Distribution of tasks according to the soybean agricultural calendar.
\\n\\n
\\n"}]',published:!0,mainMedia:null},components:[{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:'
Barely three months into the new year and we are happy to announce a monumental milestone reached - 150 million downloads.
\n\nThis achievement solidifies IntechOpen’s place as a pioneer in Open Access publishing and the home to some of the most relevant scientific research available through Open Access.
\n\nWe are so proud to have worked with so many bright minds throughout the years who have helped us spread knowledge through the power of Open Access and we look forward to continuing to support some of the greatest thinkers of our day.
\n\nThank you for making IntechOpen your place of learning, sharing, and discovery, and here’s to 150 million more!
\n\n\n\n\n'}],latestNews:[{slug:"intechopen-partners-with-ehs-for-digital-advertising-representation-20210416",title:"IntechOpen Partners with EHS for Digital Advertising Representation"},{slug:"intechopen-signs-new-contract-with-cepiec-china-for-distribution-of-open-access-books-20210319",title:"IntechOpen Signs New Contract with CEPIEC, China for Distribution of Open Access Books"},{slug:"150-million-downloads-and-counting-20210316",title:"150 Million Downloads and Counting"},{slug:"intechopen-secures-indefinite-content-preservation-with-clockss-20210309",title:"IntechOpen Secures Indefinite Content Preservation with CLOCKSS"},{slug:"intechopen-expands-to-all-global-amazon-channels-with-full-catalog-of-books-20210308",title:"IntechOpen Expands to All Global Amazon Channels with Full Catalog of Books"},{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"}]},book:{item:{type:"book",id:"1422",leadTitle:null,fullTitle:"Sintering of Ceramics - New Emerging Techniques",title:"Sintering of Ceramics",subtitle:"New Emerging Techniques",reviewType:"peer-reviewed",abstract:"The chapters covered in this book include emerging new techniques on sintering. Major experts in this field contributed to this book and presented their research. Topics covered in this publication include Spark plasma sintering, Magnetic Pulsed compaction, Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic technology for the preparation of 3-dimesinal circuits, Microwave sintering of thermistor ceramics, Synthesis of Bio-compatible ceramics, Sintering of Rare Earth Doped Bismuth Titanate Ceramics prepared by Soft Combustion, nanostructured ceramics, alternative solid-state reaction routes yielding densified bulk ceramics and nanopowders, Sintering of intermetallic superconductors such as MgB2, impurity doping in luminescence phosphors synthesized using soft techniques, etc. Other advanced sintering techniques such as radiation thermal sintering for the manufacture of thin film solid oxide fuel cells are also described.",isbn:null,printIsbn:"978-953-51-0017-1",pdfIsbn:"978-953-51-4334-5",doi:"10.5772/1882",price:159,priceEur:175,priceUsd:205,slug:"sintering-of-ceramics-new-emerging-techniques",numberOfPages:626,isOpenForSubmission:!1,isInWos:1,hash:"285c4e1c255669f44ed4f19f066c84cb",bookSignature:"Arunachalam Lakshmanan",publishedDate:"March 2nd 2012",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/1422.jpg",numberOfDownloads:130899,numberOfWosCitations:163,numberOfCrossrefCitations:42,numberOfDimensionsCitations:145,hasAltmetrics:0,numberOfTotalCitations:350,isAvailableForWebshopOrdering:!0,dateEndFirstStepPublish:"April 12th 2011",dateEndSecondStepPublish:"May 10th 2011",dateEndThirdStepPublish:"September 14th 2011",dateEndFourthStepPublish:"October 14th 2011",dateEndFifthStepPublish:"February 13th 2012",currentStepOfPublishingProcess:5,indexedIn:"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8",editedByType:"Edited by",kuFlag:!1,editors:[{id:"94482",title:"Dr.",name:"Arunachalam",middleName:null,surname:"Lakshmanan",slug:"arunachalam-lakshmanan",fullName:"Arunachalam Lakshmanan",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/94482/images/4240_n.jpg",biography:"Dr. Arunachalam Lakshmanan obtained his Bachelor and Master Degree in Physics with Distinction at the Annamalai University. He joined Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1971 and served as a scientific officer untill 1990. He obtained his PhD degree on Thermoluminescence at the\nBombay University in 1981. In 1982 and 1983 he worked as a Scientific Associate at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland. For a period of 2 years, Dr. Lakshmanan worked as a AvH fellow at the University of Wuppertal, Germany. He was a visiting Professor in several universities in Japan, France and South Korea. He was an Editorial Board Member in Radiation Protection Dosimetry Journal, UK. From 1990 to 2007, Dr. Lakshmanan was head of the Radiation Dosimetry Section at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research. In 2008, Dr. Lakshmanan published a book titled “Luminescence of Display Phosphors- Phenomena and Applications”. Presently he is working as a Physics Professor at the Saveetha Engineering College, Chennai, India. His research areas include Synthesis of Luminescence Phosphors and Exploiting Zero Point Energy for power production.",institutionString:null,position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"2",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"2",institution:{name:"Saveetha University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"India"}}}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,coeditorOne:null,coeditorTwo:null,coeditorThree:null,coeditorFour:null,coeditorFive:null,topics:[{id:"923",title:"Process Engineering",slug:"ceramics-process-engineering"}],chapters:[{id:"29775",title:"Microwave Fast Sintering of Ceramic Materials",doi:"10.5772/34181",slug:"-microwave-fast-sintering-of-ceramic-materials",totalDownloads:7364,totalCrossrefCites:3,totalDimensionsCites:19,signatures:"Romualdo R. Menezes, Pollyane M. Souto and Ruth H.G.A. Kiminami",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29775",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29775",authors:[{id:"89279",title:"Dr.",name:"Romualdo",surname:"Menezes",slug:"romualdo-menezes",fullName:"Romualdo Menezes"},{id:"99069",title:"Prof.",name:"Ruth",surname:"Kiminami",slug:"ruth-kiminami",fullName:"Ruth Kiminami"},{id:"104043",title:"Dr.",name:"Pollyane",surname:"Souto",slug:"pollyane-souto",fullName:"Pollyane Souto"}],corrections:null},{id:"29776",title:"Synthesis of Diamond Using Spark Plasma Sintering",doi:"10.5772/32614",slug:"synthesis-of-diamond-using-spark-plasma-sintering",totalDownloads:4360,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:5,signatures:"Faming Zhang and Eberhard Burkel",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29776",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29776",authors:[{id:"15001",title:"Dr.",name:"Faming",surname:"Zhang",slug:"faming-zhang",fullName:"Faming Zhang"}],corrections:null},{id:"29777",title:"The Effects of Sintering Temperature Variations on Microstructure Changes of LTCC Substrate",doi:"10.5772/32873",slug:"the-effects-of-sintering-temperature-variations-on-microstructure-changes-of-ltcc-substrate",totalDownloads:6934,totalCrossrefCites:5,totalDimensionsCites:13,signatures:"Rosidah Alias",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29777",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29777",authors:[{id:"93015",title:"Dr.",name:"Rosidah",surname:"Alias",slug:"rosidah-alias",fullName:"Rosidah Alias"}],corrections:null},{id:"29778",title:"Microwave Sintering of Thermistor Ceramics",doi:"10.5772/34517",slug:"microwave-sintering-of-thermistor-ceramics",totalDownloads:3083,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"Aimin Chang, Huimin Zhang, Qing Zhao and Bo Zhang",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29778",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29778",authors:[{id:"100537",title:"Prof.",name:"Aimin",surname:"Chang",slug:"aimin-chang",fullName:"Aimin Chang"},{id:"103117",title:"Dr.",name:"Huimin",surname:"Zhang",slug:"huimin-zhang",fullName:"Huimin Zhang"},{id:"103120",title:"Dr.",name:"Qing",surname:"Zhao",slug:"qing-zhao",fullName:"Qing Zhao"},{id:"103124",title:"MSc.",name:"Bo",surname:"Zhang",slug:"bo-zhang",fullName:"Bo Zhang"}],corrections:null},{id:"29779",title:"Cold-Bonding Technique – A New Approach to Recycle Innocuous Construction Residual Soil, Sludge, and Sediment as Coarse Aggregates",doi:"10.5772/34710",slug:"cold-bonding-technique-a-new-approach-to-recycle-innocuous-construction-residual-soil-sludge-and-sed",totalDownloads:3012,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:2,signatures:"Chih-Ta Tsai",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29779",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29779",authors:[{id:"101314",title:"Dr.",name:"Chih Ta",surname:"Tsai",slug:"chih-ta-tsai",fullName:"Chih Ta Tsai"}],corrections:null},{id:"29780",title:"Advanced Sintering Techniques in Design of Planar IT SOFC and Supported Oxygen Separation Membranes",doi:"10.5772/34958",slug:"advanced-sintering-techniques-in-design-of-planar-it-sofc-and-supported-oxygen-separation-membranes",totalDownloads:3211,totalCrossrefCites:2,totalDimensionsCites:11,signatures:"Vladislav Sadykov, Vladimir Usoltsev, Yulia Fedorova,Natalia Mezentseva, Tamara Krieger, Nikita Eremeev, Marina Arapova, Arcady Ishchenko, Alexey Salanov, Vitaly Pelipenko, Vitaly Muzykantov, Artem Ulikhin, Nikolai Uvarov, Oleg Bobrenok, Alexander Vlasov, Mikhail Korobeynikov, Aleksei Bryazgin, Andrei Arzhannikov, Petr Kalinin, Oleg Smorygo and Manfred Thumm",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29780",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29780",authors:[{id:"20604",title:"Prof.",name:"Vladislav",surname:"Sadykov",slug:"vladislav-sadykov",fullName:"Vladislav Sadykov"}],corrections:null},{id:"29781",title:"Sintering and Properties of Nb4AlC3 Ceramic",doi:"10.5772/35007",slug:"synthesis-and-properties-of-nb4alc3-ceramic-fabricated-by-hot-pressing-and-spark-plasma-sintering",totalDownloads:2392,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:2,signatures:"Chunfeng Hu, Qing Huang, Yiwang Bao and Yanchun Zhou",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29781",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29781",authors:[{id:"102575",title:"Dr.",name:"Chunfeng",surname:"Hu",slug:"chunfeng-hu",fullName:"Chunfeng Hu"}],corrections:null},{id:"29782",title:"Effect of Magnetic Pulsed Compaction (MPC) on Sintering Behavior of Materials",doi:"10.5772/35372",slug:"effect-of-magnetic-pulsed-compaction-mpc-on-sintering-behavior-of-materials",totalDownloads:3312,totalCrossrefCites:2,totalDimensionsCites:8,signatures:"Soon-Jik Hong, Md. Raihanuzzaman Rumman and Chang Kyu Rhee",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29782",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29782",authors:[{id:"104103",title:"Prof.",name:"Soon-Jik",surname:"Hong",slug:"soon-jik-hong",fullName:"Soon-Jik Hong"},{id:"136544",title:"MSc.",name:"Md. Raihanuzzaman",surname:"Rumman",slug:"md.-raihanuzzaman-rumman",fullName:"Md. Raihanuzzaman Rumman"}],corrections:null},{id:"29783",title:"New Challenges in the Sintering of HA/ZrO2 Composites",doi:"10.5772/33017",slug:"new-challenges-in-the-sintering-of-ha-zro2-composites-",totalDownloads:2659,totalCrossrefCites:3,totalDimensionsCites:4,signatures:"Cristina Vasconcelos",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29783",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29783",authors:[{id:"93646",title:"Prof.",name:"Helena",surname:"Vasconcelos",slug:"helena-vasconcelos",fullName:"Helena Vasconcelos"}],corrections:null},{id:"29784",title:"Ceramics in Dentistry",doi:"10.5772/39090",slug:"ceramics-in-dentistry",totalDownloads:31932,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:3,signatures:"R. Narasimha Raghavan",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29784",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29784",authors:[{id:"136546",title:"Dr.",name:"R.",surname:"Narasimha Raghavan",slug:"r.-narasimha-raghavan",fullName:"R. Narasimha Raghavan"}],corrections:null},{id:"29785",title:"Biocompatible Ceramic – Glass Composite – Manufacturing and Selected Physical – Mechanical Properties",doi:"10.5772/33350",slug:"biocompatible-ceramic-glass-composite-manufacturing-and-selected-physical-mechanical-properties",totalDownloads:2322,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"Barbara Staniewicz–Brudnik and Małgorzata Lekka",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29785",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29785",authors:[{id:"95028",title:"Dr",name:"Barbara",surname:"Staniewicz-Brudnik",slug:"barbara-staniewicz-brudnik",fullName:"Barbara Staniewicz-Brudnik"},{id:"135562",title:"Dr.",name:"Malgorzata",surname:"Lekka",slug:"malgorzata-lekka",fullName:"Malgorzata Lekka"}],corrections:null},{id:"29786",title:"Synthesis and Sintering Studies of Magnesium Aluminum Silicate Glass Ceramic",doi:"10.5772/35833",slug:"synthesis-and-sintering-studies-of-magnesium-aluminum-silicate-glass-ceramic",totalDownloads:5090,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"Shahid-Khan Durrani, Muhammad-Ashraf Hussain, Khalid Saeed, Syed-Zahid Hussain, Muhammad Arif and Ather Saeed",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29786",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29786",authors:[{id:"92695",title:"Dr.",name:"Shahid",surname:"Durrani",slug:"shahid-durrani",fullName:"Shahid Durrani"}],corrections:null},{id:"29787",title:"A Novel Approach to Develop Chalcogenide Glasses and Glass-Ceramics by Pulsed Current Electrical Sintering (PCES)",doi:"10.5772/32613",slug:"preparation-of-chalcogenide-glasses-and-glass-ceramics-by-pulsed-electric-current-sintering-pecs-",totalDownloads:4831,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,signatures:"Gaelle Delaizir and Laurent Calvez",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29787",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29787",authors:[{id:"92116",title:"Dr.",name:"Gaelle",surname:"Delaizir",slug:"gaelle-delaizir",fullName:"Gaelle Delaizir"},{id:"103354",title:"Dr.",name:"Laurent",surname:"Calvez",slug:"laurent-calvez",fullName:"Laurent Calvez"}],corrections:null},{id:"29788",title:"Effect of TiO2 Addition on the Sintering Process of Magnesium Oxide from Seawater",doi:"10.5772/33748",slug:"effect-of-tio2-addition-on-the-sintering-process-of-magnesium-oxide-from-seawater",totalDownloads:2835,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:2,signatures:"Vanja Martinac",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29788",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29788",authors:[{id:"96910",title:"PhD.",name:"Vanja",surname:"Martinac",slug:"vanja-martinac",fullName:"Vanja Martinac"}],corrections:null},{id:"29789",title:"The Role of Sintering in the Synthesis of Luminescence Phosphors",doi:"10.5772/33208",slug:"the-role-of-sintering-in-the-synthesis-of-luminescence-phosphors",totalDownloads:5167,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:5,signatures:"Arunachalam Lakshmanan",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29789",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29789",authors:[{id:"94482",title:"Dr.",name:"Arunachalam",surname:"Lakshmanan",slug:"arunachalam-lakshmanan",fullName:"Arunachalam Lakshmanan"}],corrections:null},{id:"29790",title:"Sintering and Characterization of Rare Earth Doped Bismuth Titanate Ceramics Prepared by Soft Combustion Synthesis",doi:"10.5772/34788",slug:"sintering-and-characterization-of-rare-earth-doped-bismuth-titanate-ceramics-prepared-by-soft-combus",totalDownloads:2912,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:5,signatures:"Umar Al-Amani Azlan, Warapong Krengvirat, Ahmad Fauzi Mohd Noor, Khairunisak Abd. Razak and Srimala Sreekantan",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29790",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29790",authors:[{id:"101638",title:"Dr.",name:"Srimala",surname:"Sreekantan",slug:"srimala-sreekantan",fullName:"Srimala Sreekantan"},{id:"105341",title:"Dr.",name:"Umar Al-Amani",surname:"Azlan",slug:"umar-al-amani-azlan",fullName:"Umar Al-Amani Azlan"},{id:"105344",title:"Mr.",name:"Warapong",surname:"Krengvirat",slug:"warapong-krengvirat",fullName:"Warapong Krengvirat"},{id:"105345",title:"Prof.",name:"Ahmad Fauzi",surname:"Mohd Noor",slug:"ahmad-fauzi-mohd-noor",fullName:"Ahmad Fauzi Mohd Noor"},{id:"105346",title:"Dr.",name:"Khairunisak",surname:"Abd. Razak",slug:"khairunisak-abd.