Types of sensors.
\\n\\n
IntechOpen Book Series will also publish a program of research-driven Thematic Edited Volumes that focus on specific areas and allow for a more in-depth overview of a particular subject.
\\n\\nIntechOpen Book Series will be launching regularly to offer our authors and editors exciting opportunities to publish their research Open Access. We will begin by relaunching some of our existing Book Series in this innovative book format, and will expand in 2022 into rapidly growing research fields that are driving and advancing society.
\\n\\nLaunching 2021
\\n\\nArtificial Intelligence, ISSN 2633-1403
\\n\\nVeterinary Medicine and Science, ISSN 2632-0517
\\n\\nBiochemistry, ISSN 2632-0983
\\n\\nBiomedical Engineering, ISSN 2631-5343
\\n\\nInfectious Diseases, ISSN 2631-6188
\\n\\nPhysiology (Coming Soon)
\\n\\nDentistry (Coming Soon)
\\n\\nWe invite you to explore our IntechOpen Book Series, find the right publishing program for you and reach your desired audience in record time.
\\n\\nNote: Edited in October 2021
\\n"}]',published:!0,mainMedia:{caption:"",originalUrl:"/media/original/132"}},components:[{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:'With the desire to make book publishing more relevant for the digital age and offer innovative Open Access publishing options, we are thrilled to announce the launch of our new publishing format: IntechOpen Book Series.
\n\nDesigned to cover fast-moving research fields in rapidly expanding areas, our Book Series feature a Topic structure allowing us to present the most relevant sub-disciplines. Book Series are headed by Series Editors, and a team of Topic Editors supported by international Editorial Board members. Topics are always open for submissions, with an Annual Volume published each calendar year.
\n\nAfter a robust peer-review process, accepted works are published quickly, thanks to Online First, ensuring research is made available to the scientific community without delay.
\n\nOur innovative Book Series format brings you:
\n\nIntechOpen Book Series will also publish a program of research-driven Thematic Edited Volumes that focus on specific areas and allow for a more in-depth overview of a particular subject.
\n\nIntechOpen Book Series will be launching regularly to offer our authors and editors exciting opportunities to publish their research Open Access. We will begin by relaunching some of our existing Book Series in this innovative book format, and will expand in 2022 into rapidly growing research fields that are driving and advancing society.
\n\nLaunching 2021
\n\nArtificial Intelligence, ISSN 2633-1403
\n\nVeterinary Medicine and Science, ISSN 2632-0517
\n\nBiochemistry, ISSN 2632-0983
\n\nBiomedical Engineering, ISSN 2631-5343
\n\nInfectious Diseases, ISSN 2631-6188
\n\nPhysiology (Coming Soon)
\n\nDentistry (Coming Soon)
\n\nWe invite you to explore our IntechOpen Book Series, find the right publishing program for you and reach your desired audience in record time.
\n\nNote: Edited in October 2021
\n'}],latestNews:[{slug:"webinar-introduction-to-open-science-wednesday-18-may-1-pm-cest-20220518",title:"Webinar: Introduction to Open Science | Wednesday 18 May, 1 PM CEST"},{slug:"step-in-the-right-direction-intechopen-launches-a-portfolio-of-open-science-journals-20220414",title:"Step in the Right Direction: IntechOpen Launches a Portfolio of Open Science Journals"},{slug:"let-s-meet-at-london-book-fair-5-7-april-2022-olympia-london-20220321",title:"Let’s meet at London Book Fair, 5-7 April 2022, Olympia London"},{slug:"50-books-published-as-part-of-intechopen-and-knowledge-unlatched-ku-collaboration-20220316",title:"50 Books published as part of IntechOpen and Knowledge Unlatched (KU) Collaboration"},{slug:"intechopen-joins-the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals-publishers-compact-20221702",title:"IntechOpen joins the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Publishers Compact"},{slug:"intechopen-signs-exclusive-representation-agreement-with-lsr-libros-servicios-y-representaciones-s-a-de-c-v-20211123",title:"IntechOpen Signs Exclusive Representation Agreement with LSR Libros Servicios y Representaciones S.A. de C.V"},{slug:"intechopen-expands-partnership-with-research4life-20211110",title:"IntechOpen Expands Partnership with Research4Life"},{slug:"introducing-intechopen-book-series-a-new-publishing-format-for-oa-books-20210915",title:"Introducing IntechOpen Book Series - A New Publishing Format for OA Books"}]},book:{item:{type:"book",id:"11357",leadTitle:null,fullTitle:"Sustainable Crop Production - Recent Advances",title:"Sustainable Crop Production",subtitle:"Recent Advances",reviewType:"peer-reviewed",abstract:"Sustainable Crop Production - Recent Advances addresses various nutrient, crop, and soil management issues, including recent advances in sustainable food production in the context of the changing climate. Chapters present case studies on long-term field experiments in specific locations with a focus on the state of the art of sustainable agriculture production systems.",isbn:"978-1-80355-697-0",printIsbn:"978-1-80355-696-3",pdfIsbn:"978-1-80355-698-7",doi:null,price:119,priceEur:129,priceUsd:155,slug:"sustainable-crop-production-recent-advances",numberOfPages:208,isOpenForSubmission:!1,isInWos:null,isInBkci:!1,hash:"ee41e09e4ad6a336ca9f0e5462da3904",bookSignature:"Vijay Singh Meena, Mahipal Choudhary, Ram Prakash Yadav and Sunita Kumari Meena",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11357.jpg",numberOfDownloads:451,numberOfWosCitations:0,numberOfCrossrefCitations:0,numberOfCrossrefCitationsByBook:null,numberOfDimensionsCitations:2,numberOfDimensionsCitationsByBook:null,hasAltmetrics:0,numberOfTotalCitations:2,isAvailableForWebshopOrdering:!0,dateEndFirstStepPublish:"October 7th 2021",dateEndSecondStepPublish:"November 4th 2021",dateEndThirdStepPublish:"January 3rd 2022",dateEndFourthStepPublish:"March 24th 2022",dateEndFifthStepPublish:"May 23rd 2022",currentStepOfPublishingProcess:5,indexedIn:"1,2,3,4,5,6",editedByType:"Edited by",kuFlag:!1,featuredMarkup:null,editors:[{id:"420235",title:"Dr.",name:"Vijay",middleName:null,surname:"Meena",slug:"vijay-meena",fullName:"Vijay Meena",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/420235/images/system/420235.jpg",biography:"Vijay Singh Meena has worked in various aspects of soil aggregation, carbon management index, and carbon and nitrogen sequestration potential under climate-resilient agriculture. He identified the carbon management index as the key indicator to measure soil degradation in different agro-ecosystems.",institutionString:"CIMMYT – Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA)",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"0",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"1",institution:null}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,coeditorOne:{id:"343771",title:"Dr.",name:"Mahipal",middleName:null,surname:"Choudhary",slug:"mahipal-choudhary",fullName:"Mahipal Choudhary",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/343771/images/system/343771.png",biography:"Mahipal Choudhary has worked on the efficient utilization of soil, water, and nutrient resources in different cropping systems under rainfed and irrigated conditions. He has worked in long-term field evaluation of carbon and nitrogen sequestration, yield sustainability, and chemical and soil biological indicators in the pulse-cereal cropping system.",institutionString:"ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"1",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"0",institution:{name:"Indian Council of Agricultural Research",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"India"}}},coeditorTwo:{id:"223397",title:"Dr.",name:"Ram Prakash",middleName:null,surname:"Yadav",slug:"ram-prakash-yadav",fullName:"Ram Prakash Yadav",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/223397/images/system/223397.png",biography:"Ram Prakash Yadav has worked on tree-crop interaction, carbon sequestration potential, forage production, and wasteland management under different land-use types including agroforestry and cropping systems. He identified different multipurpose tree species that can be integrated into agroforestry.",institutionString:"Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"2",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"0",institution:{name:"Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"India"}}},coeditorThree:{id:"421009",title:"Dr.",name:"Sunita",middleName:null,surname:"Kumari Meena",slug:"sunita-kumari-meena",fullName:"Sunita Kumari Meena",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/421009/images/system/421009.png",biography:"Sunita Kumari Meena has worked on the transformation and\navailability of phosphorus and sulfur in relation to soil organic\ncarbon under long-term nutrient supply options. Currently,\nshe is an Assistant Professor of Soil Science at the Sugarcane\nResearch Institute (SRI), Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa-Samastipur (Bihar), India. She served as\na research scholar at both Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi,\nand at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.",institutionString:"Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"0",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"0",institution:{name:"Rajendra Agricultural University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"India"}}},coeditorFour:null,coeditorFive:null,topics:[{id:"29",title:"Agronomy",slug:"agronomy"}],chapters:[{id:"81274",title:"Toward the Recent Advances in Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE): Strategies to Improve Phosphorus Availability to Plants",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.102595",slug:"toward-the-recent-advances-in-nutrient-use-efficiency-nue-strategies-to-improve-phosphorus-availabil",totalDownloads:45,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,hasAltmetrics:0,abstract:"Achieving high nutrient use efficiency (NUE) and high crop productivity has become a challenge with increased global demand for food, depletion of natural resources, and deterioration of environmental conditions. Higher NUE by plants could reduce fertilizer input costs, decrease the rate of nutrient losses, and enhance crop yields. Nitrogen and Phosphorus are the most limiting nutrients for crop production in many of the world’s agricultural areas, and their efficient use is important for the economic sustainability of cropping systems. Furthermore, the dynamic nature of N and P in soil-plant systems creates a unique and challenging environment for its efficient management. Although numerous fertilizer recommendation methods have been proposed to improve NUE, technologies and innovative management practices are still lacking. Therefore, maximizing crop phosphorus (P) use efficiency (PUE) would be helpful in reducing the use of inorganic phosphorus fertilizers and their escape in the environment for sustainable agriculture. Improvement of PUE in cropping systems can be achieved through two main strategies: optimizing agronomic practice and breeding nutrient efficient crop cultivars that improves P-acquisition and -utilization efficiency. These strategies are needed for future food security and sustainable agriculture. The major revised points are the following: concept of NUE, application of nutrient stewardship, cereal-legume intercropping, regulating soil pH, etc., for enhancing phyto-availability of P and breeding P-efficient crop cultivars that can produce more biomass with lesser P costs and that acquire more P in P-stress condition. These approaches consider economic, social, and environmental dimensions essential to sustainable agricultural systems and afford a suitable context for specific NUE indicators.",signatures:"Addisu Ebbisa",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/81274",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/81274",authors:[{id:"441049",title:"Dr.",name:"Addisu",surname:"Ebbisa",slug:"addisu-ebbisa",fullName:"Addisu Ebbisa"}],corrections:null},{id:"81049",title:"Effect of Balanced and Integrated Crop Nutrition on Sustainable Crop Production in a Classical Long-Term Trial",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.102682",slug:"effect-of-balanced-and-integrated-crop-nutrition-on-sustainable-crop-production-in-a-classical-long-",totalDownloads:3,totalCrossrefCites:null,totalDimensionsCites:null,hasAltmetrics:null,abstract:"The classical long-term trial at Hanninghof was established in 1958 on loamy sand soil in Duelmen, Germany to study the long-term effects of different nutrient management strategies. The impact of balanced mineral fertilizer application and integrating farmyard manure (FYM) with mineral fertilizer on indicators of sustainable crop production are evaluated in comparison to unbalanced nutrition. Crop rotation since 1958 was potato, followed by winter rye and oat. After 2008, the rotation was silage maize, winter rye, and potato to adjust the trial to current farm practice, but the treatments remained the same: a control plot without fertilizer; FYM alone; and mineral P + K, N, N + P, N + K, N + P + K, and N + P + K + Mg fertilizers with and without FYM. The effect of each treatment on crop yield, revenue, sustainable yield index, water and nutrient use efficiencies, soil nutrient and carbon contents, and soil pH are presented. Evaluation of the 62 years data shows that unbalanced nutrition caused by omitting nutrients and application of only FYM as organic nutrition reduced crop yield and revenue, led to inefficient use of resources and nutrients, and a depletion of soil fertility with negative implications on sustainability. Application of mineral fertilizer N + P + K + Mg as the balanced nutrition and supplementing FYM with mineral fertilizer as the integrated nutrition had social, economic and environmental benefits indicating sustainable crop production.",signatures:"Melkamu Jate and Joachim Lammel",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/81049",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/81049",authors:[{id:"77164",title:"Dr.",name:"Melkamu",surname:"Jate",slug:"melkamu-jate",fullName:"Melkamu Jate"},{id:"449645",title:"Dr.",name:"Joachim",surname:"Lammel",slug:"joachim-lammel",fullName:"Joachim Lammel"}],corrections:null},{id:"80406",title:"Vermicomposting: A Step towards Sustainability",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.102641",slug:"vermicomposting-a-step-towards-sustainability",totalDownloads:104,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,hasAltmetrics:0,abstract:"Agricultural production depends on so many things. Proper nutrient management is one of them. It becomes a trend to apply excess amount of fertilizer for enhancing productivity without considering its effect on soil health. Vermicomposting is a process of scientifically decomposing agricultural, municipality, and industrial wastes into nutrient enriched compost by earthworms. Vermicompost not only balance underground soil environment and makes is a suitable habitat for soil micro biota but also improves above ground environment. Microbes are the fundamental element of ecosystem. Use of vermicompost increases growth and proliferation of microbes that amplify environment’s betterment. Vermicomposting is also affordable for resource poor small and marginal farmers. Therefore, vermicompost use is more economical than synthetic organic fertilizer. So, economic viability, environmental stability, and enhancing livelihood quality are the major causes for its worldwide adoption in food production.",signatures:"Priyanka Saha, Anamika Barman and Anurag Bera",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/80406",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/80406",authors:[{id:"448401",title:"Ms.",name:"Priyanka",surname:"Saha",slug:"priyanka-saha",fullName:"Priyanka Saha"},{id:"451438",title:"Ms.",name:"Anamika",surname:"Barman",slug:"anamika-barman",fullName:"Anamika Barman"},{id:"451581",title:"Mr.",name:"Anurag",surname:"Bera",slug:"anurag-bera",fullName:"Anurag Bera"}],corrections:null},{id:"81378",title:"Sustainability-Based Review of Irrigation Schemes Performance for Sustainable Crop Production in Nigeria",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.103980",slug:"sustainability-based-review-of-irrigation-schemes-performance-for-sustainable-crop-production-in-nig",totalDownloads:35,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,hasAltmetrics:0,abstract:"Irrigated agriculture has been