\\n\\n
Released this past November, the list is based on data collected from the Web of Science and highlights some of the world’s most influential scientific minds by naming the researchers whose publications over the previous decade have included a high number of Highly Cited Papers placing them among the top 1% most-cited.
\\n\\nWe wish to congratulate all of the researchers named and especially our authors on this amazing accomplishment! We are happy and proud to share in their success!
\\n"}]',published:!0,mainMedia:null},components:[{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:'IntechOpen is proud to announce that 179 of our authors have made the Clarivate™ Highly Cited Researchers List for 2020, ranking them among the top 1% most-cited.
\n\nThroughout the years, the list has named a total of 252 IntechOpen authors as Highly Cited. Of those researchers, 69 have been featured on the list multiple times.
\n\n\n\nReleased this past November, the list is based on data collected from the Web of Science and highlights some of the world’s most influential scientific minds by naming the researchers whose publications over the previous decade have included a high number of Highly Cited Papers placing them among the top 1% most-cited.
\n\nWe wish to congratulate all of the researchers named and especially our authors on this amazing accomplishment! We are happy and proud to share in their success!
\n'}],latestNews:[{slug:"stanford-university-identifies-top-2-scientists-over-1-000-are-intechopen-authors-and-editors-20210122",title:"Stanford University Identifies Top 2% Scientists, Over 1,000 are IntechOpen Authors and Editors"},{slug:"intechopen-authors-included-in-the-highly-cited-researchers-list-for-2020-20210121",title:"IntechOpen Authors Included in the Highly Cited Researchers List for 2020"},{slug:"intechopen-maintains-position-as-the-world-s-largest-oa-book-publisher-20201218",title:"IntechOpen Maintains Position as the World’s Largest OA Book Publisher"},{slug:"all-intechopen-books-available-on-perlego-20201215",title:"All IntechOpen Books Available on Perlego"},{slug:"oiv-awards-recognizes-intechopen-s-editors-20201127",title:"OIV Awards Recognizes IntechOpen's Editors"},{slug:"intechopen-joins-crossref-s-initiative-for-open-abstracts-i4oa-to-boost-the-discovery-of-research-20201005",title:"IntechOpen joins Crossref's Initiative for Open Abstracts (I4OA) to Boost the Discovery of Research"},{slug:"intechopen-hits-milestone-5-000-open-access-books-published-20200908",title:"IntechOpen hits milestone: 5,000 Open Access books published!"},{slug:"intechopen-books-hosted-on-the-mathworks-book-program-20200819",title:"IntechOpen Books Hosted on the MathWorks Book Program"}]},book:{item:{type:"book",id:"2243",leadTitle:null,fullTitle:"Electricity Infrastructures in the Global Marketplace",title:"Electricity Infrastructures in the Global Marketplace",subtitle:null,reviewType:"peer-reviewed",abstract:"This book discusses trends in the energy industries of emerging economies in all continents. It provides the forum for dissemination and exchange of scientific and engineering information on the theoretical generic and applied areas of scientific and engineering knowledge relating to electrical power infrastructure in the global marketplace. It is a timely reference to modern deregulated energy infrastructure: challenges of restructuring electricity markets in emerging economies.\nThe topics deal with nuclear and hydropower worldwide; biomass; energy potential of the oceans; geothermal energy; reliability; wind power; integrating renewable and dispersed electricity into the grid; electricity markets in Africa, Asia, China, Europe, India, Russia, and in South America. In addition the merits of GHG programs and markets on the electrical power industry, market mechanisms and supply adequacy in hydro-dominated countries in Latin America, energy issues under deregulated environments (including insurance issues) and the African Union and new partnerships for Africa's development is considered.",isbn:null,printIsbn:"978-953-307-155-8",pdfIsbn:"978-953-51-6012-0",doi:"10.5772/2631",price:169,priceEur:185,priceUsd:219,slug:"electricity-infrastructures-in-the-global-marketplace",numberOfPages:836,isOpenForSubmission:!1,isInWos:1,hash:"170a21d642f01200e7f991bede788972",bookSignature:"T. J. Hammons",publishedDate:"June 8th 2011",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/2243.jpg",numberOfDownloads:51453,numberOfWosCitations:4,numberOfCrossrefCitations:3,numberOfDimensionsCitations:15,hasAltmetrics:0,numberOfTotalCitations:22,isAvailableForWebshopOrdering:!0,dateEndFirstStepPublish:null,dateEndSecondStepPublish:null,dateEndThirdStepPublish:null,dateEndFourthStepPublish:null,dateEndFifthStepPublish:null,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:1,indexedIn:"1,2,3,4,5,6,7",editedByType:"Authored by",kuFlag:!1,editors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",middleName:null,surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/2422/images/1796_n.jpg",biography:"Thomas James Hammons (Fellow IEEE 1996) received the B.Sc. degree in Engineering (1st Class Honors), and the DIC, and Ph.D. degrees from Imperial College, London, UK He was Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1978-1979. He is the author/co-author of over 440 scientific articles and papers on electrical power engineering and is Editor of a book on Renewable Energy that was published by INTECH in December 2009. He has lectured extensively in North America, Africa, Asia, and both in Eastern and Western Europe. \nDr Hammons is Past Chair of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (UKRI) Section IEEE and Past Chair of International Practices for Energy Development and Power Generation of IEEE. He is also a Past Chair of the IEEE PES Task Force on harmonizing power-engineering standards worldwide and Past Permanent Secretary of the International Universities Power Engineering Conference. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a registered European Engineer in the Federation of National Engineering Associations in Europe.",institutionString:null,position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"20",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"2",institution:{name:"University of Glasgow",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"United Kingdom"}}}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,coeditorOne:null,coeditorTwo:null,coeditorThree:null,coeditorFour:null,coeditorFive:null,topics:[{id:"769",title:"Power Engineering",slug:"engineering-energy-engineering-power-engineering"}],chapters:[{id:"16022",title:"The Role of Nuclear in the Future Global Energy Scene",doi:"10.5772/37836",slug:"the-role-of-nuclear-in-the-future-global-energy-scene",totalDownloads:2572,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16022",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16022",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16023",title:"Harnessing Untapped Hydropower",doi:"10.5772/37838",slug:"harnessing-untapped-hydropower",totalDownloads:2578,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16023",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16023",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16024",title:"Harnessing Untapped Biomass Potential Worldwide",doi:"10.5772/37840",slug:"harnessing-untapped-biomass-potential-worldwide",totalDownloads:2170,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16024",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16024",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16025",title:"Energy Potential of the Oceans in Europe and North America: Tidal, Wave, Currents, OTEC and Offshore Wind",doi:"10.5772/37841",slug:"energy-potential-of-the-oceans-in-europe-and-north-america-tidal-wave-currents-otec-and-offshore-win",totalDownloads:4125,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:3,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16025",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16025",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16026",title:"Geothermal Power Generation: Global Perspectives, Technology, Direct Uses, Plants, Drilling and Sustainability Worldwide",doi:"10.5772/37842",slug:"geothermal-power-generation-global-perspectives-technology-direct-uses-plants-drilling-and-sustainab",totalDownloads:4413,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:3,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16026",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16026",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16027",title:"Reliability Modelling and Assessment of Power System Operation in the Competitive Electric Energy Market",doi:"10.5772/37843",slug:"reliability-modelling-and-assessment-of-power-system-operation-in-the-competitive-electric-energy-ma",totalDownloads:3427,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16027",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16027",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16028",title:"Europe: Status of Integrating Renewable Electricity Production into the Grid",doi:"10.5772/37845",slug:"europe-status-of-integrating-renewable-electricity-production-into-the-grid",totalDownloads:1724,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16028",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16028",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16029",title:"Europe: Impact of Dispersed and Renewable Generation on Power System Structure",doi:"10.5772/37846",slug:"europe-impact-of-dispersed-and-renewable-generation-on-power-system-structure",totalDownloads:2294,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16029",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16029",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16030",title:"Status of Power Markets and Power Exchanges in Asia and Australia",doi:"10.5772/37847",slug:"status-of-power-markets-and-power-exchanges-in-asia-and-australia",totalDownloads:3273,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:2,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16030",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16030",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16031",title:"Power Generation in Southern Africa: Energy Trading and the Southern African Power Pool",doi:"10.5772/37848",slug:"power-generation-in-southern-africa-energy-trading-and-the-southern-african-power-pool",totalDownloads:3863,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16031",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16031",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16032",title:"Electricity Infrastructure in Asian Region and Energy Security Problems",doi:"10.5772/37849",slug:"electricity-infrastructure-in-asian-region-and-energy-security-problems",totalDownloads:2160,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16032",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16032",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16033",title:"Integrated Natural Gas-Electricity Resource Adequacy Planning In Latin America",doi:"10.5772/37851",slug:"integrated-natural-gas-electricity-resource-adequacy-planning-in-latin-america",totalDownloads:1909,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16033",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16033",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16034",title:"Developments in Power Generation and Transmission Infrastructures in China",doi:"10.5772/37854",slug:"developments-in-power-generation-and-transmission-infrastructures-in-china",totalDownloads:1888,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16034",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16034",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16035",title:"Power Generation and Transmission Expansion Planning Procedures in Asia: Market Environment and Investment Problems",doi:"10.5772/37855",slug:"power-generation-and-transmission-expansion-planning-procedures-in-asia-market-environment-and-inves",totalDownloads:4877,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16035",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16035",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16036",title:"Impacts of GHG Programs and Markets on the Power Industry",doi:"10.5772/37859",slug:"impacts-of-ghg-programs-and-markets-on-the-power-industry",totalDownloads:1321,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16036",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16036",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16037",title:"Power Markets of Asian Countries in the International Markets Environment",doi:"10.5772/37860",slug:"power-markets-of-asian-countries-in-the-international-markets-environment",totalDownloads:2942,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16037",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16037",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16038",title:"Market Mechanisms and Supply Adequacy in the Power Sector in Latin America",doi:"10.5772/37862",slug:"market-mechanisms-and-supply-adequacy-in-the-power-sector-in-latin-america",totalDownloads:2449,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:1,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16038",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16038",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16039",title:"Energy Issues under Deregulated Environment",doi:"10.5772/37863",slug:"energy-issues-under-deregulated-environment",totalDownloads:1432,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16039",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16039",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null},{id:"16040",title:"Africa: The African Union and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)-The Power Footprint",doi:"10.5772/37864",slug:"africa-the-african-union-and-new-partnership-for-africa-s-development-nepad-the-power-footprint",totalDownloads:2048,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"T. J. Hammons",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/16040",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/16040",authors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],corrections:null}],productType:{id:"3",title:"Monograph",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Authored by"}},relatedBooks:[{type:"book",id:"3213",title:"Renewable Energy",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"38822c606b4c5ff67461c8b2ecf1e8bb",slug:"renewable-energy",bookSignature:"T J Hammons",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3213.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"2422",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",surname:"Hammons",slug:"thomas-hammons",fullName:"Thomas Hammons"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"1073",title:"Wireless Power Transfer",subtitle:"Principles and Engineering Explorations",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"539623d2f9a1dca563421e451940e4e1",slug:"wireless-power-transfer-principles-and-engineering-explorations",bookSignature:"Ki Young Kim",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/1073.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"12009",title:"Dr.",name:"Ki Young",surname:"Kim",slug:"ki-young-kim",fullName:"Ki Young Kim"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3177",title:"Wind Power",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"9a5f2db2003e1dfb3beb19541b2faf87",slug:"wind-power",bookSignature:"S M Muyeen",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3177.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"122699",title:"Prof.",name:"S. M.",surname:"Muyeen",slug:"s.-m.-muyeen",fullName:"S. M. Muyeen"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3589",title:"ICT - Energy - Concepts Towards Zero",subtitle:"Power Information and Communication Technology",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"52d111bb721e0d749c1cee6c8b6d8ab8",slug:"ict-energy-concepts-towards-zero-power-information-and-communication-technology",bookSignature:"Giorgos Fagas, Luca Gammaitoni, Douglas Paul and Gabriel Abadal Berini",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3589.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"168209",title:"Dr.",name:"Giorgos",surname:"Fagas",slug:"giorgos-fagas",fullName:"Giorgos Fagas"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3660",title:"Nuclear Power",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:null,slug:"nuclear-power",bookSignature:"Pavel Tsvetkov",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3660.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"10023",title:"Dr.",name:"Pavel",surname:"Tsvetkov",slug:"pavel-tsvetkov",fullName:"Pavel Tsvetkov"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3724",title:"Distributed Generation",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"9383c05ece5ed76feff7645f261830ba",slug:"distributed-generation",bookSignature:"D N Gaonkar",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3724.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"112984",title:"Dr.",name:"Dattatraya",surname:"Gaonkar",slug:"dattatraya-gaonkar",fullName:"Dattatraya Gaonkar"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"62",title:"Power Quality",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:null,slug:"power-quality",bookSignature:"Andreas Eberhard",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/62.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"18782",title:"Mr.",name:"Andreas",surname:"Eberhard",slug:"andreas-eberhard",fullName:"Andreas Eberhard"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"5413",title:"Thermoelectrics for Power Generation",subtitle:"A Look at Trends in the Technology",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"d81a819e53a5ff35501b9876d5f6b1ab",slug:"thermoelectrics-for-power-generation-a-look-at-trends-in-the-technology",bookSignature:"Sergey Skipidarov and Mikhail Nikitin",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/5413.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"16374",title:"Dr.",name:"Mikhail",surname:"Nikitin",slug:"mikhail-nikitin",fullName:"Mikhail Nikitin"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3076",title:"Advances in Wind Power",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"7fd7c5d70cbc111f7a84a512c2189d48",slug:"advances-in-wind-power",bookSignature:"Rupp Carriveau",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3076.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"22234",title:"Dr.",name:"Rupp",surname:"Carriveau",slug:"rupp-carriveau",fullName:"Rupp Carriveau"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"477",title:"Nuclear Power",subtitle:"Control, Reliability and Human Factors",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:null,slug:"nuclear-power-control-reliability-and-human-factors",bookSignature:"Pavel Tsvetkov",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/477.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"10023",title:"Dr.",name:"Pavel",surname:"Tsvetkov",slug:"pavel-tsvetkov",fullName:"Pavel Tsvetkov"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}],ofsBooks:[]},correction:{item:{id:"74392",slug:"corrigendum-to-sustainable-solid-waste-management-in-morocco-co-incineration-of-rdf-as-an-alternativ",title:"Corrigendum to: Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Morocco: Co-Incineration of RDF as an Alternative Fuel in Cement Kilns",doi:null,correctionPDFUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/74392.pdf",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/74392",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/74392",totalDownloads:null,totalCrossrefCites:null,bibtexUrl:"/chapter/bibtex/74392",risUrl:"/chapter/ris/74392",chapter:{id:"73967",slug:"sustainable-solid-waste-management-in-morocco-co-incineration-of-rdf-as-an-alternative-fuel-in-cemen",signatures:"Aziz Hasib, Abdellah Ouigmane, Otmane Boudouch, Reda Elkacmi, Mustapha Bouzaid and Mohamed Berkani",dateSubmitted:"June 25th 2020",dateReviewed:"September 8th 2020",datePrePublished:"November 7th 2020",datePublished:null,book:{id:"9873",title:"Solid Waste Management",subtitle:null,fullTitle:"Solid Waste Management",slug:null,publishedDate:null,bookSignature:"Prof. Hosam M. Saleh",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9873.jpg",licenceType:"CC BY 3.0",editedByType:null,editors:[{id:"144691",title:"Prof.",name:"Hosam",middleName:"M.",surname:"Saleh",slug:"hosam-saleh",fullName:"Hosam Saleh"}],productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},authors:null}},chapter:{id:"73967",slug:"sustainable-solid-waste-management-in-morocco-co-incineration-of-rdf-as-an-alternative-fuel-in-cemen",signatures:"Aziz Hasib, Abdellah Ouigmane, Otmane Boudouch, Reda Elkacmi, Mustapha Bouzaid and Mohamed Berkani",dateSubmitted:"June 25th 2020",dateReviewed:"September 8th 2020",datePrePublished:"November 7th 2020",datePublished:null,book:{id:"9873",title:"Solid Waste Management",subtitle:null,fullTitle:"Solid Waste Management",slug:null,publishedDate:null,bookSignature:"Prof. Hosam M. Saleh",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9873.jpg",licenceType:"CC BY 3.0",editedByType:null,editors:[{id:"144691",title:"Prof.",name:"Hosam",middleName:"M.",surname:"Saleh",slug:"hosam-saleh",fullName:"Hosam Saleh"}],productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},authors:null},book:{id:"9873",title:"Solid Waste Management",subtitle:null,fullTitle:"Solid Waste Management",slug:null,publishedDate:null,bookSignature:"Prof. Hosam M. Saleh",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9873.jpg",licenceType:"CC BY 3.0",editedByType:null,editors:[{id:"144691",title:"Prof.",name:"Hosam",middleName:"M.",surname:"Saleh",slug:"hosam-saleh",fullName:"Hosam Saleh"}],productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}},ofsBook:{item:{type:"book",id:"10699",leadTitle:null,title:"Foams",subtitle:null,reviewType:"peer-reviewed",abstract:"\r\n\tFoams had always been a paramount material form for industry and science thanks to their wide application range in several industrial, civil and chemical processes. Foams also have many desirable properties, like lightness, resilience, thermal and acoustic insulation, noise absorption, adjustable airflow resistivity and porosity, resistivity to the diffusion of energy flow like heat and so on. They are also stable materials that can absorb gases or liquids and can be used as filters, bio-scaffolds for tissue engineering. Their principal characteristic is to feature a high surface area capable of storing energy or convert it from one form to another. This property could be used to enhance the performance of foams in terms of life existence, robustness and reliability. For these reasons, this book aim is to offer to readers a broad state-of-the-art situation of the current applications of foams, including thermal and acoustic issues and focusing on their new functions, usages and future trends.
