Mean value for each assay and time point with the standard deviation.
\r\n\tNeck pain is poorly understood and managed. Whiplash remains a controversial subject. The role of surgery in neck pain versus conservative treatment.
\r\n\tThis book aims to provide a clear understanding of how to differentiate between the causes of shoulder and neck pain, which investigations are appropriate and how to treat once a diagnosis has been made. Controversies in current understanding will be discussed and some light shone upon them.
Orthopaedic surgery has experienced a big development, thanks to the evolution of the materials used, which made it possible to perform procedures, such as total hip replacement with feasibility. These procedures are common in most orthopaedic departments and the survival of these implants is critical to prevent loosening and the need for revision arthroplasty with a cost of more than 15,000 euros in total hip or knee replacement. The ideal surface to interact with bone has not been created. We can find promising results in some materials, for example, hydroxyapatite plasma coating creates early and strong integration, but it seems that this treatment experiments long-term reviews due to the loosening of the coat [1]. Multiple techniques have been proposed to increase osteointegration in metals. Probably the most accepted and used are the creation of a plasma coating with hydroxyapatite in some situations and the texturization of the metal in the microscale [2–6].
\nLaser processing has gained significant importance in the medical industry and is an integral part of manufacturing, for example, welding endoscopes, drilling holes in hypodermic needles and verification laser marking [2, 3]. Lasers offer high precision and repeatability, high speed and quality, accuracy, cost efficiency, minimal thermal input and noncontact [7–10]. In particular, femtosecond lasers are ideal for surface structuring because they have a minimal heat affected zone, there is rapid heating and cooling and no laser plasma interaction [11–16]. Femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS), known as “ripples,” have been fabricated on material surfaces such as metals [17], polymers [18], glass, dielectric and semiconductors [19, 20]. There are a number of applications of LIPSS such as increasing the surface area and surface energy, altering the hydrophilic or hydrophobic performance of a materials’ surface, improving coating adhesion, optics and tribology [21, 22]. These characteristics are of great interest for biomedical applications, in particular for hard-tissue replacement [23–25].
\nThis study investigates the bioresponse of zirconia/tantalum biocermets (ZrO2:Ta) with laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) produced by femtosecond laser pulses. Experiments were carried out using a Yb:KYW chirped-pulse-regenerative amplification laser system (Amplitude Systemes S-pulse HP) that delivered laser pulses with a duration of approximately 500 fs at wavelength of 1030 nm. We investigate the physical and biological response of LIPSS created using a femtosecond laser on an alloy surface. This includes determining the role of incubation and nanostructures, the physical characterization of LIPSS and the biological response of LIPSS. ZrO2:Ta surfaces were exposed to multiple incident laser shots in air at a repetition rate of 100 kHz at various pulse energies ranging from 2 to 6 mJ. Periodic surface nanostructures were formed by exposure to laser radiation slightly above the applied threshold fluence and observed using techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Section 2 introduces materials and methods. In Section 3, we describe the LIPPS fabrication procedure and results. Section 4 is devoted to biological results and Section 5 to conclusions.
\nWe have previously described the manufacturing process of the composite, were ceramic and metal powders are mixed to create the composite [21]. The samples used in this work are discs of 20 mm diameter and 2 mm thickness were cut and machined from cylindrical bars (5 mm length and 2 mm diameter).
\nThe microstructure of samples was measured on surfaces polished down to 1 mm using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Phenom G2). Roughness measurements were performed by using SEM and 3D roughness reconstruction application (Phenom TM Pro Suite). The average surface roughness (Ra) was determined by measuring the surface roughness at 10 different locations over 3 samples of each type.
\nMorphological observation of the surfaces was undertaken by means of a Carl Zeiss Ultra Plus field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). The composition was analysed by an Oxford instruments INCA X-sight X-ray electron probe microanalyzer (EDX).The wettability of the studied materials was assessed by measuring the contact angle of deionized water drops deposited onto their surface using a KSV Instruments Cam 200 device.
\nLaser-induced periodic surface structures are fabricated using a fluence above the damage threshold fluence for the zirconia/tantalum biocermet. Chemical modification was analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (Hitachi S2600N). The topography was measured using an atomic force microscope (Agilent 5500).
\nDuring the fabrication process, we used an optical Nikon MM-400 microscope to visually inspect the samples; surface roughness and topography was measured using a SENSOFAR 2300 Plμ confocal microscope. Biological observations were performed using a Zeiss Microscope (Zeiss AxioVert A.1) and Zen software.
\nZrO2-Ta surfaces were exposed to multiple incident laser shots in air at a repetition rate of 100 kHz at various pulse energies ranging from 2 to 6 mJ. LIPSS were fabricated using a Yb:KYW laser system (Amplitude Systemes S-pulse HP) with a pulse duration of approximately 500 fs and a wavelength of 1030 nm. The beam delivery process for fabricating the LIPSS can be described as follows: the beam is focused on the top of the zirconia/tantalum biocermet surfaces using a flat-field lens (focal length = 100 mm). This kind of lens ensures a homogeneous light distribution in an area of 8 × 8 cm2. The beam spot size (21 μm) was determined at 1/e2 of the Gaussian profile. The spatial profile of the laser was Gaussian in nature with a nominal M2 value of <1.2. The laser set-up for texturing ZrO2-Ta surfaces with LIPSS is shown in Figure 1.
\n(a) Laser set-up and (b) beam delivery system for generating the LIPSS; (c) schematic of LIPSS fabrication process and (d) femtosecond laser characteristics.
We created 50 discs of the cermet. Each disc had a diameter of 6.75 mm (± 0.02 mm) and a thickness of 1.25 mm (± 0.02 mm). Once all the discs have been obtained, we proceed to polish those discs to prepare and to apply further treatments. We maintained 25 unaltered discs as a control group. In the remaining 25, we apply a laser treatment, which is explained later in detail, to create regular structures or roughness in the metallic structures of the cermet at disc surfaces. The samples used were treated with an ultrasonic bath for effective cleaning and then autoclaved (Selecta Autotester) at 121°C for 30 min. We used one disc from each group to culture mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) for 48 h to compare under direct vision cell behaviour.
\nAfter Institutional Review Board approval, and after giving consent, we obtained mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from iliac crest of patients who were operated elective, with no previous disease and with an age between 18 and 50 years old. Under spinal anaesthesia, during the main orthopaedic procedure, we performed a puncture with a trocar in the iliac crest to aspirate bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. We used a low-pressure technique with heparin and saline to prevent haemolysis and the formation of clots.
\nAfterwards, we used a Ficoll-Histopaque (Sigma-Aldrich) gradient to isolate MSC. Then, we cultured the MSC to expand them under sterile conditions until we had obtained a concentration of 25,000 cells/cm2 as previously reported. We confirmed the desired cell concentration with a Neubauer chamber.
\nThe survival and proliferation of hBMSCs on discs were examined with a MTT assay after 5, 10, 15 and 20 days of culture (groups of 6 discs). The MTT assays were carried out as per manufacturer\'s protocol (Sigma-Aldrich). Briefly, hBMSCs were seeded on the sample discs (both surfaces were tested at the same time to diminish variability) at a density of 25 × 103 cells per well in a 24-well plate. The medium was removed periodically at each time point, MTT solution was added and cells were incubated overnight. Next step was to remove the MTT solution and dissolve the purple formazan crystals in 100 mL of dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) by shaking the plate for 15 min (50 mL solution of each well was added into a new 24-well plate). An automated plate reader (PerkinElmer) was used to quantify the OD value by measuring the absorption at 570 nm.
\nAfterwards, we proceed to clean the discs to use them for remaining biological assays. We proceed to clean all surfaces chemically (to destroy all biological tissues without modifying the surface) and treated them with an ultrasonic bath for effective cleaning and then autoclaved (Selecta Autotester) at 121°C for 30 min.
\nTo assess the amount of inflammatory cytokine concentration, both IL-6 and TNF-alpha ELISA kits (eBioscience) were performed according to the manufacturer’s indications. Kits were read on a spectrophotometer at the wavelength indicated by the manufacturer.
\nFormation of an ECM implies the deposition of collagen (the main protein of the ECM) on the biomaterial surface. Collagen concentration was assessed by means of a total protein assay (Pierce Labs USA).
\nAlkaline phosphatase (ALP) protein was assessed every 5 days. Samples were lysed using Cell Lysis Buffer (Cell Signalling), collected, and spun down at 14,000×
Osteocalcin and osteopontin levels were assessed to gain an insight of the mesenchymal cell fate determination. Increased values of osteocalcin and osteopontin are associated with osteoblastic differentiation. Supernatants were collected at different time points and measured by ELISA kits (Thermo Fisher).
\nWe performed a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test to confirm that values have a normal distribution. After we used a T-student test to compare rough and smooth surfaces, we accepted a p value lower than 0.05 as statistically significant.
\nThe laser set-up for fabricating the laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on ZrO2:Ta surfaces consists of a Yb:KYW chirped-pulse-regenerative amplification laser system (Amplitude Systemes S-pulse HP). The laser set-up used for fabricating the LIPSS is described in Section 2.3. Figure 1 shows the laser set-up for fabricating the LIPSS on ZrO2:Ta samples.
\nThe laser system for fully texturing materials with LIPSS is shown in Figure 1c. For fabricating the LIPSS, the incident direction of the laser was orthogonal to the sample plane. Each sample was fully textured by combining an aligned array of spots at a laser wavelength of 1030 nm. The irradiation conditions for both materials were applied fluence of 0.30 J/cm2, laser spot of 21 μm, wavelength of 1030 nm, repetition rate of 100 kHz, pulse width of 500 fs and sample scan speed of 200 mm/s; the sample was fully textured using highly over-lapped (95%) pulses. This method is very effective in accelerating the processing times while the obtained results are similar to conventional pulsed-laser treatments for creating LIPSS. Fluence was calculated using Eqs. (2) and (3). The applied threshold fluence for one pulse was previously calculated and it was found that with increasing number of laser pulses, the threshold fluence decreases [26].
\nThe calculations for determining applied threshold fluence (φth) and (φ0) are obtained according to the method of Liu et al. [27]. The spatial fluence, (φr), for a Gaussian beam is given by:
\nwhere φ0 is the peak fluence in the beam, r is the distance from the centre of the beam and ω0 is the Gaussian spot radius (1/e2). The maximum fluence and the pulse energy, Ep, are related by:
\nThe peak fluence is related to the diameter of the ablated spot
\nwhere D2 is the maximum diameter of the damaged region zone. It is possible to determine the beam radius using the value for ω0 from the plot of D2 versus the logarithm of the pulse energy. Once ω0 is calculated, fluence values can then be found using Eq. (3). By plotting D2 versus the natural log of the applied laser fluence and extrapolating the D2 line to zero, φth can be calculated.
\nFigure 2 shows a polished ZrO2:Ta sample used for generating ripples that exhibits a roughness average of 3.7 ± 0.2 nm.
\nFE-SEM image of the ZrO2:Ta cermet used for performing experiments.
LIPPS were fabricated on ZrO2:Ta samples illustrated on Figure 2 by irradiation with a p-polarized femtosecond laser. The laser parameters used for generating the LIPSS were repetition rate of 100 kHz, pulse width of 500 fs, sample scan speed of 200 mm/s and 50 passes of highly over-lapped (95%). In Figure 3, we can see the typical fabricated LIPSS or ripples observed in the scanning electron microscopy images. Periodical micropatterns were generated in ZrO2:Ta using the abovementioned laser parameters at 200 mw laser power.
\nFE-SEM images of the fabricated micropatterned structures on ZrO2:Ta (Ta: Tantalum; Zr: Zirconia) at different magnifications.
As shown in Figure 3, periodic structures were generated on tantalum while zirconia shows irregular structures at surface. The period of the surface ripples is significantly smaller than the wavelength of the incident laser beam. The period of ripples is estimated to be 760 ± 48 nm and the depth is 251 ± 7 nm when exposed to a 1030 nm, and the roughness average is 54 ± 2 nm. The depth of LIPSS depends on various parameters such as absorption coefficient, thermal diffusion and radiative cooling of the material. The effective penetration depth (α−1) is proportional to the laser wavelength. After femtosecond laser exposure, the alloy changes its optical penetration depth, as the material become amorphous. After multiple-pulse exposure which incorporates rapid heating and cooling cycles, the zirconia/tantalum material could evolve toward a metallic-like glass which would favor deeper surface structures [28].
\nWettability results assessed in aqueous medium are presented in Figure 4. Since liquid ZrO2:Ta interfacial tension is not easy to measure directly, the contact angle of a deionized water droplet on the studied cermets was used to indicate surface wettability. The equilibrium contact angle (θeq) of a liquid drop on an ideal solid surface is defined by Young’s equation [29]:
\nPhotographs of as-deposited water droplets onto the surface of (a) as-cast and (b) ZrO2-Ta with ripples.
where σSV, σSL and σLV are the interfacial tensions between solid-gas, solid-liquid and liquid-gas phases, respectively. Our results indicate that the as-cast cermet shows high wettability with a contact angle value of 81.2°. On the other hand, laser-treated ZrO2:Ta alloy presents significantly higher contact angle (113.5°), that is, it shows a more hydrophobic character. Considering γlv constant for a certain liquid in a particular environment, the observed variability in wettability values could be ascribed to variations in γsv and γsl, caused by the hierarchical structures fabricated on ZrO2:Ta surface by the applied laser process. LIPSS nanopattern may be responsible for the observed hydrophobicity increase, which could also be influenced by the intrinsic change in the surface chemistry with the exposure to air after the laser fabrication process [30].
\nCell adhesion and several cellular functions are strongly influenced by the surface properties of a material. It has been proved that surface chemistry, energy, topography and wettability are key factors that affect protein adsorption and blood coagulation, which may have an impact on the adhesion, migration and differentiation of osteogenic cells, playing an important role in implants’ osteointegration [31, 32]. In the studied cases, an increase in the protein adsorption and osteoblast differentiation parameters for laser-treated surfaces was observed, in spite of their lower wetting properties. The higher specific surface area offered by the fabricated nanostructures can play a decisive role in providing more adsorption sites for bioactive molecules and proteins, mitigating the effect of surface hydrophobicity [33].
\nOn the biological side, one of the main challenges in this study was to investigate the cells’ behaviour when cultured over nanometric structures (LIPPS) to increase osteoblastic differentiation. After fabricating laser-induced periodic surface structures, we studied the behaviour of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells compared to polished surfaces. We cultured hBMSCs in a concentration of 25,000 cells/cm2 in the surfaces created for 20 days. We determined MTT, TNF-alpha, IL-6, collagen production, alkaline phosphatase, osteopontin and osteocalcin for every 5 days until day 20. Table 1 summarizes the average of all measurements for each assay.