identified as an important practice to achieving food security and socio-economic development in the face of rapid population growth and climatic uncertainties. In northern Nigeria, irrigation has long been identified as the key to achieving the much-desired increase in food production to meet the ever-increasing population. However, the existing irrigation schemes encountered several challenges coming from different dimensions including economic, social, environmental, institutional and technological. To attain sustainable crop production, this paper attempts to uncover the underline challenges confronting irrigation schemes in northern Nigeria that cut across sustainability pillars. The findings revealed that irrigation schemes contributed immensely toward achieving food security and improving the wellbeing of rural dwellers. However, the huge investment in large- and medium-scale irrigation schemes have resulted in massive economic losses. This could be attributed to their under-utilization, poor management and abandonment although few ones are performing remarkably well. The study recommends the need to adopt new water allocation and application methods that can improve water use efficiency, users-managers join approach (participatory), effective and competent institutions which include improved monitoring, evaluation and surveillance systems, frequent policy review to suit the situation, law enforcement, and timely sensitization and awareness campaigns.",signatures:"Nura Jafar Shanono, Nura Yahaya Usman, Mu’azu Dantala Zakari, Habibu Ismail, Shehu Idris Umar, Sunusi Abubakar Amin and Nuraddeen Mukhtar Nasidi",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/81378",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/81378",authors:[{id:"443076",title:"Dr.",name:"Nura Jafar",surname:"Shanono",slug:"nura-jafar-shanono",fullName:"Nura Jafar Shanono"},{id:"443079",title:"Dr.",name:"Nuraddeen Mukhtar",surname:"Nasidi",slug:"nuraddeen-mukhtar-nasidi",fullName:"Nuraddeen Mukhtar Nasidi"},{id:"443080",title:"Dr.",name:"Habibu",surname:"Ismail",slug:"habibu-ismail",fullName:"Habibu Ismail"},{id:"443082",title:"Mr.",name:"Nura Yahaya",surname:"Usman",slug:"nura-yahaya-usman",fullName:"Nura Yahaya Usman"},{id:"443083",title:"MSc.",name:"Mu’azu",surname:"Dantala Zakari",slug:"mu'azu-dantala-zakari",fullName:"Mu’azu Dantala Zakari"},{id:"443084",title:"MSc.",name:"Shehu Idris",surname:"Umar",slug:"shehu-idris-umar",fullName:"Shehu Idris Umar"},{id:"451629",title:"MSc.",name:"Sunusi Abubakar",surname:"Amin",slug:"sunusi-abubakar-amin",fullName:"Sunusi Abubakar Amin"}],corrections:null},{id:"81179",title:"Crop Diversification an Effective Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture Development",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.102635",slug:"crop-diversification-an-effective-strategy-for-sustainable-agriculture-development",totalDownloads:52,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,hasAltmetrics:0,abstract:"Sustainable agricultural practices involve a variety of approaches. The most important approached for sustainable agriculture development is crop diversification. It allowing the farmers to employ biological cycles to minimize inputs, conserve the resource base, maximize yields and also reduce the risk due to ecological and environmental factors. It serves as an important opportunity to augment income and employment generation for rural communities. Crop diversification promotes the interaction of beneficial soil bacteria, interrupts the disease cycle, and reduces the quantity of weeds. Crop diversification boosts land-use efficiency and crop output by improving the physical and chemical qualities of soil. Crop diversification shows a lot of scope to alleviating the problems such as resurgence of insects-pests and weeds, soil degradation, environmental pollution, soil salinity, decline farm profit and climate change. Crop diversification through crop intensification system enhanced the net returns, B:C ratio, and overall system productivity of a farm. In order to achieve the benefits of crop diversification farmers are shifting from low value low yielding crops to high value high yielding crops. Thus, crop diversification has the sound capacity for achieving the goal of nutritional security, income growth, food security, employment generation and sustainable agriculture development.",signatures:"Anamika Barman, Priyanka Saha, Shashank Patel and Anurag Bera",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/81179",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/81179",authors:[{id:"448401",title:"Ms.",name:"Priyanka",surname:"Saha",slug:"priyanka-saha",fullName:"Priyanka Saha"},{id:"451438",title:"Ms.",name:"Anamika",surname:"Barman",slug:"anamika-barman",fullName:"Anamika Barman"},{id:"451581",title:"Mr.",name:"Anurag",surname:"Bera",slug:"anurag-bera",fullName:"Anurag Bera"},{id:"451580",title:"Mr.",name:"Shashank",surname:"Patel",slug:"shashank-patel",fullName:"Shashank Patel"}],corrections:null},{id:"81888",title:"Reducing Soil Compaction from Equipment to Enhance Agricultural Sustainability",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.104489",slug:"reducing-soil-compaction-from-equipment-to-enhance-agricultural-sustainability",totalDownloads:16,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,hasAltmetrics:0,abstract:"The compaction of agricultural soils cannot be solved, only managed. As a compressible media, soil travel without causing some collapse of the existing structure is impossible. If left uncorrected, farmers can see up to a 50% reduction in yield from long-term compaction. This chapter will describe the effects of soil compaction on the environment, crop quality, and economic sustainability. The base causes will be examined, along with the engineering designs for vehicles that minimize the problem. The tracks versus tires debate will be thoroughly discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of each system will be detailed. It will be shown that although tires represent the likely current best economic option for vehicle support, the potential of tracks to reduce compaction has been fully exploited. The advantages of four-wheel drive vehicles in reducing soil compaction will be shown, along with the mitigation potential of independently driven wheels and active soil interaction feedback loops. The design of crop production tillage equipment and tillage tool working points will be explored, along with the concept of critical tillage depth. Equipment for compaction relief will also be discussed, as will the sustainable agricultural protocols of cover crops, crop rotation, and controlled traffic farming.",signatures:"Michael M. Boland, Young U. Choi, Daniel G. Foley, Matthew S. Gobel, Nathan C. Sprague, Santiago Guevara-Ocana, Yury A. Kuleshov and Robert M. Stwalley III",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/81888",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/81888",authors:[{id:"344450",title:"Dr.",name:"Robert M.",surname:"Stwalley III",slug:"robert-m.-stwalley-iii",fullName:"Robert M. Stwalley III"},{id:"457608",title:"Mr.",name:"Michael M.",surname:"Boland",slug:"michael-m.-boland",fullName:"Michael M. Boland"},{id:"457609",title:"Mr.",name:"Young U.",surname:"Choi",slug:"young-u.-choi",fullName:"Young U. Choi"},{id:"457610",title:"Mr.",name:"Daniel G.",surname:"Foley",slug:"daniel-g.-foley",fullName:"Daniel G. Foley"},{id:"457611",title:"Mr.",name:"Matthew S.",surname:"Gobel",slug:"matthew-s.-gobel",fullName:"Matthew S. Gobel"},{id:"457612",title:"Mr.",name:"Nathan C.",surname:"Sprague",slug:"nathan-c.-sprague",fullName:"Nathan C. Sprague"},{id:"457613",title:"Ph.D. Student",name:"Santiago",surname:"Guevara-Ocana",slug:"santiago-guevara-ocana",fullName:"Santiago Guevara-Ocana"},{id:"457614",title:"Ph.D. Student",name:"Yury A.",surname:"Kuleshov",slug:"yury-a.-kuleshov",fullName:"Yury A. Kuleshov"}],corrections:null},{id:"80867",title:"Potential Applications of Rhizobacteria as Eco-Friendly Biological Control, Plant Growth Promotion and Soil Metal Bioremediation",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.102657",slug:"potential-applications-of-rhizobacteria-as-eco-friendly-biological-control-plant-growth-promotion-an",totalDownloads:69,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,hasAltmetrics:0,abstract:"Modern agriculture has an immense problem in the depletion of agricultural productivity owing to a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses. Agriculture’s sustainability and safety are dependent on ecologically friendly practices. Plant rhizobia have been proven to have an important role in disease control, as well as promoting plant growth, productivity, and biomass. Rhizobacteria are soil bacteria that live on the root surface and either directly or indirectly contribute to plant development. Rhizobia are used to induce mediated immune resistance through the manufacture of lytic enzymes, antibiotics, phytoalexins, phytohormone, metabolites. It supports the growth of plants through nitrogen fixation, nutrient enrichment, phosphate solubilization and phytohormone synthesis. In addition, it supports plants during different stresses such as temperature, osmotic, heavy metal and oxidative stress. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria have the ability to control heavy metal pollution of soils as well as enhancing plant growth in these soils. Efficient bioremediation is possible by using rhizobacterial inoculants, still, the distribution and functioning of microbes in the rhizosphere need to be fully explored. This review focuses on the effectiveness, biomonitoring processes and function in promoting plant development. Rhizobia application can be considered an alternative method for the improvement of biodiversity, agriculture, and the environment.",signatures:"Nafeesa Farooq Khan, Aatifa Rasool, Sheikh Mansoor, Sana Saleem, Tawseef Rehman Baba, Sheikh Maurifatul Haq, Sheikh Aafreen Rehman, Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji and Simona Mariana Popescu",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/80867",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/80867",authors:[{id:"357296",title:"Dr.",name:"Sheikh",surname:"Mansoor",slug:"sheikh-mansoor",fullName:"Sheikh Mansoor"},{id:"442244",title:"Ms.",name:"Nafeesa",surname:"Farooq Khan",slug:"nafeesa-farooq-khan",fullName:"Nafeesa Farooq Khan"},{id:"442245",title:"Ms.",name:"Aatifa",surname:"Rasool",slug:"aatifa-rasool",fullName:"Aatifa Rasool"},{id:"442247",title:"Ms.",name:"Sana",surname:"Saleem",slug:"sana-saleem",fullName:"Sana Saleem"},{id:"442248",title:"Mr.",name:"Tawseef",surname:"Rehman Baba",slug:"tawseef-rehman-baba",fullName:"Tawseef Rehman Baba"},{id:"442249",title:"Mr.",name:"Sheikh",surname:"Marifatul Haq",slug:"sheikh-marifatul-haq",fullName:"Sheikh Marifatul Haq"},{id:"442250",title:"Dr.",name:"Sheikh",surname:"Aafreen Rehman",slug:"sheikh-aafreen-rehman",fullName:"Sheikh Aafreen Rehman"},{id:"442251",title:"Dr.",name:"Simona",surname:"Mariana Popescu",slug:"simona-mariana-popescu",fullName:"Simona Mariana Popescu"},{id:"482660",title:"Dr.",name:"Charles",surname:"Oluwaseun Adetunji",slug:"charles-oluwaseun-adetunji",fullName:"Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji"}],corrections:null},{id:"80653",title:"Heavy Metal Contamination in Vegetables and Their Toxic Effects on Human Health",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.102651",slug:"heavy-metal-contamination-in-vegetables-and-their-toxic-effects-on-human-health",totalDownloads:132,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:1,hasAltmetrics:0,abstract:"Vegetables are a prevalent nutrition for people all over the world because they are high in important nutrients, antioxidants, and metabolites that function as buffers for acidic compounds created during digestion. Vegetables, on the other hand, absorbed both vital and poisonous substances through the soil. Possible human health concerns, including as cancer and renal damage, have been linked to the consumption of heavy metal-contaminated vegetables (HMs). Heavy metals like Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Hg were found in high concentrations in popular vegetables such as Amaranthus tricolour L., Chenopodium album L., Spinacia oleracea, Coriandrum sativum, Solanum lycopersicum, and Solanum melongena. The toxicity, fortification, health hazard, and heavy metals sources grown in soil are detailed in this review study.",signatures:"Seema Manwani, Vanisree C.R., Vibha Jaiman, Kumud Kant Awasthi, Chandra Shekhar Yadav, Mahipal Singh Sankhla, Pritam P. Pandit and Garima Awasthi",downloadPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-download/80653",previewPdfUrl:"/chapter/pdf-preview/80653",authors:[{id:"317319",title:"Mr.",name:"Mahipal Singh",surname:"Sankhla",slug:"mahipal-singh-sankhla",fullName:"Mahipal Singh Sankhla"},{id:"444060",title:"Ms.",name:"Vanisree",surname:"C. R.",slug:"vanisree-c.-r.",fullName:"Vanisree C. R."},{id:"447006",title:"Dr.",name:"Kumud Kant",surname:"Awasthi",slug:"kumud-kant-awasthi",fullName:"Kumud Kant Awasthi"},{id:"450437",title:"Dr.",name:"Garima",surname:"Awasthi",slug:"garima-awasthi",fullName:"Garima Awasthi"},{id:"451352",title:"Mr.",name:"Pritam P.",surname:"Pandit",slug:"pritam-p.-pandit",fullName:"Pritam P. Pandit"},{id:"451353",title:"Ms.",name:"Seema",surname:"Manwani",slug:"seema-manwani",fullName:"Seema Manwani"},{id:"451354",title:"Dr.",name:"Chandra Sekhar",surname:"Yadav",slug:"chandra-sekhar-yadav",fullName:"Chandra Sekhar Yadav"},{id:"451355",title:"Ms.",name:"Vibha",surname:"Jiman",slug:"vibha-jiman",fullName:"Vibha Jiman"}],corrections:null}],productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"},subseries:null,tags:null},relatedBooks:[{type:"book",id:"6418",title:"Hyperspectral Imaging in Agriculture, Food and Environment",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"9005c36534a5dc065577a011aea13d4d",slug:"hyperspectral-imaging-in-agriculture-food-and-environment",bookSignature:"Alejandro Isabel Luna Maldonado, Humberto Rodríguez Fuentes and Juan Antonio Vidales Contreras",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/6418.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"105774",title:"Prof.",name:"Alejandro Isabel",surname:"Luna Maldonado",slug:"alejandro-isabel-luna-maldonado",fullName:"Alejandro Isabel Luna Maldonado"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10359",title:"Landraces",subtitle:"Traditional Variety and Natural Breed",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"0600836fb2c422f7b624363d1e854f68",slug:"landraces-traditional-variety-and-natural-breed",bookSignature:"Amr Elkelish",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10359.