",isbn:"978-1-83969-585-8",printIsbn:"978-1-83969-584-1",pdfIsbn:"978-1-83969-586-5",doi:null,price:0,priceEur:0,priceUsd:0,slug:null,numberOfPages:0,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"9495e848f41431e0ffb3be12b4d80544",bookSignature:"Dr. Marco Caniato",publishedDate:null,coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10699.jpg",keywords:"Foaming, Vacuum, Molten Metal, Formability, Lightweight, Insulation, Vibration Reduction, Absorption, Resistance, Shock, Environmental Protection, Recycling",numberOfDownloads:null,numberOfWosCitations:0,numberOfCrossrefCitations:null,numberOfDimensionsCitations:null,numberOfTotalCitations:null,isAvailableForWebshopOrdering:!0,dateEndFirstStepPublish:"February 24th 2021",dateEndSecondStepPublish:"March 24th 2021",dateEndThirdStepPublish:"May 23rd 2021",dateEndFourthStepPublish:"August 11th 2021",dateEndFifthStepPublish:"October 10th 2021",remainingDaysToSecondStep:"23 days",secondStepPassed:!1,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:2,editedByType:null,kuFlag:!1,biosketch:'Dr. Marco Caniato is an internationally-oriented scientist with 10 years of experience in the Italian Universities of Trieste and of Ferrara. He is the inventor of 6 registered patents among which are "Acoustic panel for noise barriers and noise barrier provided with such a panel" and “Multilayer panel for building use".',coeditorOneBiosketch:null,coeditorTwoBiosketch:null,coeditorThreeBiosketch:null,coeditorFourBiosketch:null,coeditorFiveBiosketch:null,editors:[{id:"312499",title:"Dr.",name:"Marco",middleName:null,surname:"Caniato",slug:"marco-caniato",fullName:"Marco Caniato",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/312499/images/system/312499.jpg",biography:"Dr. Marco Caniato is an internationally-oriented scientist with 10 years of experience in well-known Italian universities. His research is focused on the effects of materials thermal and acoustic insulation and behavior. Specifically, his interests are addressed to their influence on human beings' comfort. Dr. Caniato published more than 80 papers, including conference proceedings, journal papers, and book chapters. He is also the inventor of 6 registered patents and often he is appointed organizer in several international congresses.",institutionString:"Free University of Bozen-Bolzano",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"0",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"0",institution:{name:"Free University of Bozen-Bolzano",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Italy"}}}],coeditorOne:null,coeditorTwo:null,coeditorThree:null,coeditorFour:null,coeditorFive:null,topics:[{id:"8",title:"Chemistry",slug:"chemistry"}],chapters:null,productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"},personalPublishingAssistant:{id:"347258",firstName:"Marica",lastName:"Novakovic",middleName:null,title:"Dr.",imageUrl:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",email:"marica@intechopen.com",biography:null}},relatedBooks:[{type:"book",id:"1591",title:"Infrared Spectroscopy",subtitle:"Materials Science, Engineering and Technology",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"99b4b7b71a8caeb693ed762b40b017f4",slug:"infrared-spectroscopy-materials-science-engineering-and-technology",bookSignature:"Theophile Theophanides",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/1591.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"37194",title:"Dr.",name:"Theophanides",surname:"Theophile",slug:"theophanides-theophile",fullName:"Theophanides Theophile"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3092",title:"Anopheles mosquitoes",subtitle:"New insights into malaria vectors",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"c9e622485316d5e296288bf24d2b0d64",slug:"anopheles-mosquitoes-new-insights-into-malaria-vectors",bookSignature:"Sylvie Manguin",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3092.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"50017",title:"Prof.",name:"Sylvie",surname:"Manguin",slug:"sylvie-manguin",fullName:"Sylvie Manguin"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3161",title:"Frontiers in Guided Wave Optics and Optoelectronics",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"deb44e9c99f82bbce1083abea743146c",slug:"frontiers-in-guided-wave-optics-and-optoelectronics",bookSignature:"Bishnu Pal",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3161.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"4782",title:"Prof.",name:"Bishnu",surname:"Pal",slug:"bishnu-pal",fullName:"Bishnu Pal"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"72",title:"Ionic Liquids",subtitle:"Theory, Properties, New Approaches",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"d94ffa3cfa10505e3b1d676d46fcd3f5",slug:"ionic-liquids-theory-properties-new-approaches",bookSignature:"Alexander Kokorin",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/72.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"19816",title:"Prof.",name:"Alexander",surname:"Kokorin",slug:"alexander-kokorin",fullName:"Alexander Kokorin"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"1373",title:"Ionic Liquids",subtitle:"Applications and Perspectives",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"5e9ae5ae9167cde4b344e499a792c41c",slug:"ionic-liquids-applications-and-perspectives",bookSignature:"Alexander Kokorin",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/1373.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"19816",title:"Prof.",name:"Alexander",surname:"Kokorin",slug:"alexander-kokorin",fullName:"Alexander Kokorin"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"57",title:"Physics and Applications of Graphene",subtitle:"Experiments",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"0e6622a71cf4f02f45bfdd5691e1189a",slug:"physics-and-applications-of-graphene-experiments",bookSignature:"Sergey Mikhailov",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/57.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"16042",title:"Dr.",name:"Sergey",surname:"Mikhailov",slug:"sergey-mikhailov",fullName:"Sergey Mikhailov"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"371",title:"Abiotic Stress in Plants",subtitle:"Mechanisms and Adaptations",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"588466f487e307619849d72389178a74",slug:"abiotic-stress-in-plants-mechanisms-and-adaptations",bookSignature:"Arun Shanker and B. Venkateswarlu",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/371.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"58592",title:"Dr.",name:"Arun",surname:"Shanker",slug:"arun-shanker",fullName:"Arun Shanker"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"878",title:"Phytochemicals",subtitle:"A Global Perspective of Their Role in Nutrition and Health",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"ec77671f63975ef2d16192897deb6835",slug:"phytochemicals-a-global-perspective-of-their-role-in-nutrition-and-health",bookSignature:"Venketeshwer Rao",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/878.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"82663",title:"Dr.",name:"Venketeshwer",surname:"Rao",slug:"venketeshwer-rao",fullName:"Venketeshwer Rao"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"4816",title:"Face Recognition",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"146063b5359146b7718ea86bad47c8eb",slug:"face_recognition",bookSignature:"Kresimir Delac and Mislav Grgic",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/4816.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"528",title:"Dr.",name:"Kresimir",surname:"Delac",slug:"kresimir-delac",fullName:"Kresimir Delac"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3621",title:"Silver Nanoparticles",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:null,slug:"silver-nanoparticles",bookSignature:"David Pozo Perez",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3621.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"6667",title:"Dr.",name:"David",surname:"Pozo",slug:"david-pozo",fullName:"David Pozo"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}]},chapter:{item:{type:"chapter",id:"73325",title:"Perspective Chapter: A Personal Overview of Casting Processes",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.93739",slug:"perspective-chapter-a-personal-overview-of-casting-processes",body:'I have written about casting processes extensively, some would say, over-extensively, but useful new concepts enshrining the new insights into this important subject are being only slowly realized and understood. Their awful importance to the reliability of engineering is yet to be fully adopted. It is useful therefore to offer a short summary in this appropriate volume. A personal reading list is appended.
Space unfortunately forbids any lengthy discussion of the influence of the melting processes on the quality of the resulting castings. However, of course, the quality of the metal prior to casting is of critical importance; a liquid metal, especially if a secondary metal (such as recycled metal, as is common in the aluminum industry) can be literally crammed with defects, so that despite the excellence of the casting process and the heat treatment process, the resulting casting predictably fails all mechanical property requirements and is scrapped. We shall have time to give only a brief mention of this important problem. Our subject is the casting process.
Castings have had a poor reputation as a result of their poor and variable properties. For many years this was thought to be somehow associated with the turbulence of the pouring process, but the details were not understood, and efforts to control turbulence, despite all claims to the contrary, were failures. No-one was aware of the degree of failure to control turbulence during mold filling because, of course, molds made or sand or steel were opaque: the awful internal damaging mechanisms were unseen and unsuspected.
The breakthrough in understanding came from X-ray video studies of mold filling. Although occasional demonstrations of this technique had been made a number of times over the years, it was only in the 1990s that intensive and systematic studies were carried out at Birmingham University, UK [1]. It was quickly realized that because the liquid metal practically always exhibited a surface oxide film, the mutual impingement of drops and splashes, or the folding of the liquid surface, occurred as oxide film to oxide film. The liquid metal, in general, never made contact with itself. Furthermore, the upper surface of the film in contact with the air was dry. Thus, the mutual impingement processes occurring during turbulence of the surface occurred as dry-film-to-dry-film (Figure 1). No bonding occurred between these two ceramic films which for many metals and alloys, including steels, consisted of alumina (Al2O3) and similar very stable high melting point oxides.
The impingement and folding processes to produce bifilms as cracks in the liquid metal.
The practical result of this impingement of two unbonded ceramic films, is the effective creation of a crack in the liquid. This defect is called a bifilm. The turbulent pouring of a liquid into a mold can fill a liquid with cracks. The properties of the subsequent casting are, of course, significantly impaired. This is the fundamental problem of all casting processes. It affects nearly all processes in a major way. It is an issue which cannot be ignored.
Throughout this chapter, it should be kept in mind that if oxides in metals are mentioned, it necessarily means double oxides, in other words, bifilms, which implies cracks. Careful consideration of the entrainment mechanism will convince the reader that the surface oxide cannot be entrained and submerged without it occurring as a doubled oxide to create a bifilm crack; all oxides indicate the presence of cracks in the metal. As will be discussed in detail, the bifilm cracks survive plastic working, and so enter the world of the metallurgist and engineer. Because nearly all our engineering metals are intrinsically ductile, all cracks observed in metals almost certainly originate from the turbulence of the casting process.
The presence of bifilms in most metals comes to the rescue of the reasons why metals fail by cracking. After extensively surveying the metallurgical and fracture literature it was a tremendous surprise to this author arrive at the realization that there was no metallurgical mechanism to explain fracture. The lattice mechanisms such as the dislocation pile-up leading to the initiation of a crack were widely believed but have over recent years seen to be in error. Thousands of pile-ups have been observed by electron microscopy and studied in detail by computer simulation, but a crack from a pile-up has never been reported. Other theories such as the condensation of vacancies has been known for many years to result not in cracks but in totally collapsed lattice features such as dislocation rings and stacking fault tetrahedra, depending on the stacking fault energy. In brief, the bonds between atoms are simply too strong. Atoms cannot be separated mechanically by any normal forces; pores and cracks cannot be opened up by atomic or lattice mechanisms [2].
The fact that fracture occurs in so many ways and often at modest stresses cannot be explained by conventional metallurgy. This amazing fact is, however, obvious when it is realized that bifilms are present in most metals, usually as a result of poor casting techniques. It follows that if bifilms could be eliminated from metals, there would be no residual mechanism for fracture. Failure by fracture could not occur. This was a sobering realization to this author which it is hoped the reader will be convinced by this short account. If the short account fails to convince, the references at the end of this chapter are recommended.
Before moving on to the discussion of the techniques of casting processes, in addition to the bifilm, a further serious entrainment defect must be described.
In the maelstrom of pouring processes, in addition to the entrainment of oxide films as bifilm cracks, bubbles of air can also be entrained. The bubbles are serious defects in themselves, but their buoyant flotation makes a bad situation worse. Their buoyancy force causes the oxide film at the crown of the bubble to tear, so that it moves to one side, but is immediately replaced by fresh oxide film (Figure 2). It can be seen therefore that the skin of the bubble effectively slides around the bubble, coming together underneath to form a kind of collapsed tube, which extends back to where the bubble was effectively tethered, the point where it first entered the liquid; probably some early location in the channels of the filling system. This bubble trail is a kind of long bifilm. It can be metres long. Thus, bubbles can create macroscopic crack-like defects out of all proportion to the original size of the bubble. Furthermore, it is common for hundreds or thousands of bubbles to make their way up through the metal, creating masses of tangled defects [1, 3].
Bubbles and bubble trails as collapsed oxide tubes.
The reader may by now be already appalled, realizing the reality of grossly poor metallurgical processing which still bedevils our casting world today. The fact is that as a result of these fundamental entrainment mechanisms, most casting processes are bad. Books are full of the descriptions of casting processes, but none state that nearly all of them usually are capable of delivering only badly defective products.