-razak",fullName:"Khairunisak Abd. Razak"}],corrections:null},{id:"29791",title:"High Pressure Sintering of WC-10Co Doped with Rare-Earth Elements",doi:"10.5772/35147",slug:"high-pressure-sintering-of-wc-10co-doped-with-rare-earth-elements-",totalDownloads:2957,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,signatures:"C.M.F.G. Marques, G.S. Bobrovnitchii and J.N.F Holanda",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29791",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29791",authors:[{id:"42863",title:"Prof.",name:"José Nilson",surname:"Holanda",slug:"jose-nilson-holanda",fullName:"José Nilson Holanda"},{id:"103970",title:"Dr.",name:"Cristiane",surname:"Marques",slug:"cristiane-marques",fullName:"Cristiane Marques"},{id:"103971",title:"Dr.",name:"Guerold",surname:"Bobrovnitchii",slug:"guerold-bobrovnitchii",fullName:"Guerold Bobrovnitchii"}],corrections:null},{id:"29792",title:"Mechanisms of Microstructure Control in Conventional Sintering",doi:"10.5772/33616",slug:"mechanisms-of-microstructure-control-in-conventional-sintering",totalDownloads:4469,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:15,signatures:"Adriana Scoton Antonio Chinelatto, Elíria Maria de Jesus Agnolon Pallone, Ana Maria de Souza, Milena Kowalczuk Manosso, Adilson Luiz Chinelatto and Roberto Tomasi",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29792",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29792",authors:[{id:"96366",title:"Dr",name:"Adriana",surname:"Chinelatto",slug:"adriana-chinelatto",fullName:"Adriana Chinelatto"},{id:"103368",title:"Dr.",name:"Eliria",surname:"Pallone",slug:"eliria-pallone",fullName:"Eliria Pallone"},{id:"103370",title:"Dr.",name:"Adilson",surname:"Chinelatto",slug:"adilson-chinelatto",fullName:"Adilson Chinelatto"},{id:"103496",title:"BSc.",name:"Ana Maria",surname:"Souza",slug:"ana-maria-souza",fullName:"Ana Maria Souza"}],corrections:null},{id:"29793",title:"Two-Step Sintering Applied to Ceramics",doi:"10.5772/34112",slug:"two-step-sintering-applied-to-ceramics",totalDownloads:2825,totalCrossrefCites:3,totalDimensionsCites:5,signatures:"Gislâine Bezerra Pinto Ferreira, José Ferreira da Silva Jr, Rubens Maribondo do Nascimento, Uílame Umbelino Gomes and Antonio Eduardo Martinelli",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29793",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29793",authors:[{id:"98760",title:"MSc.",name:"Gislaine",surname:"Ferreira",slug:"gislaine-ferreira",fullName:"Gislaine Ferreira"},{id:"102381",title:"Dr.",name:"Uílame Umbelino",surname:"Gomes",slug:"uilame-umbelino-gomes",fullName:"Uílame Umbelino Gomes"},{id:"112314",title:"Prof.",name:"Antonio",surname:"Martinelli",slug:"antonio-martinelli",fullName:"Antonio Martinelli"},{id:"112316",title:"Dr.",name:"Rubens",surname:"Nascimento",slug:"rubens-nascimento",fullName:"Rubens Nascimento"},{id:"133481",title:"Prof.",name:"Jose Ferreira",surname:"Silva Jr",slug:"jose-ferreira-silva-jr",fullName:"Jose Ferreira Silva Jr"}],corrections:null},{id:"29794",title:"Ba1-XSrXTiO3 Ceramics Synthesized by an Alternative Solid-State Reaction Route",doi:"10.5772/34626",slug:"ba1-xsrxtio3-ceramics-by-an-alternative-solid-state-reaction-route-",totalDownloads:3163,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:2,signatures:"R.A. Vargas-Ortíz, F.J. Espinoza-Beltrán and J. Muñoz-Saldaña",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29794",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29794",authors:[{id:"39073",title:"Dr.",name:"Juan",surname:"Munoz-Saldana",slug:"juan-munoz-saldana",fullName:"Juan Munoz-Saldana"},{id:"96370",title:"Dr.",name:"Francisco Javier",surname:"Espinoza Beltran",slug:"francisco-javier-espinoza-beltran",fullName:"Francisco Javier Espinoza Beltran"},{id:"100988",title:"Dr.",name:"Ramon",surname:"Vargas Ortiz",slug:"ramon-vargas-ortiz",fullName:"Ramon Vargas Ortiz"}],corrections:null},{id:"29795",title:"Sintering Process and Its Mechanism of MgB2 Superconductors",doi:"10.5772/33794",slug:"sintering-process-and-its-mechanism-of-mgb2-superconductors",totalDownloads:2840,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:3,signatures:"Zongqing Ma and Yongchang Liu",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29795",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29795",authors:[{id:"97101",title:"Prof.",name:"Yongchang",surname:"Liu",slug:"yongchang-liu",fullName:"Yongchang Liu"}],corrections:null},{id:"29796",title:"Reactive Sintering of Aluminum Titanate",doi:"10.5772/34366",slug:"reactive-sintering-of-aluminum-titanate",totalDownloads:5480,totalCrossrefCites:4,totalDimensionsCites:9,signatures:"Irene Barrios de Arenas",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29796",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29796",authors:[{id:"99824",title:"Dr.",name:"Irene",surname:"Barrios De Arenas",slug:"irene-barrios-de-arenas",fullName:"Irene Barrios De Arenas"}],corrections:null},{id:"29797",title:"Sintering to Transparency of Polycrystalline Ceramic Materials",doi:"10.5772/35309",slug:"sintering-to-transparency-of-polycrystalline-ceramic-materials",totalDownloads:8659,totalCrossrefCites:8,totalDimensionsCites:20,signatures:"Marta Suárez, Adolfo Fernández, Ramón Torrecillas and José L. Menéndez",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29797",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29797",authors:[{id:"102383",title:"Dr.",name:"Marta",surname:"Suárez",slug:"marta-suarez",fullName:"Marta Suárez"},{id:"103822",title:"Dr.",name:"J.L",surname:"Menendez",slug:"j.l-menendez",fullName:"J.L Menendez"},{id:"103832",title:"Dr.",name:"Adolfo",surname:"Fernandez",slug:"adolfo-fernandez",fullName:"Adolfo Fernandez"},{id:"103833",title:"Prof.",name:"Ramón",surname:"Torrecillas",slug:"ramon-torrecillas",fullName:"Ramón Torrecillas"}],corrections:null},{id:"29798",title:"Effects of the Microstructure Induced by Sintering on the Dielectric Properties of Alumina",doi:"10.5772/33719",slug:"effects-of-the-microstructutre-induced-by-sintering-on-the-dielectric-properties-of-alumina",totalDownloads:2172,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:2,signatures:"Zarbout Kamel, Moya Gérard, Si Ahmed Abderrahmane, Damamme Gilles and Kallel Ali",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29798",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29798",authors:[{id:"96824",title:"Dr.",name:"Kamel",surname:"Zarbout",slug:"kamel-zarbout",fullName:"Kamel Zarbout"}],corrections:null},{id:"29799",title:"Evaluation of Dielectric Properties from the Cakes of Feldspathic Raw Material for Electrical Porcelain Production",doi:"10.5772/32755",slug:"evaluation-of-the-dielectric-properties-of-feldspar-cakes-used-as-a-raw-material-for-electrical-porc",totalDownloads:1970,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,signatures:"V.P. Ilyina",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29799",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29799",authors:[{id:"92561",title:"Dr.",name:"Vera",surname:"Ilyina",slug:"vera-ilyina",fullName:"Vera Ilyina"}],corrections:null},{id:"29800",title:"Sintering of Transparent Conductive Oxides: From Oxide Ceramic Powders to Advanced Optoelectronic Materials",doi:"10.5772/34154",slug:"sintering-of-transparent-conductive-oxides-from-oxide-ceramic-powders-to-advanced-optoelectronic-mat",totalDownloads:4951,totalCrossrefCites:3,totalDimensionsCites:8,signatures:"Guido Falk",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/29800",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/29800",authors:[{id:"98935",title:"Dr.",name:"Guido",surname:"Falk",slug:"guido-falk",fullName:"Guido Falk"}],corrections:null}],productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},relatedBooks:[{type:"book",id:"4485",title:"Sintering Techniques of Materials",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"f3b86bfd3fbf78fd259db41fedf4123f",slug:"sintering-techniques-of-materials",bookSignature:"Arunachalam Lakshmanan",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/4485.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"94482",title:"Dr.",name:"Arunachalam",surname:"Lakshmanan",slug:"arunachalam-lakshmanan",fullName:"Arunachalam Lakshmanan"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"3478",title:"Sintering Applications",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"78b5ad7a210c4dcb3346ca452f828938",slug:"sintering-applications",bookSignature:"Burcu Ertuğ",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/3478.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"97820",title:"Dr.",name:"Burcu",surname:"Ertug",slug:"burcu-ertug",fullName:"Burcu Ertug"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"474",title:"Advances in Ceramics",subtitle:"Synthesis and Characterization, Processing and Specific Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:null,slug:"advances-in-ceramics-synthesis-and-characterization-processing-and-specific-applications",bookSignature:"Costas Sikalidis",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/474.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"42599",title:"Prof.",name:"Costas",surname:"Sikalidis",slug:"costas-sikalidis",fullName:"Costas Sikalidis"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"2132",title:"Sintering",subtitle:"Methods and Products",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"a4374d54a1172051ff65e9f3aebee8f3",slug:"sintering-methods-and-products",bookSignature:"Volodymyr Shatokha",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/2132.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"111000",title:"Dr.",name:"Volodymyr",surname:"Shatokha",slug:"volodymyr-shatokha",fullName:"Volodymyr Shatokha"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"473",title:"Advances in Ceramics",subtitle:"Characterization, Raw Materials, Processing, Properties, Degradation and Healing",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:null,slug:"advances-in-ceramics-characterization-raw-materials-processing-properties-degradation-and-healing",bookSignature:"Costas Sikalidis",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/473.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"42599",title:"Prof.",name:"Costas",surname:"Sikalidis",slug:"costas-sikalidis",fullName:"Costas Sikalidis"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"4788",title:"Advanced Ceramic Processing",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"537975e8ade968caf3e16ea092b9c973",slug:"advanced-ceramic-processing",bookSignature:"Adel Mohamed",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/4788.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"148964",title:"Dr.",name:"A.M.A",surname:"Mohamed",slug:"a.m.a-mohamed",fullName:"A.M.A Mohamed"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"2200",title:"Ceramic Materials",subtitle:"Progress in Modern Ceramics",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"612da9cb87615f384b89b64be02c39be",slug:"ceramic-materials-progress-in-modern-ceramics",bookSignature:"Feng Shi",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/2200.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"24821",title:"Dr.",name:"Feng",surname:"Shi",slug:"feng-shi",fullName:"Feng Shi"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"7333",title:"Sintering Technology",subtitle:"Method and Application",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"d0b37ebc58f468e22dd7c63f94d0761e",slug:"sintering-technology-method-and-application",bookSignature:"Malin Liu",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7333.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"165407",title:"Dr.",name:"Malin",surname:"Liu",slug:"malin-liu",fullName:"Malin Liu"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{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"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,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"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}],ofsBooks:[]},correction:{item:{id:"72604",slug:"erratum-faecal-incontinence-and-autoimmune-diseases",title:"Erratum - Faecal Incontinence and Autoimmune Diseases",doi:null,correctionPDFUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/72604.pdf",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/72604",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/72604",totalDownloads:null,totalCrossrefCites:null,bibtexUrl:"/chapter/bibtex/72604",risUrl:"/chapter/ris/72604",chapter:{id:"69125",slug:"faecal-incontinence-and-autoimmune-diseases",signatures:"Batool Mutar Mahdi",dateSubmitted:"November 26th 2018",dateReviewed:"August 21st 2019",datePrePublished:"October 2nd 2019",datePublished:"April 29th 2020",book:{id:"7861",title:"Current Topics in Faecal Incontinence",subtitle:null,fullTitle:"Current Topics in Faecal Incontinence",slug:"current-topics-in-faecal-incontinence",publishedDate:"April 29th 2020",bookSignature:"John Camilleri-Brennan",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7861.jpg",licenceType:"CC BY 3.0",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"169437",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"John",middleName:null,surname:"Camilleri-Brennan",slug:"john-camilleri-brennan",fullName:"John Camilleri-Brennan"}],productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},authors:[{id:"77656",title:"Dr.",name:"Batool Mutar",middleName:null,surname:"Mahdi",fullName:"Batool Mutar Mahdi",slug:"batool-mutar-mahdi",email:"abas_susan@yahoo.com",position:null,institution:{name:"University of Baghdad",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Iraq"}}}]}},chapter:{id:"69125",slug:"faecal-incontinence-and-autoimmune-diseases",signatures:"Batool Mutar Mahdi",dateSubmitted:"November 26th 2018",dateReviewed:"August 21st 2019",datePrePublished:"October 2nd 2019",datePublished:"April 29th 2020",book:{id:"7861",title:"Current Topics in Faecal Incontinence",subtitle:null,fullTitle:"Current Topics in Faecal Incontinence",slug:"current-topics-in-faecal-incontinence",publishedDate:"April 29th 2020",bookSignature:"John Camilleri-Brennan",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7861.jpg",licenceType:"CC BY 3.0",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"169437",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"John",middleName:null,surname:"Camilleri-Brennan",slug:"john-camilleri-brennan",fullName:"John Camilleri-Brennan"}],productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},authors:[{id:"77656",title:"Dr.",name:"Batool Mutar",middleName:null,surname:"Mahdi",fullName:"Batool Mutar Mahdi",slug:"batool-mutar-mahdi",email:"abas_susan@yahoo.com",position:null,institution:{name:"University of Baghdad",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Iraq"}}}]},book:{id:"7861",title:"Current Topics in Faecal Incontinence",subtitle:null,fullTitle:"Current Topics in Faecal Incontinence",slug:"current-topics-in-faecal-incontinence",publishedDate:"April 29th 2020",bookSignature:"John Camilleri-Brennan",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7861.jpg",licenceType:"CC BY 3.0",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"169437",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"John",middleName:null,surname:"Camilleri-Brennan",slug:"john-camilleri-brennan",fullName:"John Camilleri-Brennan"}],productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}},ofsBook:{item:{type:"book",id:"8535",leadTitle:null,title:"Public Diplomacy",subtitle:null,reviewType:"peer-reviewed",abstract:"
\r\n\tIn textbooks and manuals, diplomacy is often defined as "the science of foreign relations" and "the art of negotiation." This certainly makes a lot of sense. A balanced analysis of the global situation and the correct consideration of the balance of power in the international arena are essential for the development of truly scientific, deeply grounded recommendations in the field of foreign policy. It is necessary to carefully study historical trends, fully take into account the different directions and trends in international relations, to be able to seek and attract allies to desired side, to achieve the isolation of the most aggressive and hostile circles. One can really expect success only if diplomacy acts in principle and, at the same time, pragmatically and flexibly, avoids dogmatism and sectarianism, and is not afraid of compromises that ultimately benefit national interests. Hence, the importance of mastering a number of sciences: history of individual countries and international relations, international law, complex sciences related to the study of the world economy and the economies of individual countries, comparative political science and law, philosophy, psychology, and etc. In short, diplomacy should rely on the laws of social life and consider the findings of the relevant sciences.