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"231337",title:"Dr.",name:"Amr",surname:"Elkelish",slug:"amr-elkelish",fullName:"Amr Elkelish"}],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:"Theophile",surname:"Theophanides",slug:"theophile-theophanides",fullName:"Theophile Theophanides"}],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"}},{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"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,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"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,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"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,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"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,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"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,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"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}],ofsBooks:[]},correction:{item:{},chapter:{},book:{}},ofsBook:{item:{type:"book",id:"9588",leadTitle:null,title:"Clinical Concepts and Practical Management Techniques in Dentistry",subtitle:null,reviewType:"peer-reviewed",abstract:"Oral healthcare deals with complete oral health, including prevention, treatment, and cure. This book provides readers with the latest updates on dental clinical concepts and practical management techniques. It is divided into four sections that contain in-depth chapters with concepts and techniques from the fields of oral medicine, periodontology, radiology, endodontics, restorative dentistry, dental trauma, and probability and sampling. It is a compendium of work by internationally recognized oral clinicians and public healthcare leaders in dentistry. It presents updates on some of the most pertinent issues within the practice of dentistry, such as regenerative endodontic procedures, the unique role of radiographs, recognition of child abuse, and dental statistics.",isbn:"978-1-83962-846-7",printIsbn:"978-1-83962-842-9",pdfIsbn:"978-1-83962-847-4",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.87384",price:119,priceEur:129,priceUsd:155,slug:"clinical-concepts-and-practical-management-techniques-in-dentistry",numberOfPages:260,isOpenForSubmission:!1,isSalesforceBook:!1,isNomenclature:!1,hash:"42deab8d3bcf3edf64d1d9028d42efd1",bookSignature:"Aneesa Moolla",publishedDate:"February 9th 2022",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9588.jpg",keywords:null,numberOfDownloads:2154,numberOfWosCitations:0,numberOfCrossrefCitations:2,numberOfDimensionsCitations:3,numberOfTotalCitations:5,isAvailableForWebshopOrdering:!0,dateEndFirstStepPublish:"June 23rd 2020",dateEndSecondStepPublish:"July 14th 2020",dateEndThirdStepPublish:"September 12th 2020",dateEndFourthStepPublish:"December 1st 2020",dateEndFifthStepPublish:"January 30th 2021",dateConfirmationOfParticipation:null,remainingDaysToSecondStep:"2 years",secondStepPassed:!0,areRegistrationsClosed:!0,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:5,editedByType:"Edited by",kuFlag:!1,biosketch:"Research and academic professional with a healthcare qualification and a Ph.D. D degree in Psycho-Educational program development who has been with the University of Witwatersrand since 2010, and is currently employed as a senior lecturer and clinical supervisor in Health Sciences (Community Dentistry).",coeditorOneBiosketch:null,coeditorTwoBiosketch:null,coeditorThreeBiosketch:null,coeditorFourBiosketch:null,coeditorFiveBiosketch:null,editors:[{id:"318170",title:"Dr.",name:"Aneesa",middleName:null,surname:"Moolla",slug:"aneesa-moolla",fullName:"Aneesa Moolla",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/318170/images/system/318170.png",biography:"Dr. Aneesa Moolla has extensive experience in the diverse fields of health care having previously worked in dental private practice, at the Red Cross Flying Doctors association, and in healthcare corporate settings. She is now a lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and a principal researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE2RO), South Africa. Dr. Moolla holds a Ph.D. in Psychology with her research being focused on mental health and resilience. In her professional work capacity, her research has further expanded into the fields of early childhood development, mental health, the HIV and TB care cascades, as well as COVID. She is also a UNESCO-trained International Bioethics Facilitator.",institutionString:"University of the Witwatersrand",position:null,outsideEditionCount:0,totalCites:0,totalAuthoredChapters:"1",totalChapterViews:"0",totalEditedBooks:"1",institution:{name:"University of the Witwatersrand",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"South Africa"}}}],coeditorOne:null,coeditorTwo:null,coeditorThree:null,coeditorFour:null,coeditorFive:null,topics:[{id:"174",title:"Dentistry",slug:"dentistry"}],chapters:[{id:"78411",title:"Review in the Treatment Decision of Modalities for Impacted Second Molar",slug:"review-in-the-treatment-decision-of-modalities-for-impacted-second-molar",totalDownloads:114,totalCrossrefCites:0,authors:[{id:"419264",title:"Prof.",name:"Natthamet",surname:"Wongsirichat",slug:"natthamet-wongsirichat",fullName:"Natthamet Wongsirichat"},{id:"419270",title:"Dr.",name:"Ann",surname:"Chianchitlert",slug:"ann-chianchitlert",fullName:"Ann Chianchitlert"},{id:"419271",title:"Dr.",name:"Diane",surname:"Selvido",slug:"diane-selvido",fullName:"Diane Selvido"},{id:"419272",title:"Dr.",name:"Irin",surname:"Sirisoontorn",slug:"irin-sirisoontorn",fullName:"Irin Sirisoontorn"},{id:"419610",title:"Dr.",name:"Bishwa",surname:"Prakash Bhattarai",slug:"bishwa-prakash-bhattarai",fullName:"Bishwa Prakash Bhattarai"},{id:"419611",title:"Dr.",name:"Dinesh",surname:"Rokaya",slug:"dinesh-rokaya",fullName:"Dinesh Rokaya"}]},{id:"79561",title:"The Radiology of Developmental Dental Defects Demystified: An e-Based Learning System",slug:"the-radiology-of-developmental-dental-defects-demystified-an-e-based-learning-system",totalDownloads:65,totalCrossrefCites:0,authors:[{id:"26785",title:"Dr.",name:"Christopher Olubode",surname:"Ogunsalu",slug:"christopher-olubode-ogunsalu",fullName:"Christopher Olubode Ogunsalu"}]},{id:"73398",title:"Gender-Associated Oral and Periodontal Health Based on Retrospective Panoramic Radiographic Analysis of Alveolar Bone Loss",slug:"gender-associated-oral-and-periodontal-health-based-on-retrospective-panoramic-radiographic-analysis",totalDownloads:581,totalCrossrefCites:0,authors:[{id:"236238",title:"Dr.",name:"Vishakha",surname:"Grover",slug:"vishakha-grover",fullName:"Vishakha Grover"},{id:"325070",title:"Ms.",name:"Amrit",surname:"Baweja",slug:"amrit-baweja",fullName:"Amrit Baweja"},{id:"325071",title:"Mr.",name:"Aman",surname:"Bhagat",slug:"aman-bhagat",fullName:"Aman Bhagat"},{id:"325072",title:"Dr.",name:"Ashish",surname:"Jain",slug:"ashish-jain",fullName:"Ashish Jain"},{id:"325073",title:"Dr.",name:"Anchal",surname:"Ohri",slug:"anchal-ohri",fullName:"Anchal Ohri"},{id:"325092",title:"Dr.",name:"Neeta",surname:"V.Bhavsar",slug:"neeta-v.bhavsar",fullName:"Neeta V.Bhavsar"}]},{id:"76235",title:"Regenerative Endodontic Procedure in Immature Permanent Teeth",slug:"regenerative-endodontic-procedure-in-immature-permanent-teeth",totalDownloads:181,totalCrossrefCites:1,authors:[{id:"336440",title:"Dr.",name:"Meshal",surname:"G. Al-shammari",slug:"meshal-g.-al-shammari",fullName:"Meshal G. Al-shammari"}]},{id:"74870",title:"Regeneration of Dentin Using Stem Cells Present in the Pulp",slug:"regeneration-of-dentin-using-stem-cells-present-in-the-pulp",totalDownloads:356,totalCrossrefCites:0,authors:[{id:"246301",title:"Dr.",name:"Keisuke",surname:"Nakano",slug:"keisuke-nakano",fullName:"Keisuke Nakano"},{id:"246302",title:"Prof.",name:"Hidetsugu",surname:"Tsujigiwa",slug:"hidetsugu-tsujigiwa",fullName:"Hidetsugu Tsujigiwa"},{id:"345982",title:"Dr.",name:"Toshiyuki",surname:"Kawakami",slug:"toshiyuki-kawakami",fullName:"Toshiyuki Kawakami"},{id:"345983",title:"Dr.",name:"Kiyofumi",surname:"Takabatake",slug:"kiyofumi-takabatake",fullName:"Kiyofumi Takabatake"},{id:"345984",title:"Dr.",name:"Hotaka",surname:"Kawai",slug:"hotaka-kawai",fullName:"Hotaka Kawai"},{id:"345985",title:"Dr.",name:"Hitoshi",surname:"Nagatuka",slug:"hitoshi-nagatuka",fullName:"Hitoshi Nagatuka"}]},{id:"76852",title:"Restoration of Endodontically Treated Teeth",slug:"restoration-of-endodontically-treated-teeth",totalDownloads:309,totalCrossrefCites:1,authors:[{id:"323731",title:"Prof.",name:"Deepak M.",surname:"Vikhe",slug:"deepak-m.-vikhe",fullName:"Deepak M. Vikhe"}]},{id:"79529",title:"The Application of Zirconia in Tooth Defects",slug:"the-application-of-zirconia-in-tooth-defects",totalDownloads:83,totalCrossrefCites:0,authors:[{id:"315775",title:"Dr.",name:"Feng",surname:"Luo",slug:"feng-luo",fullName:"Feng Luo"},{id:"315776",title:"Prof.",name:"Qianbing",surname:"Wan",slug:"qianbing-wan",fullName:"Qianbing Wan"},{id:"352120",title:"BSc.",name:"Hongyan",surname:"Luo",slug:"hongyan-luo",fullName:"Hongyan Luo"},{id:"352122",title:"MSc.",name:"Ruyi",surname:"Li",slug:"ruyi-li",fullName:"Ruyi Li"},{id:"352125",title:"BSc.",name:"Changxing",surname:"Qu",slug:"changxing-qu",fullName:"Changxing Qu"},{id:"352126",title:"Prof.",name:"Guang",surname:"Hong",slug:"guang-hong",fullName:"Guang Hong"}]},{id:"75139",title:"Short and Long Term Oral Hygiene Maintenance Protocols for Traumatic Dental Injuries",slug:"short-and-long-term-oral-hygiene-maintenance-protocols-for-traumatic-dental-injuries",totalDownloads:182,totalCrossrefCites:0,authors:[{id:"262888",title:"Dr.",name:"Girish",surname:"Suragimath",slug:"girish-suragimath",fullName:"Girish Suragimath"},{id:"326813",title:"Dr.",name:"Ashwinirani",surname:"SR",slug:"ashwinirani-sr",fullName:"Ashwinirani SR"}]},{id:"78466",title:"The Role of the Dental Therapists and Oral Hygienists in the Immediate Response to Traumatic Dental Injuries",slug:"the-role-of-the-dental-therapists-and-oral-hygienists-in-the-immediate-response-to-traumatic-dental-",totalDownloads:111,totalCrossrefCites:0,authors:[{id:"315727",title:"Ms.",name:"Kelebogile A.",surname:"Mothupi",slug:"kelebogile-a.-mothupi",fullName:"Kelebogile A. Mothupi"},{id:"337613",title:"Mrs.",name:"Tshakane",surname:"R.M.D. Ralephenya",slug:"tshakane-r.m.d.-ralephenya",fullName:"Tshakane R.M.D. Ralephenya"},{id:"423519",title:"Dr.",name:"Sizakele",surname:"Ngwenya",slug:"sizakele-ngwenya",fullName:"Sizakele Ngwenya"}]},{id:"79455",title:"Signs of Child Abuse and Neglect: A Practical Guide for Dental Professionals",slug:"signs-of-child-abuse-and-neglect-a-practical-guide-for-dental-professionals",totalDownloads:86,totalCrossrefCites:0,authors:[{id:"318170",title:"Dr.",name:"Aneesa",surname:"Moolla",slug:"aneesa-moolla",fullName:"Aneesa Moolla"},{id:"337613",title:"Mrs.",name:"Tshakane",surname:"R.M.D. Ralephenya",slug:"tshakane-r.m.d.-ralephenya",fullName:"Tshakane R.M.D. Ralephenya"},{id:"423519",title:"Dr.",name:"Sizakele",surname:"Ngwenya",slug:"sizakele-ngwenya",fullName:"Sizakele Ngwenya"},{id:"344229",title:"Dr.",name:"Sankeshan",surname:"Padayachee",slug:"sankeshan-padayachee",fullName:"Sankeshan Padayachee"}]},{id:"76575",title:"Probability and Sampling in Dentistry",slug:"probability-and-sampling-in-dentistry",totalDownloads:89,totalCrossrefCites:0,authors:[{id:"332799",title:"B.A.",name:"Ali",surname:"Khan",slug:"ali-khan",fullName:"Ali Khan"},{id:"332912",title:"Dr.",name:"Shakeela",surname:"Yousaf",slug:"shakeela-yousaf",fullName:"Shakeela Yousaf"},{id:"332914",title:"Dr.",name:"Muhammad Saad",surname:"Shaikh",slug:"muhammad-saad-shaikh",fullName:"Muhammad Saad Shaikh"}]}],productType:{id:"1",title:"Edited Volume",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"},personalPublishingAssistant:{id:"287827",firstName:"Gordan",lastName:"Tot",middleName:null,title:"Mr.",imageUrl:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/287827/images/8493_n.png",email:"gordan@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:"7572",title:"Trauma in Dentistry",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"7cb94732cfb315f8d1e70ebf500eb8a9",slug:"trauma-in-dentistry",bookSignature:"Serdar Gözler",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7572.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"204606",title:"Dr.",name:"Serdar",surname:"Gözler",slug:"serdar-gozler",fullName:"Serdar Gözler"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"8837",title:"Human Teeth",subtitle:"Key Skills and Clinical Illustrations",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"ac055c5801032970123e0a196c2e1d32",slug:"human-teeth-key-skills-and-clinical-illustrations",bookSignature:"Zühre Akarslan and Farid Bourzgui",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8837.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"171887",title:"Prof.",name:"Zühre",surname:"Akarslan",slug:"zuhre-akarslan",fullName:"Zühre Akarslan"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10126",title:"Dental Caries",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"0878a332413e67a1aa0a16fabeed9046",slug:"dental-caries",bookSignature:"Efka Zabokova Bilbilova",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10126.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"275097",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"Efka",surname:"Zabokova Bilbilova",slug:"efka-zabokova-bilbilova",fullName:"Efka Zabokova Bilbilova"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9387",title:"Oral Diseases",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"76591a3bd6bedaa1c8d1f72870268e23",slug:"oral-diseases",bookSignature:"Gokul Sridharan, Anil Sukumaran and Alaa Eddin Omar Al Ostwani",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9387.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"82453",title:"Dr.",name:"Gokul",surname:"Sridharan",slug:"gokul-sridharan",fullName:"Gokul Sridharan"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"7497",title:"Computer Vision in Dentistry",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"1e9812cebd46ef9e28257f3e96547f6a",slug:"computer-vision-in-dentistry",bookSignature:"Monika Elzbieta Machoy",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7497.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"248279",title:"Dr.",name:"Monika",surname:"Machoy",slug:"monika-machoy",fullName:"Monika Machoy"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"5814",title:"Dental Anatomy",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"445cd419d97f339f2b6514c742e6b050",slug:"dental-anatomy",bookSignature:"Bağdagül Helvacioğlu Kivanç",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/5814.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"178570",title:"Dr.",name:"Bağdagül",surname:"Helvacıoğlu Kıvanç",slug:"bagdagul-helvacioglu-kivanc",fullName:"Bağdagül Helvacıoğlu Kıvanç"}],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:"Theophile",surname:"Theophanides",slug:"theophile-theophanides",fullName:"Theophile Theophanides"}],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"}}]},chapter:{item:{type:"chapter",id:"70649",title:"Real-Time Fault Detection and Diagnosis Using Intelligent Monitoring and Supervision Systems",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.90158",slug:"real-time-fault-detection-and-diagnosis-using-intelligent-monitoring-and-supervision-systems",body:'\nAdvances in production techniques have improved the capacity of the productive systems of the industries, since the equipment used in these processes have improved their reliability and availability in the operation, making the productive processes more efficient.
\nOne of the most critical questions about automated system design today is reliability and availability of a system. A traditional way to improve the reliability and availability of systems is to improve the quality, reliability, and robustness of the individual components of such a system, such as such as sensors, actuators, controllers and/or computers, used integrally in modern monitoring processes. Even so, a fault-free operation cannot be guaranteed. Process monitoring and fault diagnosis are a vital part of the innovative and modern systems of automatic management of the operation of production systems [1, 2].
\nSince the life cycle stages of production process equipment require high investments, and maintenance and operation procedures to achieve appropriate return times on the investments made, must ensure high availability and reliability rates. These performance indexes are improved by reducing the number of failures and managing their severities, while ensuring an increase in overall security.
\nTo achieve these goals, two important techniques are available that allow optimized maintenance management, known as predictive and proactive, which are complemented by the techniques: corrective and preventive. This set of techniques offers its best results through the implementation of efficient real-time monitoring and supervision structures, making production systems highly reliable in supplying their products and in the quality of products offered. Corrective maintenance corrects the problem, preventive maintenance prevents the problem.
\nOn the other hand, predictive maintenance consists in the frequent measurement of physical quantities, considered representative and through the analysis of their behavior, to extract their state or operative condition. This allows to suggest the most appropriate moment to apply the necessary actions in the equipments that present characteristics of being in the initial state of a fault - early failure (the root cause is slightly impacting the equipment continuously), anticipating in this way to the emergence of a serious system failure. The predictive maintenance process allows obtaining a report on the operational condition of the equipment. This process of issuing the report basically comprises four stages:
Identification of the failure modes that are occurring;
Fault location;
Evaluation of its extension;
Estimation of the remaining life of the equipment or component in question.
In traditional predictive maintenance processes, all these steps are performed manually. Alternatively, these steps can be performed using computer systems that allow automating this process is called Systems for Automatic Fault Diagnosis [3].