This short summary will attempt to redress this key issue, illustrating how engineering and the world copes at this time simply by accepting the mediocre properties of metals, often by building in substantial safety factors. For the future, impressive improvements in properties and reliability are forecast for fundamentally improved casting technology.
If liquid metal is allowed to fall under gravity, after a fall of about 10 mm the metal has accelerated to near 0.5 m/s. This is the critical velocity at which the liquid now has sufficient energy to jump or splash up to about 10 mm high, and so be in danger of entraining its own oxide skin during its fall back under gravity. Thus, fall heights and speeds less than these values are safe from the introduction of damage due to surface turbulence. Above these heights and speeds, entrainment of air and oxides becomes increasingly severe [1]. Therefore, when pouring an average sand casting, which might be 500 mm tall, the falling stream reaches speeds of over 3 m/s, far higher than is wanted, so that, in general, copious amounts of defects are entrained. The situation is worse still for the pouring of steel ingots where a fall of 3 or more meters creates speeds of near 8 m/s, generating conditions similar to emulsification with air and oxides.
The skill in the filling of shaped castings by gravity pouring is to limit air ingress into the filling system and limit the velocity at which the metal enters the mold cavity. Only in the last few years have these problems been solved for the first time [3].
The sand casting process (of which there are very many variants) and investment casting processes similarly require these new solutions for design of filling system if, as is usual, filling is by pouring under gravity. Interestingly, these processes both exhibit rather low properties compared to castings poured in metal molds. The improved properties of faster cooled metals are traditionally attributed to a refinement of the dendrite arm spacing (DAS). In steels and Mg alloys there is some truth in this as a result of their limited number of slip planes. However, for Al alloys, with its extremely ductile face centered cubic (FCC) structure, the benefit from DAS is negligible.
The benefit to the faster freezing of Al alloys is a bifilm mechanism. Bifilms arrive in the mold in a compact raveled state because of the dramatically vicious bulk turbulence (high Reynolds number) in the filling system, so that their crack-like morphology is initially suppressed to some extent. Metal molds solidify quickly and freeze in these favorably compact and convoluted defects. In comparison, slow solidification in sand and investment molds allows more time for the bifilms to unfurl. This opening-out process, in which the crumpled bifilms unfold and straighten, resembling the opening of a flower, in which the petals adopt the morphology of planar engineering cracks. The unfurling process generally takes several minutes, and is driven by a number of mechanisms, including gas in solution which precipitates into the ‘air-gap’ inside the double film, or because of dendrite pushing and other factors [1, 3]. When all the bifilms have straightened out to resemble engineering cracks, the metal properties are at an all-time low. The metal now contains a snow-storm of cracks.
Turning to steelmaking, the technology of casting includes some astonishingly retrograde techniques. In an electric arc furnace, the steel quality is probably quite good as a result of the length of time available for the flotation of oxides. However, the metal quality is ruined by the tilting of the furnace and the fall of metal by several meters into a ladle. The turbulent churning of the steel has to be seen to be believed. However, it takes several minutes for the ladle to be lifted from the pit and taken to the casting station, during which time its quality recovers somewhat because of the very different density of the oxides compared to the dense liquid metal. But this improvement is destroyed a second time by ingot casting. Although some of the damage during casting floats out, not all escapes. The ingot is permanently degraded.
The move to ladle metallurgy is a valuable modern step in steelmaking, but the final pour into the ingot mold is unchanged and undoes much of the good achieved in the ladle.
This problem is especially acute for the casting of special steels, in which the tonnage is often too low to consider the use of the rather superior continuous casting process. Special steels are therefore mainly cast as ingots. At the time of writing, this is a poor process, in which steels which may be required to be especially good for a special purpose are actually made especially badly.
All castings which are top poured under gravity, including many sand castings, nearly all investment castings, and nearly all ingots, suffer the maximum damage from entrainment of air and oxides (Figure 3). All top pouring is bad.
Illustrating top pouring; uphill teeming; and contact pouring of steels.
In an effort to upgrade the ingot casting process, a bottom gating (sometimes known as uphill teeming) is carried out (Figure 3). The reduced splashing by uphill teeming improves the surface finish of the ingot. However, unfortunately, the interior quality of the steel is little improved. The falling stream jetting from the base of the ladle enters the start of the filling system at conical intake (often known as the trumpet). The trumpet and following channels need to be oversized with respect to the falling jet to avoid back-filling and over-flowing. This geometry results in at least 50 per cent of the fluid entering the conical basin as air. In the filling system pipe-work, the 50/50 air/steel mix is substantially thrashed together at speeds of up to 10 m/s, ensuring that the bifilm mix will never properly de-segregate, and the bubble trails will further contribute to the copious residual inclusion population, each trail contributing an impressively long crack.
At the high temperatures of some steels, and because of the compositions of some oxides, the crack can evolve to reduce its surface energy. The double film coarsens by diffusion, finally forming sheets of granular solid particles of oxide. The final product is therefore sometimes oxide fragments attached to a void, or gas-filled cavity such as an argon bubble, the residue of the bifilm ‘air gap’. The argon bubble remains after the oxygen and nitrogen have been taken into solution in this energetic mixing, leaving the 1 per cent argon in the air as the insoluble residue.
The overall result is that the internal quality of the bottom gated ingot is hardly any better than the top poured ingot.
A dramatic improvement to gravity pouring is achieved by contact pouring (Figure 3). The author now insists on contact pouring for all his shaped castings of any metal. The foundries which use this technique find that their cast products are transformed, including cast steels, Ni alloys, Al alloys and bronzes.
Returning to the casting of bulk steels, the continuous casting process certainly delivers a superior product to those steels cast as ingots. This is partly because the ladle take time to be delivered to the top of the casting machine, and then only slowly releases its melt from the base of the ladle – the steel at the base of the ladle having the best quality as a result of the melt cleaning automatically by flotation, and the extended time which is available for flotation, which can easily be 10 times longer than the time required to cast an ingot.
The continuous casting process could probably be much improved by paying attention to important details. The use of tapered nozzles for ladles and launders (the tapering avoids air entrainment into the nozzle which is probably the reason that nozzles block by oxide accumulation [1, 2]). Any fall exceeding 10 mm has to be controlled, so as not to occur in air but submerged under metal or slag. There is a huge amount of research concentrating on the detrainment of inclusions from launders, when the research really needs to be spent on the prevention of entrainment of inclusions because the inclusions should never be in the launders in the first place. The fall of the metal into the initially empty mold is a massive retrograde step which has to be eliminated – the piling of scrap metal into the mold is a poor starting technique not helping at all. The initial fall creates masses of bifilms which then pollute the whole length of the cast strand because of the progressive dilution of the initially badly damaged metal [2]. These are all simple, negligible cost techniques for which there is no excuse for not implementing immediately.
All the difficulties of mold filling by pouring under gravity, at which metals are accelerated to unwanted high speeds, and so creating masses of unwanted defects, are avoided by not employing gravity.
If now, by some means, the metal can be pumped uphill into a mold, its velocity can be controlled at every point, and need never exceed the critical velocity 0.5 m/s at which entrainment becomes possible. Furthermore, air need never be entrained, so that bubble damage from bubble trails cannot occur. The contrast between conventional gravity pouring and counter-gravity filling is seen in Figure 4. In the counter-gravity process the surface oxide film is never entrained; as the metal rises, the surface film simply splits and moves to one side, but instantly reforms and splits, moving aside etc. The surface film becomes the skin of the casting. It is never entrained. In principle, the counter-gravity casting of metals promises perfection.
Conventional gravity casting and counter-gravity casting.
However, attempts to achieve this perfection are, unfortunately, often not conspicuously successful.
The most disappointing process which nominally adopts counter-gravity filling is the low pressure permanent mold process for the casting of automotive castings, particularly wheels. Most embodiments of this process currently employ a large melting furnace to tip metal into a ladle, in which it falls at least a meter. This damaged metal is then driven by forklift truck to a treatment station, then to the furnace of the casting unit, into which it is tipped again, falling another meter and suffering more damage. The consequence is a really poor quality of metal, full of bifilm cracks, giving poor strength and toughness. If this were not bad enough, there is worse to come! The furnace is pressurized to displace the metal up the riser tube and into the mold (Figure 5(i)). After solidification of the casting the release of the pressure causes the melt to fall down the riser tube, thereby displacing all the oxide sediment, which has taken its time to settle at the bottom of the furnace, back into suspension, just in time for the next casting to be made. In addition, the depressurizing action causes bubbles to expand from pressurized gas trapped in crevices in the refractory walls, and the creating of generous quantities of bubble trails. Sufficient bubble trails can sometimes be created to make the metal uncastable; the furnace becomes filled with a slurry of metal and oxide films resembling concrete. Crucible furnaces (Figure 5(ii)) appear to be somewhat more resistant to the worst excesses of this problem because of the finer pore sizes from use of isostatic consolidation during their manufacture.
Low-pressure casting in (i) a refractory lined pressurized furnace, compared to (ii) a pressurized crucible furnace.
A more recent development is the application of pressure to the mold, pressurizing the incoming metal, and therefore acting to keep bifilms closed, with a benefit to properties. Naturally, this pressure effectively acts to counter the pressure used to pressurize the metal up the rise tube, hence the name ‘Counter-Pressure Casting.’ However, if counter-gravity is employed to cast good quality metal, in which the bifilm population has been reduced or eliminated prior to casting, the counter-pressure becomes redundant. The counter-gravity counter-pressure process seems to this author to be a step too far. Liquid metals, like all liquids, is effectively incompressible, and cannot be improved by pressure.
When counter-gravity casting is carried out well, with cleaned metal free from dense populations of bifilms, and when transferred uphill, against gravity, carefully controlled by a pump, the resulting castings can be spectacularly excellent.
In his early days in the casting industry, when the author first set up the Cosworth counter-gravity process, the castings requiring aerospace quality were cast in the half of the foundry containing the counter-gravity system using an electromagnetic pump for the liquid aluminum alloy. The other half of the foundry was retained for less important gravity cast products. Eventually however, it was found that with counter-gravity it was difficult to make a bad casting, whereas with gravity casting it was difficult to make a good casting. After 6 months, the gravity area was closed, and all castings were made on the pump.
The production of castings by high pressure die casting (HPDC) are generally limited to the low melting point metals Al, Mg, Zn and Pb. Some brasses are cast by this technique but attempts to cast stainless steels seem to have been abandoned. This brief description will concentrate only on the casting of Al alloys.
Although the term ‘high pressure’ seems to offer reassurance of a well-consolidated pore-free product, as most readers will be aware, this can be far from the truth and should never be forgotten by potential users. In general, the HPDC process can never guarantee freedom from porosity and leakage. Nevertheless, the process has valuable features and capabilities which distinguish it widely from other casting methods.
The process is often described as high productivity. It is true it benefits enormously from its ability to cast thin sections which can freeze quickly. But in common with all metal mold casting processes, the metal mold cannot be opened until the casting has frozen, or nearly frozen. This waiting time for the casting to solidify is a major contribution to the production cycle. High production sand casting systems can be much faster for any thickness of casting section, because after pouring, the mold can be moved away, allowing the immediate pouring of a second mold, and so on. Both sand and die systems can benefit from multiple impressions, giving multiple castings per filling.
For most HPDC machines, metal is spooned from an open holding furnace, and poured into a shot sleeve, from where it is rammed into a steel die by a piston. The steel die is sunk into a massive steel bolster, which is kept closed during the shock of the filling process by hydraulic rams developing hundreds or thousands of tons of force. This brutal description is not too far from reality, although the injection stroke and filling pattern is now often optimized by computer simulation to reduce air entrainment, which has resulted in significant improvements to the reduction in porosity in castings.
The turbulence during the injection process, in which the metal velocity usually exceeds 50 to 100 m/s, is so great that defects are necessarily created but are accepted as a feature of the process. Interestingly, the high density of bifilms is not necessarily the disadvantage that might be imagined; the long oxide flow tubes (the oxide tubes which surrounded the jets of metal entering the mold cavity) and other bifilms are aligned along the flow direction, giving a fibrous microstructure whose properties somewhat resemble the directional features of wood. The rapidity of the filling process, being completed within milliseconds, probably also suppresses the degradation of the casting by bifilms, whose constituent films have so little time to grow and are necessarily extremely thin. Their limited thickness may permit some bonding between the two films as a result of atomic rearrangements during their transformation from pure alumina to spinel as Mg in the alloy diffuses into the bifilm. The high pressure, keeping the two sides of the bifilm closely in contact is a further aid to bonding and, in any case, provides strength by the bifilm being enabled to resist shear force, because of jogs and wrinkles, if not direct tensile force. Even so, the HPDC castings can never be relied on not to leak, and sometimes, not to fail unexpectedly. Their use for safety critical purposes should therefore only be accepted with very great caution. (In contrast, gravity sand and gravity die castings [permanent mold castings] are typically favored for safety critical components).
Traditionally, small HPDC machines provide high productivity for small thin-walled products. The accuracy and surface finish are good, often eliminating machining, making the process favored by engineers. Recently, extremely large HPDC machines have been built to produce castings of several square meters area with walls only a millimeter or two in thickness, creating large pieces of automobiles in one shot.
There are some genuine reasons why vacuum is needed for the melting and casting of certain alloys and certain products. Sometimes, a limit on the oxidation of reactive metals or alloying elements is required. At other times the vacuum is needed to ensure the filling of extremely narrow and tapering sections as in turbine blades.
Alternatively, vacuum casting is used, imagining that this will prevent the formation of defects during a top pour. This appears to be a widespread but dangerously incorrect assumption. The entrainment defects resulting in bifilm creation appear to be the same no matter what environment is used, whether this is air, inert gas or vacuum. The reason is that both the inert gas and the vacuum environments always contain sufficient oxygen and/or nitrogen to create oxide or nitride films on the surface of the pouring liquid, so that defects of identical size and geometry are formed if entrainment of the surface occurs – the only difference being the thickness of the resulting bifilms. Bifilms are generally so thin that they are not easily seen when cast in air, but are, of course, far more difficult to detect in vacuum castings. The vacuum casting has a lower oxygen content, and is assumed to be cleaner, which in a way it is. But the distribution and sizes of its population of cracks appears to be unchanged [2].
The formation of bifilms in vacuum casting is practically universal, because ingots and castings poured in a vacuum furnace are nearly always top poured. In huge industrial VIM installations, the fall can be many meters, creating much damage to the metal. For instance, all the metal used by the aerospace industry for remelting for the casting of turbine blades is damaged during VIM preparation of the Ni-base alloys; the metal is top poured, falling many meters, down long vertical steel tubes; the larger the diameter of the tubes the worse the damage to the alloy by splashing and entrainment.
In probably all the leading R&D institutions in the world, metals and alloys for research are melted and poured in laboratory VIM furnaces, the top pouring, with the metal falling by a meter or more, fundamentally undermining or complicating nearly all metallurgical R&D worldwide (Figure 6). It has greatly contributed to the lack of understanding of more complex failure forms of metals such as fatigue, stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement among others as a result of all researchers being unaware that their research materials were densely pre-cracked [2].