\n\n | \n | SMOOTH 5 | \nLIPSS 5 | \nSMOOTH 10 | \nLIPSS 10 | \nSMOOTH 15 | \nLIPSS 15 | \nSMOOTH 20 | \nLIPSS 20 | \n
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MTT | \nMean | \n0.711 | \n0.722 | \n0.784 | \n0.767 | \n0.868 | \n0.917 | \n0.943 | \n0.980 | \n
\n | Std. deviation | \n0.046 | \n0.053 | \n0.067 | \n0.051 | \n0.061 | \n0.119 | \n0.079 | \n0.085 | \n
IL-6 | \nMean | \n0.018 | \n0.019 | \n0.026 | \n0.023 | \n0.031 | \n0.031 | \n0.032 | \n0.030 | \n
\n | Std. deviation | \n0.002 | \n0.002 | \n0.004 | \n0.003 | \n0.003 | \n0.003 | \n0.002 | \n0.003 | \n
TNF-alpha | \nMean | \n0.018 | \n0.018 | \n0.023 | \n0.023 | \n0.024 | \n0.024 | \n0.045 | \n0.044 | \n
Std. deviation | \n0.001 | \n0.002 | \n0.003 | \n0.002 | \n0.002 | \n0.002 | \n0.003 | \n0.007 | \n|
ECM | \nMean | \n0.033 | \n0.029 | \n0.044 | \n0.055 | \n0.325 | \n0.452 | \n0.333 | \n0.425 | \n
\n | Std. deviation | \n0.026 | \n0.015 | \n0.028 | \n0.031 | \n0.044 | \n0.034 | \n0.040 | \n0.052 | \n
AF | \nMean | \n0.544 | \n1.037 | \n0.580 | \n1.123 | \n0.626 | \n1.224 | \n0.679 | \n1.317 | \n
\n | Std. deviation | \n0.038 | \n0.198 | \n0.026 | \n0.145 | \n0.047 | \n0.073 | \n0.033 | \n0.132 | \n
OSC | \nMean | \n0.539 | \n0.639 | \n0.575 | \n0.624 | \n0.622 | \n0.778 | \n0.601 | \n0.787 | \n
\n | Std. deviation | \n0.052 | \n0.043 | \n0.049 | \n0.069 | \n0.063 | \n0.069 | \n0.049 | \n0.050 | \n
OSP | \nMean | \n0.716 | \n0.838 | \n0.765 | \n0.825 | \n0.837 | \n0.831 | \n0.922 | \n0.884 | \n
\n | Std. deviation | \n0.057 | \n0.075 | \n0.077 | \n0.050 | \n0.130 | \n0.123 | \n0.059 | \n0.076 | \n
Mean value for each assay and time point with the standard deviation.
MTT values in both surface treatments were similar (Figure 5), without reaching the statistical significance at any time point of control. Inflammatory response of both materials described by IL-6 and TNF-alpha values was also similar, with no difference between surfaces. We found very low values for both surfaces. Figure 5 shows the data obtained for MTT assay with the standard deviation.
\nData obtained for MTT assay with the standard deviation.
We found a significant difference in ECM production (Figure 6) and osteoblast differentiation parameters (FA, OSC and OSP). ECM production was statistically increased in LIPSS surfaces at days 15 and 20. Alkaline phosphatase activity was increased at all time point controls. Osteocalcin levels were also elevated at every control, but at day 10 there was no statistical difference. Osteopontin values were also superior to control in every control, but only reached statistical difference at day 5. Figure 6 shows the data obtained for ECM assay with the standard deviation.
\nData obtained for ECM assay with the standard deviation.
Confocal microscopic image (Figure 7) showed a polarization of cells in the metal area (where LIPSS are generated). In the surface where the ceramic is present, we can see a disordered pattern seen in most of the smooth surfaces.
\nConfocal image of a treated surface.
We can see a transition between LIPSS and the ceramic surface. In the upper left corner, we can see a polarization of the long axis of the cell, which is not seen in the ceramic surface (lower right corner). Figure 8 shows the images obtained on smooth surfaces, which showed a nonorganized mess of cells without polarization.
\nConfocal image of the smooth surface.
We have demonstrated in vitro that LIPSS are an efficient option to increase osteoblastic differentiation of hBMSCs in ZrO2:Ta biocermets. When we create a laser-induced periodic surface with a femtosecond laser, we found that proliferation and inflammatory response are not increased when compared to a smooth surface. We know that LIPSS in metals decreases hydrophobicity compared to smooth surfaces, but in cermet this situation is not seen. We believe that we found a dual phenomenon. In the metal area of the cermet, the contact angle is decreased, but in the ceramic area, the transformation phase seen with this laser treatment increases the contact angle and the hydrophobicity. The optimization of the laser treatment probably will improve the wettability minimizing the transformation phase.
\nWe can see an increase in the ECM in treated surfaces at days 15 and 20. These values add more significance to the values obtained for osteoblastic differentiation.
\nWith values of proliferation similar in both materials, we found an increase in osteoblastic differentiation in LIPSS created over ZrO2:Ta compared to smooth surfaces. This increase is demonstrated by higher values in the studied assays of alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin and osteopontin production at every control point. This behaviour is seen in metals such as titanium and tantalum. This situation is similar to previous studies that demonstrate a more biological activity in LIPSS surfaces compared to smooth ones.
\nWe can conclude that creating laser-induced periodic surfaces is a promising and cheap modification to increase osteoblastic response to a material, without adding chemicals or new materials. Optimization of the laser fluence and parameters will increase this effect, minimizing the transformation phenomenon in the ceramic area, but creating LIPSS in the metal islands.
\nD. Nieto is grateful to the Consellería de Cultura, Spain for the support under the Galician Program for Research Innovation and Growth (2011–2015) (I2C Plan).
\nAnyone who enjoys swimming knows that they began learning from the shallow end as they progressed into the deep end of the swimming pool, by then feeling confident and able to swim back and forth navigating and experiencing the motions of the waves that vary across the pool. It is unnatural and very dangerous to learn swimming in the reverse order. The latter depicts the experience of many teachers in Kenya, as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic which led to abrupt closure of schools. From the “brick and mortar” classrooms, that have been sacred comfort zones, the teachers suddenly found themselves thrown into virtual learning environments, which neither their initial training nor in-service programs had prepared them for. This was not unique to Kenya, as there were about 1.5 billion students and 63 million teachers who engaged in online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 lock down [1].
[
In Kenya the ministry of education encouraged schools, colleges and universities to combine use of radio and television with on online teaching as the country adhered to international and national guidelines on social distancing [2]. The International Council for Open and Distance Education also offered website, webinars and resources for teachers, but all these have not been adequate; as evidenced in issues related to course designs, content support, course assessment, learner and teacher characteristics [3, 4]. Indeed, recent research on online learning indicate gaps in accessibility of e-resources, use of online tools, management of platforms, instructional methods, and teacher development programs [1]. Teacher education programs at the university are challenged to support teacher educator’ s efforts in strengthening the ICT capacities of teacher trainees, as they prepare for more technologically oriented classrooms. In this chapter the researcher explores the kind of knowledge, competences, skills and pedagogical strategies that teachers need, to teach effectively with technology.
Before the outbreak of COVID 19, the Twenty First Century already presented the world with complex advancements that are marked by new scientific discoveries, globalization, information explosion, development of astronautics, digital technology and artificial intelligence- to mention a few. It was already evident that the nature of knowledge as we knew it was going to change. In fact, there is now pressing need to update content in major academic disciplines; taking into consideration the need to focus on knowledge that is most worth. To this end the question that needs to be addressed is “What type of knowledge is of worth for teachers as they move from the classroom to the virtual learning environments? especially as the pandemic continue with restrictions on face-to-face learning. Past research that focused on teacher education for the 21st century, underscored that teachers need a strong knowledge base for effective practice and also to boost their academic efficacy [3, 5].
Historically, teaching started as one dimensional art – a case in which the basic knowledge that the teacher needed was that of the subject matter. With time the method of presenting become critical. and it became necessary for the teacher to have knowledge on how to organize and present content meaningfully. During this phase the main focus of training was on pedagogy. In the next phase, it become essential for a teacher to have knowledge of the learner, therefore educational psychology was stressed in teacher education programs. Then entered phase four that stressed that students learn better when resources are used and through interaction with mass media and people. Phase five, which is the latest development, now defines the teacher’s role as a facilitator of learning rather than a provider of information. With technology, information is now on the web and learners only need to be facilitated to tap into it.
Unfortunately, teacher education programs in Kenya still operate in phase one and two, with even more emphasis on knowledge transmission. Referring to the allegory at the introduction, phase one of teacher education simulates the shallow end of the swimming pool. The level from which teachers were hurled into the deep end of learning with technological resources, depicted in phase four and five. This can be illustrated using the records of teaching online from one of the universities in Kenya (with permission). E- learning was introduced to the university in the year 2015. Up to 2018, through trainings and persuasions and resistance, only 150 courses had been launched on the university online platform. Between March and November 2020-when the pandemic struck, a total of 1470 courses had been mounted (with a panic that was evident in the sudden change in operations. The main concerns have been on how to deliver content to virtual learners. This section covers what teacher education should prioritize in terms of knowledge of the learner, the subject matter and the communication processes that contribute to effective online teaching.
Teacher education programs now need to give priority to the knowledge of learners and how they will learn and develop within the context of the “New Normal”. For a long time, educators have relied on behavioral and cognitive theories to understand how learners learn; and this has made them believe that learners only react to and process knowledge that is presented to them. Literature on teacher education is littered with persuasion for teachers to adopt constructivist views that learners actually construct new knowledge based on their experiences. Beyond constructivism, recent research on educational technology advance transactional theory, as the model for online teaching. This theory presents teaching as a transactional business; and introduces a customer care language that teachers should adopt. Both learners and teachers form a community of inquirers, collaborating and making meaning of the learning content. In this context, it is critical to know how learner characteristics, circumstances and needs impact on the way they learn. One of the critical needs is for the learner to fit in the technologically wired world, and there is now a wider advocacy for Universal Design for Learning (UDL)- a model that stresses the use of multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement to cater for the needs of diverse learners [1, 6, 7].
While a majority of teachers tend to rely on old notes (yellow notes) which were probably passed on from their own teachers or those they made in the yester years, technology has ushered in an age of information explosion. This requires the teacher to have a thorough understanding of how content in his/her subject matter is developing, in terms of goals and disciplinary demands. A famous educator Heidi Hayes in his book 21st Century Curriculum, emphasizes that a time has come when we need to update the content that is taught in educational programs or else we risk teaching obsolete knowledge. This is because we live in an age of knowledge explosion, a time that requires us to continuously upgrade knowledge- choosing on what knowledge to add or subtract in any given discipline. Teachers, particularly, need to have knowledge on changes in general [8].
As it is, the nature of teaching requires, the teacher not only to be grounded in his subject, but to be able to relate the content of that subject with the socio-economic, political and technological realities. All these come in as new knowledge that forms the core of interdisciplinary themes that need to be in cooperated in the teacher education program. These themes include knowledge that does not necessarily belong to a particular discipline. Examples are, climate change, family life education, entrepreneurship and health education [9]. The 21st century require teachers to be able to utilize such interdisciplinary knowledge to help students solve complex problems of the world such as climate change and unemployment. Though recent reforms in teacher education in Kenya introduced courses such as Educational Guidance and Counselling, Entrepreneurship, and Environmental Education to capture this need, a lot more should be done to help teacher educators access online resources that can aid in the teaching of these and other content as they pass on the requisite knowledge to teacher trainees.
The WWW search engines provide a plethora of information regarding all subject matter. E-resources such as electronic books, electronic journals, dictionaries, newspapers, magazines, references, directories, and audio-visual materials are available for use [10]. Teachers should have knowledge on the different types of e-resources and how to access them. Both teacher educators and teacher trainees should be guided not just on how to access URLs that connect users to licensed digital resources, but in the understanding of the relationship between the URL and the technological infrastructure. This has become a challenge as libraries are also in a dilemma on whether to create accessibility of digital resources through library catalogues or separate databases [11]. In Kenya, the United Nations, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development -at the Kenya Education Cloud (kec.ac.ke), together with the Kenya Broadcast Cooperation have attempted to provide resources for online teaching, particularly for basic education [12]. The teacher trainees going to teach in high school would benefit from such resources.
Communication is defined as a two-way process of interaction which allows people to convey information and reach, a mutual understanding. Online teaching requires effective communication, which can only be achieved if the teacher understands the communication process. This includes knowledge on how communication is transacted between human beings, and applying the same in understanding how different computer programs work. Brooks in his book “Web-Teaching: A Guide to Designing Interactive Teaching for the World Wide Web” points out that learning computer programs can be challenging- it is “almost like learning a programming language in terms of how it works and what it does”. There are special programs for specific disciplines. For instance, in chemistry there is a special program for creating images of molecular structures [13].
Coming back to human communication, it is important for the teacher to master the basic process of communication which includes encoding of the message by the sender, the communication channel, noise factors, and the process of encoding of the message and feedback by the receiver. In the context of online teaching, the teacher acts a sender of information, which he passes on to the learners using appropriate channel or media; the students receive and decode -interpret the information and gives feedback to the teacher. It is the responsibility of the teacher to eliminate noise factors which presents themselves as actual noise or related factors, that can potentially act as barriers to the communication process.
Competence can be defined as an excellent capability in undertaking a given task. In this discussion, competence comprises of knowledge, skills, attitudes and experiences that will enable teachers to teach for optimum learning to take place. While Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) is trending – Kenya having adopted CBC in 2018, a lot of teacher education programs still emphasize Content Based Curriculum; that stresses knowing and not doing. Particularly, in the era of online learning the focus should be on what the learner should be able to do with technology as he learns and operate in the “New Normal”. As far as this is concerned the teacher is expected to be an effective model of competence. Ironically, students engage more in learning using open and free sources and web-based devices more than their teachers. Research further indicates that even when teachers are willing to engage with these devices, the professional development on new learning designs and delivery is slow and teachers are not as innovative. On this note, there is call to produce teachers with teaching innovations and professionally viable competencies. In online teaching, the teacher should be competent in creating, organizing and managing a course [6, 14]. The following sections analyze competencies related to these requirements.
In order to create and manage an online course effectively, the teacher should be familiar with Learning Management System (LMS). In Kenya only a few teachers can create, organize and manage an online course using a given type of an LMS [4]. For clarification. LMS refer to web based or cloud based software programs which help teachers to organize and manage online courses. They come in three categories as follows; (1) open source-examples are Moodle and SAKAY (2) Cloud based -such as Digital Chalk, Docebo SaaS LMS, TalentLMS, Firmwater LMS, and Litmos LMS, and (3) Proprietary Learning Management System-these are licensed by their developers under the legal rights belonging to the copyright owner (s), examples are Design2Leran, and ANGEL (property of Blackboard Inc.). Among these, Moodle is commonly used in Kenyan Universities, but many lecturers have not explored its multimedia tools which would support in the generation of content, assignments, and quizzes; as well as the features of interaction such as discussion groups and chat sessions [15].
The actual creation of a course will further require competencies in accessing and using digital media skillfully; analyzing and evaluating content in terms of its “quality, veracity, credibility, while considering potential effects and consequences of messages”. Additionally, the teacher also needs to be able to create his/her own content and reflect on ethical consequences [7, p. 25-Dalton citing Hobbs].
It is critical to create conducive social climates for the virtual classrooms. Education serves a social function, and borrowing from the theory of distributed Cognition and constructivism; knowledge is distributed among people and through sharing individuals construct new knowledge. This can only happen in mutually supported environments. On this note, it is important to create a conducive environment right from the beginning of an online course. This requires setting rules and etiquettes for the course and having students sign up to comply. The students should also have a slot for self-introduction and expressions of expectations. The following excerpt is shared from an online course EDTE 301 Educational Communication and Technology for illustration.