\nAs can be inferred, the selection, implementation, operation and maintenance of a System for Automatic Diagnosis of Failures is not a simple task, requiring at each stage, care so that the result provided by the system, after its implementation, is within the one initially specified. For this, it is necessary to use appropriate tools and strategies, in each step, in order to maximize the success in executing each of them.
\nProactive maintenance is a procedure that minimizes the impact of lack of maintenance or reduced maintenance on the equipment of a production system and also by its own characteristics complements the other maintenance techniques. The main action of this maintenance is to analyze the performance indicators and identify the root cause of the failures, the degradation of the equipment and to remove them before the severity of a fault itself increases [4].
\nIn this chapter, a description will be given of the various methodologies for converting an online monitoring and supervision system into an intelligent system that allows the detection and diagnosis of failures, training it to assure autonomy in taking the necessary actions in real time to avoid them and seek their causes to eliminate them.
\nThe proposed content has two basic objectives: to discuss some important factors for the success in the implantation and use of these structures or systems, as well as the main benefits in the integrated and simultaneous use of the monitoring and supervision of several physical quantities of the equipment, with the goal of increasing the “accuracy” of fault detection and diagnosis.
\nThe technological development in this area has allowed the emergence of innovative methodologies for the detection and diagnosis of failures. The failure detection method recognizes that the failure has occurred, and fault diagnosis finds the root cause and location of that failure. In general, fault detection methods are based on mathematical models of signal and process, and on methods of systems theory and process modeling to generate fault symptoms. Fault diagnosis methods use causal relationships between fault and symptom, applying statistical decision methods, artificial intelligence and computational software [5].
\nAmong the existing model-based fault diagnosis schemes, the so-called observations-based technique has received much attention since the 1990s. This technique was developed within the framework of the successful theory of advanced control, where powerful tools are available to design or to extrapolate recorded observations through efficient and reliable algorithms for data processing in order to reconstruct process variables.
\nThe content described here is intended to provide an introduction to advanced monitoring and supervision, focused as a framework or intelligent assembly for fault detection and diagnostics [1, 6], and fault-tolerant systems especially for processes characterized by continuous and sampled (discrete) signals.
\nIn general, almost all physical signals are continuous, for example, position and velocity of a body, speech or music picked up by a microphone, voltage or current in an electric circuit.
\nThe sampling (instantaneous) of an analog signal or waveform is the process by which the signal is represented by a discrete set of numbers. These numbers, or samples, are equal to the signal value at well-determined instants (the sampling times). Samples must be obtained in such a way that it is possible to reconstruct the signal accurately. That is, the original waveform, defined in “continuous” time, is represented in “discrete” time by samples obtained at conveniently spaced sampling instants.
\nAn application-oriented approach will also be done with methods that have proven their proper performance in practical applications.
\nThe monitoring and supervision of processes aim to show the real state of the equipment involved in a productive process, indicating undesirable or illicit states and the appearance of a change in its initial phase (early failure). This situation will require taking appropriate and immediate action to avoid catastrophic damage in the future.
\nDeviations from the normal behavior of the parameters of an equipment or system arise from faults and/or errors, which can be attributed to several causes. These changes are symptoms of possible early failure, and if the necessary actions are not taken to eliminate them, they may become actual failures that may compromise the performance of productive systems. The justification for monitoring and supervision systems is to avoid such defects or failures in systems by collecting continuous information (provided by the monitoring system) in real time, on the behavior of the equipment of a production system and its supervision data) that will allow you to determine if a device or equipment is operating normally or at risk.
\nDeviations from the normal behavior of the parameters of an equipment or system arise from faults and/or errors, which can be attributed to several causes. These changes are symptoms of possible failures in their early state, and failure to take the necessary actions to eliminate them can lead to real failures that may compromise the performance of productive systems. The justification for the monitoring and supervision systems is to avoid these defects or failures in the systems by collecting continuous information (provided by the monitoring system) in real time, on the behavior of the equipment of a production system and its supervision (data evaluation collected) to determine whether a device or equipment is operating normally or at risk.
\nThe content presented in this chapter is focused primarily on the areas of system monitoring and supervision. We have shown the changes that can be made in these two areas of observation and analysis of the behavior of the parameters of a system during its operation, to make them more efficient in solving problems of production systems. The fundamental objective of this information is to integrate these two areas into one set only through the use of the Smart System technique, allowing its unified application in real time in decision making, in any area of a production system [2].
\nThe Smart System technique will make productive systems economically efficient by improving their performance, quality, reliability of supply, operational flexibility, safety, etc.
\nIt should be noted that the selection, implementation, operation and maintenance of a system for automatic fault diagnosis is a complex task [2, 7]. You must ensure that the result provided by this system is within the programmed specifications. For this, it is necessary to use appropriate tools and strategies, in each step, in order to maximize the success in executing each of them.
\nThe concept of predictive maintenance is directly linked to the monitoring of the condition (state) of one or more equipment. O monitoring as such is a basic tool for the implementation of predictive maintenance strategies. Monitoring can be classified from the point of view of the type of sensor installation (permanent or mobile), or be classified by the data acquisition strategy “continuous/on-line” or “periodic/off-line”.
\n“Continuous/on-line” monitoring systems often work in an integrated way with the Supervisory and Control Systems, or “Supervisory Systems” of the production systems, both of which have individual requirements for data acquisition and functions totally different from one another. The integration of these two systems allows for the “continuous” acquisition of operating data and the variables of slow variation (temperatures, levels, position values, static pressures, etc.) normally available in these systems.
\nAutomatic Diagnostic Systems - ADS are the next step to pure and simple monitoring. These more advanced systems receive information from the monitoring system and, through the use of intelligent software, can manage” Knowledge Bank”, where information obtained from various physical parameters is crossed and integrated, from where a result that is closer to what one really wants: an effective aid to decision-making.
\nAutomatic processing systems are integrated by computer programs, focused on the technique of artificial intelligence, and are responsible for automatically processing all information from the monitoring systems. The main objective of the integration of these systems in the operation of a productive system is the automatic detection of incipient faults and their main characteristics, that is, faults that are in the initial phase of their formation (early faults), their identification, location and estimation of the degree of severity.
\nThe main characteristic of ADSs is that they can handle large amounts of data generated by Monitoring Systems in a systematic, frequent and automatic way, and optimize the process of data storage during long periods of operation (months or years). Another attribute of the ADSs is their intrinsic characteristic, that is, throughout the time of use, each time less need of the interference of the user. Another important feature of ADSs is their adequacy as a Knowledge Management tool in predictive maintenance [8, 9].
\nThe characteristic limitation of this type of system, as well as of any type of Monitoring System traditionally used, is presented when dealing with faults of instant or catastrophic evolution. For this, “Protection Systems”, with fixed and well-established alarm limits, should be considered as the main option. The principles of operation, as well as the necessary technical characteristics, relating to the acquisition, communication and processing of data from each of these systems are fundamentally different and should not be confused [10].
\nBasically, ADSs have the function of reporting the occurrence of failures when they are still in their infancy, while the Protection Systems must act at the moment an unacceptable operating situation occurs.
\nThe technological development in the systems of monitoring and supervision will allow the structuring and optimized evolution of the areas of automated detection and diagnosis, this being the next step to the pure and simple monitoring. These systems receive information from the monitoring system, consisting essentially of sensors and through the use of the technique of intelligent systems and expert systems, a “knowledge bank” is managed or also called the knowledge base for decision making.
\nThe evaluation of the information provided by the monitoring and supervision system will allow to detect and locate a problem and diagnose its root cause, simultaneously, it will be possible to select the best action to mitigate changes in the behavior of the parameters of interest and eliminate the cause that produces them. Finally, the system itself will decide whether to take this action online or offline, depending on the severity and robustness of the problem.
\nAnother important characteristic that is considered in the design of these systems is their intrinsic characteristic that, throughout the time of use, they are less and less required to interfere with the user. That is, while in the case of traditional monitoring systems, the accumulation of stored, non-processed data by the user is a natural consequence of the monitoring process itself, and the effort to treat such data never diminishes over time. In the ADSs the manual work involved in the processing of information is decreasing over time. This is due to the fact that there are tools and mechanisms of retention and improvement of the knowledge registered in these systems. Thus, by using knowledge management tools, maintenance team members can track, correct, insert, retrieve, and refine existing content in their Knowledge Bank (expert systems).
\nIn this way, it can be said that the joint monitoring and supervision system has become intelligent and consequently autonomous to operate a production system in an efficient way from a technical as well as an economic point of view.
\nIn this section, a description of the methodology used for the conversion of a monitoring and supervision system in an intelligent system that allows the detection, localization and diagnosis of failures is made possible to take the most appropriate actions to eliminate them and to seek their causes to avoid them. This will improve the efficiency of production systems.
\nSmart System or Smart Grid in general terms is the application of information technologies in production systems, integrated with communication systems and with an automated network infrastructure. This technique requires the installation of sensors in all the fundamental equipment of the production systems, structuring a reliable two-way communication system with wide coverage with the various devices and automation of the physical assets.
\nThe current sensors have chips that detect information about the behavior of the parameters of certain equipment. These devices collect the information and those with changes are sent to an operation center through a communication system where they are analyzed to determine what is significant.
\nThis process must occur in real time and online mode and in the presence of significant information, a centralized analysis system (specialized software) will evaluate them and determine the changes that have occurred and what should be done to improve the performance of a given parameter.
\nIn \nFigure 1\n, a block diagram is presented where the sequential structure of an intelligent monitoring and supervision system is described at a macro level. This configuration is a technological innovation in the area of intelligent automation. Its implementation is done through computational software of reference that will help in the process of evaluation, detection, location, diagnosis and application of the most appropriate actions in the elimination of a problem or failure.
\nFlowchart of intelligent monitoring and supervision system.
An overview of each of the steps that will make up the intelligent monitoring and supervision systems (see flowchart in \nFigure 1\n) will be presented, highlighting the methodologies and techniques that will be used in each one of them in order to reach the required efficiency level which allows solving the various problems that arise in the equipment used in the production processes. This efficiency will be measured by the degree of automatism in real time and the autonomy in decision making in the presence of a certain disturbance. This will indicate a fully intelligent system that will safeguard the integrity and security of a production system, avoiding collapses and economic and technical damages.
\nTo monitor is to observe, analyze and be aware of possible signs that something is not normal. In information technology, “not normal” can indicate unavailability of one or more parts of a system or simply change a parameter of a device.
\nIn this phase the observation of changes or changes in the modules of the parameters of transcendence in time is realized. These changes must be recorded within a data collection system called the Database, which will allow us to construct a history of the behavior in time of a given variable or parameter according to a reference level or threshold of behavior [11, 12].
\nThis process is carried out only through a robust system of sensors, installed at strategic points of equipment or system, allowing its observability continuous in time [1].
\nMonitoring is carried out using the following methodologies:
\n
\n
With the advent of microcontrollers and microprocessors and the great availability of tools and resources for the processing of digital systems, it was possible to introduce a high computing capacity to the transducers.
\nThe intelligent transducer, which is the integration of: (a) an analog or digital sensor or an actuator, (b) a processing unit, and (c) a network interface.
\nA smart transducer transforms the sensor’s raw signals into a standardized digital representation, transmitting this digital signal to its users through a standardized digital communication protocol.
\nIn \nTable 1\n, the sensors that are part of the two types of sensors existent for the realization of the monitoring process are described.
\nc.
Active sensors | \nPassive sensors | \n
---|---|
Thermoelectric | \nResistive | \n
Piezoelectric | \nCapacitive | \n
Pyro electric | \nInductive | \n
Photovoltaic | \nResonant | \n
Electromagnetic | \n\n |
Hall effect | \n\n |
Types of sensors.
A very useful calculation performed by specialists from the oscillograms is to determine the distance at which a disturbance occurred. In this case, the specialist informs the maintenance team in which region of the transmission line it must act in order to repair the damage caused by the disturbance, making its work easier and more efficient. In addition, the expert performs other procedures, such as the phasor analysis to verify the balance between the phases and the harmonic analysis to observe the intensity of the harmonics present in the signal.
\nThe digitalization of the oscillography signals motivated the growth of the number of computational tools developed to aid in the analysis of perturbations, also allowing the development of sophisticated signal processing tools and intelligent processing systems.
\nNowadays the use of oscillography has become quite frequent for the recording of events in production systems (electrical systems, mechanical systems, etc.), since it is possible to observe the development sequence of an event and the interaction between the elements of the system that are part of the event. This implies the progressive growth of the number of oscillography files.
\nThus, the need arises to study and develop compression methods with the purpose of reducing the space needed to store these files and make better use of the resources. It is proposed the use of a compression method by synthesis of oscillography files, using redundant adaptive decompositions, which provide a coherent representation with the phenomena present in the recorded signals. These decompositions were based on the technique of Matching Pursuits (MP).
\nRemote and real time monitoring allows observation of data related to operating conditions, mechanical parameters (fuel, temperature, engine speed, oil pressure and level, vibration, etc.), electrical parameters (currents, powers, voltages, oscillations, etc.), hydraulic parameters (flow, cavitations, water hammer, etc.) and operating hours.
\nIt is a process that performs the analysis of collected data for detection of unwanted or non-permitted states. It is searched if a parameter is within the permitted limits or if there are unusual variations.
\nThe supervision area receives information from the Monitoring System and, through the use of intelligent software, a “Knowledge Bank” must be managed, where information obtained from various physical parameters is crossed and integrated, from which a result that is closer to what one really wants: an effective aid to decision-making.
\nThe supervisory system automatically processes the information collected by the monitoring system through internal routines using intelligent techniques (Computational Intelligence). The objective is the automatic detection of incipient faults, that is, early detection of faults, their identification, location and estimation of the degree of severity [4, 13].
\nWithin the area of supervision three very significant and decisive procedures are performed in solving the problems of a productive system:
Evaluation of the information collected;
Diagnosis of the changes present in these collected data - the system will inform if they are faults in their precocious state or catastrophic failures and their root cause. It will also inform your location;
Elimination of failures and their root cause. This will prevent damage and collapse in a production process. Here will be decided the actions that must be taken and depending on the severity of the failure its execution will be online or offline.
At this stage, the detection of variations or changes in the normal behavior of a parameter is carried out. For this, a comparison process is carried out with a previously defined reference value. This revision is performed in real time and its result compared to the past behavior, this will allow defining if it is really presenting an abnormality or simply it is an isolated eventuality.
\nThe behavior history is analyzed and an image of the state of the selected parameters is created [8, 9]. This image is compared to the behavior of these same parameters in real time. This part of the evaluation uses only stored (digital) data that reaches a threshold value (reference value).
\nAn evaluation of the recorded oscillograms is also performed, interpreting all recorded graphs related to the behavior of a given parameter.
\nTo perform the database evaluation process with the historical behavior of the parameters of interest, there are tools or methodologies that allow the execution of this process in an optimized and efficient manner. These methodologies are as follows and depend greatly on the type of signal being monitored:
Statistical and Probabilistic Techniques
At this stage of the research the most used statistical method is least squares.
Kalman filter
The Kalman filter produces estimates of the actual values of measured quantities and associated values, predicting a value, estimating the uncertainty of the predicted value, and calculating a weighted average between the predicted value and the measured value. The highest weight is given to the least uncertainty value. The estimates generated by the method tend to be closer to the actual values than the original measurements, since the weighted average presents a better estimate of uncertainty than both values used in its calculation. From a theoretical point of view, the Kalman filter is an algorithm for efficiently making accurate inferences about a linear dynamic system, which is a Bayesian model similar to a Markov hidden model, but where the state space of the variables is not observed is continuous and all observed and unobserved variables have normal distribution (or often multivariate normal distribution).