A simple laboratory vacuum induction furnace illustrating the awful top pouring, creating damaged products.
It is with great regret therefore that we have to conclude that the preparation of most metals and alloys by vacuum casting is a snare and delusion. It would be easily possible to make castings in air of far greater perfection by simply avoiding surface turbulence during the casting process. This is most effectively achieved by abandoning gravity pouring and adopting counter-gravity filling of the mold. The world needs to convert its casting operations to counter-gravity casting. The suffering of the casting world from the ubiquity of casting defects will then be of interest only for historians.
The secondary remelting processes for steels and Ni alloys are designed to deliver a premium quality of metal in the form of an ingot. Their starting material is a reasonably good metal in the form of a consumable electrode which is slowly and progressively remelted by arc, plasma, electron beam, or joule heating in a liquid slag layer etc. As the tip of the electrode melts, a new ingot is then slowly built up drop by drop within its protective environment of vacuum or slag. The ingot solidifies tolerably rapidly because of the use of a water-cooled mold.
At the time of writing, it requires to be noted, with regret, that none of the secondary remelting processes are totally reliable. All can have serious crack defects which can survive the subsequent forging or rolling, and the heat treatment, making these products unreliable in service. Some, as we shall see, can be seriously unreliable.
VAR is probably the most widely used of all the secondary remelting processes (Figure 7). The marketing of VAR benefits from its name: engineers are attracted to the concept of ‘vacuum’ suggesting cleanness.
VAR and ESR secondary remelting processes.
However, the VAR process is particularly susceptible to its slightly oxidizing vacuum conditions, growing an oxide skin on the horizontal ledges formed by the slow layer-by-layer advance of the solidifying liquid. This variety of advance occurs because of the strength of the oxide on the advancing meniscus as it rolls over the solidified or solidifying metal around the edge of the ingot. The vertical advance occurs by the horizontal flow of the liquid front, gradually spiraling upwards, advancing vertically by the 8 mm high steps corresponding to the height of the meniscus. This is the height which surface tension can support against the hydrostatic pressure due to this depth [1]. As the meniscus rolls over the oxide film on the freezing ingot, the meniscus lays down its own oxide film on top of the surface oxide film, creating a bifilm. It is a substantial crack, possibly extending up to 50 mm deep [2].
The presence of cracks around the circumference of VAR ingots is widely known. It is proven by the cracking of the ingots in forging (in contrast to ESR ingots which forge like butter). The manufacturers machine off around 5 mm depth of the outer surface as a token gesture to remove cracks. Because ingots forge better after the removal of the 5 mm it is certain that most cracks are removed. However, of course, it is unlikely, given the variability of conditions during arc melting, that all will have been removed.
The falling-in of the ‘crown’ of spatter and evaporated metal (Figure 7) into the forming ingot may introduce additional macroscopic bifilms. A further source of major bifilms is the electrode. The electrode is typically made by top pouring into an ingot mold, sometimes in air and sometimes in vacuum (the VIM/VAR process combination) but as we have seen, whether air or vacuum, the seriously deleterious defect distribution will be essentially the same. A bifilm taking up a substantial area of the cross section of the electrode may cause a large piece of the electrode to detach and fall into the melt. This unmelted fragment will be effectively surrounded by a bifilm (its own oxide surface collecting a covering of the oxide on the liquid as it plunged through the surface) together with its own internal oxide bifilms.
Nearly all producers of VAR material also produce ESR. The ESR process is probably the next most popular secondary remelting process. The tip of the electrode is heated by the passage of an electrical current through a slag layer (Figure 7). The thin film of melted metal, gathering over the base of the electrode, and finally detaching and falling through the slag droplets of metal, ensures that metal arriving in the melted pool contains only rather small bifilms. Any bifilm which happens to touch the slag will be sucked out of the liquid metal and into the liquid slag by capillary attraction: the solid oxide will be wetted by the slag, a mainly oxide liquid. It will then be dissolved in the slag and disappear. This sets a limit of around 1 mm for the maximum size of bifilm defect which could be present in an ESR ingot (contrasting interestingly with the potential for 50 mm defects in VAR). This ability of ESR to actively extract oxides and dissolve them is a fundamental and unique benefit of the ESR system. (In the early days of the process, no-one could understand how the ESR process improved the properties because no significant changes to the metallurgical structure could be seen!).
There remains a threat to the integrity of ESR material through no fault of the ESR process itself. The threat lies once again with the desire to provide only the cheapest electrode, and so, once again, electrodes are usually cast by top pouring. An electrode top-poured in air contains bifilm defects as surface-appearing laps which can be seen by the unaided eye from 100 m distance. It is no wonder therefore that, once again, large fragments can detach from the electrode during melting and can fall into the melt. These defects contain unmelted and unrefined material. The author has personally seen such a defect the size of his hand on the section of a 600 mm diameter ingot.
For the future, if completely reliable metal is required, the ESR process is the only currently available source, but requires the provision of an electrode cast by a reliable process. Such a process includes low-cost ingots cast by contact pouring (especially if enhanced by flush filters and spin traps), or perhaps an improved continuously cast material, or, ultimately, counter-gravity casting of some kind. The world would then have, for the first time ever, a totally reliable metal process free from macroscopic cracks, but containing only microscopic cracks of maximum size perhaps 1 mm.
The result of entrainment of bifilms during casting production results in huge losses in metals processing such as forging, rolling and extrusion. All these processes suffer from cracking of the processed metal, sometimes to the extent that the metal cannot be processed. Many steel ingots suffer from cracking during cooling. For this reason, fluted molds assist to disperse stresses across the faces of the ingot, although the technique is not especially successful for some steels. The break-outs of liquid steel from the cast strand during continuous-casting are almost certainly bifilm problems which is the reason this rather common disaster has remained unsolved. A number of Ni-alloy ingots are known for cracking at the first stroke of the forge, and rolled steels suffer edge cracking, longitudinal cracks, transverse cracks, internal cracks. Many metals suffer edge cracking during extrusion and rolling. Aluminum alloy semi-continuously cast slabs suffer cracks of all sorts, some measuring their length in meters across the slab face.
For those working in metal processing, valuable R&D has often been carried out to provide process ‘windows’ defining the limits of successful processing. Many such limits have been set by the onset of cracking. Processors would be delighted to see these limits eliminated. The processing of metals remains to be revolutionized.
If the metal is successful to survive processing, it then can suffer from its internal bifilm population during its service life. All its mechanical properties and failure modes are affected by its bifilms. Some of these aspects are discussed below.
Practically all of our engineering metals are intrinsically ductile. Basic dislocation theory predicts that if a stress is applied to a crack in most engineering metals, dislocations are emitted prior to the advance of the crack tip. The result is that the crack blunts, and crack propagation cannot occur.
(This behavior contrasts with the rather few intrinsically brittle metals, including W, Cr and Be, for which the imposition of a tensile stress causes the crack to propagate first, without the emission of dislocations. Fracture by cleavage is a variety of brittle failure but is only known for certain to exist in zinc).
In theory, therefore, tensile overload in the majority of our metals should result in plastic necking down to 100% reduction in area (RA) despite the metal possibly having high strength, resulting in high stress supported during the plastic failure.
Cast aluminum alloys fail this expectation lamentably, having typical elongations to failure in single figures, typically 3 ± 3%. Al alloys generally contain a dense populations of bifilm cracks because the alumina bifilms are slightly denser than the liquid, but contain some entrained air lending some buoyancy, causing bifilms to be close to neutral buoyancy, and thus remaining in suspension for hours or days. Conversely, steels typically reach 50% elongation because the rapid flotation of bifilms within minutes results in much cleaner metal. Other factors leading to some bonding across the central interfaces of bifilms in some steels further contribute to improvement [2].
In contrast to steels, the lack of a definitive yield point in Al alloys is probably due to the presence of bifilms, raising the stress around the bifilm because of the loss of load supporting area and the sharpness of the bifilm crack. Thus, plastic flow occurs early, spreading from scattered locations throughout the matrix of an Al alloy before the macroscopic yield point is reached. Similarly, the lack of a fatigue limit in Al alloys compared to steels can be similarly explained.
In the experience of the author, much of the area of many fatigue fracture surfaces is comprised of bifilms. The genuine fatigue areas characterized by ‘beach marks’ appear to be generally confined to a few regions which happen to be devoid of bifilms. The remainder of the surface is often described as quasi-cleavage failure, which is simply a polite admission of ignorance – no-one seems to know what quasi-cleavage is, except that it is definitely not cleavage. These regions appear to be bifilms, hiding in plain sight. The regions often outline grains because the bifilms tend to be trapped intergranularly between grains or are straightened by dendrite growth transversely across grains. When the advancing fracture reaches the limit of one bifilm and has to migrate out of its plane to continue its advance by opening the next bifilm, the plastic shearing process between bifilms outlines the grains.
A typical well-known example is the fatigue failure of the main bearings of wind turbines. These huge steel rings are forged from a single large ingot. The interior surface of the ring is naturally composed of the center of the ingot. Bifilms will have been segregated here by dendrite pushing. Because of the huge size of the ingot, the plastic deformation involved in forming this into a ring is modest; the bifilm cracks are merely pushed around a little but are by no means ‘welded’ closed. Large tangled masses of bifilms are therefore present on the inner surface of the bearing ring. These masses of pre-cracked regions are likely to be millimeters or even centimeters across. They experience the high (2000 MPa) rolling stresses, with the result that minute connections inside these regions, or linkages holding the masses to the matrix, will suffer even higher concentrations of stress, resulting in genuine fatigue failure of the tiny isolated connections holding the pre-fractured regions together. Ultimately, whole, macroscopic blocks of material break away among the rollers because of the minute, almost negligible amounts of fatigue, signaling the imminent death of the bearing.
There is excellent evidence for creep being significantly controlled by the presence of bifilms. In the comparison between polycrystal and single crystal turbine blades, it was traditionally explained that the overwhelming benefit to resistance to creep failure was the elimination of the transverse grain boundaries. It was assumed that the boundaries were weak. However, as much recent research has now demonstrated, grain boundaries are immensely strong. The traditional explanation is clearly unsatisfactory.
The realization that bifilms are present in the liquid alloy leads to a logical explanation. In the conventional polycrystalline casting grains nucleate and grow randomly throughout the cooling liquid. Bifilms in suspension therefore become trapped as grains collide, the bifilm effectively becoming coincident with the newly formed grain boundary. The boundary is therefore weak, effectively pre-cracked, and the polycrystalline casting is observed to have poor creep properties as a result of a high proportion of its boundaries harboring cracks.
In contrast, in the conditions for growth of the single crystal, the slow vertical advance of the freezing front will push bifilms ahead. Those that are not pushed may float. The result is a casting relatively free from bifilms, and displaying astonishingly good creep life.
Bifilms can act as invasive pathways for corrodents into the interior of metals. The outside surface of a metal may be tolerably resistant to corrosion, but at the location at which a bifilm emerges, breaking the surface, the ingress of rain or salt water is likely to form an etch pit. The localized corrosion around the bifilm may be enhanced by precipitates of second phases and intermetallics which favor the wetted exterior surface of the bifilm (its wetted exterior surface contrasts with its dry, unbonded inner interfaces). These different compounds with different electrochemical potentials attached to the exterior surface of the bifilm can provide vigorous corrosion couples.
Figure 8 shows a typical etch pit. Although the conventional explanation of the image would be that the etch pit has initiated the formation of cracks, the reverse is true. The cracks are bifilms, as can be identified from their morphology and precipitates. They have initiated the etch pit.
Etch pit in a steel turbine blade. Courtesy Metallurgical Associates Inc.
In the past decade there have been at least three, perhaps four or more, helicopter crashes, some extremely tragic, in which items of the drive train appear to have failed by fatigue initiated from an etch pit. Experts from around the world have been puzzled because an etch pit was far too small to have initiated the fatigue crack. In the case of one main rotor shaft, which appeared to have failed in this way, the shaft was designed with a safety factor of five. It is not conceivable that such a robust shaft could be threatened by an etch pit.
It is easily appreciated, that the etch pit is merely the witness to the presence of a bifilm crack. Furthermore, the bifilm could have been extensive, such as possibly extending over a major portion of the shaft. The shaft was formed, of course, from VAR steel, so that the probability of its being pre-cracked is virtually certain. The crack would have evaded detection because, being formed by oxidation in vacuum, its oxide films would have been extremely thin. Also, as a universal feature of castings, and heat-treated products, especially if quenched, the interior is in tension, but the exterior surfaces are in compression. The crack on the outside of the shaft would therefore have been tightly closed.
Attempts to find bifilms by nondestructive testing (NDT) has proven to be tragically unreliable. As always in such difficulties, the clear way forward is to use only those processes which do not generate bifilms and which are therefore intrinsically reliable.
This dangerous failure mode involves almost no loss of metal by corrosion but can generate deep cracks by a time-dependent advance, often under only low stress. A metal can be sensitized to SCC by heat treatments.
There seems to be good evidence that SCC is a bifilm phenomenon, whereby the corrodent is simply moving through the ‘air gaps’ of the bifilms, linking bifilms by corrosion, driven by the stress concentration at the bifilm linkages [2].
The action of certain heat treatments to enhance SCC susceptibility is here proposed to arise from the precipitation of second phases on the bifilm. The favored formation of precipitates on bifilms seems to be the result of the reduction in the strain energy of formation, because the volume change and shape change of the new arrival can be more easily accommodated by the ‘air gap’ of the bifilm. The movement of part of the new phase into the air gap is likely to assist the forcing open of the air gap, so that percolation of the corrodent is facilitated [2].
There are numerous theories which have attempted to explain HE, but the phenomenon cannot yet be claimed to be clearly understood. In practice, the ingress of hydrogen into a stressed steel can result in gradual loss of ductility, and final fracture. The process has been identified as the slow progress of a crack until the final fracture when there is insufficient area to support the load. Hydrogen enters the steel as a proton released from certain corrosion mechanisms. For research purposes, hydrogen is introduced by electrochemical processes. Significantly, researchers complain about the interference of blistering which upsets their experiments during the charging processes, and report they are at a loss to know how the blisters can nucleate [2].
Once again, the bifilm seems more than adequate to explain all these observed characteristics of HE. The blisters are the observation of bifilms, inflated by hydrogen, near to the surface of the metal. Clearly, bifilms in the interior of the metal will also be experiencing the pressurization of hydrogen gas. Bifilms will almost certainly aid the progress of the gas into the interior of the metal, greatly accelerating the apparent rate of diffusion. However, it is probably mainly those isolated bifilms whose internal pressurization is leading to internal stress build up which is countering the ability of the metal to withstand tension.
There has been much interest in the attempts to desensitize a metal to HE by providing sinks for hydrogen. The sinks have been generally thought to be dislocations, and stress fields around carbide precipitates. This author has proposed that bifilms are probably significantly more capacious sinks, and the action of carbides is to precipitate onto bifilms and to prize them open, enabling them to accommodate even more hydrogen. He suggests that in an increasing supply of hydrogen, the bifilm would act as a temporary reduction in the deleterious effect of hydrogen, but this benefit would only exist at low hydrogen levels. When the hydrogen pressure in the bifilms equalled and the exceeded the yield stress, the damaging effects of HE would resume unchanged [2].