\r\n\r\n\tThis book intends to provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the real essence of public diplomacy. Public diplomacy and related concepts such as ""strategic communication"" and ""national branding"" are a part of increasingly common public administration practices. It also represents an area of research with significant growth potential. The nation states have in various contexts recognized the need to communicate with foreign communities and to develop networks through various forms of interaction, including international communication, exchange programmes and cultural diplomacy. As a result, public diplomacy has become an effective tool of purposeful communication with the foreign public to promote short-term political goals, to develop long-term relations, and to address pressing issues of transnational politics. Nevertheless, there are big problems that lie behind the popularization of modern public diplomacy initiatives which will also be discussed in the book.
",isbn:null,printIsbn:"979-953-307-X-X",pdfIsbn:null,doi:null,price:0,priceEur:0,priceUsd:0,slug:null,numberOfPages:0,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"ca82945156946b18f4e457ce91ac6643",bookSignature:"Dr. Galina V. Timofeeva and Ms. Alexandra Baranova",publishedDate:null,coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8535.jpg",keywords:"Diplomatic Service, Cultural Diplomacy, Negotiation, Tools, Mechanisms, Actors, Official Diplomacy, Digital Diplomacy, Conflict Resolution, Intergovernmental Organizations, Cooperation",numberOfDownloads:null,numberOfWosCitations:0,numberOfCrossrefCitations:0,numberOfDimensionsCitations:null,numberOfTotalCitations:null,isAvailableForWebshopOrdering:!0,dateEndFirstStepPublish:"November 13th 2019",dateEndSecondStepPublish:"March 27th 2020",dateEndThirdStepPublish:"May 26th 2020",dateEndFourthStepPublish:"August 14th 2020",dateEndFifthStepPublish:"October 13th 2020",remainingDaysToSecondStep:"a year",secondStepPassed:!0,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:5,editedByType:null,kuFlag:!1,biosketch:null,coeditorOneBiosketch:null,coeditorTwoBiosketch:null,coeditorThreeBiosketch:null,coeditorFourBiosketch:null,coeditorFiveBiosketch:null,editors:[{id:"311522",title:"Dr.",name:"Galina",middleName:"V.",surname:"Timofeeva",slug:"galina-timofeeva",fullName:"Galina Timofeeva",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/311522/images/system/311522.jpg",biography:"Galina V. Timofeeva, PhD is a Professor at the Department of Economics and Public Diplomacy at the Institute of Public Service and Management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). Professor Timofeeva is an expert of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. She is also an expert and a scientific editor of the strategy of socio-economic development of the Republic of Abkhazia-2025, as well as the specialist at the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.",institutionString:"Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"0",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"0",institution:{name:"Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Russia"}}}],coeditorOne:{id:"312195",title:"Ms.",name:"Alexandra",middleName:null,surname:"Baranova",slug:"alexandra-baranova",fullName:"Alexandra Baranova",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/no_image.jpg",biography:"Dr. Alexandra Baranova is a lecturer at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Her scientific interests include linguistic tools of public diplomacy, as well as the role of mass media in diplomatic processes.",institutionString:"Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"1",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"0",institution:{name:"Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Russia"}}},coeditorTwo:null,coeditorThree:null,coeditorFour:null,coeditorFive:null,topics:[{id:"23",title:"Social Sciences",slug:"social-sciences"}],chapters:null,productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"},personalPublishingAssistant:{id:"247041",firstName:"Dolores",lastName:"Kuzelj",middleName:null,title:"Ms.",imageUrl:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/247041/images/7108_n.jpg",email:"dolores@intechopen.com",biography:"As an Author Service Manager my responsibilities include monitoring and facilitating all publishing activities for authors and editors. From chapter submission and review, to approval and revision, copyediting and design, until final publication, I work closely with authors and editors to ensure a simple and easy publishing process. I maintain constant and effective communication with authors, editors and reviewers, which allows for a level of personal support that enables contributors to fully commit and concentrate on the chapters they are writing, editing, or reviewing. I assist authors in the preparation of their full chapter submissions and track important deadlines and ensure they are met. I help to coordinate internal processes such as linguistic review, and monitor the technical aspects of the process. As an ASM I am also involved in the acquisition of editors. Whether that be identifying an exceptional author and proposing an editorship collaboration, or contacting researchers who would like the opportunity to work with IntechOpen, I establish and help manage author and editor acquisition and contact."}},relatedBooks:[{type:"book",id:"6942",title:"Global Social Work",subtitle:"Cutting Edge Issues and Critical Reflections",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"222c8a66edfc7a4a6537af7565bcb3de",slug:"global-social-work-cutting-edge-issues-and-critical-reflections",bookSignature:"Bala Raju Nikku",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/6942.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"263576",title:"Dr.",name:"Bala",surname:"Nikku",slug:"bala-nikku",fullName:"Bala Nikku"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{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:"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:"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:"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:"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:"314",title:"Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering",subtitle:"Cells and Biomaterials",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"bb67e80e480c86bb8315458012d65686",slug:"regenerative-medicine-and-tissue-engineering-cells-and-biomaterials",bookSignature:"Daniel Eberli",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/314.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"6495",title:"Dr.",name:"Daniel",surname:"Eberli",slug:"daniel-eberli",fullName:"Daniel Eberli"}],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:"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:"2270",title:"Fourier Transform",subtitle:"Materials Analysis",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"5e094b066da527193e878e160b4772af",slug:"fourier-transform-materials-analysis",bookSignature:"Salih Mohammed Salih",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/2270.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"111691",title:"Dr.Ing.",name:"Salih",surname:"Salih",slug:"salih-salih",fullName:"Salih Salih"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}]},chapter:{item:{type:"chapter",id:"73649",title:"Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) Production in the Cameroonian Cotton Basin between the Dynamics of Structuring an Agricultural Value Chain and Sustainability Issues",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.93981",slug:"soybean-em-glycine-max-em-em-l-em-em-merr-em-production-in-the-cameroonian-cotton-basin-between-the-",body:'Price volatility of agricultural raw materials on international markets (cotton, cocoa, coffee, etc.)1 and its consequences on national food production, as well as the recurrence of food crises in many African countries over the past fifteen years, have repositioned agricultural issues on the agendas of governments of both developing and developed countries and international institutions. In addition to the commitments made by States at the 1996 World Food Summit, notably the increase of budget allocation for agriculture by at least 10%, and on the occasion of numerous world meetings (G8 Agriculture Summit of 2009, G20 Agriculture of 2011…), international and national responses to these two major global crises have mainly mobilised two converging agronomic trajectories: agricultural intensification (in the sense higher yields through better access to synthetic inputs and irrigation), and crop diversification to increase domestic food supplies and improve farmers’ incomes.
Soybean is a good example of the realisation of this second trajectory in the Sudano-Sahelian zone. Its dynamics of spatial diffusion and production observed in ten years is an invitation to put into perspective many pessimistic, even alarmist judgements, on the capacity of African agriculture to meet the multiple challenges of increasing and diversifying agricultural production, improving farmers’ incomes and supplying domestic agro-industries. These judgements are based in particular on still weak agricultural growth to alleviate rural poverty, the low representativeness of agriculture in international trade, the impact of price cuts and fluctuations of the main export products on the producers who are gradually integrated into logics of market economy and productivity [2]. In this author’s opinion, nothing in these trends led to think that African agriculture is preparing to face economic, social and ecological challenges whose magnitude is still unprecedented in history, thus positioning agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, in a unique situation compared to other continents.
Experimentation, support for the dissemination and development of soybeans in the Sudano-Sahelian area in Cameroon constituted a strategic option for the Cotton Development Company (SODECOTON). The idea was to create added value in the face of volatile cotton prices on international markets. Diversification aimed at meeting the revitalisation needs of a society polarised by the cotton sector (support for farmers’ contractual production, export of fibres and production of vegetable oil based on cotton seeds).
Thus, since 2008, this area, which shelters the cotton basin, is experiencing a dynamics of soybean production which involves profound changes in Sudano-Sahelian agro-systems and participates in the (re) configuration of new market relations between producers, traders, distribution intermediaries and agro-industrial companies. Available official statistics indicate that regional production increased from 41 tonnes in 2007 to almost 14,000 tonnes in 2017, while the total production in Cameroon for the same period was 7,801 and 18,886 tonnes, respectively.2 This development followed the global trend marked by significant growth over the past 25 years (123% between 1996 and 2004), particularly in Latin America [3, 4]. Since 2010, soybean ranks 2nd among the legumes cultivated in the cotton basin after peanuts, followed by cowpea and voandzou, which are, however, culturally and economically more adopted by the populations [5, 6].
Nearly 60% of cotton producers have either abandoned cotton growing, diversified food crops or replaced those less profitable and poorly supervised by public and private actors supporting agricultural development (case of
In an increasing number of family farms, cotton has thus ceased to be the head of crop rotation for the benefit of soybeans and incidentally peanuts.
Most of the regional production fuels partially estimated3 national and cross-border agro-industrial demand for Nigeria. Macroeconomic data show that Cameroon imports an average of 20,000 tonnes of soybeans worth approximately CFAF 10 billion4 a year, and GMO soybean meal worth CFAF 14 billion,5 hence the challenge to increase domestic supply to meet agro-industrial demand. The rapid evolution of cultivated areas from 6,705 ha in 2008 to 15,020 ha in 2018 (FAOSTAT, Op.Cit.) is indicative of farmers’ enthusiasm for this speculation which benefits little from the supervision of public authorities. Its rapid development in the Cameroonian cotton basin, where the income of more than 80% of agricultural assets historically depends on the sale of cotton, creates a need to understand the challenges of this development.
The above context raises the following research question: Can the productive and market dynamics on soybeans support the construction of a sustainable value chain to meet agro-industrial demand and improve farmers’ incomes? The objective of this research paper is to analyse the sustainability challenges of a productive and market dynamics built around a speculation which is subject to strong demands of international competitiveness and offers a strong potential for improving farmers’ incomes. The reflection initiated is based on the postulate that soybean brings out the structuring elements of a value chain, but its viability remains precarious by a set of constraints inherent in the proven inability of farmers to empower themselves to optimise production and control marketing, as well as poor technical supervision of culture. These constraints jeopardise the prospects for the sustainability of a soybean value chain despite the guarantee of a proven agro-industrial market.
Soybeans (
It was at the beginning of the 1970s that the IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) began its programme to improve African soybean lines, based on the crossing of high productivity lines of Asian origin and TGx lines (Tropical Glycine Cross). This work will, for example, enable Nigeria to boost the development of soybean production from 75,000 tonnes in 1980 (yield below 300 tonnes/ha) to 758,033 tonnes in 2018 (on average 1 tonne/ha) (FAOSTAT6). This speculation is now considered in Africa as one of the solutions that can improve the quality of food for populations, but also contribute to the diversification of farmers’ incomes. Agronomic challenges for its establishment remain, however, significant; efforts aim at improving yield (1.2 tonne/ha on average), seed viability, fertilisation and inoculation of soybeans.
As early as the 1980s, soybean became part of the agro-systems of many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to ensure self-sufficiency in foodstuffs, along with incentives. The lack of processing opportunities will lead farmers in many countries to abandon it. In Cameroon, its popularisation dates back to fifteen years, but domestic demand was quick to take off (agro-industries producing vegetable oil, infant flour and dairy products, animal feed). However, this dynamics is scientifically poorly documented apart from sparse statistics.
The past twenty years have been marked by an intense development of production and uses of biofuels in the world. From 1996 to 2006, the tonnage increased from around 16 million tonnes to almost 46 million [10]. This recent expansion has strengthened the relationship between agricultural (cereals, oilseeds and pulses) and energy markets, a situation favoured by national and regional policies. In 2019, the European Union (EU) authorised the import of American soybeans for the production of biofuel until 2021. Available statistics show that 75% of the EU soybean market share is covered by US production. However, it should be noted that interest in soybeans as a fuel source contributes to its growth in countries such as Argentina, whose production of soy-based agro-fuel exceeded that of Brazil in 2011. Agri-fuels will therefore remain one of the engines of demand for soybeans, and analysts predict the probability of strong production growth by 2025 [11].