Fourier Transform
This technique applies mainly to stationary periodic signals.
The Fourier transform is an integral transform that expresses a function in terms of sinusoidal base functions, i.e. as the sum or integral of sinusoidal functions multiplied by coefficients. There are several directly related variations of this transform, depending on the type of function to transform. The Fourier transform decomposes a temporal function (a signal) into frequencies, just as a musical instrument string can be expressed as the amplitude (or volume) of its constituent notes. The Fourier transform of a temporal function is a complex frequency value function whose absolute value represents the sum of the frequencies present in the original function and whose complex argument is the phase of displacement of the sinusoidal base at that frequency.
Wavelet Transform
This technique applies mainly to non-stationary Periodic signals.
Many of the time series exhibit non-stationary behaviors such as changing trends, structural breakdowns from the beginning to the end of the event. These features are often the most important parts of the signal and by applying TF it is not possible to efficiently capture these events.
The wavelet transform is a very useful tool for analyzing these non-stationary series.
The wavelet transform has attractive qualities that make it a very useful method for time series, exhibiting characteristics that could vary both in time and frequency (or scale).
The wavelet transform allows the signal to be decomposed into a set of function bases at different resolution levels and localization times. From these levels it is possible to reconstruct or represent a function, using the wavelet bases and coefficients of these levels appropriately.
ARMA (p,q) model
This technique applies mainly to stochastic signals.
In the statistical analysis of time series, autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models provide a poor description of a weakly stationary stochastic process in terms of two polynomials, one for autoregression and one for average mobile.
Given a time series of X data, the ARMA model is a tool for understanding and perhaps predicting future values in this series. The model consists of two parts, an autoregressive part (AM) and a moving average part (AM). The AR part involves returning the variable to its own lagged, that is, past values. The AM part involves modeling the error term as a linear combination of error terms that occur contemporaneously and at various times in the past.
The model is generally referred to as the ARMA (p,q) model, where p is the order of the autoregressive part and
In signal processing, a time series is a collection of observations made sequentially over time. In linear regression models with cross-section data the order of observations is irrelevant to the analysis, in time series the order of data is fundamental. A very important feature of this type of data is that neighboring observations are dependent and the interest is to analyze and model this dependency.
Within probability theory, a stochastic process is a family of random variables representing the evolution of a value system over time. It is the probabilistic counterpart of a deterministic process. Instead of a process that has a single way of evolving, as in the solutions of ordinary differential equations, for example, in a stochastic process there is an indetermination: even if one knows the initial condition, there are sometimes infinite directions in which the process can evolve.
In discrete time, as opposed to continuous time cases, the stochastic process is a sequence of random variables, such as a Markov chain. The variables corresponding to the various times may be completely different, the only requirement being that these different values are all in the same space, that is, in the contradiction of the function. One possible approach is to model random variables as random functions of one or more deterministic arguments, in most cases, relative to the time parameter. Although the random values of a stochastic process at different times seem to be independent random variables, in the most common situations they exhibit a complex statistical dependence.
At this stage the type and degree of variation, the type of failure, its location, its severity and the incidence on the performance of an element or component are determined, and most particularly the root cause of this disturbance is identified [8].
\nIn order to achieve the objectives of the fault diagnosis stage, two very important techniques allow the monitoring and supervision system to achieve this intelligent and autonomous decision-making system feature [5, 7, 14]. The application of these two methodologies is the major differential between classical monitoring and supervision and intelligent monitoring and supervision. These two methodologies are described below:
Fault detection methods
They detect faults, locate them and determine their degree of severity. The methodologies used in this technique to detect faults are:
Fault detection with limit checking
It is a simple and often used method to detect faults by checking the limit of a directly measured Y(t) variable. The measured variables of a process are monitored and checked if their absolute values or trends exceed a threshold. An additional possibility is to check its plausibility.
To detect failures in a device of a production system it is necessary to establish or determine variation limits for the variables considered of interest. Usually these limits are the maximum values these variables can reach. When the values of the variables reach these limits, it can be inferred that a variable is presenting abnormal changes. If these changes are continuous or discrete, it can be concluded that the device is in a process of failure.
The fault detection threshold verification technique is based on two procedures in order to achieve its goal, namely:
Binary thresholds;
Diffuse thresholds.
In most situations the binary decision between “normal” and “disturbance” is sometimes artificial, because there is rarely a marked difference between these two states. Therefore, the diffuse threshold procedure is a more realistic alternative for detecting changes in the behavior of variables.
Fault diagnosis methods—root cause identification.
Identify the impact a failure has on the performance of an element or device. This is strongly related to the severity of the failure. The important part of the diagnostic step is that the system is able to identify the root cause of a problem.
Many measured signals show oscillations that are either harmonic or stochastic in nature or both [9]. If changes to these signals are related to actuator, process and sensor failures, signal model-based failure detection methods may be applied.
Assuming special mathematical models for signal measurement, appropriate characteristics can be determined. Comparison with observed characteristics for normal behavior provides changes in these characteristics which are considered as analytical symptoms.
The signal model can be divided into non-parametric models, such as frequency spectrum or correlation functions, and into parametric models as amplitudes to distinguish frequencies or ARMA models.
At this stage usually the signals that are analyzed for being frequent in different production processes are focused on the following types of signals:
Periodic signs;
Non-stationary periodic signals;
Stochastic signals.
Within the various alternatives available to eliminate these changes in the behavior of a given parameter, the best is sought from the technical and economic point of view and, most importantly, that can be applied in real time, either in on mode online or offline [15]. This depends on the severity of the failure, for example whether it is a failure that is likely to happen and the serious consequences or symptoms of an incipient failure.
\nThis optimized solution is found by applying intelligent optimization techniques such as:
Expert systems;
Neural networks;
Fuzzy logic.
An ES is capable of processing non-numerical information, presenting conclusions on a certain subject as long as it is properly oriented and “fed”. Another common feature in expert systems is the existence of an uncertain reasoning mechanism that allows one to present uncertainty about domain knowledge. In other words, ES employ human knowledge to solve problems that require the experience of one or more specialists. Within the application of expert systems it is necessary to count on the participation of a robust database, where the knowledge base will be stored (expert knowledge to solve numerous problems).
\nThe knowledge base is a permanent but specific element of an expert system. This is where the information of an expert system is stored, that is, the facts and rules. Information stored in a particular domain makes the system an expert in that domain.
\nCommunication of information between expert systems is done by a mechanism called a blackboard. A blackboard is a place within computer memory where information stored in an expert system is “pinned” so that any other expert system can use them if you need the information contained therein to achieve your goals.
\nThe blackboard is a structure that contains information that can be examined by cooperative expert systems. What these systems do with this information depends on the application.
\nStill, a blackboard, draft, or working memory (temporary memory) has a useful life during the course of a query and is linked to a concrete query. It is an area of memory used to make evaluations of the rules that are retrieved from the knowledge base to arrive at a solution.
\nInformation is recorded and erased in an inference process until the desired solution is reached.
\nInference engine or inference engine is a permanent element that can even be reused by various expert systems. It is the party responsible for seeking knowledge base rules to be evaluated, directing the inference process [13]. Knowledge must be prepared for good interpretation and objects must be in a certain order, represented by a context tree.
\nBasically the inference engine is divided into the following steps:
Select and search;
Evaluate and Search.
Summarizing the above tasks, it can be said that the rules necessary to reach a goal must be sought in the knowledge base. These rules will be placed on the blackboard, and existing rules will only be evaluated after the most recent ones.
\nThe evaluation order on the blackboard follows a stack-like structure to achieve the most recent goal. The rule will continue to be evaluated as long as the assumption conditions are true, otherwise the rule will be dropped, the set goal will be unstacked and a new rule will be loaded.
\nWhen a value of a parameter in a given context is not known and is not in the stack structures, one should then look for new information in the knowledge base, search for new rules, or ask the user directly.
\nAn artificial neural network is made up of several processing units whose operation is quite simple. These units are usually connected by communication channels that are associated with a certain weight. Units perform operations only on their local data, which is input received by their connections. The intelligent behavior of an Artificial Neural Network comes from interactions between network processing units.
\nNeural networks allow optimized selection of a particular solution alternative for a given event or change. The neural network is used in this process to evaluate the results of the expert system, that is, the final solution should be selected as the best of all presented, the neural network allows to establish this solution.
\nFuzzy logic is based on fuzzy set theory. Traditionally, a logical proposition has two extremes: either it is completely true or it is completely false. However, in Fuzzy logic, a premise varies in degree of truth from 0 to 1, which leads to being partially true or partially false.
\nFuzzy logic is the logic that supports the modes of reasoning that are approximate rather than exact. Fuzzy systems modeling and control are techniques for rigorously handling qualitative information. Derived from the concept of fuzzy sets, fuzzy logic forms the basis for the development of process modeling and control methods and algorithms, reducing the complexity of design and implementation, making it the solution to control problems hitherto intractable classic techniques.
\nIn classical and modern control theories, the first step in implementing process control is to derive the mathematical model that describes the process. The procedure requires knowing in detail the process to be controlled, which is not always feasible if the process is too complex. Existing control theories apply to a wide variety of systems where the process is well defined.
\nHowever, all of these techniques are not capable of solving real problems whose mathematical modeling is impractical. For example, in many situations a considerable amount of essential information is only known a priori qualitatively. Similarly, performance criteria are only available in linguistic terms. This picture leads to inaccuracies and inaccuracies that make it impossible to use most of the theories used so far.
\nFuzzy modeling and control theory are techniques for rigorously handling qualitative information. It assesses how imprecision and uncertainty should be managed and, in so doing, become powerful enough to properly manipulate knowledge. This technology considers the relationship between inputs and outputs, aggregating various process and control parameters. This allows processes considered complex to be reconsidered so that the resulting control systems provide a more accurate result as well as stable and robust performance. The sheer simplicity of implementing fuzzy control systems can reduce the complexity of a project to a point where previously intractable problems are now solvable.
\nThe intelligent monitoring and supervision system becomes autonomous to decide, but this decision should indicate the best action that should be taken to mitigate or eliminate a particular change. This intervention must be in real time and in online mode. It should show the type of application that will be performed, the point where the intervention will be made, the components that will be reached and their intervention time. This solution can be given by the following procedure:
\nDepending on the situation, it can be in real time and in Online mode, meaning the maintenance team can make the necessary adjustments without shutting down the equipment and reducing its availability in the shortest possible time. The smart system should provide recommendations for making these correctives without compromising equipment operation. This is accomplished through expert system intervention. This system will decide on what type of maintenance to perform.
\nDepending on the situation, it can be in real time and in Online mode, meaning the maintenance team can make the necessary adjustments without shutting down the equipment and reducing its availability in the shortest possible time.
\nThe smart system should provide recommendations for corrective action without compromising equipment operation. This is accomplished through expert system intervention.
\nThe intelligent system must have the ability to make this decision, supported by technical and economic criteria (losses).
\nThe final and ultimate solution will demonstrate the versatility, autonomy and efficiency of monitoring and supervision systems when they work and are structured as intelligent systems. Errors in procedures with these systems will be minimal to ensure safety and accuracy.
\nSafe (high availability and reliability) and efficient operation of production systems, balanced and timely investments, reduced operating and energy costs.
\nFollowing is a typical output (report) of the software developed for the implementation of the methodology, especially the part related to data evaluation, fault diagnosis, root cause finding and determination, action decision making to be performed and execution of these actions [3, 4].
\nFollowing is an output of the software developed to implement the proposed intelligent system framework [1, 15]. All the tools presented in this chapter have been included:
\n\n
Intelligent monitoring and control systems allow minimize the risks of failure of production systems, as is the case with generation systems (will be taken as a reference for this project), where intelligent systems are widely used, especially in large and top technology plants, and consequently increase its reliability (reduced failure rate/year) and the availability, improving the quality of energy supply by reducing the periods and interruption frequency of power supply, by improving indicators DEC, FEC, DIC, FIC and DMIC, and reliable management charge and distributed generation.
\nCentralization of information processing by intelligent monitoring systems will improve the efficiency of operation of electrical systems, optimize maintenance processes within the generation plants and consequently increase or maintain the estimated useful life of the generators, economically benefiting utilities power.
\nThe transformation of the current systems for monitoring and supervision of hydroelectric plants in intelligent systems, effectively represents a technological advancement over conventional monitoring systems. What defines the quality of the response of these systems, in relation to the supervision and diagnosis, it is the experience of those responsible for analysis of failure modes.
\nThe data management infrastructure, established by the power utilities, will be responsible for more or less extracted benefit of the system as well as for maintaining the efficient operation of the same. The choice of the best strategy for the Data and Information Management, will depend on the policies adopted by companies to their treatment. The benefits of smart grid technology, in monitoring systems will come when there is a data management policy functional within the utilities should be avoided as much as possible “excess of monitored parameters”. Prioritization criteria of failures “detectable” or “observable” must be considered. For each observable failure mode, there will always be a form of detection, which keeps a relationship “sensitivity/installation cost” more, and that in principle, should be chosen.
\nAn action of great interest, which should be considered in the monitoring and supervision systems is the integration of auxiliary systems, to conduct their analysis and diagnosis, together with those from the main systems, causing minimal impact on its cost of installation. The influence of failures in auxiliary systems (ancillary services) with the probability of generating, forced stops of the equipment and system is high and in some situations similar to those of the main systems.
\nImportantly, there is not a single application and solution of systems or smart grids. Many of these functions will not become viable if coexist with others and should be implemented according to the needs of utilities. Thus, individual functions such as monitoring and fault detection in generators or feeder circuits, may not have their benefits evaluated separately.
\nThe pericardium is a two-layer membrane surrounding the heart and vital vessels. The two-layer structure included a serous visceral membrane inside and a fibrous membrane (parietal pericardium) outside. The fibrous membrane is adhered to the diaphragm, posterior part of sternum by the tissue and ligament to fix the heart. The pericardium encloses the heart and pericardial fluid, which provides lubrication for the myocardium [1]. Pericardial puncture is a standard and useful therapeutic procedure for the treatment of diagnosis of tamponade or symptomatic pericardial effusion [1]. In 1996, Sosa et al. first described the use of pericardial puncture in an electrophysiological laboratory for epicardial ablation in ventricular arrhythmia, [2] the use of pericardial puncture to map and ablate ventricular arrhythmia started to expand in other diseases [3].
Before to the era of catheter ablation with epicardial approach, patients with ventricular tachycardia (VT) refractory to catheter ablation from the endocardium often required surgical approach. The technique became well-developed and skilled in high-volume center recently. Many centers reported the successful application of the epicedial ablation in a diverse range of cardiac arrhythmia. Therefore, the indication for the epicardial approach has extended. The potential indication included substrate/ idiopathic VTs, accessory pathways, and miscellaneous supraventricular tachycardias [4]. Since Sosa et al. first introduced the application of epicardial ablation for the ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) in Chagas disease, [2] the use of this technique through a percutaneous method has been applied to other diseases [3].