The entrainment of the oxide film on the liquid metal during casting processes leads to widespread damage to metals. Pre-cracking by a poor casting technique is central to the loss of properties, and to numerous failure modes, including those during solidification, during cooling to room temperature, during metal processing, and during service conditions.
Casting processes involving top pouring are especially damaging.
Casting processes using gravity pouring can be designed to yield significant benefits in bifilm reduction and are recommended if counter-gravity cannot be provided [3].
Ultimately, counter-gravity casting is strongly recommended to be the new casting norm, capable of delivering defect-free cast products.
The current use of VAR steels in all critical applications (especially such applications as helicopter drive chains) appears to be dangerously unreliable.
The reliable secondary remelting process could be ESR if combined with a reliable electrode. The implementation of this process combination would be greatly valued by the engineering world.
Both primary and secondary casting processes can now be made to deliver economic metals which cannot fail; metals we can trust.
A 2015 research report stated that 90% of the global burden of disease lies in Low- and Mid- Income Countries [1]. A different report in the same year stated that over 24% of global disease burden lies in Africa, has access to only 3% health workers and less than 1% of the world’s financial resources [2, 3, 4]. Healthcare system in Africa has estimated medical personnel (physician) to patient ratio of 2.7:10,000 compared to 5.9 South East Asia, 12.7 Eastern Mediterranean, 15.5 Western Pacific, 21.5 Americas, and 32.1 European region [3]. Generally, Africa is heavily burdened by non-infectious diseases and health conditions (e.g., diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, pregnancy and childbirth related problems, musculoskeletal diseases, road accidents, etc.) and these are also the major causes of mortality and disability in the African population [3, 5, 6, 7]. Arthritis belongs to this category and is a major reason for adult disability in the continent. Rheumatoid arthritis was reported to have worldwide prevalence of 1%, while between 1990 and 2010 prevalence in Africa seem to have increased from 0.36 to 0.42% [8]. In a more recent review, the prevalence of Rheumatoid arthritis was recorded as follows: 0.40% in South Asia, 0.37% in Eastern Mediterranean, 0.62% in Europe, 1.25% in America and 0.42% in Western Pacific, no information was provided on the African burden of Rheumatoid arthritis [7]. However, a study reported a 0.13% prevalence of Rheumatoid Arthritis in urban Barika Algeria, North Africa in 2013 with an estimated 0.15% prevalence for the general population [9].
Major challenges to arthritis management in Africa include the fact that its’ economic/health import is downplayed in favor of communicable or infectious diseases. Consequently, research in this area is minimal with small sample population & clinic-based studies that are not representative of the true situation of arthritis disease (prevalence, treatment burden and resulting disability) in the African population. Also, little is known about causes and types of arthritis disease; and the psychosocial challenges patients face especially with regards to gender, ethnic or tribal dichotomies in the continent. However, these issues are beyond the scope of this chapter. This paper is focused on providing information about the state of psychological interventions in the management of arthritis pain in Africa and what can be done to improve the situation so as to offer more effective pain management protocols to arthritis patients. This review covers the use of psychological interventions in arthritis treatment in general drawing from clinical practices and studies conducted across gender and outside Africa.
Arthritis is widely recognized as a leading cause of pain and disability among the aged (adults 50 years and above) across the globe. Its burden is well noted in developed nations like the United States and measures are taken to care for sufferers. The case is different in African countries, starting with under-diagnosis due to little or no presentation of cases at orthodox hospitals, misconceptions about the disease, poverty, expensive (unaffordable) medical care, inadequate medical facility and distractions by heavy burden of infectious diseases in the health sectors, as such little attention is given to arthritis disease in these countries. South Africa with on 85 rheumatologists is reported to have the largest number of rheumatologists in Africa [3].
Arthritic disease has been described as a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects joints of the body [10]. It has painful, debilitating and detrimental [5, 11] effects on the health and well-being of those affected. While it is assumed to be more common among the elderly (65+ years), it afflicts people of all age brackets including children, male and female alike. Over a hundred type of arthritis have been recorded [11, 12] overtime and across the globe. Studies in Africa have noted the existence of seven types of arthritis- 1) Rheumatoid arthritis 2) Osteoarthritis (Mseleni Joint Disease) 3) Ankylosing Spondylitis 4) juvenile idiopathic arthritis 5) juvenile chronic arthritis 6) psoriatic arthritis 7) Gout 8) Osteoarthritis. Literature showed that most studies on arthritis were conducted with non-African populations. Majority of the studies conducted in African Nations were centered on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) a few on osteo arthritis. Some meta-analytic reviews were on the prevalence of various types of arthritis in Africa. Both genetic and environment have been reported to contribute to the onset or arthritic conditions (e.g. aging, obesity, injury). The arthritis conditions identified among Africans will be briefly discussed.
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA): RA is described as an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the lining of joints and connected tissues [8, 7] causing inflammation of small joints of the hand, wrist, knee and feet. It is a chronic condition that if left untreated leads to extensive erosion on cartilage causing deformity and disability [13]. Its symptoms include daily pain, morning stiffness, fatigue, swelling of joints, generalized weakness, loss of weight, and low-grade fever. This is the most studied arthritic condition in Africa [6]. Generally, RA is reported to have 1–2% prevalence in western world and 1% worldwide [14]. Another report showed an increasing incidence of RA across African Nations including Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa [6]. Report reveals a prevalence rate range of 0.1% to 2.5% in various urban and rural settings of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho and South Africa [10]. RA is most prevalent in South Africa with a prevalence ratio of 2:3 for men to women [8]. The report on Nigeria and Liberia with the next highest occurrences of RA showed greater incidence in men with a prevalence range of 3:1 for men to women. However, two studies that used the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1987 rheumatic arthritis criteria for diagnosis found no incidence of RA in Botswana and Nigeria.
Osteoarthritis (OA): Osteoarthritis occurs among older people of 65+ years. It is described as a
Degenerative joint disease that can affect any bodily joint but typically affects the hands, hips, kneel and spine. OA causes degradation of articular cartilage overtime resulting in bones rubbing up against one another leading to pain, joint swelling, tenderness and limited mobility ([12], p. 5-6).
It has also been affirmed that the degenerative nature of osteoarthritis affects cartilage and its surrounding tissues, remodels the subarticular bone, causes osteophyte formation, ligamentous laxity, weakening of particular muscles and at times synovial inflammation [13]. Mseleni Joint Disease is a type of osteoarthritis common among people in Northern Kwazulu Natal province of South Africa and locally known as unyonga, meaning a disease of the joints [15]. It affects large joints in mid childhood. Some symptoms include joint pain, morning stiffness and stiffness on resumption of activity, limited mobility, bone enlargement, joint instability and severe physical disability. OA disease progresses slowly, and knee OA is reported as the most prevalent compared to hand and hip OA. People who are above age 50, obese, inactive, who smoke and who have joint injury are at greater risk of developing OA. The incidence of OA increases with age and it is reported more in women than males aged over 50 years. Osteoarthritis is recorded as the most prevalent form of arthritis in Africa with a prevalence range of 55.1% to 82.7% in urban and rural South Africa respectively [10]. However, it is not as extensively studied as RA.
Juvenile Arthritis: This includes Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) and Juvenile Chronic Arthritis (JCA) among others that afflict children of 15 years and younger. Juvenile arthritis is a progressive inflammatory autoimmune disease that may affect multiple joints (e.g., knee, hand, elbow, ankle, wrists, etc.) in the body by the time the child becomes an adult resulting in restricted mobility [12]. The symptoms include swelling, joint pains and stiffness. JIA is reported as the most prevalent arthritis in this class [10]. Reported records of the prevalence of JIA among African children (10–15 years) are as follows: 0.003–0.33% prevalence in Egypt and 00.1% in Cameroun.
Psoriatic Arthritis: It is described as a chronic inflammatory join disease with negative test for rheumatoid factors and cutaneous psoriasis [16]. The symptoms include morning stiffness, joint pain, skin flaking, intermittent swelling, fatigue and itching. This type of arthritis has also been noted to be incident in Africa with a 4.4% prevalence rate in urban South Africa, 1% & 0.1% in Uganda and Cameroun respectively. In Africa records of its incidence is linked to HIV infection.
Gout: This particular type of arthritis is considered to have significant genetic underlining as it is found to run in families [12]. Its symptoms include acute joint pain, swelling in the knees, foot and big toe. It is more prevalent in males than females. The prevalence of gout is reported as 0.70% among white South African and 0.30% among HIV-infected population in Burkina Faso.
Ankylosing Spondylitis: It is a chronic, progressive arthritic condition that leads to severe disability. It occurs in early adulthood with symptoms like pain in the mid and lower back, heel, eyes, shoulder, ankle, and knee, reduced flexibility in the spine, sleep disorder, inflammatory bowel disease, and abnormal bone formation. Some occurrences of this type of arthritis are recorded in South Africa, Cameroun and Egypt [10, 17].
Pain often contributes to dramatic reduction in a patient’s quality of life. Like every other pain, arthritis pain is multidimensional [18]. It has physical, social, psychological and economic dimensions and how each person perceives these dimensions influences their treatment outcome. Despite the obvious, treatment of pain and arthritis pain in particular is usually and largely based on the biomedical procedures like medication, surgery and physical therapy. Traditionally, arthritis disease known as a musculoskeletal disorder is classified as a biological and physiological condition. As such, its epidemiology, pathogenesis as well as treatment efforts have been majorly focused on and drawn from the biomedical field. This has largely served to under-prioritize the potential contributions of other approaches especially psychological approaches to the treatment and care of arthritis patients. It has also indirectly suppressed the understanding of pain, in this context arthritic pain, as a psychological experience with cognitive, emotional and behavioral components.
Pain is described as an unpleasant experience signaled by behavioral expressions such as crying, screaming, withdrawal, change in posture, gait or facial expression [19] which limits, hinders or alters the bearer’s behavior. Pain was defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage [14]. The relationship between the incidence of pain and possible cell damage or existence of disease provides clear evidence or support for the biomedical understanding of pain. Nevertheless, this connection is not able to explain why two individuals with the same level of cell damage or disease activity would have varying degrees of pain. The biomedical perspective is considered as being weak due to its inability to explain the differentials in pain responses of patients with similar disease activity [20], neither is it able to address psychological factors in the experience of pain. Again, the biomedical drug treatment approach to the management of arthritis in Africa with recourse to non-pharmacological or surgical treatments may have increased the likelihood for self-medication among sufferers. This is most likely because of the problems of inaccessible, unavailable or expensive healthcare services in Africa (especially among rural women dwellers). A situation that may explain the seemingly low prevalence rates arthritis disease reported by studies originating from Africa. Therefore, the argument that pain sensation is not merely a biological process but mostly a psychological experience forms the basis for this call to fully adapt psychological techniques in the management of arthritis pain among Africans and all people in general. The importance of this call for the use of psychological techniques in the treatment of arthritis pain, relates to the bio-psychosocial model of [21] which postulated that no particular factor can account for health outcome. Rather, that health outcome depends on the synergistic and reciprocal interactions of various factors that relates to a patient’s disease experience. In this paper, it is argued that because the perception of pain depends on a lot of factors including but not limited to age, sex, wellbeing, cognition, belief, learning, emotional stability, culture, economic status, etc., The insistence or rigidity that sustains the biomedical model of pain management has to be revaluated in light of new knowledge and best practices across the globe. When adopted, psychological methods [21, 23, 24], would mostly enhance patients’ health outcome by:
Improving patients’ understanding of perceived illness
Improving patients’ adherence to treatment protocols and life style changes
Improving level of acceptance of the illness
Addressing ethno-cultural factors contributing to illness experience and illness sustenance
Addressing issues of interpersonal relationship, communication, and social support relating to patient care.
Addressing gendered issues that may be hindering positive health outcome or hinder access to health services.
Assessing and treating pre- or co-morbid psychological problems like drug misuse/abuse, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, etc.
Teaching patients effective selfcare and pain management protocols
There is a clear challenge of limited empirical studies on arthritis in Africa. A report [10] showed that between 1975 and 2014, about fifty studies relating to arthritis were published across Africa. However, none of those studies and none that was found in the course of writing this chapter were focused on African women or arthritis treatment. Instead, most were on prevalence and the remaining, either studied risk factors or are meta-analytic reviews of others. Meanwhile, information on women experience of arthritis pain and its treatment is lacking. Studies from other parts of the world including United States of America, United Kingdom and France point to the use of non-drug treatments in the management of arthritis pain. A meta-analytic study that assessed the efficacy of psychosocial interventions in the management of arthritic pain in the United States, reported that patients who received psychosocial interventions displayed significantly lower post-treatment anxiety, depression and psychological disability [24, 22]. Reported the use of non-pharmacological treatments as depending on disease progression, personality, environment and objectives of the patient [25]. Some identified non-pharmacological treatments include physiotherapy, balneotherapy, spa therapy, psychological interventions, therapeutic patient education, dietetics and acupuncture.
Attempts to explain pain and human experience of pain dates back to the time of Descartes in the 17th century, with pain described and understood as a sensory experience. Later theories like the pattern theory also derived from the biomedical models, till mid-20th century when Melzack and Wall in 1965 propounded the gate control theory of pain. Unlike the biomedical models before it, the gate control theory expanded the understanding of pain perception and experience to include psychological factors like stress, emotions, motivations, past experience, context and their impact on pain processing in the brain. This new understanding of pain opened doors for the use of psychological therapies in the control and management of pain. The understanding that not all kinds of pain can be explained by disease activity or tissue damage that are responded to by peripheral nerves gave room for a potentially better explanation of pain [26]. Consequently, the gate control theory proposed that higher neural mechanisms in the brain make meaning of a pain experience by incorporating other individualized factors including cognition, emotion, and motivation.
This theory contributed to a better understanding of pain so that it is scientifically understood and clinically practical that pain is dependent on a reciprocal relationship between ascending nociceptive input from peripheral nerves (pathophysiology) and feedback from higher brain activities (psychological factors) see Figure 1.
An illustration of how activities in the higher brain areas and inputs from nociceptive neurons influence gate opening or closing in the dorsal horn to elicit a pain experience. Pain is experienced when the combined activities results in the opening of the gate.