Student “A”- Saturday, 12 September 2020, 7:10 PM
My name is Masitsa Lydia, I am accessing this course from Uasin GIshu county. I am so privileged to be part of this group and I strongly believe that my desire to understand the essence of technology to education in our country today will be fulfilled here.
Student “B” - Monday, 7 September 2020, 3:48 PM
am Emmanuel Wambua a fourth year student doing bachelor degree in education from Machakos. I expect that at the end of the course I will be able to apply technology as part of communication in my teaching career.
The foregoing postings are expressions of who the students are and their expectations. They set pace for further interactions. Subsequently, as the teacher develops course materials, each topic should have a discussion forum or chats- which not only helps the teacher to assess learning progress, but also to assess the evolving attitudes of learners towards each other and the course. The class can also be divided into smaller discussion groups to boost bonding. Another social media which is useful in enhancing cohesion, and is commonly used by students in Kenya, is WhatsApp. Most learning platforms are also connected to emails through which the teacher can send private messages to students on respective assignments or issues. A research that explored MOOC as a form of professional development found that the participants liked the use of face book page and emails in supporting learning, but were not conversant with twitter; yet twitter chats are becoming an effective way of professional development-helping teachers to share their research, ideas and building positive digital foot prints. Blogs too, can be used for posting assignments, projects and networking [16, 17, 18].
The next set of competencies that are equally important have to do with professional ethics. These comprise patterns of professional behaviors, self- reflection and moral integrity. Online learning is very complex and dynamic, involving multiple players and sources of information. It calls for a high level of responsibility- according respect and maintaining confidentiality with regard to students’ information. The increased use of facilities such as e-mails and other virtual communication can lead to comprises. It is however important to attach and express value and respect to all online course stake holders, particularly when using presentation tools such as Google meet, Big Blue Button, and Zoom that allow for live video conferences. During such interactions, the teacher should act professionally and also require students to exemplify the right decorum [18]. The researcher puts significance on this point because research seems to indicate that teachers and student teachers are less likely to undertake activities that involve interaction with others, and that it is hardest to teach competencies that have to do with soft skills to teachers [5].
In the process of creating an online course, there is need to observe integrity with regard to copy right rules. This involves acknowledging of all sources of information that are used in the course, and where necessary asking for permission to use material as indicated by the source. In order to do this, the instructor needs to be conversant with different types of information sources, with regard to their use. We have plenty of open sources of information, while other sources have varying restrictions on use. Learners should also be educated on copy right regulations and held accountable for any violations. While there have been attempts by specialist in copyright regulations such as The National Unit of Copyright Unit of Australia to support teachers in Australia [3] those in Kenya are disadvantaged. Essentially, online learning will only be credible to the extent that the instructor will also observe ethical diligence in the quality of content, learning and assessments offered. For assessment, this does not only require competence in varying test items, but using monitoring tools during examination to ensure examination integrity.
The nature of digital resources requires that teachers must constantly acquire and implement new skills as technology advances. This is the reason why scholars who have taken interest in online learning recommend professional development as one of the pillars of sustainability of e-learning. Recent studies have revealed that even though computer literacy would improve the uptake of e-Learning in Kenyan universities both lecturers and students have limited Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills. The scenario worsens in cases where there are differences in digital literacies between teachers and students [1, 15, 16]. In this section the researcher brings into perspective computer skills that are useful in conducting online teaching, that should be emphasized in teacher education programs.
Some of the important features of Microsoft word that are useful in creating content for teaching include; desktop publishing, formatting, grammar check, spell checking, tables, web format; electronic spread sheet features such as spread sheets and work books, auto formatting, charting, what-if-analysis, archiving, and academic software such as games, simulations, drill and practice, and integrated learning systems. Mastering these features and their functions is essential because band width and security issues normally limit the use of WWW in many ways and a teacher may have to create his/her own instructional materials using options such as CD-ROMs; which students can access asynchronously.
Other additional skills include how to create and use the following types of multimedia; images, drawings/paintings, animations, graphs, sounds, 3D, and virtual reality. For example, how to image tag using GIF wizard, getting pictures using scanners, photo CDs, digital still cameras and using them to create simple animations; and recording voice on power points. Since students learn in multiple ways and learning is also enriched through multiple sensory input, the teacher should be skilled in presenting content and facilitating learning using a variety of multimedia. Notably, in the digital world there is also need to constantly rework and rewrite documents [19], this makes it necessary for the teacher to be skilled in using different features of Microsoft word.
The teacher should be familiar with the features of different Learning Management Systems and the functions of each of the integrated tools; so that one can successfully create content for a given course and manage it throughout the semester. Most universities avail a web site for online teaching, but the management of the individual courses depend on the skills of the individual faculty. For example, in using Moodle platform, there are important features such as “edit” and “add activity”. The activity can be a label, assignment, quiz, discussion forum, file, and so on. Once you click an activity like a quiz you need to be skilled in setting up the quiz, editing- meaning adding or and editing at times deleting or revising questions. While doing this, related features have to be controlled for example striking the editing button and selecting hide the quiz from students; otherwise those who are online will see the quiz/test prematurely (this has happened to some teachers). It is also important to go into review options and block students from reviewing the quiz when it is still open, because they may share answers with those still doing the quiz.
In order to promote learning the teacher should be skilled in managing meeting platforms such as Zoom, Big Blue Button; knowing how to set it up, and managing the presentation and participants by manipulating buttons such as share screen, chat, audio, and webcam. Some teachers confess that when they first use the Big Blue Button, they are not able to control the class because they do not know how to mute a few students who log in with a lot of background noises. They are not even able to use the video or share the screen. For many teachers, performing these actions is an uphill task because the initial teacher training was devoid of these requisite skills. A recent research in a Kenyan university revealed that only 25% of the faculty had been trained in management of online course, and only 20% had attended related seminars or workshops; yet students reported that course information (58%), layout (48%), announcements (38%), and reminders (35%) contributes to the effectiveness of an online learning [4]. For this reason, there should be a deliberate move to in service Teacher Educators in management of online courses so that they pass on the skill to teacher trainees as part of their training. This can be strengthened further, through virtual supervision of teaching practice- a model that some teacher training universities are already using to circumvent the restrictions of COVID 19 on face to face interactions.
A synthesis of research that spanned the period 2009–2018 revealed that the focus of research on e-learning is shifting from devices and apps towards the pedagogical process, with more emphasis on pedagogical innovation. In particular, pedagogical designs that can be adopted at university level [1, 20]. In Kenya, apart from teacher educators, most lecturers have been teaching without any pedagogical training, until the onset of online learning that necessitated sporadic trainings on how to deliver content to learners. Now there is greater need for deliberate training in a variety of strategies when integrating technology and media into a lesson. Instead of using only didactic approaches- that fitted face-to-face classroom interactions, the following dynamic approaches can be adopted (1) Presenting (2) Conducting (3) Facilitating and (4) Mentoring. The psycho-pedagogical basis of these approaches is found in the theories of social constructivism, connectivism and collaborative learning [7].
Presenting is a teacher centered strategy that focuses on divergent thinking and embraces methods such as lecture and demonstration. In presentation the instructor disseminates information to learners, and the source of the information can be a text book, an audio tape or even a video. Students can also be made to view real or life like example of a skill or a procedure. This strategy can be used during synchronous meetings in such platforms as Zoom, google meet and Big Blue Button, but instead of having the teacher present all the time, students can be given a chance for group presentations. Some teachers who have experimented with this report that it is an interesting way to engage learners.
This strategy is analogous to activities of a choir master, who does not sing, but guides the singers by helping them to read the notes and conducting the practice. The online tools which can be employed in this strategy are drill-and-practice; and tutorials and gaming. In drill-and- practice learners are led through a number of exercises that enhance knowledge on specific content or a new skill, while in tutorials the teacher or a computer software poses a question to which the learner provides an answer and receives appropriate feedback. Gaming provides challenge in learning and is a great motivator, particularly for online learning.
Facilitation as a strategy is learner centered, process oriented, flexible and allows for divergent thinking. It is supported by transactional theory, that was discussed earlier in this chapter. It uses methods such as discussion; and question and answer. Teachers should act as facilitators of collaboration, in learning activities such as creating of digital resources, presentations and projects. Facilitation is also, most, applicable in web discussion forums where students give their views and the teacher acts as a moderator [18]. Alternatively, it can be used in chat forums where students post their ideas and views. Here is an illustration that captures a discussion forum in one online course EDTE 391 Educational Communication and Technology.
Wednesday, 2 September 2020, 11:49 AM
Number of replies: 6
The Discussion Question: Is it all that important for prospective teachers to train in the use of technology in education?
This is a very important subject in teacher training considering the fact that we live in a dynamic fast-changing world. A recent example is the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. Many schools are going online and who knows, that may be the new normal in various aspects in education. This implies that prospective teachers need to be equipped with knowledge in educational technology.
In my opinion, all prospective teachers should have a training on how to use technology in education. Technology has revolutionized how learning and teaching takes place by use of more improved media like computers and projectors. The use of software like word and power point has also increased in the recent past which necessitates the need for each prospective teacher to be able to use them among other many forms of technology like printing media and also e-learning services. This is just but an example of how much there is need for technological knowledge in teacher training.
Previous qualitative and quantitative research has shown that many online learning activities exist, but are less frequently performed by university students, particularly teacher trainees. These include playing educational games, using virtual environments for learning, participating in online courses, using ICT for self-assessment, and planning the learning process [1, 18, 21]. This raises the need to mentor student teachers into these activities. Mentoring is inquiry- discovery approach that promotes initiative, creative and imaginative thinking. In this strategy the teacher and the learner set forth a problem to solve and both participate in the learning process, though not on equal terms. The teacher acts as a co-investigator or a co-learner. Mentoring provides the tools and hands –on experience with which the teacher trainees need to begin their career. In Taiwan mentoring role is stressed particularly to prepare student teachers with high learning models, observation and reflection. Indeed, teacher educators should be mentors and coaches for teacher trainees, showing them how to use social media, and create resources [5, 18].
In this approach the teacher learns a lot of technological skills from the learners who already have an upper hand in this. Proponents of online learning agree that being an online learner contributes to an academician’s professional development of becoming a technology-enabled designer or teacher, [17]. One teaching method that can be used in this strategy is the project method; which fits with many features of online learning. The researcher recollects an experience with the project method in teaching the course Educational Communication and Technology. In this case, the students were to identify a problem, use a topic of interest and select four types of media to solve the problem. One group focused on solving the modern problem of race by revisiting Trans-Atlantic slave trade and used power points, recorded voice, video and music for illustration. This was very interesting. The teacher offered support, only when it was necessary.
To sum up this section on pedagogical approaches to online teaching the researcher explored the ideas of Gilly Salmon on how to design and manage online classrooms. Both her textual and video messages assert that in order for the online learning to be successful the learners have to be supported through a structured and paced program of e-tivities which offer high levels of interaction, engagement, flexibility and feedback. The role of the E-moderator is to promote interaction and communication. Processes that enable achievement of these two goals include modeling, conveying and building knowledge and skills; and mediating the online environments. This 5-stage model is developed with a focus on the learner’s profile and needs; stressing the kind of support that the e-moderator (teacher) should provide to enable the learners to build expertise in learning online. The model is illustrated in Figure 1 (used with permission).
At stage one, there has to be access to online platform and the teacher needs to welcome and encourage the learners to interact. Stage two comprises of establishment of online identity. At this stage the teacher abridges between the cultural, social and learning environments as the learners begin to bond. Some of the important activities are sending and receiving messages. Stage three is that of information exchange. The teacher is required to scaffold the tasks by supporting students in the use of e-learning materials such as videos or text materials. Stage four involves knowledge construction, and activities such as discussions; and to be successful, collaborative interactions like conferencing are useful. The last stage is of development and requires the teacher to further support and respond to students as they realize personal goals. This can be done by providing links and integrating online learning with other modes of learning. In a study exploring MOOC as a form of professional development the participants acknowledged that the 5-step model is a positive method for guiding online learners [5, 6, 17]. This model can provide great insight, as teacher education programs in Kenya endeavor to engineer techno friendly pedagogies.
Through exploration of literature on past research this study reveals that the teaching and learning ecosystems are changing to adapt to the realities of global changes that seem to affect all spheres of life. Thus, necessitating the need for new knowledge, skills and attitudes that will help the learners to adapt to the rapidly changing world of the 21st Century. Amidst these changes, it is significant to acknowledge the role of technology both as a trigger and vehicle by which learners and teachers can navigate through the crisis presented by the changes. Technology has brought in new knowledge into disciplines, some of which have not even been classified-yet are counted as very important in addressing problems such as global warming. The traditionally certified teacher’s Knowledge, competencies, skills and pedagogies will no longer suffice in the present teaching and learning ecosystems. Lead researchers in teacher education have acknowledged the critical need for revamping teacher education, particularly, to in cooperate technology and optimize the use of digital resources and information management systems. In this case the teacher acquires a new tittle as E-Moderator; and this demands knowledge of ICT, learners and re-adjustment of pedagogical strategies. The researcher recommends that teacher education programs should strengthen the foundational, and professional courses to reflect the changing realities. There should be mentoring on online teaching across levels of teacher education programs in Kenya, and also benchmarking with successful teacher education programs outside the country. This is what Linda Darling-Hammond and John Bransford refer to as “learning about practice in practice” or “learning in and from practice” [9].
I acknowledge and thank Professor Gilly Salmon for granting permission for the use of the 5-Stage E-Moderator Model, and further insight into the work;
I also appreciate the opportunities for online teaching that have been accorded by the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, that motivated my interest in online teaching and also for allowing the use of a section of their E-Learning platform for illustration.
IntechOpen Compacts provide a mid-length publishing format which bridges the gap between journal articles, book chapters and monographs, and cover content across all scientific disciplines. Compacts are the preferred publishing option for brief research reports on new topics, in-depth case studies, dissertations, or essays exploring new ideas, issues or broader topics on the research subject.
",metaTitle:"IntechOpen Compacts",metaDescription:"IntechOpen Compacts present a mid-length publishing format which bridges the gap between journal articles, book chapters, and monographs and covers content across all scientific disciplines.",metaKeywords:null,canonicalURL:"/page/compacts",contentRaw:'[{"type":"htmlEditorComponent","content":"Without sacrificing the quality of carefully edited and produced peer-reviewed content, Compacts are published as part of IntechOpen’s book collection but on a faster schedule, typically 4-6 weeks after acceptance. With an average of 132,000 visitors per week, publishing in Compacts not only guarantees high visibility but also facilitates international content sharing. As a fully Open Access publisher, the utilization of a CC BY NC 4.0 license means that other researchers will never have to pay permission fees and can adapt, use, and further build upon the material published in Compacts, eliminating any barriers to the further development of scientific research.
\\n\\nCOMPACTS-SHORT FORM MONOGRAPH
\\n\\nCOST
\\n\\n4,000 GBP Compacts Monograph - Short Form
\\n\\nThe final price will depend on the volume of the publication and includes project management, editorial and peer-review services, technical editing, language copyediting, cover design, book layout, book promotion and ISBN assignment.
\\n\\n*The price does not include Value-Added Tax (VAT). Residents of European Union countries need to add VAT based on the specific rate applicable in their country of residence. Institutions and companies registered as VAT taxable entities in their own EU member state will not pay VAT by providing us with their VAT registration number. This is made possible by the EU reverse charge method.