In the patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy due to prior myocardial infarction (MI) and VT, the involved circuit mostly involved the inner part of the heart [5]. In the previous report, part of the ischemic VT circuit may involve areas within the subepicardial area [6]. The advantage of the epicardial approach was demonstrated by clinical study. An approach with combined endo-epicardial mapping/ablation has been reported to show a better outcome selected patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) VT ischemic VT [7, 8, 9, 10]. Furthermore, the percutaneous technique for epicardial access have been proven to improve outcomes with an acceptable risk of peri-operative adverse event in experienced operator or high-volume centers [11]. However, there were many surrounding epicardial vascular structures or nerves in the tract of epicardial puncture. The unskilled operators may encounter serious and detrimental complications. Prior studies have reported the incidence rate of major complications around 4.1-8.8%, including adverse event of a hemopericardium, intra-abdominal bleeding, and arterial/venous/nerve injuries [11, 12, 13, 14]. This chapter was aimed to discuss the clinical implication, patient selection, and detailed procedure for the epicardial ablation in the patients with VA.
Generally, the endocardial approach was contraindicated in the following condition
Endocardial mural thrombus was presented.
Coexisted mechanical valves were presented in the mitral and aortic valve
In the patient with the presence of newly-identified mural thrombus, the strategy of endocardial ablation should be postponed. Previous report described the results of endocardial VT ablation in 8 patients with identified old thrombus [15]. Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) seems to be more sensitive for the detection of LV thrombi compared to transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and is helpful in real-time navigation of the mapping / ablation catheter. No procedural or periprocedural complications were observed in this retrospective study [15].
Mechanical prosthetic aortic and mitral valves preclude either a retrograde aortic or transseptal approach to the left ventricle (LV) endocardium. Several operators have reported previously on the use of unconventional techniques during VT ablation such as transventricular septal puncture, [16, 17] epicardial approach, [18] transmechanical valve approach, [19] transcoronary venous approach, [20] or transapical approach [21].
Intrapericardial access is usually obtained through a subxiphoidal pericardial puncture. This approach might not be possible in patients with pericardial adhesions caused by prior cardiac surgery, pericarditis, or prior epicardial ablation. (Figures 1 and 2) In such cases, a hybrid procedure involving surgical access to a subxiphoid pericardial window or lateral thoracotomy might be a feasible and safe method of performing epicardial catheter ablation in the electrophysiology laboratory [4].
Epicardial puncture in a patient with prior epicardial ablation. The figure showed the anterior–posterior view during epicardial puncture. The fluoroscopic view demonstrated the contrast stasis in the bottom of the epicardium due to prior ablation and severe adhesion. The wire could not advance further in the localized epicardial space.
Epicardial puncture in a patient with prior coronary artery bypass grafting. The figure showed the anterior–posterior view during after an initial puncture. The fluoroscopic view demonstrated the contrast stasis in the bottom of the epicardium due to prior cardiac surgery severe adhesion. The wire could not advance further in the localized epicardial space (panel A). After several attempts, the ablation catheter was advanced to the limited epicardial space. Coronary angiography was done before the ablation to avoid coronary injury through the graft (panel B).
The previous study showed a good response with subendocardial resection to treat the subendocardial location of the VT substrate from surgical experience, which indicated the endocardial VT circuits [22]. Furthermore, the endocardial catheter ablation with mappable VT demonstrated good acute procedural success rate. However, the long-term outcome was unsatisfied [23]. A prior study examined all ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) VT cases with endocardial and/or epicardial mapping/ablation. Epicardial approach was applied in 14% of patients, and application of ablation in the epicardium was done in 8.5% patients. Part of the patient (0.5%) did not undergo epicardial ablation because of proximity to an epicardial coronary artery to the of identifying epicardial substrate [24]. In an Asian study from Taiwan, the epicardial approach for the ICM-related VT was rarely reported [14]. This may be related to the highest quality and convenience of Taiwan’s public health system. A recent non-randomized study provided evidence of epicardial-endocardial approach in these patients [25]. Generally, the region of myocardial infarction does not appear to be predictive of epicardial involvement. On the other hand, imaging, such as cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cardiac computed tomography, or nuclear scintigraphy suggesting transmural infarction may identify patients more likely to have epicardial substrate [26].
The recent review article summarized most common idiopathic VT arising from the right and left ventricle: (1) outflow tract VT, (2) fascicular VT, (3) intra-cavitary VT, (4) perivalvular VT, and (5) epicardial VT [27]. Around 1. 8–9. 2% of idiopathic VT were raised from the epicardium. In the prior study, the electrocardiography is a useful parameter for predicting the successful ablation sites of VT originating from the continuum between the aortic sinus of Valsalva (ASV) and the left ventricle (LV) summit [28]. In the results, aVL/aVR Q-wave ratio is useful in the prediction of successful ablation sites. A coronary venous approach / pericardial access might be required with a cutoff value of 1.536-1.740 and > 1.740 respectively.
Brugada syndrome (BrS) is one of the main causes of sudden cardiac arrest in young population [29]. The efficacy and adverse effects of anti-arrhythmic drugs on BrS was disappointing. Catheter ablation emerged and offers an alternative therapeutic strategy for these patients with repeat recurrent implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) shock after the ICD implantation. Nademanee et al. first demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of ablating the arrhythmogenic electrogram at the epicardium of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) to decrease the VT/VF burden [30]. Further study on the post-mortem heart demonstrated interstitial fibrosis and reduced gap junction expression in the epicardium of RVOT in BrS patients. The abnormal fibrosis resulted in arrhythmogenic potentials. Eliminating the arrhythmogenic potentials by using ablation could abolish the BrS ECG pattern and reduce VT/VF burden. In the clinical practice, the operator may perform epicardial mapping and identified the slow conduction zone and abnormal electrogram in the RV epicardially. (Figure 3) The electrophysiological group in Taipei Veterans General Hospital first introduced the warm water instillation, which would enhance the phenotype and functional substrate in the patient with BrS. Ablation by targeting the triggers and abnormal epicardial substrates provided an effective strategy for preventing ventricular tachyarrhythmia recurrences in BrS [31].
Local fractioned potential in the epicardial right ventricular outflow tract of a patient with Brugada syndrome. The left panel demonstrated local abnormal signal and delayed electrogram, which was localized in the epicardial right ventricular outflow tract. (red arrow, right panel) this patient was diagnosed as Brugada syndrome and survived from an episode of sudden cardiac death due to ventricular fibrillation.
Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a heritable desmosome disorder. The clinical manifestations vary from asymptomatic concealed stage, electrical abnormality with ventricular arrhythmias (VAs), to progressive heart failure [32, 33]. Catheter ablation is emerging as an alternative therapy for drug-refractory VAs in patients with ARVC. Although the catheter ablation could result in acute procedural success with VT termination, the high incidence of recurrence limited the role of ablation in ARVC initially [34, 35]. The application of epicardial and endocardial ablation of VT in the patients with ARVC had been proposed with good effects acute and long-term outcome and VAs-freedom [36, 37]. Recent studies also demonstrated that 45 ~ 84. 6% patients were free from VA recurrences or ICD therapy through the combination of endocardial and epicardial ablation [38, 39]. Epicardial approach is required in more than one third ARVC patients for achieving non-inducibility in the prior reports [40]. The number of fulfilled SAECG criteria was correlated to the extent of diseased epicardial substrate and could be a potential surrogate marker to predict the requirement of epicardial ablation in ARVC with drug-refractory VA [40].
In contrast to ischemic cardiomyopathy, non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) consists of a heterogeneous group of diseases [41] affecting the myocardium. Despite the progress and improvement in the pharmacological medication of heart failure in recent decades have significantly decreased the disease progression and mortality in NICM patients, anti-arrhythmic medications and ICD implantations remain the most important treatment for patients carrying a high risk of VT/VF or who have experienced aborted SCD due to fatal VT/VF [42]. Owing to the improvement in electro-anatomic mapping and ablation catheter, catheter ablation of VT in NICM patients has been recognized as an upcoming issue [43]. A prior study proven the promising results that a successful catheter ablation could reduce VT recurrences and improve the survival in NICM patients regardless of the functional class status or left ventricular function [44]. NICM VTs in different disease entities could result from non-uniform arrhythmogenic substrates, which can lead to different ablation outcomes.
With the exception of ARVC and BrS, the arrhythmogenic substrates in NICM that could be identified by electroanatomic mapping, are mostly located in the base or perivalvular region of the LV, which is distinct from the substrate ICM [45]. The arrhythmogenic potentials could be identified from the endocardial/epicardial aspect in the patients with NICM [46]. These arrhythmogenic substrates frequently associate fibrosis tissue that leads to conduction disturbance and fractionated electrograms [47]. Aside from the electroanatomic substrate mapping with bipolar/unipolar voltage, cardiac MR can provide additional information to unmask the scar distribution as a non-invasive manner [48, 49, 50]. Additionally, patients with scar involving the inferolateral aspect of the LV, which frequently requires an epicardial approach, usually have a better prognosis than those with anteroseptal scar [51].
A comprehensive investigation of patients with NICM and VT includes cardiac imaging and genetic testing. These information might enable recognition of undiagnosed diseases, such as isolated and active cardiac sarcoidosis or inherited cardiomyopathies. An accurate diagnosis could improve patient selection for ablation and early consideration of individualized treatments [52].
An epicardial approach could performed for patients with refractory ablation from an endocardial approach. The clinical documentation of surface ECG could provide specific electrocardiographies evidence supporting an epicardial origin [28, 53, 54]. In cases with a disease entity favoring an epicardial substrate, or those with electroanatomic mapping supporting the existence of a diseased epicardial substrate, an epicardial approach could be considered [30, 55, 56].
Before preparing for epicardial approach, the first step is to localize the VT origin and identify the potential regions of arrhythmogenic substrates. The surface ECG morphologies provide the information about the origin and the potential need for an epicardial approach [53]. Standardized echocardiography or intracardiac could delineate the valvular structure, area of hypokinesia or akinesia, and excluding any intracardiac thrombus [57]. Computed tomography (CT) and cardiac MRI with a late gadolinium enhancement, could localize the regions of abnormal tissue in specific protocol [48, 49, 50]. The distribution and extent of the scar is useful for deciding the ablation strategy, such as an epicardial approach, transcoronary venous ablation, alcohol ablation, or simultaneous bipolar ablation. The integration of the reconstructed images obtained from CT and MRI and 3-D navigation, mapping systems (Figure 4) can aid in the illustration of the structural complexity and avoidance of damage to the critical regions, in terms of vascular or nervous structures.
Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) and three-dimensional reconstruction in a patient with non-ischemic myocardial infarction. The CMRI demonstrated a late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in the mid posterior wall. The three-dimensional reconstruction was performed to guide the catheter ablation.
After obtaining informed consent, the procedure would be performed with the patients in a fasting state under general anesthesia. Pre-procedure subxiphoid echocardiography was recommended to perform routinely. In some cases, the echocardiography could help the operator avoid liver or gastric injuries. A subxiphoid puncture was performed to penetrate the pericardium in the inferior aspect of the hear according to the technique described by Sosa et al [2]. Access to the pericardium was achieved by using an 18 G Tuohy Needle (Arrow International, Inc., Reading, PA, USA) in the laboratory of Taipei Veterans General Hospital through the subxiphoid process. The anteroposterior projection was usually used to direct the access in the anterior/posterior plane, while the left anterior oblique (LAO) 60° projection was used to guide the needle leftward tangentially to the cardiac border. Figure 5 demonstrated the adjacent structure with these two views by reconstruction of the CT. After passing through the diaphragm, 1-2 cm3 of contrast could be injected between the diaphragm and pericardium to observe tenting of the pericardium. After entering the posterior side of pericardium, a 0.032 guidewire would be advanced to the left heart border in the LAO projection, and 10 cm3 of contrast could be injected into the pericardial space through a 5F dilator or the side hole of a 5Fr sheath to allow for visualization of any adhesions. (Figure 6) An 8-Fr Sheath or flexible long Sheath would be exchanged by using the guide wire. The ablation/mapping catheter would be inserted through the sheath after obtain the access to avoid injury by the edge of the sheath. Angiography would be performed while locating the catheter in the interested area to avoid coronary injury. (Figure 7) After the procedure, the epicardial sheath was exchanged for a pigtail. Pericardial injections of hydrocortisone 100 mg and ketorolac tromethamine 30 mg were routinely given immediately and 24 hours after the epicardial procedure to prevent any future epicardial adhesions or pericarditis.
The anatomy with anterior–posterior view (left panel) and LAO view (right panel). The green arrow indicated the anterior approach and the red arrow indicated the posterior approach.
Epicardial puncture in a patient with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. The anterior–posterior view (left panel) and LAO view (right panel) showed the wire in the epicardial space surrounding the whole heart and the contrast in the epicardial space without adhesion.
Angiography before epicardial ablation. After a successful epicardial puncture through posterior approach, the angiography was performed before the ablation to avoid coronary injury.
A ‘needle-in-needle’ technique for epicardial access has been described by Kumar et al [58]. In this approach, a 7-cm 18-gauge needle is inserted beneath the sternum. The purpose of this short needle is to provide stability and tactile feedback for a long (15- or 20-cm) micropuncture 21-gauge needle, which is inserted through the 18-gauge needle. Once the 21-gauge needle is inserted into the pericardial space, along 0.018-inch guidewire with a floppy tip is advanced into the pericardial space. Upon fluoroscopic confirmation that the guide wire has been inserted into the pericardium both needles are then removed. Micropuncture dilators are then used to upsize the guide wire to a 0.35-inch wire and ultimately, an 8-Fr sheath is introduced into the pericardial space. The ‘needle-in-needle’ approach was compared to the traditional methods. Successful epicardial access was achieved in 100% of the ‘needle-in-needle’ cases, as compared to 94% with the Sosa technique. Failure of epicardial access in the traditional method were due to prior cardiac surgery [13] or adhesions from prior epicardial mapping/ablation or episodes of pericarditis [7]. Major pericardial bleeding was similar between both techniques [58].
In anatomic, there is a potential space below the sternum and xyphoid process. While puncturing below the xyphoid process, the needle might directly pass through the fibrous pericardium avoiding the puncture through the diaphragm [59]. The term of “anterior approach” was used for the epicardial approach via this potential space (Figure 8). This approach was based on the previous finding that an increased fluid in the anterior part of the heart during supine position [60, 61]. Theoretically, the density of myocardium is heavier than and pericardial fluid. During supine position, the heart might force the pericardial fluid to the anterior part within the pericardium. Keramati et al. reported the anterior approach was successfully performed in 100% of patients in their study cohort [62]. The success rate was similar between the anterior approach and the needle in needle approach. On the other hand, the success rate of the anterior approach was higher than the traditional approach. In the report, there were no major pericardial hemorrhage and even the PV puncture. Figure 9 demonstrated the illustration of the anterior approach and posterior approach.
An illustration of anterior and posterior approach. The figure showed the X-ray from the lateral view. The green arrow indicated the anterior approach and the red arrow indicated the posterior approach. The horizontal cut of the hears from lower caudal part of the cranial part. The white arrow indicates the sequence from the lower part of the higher part. Each cut was corresponding to the horizontal while line in the X-ray.
Example of anterior approach. Anterior approach was performed successfully. The guide wire was exchanged with an 8 Fr sheath after confirming the location.
The technique of carbon dioxide insufflation was first reported with right atrial exit in human study by Greenbaum et al [63]. A modified approach with exit from the coronary sinus was reported by Silberbauer et al [64]. The pericardial space was insufflated with carbon dioxide after creating the exit, which allowing visualization of the pericardial membrane and separated membrane to the myocardium. The epicardial space with carbon dioxide allowed safe epicardial puncture and minimized the risk of RV perforation. A multi-center registry was conducted with this modified approach. There was no patient complicated with the RV puncture of coronary artery injury [65]. However, the operator needs to take care of the potential risk of bleeding from the exit site.