Psychological theories that form the bases for pain management psychotherapies include the behavioral, cognitive and humanistic models and modern models like the psychological flexibility model. Behavioral theories like operant conditioning of BF Skinner and classical conditioning of IvanPavlov explain behavior as an outcome of learning and as such a learned behavior can also be unlearned [27]. Therapies that generate from these theories like behavior modification techniques (e.g., token economy) cause behavioral change, either by decreasing unwanted behavior or increasing wanted behavior [28]. In the instance of chronic pain, these patients are taught new coping skills that would help them reduce or eliminate aversive or problematic pain behaviors. On the other hand, cognitive theories of psychology like Albert Ellis rational emotive behavior and Beck’s cognitive theory would address a patient’s thoughts, feelings and actions in relation to their pain experience [28]. These theories and therapies generating from them would explain problems like depression, pain catastrophizing, pain avoidance behaviors, feelings of helplessness, etc., that commonly accompany chronic pain conditions. The humanistic theories of psychology would explain pain experience in its social, economic, cultural, etc., contexts. How these factors could be contributing to the experience and sustenance of pain or how they can help alleviate the problem. Therapies developed from this theoretical background would focus on providing emotional support while encouraging social support and selfcare strategies with a goal of reducing the psychological distress experienced by the patient. Finally, the psychological flexibility model for chronic pain management is a recently developed understanding that is attracting the attention of researchers and practitioners in recent times. The model refers to “the capacity to persist or to change behaviour in a way that (a) includes conscious and open contact with thoughts and feelings, (b) appreciates what the situation affords and (c) is guided by one’s goals and values”. This model integrates both cognitive and environmental influences in describing and understanding behavior [29]. It focuses on such processes like acceptance, cognitive defusion, flexible present-focused attention, self-as-observer, values, and committed action; of these, acceptance has risen in popularity among psychotherapist and in treatment of chronic conditions.
Effective pain management protocols are therefore expected to also cover the psychological (cognition, emotional, behavioral) aspect of pain experience. Pain management especially management of chronic pain (like arthritis pain) that is based on biomedical approach is apparently deficient of the psychological intervention protocol and would most likely result in poor health outcome. This is true and supports or explains the extensive acceptance and inclusion of psychological interventions in comprehensive wholistic pain management approaches used in developed nations like France.
Across the globe but especially in Africa, the use of psychological interventions in the management of pain is quite minimal. Psychological interventions are mostly present in the management of cancer patients, hence, the development of Psycho-Oncology; but lacking in the management of other chronic conditions particularly arthritis. This is despite the established knowledge that arthritis disease onset, progression, severity and treatment outcome affects and can be affected by a person’s life style, psychological and social circumstances [22]. It has therefore become imperative to reawaken psychologists and other health care professionals in Africa to the need to provide better healthcare service to arthritis patients by incorporating psychological interventions that could improve treatment outcome, quality of life, and adjustment skill for the patient. This can be done by referring arthritis patients presenting in the hospitals and clinics to psychologists for pain management psychological therapies. Such referral can be made when chronic arthritis pain results in or is as a result of the following:
Depression
Disability
Low self-efficacy for pain control
Pain catastrophizing
Inadequate social support (informational, behavioral and emotional)
Stress
Insomnia (Sleep disorder)
Emotional distress
Anxiety [22]
Assessment of chronic pain condition for which psychological intervention is required should be characterized by the following;
Circumstances surrounding the pain; where and when it occurs
Duration; how long does the pain last at each episode – chronic, intermittent or remitting.
Severity of the pain from the beginning
Which joint(s) of the body does the pain sensation occur and how often in a day, week, or month.
What triggers the pain sensation and what makes it better or brings relief
Use visual analogue scale to rate severity of pain experience at initial clinical assessment. An example is using a scale of 0–10, with zero as no pain and ten as severe pain
Client’s beliefs and thoughts about the pain; is pain seen as unacceptable, a punishment or beyond their control. This relates to pain catastrophizing.
Client’s feelings about and perception of the pain and the circumstances surrounding it. This relates to pain locus of control
Client’s lifestyle and coping strategies being used to cope with the pain; also assess client’s activity level
Client’s belief about their ability to control the pain experience. This relates to pain self-efficacy
Social context and stress level of patient suffering arthritis pain
Addiction to drugs (including misuse or abuse of prescription drugs for pain management)
Anxiety disorder
Sleep disorder
Depression
There are also evidence-based pain assessment instruments developed to measure various pain related concern like coping and self-efficacy. Some commonly used ones are pain self-efficacy questionnaire, coping strategies questionnaire, brief COPE inventory, and chronic pain coping inventory. The scale a therapist chooses to use depends on their interest. Generally, the scales are developed to measure behavioral and or cognitive aspects of pain experience or pain coping. A therapist can select a scale if they want to have a more objective assessment of how well a patient uses a particular coping skill when experiencing pain. The following are some coping skills assessed with the scales; diverting attention, reinterpreting pain sensation, guarding, resting, asking for assistance, coping self-statement, ignoring pain, praying and hoping, relaxation, task persistence, exercise, increasing behavioral activities, catastrophizing, stretching and seeking social support [30].
2.5.3. Treatment Planning: This will involve clinical decision about required or further investigation to help decide the nature of pain as well as the treatment protocol of choice. Assessment of personality variables, lifestyle, thinking pattern and social network are also important. And the results of biomedical investigations like laboratory, radiological and physical examinations should also be considered. Though arthritis pain is the general concern, psychotherapy should be tailored to suit the personal needs and circumstances of each arthritis patient. Patients, therefore, work with therapists in a collaborative manner during assessment and treatment planning stages, to design the best interventions possible to achieve their treatment goals in the shortest time possible or help them function better with minimal pain and psychological distress.
Cognitive restructuring aimed at changing existing beliefs about pain and creating new ways to think about it and resolve it.
Relaxation techniques to help deal with anxiety induced by the painful condition
Stress management, this is important as painful conditions can be stressful or worsened by other stressors (e.g., work related stress)
Psychoeducation about possible psychological symptoms
Assertiveness skills to help with pain communication between patients, their caregivers and other support network
Hypnosis and Distraction techniques
Treatment approach can be either group or individual or both as the case may be. Therapy can be as short as 8 sessions; however, the length of psychotherapy depends on the severity of the problem. Common therapies applied to arthritis patients include:
Cognitive-behavioral therapy: This is used especially when client is presenting with comorbid depression and or anxiety disorder. Techniques used here would address the affect, cognition and behavior of a patient in relation to pain experience. Some applicable techniques are relaxation, cognitive restructuring, problem solving, in vivo desensitization, sleep hygiene, etc., [28].
Behavioral therapy: This is aimed at changing existing unhelpful pain behaviors, lifestyle, diet and to get the client to adopt new, more adaptive and pain relieving behaviors that will encourage continuous participation in work and recreational activities (habit reversal techniques). Some applicable techniques include assertions, exercise, deep muscle relaxation, token economy, etc.
Psychosocial counseling: The goal here is to help the patient clarify, calibrate, differentiate and understand their various concerns. It is common that the practical problems like pain, reduced physical activity and low income would have accompanying emotional distress. Therapies using this model would help patients separate the two and address the practical problems and the emotional distress sequentially. It is supposed that once the emotional distress is resolved client would be more capable to perform tasks that could help resolve the practical problems. Some applicable techniques are supportive counseling, problem solving, psychoeducation for adaptive coping skills, etc.
Other psychotherapies that could address issues like depression, catastrophizing, anxiety, fear of pain and other accompanying psychological problems can also be applied. However, psychological interventions for chronic pain management are best when applied as a multicomponent therapy that would address the various psychosocial dimensions of pain experience.
Treatment of arthritis is largely done using drugs and surgery, however, the use of other non-pharmacological and psychosocial approaches have been widely noted in other parts of the world aside Africa. There is no clear and reliable evidence of the reality of arthritis disease burden in Africa. Hence, the seemingly misleading conclusion that arthritis is less prevalent in African nations compared to the developed and industrialized nations of the world. Rather, poverty, inadequate healthcare facility, expensive healthcare service as well as reliance on traditional remedies might explain the seeming lack of hospital presentations or low diagnosis of arthritis in Africa. Psychological interventions have been proven to be beneficial in other nations. The chapter highlighted various psychological interventions and their positive impacts on the existing arthritis treatment protocols.
We pride ourselves on our belief that scientific progress is generated by collaboration, that the playing field for scientific research should be leveled globally, and that research conducted in a democratic environment, with the use of innovative technologies, should be made available to anyone.
\n\nWe look forward to hearing from individuals and organizations who are interested in new discoveries and sharing their research.
",metaTitle:"Contact us",metaDescription:null,metaKeywords:null,canonicalURL:"/page/contact-us",contentRaw:'[{"type":"htmlEditorComponent","content":"Headquarters
\\n\\n\\n\\n
London
\\n\\nIntechOpen Limited
\\n\\n5 Princes Gate Court,
\\n\\nLondon, SW7 2QJ, UK
\\n\\nPhone: +44 20 8089 5702
\\n\\n\\n\\n
Rijeka
\\n\\nIN TECH d.o.o.
\\n\\nJaneza Trdine 9
\\n\\n51000 Rijeka - Croatia
\\n\\nPhone: +385 (0) 51 686 165
\\n"},{"imagePath":"/media/thumbnail/780x430/3","type":"mediaComponent","mediaType":"image","mimeType":"image/jpeg","caption":"","originalUrl":"/media/thumbnail/600x600/3","alignment":"center"},{"type":"htmlEditorComponent","content":"General Inquires: info@intechopen.com
\\n\\nFunders: funders@intechopen.com
\\n\\n*INTECHOPEN LIMITED is a privately owned company registered in England and Wales, No. 11086078 Registered Office: 5 Princes Gate Court, London, SW7 2QJ, UK
\\n\\n\\n"}]'},components:[{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:"
Headquarters
\n\n\n\n
London
\n\nIntechOpen Limited
\n\n5 Princes Gate Court,
\n\nLondon, SW7 2QJ, UK
\n\nPhone: +44 20 8089 5702
\n\n\n\n
Rijeka
\n\nIN TECH d.o.o.
\n\nJaneza Trdine 9
\n\n51000 Rijeka - Croatia
\n\nPhone: +385 (0) 51 686 165
\n"},{imagePath:"/media/thumbnail/780x430/3",type:"mediaComponent",mediaType:"image",mimeType:"image/jpeg",caption:"",originalUrl:"/media/thumbnail/600x600/3",alignment:"center"},{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:'General Inquires: info@intechopen.com
\n\nFunders: funders@intechopen.com
\n\n*INTECHOPEN LIMITED is a privately owned company registered in England and Wales, No. 11086078 Registered Office: 5 Princes Gate Court, London, SW7 2QJ, UK
\n\n\n'}]},successStories:{items:[]},authorsAndEditors:{filterParams:{sort:"featured,name"},profiles:[{id:"6700",title:"Dr.",name:"Abbass A.",middleName:null,surname:"Hashim",slug:"abbass-a.-hashim",fullName:"Abbass A. Hashim",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/6700/images/1864_n.jpg",biography:"Currently I am carrying out research in several areas of interest, mainly covering work on chemical and bio-sensors, semiconductor thin film device fabrication and characterisation.\nAt the moment I have very strong interest in radiation environmental pollution and bacteriology treatment. The teams of researchers are working very hard to bring novel results in this field. I am also a member of the team in charge for the supervision of Ph.D. students in the fields of development of silicon based planar waveguide sensor devices, study of inelastic electron tunnelling in planar tunnelling nanostructures for sensing applications and development of organotellurium(IV) compounds for semiconductor applications. I am a specialist in data analysis techniques and nanosurface structure. I have served as the editor for many books, been a member of the editorial board in science journals, have published many papers and hold many patents.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Sheffield Hallam University",country:{name:"United Kingdom"}}},{id:"54525",title:"Prof.",name:"Abdul Latif",middleName:null,surname:"Ahmad",slug:"abdul-latif-ahmad",fullName:"Abdul Latif Ahmad",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"20567",title:"Prof.",name:"Ado",middleName:null,surname:"Jorio",slug:"ado-jorio",fullName:"Ado Jorio",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais",country:{name:"Brazil"}}},{id:"47940",title:"Dr.",name:"Alberto",middleName:null,surname:"Mantovani",slug:"alberto-mantovani",fullName:"Alberto Mantovani",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"12392",title:"Mr.",name:"Alex",middleName:null,surname:"Lazinica",slug:"alex-lazinica",fullName:"Alex Lazinica",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/12392/images/7282_n.png",biography:"Alex Lazinica is the founder and CEO of IntechOpen. After obtaining a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, he continued his PhD studies in Robotics at the Vienna University of Technology. Here he worked as a robotic researcher with the university's Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Group as well as a guest researcher at various European universities, including the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). During this time he published more than 20 scientific papers, gave presentations, served as a reviewer for major robotic journals and conferences and most importantly he co-founded and built the International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems- world's first Open Access journal in the field of robotics. Starting this journal was a pivotal point in his career, since it was a pathway to founding IntechOpen - Open Access publisher focused on addressing academic researchers needs. Alex is a personification of IntechOpen key values being trusted, open and entrepreneurial. Today his focus is on defining the growth and development strategy for the company.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"TU Wien",country:{name:"Austria"}}},{id:"19816",title:"Prof.",name:"Alexander",middleName:null,surname:"Kokorin",slug:"alexander-kokorin",fullName:"Alexander Kokorin",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/19816/images/1607_n.jpg",biography:"Alexander I. Kokorin: born: 1947, Moscow; DSc., PhD; Principal Research Fellow (Research Professor) of Department of Kinetics and Catalysis, N. Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.\r\nArea of research interests: physical chemistry of complex-organized molecular and nanosized systems, including polymer-metal complexes; the surface of doped oxide semiconductors. He is an expert in structural, absorptive, catalytic and photocatalytic properties, in structural organization and dynamic features of ionic liquids, in magnetic interactions between paramagnetic centers. The author or co-author of 3 books, over 200 articles and reviews in scientific journals and books. He is an actual member of the International EPR/ESR Society, European Society on Quantum Solar Energy Conversion, Moscow House of Scientists, of the Board of Moscow Physical Society.