\\n\\nOptional Services
\\n\\nIntechOpen has collaborated with Enago, through its sister company, Ulatus – one of the world’s leading providers of book translation services. The services are designed to convey the essence of your work seamlessly to readers from across the globe in their own language. Enago’s expert translators incorporate cultural nuances in translations to make the content relevant for local audiences while retaining the original meaning and style. With a high degree of linguistic and subject expertise, Enago translators are equipped to handle all complex and multiple overlapping themes encompassed in a single book to deliver a superior quality of translation.
\\n\\nIntechOpen Authors that wish to use this service will receive a 20% discount on all translation work. For more information or a quote, please visit: https://www.enago.com/intech.
\\n\\nFUNDING
\\n\\nWe feel that financial barriers should never prevent researchers from publishing their research. Please consult our Open Access Funding page to explore funding opportunities and learn more about how you can finance your IntechOpen publication.
\\n\\nBENEFITS
\\n\\nPUBLISHING PROCESS STEPS
\\n\\nSee a complete overview and description of the steps involved in the publishing process here.
\\n\\nSEND YOUR PROPOSAL
\\n\\nIf you are interested in publishing your book with IntechOpen, please submit your book proposal by completing the Publishing Proposal Form.
\\n\\nNot sure if this is the right option for you? Please refer back to the main Publish with IntechOpen page or feel free to contact us directly at book.department@intechopen.com
\\n"}]'},components:[{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:'Without sacrificing the quality of carefully edited and produced peer-reviewed content, Compacts are published as part of IntechOpen’s book collection but on a faster schedule, typically 4-6 weeks after acceptance. With an average of 132,000 visitors per week, publishing in Compacts not only guarantees high visibility but also facilitates international content sharing. As a fully Open Access publisher, the utilization of a CC BY NC 4.0 license means that other researchers will never have to pay permission fees and can adapt, use, and further build upon the material published in Compacts, eliminating any barriers to the further development of scientific research.
\n\nCOMPACTS-SHORT FORM MONOGRAPH
\n\nCOST
\n\n4,000 GBP Compacts Monograph - Short Form
\n\nThe final price will depend on the volume of the publication and includes project management, editorial and peer-review services, technical editing, language copyediting, cover design, book layout, book promotion and ISBN assignment.
\n\n*The price does not include Value-Added Tax (VAT). Residents of European Union countries need to add VAT based on the specific rate applicable in their country of residence. Institutions and companies registered as VAT taxable entities in their own EU member state will not pay VAT by providing us with their VAT registration number. This is made possible by the EU reverse charge method.
\n\nOptional Services
\n\nIntechOpen has collaborated with Enago, through its sister company, Ulatus – one of the world’s leading providers of book translation services. The services are designed to convey the essence of your work seamlessly to readers from across the globe in their own language. Enago’s expert translators incorporate cultural nuances in translations to make the content relevant for local audiences while retaining the original meaning and style. With a high degree of linguistic and subject expertise, Enago translators are equipped to handle all complex and multiple overlapping themes encompassed in a single book to deliver a superior quality of translation.
\n\nIntechOpen Authors that wish to use this service will receive a 20% discount on all translation work. For more information or a quote, please visit: https://www.enago.com/intech.
\n\nFUNDING
\n\nWe feel that financial barriers should never prevent researchers from publishing their research. Please consult our Open Access Funding page to explore funding opportunities and learn more about how you can finance your IntechOpen publication.
\n\nBENEFITS
\n\nPUBLISHING PROCESS STEPS
\n\nSee a complete overview and description of the steps involved in the publishing process here.
\n\nSEND YOUR PROPOSAL
\n\nIf you are interested in publishing your book with IntechOpen, please submit your book proposal by completing the Publishing Proposal Form.
\n\nNot sure if this is the right option for you? Please refer back to the main Publish with IntechOpen page or feel free to contact us directly at book.department@intechopen.com
\n'}]},successStories:{items:[]},authorsAndEditors:{filterParams:{sort:"featured,name"},profiles:[],filtersByRegion:[],offset:0,limit:12,total:null},chapterEmbeded:{data:{}},editorApplication:{success:null,errors:{}},ofsBooks:{filterParams:{hasNoEditors:"1",sort:"dateEndThirdStepPublish",src:"EDCMP",topicId:"8"},books:[{type:"book",id:"12073",title:"Solvents",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"d31c0b4deb8e2005ddefc42a4be8e451",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12073.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12074",title:"Updates on Titanium Dioxide",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"8642ed95890654474416a163e3236afb",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12074.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12075",title:"Arsenic",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"a1156f4143737baa68f568837f9edc94",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12075.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12076",title:"Ruthenium",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"08bd1ab70c296e319165eb763b112e00",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12076.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12077",title:"Heavy Metals",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"bcf87da8936c737e7fdd61cdc825128e",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12077.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12079",title:"Heterocycles",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"fcadb070d3dbdf21157b1290d9880c3e",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12079.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12080",title:"Density Functional Theory",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"fcd6287912c74f409babc8937c6d0fd1",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12080.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12304",title:"Triazole",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"4f7a6b5ae76aaf894e9c5e22690361b2",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12304.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12306",title:"Cheminformatics",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"f395c104bf143f7550b16f11477cdcc3",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12306.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12288",title:"High Performance Liquid Chromatography",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"e4da091f5998b22c0f82cad58a344bf3",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12288.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12289",title:"Surfactants and Detergents",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"761fb919055b9f8ddf695a4c7e9be001",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12289.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"12290",title:"Electrochemiluminescence",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"7a3bf39f9a3f87b0697d6855ab2d695b",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/12290.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}],filtersByTopic:[{group:"topic",caption:"Agricultural and Biological Sciences",value:5,count:36},{group:"topic",caption:"Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology",value:6,count:11},{group:"topic",caption:"Business, Management and Economics",value:7,count:7},{group:"topic",caption:"Chemistry",value:8,count:17},{group:"topic",caption:"Computer and Information Science",value:9,count:15},{group:"topic",caption:"Earth and Planetary Sciences",value:10,count:14},{group:"topic",caption:"Engineering",value:11,count:31},{group:"topic",caption:"Environmental Sciences",value:12,count:7},{group:"topic",caption:"Immunology and Microbiology",value:13,count:7},{group:"topic",caption:"Materials Science",value:14,count:11},{group:"topic",caption:"Mathematics",value:15,count:6},{group:"topic",caption:"Medicine",value:16,count:96},{group:"topic",caption:"Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials",value:17,count:2},{group:"topic",caption:"Neuroscience",value:18,count:7},{group:"topic",caption:"Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science",value:19,count:11},{group:"topic",caption:"Physics",value:20,count:2},{group:"topic",caption:"Psychology",value:21,count:7},{group:"topic",caption:"Robotics",value:22,count:2},{group:"topic",caption:"Social Sciences",value:23,count:31},{group:"topic",caption:"Technology",value:24,count:1}],offset:12,limit:12,total:17},popularBooks:{featuredBooks:[],offset:0,limit:12,total:null},hotBookTopics:{hotBooks:[],offset:0,limit:12,total:null},publish:{},publishingProposal:{success:null,errors:{}},books:{featuredBooks:[{type:"book",id:"9974",title:"E-Learning and Digital Education in the Twenty-First Century",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"88b58d66e975df20425fc1dfd22d53aa",slug:"e-learning-and-digital-education-in-the-twenty-first-century",bookSignature:"M. Mahruf C. Shohel",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9974.jpg",publishedDate:"May 18th 2022",numberOfDownloads:3385,editors:[{id:"94099",title:"Dr.",name:"M. Mahruf C.",middleName:null,surname:"Shohel",slug:"m.-mahruf-c.-shohel",fullName:"M. Mahruf C. Shohel"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11001",title:"Density Functional Theory",subtitle:"Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"82d53383af78ab41eb982086c02fb2bb",slug:"density-functional-theory-recent-advances-new-perspectives-and-applications",bookSignature:"Daniel Glossman-Mitnik",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11001.jpg",publishedDate:"May 18th 2022",numberOfDownloads:1875,editors:[{id:"198499",title:"Dr.",name:"Daniel",middleName:null,surname:"Glossman-Mitnik",slug:"daniel-glossman-mitnik",fullName:"Daniel Glossman-Mitnik"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10356",title:"Natural Medicinal Plants",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"943e56ccaaf19ff696d25aa638ae37d6",slug:"natural-medicinal-plants",bookSignature:"Hany A. El-Shemy",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10356.jpg",publishedDate:"May 11th 2022",numberOfDownloads:3842,editors:[{id:"54719",title:"Prof.",name:"Hany",middleName:null,surname:"El-Shemy",slug:"hany-el-shemy",fullName:"Hany El-Shemy"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11752",title:"Natural Drugs from Plants",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"a0a83c0822608ef7592bf16a5ed0ada4",slug:"natural-drugs-from-plants",bookSignature:"Hany A. El-Shemy",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11752.jpg",publishedDate:"May 11th 2022",numberOfDownloads:3008,editors:[{id:"54719",title:"Prof.",name:"Hany",middleName:null,surname:"El-Shemy",slug:"hany-el-shemy",fullName:"Hany El-Shemy"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10251",title:"Plankton Communities",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"e11e441ca2d2d5f631b1b4704505cfb6",slug:"plankton-communities",bookSignature:"Leonel Pereira and Ana Marta Gonçalves",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10251.jpg",publishedDate:"May 18th 2022",numberOfDownloads:1109,editors:[{id:"279788",title:"Dr.",name:"Leonel",middleName:null,surname:"Pereira",slug:"leonel-pereira",fullName:"Leonel Pereira"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10830",title:"Animal Feed Science and Nutrition",subtitle:"Production, Health and Environment",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"79944fc8fbbaa329aed6fde388154832",slug:"animal-feed-science-and-nutrition-production-health-and-environment",bookSignature:"Amlan Kumar Patra",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10830.jpg",publishedDate:"May 18th 2022",numberOfDownloads:1010,editors:[{id:"310962",title:"Dr.",name:"Amlan",middleName:"Kumar",surname:"Patra",slug:"amlan-patra",fullName:"Amlan Patra"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10584",title:"Engineered Wood Products for Construction",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"421757c56a3735986055250821275a51",slug:"engineered-wood-products-for-construction",bookSignature:"Meng Gong",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10584.jpg",publishedDate:"April 28th 2022",numberOfDownloads:3918,editors:[{id:"274242",title:"Dr.",name:"Meng",middleName:null,surname:"Gong",slug:"meng-gong",fullName:"Meng Gong"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9670",title:"Current Trends in Wheat Research",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"89d795987f1747a76eee532700d2093d",slug:"current-trends-in-wheat-research",bookSignature:"Mahmood-ur-Rahman Ansari",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9670.jpg",publishedDate:"May 11th 2022",numberOfDownloads:1654,editors:[{id:"185476",title:"Dr.",name:"Mahmood-ur-Rahman",middleName:null,surname:"Ansari",slug:"mahmood-ur-rahman-ansari",fullName:"Mahmood-ur-Rahman Ansari"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9032",title:"Corporate Social Responsibility",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"f609bf3251d7cc7bae0099a4374adfc3",slug:"corporate-social-responsibility",bookSignature:"Beatrice Orlando",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9032.jpg",publishedDate:"March 16th 2022",numberOfDownloads:7686,editors:[{id:"232969",title:"Prof.",name:"Beatrice",middleName:null,surname:"Orlando",slug:"beatrice-orlando",fullName:"Beatrice Orlando"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10681",title:"Biodegradation Technology of Organic and Inorganic Pollutants",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"9a6e10e02788092872fd249436898e97",slug:"biodegradation-technology-of-organic-and-inorganic-pollutants",bookSignature:"Kassio Ferreira Mendes, Rodrigo Nogueira de Sousa and Kamila Cabral Mielke",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10681.jpg",publishedDate:"April 20th 2022",numberOfDownloads:3444,editors:[{id:"197720",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Kassio",middleName:null,surname:"Ferreira Mendes",slug:"kassio-ferreira-mendes",fullName:"Kassio Ferreira Mendes"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}}],latestBooks:[{type:"book",id:"10522",title:"Coding Theory",subtitle:"Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"6357e1dd7d38adeb519ca7a10dc9e5a0",slug:"coding-theory-recent-advances-new-perspectives-and-applications",bookSignature:"Sudhakar Radhakrishnan and Sudev Naduvath",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10522.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"May 25th 2022",editors:[{id:"26327",title:"Dr.",name:"Sudhakar",middleName:null,surname:"Radhakrishnan",slug:"sudhakar-radhakrishnan",fullName:"Sudhakar Radhakrishnan"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10821",title:"Automation and Control",subtitle:"Theories and Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"18463c2291ba306c4dcbabd988227eea",slug:"automation-and-control-theories-and-applications",bookSignature:"Elmer P. Dadios",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10821.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"May 25th 2022",editors:[{id:"111683",title:"Prof.",name:"Elmer P.",middleName:"P.",surname:"Dadios",slug:"elmer-p.-dadios",fullName:"Elmer P. Dadios"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"11348",title:"Mutagenesis and Mitochondrial-Associated Pathologies",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"001972b3c5b49367314b13025a449232",slug:"mutagenesis-and-mitochondrial-associated-pathologies",bookSignature:"Michael Fasullo and Angel Catala",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11348.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"May 25th 2022",editors:[{id:"258231",title:"Dr.",name:"Michael",middleName:"Thomas",surname:"Fasullo",slug:"michael-fasullo",fullName:"Michael Fasullo"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"11123",title:"Epoxy-Based Composites",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"c1c5447cf3b9d6c7688276ac30e80de6",slug:"epoxy-based-composites",bookSignature:"Samson Jerold Samuel Chelladurai, Ramesh Arthanari and M.R.Meera",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11123.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"May 25th 2022",editors:[{id:"247421",title:"Dr.",name:"Samson Jerold Samuel",middleName:null,surname:"Chelladurai",slug:"samson-jerold-samuel-chelladurai",fullName:"Samson Jerold Samuel Chelladurai"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10632",title:"Theory and Practice of Tunnel Engineering",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"7ba17749f9d0b6a62d584a3c320a1f49",slug:"theory-and-practice-of-tunnel-engineering",bookSignature:"Hasan Tosun",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10632.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"May 25th 2022",editors:[{id:"79083",title:"Prof.",name:"Hasan",middleName:null,surname:"Tosun",slug:"hasan-tosun",fullName:"Hasan Tosun"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10906",title:"Fungal Reproduction and Growth",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"f84de0280d54f3b52e3e4585cff24ac1",slug:"fungal-reproduction-and-growth",bookSignature:"Sadia Sultan and Gurmeet Kaur Surindar Singh",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10906.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"May 25th 2022",editors:[{id:"176737",title:"Dr.",name:"Sadia",middleName:null,surname:"Sultan",slug:"sadia-sultan",fullName:"Sadia Sultan"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10914",title:"Effective Elimination of Structural Racism",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"f6a2562646c0fd664aca8335bc3b3e69",slug:"effective-elimination-of-structural-racism",bookSignature:"Erick Guerrero",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10914.