This approach was first described by Long et al [64] in 2019. This approach was different from traditional approach using the contrast-filled syringe to the needle. In the wire-guided approach, a J-tipped guide wire is within the needle during puncture. After advancing the needle the adjacent area of the pericardium, the wire was advanced. The wire would curve back if it reached the parietal pericardium, and the operator could feel the heart pulsations. The wire was dragged back to the needle’s tip at this point. The wire and needle were both pressed again at the same time. While the needle was traveling through the epicardium, the wire would fall into the pericardial region. The study found that this method was safe and that the success rate was comparable to that of the traditional method.
Pericardial window provides clear visualization of the epicardial myocardium and manipulation of the mapping catheter and Realtime feedback for the location of the mapping catheter cooperating with the 3-D anatomic mapping system. The operator might not able to perform percutaneous subxiphoid access in patients with pericardial adhesions. In these patients, a surgical window may be required to gain access to the pericardium. This technique involves a subxiphoid incision, followed by manual lysis of adhesions to visualize the epicardial surface. A sheath was then placed into the pericardial space after opening a small window in the pericardium [66]. This technique should be considered in patients with a prior history of cardiac surgery with dense pericardial adhesions [67].
In the prior report, the incidence of major complications was 10.0%, and that for minor complications was 17.5% [14]. Prior single and multicenter studies also reported similar findings [11, 12]. However, it is important to keep in mind that these complication rates were obtained from arrhythmia centers with an experience of epicardial approach. The surgical backup was required for potential major complications. Major complications of intra-abdominal bleeding due to vessel damage and MI owing to ablation in the adjacent area were reported [68]. Another possible cause of intra-abdominal bleeding is the liver puncture or perforation. The operator should also take care for the location of the coronary sinus. Coronary sinus puncture might occur if the puncture site is close to the base of the heart. Thus, detailed preoperative evaluations by ECG, echocardiography, and peri-operative image, especially for patients with hepatomegaly or a congested liver, may prevent the occurrence of any life-threatening complications.
RV puncture was not uncommon and it has been reported to be a minor complication with an incidence of 4. 5 ~ 7. 5% [13, 14, 68]. The RV puncture could be reduced after a learning curve. Post-procedural pericarditis was common. Prolonged and intolerable chest pain due to pericarditis might be improved by the administration of intrapericardial steroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Phrenic nerve injuries and coronary artery damage could be avoided by phrenic nerve pacing and pre-ablation angiography [69, 70].
In the patient with anticoagulant, the epicardial access could be performed according to the guideline. After excluding the potential risk of adhesion, history of epicardial surgery, and complex anatomy, the procedure might be classified as a minor risk procedure in an experienced operator [71]. Therefore, the procedure could be performed at NOAC through level (12 or 24 hours after the first intake) and resume after the procedure or latest next day without active bleeding. Beside, the procedure should be better performed by experienced operator and avoid repeated RV puncture. Antidote or blood transfusion should be available in the hospital.
The need for an epicardial approach for VA ablation displayed a gradually increasing trend. The disease entity, prior surgery or ablation, electrocardiography, image study, and other diagnostic test should be carefully reviewed before the decision making. The prior studies demonstrate the effectiveness of epicardial catheter ablation with acceptable safety in experienced referral center.
This work was supported by Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (109-2314-B-075 -076 -MY3), Grant of TVGH (V109B-013).
This work was contributed to the electrophysiological team in Taipei Veterans General Hospital.
The Figure 5 was contributed to the Mr. Liu, Kuan-Hong from Johnson & Johnson.
The author declares no conflict of interest.
IntechOpen - where academia and industry create content with global impact
",metaTitle:"Team",metaDescription:"Advancing discovery in Open Access for the scientists by the scientist",metaKeywords:null,canonicalURL:"page/team",contentRaw:'[{"type":"htmlEditorComponent","content":"Our business values are based on those any scientist applies to their research. We have created a culture of respect and collaboration within a relaxed, friendly and progressive atmosphere, while maintaining academic rigour.
\\n\\nCo-founded by Alex Lazinica and Vedran Kordic: “We are passionate about the advancement of science. As Ph.D. researchers in Vienna, we found it difficult to access the scholarly research we needed. We created IntechOpen with the specific aim of putting the academic needs of the global research community before the business interests of publishers. Our Team is now a global one and includes highly-renowned scientists and publishers, as well as experts in disseminating your research.”
\\n\\nBut, one thing we have in common is -- we are all scientists at heart!
\\n\\nSara Uhac, COO
\\n\\nSara Uhac was appointed Managing Director of IntechOpen at the beginning of 2014. She directs and controls the company’s operations. Sara joined IntechOpen in 2010 as Head of Journal Publishing, a new strategically underdeveloped department at that time. After obtaining a Master's degree in Media Management, she completed her Ph.D. at the University of Lugano, Switzerland. She holds a BA in Financial Market Management from the Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, where she started her career in the American publishing house Condé Nast and further collaborated with the UK-based publishing company Time Out. Sara was awarded a professional degree in Publishing from Yale University (2012). She is a member of the professional branch association of "Publishers, Designers and Graphic Artists" at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.
\\n\\nAdrian Assad De Marco
\\n\\nAdrian Assad De Marco joined the company as a Director in 2017. With his extensive experience in management, acquired while working for regional and global leaders, he took over direction and control of all the company's publishing processes. Adrian holds a degree in Economy and Management from the University of Zagreb, School of Economics, Croatia. A former sportsman, he continually strives to develop his skills through professional courses and specializations such as NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming).
\\n\\nDr Alex Lazinica
\\n\\nAlex Lazinica is co-founder and Board member of IntechOpen. After obtaining a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, he continued his Ph.D. in Robotics at the Vienna University of Technology. There, he worked as a robotics 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, co-founded and built the International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, the world's first Open Access journal in the field of robotics. Starting this journal was a pivotal point in his career since it proved to be the pathway to the foundation of IntechOpen with its focus on addressing academic researchers’ needs. Alex personifies many of IntechOpen´s key values, including the commitment to developing mutual trust, openness, and a spirit of entrepreneurialism. Today, his focus is on defining the growth and development strategy for the company.
\\n"}]'},components:[{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:"Our business values are based on those any scientist applies to their research. We have created a culture of respect and collaboration within a relaxed, friendly and progressive atmosphere, while maintaining academic rigour.
\n\nCo-founded by Alex Lazinica and Vedran Kordic: “We are passionate about the advancement of science. As Ph.D. researchers in Vienna, we found it difficult to access the scholarly research we needed. We created IntechOpen with the specific aim of putting the academic needs of the global research community before the business interests of publishers. Our Team is now a global one and includes highly-renowned scientists and publishers, as well as experts in disseminating your research.”
\n\nBut, one thing we have in common is -- we are all scientists at heart!
\n\nSara Uhac, COO
\n\nSara Uhac was appointed Managing Director of IntechOpen at the beginning of 2014. She directs and controls the company’s operations. Sara joined IntechOpen in 2010 as Head of Journal Publishing, a new strategically underdeveloped department at that time. After obtaining a Master's degree in Media Management, she completed her Ph.D. at the University of Lugano, Switzerland. She holds a BA in Financial Market Management from the Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, where she started her career in the American publishing house Condé Nast and further collaborated with the UK-based publishing company Time Out. Sara was awarded a professional degree in Publishing from Yale University (2012). She is a member of the professional branch association of "Publishers, Designers and Graphic Artists" at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.
\n\nAdrian Assad De Marco
\n\nAdrian Assad De Marco joined the company as a Director in 2017. With his extensive experience in management, acquired while working for regional and global leaders, he took over direction and control of all the company's publishing processes. Adrian holds a degree in Economy and Management from the University of Zagreb, School of Economics, Croatia. A former sportsman, he continually strives to develop his skills through professional courses and specializations such as NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming).
\n\nDr Alex Lazinica
\n\nAlex Lazinica is co-founder and Board member of IntechOpen. After obtaining a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, he continued his Ph.D. in Robotics at the Vienna University of Technology. There, he worked as a robotics 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, co-founded and built the International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, the world's first Open Access journal in the field of robotics. Starting this journal was a pivotal point in his career since it proved to be the pathway to the foundation of IntechOpen with its focus on addressing academic researchers’ needs. Alex personifies many of IntechOpen´s key values, including the commitment to developing mutual trust, openness, and a spirit of entrepreneurialism. Today, his focus is on defining the growth and development strategy for the company.
\n"}]},successStories:{items:[]},authorsAndEditors:{filterParams:{},profiles:[{id:"396",title:"Dr.",name:"Vedran",middleName:null,surname:"Kordic",slug:"vedran-kordic",fullName:"Vedran Kordic",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/396/images/7281_n.png",biography:"After obtaining his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering he continued his education at the Vienna University of Technology where he obtained his PhD degree in 2004. He worked as a researcher at the Automation and Control Institute, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Vienna University of Technology until 2008. His studies in robotics lead him not only to a PhD degree but also inspired him to co-found and build the International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems - world's first Open Access journal in the field of robotics.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"TU Wien",country:{name:"Austria"}}},{id:"441",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Jaekyu",middleName:null,surname:"Park",slug:"jaekyu-park",fullName:"Jaekyu Park",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/441/images/1881_n.jpg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"LG Corporation (South Korea)",country:{name:"Korea, South"}}},{id:"465",title:"Dr.",name:"Christian",middleName:null,surname:"Martens",slug:"christian-martens",fullName:"Christian Martens",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Rheinmetall (Germany)",country:{name:"Germany"}}},{id:"479",title:"Dr.",name:"Valentina",middleName:null,surname:"Colla",slug:"valentina-colla",fullName:"Valentina Colla",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/479/images/358_n.jpg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies",country:{name:"Italy"}}},{id:"494",title:"PhD",name:"Loris",middleName:null,surname:"Nanni",slug:"loris-nanni",fullName:"Loris Nanni",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/494/images/system/494.jpg",biography:"Loris Nanni received his Master Degree cum laude on June-2002 from the University of Bologna, and the April 26th 2006 he received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at DEIS, University of Bologna. On September, 29th 2006 he has won a post PhD fellowship from the university of Bologna (from October 2006 to October 2008), at the competitive examination he was ranked first in the industrial engineering area. He extensively served as referee for several international journals. He is author/coauthor of more than 100 research papers. He has been involved in some projects supported by MURST and European Community. His research interests include pattern recognition, bioinformatics, and biometric systems (fingerprint classification and recognition, signature verification, face recognition).",institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"496",title:"Dr.",name:"Carlos",middleName:null,surname:"Leon",slug:"carlos-leon",fullName:"Carlos Leon",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Seville",country:{name:"Spain"}}},{id:"512",title:"Dr.",name:"Dayang",middleName:null,surname:"Jawawi",slug:"dayang-jawawi",fullName:"Dayang Jawawi",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Technology Malaysia",country:{name:"Malaysia"}}},{id:"528",title:"Dr.",name:"Kresimir",middleName:null,surname:"Delac",slug:"kresimir-delac",fullName:"Kresimir Delac",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/528/images/system/528.jpg",biography:"K. Delac received his B.Sc.E.E. degree in 2003 and is currentlypursuing a Ph.D. degree at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering andComputing. His current research interests are digital image analysis, pattern recognition andbiometrics.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Zagreb",country:{name:"Croatia"}}},{id:"557",title:"Dr.",name:"Andon",middleName:"Venelinov",surname:"Topalov",slug:"andon-topalov",fullName:"Andon Topalov",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/557/images/1927_n.jpg",biography:"Dr. Andon V. Topalov received the MSc degree in Control Engineering from the Faculty of Information Systems, Technologies, and Automation at Moscow State University of Civil Engineering (MGGU) in 1979. He then received his PhD degree in Control Engineering from the Department of Automation and Remote Control at Moscow State Mining University (MGSU), Moscow, in 1984. From 1985 to 1986, he was a Research Fellow in the Research Institute for Electronic Equipment, ZZU AD, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. In 1986, he joined the Department of Control Systems, Technical University of Sofia at the Plovdiv campus, where he is presently a Full Professor. He has held long-term visiting Professor/Scholar positions at various institutions in South Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Greece, Belgium, UK, and Germany. And he has coauthored one book and authored or coauthored more than 80 research papers in conference proceedings and journals. His current research interests are in the fields of intelligent control and robotics.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Technical University of Sofia",country:{name:"Bulgaria"}}},{id:"585",title:"Prof.",name:"Munir",middleName:null,surname:"Merdan",slug:"munir-merdan",fullName:"Munir Merdan",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/585/images/system/585.jpg",biography:"Munir Merdan received the M.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 2001, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria, in 2009.Since 2005, he has been at the Automation and Control Institute, Vienna University of Technology, where he is currently a Senior Researcher. His research interests include the application of agent technology for achieving agile control in the manufacturing environment.",institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"605",title:"Prof",name:"Dil",middleName:null,surname:"Hussain",slug:"dil-hussain",fullName:"Dil Hussain",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/605/images/system/605.jpg",biography:"Dr. Dil Muhammad Akbar Hussain is a professor of Electronics Engineering & Computer Science at the Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University Denmark. Professor Akbar has a Master degree in Digital Electronics from Govt. College University, Lahore Pakistan and a P-hD degree in Control Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Sussex United Kingdom. Aalborg University has Two Satellite Campuses, one in Copenhagen (Aalborg University Copenhagen) and the other in Esbjerg (Aalborg University Esbjerg).\n· He is a member of prestigious IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), and IAENG (International Association of Engineers) organizations. \n· He is the chief Editor of the Journal of Software Engineering.\n· He is the member of the Editorial Board of International Journal of Computer Science and Software Technology (IJCSST) and International Journal of Computer Engineering and Information Technology. \n· He is also the Editor of Communication in Computer and Information Science CCIS-20 by Springer.\n· Reviewer For Many Conferences\nHe is the lead person in making collaboration agreements between Aalborg University and many universities of Pakistan, for which the MOU’s (Memorandum of Understanding) have been signed.