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics",country:{name:"Russia"}}},{id:"62389",title:"PhD.",name:"Ali Demir",middleName:null,surname:"Sezer",slug:"ali-demir-sezer",fullName:"Ali Demir Sezer",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/62389/images/3413_n.jpg",biography:"Dr. Ali Demir Sezer has a Ph.D. from Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Marmara (Turkey). He is the member of many Pharmaceutical Associations and acts as a reviewer of scientific journals and European projects under different research areas such as: drug delivery systems, nanotechnology and pharmaceutical biotechnology. Dr. Sezer is the author of many scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and poster communications. Focus of his research activity is drug delivery, physico-chemical characterization and biological evaluation of biopolymers micro and nanoparticles as modified drug delivery system, and colloidal drug carriers (liposomes, nanoparticles etc.).",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Marmara University",country:{name:"Turkey"}}},{id:"61051",title:"Prof.",name:"Andrea",middleName:null,surname:"Natale",slug:"andrea-natale",fullName:"Andrea Natale",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"100762",title:"Prof.",name:"Andrea",middleName:null,surname:"Natale",slug:"andrea-natale",fullName:"Andrea Natale",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"St David's Medical Center",country:{name:"United States of America"}}},{id:"107416",title:"Dr.",name:"Andrea",middleName:null,surname:"Natale",slug:"andrea-natale",fullName:"Andrea Natale",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia",country:{name:"United States of America"}}},{id:"64434",title:"Dr.",name:"Angkoon",middleName:null,surname:"Phinyomark",slug:"angkoon-phinyomark",fullName:"Angkoon Phinyomark",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/64434/images/2619_n.jpg",biography:"My name is Angkoon Phinyomark. I received a B.Eng. degree in Computer Engineering with First Class Honors in 2008 from Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, Thailand, where I received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering. My research interests are primarily in the area of biomedical signal processing and classification notably EMG (electromyography signal), EOG (electrooculography signal), and EEG (electroencephalography signal), image analysis notably breast cancer analysis and optical coherence tomography, and rehabilitation engineering. I became a student member of IEEE in 2008. During October 2011-March 2012, I had worked at School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom. In addition, during a B.Eng. I had been a visiting research student at Faculty of Computer Science, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain for three months.\n\nI have published over 40 papers during 5 years in refereed journals, books, and conference proceedings in the areas of electro-physiological signals processing and classification, notably EMG and EOG signals, fractal analysis, wavelet analysis, texture analysis, feature extraction and machine learning algorithms, and assistive and rehabilitative devices. I have several computer programming language certificates, i.e. Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform 1.4 (SCJP), Microsoft Certified Professional Developer, Web Developer (MCPD), Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, .NET Framework 2.0 Web (MCTS). I am a Reviewer for several refereed journals and international conferences, such as IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Optic Letters, Measurement Science Review, and also a member of the International Advisory Committee for 2012 IEEE Business Engineering and Industrial Applications and 2012 IEEE Symposium on Business, Engineering and Industrial Applications.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Joseph Fourier University",country:{name:"France"}}},{id:"55578",title:"Dr.",name:"Antonio",middleName:null,surname:"Jurado-Navas",slug:"antonio-jurado-navas",fullName:"Antonio Jurado-Navas",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/55578/images/4574_n.png",biography:"Antonio Jurado-Navas received the M.S. degree (2002) and the Ph.D. degree (2009) in Telecommunication Engineering, both from the University of Málaga (Spain). He first worked as a consultant at Vodafone-Spain. From 2004 to 2011, he was a Research Assistant with the Communications Engineering Department at the University of Málaga. In 2011, he became an Assistant Professor in the same department. From 2012 to 2015, he was with Ericsson Spain, where he was working on geo-location\ntools for third generation mobile networks. Since 2015, he is a Marie-Curie fellow at the Denmark Technical University. His current research interests include the areas of mobile communication systems and channel modeling in addition to atmospheric optical communications, adaptive optics and statistics",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Malaga",country:{name:"Spain"}}}],filtersByRegion:[{group:"region",caption:"North America",value:1,count:5766},{group:"region",caption:"Middle and South America",value:2,count:5227},{group:"region",caption:"Africa",value:3,count:1717},{group:"region",caption:"Asia",value:4,count:10367},{group:"region",caption:"Australia and Oceania",value:5,count:897},{group:"region",caption:"Europe",value:6,count:15789}],offset:12,limit:12,total:118188},chapterEmbeded:{data:{}},editorApplication:{success:null,errors:{}},ofsBooks:{filterParams:{sort:"dateEndThirdStepPublish"},books:[{type:"book",id:"10231",title:"Proton Therapy",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"f4a9009287953c8d1d89f0fa9b7597b0",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10231.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10652",title:"Visual Object Tracking",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"96f3ee634a7ba49fa195e50475412af4",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10652.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10653",title:"Optimization Algorithms",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"753812dbb9a6f6b57645431063114f6c",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10653.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10655",title:"Motion Planning",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"809b5e290cf2dade9e7e0a5ae0ef3df0",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10655.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10657",title:"Service Robots",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"5f81b9eea6eb3f9af984031b7af35588",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10657.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10662",title:"Pedagogy",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"c858e1c6fb878d3b895acbacec624576",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10662.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10673",title:"The Psychology of Trust",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"1f6cac41fd145f718ac0866264499cc8",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10673.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10675",title:"Hydrostatics",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"c86c2fa9f835d4ad5e7efd8b01921866",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10675.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10677",title:"Topology",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"85eac84b173d785f989522397616124e",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10677.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10678",title:"Biostatistics",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"f63db439474a574454a66894db8b394c",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10678.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10679",title:"Mass Production",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"2dae91102099b1a07be1a36a68852829",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10679.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10684",title:"Biorefineries",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"23962c6b77348bcbf247c673d34562f6",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10684.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}],filtersByTopic:[{group:"topic",caption:"Agricultural and Biological Sciences",value:5,count:14},{group:"topic",caption:"Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology",value:6,count:3},{group:"topic",caption:"Business, Management and Economics",value:7,count:1},{group:"topic",caption:"Chemistry",value:8,count:7},{group:"topic",caption:"Computer and Information Science",value:9,count:6},{group:"topic",caption:"Earth and Planetary Sciences",value:10,count:7},{group:"topic",caption:"Engineering",value:11,count:15},{group:"topic",caption:"Environmental Sciences",value:12,count:2},{group:"topic",caption:"Immunology and Microbiology",value:13,count:3},{group:"topic",caption:"Materials Science",value:14,count:5},{group:"topic",caption:"Mathematics",value:15,count:1},{group:"topic",caption:"Medicine",value:16,count:24},{group:"topic",caption:"Neuroscience",value:18,count:1},{group:"topic",caption:"Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science",value:19,count:2},{group:"topic",caption:"Physics",value:20,count:2},{group:"topic",caption:"Psychology",value:21,count:4},{group:"topic",caption:"Social Sciences",value:23,count:2},{group:"topic",caption:"Technology",value:24,count:1},{group:"topic",caption:"Veterinary Medicine and Science",value:25,count:1}],offset:12,limit:12,total:187},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:"10065",title:"Wavelet Theory",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"d8868e332169597ba2182d9b004d60de",slug:"wavelet-theory",bookSignature:"Somayeh Mohammady",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10065.jpg",editors:[{id:"109280",title:"Dr.",name:"Somayeh",middleName:null,surname:"Mohammady",slug:"somayeh-mohammady",fullName:"Somayeh Mohammady"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9644",title:"Glaciers and the Polar Environment",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"e8cfdc161794e3753ced54e6ff30873b",slug:"glaciers-and-the-polar-environment",bookSignature:"Masaki Kanao, Danilo Godone and Niccolò Dematteis",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9644.jpg",editors:[{id:"51959",title:"Dr.",name:"Masaki",middleName:null,surname:"Kanao",slug:"masaki-kanao",fullName:"Masaki Kanao"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9385",title:"Renewable Energy",subtitle:"Technologies and Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"a6b446d19166f17f313008e6c056f3d8",slug:"renewable-energy-technologies-and-applications",bookSignature:"Tolga Taner, Archana Tiwari and Taha Selim Ustun",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9385.jpg",editors:[{id:"197240",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"Tolga",middleName:null,surname:"Taner",slug:"tolga-taner",fullName:"Tolga Taner"}],equalEditorOne:{id:"186791",title:"Dr.",name:"Archana",middleName:null,surname:"Tiwari",slug:"archana-tiwari",fullName:"Archana Tiwari",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/186791/images/system/186791.jpg",biography:"Dr. Archana Tiwari is Associate Professor at Amity University, India. Her research interests include renewable sources of energy from microalgae and further utilizing the residual biomass for the generation of value-added products, bioremediation through microalgae and microbial consortium, antioxidative enzymes and stress, and nutraceuticals from microalgae. She has been working on algal biotechnology for the last two decades. She has published her research in many international journals and has authored many books and chapters with renowned publishing houses. She has also delivered talks as an invited speaker at many national and international conferences. Dr. Tiwari is the recipient of several awards including Researcher of the Year and Distinguished Scientist.",institutionString:"Amity University",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"3",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"1",institution:{name:"Amity University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"India"}}},equalEditorTwo:{id:"197609",title:"Prof.",name:"Taha Selim",middleName:null,surname:"Ustun",slug:"taha-selim-ustun",fullName:"Taha Selim Ustun",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/197609/images/system/197609.jpeg",biography:"Dr. Taha Selim Ustun received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia. He is a researcher with the Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute, AIST (FREA), where he leads the Smart Grid Cybersecurity Laboratory. Prior to that, he was a faculty member with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. His current research interests include power systems protection, communication in power networks, distributed generation, microgrids, electric vehicle integration, and cybersecurity in smart grids. He serves on the editorial boards of IEEE Access, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, Energies, Electronics, Electricity, World Electric Vehicle and Information journals. Dr. Ustun is a member of the IEEE 2004 and 2800, IEC Renewable Energy Management WG 8, and IEC TC 57 WG17. He has been invited to run specialist courses in Africa, India, and China. He has delivered talks for the Qatar Foundation, the World Energy Council, the Waterloo Global Science Initiative, and the European Union Energy Initiative (EUEI). His research has attracted funding from prestigious programs in Japan, Australia, the European Union, and North America.",institutionString:"Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute, AIST (FREA)",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"1",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"0",institution:{name:"National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Japan"}}},equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"8985",title:"Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"5c2e219a6c021a40b5a20c041dea88c4",slug:"natural-resources-management-and-biological-sciences",bookSignature:"Edward R. Rhodes and Humood Naser",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8985.jpg",editors:[{id:"280886",title:"Prof.",name:"Edward R",middleName:null,surname:"Rhodes",slug:"edward-r-rhodes",fullName:"Edward R Rhodes"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9671",title:"Macrophages",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"03b00fdc5f24b71d1ecdfd75076bfde6",slug:"macrophages",bookSignature:"Hridayesh Prakash",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9671.jpg",editors:[{id:"287184",title:"Dr.",name:"Hridayesh",middleName:null,surname:"Prakash",slug:"hridayesh-prakash",fullName:"Hridayesh Prakash"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9313",title:"Clay Science and Technology",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"6fa7e70396ff10620e032bb6cfa6fb72",slug:"clay-science-and-technology",bookSignature:"Gustavo Morari Do Nascimento",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9313.jpg",editors:[{id:"7153",title:"Prof.",name:"Gustavo",middleName:null,surname:"Morari Do Nascimento",slug:"gustavo-morari-do-nascimento",fullName:"Gustavo Morari Do Nascimento"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9888",title:"Nuclear Power Plants",subtitle:"The Processes from the Cradle to the Grave",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"c2c8773e586f62155ab8221ebb72a849",slug:"nuclear-power-plants-the-processes-from-the-cradle-to-the-grave",bookSignature:"Nasser Awwad",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9888.jpg",editors:[{id:"145209",title:"Prof.",name:"Nasser",middleName:"S",surname:"Awwad",slug:"nasser-awwad",fullName:"Nasser Awwad"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9027",title:"Human Blood Group Systems and Haemoglobinopathies",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"d00d8e40b11cfb2547d1122866531c7e",slug:"human-blood-group-systems-and-haemoglobinopathies",bookSignature:"Osaro Erhabor and Anjana Munshi",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9027.jpg",editors:[{id:"35140",title:null,name:"Osaro",middleName:null,surname:"Erhabor",slug:"osaro-erhabor",fullName:"Osaro Erhabor"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10432",title:"Casting Processes and Modelling of Metallic Materials",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"2c5c9df938666bf5d1797727db203a6d",slug:"casting-processes-and-modelling-of-metallic-materials",bookSignature:"Zakaria Abdallah and Nada Aldoumani",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10432.jpg",editors:[{id:"201670",title:"Dr.",name:"Zak",middleName:null,surname:"Abdallah",slug:"zak-abdallah",fullName:"Zak Abdallah"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"7841",title:"New Insights Into Metabolic Syndrome",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"ef5accfac9772b9e2c9eff884f085510",slug:"new-insights-into-metabolic-syndrome",bookSignature:"Akikazu Takada",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7841.jpg",editors:[{id:"248459",title:"Dr.",name:"Akikazu",middleName:null,surname:"Takada",slug:"akikazu-takada",fullName:"Akikazu Takada"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}}],latestBooks:[{type:"book",id:"9550",title:"Entrepreneurship",subtitle:"Contemporary Issues",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"9b4ac1ee5b743abf6f88495452b1e5e7",slug:"entrepreneurship-contemporary-issues",bookSignature:"Mladen Turuk",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9550.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"319755",title:"Prof.",name:"Mladen",middleName:null,surname:"Turuk",slug:"mladen-turuk",fullName:"Mladen Turuk"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10065",title:"Wavelet Theory",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"d8868e332169597ba2182d9b004d60de",slug:"wavelet-theory",bookSignature:"Somayeh Mohammady",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10065.