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"May 25th 2022",editors:[{id:"294761",title:"Dr.",name:"Erick",middleName:null,surname:"Guerrero",slug:"erick-guerrero",fullName:"Erick Guerrero"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10664",title:"Animal Reproduction",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"2d66af42fb17d0a6556bb9ef28e273c7",slug:"animal-reproduction",bookSignature:"Yusuf Bozkurt and Mustafa Numan Bucak",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10664.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"May 25th 2022",editors:[{id:"90846",title:"Prof.",name:"Yusuf",middleName:null,surname:"Bozkurt",slug:"yusuf-bozkurt",fullName:"Yusuf Bozkurt"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10940",title:"Plant Hormones",subtitle:"Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"5aae8a345f8047ed528914ff3491f643",slug:"plant-hormones-recent-advances-new-perspectives-and-applications",bookSignature:"Christophe Hano",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10940.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"May 25th 2022",editors:[{id:"313856",title:"Dr.",name:"Christophe",middleName:"F.E.",surname:"Hano",slug:"christophe-hano",fullName:"Christophe Hano"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10207",title:"Sexual Abuse",subtitle:"An Interdisciplinary Approach",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"e1ec1d5a7093490df314d7887e0b3809",slug:"sexual-abuse-an-interdisciplinary-approach",bookSignature:"Ersi Kalfoğlu and Sotirios Kalfoglou",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10207.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"May 25th 2022",editors:[{id:"68678",title:"Dr.",name:"Ersi",middleName:null,surname:"Kalfoglou",slug:"ersi-kalfoglou",fullName:"Ersi Kalfoglou"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}]},subject:{topic:{id:"749",title:"Metrology",slug:"electrical-and-electronic-engineering-metrology",parent:{id:"116",title:"Electrical and Electronic Engineering",slug:"electrical-and-electronic-engineering"},numberOfBooks:1,numberOfSeries:0,numberOfAuthorsAndEditors:27,numberOfWosCitations:46,numberOfCrossrefCitations:32,numberOfDimensionsCitations:53,videoUrl:null,fallbackUrl:null,description:null},booksByTopicFilter:{topicId:"749",sort:"-publishedDate",limit:12,offset:0},booksByTopicCollection:[{type:"book",id:"4622",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"27aa3947c35b65d08f9c1f4a56b7f468",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",bookSignature:"Luigi Cocco",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/4622.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"112023",title:"Dr.",name:"Luigi",middleName:null,surname:"Cocco",slug:"luigi-cocco",fullName:"Luigi Cocco"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}],booksByTopicTotal:1,seriesByTopicCollection:[],seriesByTopicTotal:0,mostCitedChapters:[{id:"50396",doi:"10.5772/62741",title:"Electrical Conductivity Measurements in Agriculture: The Assessment of Soil Salinity",slug:"electrical-conductivity-measurements-in-agriculture-the-assessment-of-soil-salinity",totalDownloads:4337,totalCrossrefCites:8,totalDimensionsCites:20,abstract:"Soil salinity is an important issue constraining the productivity of irrigation agriculture around the world. The standard method for soil salinity assessment is based on a laboratory method that is cumbersome and gives rise to limitations for data-intensive works. The use of sensors for the assessment of the apparent electrical conductivity (EC) of soils offers a way to overcome these constraints. These sensors are based on three electromagnetic phenomena, namely, electrical resistivity, electromagnetic induction, and reflectometry. Each class of sensors presents its own advantages and drawbacks. In the following chapter, these are presented along with the most popular commercial EC sensors used in nowadays agriculture, equations for the assessment of soil salinity on basis sensor measurements, some examples of application, and present and future development trends.",book:{id:"4622",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",fullTitle:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology"},signatures:"Fernando Visconti and José Miguel de Paz",authors:[{id:"79081",title:"Dr.",name:"Fernando",middleName:null,surname:"Visconti",slug:"fernando-visconti",fullName:"Fernando Visconti"}]},{id:"51245",doi:"10.5772/63734",title:"THz Measurement Systems",slug:"thz-measurement-systems",totalDownloads:1595,totalCrossrefCites:6,totalDimensionsCites:11,abstract:"The terahertz (THz) frequency region is often defined as the last unexplored area of the electromagnetic spectrum. Over the past few years, the full access has been the objective of intense research efforts. Progress in this area has played an important role in opening up the possibility of using THz electromagnetic radiation (T-waves) in science and in real-world applications. T-waves are not perceptible by the human eye, are not ionizing, and have the ability to cross many non-conducting materials such as paper, fabrics, wood, plastic, and organic tissues. Moreover, the use of THz radiation allows non-destructive analysis of the materials under investigation both by study of their “fingerprint” via spectroscopic measurements and by high-resolution spatial imaging operations, exploiting the see-through capability of T-waves. Such technology can be applied in diverse areas, spanning from biology to chemical, pharmaceutical, environmental sciences, etc. In this chapter, we will present the typical architecture of measurement systems based on the THz technology, detailing what are the parameters that define their performance, the measurement methods, and the related errors and uncertainty, and focusing at the end on the use of time-domain spectroscopy for the evaluation of different material properties in this specific frequency region.",book:{id:"4622",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",fullTitle:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology"},signatures:"Leopoldo Angrisani, Giovanni Cavallo, Annalisa Liccardo, Gian\nPaolo Papari and Antonello Andreone",authors:[{id:"2330",title:"Dr.",name:"Leopoldo",middleName:null,surname:"Angrisani",slug:"leopoldo-angrisani",fullName:"Leopoldo Angrisani"},{id:"179111",title:"Prof.",name:"Antonello",middleName:null,surname:"Andreone",slug:"antonello-andreone",fullName:"Antonello Andreone"},{id:"186826",title:"MSc.",name:"Giovanni",middleName:null,surname:"Cavallo",slug:"giovanni-cavallo",fullName:"Giovanni Cavallo"},{id:"186827",title:"Dr.",name:"GianPaolo",middleName:null,surname:"Papari",slug:"gianpaolo-papari",fullName:"GianPaolo Papari"},{id:"186828",title:"Prof.",name:"Annalisa",middleName:null,surname:"Liccardo",slug:"annalisa-liccardo",fullName:"Annalisa Liccardo"}]},{id:"49823",doi:"10.5772/60442",title:"Microwave Power Measurements: Standards and Transfer Techniques",slug:"microwave-power-measurements-standards-and-transfer-techniques",totalDownloads:2140,totalCrossrefCites:5,totalDimensionsCites:5,abstract:"In this chapter, precision power measurement, which is probably the most important area in RF and microwave metrology, will be discussed. Firstly, the background of RF and microwave power measurements and standards will be introduced. Secondly, the working principle of primary power standard (i.e., microcalorimeter) will be described, followed by the discussions of direct comparison transfer technique. Finally, there will be some discussions about the performance evaluation and uncertainty estimation for microwave power measurements.",book:{id:"4622",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",fullTitle:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology"},signatures:"Xiaohai Cui, Yu Song Meng, Yueyan Shan and Yong Li",authors:[{id:"100680",title:"Dr.",name:"Yueyan",middleName:null,surname:"Shan",slug:"yueyan-shan",fullName:"Yueyan Shan"},{id:"135408",title:"Dr.",name:"Xiaohai",middleName:null,surname:"Cui",slug:"xiaohai-cui",fullName:"Xiaohai Cui"},{id:"173971",title:"Dr.",name:"Yu Song",middleName:null,surname:"Meng",slug:"yu-song-meng",fullName:"Yu Song Meng"}]},{id:"51241",doi:"10.5772/63547",title:"Innovative Theoretical Approaches Used for RF Power Amplifiers in Modern HDTV Systems",slug:"innovative-theoretical-approaches-used-for-rf-power-amplifiers-in-modern-hdtv-systems",totalDownloads:1314,totalCrossrefCites:4,totalDimensionsCites:4,abstract:"The essential purpose of this chapter is to introduce theoretical and numerical approaches that can be used for modeling nonlinear effects that appear intrinsically in the design of power amplifiers that have been used widely in many modern high-density television (HDTV) architectures. Important effects like the pre-distortion using adaptive techniques, with distinct characteristics like amplitude, phase, and frequency, as well as, their specific nature such as AM/AM, AM/PM, PM/AM, and PM/PM, and constitute one of the main directions of this research. All theoretical and technological approaches have been supported by a consistent set of numerical data performed with one of the most important platform of simulations used in the great area of Radio Frequency (RF) and Microwave structures. As a direct application, we are introducing some efficient processes that can be used for the characterization of RF systems with a set of consistent laboratorial measures that permit us to visualize the effective cost and a complete architecture for the characterization of high-power amplifiers. With the continuous and innovative technological demand that is imposed by the international marketing has a great importance to find versatile systems that are capable of measuring several amplifier characteristics, as gain, output power, inter-modulation distortion of different signals, efficiency, current, and temperature that constitute another direction of research that has been demanded strongly for news advanced technologies used widely in modern HDTV systems.",book:{id:"4622",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",fullTitle:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology"},signatures:"Daniel Discini Silveira, Marcos Paulo de Souza Silva, Marcel Veloso Campos and Maurício Silveira",authors:[{id:"179507",title:"Dr.",name:"Mauricio",middleName:null,surname:"Silveira",slug:"mauricio-silveira",fullName:"Mauricio Silveira"},{id:"179508",title:"Dr.",name:"Daniel",middleName:null,surname:"Discini Silveira",slug:"daniel-discini-silveira",fullName:"Daniel Discini Silveira"},{id:"179792",title:"Dr.",name:"Marcos Paulo De Souza",middleName:null,surname:"Silva",slug:"marcos-paulo-de-souza-silva",fullName:"Marcos Paulo De Souza Silva"},{id:"180084",title:"Dr.",name:"Marcel Veloso",middleName:null,surname:"Campos",slug:"marcel-veloso-campos",fullName:"Marcel Veloso Campos"}]},{id:"49840",doi:"10.5772/60467",title:"Silent Speech Recognition by Surface Electromyography",slug:"silent-speech-recognition-by-surface-electromyography",totalDownloads:1772,totalCrossrefCites:3,totalDimensionsCites:3,abstract:"For some time, new methods based on a different than acoustic signal analysis are used for speech recognition. The purpose of nonacoustic signals is to allow silent communication. One of these methods based on the electromyography signal is generated by the human speech articulation system. This article presents a device for electromyographic (EMG) signal acquisition and the first measurements from its use.",book:{id:"4622",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",fullTitle:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology"},signatures:"Andrzej B. Dobrucki, Piotr Pruchnicki, Przemysław Plaskota, Piotr Staroniewicz, Stefan Brachmański and Maciej Walczyński",authors:[{id:"173718",title:"Prof.",name:"Andrzej",middleName:null,surname:"Dobrucki",slug:"andrzej-dobrucki",fullName:"Andrzej Dobrucki"},{id:"173719",title:"Dr.",name:"Przemysław",middleName:null,surname:"Plaskota",slug:"przemyslaw-plaskota",fullName:"Przemysław Plaskota"},{id:"173720",title:"Dr.",name:"Piotr",middleName:null,surname:"Pruchnicki",slug:"piotr-pruchnicki",fullName:"Piotr Pruchnicki"},{id:"173721",title:"Dr.",name:"Stefan",middleName:null,surname:"Brachmański",slug:"stefan-brachmanski",fullName:"Stefan Brachmański"},{id:"173722",title:"Dr.",name:"Piotr",middleName:null,surname:"Staroniewicz",slug:"piotr-staroniewicz",fullName:"Piotr Staroniewicz"},{id:"173724",title:"MSc.",name:"Maciej",middleName:null,surname:"Walczyński",slug:"maciej-walczynski",fullName:"Maciej Walczyński"}]}],mostDownloadedChaptersLast30Days:[{id:"49823",title:"Microwave Power Measurements: Standards and Transfer Techniques",slug:"microwave-power-measurements-standards-and-transfer-techniques",totalDownloads:2140,totalCrossrefCites:5,totalDimensionsCites:5,abstract:"In this chapter, precision power measurement, which is probably the most important area in RF and microwave metrology, will be discussed. Firstly, the background of RF and microwave power measurements and standards will be introduced. Secondly, the working principle of primary power standard (i.e., microcalorimeter) will be described, followed by the discussions of direct comparison transfer technique. Finally, there will be some discussions about the performance evaluation and uncertainty estimation for microwave power measurements.",book:{id:"4622",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",fullTitle:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology"},signatures:"Xiaohai Cui, Yu Song Meng, Yueyan Shan and Yong Li",authors:[{id:"100680",title:"Dr.",name:"Yueyan",middleName:null,surname:"Shan",slug:"yueyan-shan",fullName:"Yueyan Shan"},{id:"135408",title:"Dr.",name:"Xiaohai",middleName:null,surname:"Cui",slug:"xiaohai-cui",fullName:"Xiaohai Cui"},{id:"173971",title:"Dr.",name:"Yu Song",middleName:null,surname:"Meng",slug:"yu-song-meng",fullName:"Yu Song Meng"}]},{id:"50396",title:"Electrical Conductivity Measurements in Agriculture: The Assessment of Soil Salinity",slug:"electrical-conductivity-measurements-in-agriculture-the-assessment-of-soil-salinity",totalDownloads:4337,totalCrossrefCites:8,totalDimensionsCites:20,abstract:"Soil salinity is an important issue constraining the productivity of irrigation agriculture around the world. The standard method for soil salinity assessment is based on a laboratory method that is cumbersome and gives rise to limitations for data-intensive works. The use of sensors for the assessment of the apparent electrical conductivity (EC) of soils offers a way to overcome these constraints. These sensors are based on three electromagnetic phenomena, namely, electrical resistivity, electromagnetic induction, and reflectometry. Each class of sensors presents its own advantages and drawbacks. In the following chapter, these are presented along with the most popular commercial EC sensors used in nowadays agriculture, equations for the assessment of soil salinity on basis sensor measurements, some examples of application, and present and future development trends.",book:{id:"4622",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",fullTitle:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology"},signatures:"Fernando Visconti and José Miguel de Paz",authors:[{id:"79081",title:"Dr.",name:"Fernando",middleName:null,surname:"Visconti",slug:"fernando-visconti",fullName:"Fernando Visconti"}]},{id:"51435",title:"Objectifying the Subjective: Fundaments and Applications of Soft Metrology",slug:"objectifying-the-subjective-fundaments-and-applications-of-soft-metrology",totalDownloads:1703,totalCrossrefCites:2,totalDimensionsCites:2,abstract:"The aim of the interdisciplinary research was to facilitate the understanding of a specific topic passing by different disciplinary perspectives. Soft metrology is the perfect example of a scientific field that needs that sort of approach. Seeking to provide a reproducible basis for qualifying and quantifying what are essentially ‘soft’ measurements (subject to human perception and interpretation) is a particularly challenging scientific endeavour. This chapter presents a theoretical overview of main concepts around soft metrology and, in the second instance, proposes a mathematical model for the measurement of a soft measurand through a dedicated index (IPER—influence on performance index).",book:{id:"4622",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",fullTitle:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology"},signatures:"Laura Rossi",authors:[{id:"187245",title:"Dr.",name:"Laura",middleName:null,surname:"Rossi",slug:"laura-rossi",fullName:"Laura Rossi"}]},{id:"50379",title:"Uncertainty of Measurement in Medical Laboratories",slug:"uncertainty-of-measurement-in-medical-laboratories",totalDownloads:3793,totalCrossrefCites:2,totalDimensionsCites:3,abstract:"The “Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement” (GUM) is not systematically used in medical laboratories, for what the laboratorian should understand the Uncertainty Approach and its importance to recognize the level of realism of results. This chapter presents, discusses, and recommends the models fulfilling GUM principles. An example is given to a single test for an easier understanding of the determination of measurement uncertainty. All the practice uses a freeware. Results with larger measurement uncertainty intervals have a significant probability of being unrealistic, arising a high risk of the uncorrected clinical decision. A flow chart to the selection of models for the determination of measurement uncertainty in a medical laboratory is recommended.",book:{id:"4622",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",fullTitle:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology"},signatures:"Paulo Pereira",authors:[{id:"178637",title:"Dr.",name:"Paulo",middleName:null,surname:"Pereira",slug:"paulo-pereira",fullName:"Paulo Pereira"}]},{id:"51241",title:"Innovative Theoretical Approaches Used for RF Power Amplifiers in Modern HDTV Systems",slug:"innovative-theoretical-approaches-used-for-rf-power-amplifiers-in-modern-hdtv-systems",totalDownloads:1314,totalCrossrefCites:4,totalDimensionsCites:4,abstract:"The essential purpose of this chapter is to introduce theoretical and numerical approaches that can be used for modeling nonlinear effects that appear intrinsically in the design of power amplifiers that have been used widely in many modern high-density television (HDTV) architectures. Important effects like the pre-distortion using adaptive techniques, with distinct characteristics like amplitude, phase, and frequency, as well as, their specific nature such as AM/AM, AM/PM, PM/AM, and PM/PM, and constitute one of the main directions of this research. All theoretical and