for severely limiting the growth and productivity of agricultural crops. The expected long-term effects of global climate change include more frequent episodes of drought. This book presents current research in the study of droughts including the response of plants to drought stress; the physiological and molecular bases of drought tolerance in wheat genotypes; the spatial assessment of drought hazard, vulnerability and risk in Bangladesh; the influence of drought and forest fires on the productivity of evergreen oaks in the Iberian Peninsula and developing drought tolerant crops.

The Burrows-Wheeler Transform is one of the best lossless compression me- ods available. It is an intriguing — even puzzling — approach to squeezing redundancy out of data, it has an interesting history, and it has applications well beyond its original purpose as a compression method. It is a relatively late addition to the compression canon, and hence our motivation to write this book, looking at the method in detail, bringing together the threads that led to its discovery and development, and speculating on what future ideas might grow out of it. The book is aimed at a wide audience, ranging from those interested in learning a little more than the short descriptions of the BWT given in st- dard texts, through to those whose research is building on what we know about compression and pattern matching. The?rst few chapters are a careful description suitable for readers with an elementary computer science ba- ground (and these chapters have been used in undergraduate courses), but later chapters collect a wide range of detailed developments, some of which are built on advanced concepts from a range of computer science topics (for example, some of the advanced material has been used in a graduate c- puter science course in string algorithms). Some of the later explanations require some mathematical sophistication, but most should be accessible to those with a broad background in computer science.