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"109280",title:"Dr.",name:"Somayeh",middleName:null,surname:"Mohammady",slug:"somayeh-mohammady",fullName:"Somayeh Mohammady"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9313",title:"Clay Science and Technology",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"6fa7e70396ff10620e032bb6cfa6fb72",slug:"clay-science-and-technology",bookSignature:"Gustavo Morari Do Nascimento",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9313.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"7153",title:"Prof.",name:"Gustavo",middleName:null,surname:"Morari Do Nascimento",slug:"gustavo-morari-do-nascimento",fullName:"Gustavo Morari Do Nascimento"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9888",title:"Nuclear Power Plants",subtitle:"The Processes from the Cradle to the Grave",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"c2c8773e586f62155ab8221ebb72a849",slug:"nuclear-power-plants-the-processes-from-the-cradle-to-the-grave",bookSignature:"Nasser Awwad",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9888.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"145209",title:"Prof.",name:"Nasser",middleName:"S",surname:"Awwad",slug:"nasser-awwad",fullName:"Nasser Awwad"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"8098",title:"Resources of Water",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"d251652996624d932ef7b8ed62cf7cfc",slug:"resources-of-water",bookSignature:"Prathna Thanjavur Chandrasekaran, Muhammad Salik Javaid, Aftab Sadiq",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8098.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"167917",title:"Dr.",name:"Prathna",middleName:null,surname:"Thanjavur Chandrasekaran",slug:"prathna-thanjavur-chandrasekaran",fullName:"Prathna Thanjavur Chandrasekaran"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9644",title:"Glaciers and the Polar Environment",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"e8cfdc161794e3753ced54e6ff30873b",slug:"glaciers-and-the-polar-environment",bookSignature:"Masaki Kanao, Danilo Godone and Niccolò Dematteis",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9644.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"51959",title:"Dr.",name:"Masaki",middleName:null,surname:"Kanao",slug:"masaki-kanao",fullName:"Masaki Kanao"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10432",title:"Casting Processes and Modelling of Metallic Materials",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"2c5c9df938666bf5d1797727db203a6d",slug:"casting-processes-and-modelling-of-metallic-materials",bookSignature:"Zakaria Abdallah and Nada Aldoumani",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10432.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"201670",title:"Dr.",name:"Zak",middleName:null,surname:"Abdallah",slug:"zak-abdallah",fullName:"Zak Abdallah"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9671",title:"Macrophages",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"03b00fdc5f24b71d1ecdfd75076bfde6",slug:"macrophages",bookSignature:"Hridayesh Prakash",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9671.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"287184",title:"Dr.",name:"Hridayesh",middleName:null,surname:"Prakash",slug:"hridayesh-prakash",fullName:"Hridayesh Prakash"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"8415",title:"Extremophilic Microbes and Metabolites",subtitle:"Diversity, Bioprospecting and Biotechnological Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"93e0321bc93b89ff73730157738f8f97",slug:"extremophilic-microbes-and-metabolites-diversity-bioprospecting-and-biotechnological-applications",bookSignature:"Afef Najjari, Ameur Cherif, Haïtham Sghaier and Hadda Imene Ouzari",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8415.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"196823",title:"Dr.",name:"Afef",middleName:null,surname:"Najjari",slug:"afef-najjari",fullName:"Afef Najjari"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9731",title:"Oxidoreductase",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"852e6f862c85fc3adecdbaf822e64e6e",slug:"oxidoreductase",bookSignature:"Mahmoud Ahmed Mansour",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9731.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"224662",title:"Prof.",name:"Mahmoud Ahmed",middleName:null,surname:"Mansour",slug:"mahmoud-ahmed-mansour",fullName:"Mahmoud Ahmed Mansour"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}]},subject:{topic:{id:"199",title:"TCM and Alternative Medicine",slug:"tcm-and-alternative-medicine",parent:{title:"Medicine",slug:"medicine"},numberOfBooks:7,numberOfAuthorsAndEditors:130,numberOfWosCitations:59,numberOfCrossrefCitations:43,numberOfDimensionsCitations:103,videoUrl:null,fallbackUrl:null,description:null},booksByTopicFilter:{topicSlug:"tcm-and-alternative-medicine",sort:"-publishedDate",limit:12,offset:0},booksByTopicCollection:[{type:"book",id:"8323",title:"Traditional and Complementary Medicine",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"60eadb1783d9bba245687adf284d4871",slug:"traditional-and-complementary-medicine",bookSignature:"Cengiz Mordeniz",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8323.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"214664",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"Cengiz",middleName:null,surname:"Mordeniz",slug:"cengiz-mordeniz",fullName:"Cengiz Mordeniz"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"7910",title:"Acupuncture",subtitle:"Resolving Old Controversies and Pointing New Pathways",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"8ee244050594f166365bb63ec51a447a",slug:"acupuncture-resolving-old-controversies-and-pointing-new-pathways",bookSignature:"Marcelo Saad and Roberta de Medeiros",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7910.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"51991",title:"Prof.",name:"Marcelo",middleName:null,surname:"Saad",slug:"marcelo-saad",fullName:"Marcelo Saad"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"8593",title:"Plant Extracts",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"93ae18175f7b16937a3dfddc10a51572",slug:"plant-extracts",bookSignature:"Aman Dekebo",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8593.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"191684",title:"Dr.",name:"Aman",middleName:null,surname:"Dekebo",slug:"aman-dekebo",fullName:"Aman Dekebo"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3304",title:"Acupuncture in Modern Medicine",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"b6d3a937281325154720c678283daff0",slug:"acupuncture-in-modern-medicine",bookSignature:"Lucy L. Chen and Tsung O. Cheng",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3304.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"49147",title:"Dr.",name:"Lucy L",middleName:null,surname:"Chen",slug:"lucy-l-chen",fullName:"Lucy L Chen"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3369",title:"Alternative Medicine",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"e5a330fdcaea1dbe6b571b1f2ee93b56",slug:"alternative-medicine",bookSignature:"Hiroshi Sakagami",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3369.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"82603",title:"Prof.",name:"Hiroshi",middleName:null,surname:"Sakagami",slug:"hiroshi-sakagami",fullName:"Hiroshi Sakagami"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"386",title:"Acupuncture",subtitle:"Concepts and Physiology",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"a1b327d1a93e8dfd07289ab0a701aa39",slug:"acupuncture-concepts-and-physiology",bookSignature:"Marcelo Saad",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/386.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"51991",title:"Prof.",name:"Marcelo",middleName:null,surname:"Saad",slug:"marcelo-saad",fullName:"Marcelo Saad"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"1316",title:"Acupuncture",subtitle:"Clinical Practice, Particular Techniques and Special Issues",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"60c42faaae3504a330936fc3ff4456ee",slug:"acupuncture-clinical-practice-particular-techniques-and-special-issues",bookSignature:"Marcelo Saad",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/1316.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"51991",title:"Prof.",name:"Marcelo",middleName:null,surname:"Saad",slug:"marcelo-saad",fullName:"Marcelo Saad"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}],booksByTopicTotal:7,mostCitedChapters:[{id:"41698",doi:"10.5772/54003",title:"Propolis: Alternative Medicine for the Treatment of Oral Microbial Diseases",slug:"antifungal-activity-of-propolis-oral-clinical-studies-in-humans",totalDownloads:4890,totalCrossrefCites:11,totalDimensionsCites:17,book:{slug:"alternative-medicine",title:"Alternative Medicine",fullTitle:"Alternative Medicine"},signatures:"Vagner Rodrigues Santos",authors:[{id:"79610",title:"Dr.",name:"Vagner Rodrigues",middleName:"Rodrigues",surname:"Santos",slug:"vagner-rodrigues-santos",fullName:"Vagner Rodrigues Santos"}]},{id:"41492",doi:"10.5772/53333",title:"Application of Saponin-Containing Plants in Foods and Cosmetics",slug:"application-of-saponin-containing-plants-in-foods-and-cosmetics",totalDownloads:6312,totalCrossrefCites:6,totalDimensionsCites:15,book:{slug:"alternative-medicine",title:"Alternative Medicine",fullTitle:"Alternative Medicine"},signatures:"Yukiyoshi Tamura, Masazumi Miyakoshi and Masaji Yamamoto",authors:[{id:"97471",title:"Mr.",name:"Masaji",middleName:null,surname:"Yamamoto",slug:"masaji-yamamoto",fullName:"Masaji Yamamoto"}]},{id:"41526",doi:"10.5772/53868",title:"Network Pharmacology and Traditional Chinese Medicine",slug:"network-pharmacology-and-traditional-chinese-medicine",totalDownloads:2478,totalCrossrefCites:5,totalDimensionsCites:11,book:{slug:"alternative-medicine",title:"Alternative Medicine",fullTitle:"Alternative Medicine"},signatures:"Qihe Xu, Fan Qu and Olavi Pelkonen",authors:[{id:"23803",title:"Prof.",name:"Olavi",middleName:null,surname:"Pelkonen",slug:"olavi-pelkonen",fullName:"Olavi Pelkonen"},{id:"67044",title:"Dr.",name:"Qihe",middleName:null,surname:"Xu",slug:"qihe-xu",fullName:"Qihe Xu"},{id:"162445",title:"Dr.",name:"Fan",middleName:null,surname:"Qu",slug:"fan-qu",fullName:"Fan Qu"}]}],mostDownloadedChaptersLast30Days:[{id:"18907",title:"Yamamoto New Scalp Acupuncture (YNSA): Development, Principles, Safety, Effectiveness and Clinical Applications",slug:"yamamoto-new-scalp-acupuncture-ynsa-development-principles-safety-effectiveness-and-clinical-applica",totalDownloads:20229,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,book:{slug:"acupuncture-clinical-practice-particular-techniques-and-special-issues",title:"Acupuncture",fullTitle:"Acupuncture - Clinical Practice, Particular Techniques and Special Issues"},signatures:"Thomas Schockert",authors:[{id:"51993",title:"Dr.",name:"Thomas",middleName:null,surname:"Schockert",slug:"thomas-schockert",fullName:"Thomas Schockert"}]},{id:"65475",title:"African Traditional Medicine: South African Perspective",slug:"african-traditional-medicine-south-african-perspective",totalDownloads:1978,totalCrossrefCites:4,totalDimensionsCites:7,book:{slug:"traditional-and-complementary-medicine",title:"Traditional and Complementary Medicine",fullTitle:"Traditional and Complementary Medicine"},signatures:"Mmamosheledi E. Mothibe and Mncengeli Sibanda",authors:[{id:"276601",title:"Dr.",name:"Mmamosheledi",middleName:null,surname:"Mothibe",slug:"mmamosheledi-mothibe",fullName:"Mmamosheledi Mothibe"},{id:"278675",title:"Mr.",name:"Mncengeli",middleName:null,surname:"Sibanda",slug:"mncengeli-sibanda",fullName:"Mncengeli Sibanda"}]},{id:"66855",title:"Traditional Chinese Medicine: From Aqueous Extracts to Therapeutic Formulae",slug:"traditional-chinese-medicine-from-aqueous-extracts-to-therapeutic-formulae",totalDownloads:1092,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:2,book:{slug:"plant-extracts",title:"Plant Extracts",fullTitle:"Plant Extracts"},signatures:"Jinfan Wang, Astrid Sasse and Helen Sheridan",authors:[{id:"288780",title:"Prof.",name:"Helen",middleName:null,surname:"Sheridan",slug:"helen-sheridan",fullName:"Helen Sheridan"},{id:"288781",title:"Ms.",name:"Jinfan",middleName:null,surname:"Wang",slug:"jinfan-wang",fullName:"Jinfan Wang"},{id:"288782",title:"Prof.",name:"Astrid",middleName:null,surname:"Sasse",slug:"astrid-sasse",fullName:"Astrid Sasse"}]},{id:"41525",title:"Investigation on the Mechanism of Qi-Invigoration from a Perspective of Effects of Sijunzi Decoction on Mitochondrial Energy Metabolism",slug:"investigation-on-the-mechanism-of-qi-invigoration-from-a-perspective-of-effects-of-sijunzi-decoction",totalDownloads:1566,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,book:{slug:"alternative-medicine",title:"Alternative Medicine",fullTitle:"Alternative Medicine"},signatures:"Xing-Tai Li",authors:[{id:"73821",title:"Dr.",name:"Xing-Tai",middleName:null,surname:"Li",slug:"xing-tai-li",fullName:"Xing-Tai Li"}]},{id:"65194",title:"A Review on Natural Antioxidants",slug:"a-review-on-natural-antioxidants",totalDownloads:426,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:2,book:{slug:"traditional-and-complementary-medicine",title:"Traditional and Complementary Medicine",fullTitle:"Traditional and Complementary Medicine"},signatures:"Arun Rasheed and Rinshana Fathima Abdul Azeez",authors:[{id:"277345",title:"Dr.",name:"Arun",middleName:null,surname:"Rasheed",slug:"arun-rasheed",fullName:"Arun Rasheed"}]},{id:"67739",title:"Integration of Traditional and Complementary Medicine into Evidence-Based Clinical Practice",slug:"integration-of-traditional-and-complementary-medicine-into-evidence-based-clinical-practice",totalDownloads:503,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,book:{slug:"traditional-and-complementary-medicine",title:"Traditional and Complementary Medicine",fullTitle:"Traditional and Complementary Medicine"},signatures:"Cengiz Mordeniz",authors:[{id:"214664",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"Cengiz",middleName:null,surname:"Mordeniz",slug:"cengiz-mordeniz",fullName:"Cengiz Mordeniz"}]},{id:"18906",title:"An Evidence-Based Review of Acupuncture in Osteoporosis and Fracture-Related Pain",slug:"an-evidence-based-review-of-acupuncture-in-osteoporosis-and-fracture-related-pain",totalDownloads:7518,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,book:{slug:"acupuncture-clinical-practice-particular-techniques-and-special-issues",title:"Acupuncture",fullTitle:"Acupuncture - Clinical Practice, Particular Techniques and Special Issues"},signatures:"Jenson Mak and Louise Mak",authors:[{id:"60765",title:"Dr.",name:"Jenson",middleName:null,surname:"Mak",slug:"jenson-mak",fullName:"Jenson Mak"}]},{id:"43315",title:"Explore Laser Acupuncture’s Role",slug:"explore-laser-acupuncture-s-role",totalDownloads:3417,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:4,book:{slug:"acupuncture-in-modern-medicine",title:"Acupuncture in Modern Medicine",fullTitle:"Acupuncture in Modern Medicine"},signatures:"Wen-Long Hu, Yu-Chiang Hung and I-Ling Hung",authors:[{id:"49804",title:"Dr.",name:"Yu-Chiang",middleName:null,surname:"Hung",slug:"yu-chiang-hung",fullName:"Yu-Chiang Hung"},{id:"49848",title:"Dr.",name:"Wen-Long",middleName:null,surname:"Hu",slug:"wen-long-hu",fullName:"Wen-Long Hu"},{id:"166738",title:"Dr.",name:"I-Ling",middleName:null,surname:"Hung",slug:"i-ling-hung",fullName:"I-Ling Hung"}]},{id:"66440",title:"Scalp Acupuncture and Mental Disorders",slug:"scalp-acupuncture-and-mental-disorders",totalDownloads:585,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,book:{slug:"acupuncture-resolving-old-controversies-and-pointing-new-pathways",title:"Acupuncture",fullTitle:"Acupuncture - Resolving Old Controversies and Pointing New Pathways"},signatures:"Chuen Heung Yau and Cheuk Long Ip",authors:[{id:"277860",title:"M.D.",name:"Chuen Heung",middleName:null,surname:"Yau",slug:"chuen-heung-yau",fullName:"Chuen Heung Yau"},{id:"292850",title:"Mr.",name:"Cheuk Long",middleName:null,surname:"Ip",slug:"cheuk-long-ip",fullName:"Cheuk Long Ip"}]},{id:"41526",title:"Network Pharmacology and Traditional Chinese Medicine",slug:"network-pharmacology-and-traditional-chinese-medicine",totalDownloads:2474,totalCrossrefCites:5,totalDimensionsCites:11,book:{slug:"alternative-medicine",title:"Alternative Medicine",fullTitle:"Alternative Medicine"},signatures:"Qihe Xu, Fan Qu and Olavi Pelkonen",authors:[{id:"23803",title:"Prof.",name:"Olavi",middleName:null,surname:"Pelkonen",slug:"olavi-pelkonen",fullName:"Olavi Pelkonen"},{id:"67044",title:"Dr.",name:"Qihe",middleName:null,surname:"Xu",slug:"qihe-xu",fullName:"Qihe Xu"},{id:"162445",title:"Dr.",name:"Fan",middleName:null,surname:"Qu",slug:"fan-qu",fullName:"Fan Qu"}]}],onlineFirstChaptersFilter:{topicSlug:"tcm-and-alternative-medicine",limit:3,offset:0},onlineFirstChaptersCollection:[],onlineFirstChaptersTotal:0},preDownload:{success:null,errors:{}},aboutIntechopen:{},privacyPolicy:{},peerReviewing:{},howOpenAccessPublishingWithIntechopenWorks:{},sponsorshipBooks:{sponsorshipBooks:[{type:"book",id:"10176",title:"Microgrids and Local Energy Systems",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"c32b4a5351a88f263074b0d0ca813a9c",slug:null,bookSignature:"Prof. Nick Jenkins",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10176.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:[{id:"55219",title:"Prof.",name:"Nick",middleName:null,surname:"Jenkins",slug:"nick-jenkins",fullName:"Nick Jenkins"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}}],offset:8,limit:8,total:1},route:{name:"profile.detail",path:"/profiles/103073/tsvetanka-stefanova",hash:"",query:{},params:{id:"103073",slug:"tsvetanka-stefanova"},fullPath:"/profiles/103073/tsvetanka-stefanova",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)}()