technological approaches have been supported by a consistent set of numerical data performed with one of the most important platform of simulations used in the great area of Radio Frequency (RF) and Microwave structures. As a direct application, we are introducing some efficient processes that can be used for the characterization of RF systems with a set of consistent laboratorial measures that permit us to visualize the effective cost and a complete architecture for the characterization of high-power amplifiers. With the continuous and innovative technological demand that is imposed by the international marketing has a great importance to find versatile systems that are capable of measuring several amplifier characteristics, as gain, output power, inter-modulation distortion of different signals, efficiency, current, and temperature that constitute another direction of research that has been demanded strongly for news advanced technologies used widely in modern HDTV systems.",book:{id:"4622",slug:"new-trends-and-developments-in-metrology",title:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology",fullTitle:"New Trends and Developments in Metrology"},signatures:"Daniel Discini Silveira, Marcos Paulo de Souza Silva, Marcel Veloso Campos and Maurício Silveira",authors:[{id:"179507",title:"Dr.",name:"Mauricio",middleName:null,surname:"Silveira",slug:"mauricio-silveira",fullName:"Mauricio Silveira"},{id:"179508",title:"Dr.",name:"Daniel",middleName:null,surname:"Discini Silveira",slug:"daniel-discini-silveira",fullName:"Daniel Discini Silveira"},{id:"179792",title:"Dr.",name:"Marcos Paulo De Souza",middleName:null,surname:"Silva",slug:"marcos-paulo-de-souza-silva",fullName:"Marcos Paulo De Souza Silva"},{id:"180084",title:"Dr.",name:"Marcel Veloso",middleName:null,surname:"Campos",slug:"marcel-veloso-campos",fullName:"Marcel Veloso Campos"}]}],onlineFirstChaptersFilter:{topicId:"749",limit:6,offset:0},onlineFirstChaptersCollection:[],onlineFirstChaptersTotal:0},preDownload:{success:null,errors:{}},subscriptionForm:{success:null,errors:{}},aboutIntechopen:{},privacyPolicy:{},peerReviewing:{},howOpenAccessPublishingWithIntechopenWorks:{},sponsorshipBooks:{sponsorshipBooks:[],offset:0,limit:8,total:null},allSeries:{pteSeriesList:[{id:"14",title:"Artificial Intelligence",numberOfPublishedBooks:9,numberOfPublishedChapters:87,numberOfOpenTopics:6,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2633-1403",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.79920",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"7",title:"Biomedical Engineering",numberOfPublishedBooks:12,numberOfPublishedChapters:99,numberOfOpenTopics:3,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2631-5343",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.71985",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],lsSeriesList:[{id:"11",title:"Biochemistry",numberOfPublishedBooks:27,numberOfPublishedChapters:289,numberOfOpenTopics:4,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2632-0983",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.72877",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"25",title:"Environmental Sciences",numberOfPublishedBooks:1,numberOfPublishedChapters:9,numberOfOpenTopics:4,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2754-6713",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100362",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"10",title:"Physiology",numberOfPublishedBooks:11,numberOfPublishedChapters:139,numberOfOpenTopics:4,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2631-8261",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.72796",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],hsSeriesList:[{id:"3",title:"Dentistry",numberOfPublishedBooks:8,numberOfPublishedChapters:129,numberOfOpenTopics:0,numberOfUpcomingTopics:2,issn:"2631-6218",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.71199",isOpenForSubmission:!1},{id:"6",title:"Infectious Diseases",numberOfPublishedBooks:13,numberOfPublishedChapters:108,numberOfOpenTopics:3,numberOfUpcomingTopics:1,issn:"2631-6188",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.71852",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"13",title:"Veterinary Medicine and Science",numberOfPublishedBooks:11,numberOfPublishedChapters:104,numberOfOpenTopics:3,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2632-0517",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.73681",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],sshSeriesList:[{id:"22",title:"Business, Management and Economics",numberOfPublishedBooks:1,numberOfPublishedChapters:12,numberOfOpenTopics:2,numberOfUpcomingTopics:1,issn:"2753-894X",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100359",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"23",title:"Education and Human Development",numberOfPublishedBooks:0,numberOfPublishedChapters:0,numberOfOpenTopics:2,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:null,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100360",isOpenForSubmission:!1},{id:"24",title:"Sustainable Development",numberOfPublishedBooks:0,numberOfPublishedChapters:12,numberOfOpenTopics:4,numberOfUpcomingTopics:1,issn:null,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100361",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],testimonialsList:[{id:"6",text:"It is great to work with the IntechOpen to produce a worthwhile collection of research that also becomes a great educational resource and guide for future research endeavors.",author:{id:"259298",name:"Edward",surname:"Narayan",institutionString:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/259298/images/system/259298.jpeg",slug:"edward-narayan",institution:{id:"3",name:"University of Queensland",country:{id:null,name:"Australia"}}}},{id:"13",text:"The collaboration with and support of the technical staff of IntechOpen is fantastic. The whole process of submitting an article and editing of the submitted article goes extremely smooth and fast, the number of reads and downloads of chapters is high, and the contributions are also frequently cited.",author:{id:"55578",name:"Antonio",surname:"Jurado-Navas",institutionString:null,profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRisIQAS/Profile_Picture_1626166543950",slug:"antonio-jurado-navas",institution:{id:"720",name:"University of Malaga",country:{id:null,name:"Spain"}}}}]},series:{item:{id:"14",title:"Artificial Intelligence",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.79920",issn:"2633-1403",scope:"Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly developing multidisciplinary research area that aims to solve increasingly complex problems. In today's highly integrated world, AI promises to become a robust and powerful means for obtaining solutions to previously unsolvable problems. This Series is intended for researchers and students alike interested in this fascinating field and its many applications.",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series/covers/14.jpg",latestPublicationDate:"May 18th, 2022",hasOnlineFirst:!0,numberOfPublishedBooks:9,editor:{id:"218714",title:"Prof.",name:"Andries",middleName:null,surname:"Engelbrecht",slug:"andries-engelbrecht",fullName:"Andries Engelbrecht",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRNR8QAO/Profile_Picture_1622640468300",biography:"Andries Engelbrecht received the Masters and PhD degrees in Computer Science from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, in 1994 and 1999 respectively. He is currently appointed as the Voigt Chair in Data Science in the Department of Industrial Engineering, with a joint appointment as Professor in the Computer Science Division, Stellenbosch University. Prior to his appointment at Stellenbosch University, he has been at the University of Pretoria, Department of Computer Science (1998-2018), where he was appointed as South Africa Research Chair in Artifical Intelligence (2007-2018), the head of the Department of Computer Science (2008-2017), and Director of the Institute for Big Data and Data Science (2017-2018). In addition to a number of research articles, he has written two books, Computational Intelligence: An Introduction and Fundamentals of Computational Swarm Intelligence.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Stellenbosch University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"South Africa"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},subseries:{paginationCount:6,paginationItems:[{id:"22",title:"Applied Intelligence",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/22.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"27170",title:"Prof.",name:"Carlos",middleName:"M.",surname:"Travieso-Gonzalez",slug:"carlos-travieso-gonzalez",fullName:"Carlos Travieso-Gonzalez",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/27170/images/system/27170.jpeg",biography:"Carlos M. Travieso-González received his MSc degree in Telecommunication Engineering at Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), Spain in 1997, and his Ph.D. degree in 2002 at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC-Spain). He is a full professor of signal processing and pattern recognition and is head of the Signals and Communications Department at ULPGC, teaching from 2001 on subjects on signal processing and learning theory. His research lines are biometrics, biomedical signals and images, data mining, classification system, signal and image processing, machine learning, and environmental intelligence. He has researched in 52 international and Spanish research projects, some of them as head researcher. He is co-author of 4 books, co-editor of 27 proceedings books, guest editor for 8 JCR-ISI international journals, and up to 24 book chapters. He has over 450 papers published in international journals and conferences (81 of them indexed on JCR – ISI - Web of Science). He has published seven patents in the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office. He has been a supervisor on 8 Ph.D. theses (11 more are under supervision), and 130 master theses. He is the founder of The IEEE IWOBI conference series and the president of its Steering Committee, as well as the founder of both the InnoEducaTIC and APPIS conference series. He is an evaluator of project proposals for the European Union (H2020), Medical Research Council (MRC, UK), Spanish Government (ANECA, Spain), Research National Agency (ANR, France), DAAD (Germany), Argentinian Government, and the Colombian Institutions. He has been a reviewer in different indexed international journals (<70) and conferences (<250) since 2001. He has been a member of the IASTED Technical Committee on Image Processing from 2007 and a member of the IASTED Technical Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems from 2011. \n\nHe has held the general chair position for the following: ACM-APPIS (2020, 2021), IEEE-IWOBI (2019, 2020 and 2020), A PPIS (2018, 2019), IEEE-IWOBI (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018), InnoEducaTIC (2014, 2017), IEEE-INES (2013), NoLISP (2011), JRBP (2012), and IEEE-ICCST (2005)\n\nHe is an associate editor of the Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience Journal (Hindawi – Q2 JCR-ISI). He was vice dean from 2004 to 2010 in the Higher Technical School of Telecommunication Engineers at ULPGC and the vice dean of Graduate and Postgraduate Studies from March 2013 to November 2017. He won the “Catedra Telefonica” Awards in Modality of Knowledge Transfer, 2017, 2018, and 2019 editions, and awards in Modality of COVID Research in 2020.\n\nPublic References:\nResearcher ID http://www.researcherid.com/rid/N-5967-2014\nORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4621-2768 \nScopus Author ID https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6602376272\nScholar Google https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=G1ks9nIAAAAJ&hl=en \nResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carlos_Travieso",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Spain"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},{id:"23",title:"Computational Neuroscience",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/23.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"14004",title:"Dr.",name:"Magnus",middleName:null,surname:"Johnsson",slug:"magnus-johnsson",fullName:"Magnus Johnsson",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/14004/images/system/14004.png",biography:"Dr Magnus Johnsson is a cross-disciplinary scientist, lecturer, scientific editor and AI/machine learning consultant from Sweden. \n\nHe is currently at Malmö University in Sweden, but also held positions at Lund University in Sweden and at Moscow Engineering Physics Institute. \nHe holds editorial positions at several international scientific journals and has served as a scientific editor for books and special journal issues. \nHis research interests are wide and include, but are not limited to, autonomous systems, computer modeling, artificial neural networks, artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive robotics, cognitive architectures, cognitive aids and the philosophy of mind. \n\nDr. Johnsson has experience from working in the industry and he has a keen interest in the application of neural networks and artificial intelligence to fields like industry, finance, and medicine. \n\nWeb page: www.magnusjohnsson.se",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Malmö University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Sweden"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},{id:"24",title:"Computer Vision",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/24.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"294154",title:"Prof.",name:"George",middleName:null,surname:"Papakostas",slug:"george-papakostas",fullName:"George Papakostas",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002hYaGbQAK/Profile_Picture_1624519712088",biography:"George A. Papakostas has received a diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1999 and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2002 and 2007, respectively, from the Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), Greece. Dr. Papakostas serves as a Tenured Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science, International Hellenic University, Greece. Dr. Papakostas has 10 years of experience in large-scale systems design as a senior software engineer and technical manager, and 20 years of research experience in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Currently, he is the Head of the “Visual Computing” division of HUman-MAchines INteraction Laboratory (HUMAIN-Lab) and the Director of the MPhil program “Advanced Technologies in Informatics and Computers” hosted by the Department of Computer Science, International Hellenic University. He has (co)authored more than 150 publications in indexed journals, international conferences and book chapters, 1 book (in Greek), 3 edited books, and 5 journal special issues. His publications have more than 2100 citations with h-index 27 (GoogleScholar). His research interests include computer/machine vision, machine learning, pattern recognition, computational intelligence. \nDr. Papakostas served as a reviewer in numerous journals, as a program\ncommittee member in international conferences and he is a member of the IAENG, MIR Labs, EUCogIII, INSTICC and the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE).",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"International Hellenic University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Greece"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},{id:"25",title:"Evolutionary Computation",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/25.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"136112",title:"Dr.",name:"Sebastian",middleName:null,surname:"Ventura Soto",slug:"sebastian-ventura-soto",fullName:"Sebastian Ventura Soto",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/136112/images/system/136112.png",biography:"Sebastian Ventura is a Spanish researcher, a full professor with the Department of Computer Science and Numerical Analysis, University of Córdoba. Dr Ventura also holds the positions of Affiliated Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, USA) and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). Additionally, he is deputy director of the Andalusian Research Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence (DaSCI) and heads the Knowledge Discovery and Intelligent Systems Research Laboratory. He has published more than ten books and over 300 articles in journals and scientific conferences. Currently, his work has received over 18,000 citations according to Google Scholar, including more than 2200 citations in 2020. In the last five years, he has published more than 60 papers in international journals indexed in the JCR (around 70% of them belonging to first quartile journals) and he has edited some Springer books “Supervised Descriptive Pattern Mining” (2018), “Multiple Instance Learning - Foundations and Algorithms” (2016), and “Pattern Mining with Evolutionary Algorithms” (2016). He has also been involved in more than 20 research projects supported by the Spanish and Andalusian governments and the European Union. He currently belongs to the editorial board of PeerJ Computer Science, Information Fusion and Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence journals, being also associate editor of Applied Computational Intelligence and Soft Computing and IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics. Finally, he is editor-in-chief of Progress in Artificial Intelligence. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE Computer, the IEEE Computational Intelligence, and the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Societies, and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). Finally, his main research interests include data science, computational intelligence, and their applications.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Córdoba",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Spain"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},{id:"26",title:"Machine Learning and Data Mining",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/26.