From an environmental point of view, soybeans are capable of capturing nitrogen from the air for their own growth and enrichment of their seeds with proteins, but also to fix it in the soil. Thus, its cultivation contributes to the fertilisation of the soil which would limit the prospects of intensifying the use of chemical inputs and its corollary on the soils and water resources. Greenhouse gas emissions linked to seed production would be considerably reduced [12]. However, on the other hand, the extension of cultivated areas contributes significantly to deforestation and the degradation of plant cover [13, 14]. The impact of agricultural value chains on the environment increasingly underpins research dynamics, like the research initiative funded by the European Union through the “Value Chain Analysis For Development” Project (VCA4D) from 2016 to 2019, involving 24 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and Southeast Asia.7
The food industry is one of the industrial sectors that have experienced particularly remarkable development over the past 20 years. This development has been accompanied by an extraordinary diversification of the supply of processed products based on cereals, legumes, oilseeds, etc. Global meat consumption statistics, for instance, show that almost three-quarters of the world’s soybeans are used to feed animals, including poultry and pork. Between 1967 and 2007, pig meat production increased by 294%, that of eggs by 353% and that of poultry meat by 711%. Over the same period, the relative cost of these products has decreased. As the world’s primary source of animal feed, soybeans have become an indispensable part of the intensive agricultural model [4]. Soybeans make up the Bulk of Dairy products, Oils and Flours. Food industry has become a driving force for production in Sub-Saharan Africa through a network of national companies which polarise the productive dynamics particularly oriented towards organic production. This third axis needs to be documented with regard to innovations on technical routes, marketing and transformation.
The study mobilises the theory of spatial diffusion whose interest has been revived in contemporary geographic studies by [15, 16] with the contributions of [17, 18, 19]. These pioneering works emphasise the importance of temporality and spatiality in any diffusion process. Because any diffusion requires contacts between transmitters and receivers, these contacts implying contiguity or spatial connectivity [20, 21]. The theory is appropriate for studying the processes that involve the movement of materials, products, people, practices, or ideas together. It structures three main stages: the initial stage of appearance and progressive growth of the phenomenon observed, the intermediate stage of acceleration of growth, and the final stage of saturation and decay. In social sciences, the notion of diffusion is associated with innovation, from which it is inseparable. Introduction and popularisation trajectories of soybeans fit well with the dynamics of innovation according to Schumpeter (1934). This innovation supposes the combination of new things which propagate in an environment by causing irreversibilities in that environment’s evolution (varietal selection, technical routes, choice of soils …). The mobilisation of this theory will make it possible to decipher the trajectory of soybean diffusion in an attempt to grasp its sustainability.
The study uses the sector approach to complement the reality of the construction of the value chain analysed. Using [22] definition, a sector study is a very precise analysis of a whole system generated by a product. The concept refers to the economic analysis of a sequence of technically complementary physical operations enabling the creation, circulation and consumption of a good (or a service) [23, 24]. The supply chain approach constitutes an effective approach for structuring analysis in contexts of fragile institutional environments and failure of statistical information systems [25]. This fragility is inherent in the context of this study to the reliability of the data provided by the various contradictory sources of information. The mobilisation of this approach will make it possible to obtain knowledge on the functioning of the different segments that make up the sector, with a view to better deciphering the relationships between actors in these segments [26].
Data were collected using two approaches. The first focused on the statistical system on soybean production which combines the source of the Ministry of Agriculture through its branches at regional and divisional level on the one hand and that of FAO on the other hand. However, significant discrepancies between these two sources called for an arbitration which favoured data from the departmental branches closer to the field, despite the doubt about their reliability. This choice is supported by the monitoring of food production in the cotton area since 2006.8
The second approach was the subject of a diagnosis with actors of the sector through a questionnaire survey carried out between 2017 and 2019 among 500 farmers’ members of the soybean producer groups chosen from the snowball technique. Questionnaires were directly administered to farmers in Touboro, Madingring, Mayo-Rey, Tcholliré sub-divisions, on the motivations for growing soybeans, marketing of the production, difficulties encountered, various types of support. Interviews were conducted with officials of the Soybeans Processing Industry of Cameroon (SOPROICAM), an agrifood company that governs the soybean sector in the Sudano-Sahelian zone, officials of the Cameroonian dairy company (Camlait) and service personnel of the Ministry of Agriculture premises.
Survey data were subjected to statistical processing in Excel to identify trends in production and marketing. Interviews were the subject of a qualitative treatment using the content analysis method.
In a first articulation, results present conditions and modalities of soybean farming in Cameroonian cotton basin. The second articulation describes the methods of building a value chain around speculation, and whose sustainability is questioned in a third articulation based on the difficulties and constraints raised by the stakeholders interviewed.
Cotton cultivation is at the heart of multiple challenges in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Cameroon (Figure 1) [28, 29, 30]. The sector experienced a serious crisis from 2006 to 2011 following the constitution by China of large stocks of cotton fibre (EU-ACP, 2015), with the consequence of a drastic fall in production from 315,000 tonnes in 2005 to 180,000 tonnes in 2011 (FAOSTAT). The number of producers increased from 360,000 in 2006 to around 250,000 over the same period, following the drop in the purchase price of seed cotton from producers. The consequences of this fall in the purchase price were dramatic for the producer, given the function of supporting all the charges for agricultural inputs of food crops (cereals, legumes) that cotton plays [28, 29, 31]. They were more so for SODECOTON (drastic fall in the tonnage of exported fibre and seeds for the production of vegetable oil and cottonseed meal for animal feed).
The Cameroonian cotton basin, a soybean production area.
In 2006, SODECOTON initiated a crop diversification project through a feasibility study of soybeans and sunflower as a rotation crop with cotton [32]. This initiative will be avant-garde to the most severe production crisis that SODECOTON will experience between 2008 and 2011, with respectively 185,000 tonnes of unginned cotton produced, 140,000 tonnes, 190,000 tonnes and 180,000 tonnes, compared to 315,000 tonnes in 2005 (peak production which has never reached SODECOTON again9). The results of the study foreshadowed the prospects for a possible diversification crop for soybeans,10 mainly in the cotton front (Mayo-Rey Division) unlike sunflowers.
The SODECOTON diversification project was implemented as from the 2008 agricultural season through two strategic pillars: the pre-financing of agricultural inputs (fertilizers, herbicides) intended for soybeans for cotton producers11; and the purchase of crops. The rapid increase in production (Figure 2) however, was followed by four difficulties which led to the termination of the project after 2011:
Persistence in 2011 of the cotton crisis and its consequences on the financial resources of SODECOTON leading to the end of the pre-financing of inputs and the purchase of soybean crops;
Competition from Nigerian traders with producers to the detriment of SODECOTON, resulting in a low level of recovery of pre-financing of inputs;
Increasing immobilisation of unsold stocks of soy products (oil cake, vegetable oil), prices being considered higher than those of cotton seed products on domestic markets;
Technological difficulties encountered in processing more rustic soybeans than cotton seeds.
Evolution of soybean production in the cotton basin of Mayo-Rey (2008–2019).
The cessation of the crop diversification project as a consequence of the above difficulties will stimulate a new productive and market dynamic supported by Nigerian wholesalers whose prices on the domestic markets are twice higher than those offered by SODECOTON and Soyabeans Processing Industrial of Cameroon (SOPROICAM), a cooperative company engaged in the purchase and industrial processing of soybeans, to conquer the regional market. The sale of crops on domestic markets becomes a direct source of income for producers, in an environment marked by permanent cash flow tensions.
Thus, between 2011 and 2016, cotton ceased to be the head of rotation in crop rotations in favour of soybeans for 40% of producers interviewed. This proportion was 60% after 2017, with a strong trend towards the proliferation of monoculture farms by clearing new plots.
In the North Region, the main production basin of the entire Sudano-Sahelian region, the cultivated area increased from less than 6,000 ha in 2008 to 68,000 ha in 2019.12 The activity brings together nearly 50,000 producers, at least 35% of whom have abandoned cotton growing in favour of soybeans. And owing to their status as crops which are almost entirely intended for the domestic and cross-border market, the two speculations compete as much in the use of space as in family and salaried agricultural labour.
From a spatial point of view, soybeans are indeed developing in the new cotton basin of the Mayo-Rey Division, opened within the framework of the “Programme of migration and agricultural support services” implemented by the State of Cameroon from 1974 to 1997. This programme made it possible to move and supervise the settlement of more than 200,000 migrants from the Far North Region to areas with high agricultural potential in the North Region [33] (Figure 2). The two speculations are therefore cultivated by so-called “non-native” populations for whom access to land remains a challenge because of the socio-cultural barriers which limit their access to land ownership in settlements. Local populations have always lived their presence as a form of spoliation of their land [34]. In this context of precarious land, the average cultivated area per producer is small (1 ha), with however at least 50% of farms between ¼ and ¾ ha. This proportion is justified by the fact that soybeans are almost entirely cultivated by family farms (FF) which also ensure the production of foodstuffs intended primarily for self-consumption (millet/sorghum, corn, cowpeas, groundnuts). Thus, with an average yield of 1 tonne/ha, EFA production oscillates between 500 and 800 kg, or 5 to 8 bags of 100 kg. It is therefore essentially an atomised production on small areas exploited for an average duration of 5 years from the clearing. In some cases, soybeans are grown in rotation with corn one to two years to capitalise on residual effects of nitrogen. Despite this situation, which translates into a context of land insecurity for most producers, soybean monoculture farms are, nevertheless, developed on 5–15 ha, despite their low mechanisation. However, the overall increase in areas by clearing and deforestation will soon come up against the areas set aside for environmental protection (Bénoué and Bouba-Ndjidda national parks; Areas of Hunting Interest which cover nearly 50% of the North Region).
From a labour point of view, almost essentially manual production justifies the use of family labour force adapted to the crumbling context of plots on the one hand, and hired labour for farms greater than or equal to 2 ha on the other hand. According to technical soybean routes, the labour force is called upon to perform several tasks (Table 1):
Preparing fields (clearing and/or cutting down of trees for the creation of new plots, burning);
Sowing;
Crops maintenance (fertiliser and herbicide spreading, weeding);
Harvests;
Threshing soybeans for seeds extraction.
Jan. | Feb. | Mar. | Apr | May | June | July | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative period | Until March | As from the 10th of March | As from the 15th | As from the 15th | During the two months | From the 15th to November | Until March | |||||
Activities | Continuous marketing | Land identification/field preparation | Early sowing | Late sowing | Crop maintenance | Start of the harvest | Threshing and marketing |
Distribution of tasks according to the soybean agricultural calendar.
The spread of labour-intensive tasks over ten months in the year (March to December) has thus contributed to the development of a subsector of agricultural workers who have become essential in the productive dynamics, remuneration being paid by task. For agricultural workers, this is an immediate source of income that is beginning to structure a seasonal migratory flow to soybean production areas. In addition, the growing use of labour force, whether family or salaried, is increasingly a factor in the variation/reduction of areas devoted to other food crops (millet/sorghum, maize, cowpeas, peanuts, cotton) due to the overlapping of agricultural calendars which puts the execution of agricultural tasks in competition. Cotton is more demanding in terms of labour force, and conversely, does not provide immediate income, the producer being just as dependent on uncertain payment terms. Overall, this growing craze for soybean cultivation underpins the consolidation of the producers’ strategic link in the construction of a value chain.
Michael Porter (1986) who is the author of the value chain concept developed it in his reference book “Competitive Advantage”. The value chain describes all the activities necessary to carry out a product or a service from its conception, through different phases of production to its distribution to final consumers, then to its destruction after use. It breaks down activity into sequences of elementary operations and identifies sources of potential competitive advantage. This breakdown improves the overall performance of the value chain by strengthening each link and links between links.
As production is only one of the stages in creating added value, knowing the dynamics of building soybean value chain involves breaking down all of the activities that structure it, all linked to each other.
Regional soybean production follows two marketing trajectories: contract buying and free selling on domestic markets. The first trajectory is supported by the Soybeans Processing Industry of Cameroon (SOPROICAM) which has set up a network of 20,000 farmers present in more than 2000 producer organisations. The contractual relationship is framed by two provisions guaranteeing the supply to producers of inputs (fertilisers and herbicides) at the start of the crop year and the obligation to deliver the crops to SOPROICAM at a price fixed in advance by the two parties. The kg fixed for the 2018–2019 agricultural campaign was CFAF 170 (or EUR 0.259), against CFAF 120–150 (EUR 0.182–0.228) on the domestic market. For this campaign, this company collected 6,000 tonnes of soybeans (60,000,100 kg bags) worth CFAF 1,020,000,000 (EUR 1,554,980). The unsatisfied purchase forecast for this campaign was 20,000 tonnes, which would have generated in the production segment alone a money supply in circulation in the region of CFAF 3.4 billion (EUR 5,183,270).
The second trajectory is organised around a network of wholesalers who source from producers in rural markets. These wholesalers act as intermediaries for cross-border or domestic agrifood companies. For example, the Cameroonian dairy company (Camlait), an agrifood company based in Douala, introduced, in 2019, 581,203 kg soybeans (5812 bags of 100 kg) in the manufacturing process of its milk-based products (Nouriss, Breaksoy and Riverr). This quantity represents between CFAF 69,744,360 and CFAF 87,180,45013 depending on the price in rural markets. In addition to food products, soybeans are one of the main feedstocks for poultry feed. Domestic demand, however, remains unevaluated, as does that of Nigerian agrifood companies, which have supplied Nigerian wholesalers with an important soybean purchasing channel for the past decade.
The attempt to assess the financial effects generated from proven national demand reveals the existence of significant economic potential, the optimisation of which would contribute to improving the incomes of farmers directly involved in trade relations with other links of the value chain. Despite uncertainties in the regional production data noted in the methodological framework, reaching 100,000 tonnes of production since the 2018 agricultural campaign would thus represent a minimum annual monetary value of CFAF 12.5 billion (EUR 19,056,100) for producers at the average price on the rural market. This estimate does not include the production of isolated basins in the Far North Region, which is not taken into account in this study. It does not equally include the added value generated by other links in the chain (distribution, transformation).
The marketing trajectories analysed above highlight convincing elements in the structuring of a value chain that links four links (supply of basic goods and services, production, distribution, transformation) (Figure 3).
Graphical representation of the soybean value chain in the Sudano-Sahelian region of Cameroon.