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"24555",title:"Dr.",name:"Marco Antonio",middleName:null,surname:"Aceves Fernandez",slug:"marco-antonio-aceves-fernandez",fullName:"Marco Antonio Aceves Fernandez",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/24555/images/system/24555.jpg",biography:"Dr. Marco Antonio Aceves Fernandez obtained his B.Sc. (Eng.) in Telematics from the Universidad de Colima, Mexico. He obtained both his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Liverpool, England, in the field of Intelligent Systems. He is a full professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Mexico, and a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI) since 2009. Dr. Aceves Fernandez has published more than 80 research papers as well as a number of book chapters and congress papers. He has contributed in more than 20 funded research projects, both academic and industrial, in the area of artificial intelligence, ranging from environmental, biomedical, automotive, aviation, consumer, and robotics to other applications. He is also a honorary president at the National Association of Embedded Systems (AMESE), a senior member of the IEEE, and a board member of many institutions. His research interests include intelligent and embedded systems.",institutionString:"Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro",institution:{name:"Autonomous University of Queretaro",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Mexico"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},{id:"27",title:"Multi-Agent Systems",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/27.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"148497",title:"Dr.",name:"Mehmet",middleName:"Emin",surname:"Aydin",slug:"mehmet-aydin",fullName:"Mehmet Aydin",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/148497/images/system/148497.jpg",biography:"Dr. Mehmet Emin Aydin is a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Computer Science and Creative Technology, the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. His research interests include swarm intelligence, parallel and distributed metaheuristics, machine learning, intelligent agents and multi-agent systems, resource planning, scheduling and optimization, combinatorial optimization. Dr. Aydin is currently a Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK, a member of EPSRC College, a senior member of IEEE and a senior member of ACM. In addition to being a member of advisory committees of many international conferences, he is an Editorial Board Member of various peer-reviewed international journals. He has served as guest editor for a number of special issues of peer-reviewed international journals.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of the West of England",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"United Kingdom"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null}]},overviewPageOFChapters:{paginationCount:17,paginationItems:[{id:"81791",title:"Self-Supervised Contrastive Representation Learning in Computer Vision",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.104785",signatures:"Yalin Bastanlar and Semih Orhan",slug:"self-supervised-contrastive-representation-learning-in-computer-vision",totalDownloads:12,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Pattern Recognition - New Insights",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11442.jpg",subseries:{id:"26",title:"Machine Learning and Data Mining"}}},{id:"79345",title:"Application of Jump Diffusion Models in Insurance Claim Estimation",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.99853",signatures:"Leonard Mushunje, Chiedza Elvina Mashiri, Edina Chandiwana and Maxwell Mashasha",slug:"application-of-jump-diffusion-models-in-insurance-claim-estimation-1",totalDownloads:2,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Data Clustering",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10820.jpg",subseries:{id:"26",title:"Machine Learning and Data Mining"}}},{id:"81557",title:"Object Tracking Using Adapted Optical Flow",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.102863",signatures:"Ronaldo Ferreira, Joaquim José de Castro Ferreira and António José Ribeiro Neves",slug:"object-tracking-using-adapted-optical-flow",totalDownloads:10,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Information Extraction and Object Tracking in Digital Video",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10652.jpg",subseries:{id:"24",title:"Computer Vision"}}},{id:"81558",title:"Thresholding Image Techniques for Plant Segmentation",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.104587",signatures:"Miguel Ángel Castillo-Martínez, Francisco Javier Gallegos-Funes, Blanca E. Carvajal-Gámez, Guillermo Urriolagoitia-Sosa and Alberto J. Rosales-Silva",slug:"thresholding-image-techniques-for-plant-segmentation",totalDownloads:15,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Information Extraction and Object Tracking in Digital Video",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10652.jpg",subseries:{id:"24",title:"Computer Vision"}}}]},overviewPagePublishedBooks:{paginationCount:9,paginationItems:[{type:"book",id:"7723",title:"Artificial Intelligence",subtitle:"Applications in Medicine and Biology",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7723.jpg",slug:"artificial-intelligence-applications-in-medicine-and-biology",publishedDate:"July 31st 2019",editedByType:"Edited by",bookSignature:"Marco Antonio Aceves-Fernandez",hash:"a3852659e727f95c98c740ed98146011",volumeInSeries:1,fullTitle:"Artificial Intelligence - Applications in Medicine and Biology",editors:[{id:"24555",title:"Dr.",name:"Marco Antonio",middleName:null,surname:"Aceves Fernandez",slug:"marco-antonio-aceves-fernandez",fullName:"Marco Antonio Aceves Fernandez",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/24555/images/system/24555.jpg",biography:"Dr. Marco Antonio Aceves Fernandez obtained his B.Sc. (Eng.) in Telematics from the Universidad de Colima, Mexico. He obtained both his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Liverpool, England, in the field of Intelligent Systems. He is a full professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Mexico, and a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI) since 2009. Dr. Aceves Fernandez has published more than 80 research papers as well as a number of book chapters and congress papers. He has contributed in more than 20 funded research projects, both academic and industrial, in the area of artificial intelligence, ranging from environmental, biomedical, automotive, aviation, consumer, and robotics to other applications. He is also a honorary president at the National Association of Embedded Systems (AMESE), a senior member of the IEEE, and a board member of many institutions. His research interests include intelligent and embedded systems.",institutionString:"Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro",institution:{name:"Autonomous University of Queretaro",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Mexico"}}}]},{type:"book",id:"7726",title:"Swarm Intelligence",subtitle:"Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Applications",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7726.jpg",slug:"swarm-intelligence-recent-advances-new-perspectives-and-applications",publishedDate:"December 4th 2019",editedByType:"Edited by",bookSignature:"Javier Del Ser, Esther Villar and Eneko Osaba",hash:"e7ea7e74ce7a7a8e5359629e07c68d31",volumeInSeries:2,fullTitle:"Swarm Intelligence - Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Applications",editors:[{id:"49813",title:"Dr.",name:"Javier",middleName:null,surname:"Del Ser",slug:"javier-del-ser",fullName:"Javier Del Ser",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/49813/images/system/49813.png",biography:"Prof. Dr. Javier Del Ser received his first PhD in Telecommunication Engineering (Cum Laude) from the University of Navarra, Spain, in 2006, and a second PhD in Computational Intelligence (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of Alcala, Spain, in 2013. He is currently a principal researcher in data analytics and optimisation at TECNALIA (Spain), a visiting fellow at the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM) and a part-time lecturer at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). His research interests gravitate on the use of descriptive, prescriptive and predictive algorithms for data mining and optimization in a diverse range of application fields such as Energy, Transport, Telecommunications, Health and Industry, among others. In these fields he has published more than 240 articles, co-supervised 8 Ph.D. theses, edited 6 books, coauthored 7 patents and participated/led more than 40 research projects. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, and a recipient of the Biscay Talent prize for his academic career.",institutionString:"Tecnalia Research & Innovation",institution:null}]},{type:"book",id:"7656",title:"Fuzzy Logic",subtitle:null,coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7656.jpg",slug:"fuzzy-logic",publishedDate:"February 5th 2020",editedByType:"Edited by",bookSignature:"Constantin Volosencu",hash:"54f092d4ffe0abf5e4172a80025019bc",volumeInSeries:3,fullTitle:"Fuzzy Logic",editors:[{id:"1063",title:"Prof.",name:"Constantin",middleName:null,surname:"Volosencu",slug:"constantin-volosencu",fullName:"Constantin Volosencu",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/1063/images/system/1063.png",biography:"Prof. Dr. Constantin Voloşencu graduated as an engineer from\nPolitehnica University of Timișoara, Romania, where he also\nobtained a doctorate degree. He is currently a full professor in\nthe Department of Automation and Applied Informatics at the\nsame university. Dr. Voloşencu is the author of ten books, seven\nbook chapters, and more than 160 papers published in journals\nand conference proceedings. He has also edited twelve books and\nhas twenty-seven patents to his name. He is a manager of research grants, editor in\nchief and member of international journal editorial boards, a former plenary speaker, a member of scientific committees, and chair at international conferences. His\nresearch is in the fields of control systems, control of electric drives, fuzzy control\nsystems, neural network applications, fault detection and diagnosis, sensor network\napplications, monitoring of distributed parameter systems, and power ultrasound\napplications. He has developed automation equipment for machine tools, spooling\nmachines, high-power ultrasound processes, and more.",institutionString:"Polytechnic University of Timişoara",institution:{name:"Polytechnic University of Timişoara",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Romania"}}}]},{type:"book",id:"9963",title:"Advances and Applications in Deep Learning",subtitle:null,coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9963.jpg",slug:"advances-and-applications-in-deep-learning",publishedDate:"December 9th 2020",editedByType:"Edited by",bookSignature:"Marco Antonio Aceves-Fernandez",hash:"0d51ba46f22e55cb89140f60d86a071e",volumeInSeries:4,fullTitle:"Advances and Applications in Deep Learning",editors:[{id:"24555",title:"Dr.",name:"Marco Antonio",middleName:null,surname:"Aceves Fernandez",slug:"marco-antonio-aceves-fernandez",fullName:"Marco Antonio Aceves Fernandez",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/24555/images/system/24555.jpg",biography:"Dr. Marco Antonio Aceves Fernandez obtained his B.Sc. (Eng.) in Telematics from the Universidad de Colima, Mexico. He obtained both his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Liverpool, England, in the field of Intelligent Systems. He is a full professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Mexico, and a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI) since 2009. Dr. Aceves Fernandez has published more than 80 research papers as well as a number of book chapters and congress papers. He has contributed in more than 20 funded research projects, both academic and industrial, in the area of artificial intelligence, ranging from environmental, biomedical, automotive, aviation, consumer, and robotics to other applications. He is also a honorary president at the National Association of Embedded Systems (AMESE), a senior member of the IEEE, and a board member of many institutions. His research interests include intelligent and embedded systems.",institutionString:"Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro",institution:{name:"Autonomous University of Queretaro",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Mexico"}}}]}]},openForSubmissionBooks:{paginationCount:5,paginationItems:[{id:"11669",title:"Fatty Acids - Recent Advances",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11669.jpg",hash:"9117bd12dc904ced43404e3383b6591a",secondStepPassed:!0,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:3,submissionDeadline:"May 3rd 2022",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editors:[{id:"415310",title:"Assistant Prof.",name:"Erik",surname:"Froyen",slug:"erik-froyen",fullName:"Erik Froyen"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null},{id:"11672",title:"Chemokines Updates",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11672.jpg",hash:"c00855833476a514d37abf7c846e16e9",secondStepPassed:!0,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:3,submissionDeadline:"May 6th 2022",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editors:[{id:"14794",title:"Prof.",name:"Murat",surname:"Şentürk",slug:"murat-senturk",fullName:"Murat Şentürk"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null},{id:"11674",title:"Updates on Endoplasmic Reticulum",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11674.jpg",hash:"5d7d49bd80f53dad3761f78de4a862c6",secondStepPassed:!0,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:3,submissionDeadline:"May 6th 2022",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editors:[{id:"238047",title:"Dr.",name:"Gaia",surname:"Favero",slug:"gaia-favero",fullName:"Gaia Favero"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null},{id:"11670",title:"Chitin-Chitosan - Isolation, Properties, and Applications",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11670.jpg",hash:"69f009be08998711eecfb200adc7deca",secondStepPassed:!0,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:3,submissionDeadline:"May 26th 2022",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editors:[{id:"176093",title:"Dr.",name:"Brajesh",surname:"Kumar",slug:"brajesh-kumar",fullName:"Brajesh Kumar"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null},{id:"11673",title:"Stem Cell Research",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11673.jpg",hash:"13092df328080c762dd9157be18ca38c",secondStepPassed:!1,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:2,submissionDeadline:"June 8th 2022",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editors:[{id:"203598",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Diana",surname:"Kitala",slug:"diana-kitala",fullName:"Diana Kitala"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null}]},onlineFirstChapters:{paginationCount:43,paginationItems:[{id:"81796",title:"Apoptosis-Related Diseases and Peroxisomes",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105052",signatures:"Meimei Wang, Yakun Liu, Ni Chen, Juan Wang and Ye Zhao",slug:"apoptosis-related-diseases-and-peroxisomes",totalDownloads:4,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"The Metabolic Role of Peroxisome in Health and Disease",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10837.jpg",subseries:{id:"11",title:"Cell Physiology"}}},{id:"81723",title:"Peroxisomal Modulation as Therapeutic Alternative for Tackling Multiple Cancers",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.104873",signatures:"Shazia Usmani, Shadma Wahab, Abdul Hafeez, Shabana Khatoon and Syed Misbahul Hasan",slug:"peroxisomal-modulation-as-therapeutic-alternative-for-tackling-multiple-cancers",totalDownloads:3,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"The Metabolic Role of Peroxisome in Health and Disease",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10837.jpg",subseries:{id:"11",title:"Cell Physiology"}}},{id:"81638",title:"Aging and Neuropsychiatric Disease: A General Overview of Prevalence and Trends",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.103102",signatures:"Jelena Milić",slug:"aging-and-neuropsychiatric-disease-a-general-overview-of-prevalence-and-trends",totalDownloads:17,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Senescence",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10935.jpg",subseries:{id:"11",title:"Cell Physiology"}}},{id:"81566",title:"New and Emerging Technologies for Integrative Ambulatory Autonomic Assessment and Intervention as a Catalyst in the Synergy of Remote Geocoded Biosensing, Algorithmic Networked Cloud Computing, Deep Learning, and Regenerative/Biomic Medicine: Further Real",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.104092",signatures:"Robert L. Drury",slug:"new-and-emerging-technologies-for-integrative-ambulatory-autonomic-assessment-and-intervention-as-a-",totalDownloads:9,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Autonomic Nervous System - Special Interest Topics",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10835.jpg",subseries:{id:"12",title:"Human Physiology"}}},{id:"81576",title:"Carotenoids in Thermal Adaptation of Plants and Animals",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.104537",signatures:"Ivan M. Petyaev",slug:"carotenoids-in-thermal-adaptation-of-plants-and-animals",totalDownloads:18,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:[{name:"Ivan",surname:"Petyaev"}],book:{title:"Carotenoids - New Perspectives and Application",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10836.jpg",subseries:{id:"13",title:"Plant Physiology"}}},{id:"81358",title:"New Insights on Carotenoid Production by Gordonia alkanivorans Strain 1B",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.103919",signatures:"Tiago P. Silva, Susana M. Paixão, Ana S. Fernandes, José C. Roseiro and Luís Alves",slug:"new-insights-on-carotenoid-production-by-gordonia-alkanivorans-strain-1b",totalDownloads:14,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Carotenoids - New Perspectives and Application",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10836.jpg",subseries:{id:"13",title:"Plant Physiology"}}},{id:"81298",title:"Roles of Extracellular Vesicles in Cancer Metastasis",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.103798",signatures:"Eman Helmy Thabet",slug:"roles-of-extracellular-vesicles-in-cancer-metastasis",totalDownloads:21,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Extracellular Vesicles - Role in Diseases, Pathogenesis and Therapy",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10796.jpg",subseries:{id:"11",title:"Cell