The first link is built around four uncoordinated actions which nevertheless make it possible to effectively support the supply of basic agricultural services (seeds, fertilisers, herbicides and financing). Within the framework of its contractual relationship with producer groups, SOPROICAM ensures the supply of inputs to groups that express demand. These are mineral fertilisers of ternary combination N (nitrogen) - P (phosphate) - K (potassium) of formulation 12-24-12 and 20-10-10, as well as herbicides (glyphosate, roundup). The first formulation is specific to the production of legumes whose natural nitrogen production potential directs mineral requirements more towards phosphate. The second formulation which is more suited to the cultivation of maize, responds to a specific request from farmers to the company to support cereal production intended for self-consumption. This company also plays the role of guarantor with micro finance establishments for the granting of loans to producers.
Farmers’ growing interest in soybeans has, however, led to the development of the chemical input marketing activity through a network of small distributors who supply rural markets. However, a weak segment of this link remains the supply of seeds, most of which are harvested. Since the introduction and popularisation of varieties adapted to ecology by SODECOTON from 2007 to 2010 (so-called “local” varieties: Houla 1, Houla 2, TGX-849-29-4D, ESA, SJ 235; varieties from the IITA collection of Ibadan in Nigeria: TGX 1448 2E, TGX 1485 1D and TGX 1910 14F), seed production has no longer been the subject of a specific research or experimentation programme. Consequently, the seeds in circulation come from the repeated reuse of seeds taken from the crops. Production is therefore mainly ensured from so-called “all-coming” varieties resulting from these re-uses. This context is partly maintained by the absence of specific requests on varieties by food companies. Colour therefore is the only criterion for differentiating soybeans between red and white.
The second link in the value chain brings together two categories of producers. The first brought together nearly 20,000 producers in groups whether they have a legal existence or not with the administration in charge of cooperative companies. The second concerns producers who are not involved in any form of collective dynamics. The first initiatives to organise soybean producers emerged from 2011 in the Mayo-Rey Division and will quickly evolve towards the creation of increasingly structured groups despite the low legalisation rate observed (less than 10%). As noted above, SOPROICAM maintains a network of more than 2000 groups. The file of cooperative societies in the North Region references ten legalised cooperatives of soybean producers since 2017, including six in the only Mayo-Rey Division which provides 80% of the production in the North Region (Table 2).
Sub-division | Number of cooperatives | Number of members |
---|---|---|
Rey-Bouba | 1 | 700 |
Tcholliré | 1 | 1000 |
Madingring | 1 | 650 |
Touboro | 3 | 2000 |
Spatial distribution of cooperative producers of soybeans in Mayo-Rey (2019).
Source: Surveys of producers’ cooperatives and base of cooperative societies of the North Regional Delegation for Agriculture and Rural Development (April 2020).
Women represent 20% of the group members. This small proportion could be explained by the density of labour-intensive tasks on the one hand, and the immediate financial profitability that the sale of soybeans provides arousing great interest among men on the other hand.
The third link represents the heart of the value chain. It is made up of SOPROICAM and a network of Cameroonian and Nigerian wholesalers, two actors in the governance of the soybean sector. Their respective role in marketing has already been explained in the functioning of the trajectories presented above (2.1.). If it is true that the first actor has invested in the control of the sector from the field to the factory, wholesalers meanwhile are agents of execution of the strategic choices of agrifood companies expressed through the formulation of quantitative and qualitative needs.
The fourth link brings together all of the processing companies whose activities relate to the production of vegetable oil, dairy products, edible flours, oil cakes and animal feed. The study identified five main companies under Cameroonian law, soybeans being one of the main raw materials in the production process (Table 3).
No. | Denomination | Products developed | Geographical location |
---|---|---|---|
1 | SOPROICAM | - Vegetable oil - Oil cakes | Douala |
2 | CAMLAIT | - Nourished, - Breaksoy - Riverr | Douala |
3 | NT Foods S.A.R.L (Tanty, brand name) | - Soybeans flour - Reine custard powder infant soybeans porridge - Tanty custard powder | Yaoundé |
4 | Nkam Feed Company | Provende (poultry feed) | Yaoundé |
5 | Cameroon Provender Company | Provende (poultry feed) | Bafoussam |
Main agri-food companies processing soybeans in Cameroon.
Source: authors’ compilation.
The existence of the above four links and the market relationships between them confirm the presence of structural elements in a soybean value chain. The growing investment of distribution and processing players in supporting the productive dynamics testifies today’s challenges for a need to perpetuate regional supply to meet increasing domestic and cross-border demand.
The growing statistics on soybean production are likely to obscure the constraints which constitute potential vectors of weakening the productive dynamics noted above. Indeed, the diagnosis of the organisation and functioning of production as a strategic link in the value chain highlights three major constraints relating to the structuring of producers, the provision of agricultural services and the functioning of market.
With regard to the first constraint, the collaboration model implemented by SOPROICAM tends to polarise all producers towards the creation of structured and legalised groups. Despite the current proliferation of independent wholesalers, consolidating the distribution link means moving towards the establishment of true merchant cooperatives. This future trend implies for producers to build real organisations whose legal existence constitutes a foundation of credibility vis-à-vis other actors in the value chain. However, the low proportion of registration by the competent administration of existing structured groups with a view to obtaining the status of cooperatives results in difficulties in opening accounts in financial and banking establishments due to the lack of a reliable guarantee; refusal to pay membership fees by members; leadership struggles and internal confidence crises.
From the point of view of the provision of agricultural services, the support of distribution players to producers constitutes a dusting which, far from boosting production, keeps farmers in a spiral of dependence on buyers. Several farmers denounce the low level of inputs supplied by SOPROICAM (less than 40–50% of the needs expressed) in exchange for the exclusive purchase of the crops. The fixing of the purchase price at the start of the crop year thus reinforces this dependence of farmers on the company. This context therefore contributes to the establishment of an unsustainable debt cycle in the medium and long term by farmers, many of whom opt for direct sales on domestic markets.
This second constraint is also marked by the absence of a seed sector to sustainably increase yield. With an average yield of 1 tonne/ha, soybean productivity does not bode well for the prospects of sustainable growth, thus justifying the intensification of land clearing and deforestation to expand the cultivated areas, despite the virtual absence of mechanisation of production and technical supervision by State services.
As a corollary to the above, the regional soybean market is characterised by inter-annual price instabilities that are highly detrimental to farmers in terms of making production forecasts due to market uncertainty. In 2012 for example, the kg of soybeans cost CFAF 220 (EUR 0.335) against CFAF 120–150 (EUR 0.182–0.228) between 2017 and 2019. The strong presence on the domestic markets of Nigerian wholesalers frequently subject to variations in the cost of Naïra (devaluation) is a factor which reinforces market uncertainties.
Ultimately, beyond the institutional will displayed to support the soybean sector by the launch in 2014 of a dedicated agropolis in the Far North Region, it is difficult to see concrete actions on the ground, strengths of the State for the benefit of key players.
In this study, we have proposed to analyse the sustainability issues of the productive and market dynamics built around soybeans, speculation subject to strong demands for international competitiveness and which at the same time has a strong potential for improving farmers’ incomes. The conditions and modalities for the development of this speculation corroborate the importance of temporality and spatiality in the soybean diffusion process, which is driven by SODECOTON in the face of the persistent context of the cotton crisis. The productive dynamics described responds to the spatial diffusion trajectory structured in three stages: the initial stage of appearance and growth of soybean cultivation from 2008, the intermediate stage of acceleration of growth observed since the 2015–2016 agricultural season, and the final stage of saturation and decay not yet started. The temporality of the first two stages testifies to the rapidity of the environment penetration through technical innovation which combined varietal selection, technical routes, choice of soils, trading strategy. This speed also shows the capacity of Sudano-Sahelian farmers to take ownership of innovations and optimise their value.
However, from an agronomic point of view, the low productivity (on average 1 tonne/ha) is evidence of the weight of the constraints which limit the optimisation of the productive potential of almost 2 tonnes/ha revealed by experimental trials in 2006, mainly on local varieties. The study highlights in particular the virtual absence of mechanisation of production, a situation affecting both medium and large farms from a spatial point of view, as well as the absence of a seed industry with the corollary of the use of so-called “all-comers” seeds. The major environmental issues in the Sudano-Sahelian region call for priority to be given to the development of intensification trajectories for soybean cultivation.
The growing development of production, although backed by a spatial sprawl trajectory, offers the opportunity to build a value chain that articulates four strategic links: provision of agricultural services, production, distribution and processing. As pointed out above, the investment of distribution and processing players in supporting the productive dynamics testifies to the challenges that the need to perpetuate regional supply raises today. The mobilisation of the value chain approach will have made it possible to grasp the relationships existing between the categories of actors that make up the value chain and to identify their weaknesses. The attempt to assess the financial effects induced by the marketing of regional production has above all revealed the potential that soybean speculation abounds in terms of the circulation of annual money supply.
Ultimately, the results obtained corroborate the hypothesis which maintained that soybean brings out the structuring elements of a value chain, but its viability remains precarious by constraints inherent in the proven inability of farmers to empower themselves to optimise production and control the marketing and poor technical supervision of the crop. It appears that these constraints are jeopardising the prospects for the sustainability of a soybean value chain despite growing demand. The control of all the activities of the chain by private actors constitutes a risk of reinforcement of dependence of farmers who are strongly subjected to the strategic choices of these actors. This observation suggests that public authorities should be strongly challenged in their regulatory role, but above all to support local dynamics by facilitating some procedures, such as streamlining the procedures for creating accounts to increase the proportion of cooperatives registered with the administration in charge of agriculture. The seed sector is a strategic segment which is almost neglected. The sustainability challenges of the soybean value chain are therefore strongly questioned.
The authors thank the services of the North Regional Delegation for Agriculture and Rural Development for facilitating the gathering of information.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
The application of DNA sequence technology covers a wide range of fields. As next-generation sequencing (NGS) has progressed, it has become more widely used in an array of practical applications [1, 2]. One direction of use includes the field of precision medical care. In cases of cancer caused by genetic mutations, molecular targeted drugs can be discovered by investigating gene mutations. In addition, the application of NGS is advancing in industrial fields; for instance, genotyping of animals and plants can be performed at low cost and the genetic markers can be screened with NGS.
\nNGS enables profiling of complex microbial communities in nature as well as that of indigenous microbiota associated with living organisms [3, 4]. Higher forms of life coexist with huge numbers of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and, in some cases, protozoa and parasites—albeit bacteria are the most important microorganisms in terms of their numbers and host interactions. There are as many viruses as numbers, but many of them are viruses (phages) that infect bacteria.
\nBacteria are present on the surface bodies of living organisms, such as their skin, gastrointestinal tracts, respiratory systems, and oral cavities, and they are colonized with an inherent balance in each place. This balance constitutes a stable complex ecosystem through crosstalk between bacteria and hosts. Among these places of localization, the digestive tract has the most abundant localization in terms of both the number and the type. In humans, 90% of established bacteria inhabit the digestive tract.
\nThe intestinal microbial community includes not only enormous numbers and types of microorganisms but also active metabolic activity. The genes of the intestinal microbial community are present in proportion of at least 100-fold more than that of the genome of the host and various metabolites are produced, which are absorbed into the host body. NGS is now an indispensable item in the study of intestinal microbial communities and is applied not only to humans but also to other living organisms, such as domestic animals, insects, poultry, and wild birds [5].
\nUnderstanding the transboundary movement of microorganisms is an important requirement from the perspective of public health and environmental science [6, 7]. Microorganisms travel geographically over distant areas on the earth via ocean currents and atmospheric movement. In addition, migratory birds carry pathogenic microorganisms when traveling over long distances to several parts of the world [8, 9, 10]. Numerous pathogenic bacteria, such as pathogenic
Research efforts have been performed to identify the bacterial communities contained in the feces of migratory birds (Bar-headed goose, shorebirds, swallow, etc.) by a novel culture-independent method [14, 15]. We attempted to explore the stability of the intestinal bacterial communities in migratory birds, the difference in the intestinal bacterial communities among birds at the individual and species levels, and the potential of long-distance movement of antibiotic-resistant bacteria associated with migratory birds [16, 17, 18, 19]. Research on the spread of bacterial populations over vast distances has led to the elucidation of the roles of migratory birds regarding human health risks, thereby enabling the prediction of potential outbreaks based on their migratory patterns. NGS is useful for understanding bacterial diversity and for discovering novel bacteria [20]. The present review considers the potential role of wild birds in the transmission of intestinal microbiota, including antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, and our current knowledge of microbiota associated with migratory birds using NGS technologies.
\nSince the scientific study on bacteria began in the 19th century, pure culture methods supported the progress of microbiology in a wide range of fields such as medicine, pharmacy, biology, agriculture, and fermentation engineering. In the latter half of the 1970s, however, the method of total direct counting was developed, in which bacteria were stained with fluorescent dye and directly observed or counted under a fluorescence microscope. The use of this method revealed that several environmental bacteria cannot yet be cultivated by the conventional laboratory techniques [21, 22]. Therefore, new bacterial detection methods that were independent of culturing began to be developed in succession [23, 24, 25, 26]. From the latter half of the 1990s, the method to directly extract DNA from the sample without culturing the bacteria and using a universal primer to target the conserved region of the 16S rRNA gene or PCR amplification with genus-specific primers to decode the DNA sequence became widespread [15, 27, 28]. Since the obtained gene information depended on the number of bacterial clones that the researcher could handle at a time, these methods were found to be limited to about tens to thousands.
\nIn the past few years, comprehensive analysis of DNA sequences using NGS has spread rapidly [5]. NGS is a powerful fundamental technology that is capable of concurrently determining the nucleotide sequences of tens of millions to hundreds of millions of DNA fragments. It is also capable of advanced and high-speed processing, such as multiple determinations of multiple samples. Moreover, the expenditure on equipment and operations for this method has also been reduced. The use of NGS can help acquire genetic information of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of bacterial species in a short time. NGS can also aid in the understanding of the entire picture, thereby enabling a greater focus on specific interesting bacteria based on the phylogenetic taxonomic information. This, in turn, would lead to further qualitative and quantitative analyses in detail.
\nBecause 16S rRNA gene contains both highly conserved regions for primer design and hypervariable regions to identify the phylogenetic characteristics of microorganisms, 16S rRNA gene sequence has become the most widely used marker gene for profiling bacterial communities [29, 30]. Full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences consist of nine hypervariable regions that are separated by nine highly conserved regions [31, 32]. Study with bioinformatics tools attempted to evaluate the phylogenetic sensitivity of the hypervariable regions in comparison with the corresponding full-length sequences and revealed that the V4–V6 regions represented the optimal subregions for bacterial phylogenetic studies of the new phyla [33]. Since the 16S rRNA gene differs from 1 to 16 in the number of copies per cell depending on the genus [34], the relative proportion obtained by NGS does not necessarily agree with the ratio of actual community composition, although the dominant populations can be ascertained.
\nThe geographical route that migratory birds move annually on the earth is called “flyway,” and there are nine major flyways in the world. Japan is located on the East Asia-Australia flyway, and it is estimated that more than 50 million migratory birds, such as shorebirds, birds, and seabirds, travel over the flyway every year.
\nSummer migrants in Japan fly from the south mainly for breeding and spend the summer in Japan, and when the breeding season ends, they return south for overwintering. Winter migrants in Japan fly from the north mainly for overwintering and spend the winter in Japan, and then in the spring, they return north for breeding. Passage migrants breed in the country north of Japan and overwinter in the country south of Japan, and so they travel through Japan during the movement and are mainly observed in spring and autumn. As a whole, some millions of migratory birds are estimated to visit Japan annually.
\nThe direct counting method by fluorescent staining revealed that the fecal matter of migratory birds contains ≥108 cells/g bacteria [16, 17]. Since disinfection treatments for bird feces is not performed like that for humans and livestock, there are possibilities that several live bacteria, along with 50 million migratory birds each year, travel the East Asia–Australia region flyway for a long distance. In order to clarify the dynamic of the microbiota, including pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, as well as to verify their significance in public health and environmental microbiology, research has been performed to analyze the intestinal microbial community associated with migratory birds by NGS [16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22].
\nThe barn swallow (
For the study on the intestinal microbial communities of barn swallow, fecal specimens of the adult and young barn swallows were collected from the nest on the university campus and from various nests around the Osaka prefecture, Japan. The NGS analysis was performed on the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene.
\nDiversity indices of intestinal bacterial communities in barn swallows were determined for each of the sampling locations (Table 1). The diversity index of young birds was found to be lower than that of adult birds. Similar results were reported from studies with swallows in Europe [36].
\nSite | \nAdult | \nYoung | \n
---|---|---|
All | \n2.48 (1.09)\n\na\n\n\n | \n1.66 (0.85) | \n
OOU17 | \n2.74 (0.92) | \n2.34 (0.88) | \n
OOU20 | \n3.33 (1.36) | \n1.82 (0.76) | \n
Wakayama | \n1.86 (0.40) | \n1.40 (0.73) | \n
Alpha diversity of fecal microbiota in adult and young barn swallow.
Standard deviation.
The stability of intestinal bacterial communities in wild birds has not yet been studied. We collected feces over a period of time from the same nest within the university campus (OOU 20) and compared changes in the intestinal bacterial communities between adult and young birds. The day when the birds were born was set as day 0, that before the birth as day –N, and that after the birth as day +N (where, N = 1, 2, 3, …; Figure 1). Fecal samples in negative and positive value days represent ones of parent and young birds, respectively.
\nChange in the bacterial community composition of fecal samples of barn swallows living in the same nest. (a) Relative portions of bacterial phylotypes in averaged fecal samples at the family level (b) Principle component analysis of family abundance data. Fecal samples in negative and positive value days represent ones of parent and young birds, respectively.
Adult samples were dominated by
\nFigure 1b depicts the similarity in the intestinal bacterial community at the family level by principal component analysis (PCA). The intestinal bacterial communities of the adult birds changed greatly over time, but the profiles of adult and young birds remained similar before and after hatching, and then the young birds showed a great change. The adult birds brought insects and the likes in the nest to feed the young ones; therefore, it seems that the intestinal bacterial community was temporarily similar because of the similar diets. Similar results were reported from studies with swallows in Europe [36].
\nTo examine the extent of change in the intestinal bacterial community of the barn swallows living in the same nest, the change was compared with that in other nests. The sampling sites OOU17 and OOU20 are nests located about 50 m apart. The sampling sites Wakayama were about 50 km away from the sites OOU20 and OOU17 and consisted of a plurality of nests at a distance of 100 m. As compared with these adult and young birds, no such characteristics were observed in the groups of adult or young birds or in specific nests (Figure 2). As seen in the figure regarding the change in the bacterial community at OOU 20, the extent of difference in the bacterial community over a period of time in the same nest was found to exceed the extent of the difference among different nests.
\nPrincipal component analysis of class abundance data from adult and young barn swallows.
In order to verify whether there were similarities in the bacterial communities for each collection area, PCA was performed on those from the adult birds (Figure 3a and b). We examined four areas (northern Osaka, southern Osaka, northern Wakayama, and others); these areas were about 50 km apart and beyond the activity range of the insects that served as the swallows’ diets. The distribution of the samples in the same nest at OOU20 is shown in gray in Figure 3a. The extent of difference in the bacterial community in the same nest surpassed that among different nests. No relationship was found between the bacterial community composition and the geographical area in the fecal samples. Since the intestinal tract of swallows is short, it was speculated that the intestinal microbial community might be influenced by the daily diet and may accordingly change greatly in only a couple of days.
\nSimilarity analysis of 16S rRNA gene data from adult barn swallows. (a) Sampling sites around Osaka, Japan. (b) Principal component analysis of class abundance data.
In order to examine the stability of the intestinal bacterial communities of other birds, we examined the succession of intestinal bacterial communities in the feces of a Eurasian wigeon, which was flying to the northern part of Osaka at the beginning of the winter season, staying in the same area when spending a winter. The Eurasian wigeon (
In December 2017, when the researchers flew to Japan, we examined the succession over time with monthly intestinal bacteria of Eurasian wigeon around the Ai River in north Osaka (Figure 4). Community analysis at the class level revealed that Clostridia constituted 64.7% in December, but the proportion decreased to 18.4% in April 2018 (
Changes in the bacterial community composition of fecal samples from the Eurasian wigeon while staying in western Japan. Fecal samples were collected from around Ai River, north Osaka, Japan.
We also compared the intestinal microbial communities of Eurasian wigeon in December and April at different sites and in different years. We used samples collected from different sampling sites, Lake Biwa in 2016 and Ai River in 2017, as samples in the early winter. As samples for the spring season, fecal samples were collected from Biwa Lake and Ai River between 2016 and 2018.
\nAll samples in December were dominated by Clostridia, and samples in April were dominated by Gammaproteobacteria. Regardless of the differences in the location and year of sampling, the major bacterial communities were found to be similar. PCA revealed obvious difference in the bacterial community—namely, the samples in December were distributed in gray (right panel) and the samples in April shifted to the left panel in Figure 5. These results revealed that the intestinal bacterial community composition of Eurasian wigeon, which flew to Japan at the beginning of winter, changed while they spend a winter in Japan.
\nComparison of the bacterial community composition of fecal samples from the Eurasian wigeon in the early winter (December) and spring (April) seasons. Fecal samples were collected from around Ai River and lake Biwa, Japan in different years.
The dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria across borders has become an important issue in public health, and the involvement of migratory birds has been indicated as a mechanism by which resistant bacteria spread at the global level [13]. In addition, colistin is regarded as an important antimicrobial agent; it is even an antibiotic used as the last resort for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae bacteria at the World Health Organization. Thus, the succession of number of colistin-resistant
The frequency distribution of the number of colistin-resistant
Frequency distribution of the number of colistin-resistant
DNA barcoding is a technique that allows identification of species by using a short nucleotide sequence of a specific gene region. By using a gene region that reflects the difference in species as a standard DNA barcode, it has become possible to specify species. This method can be used to identify species of plants, animals, and fungi. It also helps to discover new varieties by combining with other information.
\nFor animals, about 650 bases in length at the 5′ end of the cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (
On the other hand, for plants, a few mitochondrial interspecific mutations and
For analyzing the intestinal contents of various types of wildlife, the DNA barcoding method described above can be used in combination with NGS [41, 42]. Representative primers used for DNA barcoding were shown in Table 2. Various primer sets are available from the following site (http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Public_Primer_PrimerSearch).
\nTarget gene | \nName | \nNucleotide sequence (5′-3′) | \n
---|---|---|
COI | \nLCO1490 | \nGGTCAACAAATCATAAAGATATTGG | \n
\n | HCO2198 | \nTAAACTTCAGGGTGACCAAAAAATCA | \n
matK | \n3F_KIM f | \nCGTACAGTACTTTTGTGTTTACGAG | \n
\n | 1R_KIM r | \nACCCAGTCCATCTGGAAATCTTGGTTC | \n
rbcL | \nrbcLa_F | \nATGTCACCACAAACAGAGACTAAAGC | \n
\n | rbcLa_R | \nGTAAAATCAAGTCCACCRCG | \n
12S | \nM13U12S-F | \nTGTAAAACGACGGCCAGTCAAACTGGGATTAGATACCC | \n
\n | M13U12S-R | \nCAGGAAACAGCTATGACCGAGGGTGACGGGCGGTGTGT | \n
16S | \nM13U16S-F | \nTGTAAAACGACGGCCAGTACCGTGCAAAGGTAGCATAAT | \n
\n | M13U16S-R | \nCAGGAAACAGCTATGACCTCCGGTCTGAACTCAGATCAC | \n
Representative primers used for DNA barcoding.
Underlined portions are M13 tag sequences [39].
We focused on the DNA barcoding method to examine the relationship between diet and intestinal microbial communities in migratory birds. It can be hypothesized that diet—based on foods available in the area—has an influence, leading to change in the intestinal bacterial community of Eurasian wigeon and the number of colistin-resistant
Relative proportions of phylotypes of diet in the Eurasian wigeon.
The
Pearson’s correlation coefficients did not show any strong relationships between the number of both colistin-resistant
Although the Eurasian wigeon mainly ingests terrestrial plants,
In order to clarify the intestinal bacterial communities among different avian species, those of seagulls, Eurasian wigeon, and barn swallow were compared at their class levels (Figure 8). For this research, feces of the European herring gull and Slaty-backed gull were collected in Hokkaido (northern Japan). Slaty-backed gull (
Principal component analysis of class abundance data from migratory birds and nonmigratory birds.
Although the intestinal bacterial community of the Eurasian wigeon was dominated by Clostridia and Bacteroidia, those of the seagulls were dominated by Gammaproteobacteria. Figure 8 shows the results of PCA, comparing the similarities between the intestinal bacterial communities of the migratory birds with other birds registered on the public database. It is highly likely that migratory birds may eat different foods; therefore, differences across individuals were large as compared to those in poultry. However, as compared with other birds, individual intestinal microbiota from the barn swallow was relatively similar. In particular, intestinal bacterial composition from the Eurasian wigeon (□) collected from different seasons (December and April) was found to be highly diversified. The extent of the difference in them surpassed the extent of the difference among other birds. It may be reasonable that each of the intestinal bacterial communities was formed by the food consumed, be it an insect meal, an herbivorous meal, an omnivorous meal, or a carnivorous meal.
\nThe use of culture-independent methods for studying wild bird-associated microbial communities could have been shown to be beneficial in the expansion of our current knowledge. The NGS targeting the 16S rRNA gene allows a comprehensive clarification of the bacterial communities, their succession while spending a winter or breeding, and their associated movement with migratory birds. The application of NGS is expected to improve our understanding of the overview of not only bacterial communities but also organisms ingested as part of the diet in wild birds. Narrowing down the target organisms using NGS will enable us to identify unknown pathogens or reveal the potential migration status of known pathogens that have escaped noticed so far due to methodological constraints. In addition, the relationship between intestinal microbial communities and diet of living organisms needs to be studied in greater detail.
\nInvestigation of community composition in parallel with functional investigations (e.g., drug resistance) is expected to improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which multidrug-resistant bacteria spread around the world. Addressing the current implications of birds as potential vectors of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is of great interest. Analysis of the indigenous bacterial flora of migratory birds may highlight the importance of human hygiene and the environmental significance of the transfer of antibiotic-resistant bacteria associated with natural bird migratory patterns. When wild birds act as vectors of diseases, it is important to identify the true source of infectious organisms. NGS, as a culture-independent method, facilitates further understanding of the complexities and interactions of the genera inherently associated with birds, such as sputum, feces, and feather, as well as of those acquired from the wintering or breeding environment.
\nThis work was supported by the JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (18 K06435) and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (15H05946). The author thanks Emi Kishino, Kiyo Horikawa, Saki Tsujita, and Haruka Takehashi for technical assistance during this work.
\nThe author has no conflicts of interest directly relevant to the content of this article.
These Terms and Conditions outline the rules and regulations pertaining to the use of IntechOpen’s website www.intechopen.com and all the subdomains owned by IntechOpen located at 5 Princes Gate Court, London, SW7 2QJ, United Kingdom.
',metaTitle:"Terms and Conditions",metaDescription:"These terms and conditions outline the rules and regulations for the use of IntechOpen Website at https://intechopen.com and all its subdomains owned by Intech Limited located at 7th floor, 10 Lower Thames Street, London, EC3R 6AF, UK.",metaKeywords:null,canonicalURL:"/page/terms-and-conditions",contentRaw:'[{"type":"htmlEditorComponent","content":"By accessing the website at www.intechopen.com you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms of Service, all applicable laws and regulations, and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. Use and/or access to this site is based on full agreement and compliance of these Terms. All materials contained on this website are protected by applicable copyright and trademark laws.
\\n\\nThe following terminology applies to these Terms and Conditions, Privacy Statement, Disclaimer Notice, and any or all Agreements:
\\n\\n“Client”, “Customer”, “You” and “Your” refers to you, the person accessing this website and accepting the Company’s Terms and Conditions;
\\n\\n“The Company”, “Ourselves”, “We”, “Our” and “Us”, refers to our Company, IntechOpen;
\\n\\n“Party”, “Parties”, or “Us”, refers to both the Client and ourselves, or either the Client or ourselves.
\\n\\nAll Terms refer to the offer, acceptance, and consideration of payment necessary to provide assistance to the Client in the most appropriate manner, whether by formal meetings of a fixed duration, or by any other agreed means, for the express purpose of meeting the Client’s needs in respect of provision of the Company’s stated services/products, and in accordance with, and subject to, the prevailing laws of the United Kingdom.
\\n\\nAny use of the above terminology, or other words in the singular, plural, capitalization and/or he/she or they, are taken as interchangeable.
\\n\\nUnless otherwise stated, IntechOpen and/or its licensors own the intellectual property rights for all materials on www.intechopen.com. All intellectual property rights are reserved. You may view, download, share, link and print pages from www.intechopen.com for your own personal use, subject to the restrictions set out in these Terms and Conditions.