Physiology"}}},{id:"81290",title:"Musculoskeletal Abnormalities Caused by Cystic Fibrosis",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.104591",signatures:"Mark Lambrechts",slug:"musculoskeletal-abnormalities-caused-by-cystic-fibrosis",totalDownloads:14,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Advances in Skeletal Muscle Health and Disease",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11675.jpg",subseries:{id:"11",title:"Cell Physiology"}}},{id:"81286",title:"Potassium Derangements: A Pathophysiological Review, Diagnostic Approach, and Clinical Management",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.103016",signatures:"Sairah Sharif and Jie Tang",slug:"potassium-derangements-a-pathophysiological-review-diagnostic-approach-and-clinical-management",totalDownloads:25,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Potassium in Human Health",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10794.jpg",subseries:{id:"12",title:"Human Physiology"}}},{id:"81246",title:"Role of Carotenoids in Cardiovascular Disease",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.102750",signatures:"Arslan Ahmad, Sakhawat Riaz, Muhammad Shahzaib Nadeem, Umber Mubeen and Khadija Maham",slug:"role-of-carotenoids-in-cardiovascular-disease",totalDownloads:27,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Carotenoids - New Perspectives and Application",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10836.jpg",subseries:{id:"13",title:"Plant Physiology"}}}]},subseriesFiltersForOFChapters:[{caption:"Plant Physiology",value:13,count:5,group:"subseries"},{caption:"Human Physiology",value:12,count:13,group:"subseries"},{caption:"Cell Physiology",value:11,count:25,group:"subseries"}],publishedBooks:{paginationCount:0,paginationItems:[]},subseriesFiltersForPublishedBooks:[],publicationYearFilters:[],authors:{paginationCount:25,paginationItems:[{id:"429683",title:"Dr.",name:"Bilal",middleName:null,surname:"Khalid",slug:"bilal-khalid",fullName:"Bilal Khalid",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/429683/images/system/429683.png",biography:"Dr. Bilal Khalid received a Ph.D. in Industrial Business Administration from KMITL Business School, Bangkok, in 2021, and a master’s in International Business Management from Stamford International University, Bangkok, in 2017. Dr. Khalid\\'s research interests include leadership and negotiations, digital transformations, gamification, eLearning, blockchain, Big Data, and management of information technology. Dr. Bilal Khalid also serves as an academic editor at Education Research International and a reviewer for international journals.",institutionString:"KMITL Business School",institution:{name:"King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang",country:{name:"Thailand"}}},{id:"418514",title:"Dr.",name:"Muhammad",middleName:null,surname:"Mohiuddin",slug:"muhammad-mohiuddin",fullName:"Muhammad Mohiuddin",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0033Y000038UqSfQAK/Profile_Picture_2022-05-13T10:39:03.jpg",biography:"Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin is an Associate Professor of International Business at Laval University, Canada. He has taught at Thompson Rivers University, Canada; University of Paris-Est, France; Osnabruck University of Applied Science, Germany; and Shanghai Institute of Technology and Tianjin University of Technology, China. He has published research in Research Policy, Applied Economics, Review of Economic Philosophy, Strategic Change, International Journal of Logistics, Sustainability, Journal of Environmental Management, Journal of Global Information Management, Journal of Cleaner Production, M@N@GEMENT, and more. He is a member of CEDIMES Institut (France), Academy of International Business (AIB), Strategic Management Society (SMS), Academy of Management (AOM), Administrative Science Association of Canada (ASAC), and Canadian council of small business and entrepreneurship (CCSBE). He is currently the director of the Research Group on Contemporary Asia (GERAC) at Laval University. He is also co-managing editor of Transnational Corporations Review and a guest editor for Electronic Commerce Research and Journal of Internet Technology.",institutionString:"Université Laval",institution:{name:"Université Laval",country:{name:"Canada"}}},{id:"189147",title:"Dr.",name:"Hailan",middleName:null,surname:"Salamun",slug:"hailan-salamun",fullName:"Hailan Salamun",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/189147/images/19274_n.jpeg",biography:"Hailan Salamun, (Dr.) was born in Selangor, Malaysia and graduated from Tunku Ampuan Jamaah Religious High School at Shah Alam. Obtained a degree from the International Islamic University (UIA), Gombak in the field of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Heritage. Next, I furthered my studies to the professional level to obtain a Diploma in Education at UIA. After serving for several years in school, I furthered my studies to the Master of Dakwah and Leadership at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi. I graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy in Principalship Leadership from the University of Malaya (UM) in 2010. I am currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Nationalism and Civilization, Center for Basic and Continuing Education, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. Prior to that, I had served in several educational institutions such as schools, the Institute of Teacher Education (IPG), and also the University of Malaya. I am also actively involved in paper presentation, writing and publishing. My research interests are focused on leadership, education, society and Islamic civilization. This area of research requires a detailed understanding of Islamic studies and research studies in leadership. Another research interest that I have explored recently is the politics of the Malay community and also the leadership of the mosque.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Universiti Malaysia Terengganu",country:{name:"Malaysia"}}},{id:"442081",title:"Dr.",name:"Audrey",middleName:null,surname:"Addy",slug:"audrey-addy",fullName:"Audrey Addy",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology",country:{name:"Ghana"}}},{id:"437993",title:"Mr.",name:"Job",middleName:null,surname:"Jackson",slug:"job-jackson",fullName:"Job Jackson",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Management College of Southern Africa",country:{name:"South Africa"}}},{id:"428495",title:"Prof.",name:"Asyraf",middleName:null,surname:"Ab Rahman",slug:"asyraf-ab-rahman",fullName:"Asyraf Ab Rahman",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Universiti Malaysia Terengganu",country:{name:"Malaysia"}}},{id:"429650",title:"Dr.",name:"Jacqueline",middleName:null,surname:"Kareem",slug:"jacqueline-kareem",fullName:"Jacqueline Kareem",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Christ University",country:{name:"India"}}},{id:"421041",title:"Dr.",name:"Sunil",middleName:null,surname:"Kumar Ramdas",slug:"sunil-kumar-ramdas",fullName:"Sunil Kumar Ramdas",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Jain University",country:{name:"India"}}},{id:"421833",title:"Mr.",name:"Eugene",middleName:null,surname:"Owusu-Acheampong",slug:"eugene-owusu-acheampong",fullName:"Eugene Owusu-Acheampong",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Ghana",country:{name:"Ghana"}}},{id:"239876",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Luciana",middleName:null,surname:"Mourão",slug:"luciana-mourao",fullName:"Luciana Mourão",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Universidade Salgado de Oliveira",country:{name:"Brazil"}}},{id:"421735",title:"Dr.",name:"elizabeth",middleName:null,surname:"addy",slug:"elizabeth-addy",fullName:"elizabeth addy",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"442083",title:"Dr.",name:"James",middleName:null,surname:"Addy",slug:"james-addy",fullName:"James Addy",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"437991",title:"Prof.",name:"Muhammad",middleName:null,surname:"Hoque",slug:"muhammad-hoque",fullName:"Muhammad Hoque",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"421006",title:"Dr.",name:"Anna",middleName:null,surname:"Uster",slug:"anna-uster",fullName:"Anna Uster",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"470243",title:"Dr.",name:"Md Samim",middleName:null,surname:"Al Azad",slug:"md-samim-al-azad",fullName:"Md Samim Al Azad",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"470244",title:"Dr.",name:"Slimane",middleName:null,surname:"Ed-dafali",slug:"slimane-ed-dafali",fullName:"Slimane Ed-dafali",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"421011",title:"Dr.",name:"Afatakpa",middleName:null,surname:"Fortune",slug:"afatakpa-fortune",fullName:"Afatakpa Fortune",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"446057",title:"Mr.",name:"Okedare",middleName:null,surname:"David Olubukunmi",slug:"okedare-david-olubukunmi",fullName:"Okedare David Olubukunmi",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"421778",title:"Dr.",name:"Fatimah",middleName:"Saeed",surname:"AlAhmari",slug:"fatimah-alahmari",fullName:"Fatimah AlAhmari",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"421024",title:"Prof.",name:"Harold Andrew",middleName:null,surname:"Patrick",slug:"harold-andrew-patrick",fullName:"Harold Andrew Patrick",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"421065",title:"Ms.",name:"Euzália",middleName:null,surname:"do Rosário Botelho Tomé",slug:"euzalia-do-rosario-botelho-tome",fullName:"Euzália do Rosário Botelho Tomé",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"421053",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"Ken",middleName:null,surname:"Kalala Ndalamba",slug:"ken-kalala-ndalamba",fullName:"Ken Kalala Ndalamba",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"421826",title:"Dr.",name:"Inusah",middleName:null,surname:"Salifu",slug:"inusah-salifu",fullName:"Inusah Salifu",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"420823",title:"Prof.",name:"Gardênia da Silva",middleName:null,surname:"Abbad",slug:"gardenia-da-silva-abbad",fullName:"Gardênia da Silva Abbad",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"437613",title:"MSc.",name:"Juliana",middleName:null,surname:"Legentil",slug:"juliana-legentil",fullName:"Juliana Legentil",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null}]}},subseries:{item:{id:"25",type:"subseries",title:"Evolutionary Computation",keywords:"Genetic Algorithms, Genetic Programming, Evolutionary Programming, Evolution Strategies, Hybrid Algorithms, Bioinspired Metaheuristics, Ant Colony Optimization, Evolutionary Learning, Hyperparameter Optimization",scope:"Evolutionary computing is a paradigm that has grown dramatically in recent years. This group of bio-inspired metaheuristics solves multiple optimization problems by applying the metaphor of natural selection. It so far has solved problems such as resource allocation, routing, schedule planning, and engineering design. Moreover, in the field of machine learning, evolutionary computation has carved out a significant niche both in the generation of learning models and in the automatic design and optimization of hyperparameters in deep learning models. This collection aims to include quality volumes on various topics related to evolutionary algorithms and, alternatively, other metaheuristics of interest inspired by nature. For example, some of the issues of interest could be the following: Advances in evolutionary computation (Genetic algorithms, Genetic programming, Bio-inspired metaheuristics, Hybrid metaheuristics, Parallel ECs); Applications of evolutionary algorithms (Machine learning and Data Mining with EAs, Search-Based Software Engineering, Scheduling, and Planning Applications, Smart Transport Applications, Applications to Games, Image Analysis, Signal Processing and Pattern Recognition, Applications to Sustainability).",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/25.jpg",hasOnlineFirst:!1,hasPublishedBooks:!0,annualVolume:11421,editor:{id:"136112",title:"Dr.",name:"Sebastian",middleName:null,surname:"Ventura Soto",slug:"sebastian-ventura-soto",fullName:"Sebastian Ventura Soto",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/136112/images/system/136112.png",biography:"Sebastian Ventura is a Spanish researcher, a full professor with the Department of Computer Science and Numerical Analysis, University of Córdoba. Dr Ventura also holds the positions of Affiliated Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, USA) and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). Additionally, he is deputy director of the Andalusian Research Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence (DaSCI) and heads the Knowledge Discovery and Intelligent Systems Research Laboratory. He has published more than ten books and over 300 articles in journals and scientific conferences. Currently, his work has received over 18,000 citations according to Google Scholar, including more than 2200 citations in 2020. In the last five years, he has published more than 60 papers in international journals indexed in the JCR (around 70% of them belonging to first quartile journals) and he has edited some Springer books “Supervised Descriptive Pattern Mining” (2018), “Multiple Instance Learning - Foundations and Algorithms” (2016), and “Pattern Mining with Evolutionary Algorithms” (2016). He has also been involved in more than 20 research projects supported by the Spanish and Andalusian governments and the European Union. He currently belongs to the editorial board of PeerJ Computer Science, Information Fusion and Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence journals, being also associate editor of Applied Computational Intelligence and Soft Computing and IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics. Finally, he is editor-in-chief of Progress in Artificial Intelligence. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE Computer, the IEEE Computational Intelligence, and the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Societies, and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). Finally, his main research interests include data science, computational intelligence, and their applications.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Córdoba",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Spain"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null,series:{id:"14",title:"Artificial Intelligence",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.79920",issn:"2633-1403"},editorialBoard:[{id:"111683",title:"Prof.",name:"Elmer P.",middleName:"P.",surname:"Dadios",slug:"elmer-p.-dadios",fullName:"Elmer P. Dadios",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/111683/images/system/111683.jpg",institutionString:"De La Salle University",institution:{name:"De La Salle University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Philippines"}}},{id:"106873",title:"Prof.",name:"Hongwei",middleName:null,surname:"Ge",slug:"hongwei-ge",fullName:"Hongwei Ge",profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Dalian University of Technology",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"China"}}},{id:"171056",title:"Dr.",name:"Sotirios",middleName:null,surname:"Goudos",slug:"sotirios-goudos",fullName:"Sotirios Goudos",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bS9IuQAK/Profile_Picture_1622623673666",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Aristotle University of Thessaloniki",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Greece"}}},{id:"15895",title:"Assistant Prof.",name:"Takashi",middleName:null,surname:"Kuremoto",slug:"takashi-kuremoto",fullName:"Takashi Kuremoto",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002aYLrqQAG/Profile_Picture_1625656196038",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Nippon Institute of Technology",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Japan"}}},{id:"125844",title:"Prof.",name:"Wellington",middleName:"Pinheiro Dos",surname:"Santos",slug:"wellington-santos",fullName:"Wellington Santos",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/125844/images/4878_n.jpg",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Federal University of Pernambuco",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Brazil"}}}]},onlineFirstChapters:{paginationCount:0,paginationItems:[]},publishedBooks:{paginationCount:0,paginationItems:[]},testimonialsList:[{id:"27",text:"The opportunity to work with a prestigious publisher allows for the possibility to collaborate with more research groups interested in animal nutrition, leading to the development of new feeding strategies and food valuation while being more sustainable with the environment, allowing more readers to learn about the subject.",author:{id:"175967",name:"Manuel",surname:"Gonzalez Ronquillo",institutionString:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/175967/images/system/175967.png",slug:"manuel-gonzalez-ronquillo",institution:{id:"6221",name:"Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México",country:{id:null,name:"Mexico"}}}},{id:"18",text:"It was great publishing with IntechOpen, the process was straightforward and I had support all along.",author:{id:"71579",name:"Berend",surname:"Olivier",institutionString:"Utrecht University",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/71579/images/system/71579.png",slug:"berend-olivier",institution:{id:"253",name:"Utrecht University",country:{id:null,name:"Netherlands"}}}},{id:"8",text:"I work with IntechOpen for a number of reasons: their professionalism, their mission in support of Open Access publishing, and the quality of their peer-reviewed publications, but also because they believe in equality.",author:{id:"202192",name:"Catrin",surname:"Rutland",institutionString:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/202192/images/system/202192.png",slug:"catrin-rutland",institution:{id:"134",name:"University of Nottingham",country:{id:null,name:"United Kingdom"}}}}]},submityourwork:{pteSeriesList:[],lsSeriesList:[],hsSeriesList:[],sshSeriesList:[],subseriesList:[],annualVolumeBook:{},thematicCollection:[],selectedSeries:null,selectedSubseries:null},seriesLanding:{item:null},libraryRecommendation:{success:null,errors:{},institutions:[]},route:{name:"chapter.detail",path:"/chapters/57040",hash:"",query:{},params:{id:"57040"},fullPath:"/chapters/57040",meta:{},from:{name:null,path:"/",hash:"",query:{},params:{},fullPath:"/",meta:{}}}},function(){var e;(e=document.currentScript||document.scripts[document.scripts.length-1]).parentNode.removeChild(e)}()