\\n\\nWe employ the use of cookies. By using the IntechOpen website you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with IntechOpen’s Privacy Policy. Most modern day interactive websites use cookies to enable the retrieval of user details for each visit. On our site, cookies are predominantly used to enable functionality and ease of use for those visiting the site.
\\n\\nIn no circumstances shall IntechOpen or its suppliers be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption) arising out of the use, or inability to use, the materials on IntechOpen's websites, even if IntechOpen or an IntechOpen authorized representative has been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damage. Some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages; consequently, these limitations may not apply to you.
\\n\\nIntechopen.com website content and services are provided on an "AS IS" and an "AS AVAILABLE" basis. Material appearing on www.intechopen.com could include minor technical, typographical, or photographic errors. IntechOpen may make changes to any material contained on its website at any time without notice.
\\n\\nIntechOpen has no formal affiliation to any external sites that link to www.intechopen.com, unless otherwise specifically stated. As such, it is not responsible for content that appears on any such sites. The inclusion of any link to IntechOpen does not imply endorsement by IntechOpen. Use of any such linked website is done solely at the user's own discretion.
\\n\\nWe reserve the right of ownership over our entire website www.intechopen.com, and all contents. By using our services, you agree to remove all links to our website immediately upon request. We also reserve the right to amend these Terms and Conditions and our linking policy at any time. By continuing to link to our website, you agree to be bound to, and abide by, these linking Terms and Conditions.
\\n\\nIf you find any link on our website, or any linked website, objectionable for any reason, please Contact Us. We will consider all requests to remove links but will have no obligation to do so.
\\n\\nWithout prior approval and express written permission, you may not create frames around our web pages or use other techniques that alter in any way the visual presentation or appearance of our website.
\\n\\nIntechOpen may revise its Terms of Service for its website at any time without notice. By using this website, you are agreeing to be bound by the current version of all Terms at the time of use.
\\n\\nThese Terms and Conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom and you irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in London, United Kingdom.
\\n\\nCroatian version of Terms and Conditions available here
\\n"}]'},components:[{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:'By accessing the website at www.intechopen.com you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms of Service, all applicable laws and regulations, and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. Use and/or access to this site is based on full agreement and compliance of these Terms. All materials contained on this website are protected by applicable copyright and trademark laws.
\n\nThe following terminology applies to these Terms and Conditions, Privacy Statement, Disclaimer Notice, and any or all Agreements:
\n\n“Client”, “Customer”, “You” and “Your” refers to you, the person accessing this website and accepting the Company’s Terms and Conditions;
\n\n“The Company”, “Ourselves”, “We”, “Our” and “Us”, refers to our Company, IntechOpen;
\n\n“Party”, “Parties”, or “Us”, refers to both the Client and ourselves, or either the Client or ourselves.
\n\nAll Terms refer to the offer, acceptance, and consideration of payment necessary to provide assistance to the Client in the most appropriate manner, whether by formal meetings of a fixed duration, or by any other agreed means, for the express purpose of meeting the Client’s needs in respect of provision of the Company’s stated services/products, and in accordance with, and subject to, the prevailing laws of the United Kingdom.
\n\nAny use of the above terminology, or other words in the singular, plural, capitalization and/or he/she or they, are taken as interchangeable.
\n\nUnless otherwise stated, IntechOpen and/or its licensors own the intellectual property rights for all materials on www.intechopen.com. All intellectual property rights are reserved. You may view, download, share, link and print pages from www.intechopen.com for your own personal use, subject to the restrictions set out in these Terms and Conditions.
\n\nWe employ the use of cookies. By using the IntechOpen website you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with IntechOpen’s Privacy Policy. Most modern day interactive websites use cookies to enable the retrieval of user details for each visit. On our site, cookies are predominantly used to enable functionality and ease of use for those visiting the site.
\n\nIn no circumstances shall IntechOpen or its suppliers be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption) arising out of the use, or inability to use, the materials on IntechOpen's websites, even if IntechOpen or an IntechOpen authorized representative has been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damage. Some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages; consequently, these limitations may not apply to you.
\n\nIntechopen.com website content and services are provided on an "AS IS" and an "AS AVAILABLE" basis. Material appearing on www.intechopen.com could include minor technical, typographical, or photographic errors. IntechOpen may make changes to any material contained on its website at any time without notice.
\n\nIntechOpen has no formal affiliation to any external sites that link to www.intechopen.com, unless otherwise specifically stated. As such, it is not responsible for content that appears on any such sites. The inclusion of any link to IntechOpen does not imply endorsement by IntechOpen. Use of any such linked website is done solely at the user's own discretion.
\n\nWe reserve the right of ownership over our entire website www.intechopen.com, and all contents. By using our services, you agree to remove all links to our website immediately upon request. We also reserve the right to amend these Terms and Conditions and our linking policy at any time. By continuing to link to our website, you agree to be bound to, and abide by, these linking Terms and Conditions.
\n\nIf you find any link on our website, or any linked website, objectionable for any reason, please Contact Us. We will consider all requests to remove links but will have no obligation to do so.
\n\nWithout prior approval and express written permission, you may not create frames around our web pages or use other techniques that alter in any way the visual presentation or appearance of our website.
\n\nIntechOpen may revise its Terms of Service for its website at any time without notice. By using this website, you are agreeing to be bound by the current version of all Terms at the time of use.
\n\nThese Terms and Conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom and you irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in London, United Kingdom.
\n\nCroatian version of Terms and Conditions available here
\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:5820},{group:"region",caption:"Middle and South America",value:2,count:5289},{group:"region",caption:"Africa",value:3,count:1761},{group:"region",caption:"Asia",value:4,count:10546},{group:"region",caption:"Australia and Oceania",value:5,count:909},{group:"region",caption:"Europe",value:6,count:15933}],offset:12,limit:12,total:119318},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:"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:"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:"10689",title:"Risk Management in Construction",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"e3805b3d2fceb9d33e1fa805687cd296",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10689.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10696",title:"Calorimetry - New Advances",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"bb239599406f0b731bbfd62c1c8dbf3f",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10696.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10715",title:"Brain MRI",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"6d56c88c53776966959f41f8b75daafd",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10715.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10730",title:"Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"2ac3ed12d9db14ee4bc66d7808c82295",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10730.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10731",title:"Cannabinoids",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"1d2e090ecf2415b8d3c9fba15856b7b1",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10731.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10744",title:"Astrocyte",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!0,hash:"b770f09e3f87daa5d8525fa78f771405",slug:null,bookSignature:"",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10744.jpg",editedByType:null,editors:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}],filtersByTopic:[{group:"topic",caption:"Agricultural and Biological Sciences",value:5,count:28},{group:"topic",caption:"Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology",value:6,count:8},{group:"topic",caption:"Business, Management and Economics",value:7,count:3},{group:"topic",caption:"Chemistry",value:8,count:11},{group:"topic",caption:"Computer and Information Science",value:9,count:10},{group:"topic",caption:"Earth and Planetary Sciences",value:10,count:10},{group:"topic",caption:"Engineering",value:11,count:25},{group:"topic",caption:"Environmental Sciences",value:12,count:2},{group:"topic",caption:"Immunology and Microbiology",value:13,count:4},{group:"topic",caption:"Materials Science",value:14,count:7},{group:"topic",caption:"Mathematics",value:15,count:3},{group:"topic",caption:"Medicine",value:16,count:48},{group:"topic",caption:"Neuroscience",value:18,count:3},{group:"topic",caption:"Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science",value:19,count:3},{group:"topic",caption:"Physics",value:20,count:4},{group:"topic",caption:"Psychology",value:21,count:5},{group:"topic",caption:"Robotics",value:22,count:2},{group:"topic",caption:"Social Sciences",value:23,count:3},{group:"topic",caption:"Technology",value:24,count:1},{group:"topic",caption:"Veterinary Medicine and Science",value:25,count:2}],offset:12,limit:12,total:220},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:"9154",title:"Spinal Deformities in Adolescents, Adults and Older Adults",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"313f1dffa803b60a14ff1e6966e93d91",slug:"spinal-deformities-in-adolescents-adults-and-older-adults",bookSignature:"Josette Bettany-Saltikov and Gokulakannan Kandasamy",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9154.jpg",editors:[{id:"94802",title:"Dr.",name:"Josette",middleName:null,surname:"Bettany-Saltikov",slug:"josette-bettany-saltikov",fullName:"Josette Bettany-Saltikov"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"7030",title:"Satellite Systems",subtitle:"Design, Modeling, Simulation and Analysis",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"b9db6d2645ef248ceb1b33ea75f38e88",slug:"satellite-systems-design-modeling-simulation-and-analysis",bookSignature:"Tien Nguyen",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7030.jpg",editors:[{id:"210657",title:"Dr.",name:"Tien M.",middleName:"Manh",surname:"Nguyen",slug:"tien-m.-nguyen",fullName:"Tien M. Nguyen"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10201",title:"Post-Transition Metals",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"cc7f53ff5269916e3ce29f65a51a87ae",slug:"post-transition-metals",bookSignature:"Mohammed Muzibur Rahman, Abdullah Mohammed Asiri, Anish Khan, Inamuddin and Thamer Tabbakh",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10201.jpg",editors:[{id:"24438",title:"Prof.",name:"Mohammed Muzibur",middleName:null,surname:"Rahman",slug:"mohammed-muzibur-rahman",fullName:"Mohammed Muzibur Rahman"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10413",title:"A Collection of Papers on Chaos Theory and Its Applications",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"900b71b164948830fec3d6254b7881f7",slug:"a-collection-of-papers-on-chaos-theory-and-its-applications",bookSignature:"Paul Bracken and Dimo I. Uzunov",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10413.jpg",editors:[{id:"92883",title:"Prof.",name:"Paul",middleName:null,surname:"Bracken",slug:"paul-bracken",fullName:"Paul Bracken"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9515",title:"Update in Geriatrics",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"913e16c0ae977474b283bbd4269564c8",slug:"update-in-geriatrics",bookSignature:"Somchai Amornyotin",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9515.jpg",editors:[{id:"185484",title:"Prof.",name:"Somchai",middleName:null,surname:"Amornyotin",slug:"somchai-amornyotin",fullName:"Somchai Amornyotin"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"8148",title:"Investment Strategies in Emerging New Trends in Finance",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"3b714d96a68d2acdfbd7b50aba6504ca",slug:"investment-strategies-in-emerging-new-trends-in-finance",bookSignature:"Reza Gharoie Ahangar and Asma Salman",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8148.jpg",editors:[{id:"91081",title:"Dr.",name:"Reza",middleName:null,surname:"Gharoie Ahangar",slug:"reza-gharoie-ahangar",fullName:"Reza Gharoie Ahangar"}],equalEditorOne:{id:"206443",title:"Prof.",name:"Asma",middleName:null,surname:"Salman",slug:"asma-salman",fullName:"Asma Salman",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/206443/images/system/206443.png",biography:"Professor Asma Salman is a blockchain developer and Professor of Finance at the American University in the Emirates, UAE. An Honorary Global Advisor at the Global Academy of Finance and Management, USA, she completed her MBA in Finance and Accounting and earned a Ph.D. in Finance from an AACSB member, AMBA accredited, School of Management at Harbin Institute of Technology, China. Her research credentials include a one-year residency at the Brunel Business School, Brunel University, UK. Prof. Salman also served as the Dubai Cohort supervisor for DBA students under the Nottingham Business School, UK, for seven years and is currently a Ph.D. supervisor at the University of Northampton, UK, where she is a visiting fellow. She also served on the Board of Etihad Airlines during 2019–2020. One of her recent articles on “Bitcoin and Blockchain” gained wide visibility and she is an active speaker on Fintech, blockchain, and crypto events around the GCC. She holds various professional certifications including Chartered Fintech Professional (USA), Certified Financial Manager (USA), Women in Leadership and Management in Higher Education, (UK), and Taxation GCC VAT Compliance, (UK). She recently won an award for “Blockchain Trainer of the Year” from Berkeley Middle East. Other recognitions include the Women Leadership Impact Award by H.E First Lady of Armenia, Research Excellence Award, and the Global Inspirational Women Leadership Award by H.H Sheikh Juma Bin Maktoum Juma Al Maktoum.",institutionString:"American University in the Emirates",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"2",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"2",institution:{name:"American University in the Emirates",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"United Arab Emirates"}}},equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"8472",title:"Bioactive Compounds in Nutraceutical and Functional Food for Good Human Health",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"8855452919b8495810ef8e88641feb20",slug:"bioactive-compounds-in-nutraceutical-and-functional-food-for-good-human-health",bookSignature:"Kavita Sharma, Kanchan Mishra, Kula Kamal Senapati and Corina Danciu",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8472.jpg",editors:[{id:"197731",title:"Dr.",name:"Kavita",middleName:null,surname:"Sharma",slug:"kavita-sharma",fullName:"Kavita Sharma"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9959",title:"Biomedical Signal and Image Processing",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"22b87a09bd6df065d78c175235d367c8",slug:"biomedical-signal-and-image-processing",bookSignature:"Yongxia Zhou",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9959.jpg",editors:[{id:"259308",title:"Dr.",name:"Yongxia",middleName:null,surname:"Zhou",slug:"yongxia-zhou",fullName:"Yongxia Zhou"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9685",title:"Agroecosystems",subtitle:"Very Complex Environmental Systems",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"c44f7b43a9f9610c243dc32300d37df6",slug:"agroecosystems-very-complex-environmental-systems",bookSignature:"Marcelo L. Larramendy and Sonia Soloneski",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9685.jpg",editors:[{id:"14764",title:"Dr.",name:"Marcelo L.",middleName:null,surname:"Larramendy",slug:"marcelo-l.-larramendy",fullName:"Marcelo L. Larramendy"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"8564",title:"Cell Interaction",subtitle:"Molecular and Immunological Basis for Disease Management",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"98d7f080d80524285f091e72a8e92a6d",slug:"cell-interaction-molecular-and-immunological-basis-for-disease-management",bookSignature:"Bhawana Singh",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8564.jpg",editors:[{id:"315192",title:"Dr.",name:"Bhawana",middleName:null,surname:"Singh",slug:"bhawana-singh",fullName:"Bhawana Singh"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}}],latestBooks:[{type:"book",id:"9515",title:"Update in Geriatrics",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"913e16c0ae977474b283bbd4269564c8",slug:"update-in-geriatrics",bookSignature:"Somchai Amornyotin",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9515.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"185484",title:"Prof.",name:"Somchai",middleName:null,surname:"Amornyotin",slug:"somchai-amornyotin",fullName:"Somchai Amornyotin"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9021",title:"Novel Perspectives of Stem Cell Manufacturing and Therapies",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"522c6db871783d2a11c17b83f1fd4e18",slug:"novel-perspectives-of-stem-cell-manufacturing-and-therapies",bookSignature:"Diana Kitala and Ana Colette Maurício",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9021.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"203598",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Diana",middleName:null,surname:"Kitala",slug:"diana-kitala",fullName:"Diana Kitala"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"7030",title:"Satellite Systems",subtitle:"Design, Modeling, Simulation and Analysis",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"b9db6d2645ef248ceb1b33ea75f38e88",slug:"satellite-systems-design-modeling-simulation-and-analysis",bookSignature:"Tien Nguyen",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7030.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"210657",title:"Dr.",name:"Tien M.",middleName:"Manh",surname:"Nguyen",slug:"tien-m.-nguyen",fullName:"Tien M. Nguyen"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10413",title:"A Collection of Papers on Chaos Theory and Its Applications",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"900b71b164948830fec3d6254b7881f7",slug:"a-collection-of-papers-on-chaos-theory-and-its-applications",bookSignature:"Paul Bracken and Dimo I. Uzunov",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10413.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"92883",title:"Prof.",name:"Paul",middleName:null,surname:"Bracken",slug:"paul-bracken",fullName:"Paul Bracken"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9154",title:"Spinal Deformities in Adolescents, Adults and Older Adults",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"313f1dffa803b60a14ff1e6966e93d91",slug:"spinal-deformities-in-adolescents-adults-and-older-adults",bookSignature:"Josette Bettany-Saltikov and Gokulakannan Kandasamy",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9154.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"94802",title:"Dr.",name:"Josette",middleName:null,surname:"Bettany-Saltikov",slug:"josette-bettany-saltikov",fullName:"Josette Bettany-Saltikov"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"8148",title:"Investment Strategies in Emerging New Trends in Finance",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"3b714d96a68d2acdfbd7b50aba6504ca",slug:"investment-strategies-in-emerging-new-trends-in-finance",bookSignature:"Reza Gharoie Ahangar and Asma Salman",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8148.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"91081",title:"Dr.",name:"Reza",middleName:null,surname:"Gharoie Ahangar",slug:"reza-gharoie-ahangar",fullName:"Reza Gharoie Ahangar"}],equalEditorOne:{id:"206443",title:"Prof.",name:"Asma",middleName:null,surname:"Salman",slug:"asma-salman",fullName:"Asma Salman",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/206443/images/system/206443.png",biography:"Professor Asma Salman is a blockchain developer and Professor of Finance at the American University in the Emirates, UAE. An Honorary Global Advisor at the Global Academy of Finance and Management, USA, she completed her MBA in Finance and Accounting and earned a Ph.D. in Finance from an AACSB member, AMBA accredited, School of Management at Harbin Institute of Technology, China. Her research credentials include a one-year residency at the Brunel Business School, Brunel University, UK. Prof. Salman also served as the Dubai Cohort supervisor for DBA students under the Nottingham Business School, UK, for seven years and is currently a Ph.D. supervisor at the University of Northampton, UK, where she is a visiting fellow. She also served on the Board of Etihad Airlines during 2019–2020. One of her recent articles on “Bitcoin and Blockchain” gained wide visibility and she is an active speaker on Fintech, blockchain, and crypto events around the GCC. She holds various professional certifications including Chartered Fintech Professional (USA), Certified Financial Manager (USA), Women in Leadership and Management in Higher Education, (UK), and Taxation GCC VAT Compliance, (UK). She recently won an award for “Blockchain Trainer of the Year” from Berkeley Middle East. Other recognitions include the Women Leadership Impact Award by H.E First Lady of Armenia, Research Excellence Award, and the Global Inspirational Women Leadership Award by H.H Sheikh Juma Bin Maktoum Juma Al Maktoum.",institutionString:"American University in the Emirates",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"2",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"2",institution:{name:"American University in the Emirates",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"United Arab Emirates"}}},equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10201",title:"Post-Transition Metals",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"cc7f53ff5269916e3ce29f65a51a87ae",slug:"post-transition-metals",bookSignature:"Mohammed Muzibur Rahman, Abdullah Mohammed Asiri, Anish Khan, Inamuddin and Thamer Tabbakh",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10201.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"24438",title:"Prof.",name:"Mohammed Muzibur",middleName:null,surname:"Rahman",slug:"mohammed-muzibur-rahman",fullName:"Mohammed Muzibur Rahman"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9959",title:"Biomedical Signal and Image Processing",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"22b87a09bd6df065d78c175235d367c8",slug:"biomedical-signal-and-image-processing",bookSignature:"Yongxia Zhou",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9959.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"259308",title:"Dr.",name:"Yongxia",middleName:null,surname:"Zhou",slug:"yongxia-zhou",fullName:"Yongxia Zhou"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"8472",title:"Bioactive Compounds in Nutraceutical and Functional Food for Good Human Health",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"8855452919b8495810ef8e88641feb20",slug:"bioactive-compounds-in-nutraceutical-and-functional-food-for-good-human-health",bookSignature:"Kavita Sharma, Kanchan Mishra, Kula Kamal Senapati and Corina Danciu",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8472.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"197731",title:"Dr.",name:"Kavita",middleName:null,surname:"Sharma",slug:"kavita-sharma",fullName:"Kavita Sharma"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"8760",title:"Structure Topology and Symplectic Geometry",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"8974840985ec3652492c83e20233bf02",slug:"structure-topology-and-symplectic-geometry",bookSignature:"Kamal Shah and Min Lei",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8760.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"231748",title:"Dr.",name:"Kamal",middleName:null,surname:"Shah",slug:"kamal-shah",fullName:"Kamal Shah"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}]},subject:{topic:{id:"399",title:"Molecular Dynamics",slug:"human-genetics-molecular-dynamics",parent:{title:"Human Genetics",slug:"human-genetics"},numberOfBooks:1,numberOfAuthorsAndEditors:31,numberOfWosCitations:54,numberOfCrossrefCitations:17,numberOfDimensionsCitations:54,videoUrl:null,fallbackUrl:null,description:null},booksByTopicFilter:{topicSlug:"human-genetics-molecular-dynamics",sort:"-publishedDate",limit:12,offset:0},booksByTopicCollection:[{type:"book",id:"2265",title:"Molecular Dynamics",subtitle:"Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"58aa18b5670a4dcc031fe3d9006767aa",slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",bookSignature:"Lichang Wang",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/2265.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"107906",title:"Prof.",name:"Lichang",middleName:null,surname:"Wang",slug:"lichang-wang",fullName:"Lichang Wang"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}],booksByTopicTotal:1,mostCitedChapters:[{id:"35489",doi:"10.5772/37107",title:"MM-GB(PB)SA Calculations of Protein-Ligand Binding Free Energies",slug:"mm-gb-pb-sa-calculations-of-protein-ligand-binding-free-energies",totalDownloads:8104,totalCrossrefCites:9,totalDimensionsCites:45,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Joseph M. Hayes and Georgios Archontis",authors:[{id:"102666",title:"Dr.",name:"Joseph",middleName:"M.",surname:"Hayes",slug:"joseph-hayes",fullName:"Joseph Hayes"},{id:"111282",title:"Prof.",name:"Georgios",middleName:null,surname:"Archontis",slug:"georgios-archontis",fullName:"Georgios Archontis"}]},{id:"35497",doi:"10.5772/35561",title:"Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Nanoscale Machining",slug:"molecular-dynamics-simulation-of-nanoscale-machining",totalDownloads:2186,totalCrossrefCites:4,totalDimensionsCites:4,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Akinjide Oluwajobi",authors:[{id:"104989",title:"Dr.",name:"Akinjide",middleName:null,surname:"Oluwajobi",slug:"akinjide-oluwajobi",fullName:"Akinjide Oluwajobi"}]},{id:"35481",doi:"10.5772/36289",title:"Introduction to Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Applications in Hard and Soft Condensed Matter Physics",slug:"introduction-to-molecular-dynamics-simulations-applications-in-hard-and-soft-condensed-matter-physic",totalDownloads:2043,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Martin Oliver Steinhauser",authors:[{id:"107752",title:"Dr.",name:"Martin",middleName:"Oliver",surname:"Steinhauser",slug:"martin-steinhauser",fullName:"Martin Steinhauser"}]}],mostDownloadedChaptersLast30Days:[{id:"35489",title:"MM-GB(PB)SA Calculations of Protein-Ligand Binding Free Energies",slug:"mm-gb-pb-sa-calculations-of-protein-ligand-binding-free-energies",totalDownloads:8103,totalCrossrefCites:9,totalDimensionsCites:45,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Joseph M. Hayes and Georgios Archontis",authors:[{id:"102666",title:"Dr.",name:"Joseph",middleName:"M.",surname:"Hayes",slug:"joseph-hayes",fullName:"Joseph Hayes"},{id:"111282",title:"Prof.",name:"Georgios",middleName:null,surname:"Archontis",slug:"georgios-archontis",fullName:"Georgios Archontis"}]},{id:"35485",title:"M.DynaMix Studies of Solvation, Solubility and Permeability",slug:"m-dynamix-studies-of-solvation-solubility-and-permeability",totalDownloads:2373,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Aatto Laaksonen, Alexander Lyubartsev and Francesca Mocci",authors:[{id:"106499",title:"Prof.",name:"Aatto",middleName:null,surname:"Laaksonen",slug:"aatto-laaksonen",fullName:"Aatto Laaksonen"},{id:"111652",title:"Prof.",name:"Alexander",middleName:null,surname:"Lyubartsev",slug:"alexander-lyubartsev",fullName:"Alexander Lyubartsev"},{id:"111653",title:"Prof.",name:"Francesca",middleName:null,surname:"Mocci",slug:"francesca-mocci",fullName:"Francesca Mocci"}]},{id:"35482",title:"Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Synthetic Polymers",slug:"molecular-dynamics-simulation-in-synthetic-polymers",totalDownloads:3684,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Claudia Sandoval",authors:[{id:"102573",title:"Dr.",name:"Claudia",middleName:null,surname:"Sandoval",slug:"claudia-sandoval",fullName:"Claudia Sandoval"}]},{id:"35488",title:"Essential Dynamics on Different Biological Systems: Fis Protein, tvMyb1 Transcriptional Factor and BACE1 Enzyme",slug:"essential-dynamics-on-different-biological-system-dna-bending-protein-fis-dna-tvmyb1-transcriptional",totalDownloads:1638,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Lucas J. Gutiérrez, Ricardo D. Enriz and Héctor A. Baldoni",authors:[{id:"108582",title:"Dr.",name:"Hector",middleName:"Armando",surname:"Baldoni",slug:"hector-baldoni",fullName:"Hector Baldoni"}]},{id:"35496",title:"Analysis of the Atomization Process by Molecular Dynamics Simulation",slug:"analysis-of-the-atomization-process-from-both-the-navier-stokes-equations-and-the-molecular-dynamics",totalDownloads:1460,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Yeh Chun-Lang",authors:[{id:"105474",title:"Prof.",name:"Chun-Lang",middleName:null,surname:"Yeh",slug:"chun-lang-yeh",fullName:"Chun-Lang Yeh"}]},{id:"35486",title:"Practical Estimation of TCR-pMHC Binding Free-Energy Based on the Dielectric Model and the Coarse-Grained Model",slug:"practical-estimation-of-tcr-pmhc-binding-free-energy-based-on-dielectric-model-and-coarse-graine-mod",totalDownloads:1470,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Hiromichi Tsurui and Takuya Takahashi",authors:[{id:"106238",title:"Dr.",name:"Hiromichi",middleName:null,surname:"Tsurui",slug:"hiromichi-tsurui",fullName:"Hiromichi Tsurui"},{id:"111076",title:"Prof.",name:"Takuya",middleName:null,surname:"Takahashi",slug:"takuya-takahashi",fullName:"Takuya Takahashi"}]},{id:"35490",title:"Micro-Heterogeneity in Complex Liquids",slug:"micro-heterogeneity-in-molecular-liquids",totalDownloads:1858,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:1,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Aurélien Perera, Bernarda Kežić, Franjo Sokolić and Larisa Zoranić",authors:[{id:"108707",title:"Dr.",name:"Aurélien",middleName:null,surname:"Perera",slug:"aurelien-perera",fullName:"Aurélien Perera"},{id:"108718",title:"Prof.",name:"Franjo",middleName:null,surname:"Sokolic",slug:"franjo-sokolic",fullName:"Franjo Sokolic"},{id:"108719",title:"Dr.",name:"Larisa",middleName:null,surname:"Zoranic",slug:"larisa-zoranic",fullName:"Larisa Zoranic"},{id:"108721",title:"MSc.",name:"Bernarda",middleName:null,surname:"Kezic",slug:"bernarda-kezic",fullName:"Bernarda Kezic"}]},{id:"35481",title:"Introduction to Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Applications in Hard and Soft Condensed Matter Physics",slug:"introduction-to-molecular-dynamics-simulations-applications-in-hard-and-soft-condensed-matter-physic",totalDownloads:2043,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Martin Oliver Steinhauser",authors:[{id:"107752",title:"Dr.",name:"Martin",middleName:"Oliver",surname:"Steinhauser",slug:"martin-steinhauser",fullName:"Martin Steinhauser"}]},{id:"35484",title:"Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Permeation in Polymers",slug:"molecular-dynamics-simulation-of-permeation-of-gases-in-polymers",totalDownloads:3619,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:1,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Hossein Eslami and Nargess Mehdipour",authors:[{id:"110965",title:"Prof.",name:"Hossein",middleName:null,surname:"Eslami",slug:"hossein-eslami",fullName:"Hossein Eslami"}]},{id:"35494",title:"Simulations of Unusual Properties of Water Inside Carbon Nanotubes",slug:"simulations-of-unusual-properties-of-water-inside-carbon-nanotubes",totalDownloads:1838,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,book:{slug:"molecular-dynamics-studies-of-synthetic-and-biological-macromolecules",title:"Molecular Dynamics",fullTitle:"Molecular Dynamics - Studies of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules"},signatures:"Yoshimichi Nakamura and Takahisa Ohno",authors:[{id:"107624",title:"Dr.",name:"Yoshimichi",middleName:null,surname:"Nakamura",slug:"yoshimichi-nakamura",fullName:"Yoshimichi Nakamura"},{id:"112144",title:"Prof.",name:"Takahisa",middleName:null,surname:"Ohno",slug:"takahisa-ohno",fullName:"Takahisa Ohno"}]}],onlineFirstChaptersFilter:{topicSlug:"human-genetics-molecular-dynamics",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/118733/christian-ndong",hash:"",query:{},params:{id:"118733",slug:"christian-ndong"},fullPath:"/profiles/118733/christian-ndong",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)}()