\nProfessor Akbar is working in Academia since 1990, he started his career as a Lab demonstrator/TA at the University of Sussex. After finishing his P. hD degree in 1992, he served in the Industry as a Scientific Officer and continued his academic career as a visiting scholar for a number of educational institutions. In 1996 he joined National University of Science & Technology Pakistan (NUST) as an Associate Professor; NUST is one of the top few universities in Pakistan. In 1999 he joined an International Company Lineo Inc, Canada as Manager Compiler Group, where he headed the group for developing Compiler Tool Chain and Porting of Operating Systems for the BLACKfin processor. The processor development was a joint venture by Intel and Analog Devices. In 2002 Lineo Inc., was taken over by another company, so he joined Aalborg University Denmark as an Assistant Professor.\nProfessor Akbar has truly a multi-disciplined career and he continued his legacy and making progress in many areas of his interests both in teaching and research. He has contributed in stochastic estimation of control area especially, in the Multiple Target Tracking and Interactive Multiple Model (IMM) research, Ball & Beam Control Problem, Robotics, Levitation Control. He has contributed in developing Algorithms for Fingerprint Matching, Computer Vision and Face Recognition. He has been supervising Pattern Recognition, Formal Languages and Distributed Processing projects for several years. He has reviewed many books on Management, Computer Science. Currently, he is an active and permanent reviewer for many international conferences and symposia and the program committee member for many international conferences.\nIn teaching he has taught the core computer science subjects like, Digital Design, Real Time Embedded System Programming, Operating Systems, Software Engineering, Data Structures, Databases, Compiler Construction. In the Engineering side, Digital Signal Processing, Computer Architecture, Electronics Devices, Digital Filtering and Engineering Management.\nApart from his Academic Interest and activities he loves sport especially, Cricket, Football, Snooker and Squash. He plays cricket for Esbjerg city in the second division team as an opener wicket keeper batsman. He is a very good player of squash but has not played squash since his arrival in Denmark.",institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"611",title:"Prof.",name:"T",middleName:null,surname:"Nagarajan",slug:"t-nagarajan",fullName:"T Nagarajan",position:null,profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Universiti Teknologi Petronas",country:{name:"Malaysia"}}}],filtersByRegion:[{group:"region",caption:"North America",value:1,count:6674},{group:"region",caption:"Middle and South America",value:2,count:5955},{group:"region",caption:"Africa",value:3,count:2461},{group:"region",caption:"Asia",value:4,count:12719},{group:"region",caption:"Australia and Oceania",value:5,count:1018},{group:"region",caption:"Europe",value:6,count:17724}],offset:12,limit:12,total:134466},chapterEmbeded:{data:{}},editorApplication:{success:null,errors:{}},ofsBooks:{filterParams:{hasNoEditors:"0",sort:"dateEndThirdStepPublish",topicId:"161925"},books:[],filtersByTopic:[{group:"topic",caption:"Agricultural and Biological Sciences",value:5,count:36},{group:"topic",caption:"Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology",value:6,count:11},{group:"topic",caption:"Business, Management and Economics",value:7,count:7},{group:"topic",caption:"Chemistry",value:8,count:22},{group:"topic",caption:"Computer and Information Science",value:9,count:23},{group:"topic",caption:"Earth and Planetary Sciences",value:10,count:15},{group:"topic",caption:"Engineering",value:11,count:61},{group:"topic",caption:"Environmental Sciences",value:12,count:9},{group:"topic",caption:"Immunology and Microbiology",value:13,count:15},{group:"topic",caption:"Materials Science",value:14,count:24},{group:"topic",caption:"Mathematics",value:15,count:11},{group:"topic",caption:"Medicine",value:16,count:108},{group:"topic",caption:"Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials",value:17,count:6},{group:"topic",caption:"Neuroscience",value:18,count:3},{group:"topic",caption:"Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science",value:19,count:9},{group:"topic",caption:"Physics",value:20,count:9},{group:"topic",caption:"Psychology",value:21,count:9},{group:"topic",caption:"Robotics",value:22,count:2},{group:"topic",caption:"Social Sciences",value:23,count:9},{group:"topic",caption:"Veterinary Medicine and Science",value:25,count:3}],offset:12,limit:12,total:0},popularBooks:{featuredBooks:[{type:"book",id:"10858",title:"MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses)",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"d32f86793bc72dde32532f509b1ec5b0",slug:"mooc-massive-open-online-courses-",bookSignature:"Dragan Cvetković",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10858.jpg",editors:[{id:"101330",title:"Dr.",name:"Dragan",middleName:"Mladen",surname:"Cvetković",slug:"dragan-cvetkovic",fullName:"Dragan Cvetković"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10195",title:"Serotonin and the CNS",subtitle:"New Developments in Pharmacology and Therapeutics",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"7ed9d96da98233a885bd2869a8056c36",slug:"serotonin-and-the-cns-new-developments-in-pharmacology-and-therapeutics",bookSignature:"Berend Olivier",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10195.jpg",editors:[{id:"71579",title:"Prof.",name:"Berend",middleName:null,surname:"Olivier",slug:"berend-olivier",fullName:"Berend Olivier"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10755",title:"Corporate Governance",subtitle:"Recent Advances and Perspectives",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"ffe06d1d5c4bf0fc2e63511825fe1257",slug:"corporate-governance-recent-advances-and-perspectives",bookSignature:"Okechukwu Lawrence Emeagwali and Feyza Bhatti",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10755.jpg",editors:[{id:"196317",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"Okechukwu Lawrence",middleName:null,surname:"Emeagwali",slug:"okechukwu-lawrence-emeagwali",fullName:"Okechukwu Lawrence Emeagwali"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11120",title:"Environmental Impact and Remediation of Heavy Metals",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"9e77514288e7394f1e6cd13481af3509",slug:"environmental-impact-and-remediation-of-heavy-metals",bookSignature:"Hosam M. Saleh and Amal I. Hassan",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11120.jpg",editors:[{id:"144691",title:"Prof.",name:"Hosam M.",middleName:null,surname:"Saleh",slug:"hosam-m.-saleh",fullName:"Hosam M. Saleh"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10901",title:"Grapes and Wine",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"5d7f2aa74874444bc6986e613ccebd7c",slug:"grapes-and-wine",bookSignature:"Antonio Morata, Iris Loira and Carmen González",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10901.jpg",editors:[{id:"180952",title:"Prof.",name:"Antonio",middleName:null,surname:"Morata",slug:"antonio-morata",fullName:"Antonio Morata"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11080",title:"Engineering Principles",subtitle:"Welding and Residual Stresses",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"6c07a13a113bce94174b40096f30fb5e",slug:"engineering-principles-welding-and-residual-stresses",bookSignature:"Kavian Omar Cooke and Ronaldo Câmara Cozza",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11080.jpg",editors:[{id:"138778",title:"Dr.",name:"Kavian",middleName:"Omar",surname:"Cooke",slug:"kavian-cooke",fullName:"Kavian Cooke"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11332",title:"Essential Oils",subtitle:"Advances in Extractions and Biological Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"742e6cae3a35686f975edc8d7f9afa94",slug:"essential-oils-advances-in-extractions-and-biological-applications",bookSignature:"Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira and Eloisa Helena de Aguiar Andrade",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11332.jpg",editors:[{id:"195290",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Mozaniel",middleName:null,surname:"Santana De Oliveira",slug:"mozaniel-santana-de-oliveira",fullName:"Mozaniel Santana De Oliveira"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11029",title:"Hepatitis B",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"609701f502efc3538c112ff47a2c2119",slug:"hepatitis-b",bookSignature:"Luis Rodrigo",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11029.jpg",editors:[{id:"73208",title:"Prof.",name:"Luis",middleName:null,surname:"Rodrigo",slug:"luis-rodrigo",fullName:"Luis Rodrigo"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9537",title:"Human Rights in the Contemporary World",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"54f05b93812fd434f3962956d6413a6b",slug:"human-rights-in-the-contemporary-world",bookSignature:"Trudy Corrigan",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9537.jpg",editors:[{id:"197557",title:"Dr.",name:"Trudy",middleName:null,surname:"Corrigan",slug:"trudy-corrigan",fullName:"Trudy Corrigan"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11371",title:"Cerebral Circulation",subtitle:"Updates on Models, Diagnostics and Treatments of Related Diseases",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"e2d3335445d2852d0b906bb9750e939f",slug:"cerebral-circulation-updates-on-models-diagnostics-and-treatments-of-related-diseases",bookSignature:"Alba Scerrati, Luca Ricciardi and Flavia Dones",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11371.jpg",editors:[{id:"182614",title:"Dr.",name:"Alba",middleName:null,surname:"Scerrati",slug:"alba-scerrati",fullName:"Alba Scerrati"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11012",title:"Radiopharmaceuticals",subtitle:"Current Research for Better Diagnosis and Therapy",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"f9046d6f96148b285e776f384991120d",slug:"radiopharmaceuticals-current-research-for-better-diagnosis-and-therapy",bookSignature:"Farid A. Badria",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11012.jpg",editors:[{id:"41865",title:"Prof.",name:"Farid A.",middleName:null,surname:"Badria",slug:"farid-a.-badria",fullName:"Farid A. Badria"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9974",title:"E-Learning and Digital Education in the Twenty-First Century",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"88b58d66e975df20425fc1dfd22d53aa",slug:"e-learning-and-digital-education-in-the-twenty-first-century",bookSignature:"M. Mahruf C. Shohel",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9974.jpg",editors:[{id:"94099",title:"Dr.",name:"M. Mahruf C.",middleName:null,surname:"Shohel",slug:"m.-mahruf-c.-shohel",fullName:"M. Mahruf C. Shohel"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}}],offset:12,limit:12,total:4438},hotBookTopics:{hotBooks:[],offset:0,limit:12,total:null},publish:{},publishingProposal:{success:null,errors:{}},books:{featuredBooks:[{type:"book",id:"10858",title:"MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses)",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"d32f86793bc72dde32532f509b1ec5b0",slug:"mooc-massive-open-online-courses-",bookSignature:"Dragan Cvetković",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10858.jpg",publishedDate:"June 23rd 2022",numberOfDownloads:1677,editors:[{id:"101330",title:"Dr.",name:"Dragan",middleName:"Mladen",surname:"Cvetković",slug:"dragan-cvetkovic",fullName:"Dragan Cvetković"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10195",title:"Serotonin and the CNS",subtitle:"New Developments in Pharmacology and Therapeutics",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"7ed9d96da98233a885bd2869a8056c36",slug:"serotonin-and-the-cns-new-developments-in-pharmacology-and-therapeutics",bookSignature:"Berend Olivier",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10195.jpg",publishedDate:"June 23rd 2022",numberOfDownloads:1337,editors:[{id:"71579",title:"Prof.",name:"Berend",middleName:null,surname:"Olivier",slug:"berend-olivier",fullName:"Berend Olivier"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10755",title:"Corporate Governance",subtitle:"Recent Advances and Perspectives",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"ffe06d1d5c4bf0fc2e63511825fe1257",slug:"corporate-governance-recent-advances-and-perspectives",bookSignature:"Okechukwu Lawrence Emeagwali and Feyza Bhatti",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10755.jpg",publishedDate:"June 23rd 2022",numberOfDownloads:1309,editors:[{id:"196317",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"Okechukwu Lawrence",middleName:null,surname:"Emeagwali",slug:"okechukwu-lawrence-emeagwali",fullName:"Okechukwu Lawrence Emeagwali"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11120",title:"Environmental Impact and Remediation of Heavy Metals",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"9e77514288e7394f1e6cd13481af3509",slug:"environmental-impact-and-remediation-of-heavy-metals",bookSignature:"Hosam M. Saleh and Amal I. Hassan",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11120.jpg",publishedDate:"June 23rd 2022",numberOfDownloads:847,editors:[{id:"144691",title:"Prof.",name:"Hosam M.",middleName:null,surname:"Saleh",slug:"hosam-m.-saleh",fullName:"Hosam M. Saleh"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"10901",title:"Grapes and Wine",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"5d7f2aa74874444bc6986e613ccebd7c",slug:"grapes-and-wine",bookSignature:"Antonio Morata, Iris Loira and Carmen González",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10901.jpg",publishedDate:"June 15th 2022",numberOfDownloads:2273,editors:[{id:"180952",title:"Prof.",name:"Antonio",middleName:null,surname:"Morata",slug:"antonio-morata",fullName:"Antonio Morata"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11080",title:"Engineering Principles",subtitle:"Welding and Residual Stresses",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"6c07a13a113bce94174b40096f30fb5e",slug:"engineering-principles-welding-and-residual-stresses",bookSignature:"Kavian Omar Cooke and Ronaldo Câmara Cozza",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11080.jpg",publishedDate:"June 23rd 2022",numberOfDownloads:591,editors:[{id:"138778",title:"Dr.",name:"Kavian",middleName:"Omar",surname:"Cooke",slug:"kavian-cooke",fullName:"Kavian Cooke"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11332",title:"Essential Oils",subtitle:"Advances in Extractions and Biological Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"742e6cae3a35686f975edc8d7f9afa94",slug:"essential-oils-advances-in-extractions-and-biological-applications",bookSignature:"Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira and Eloisa Helena de Aguiar Andrade",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11332.jpg",publishedDate:"June 23rd 2022",numberOfDownloads:515,editors:[{id:"195290",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Mozaniel",middleName:null,surname:"Santana De Oliveira",slug:"mozaniel-santana-de-oliveira",fullName:"Mozaniel Santana De Oliveira"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11029",title:"Hepatitis B",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"609701f502efc3538c112ff47a2c2119",slug:"hepatitis-b",bookSignature:"Luis Rodrigo",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11029.jpg",publishedDate:"June 23rd 2022",numberOfDownloads:413,editors:[{id:"73208",title:"Prof.",name:"Luis",middleName:null,surname:"Rodrigo",slug:"luis-rodrigo",fullName:"Luis Rodrigo"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"9537",title:"Human Rights in the Contemporary World",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"54f05b93812fd434f3962956d6413a6b",slug:"human-rights-in-the-contemporary-world",bookSignature:"Trudy Corrigan",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9537.jpg",publishedDate:"June 8th 2022",numberOfDownloads:2194,editors:[{id:"197557",title:"Dr.",name:"Trudy",middleName:null,surname:"Corrigan",slug:"trudy-corrigan",fullName:"Trudy Corrigan"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}},{type:"book",id:"11371",title:"Cerebral Circulation",subtitle:"Updates on Models, Diagnostics and Treatments of Related Diseases",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"e2d3335445d2852d0b906bb9750e939f",slug:"cerebral-circulation-updates-on-models-diagnostics-and-treatments-of-related-diseases",bookSignature:"Alba Scerrati, Luca Ricciardi and Flavia Dones",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11371.jpg",publishedDate:"June 23rd 2022",numberOfDownloads:341,editors:[{id:"182614",title:"Dr.",name:"Alba",middleName:null,surname:"Scerrati",slug:"alba-scerrati",fullName:"Alba Scerrati"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter"}}],latestBooks:[{type:"book",id:"11042",title:"Complementary Therapies",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"9eb32ccbef95289a133a76e5808a525b",slug:"complementary-therapies",bookSignature:"Mario Bernardo-Filho, Redha Taiar, Danúbia da Cunha de Sá-Caputo and Adérito Seixas",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11042.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",editors:[{id:"157376",title:"Prof.",name:"Mario",middleName:null,surname:"Bernardo-Filho",slug:"mario-bernardo-filho",fullName:"Mario Bernardo-Filho"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10037",title:"Thermoelectricity",subtitle:"Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"ad1d3f637564a29cf1636759f5401994",slug:"thermoelectricity-recent-advances-new-perspectives-and-applications",bookSignature:"Guangzhao Qin",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10037.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",editors:[{id:"188870",title:"Mr.",name:"Guangzhao",middleName:null,surname:"Qin",slug:"guangzhao-qin",fullName:"Guangzhao Qin"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"11357",title:"Sustainable Crop Production",subtitle:"Recent Advances",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"ee41e09e4ad6a336ca9f0e5462da3904",slug:"sustainable-crop-production-recent-advances",bookSignature:"Vijay Singh Meena, Mahipal Choudhary, Ram Prakash Yadav and Sunita Kumari Meena",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11357.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",editors:[{id:"420235",title:"Dr.",name:"Vijay",middleName:null,surname:"Meena",slug:"vijay-meena",fullName:"Vijay Meena"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10863",title:"Cardiac Rhythm Management",subtitle:"Pacing, Ablation, Devices",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"a064ec49b85ebfc60585c9c3690af53a",slug:"cardiac-rhythm-management-pacing-ablation-devices",bookSignature:"Mart Min and Gabriel Cismaru",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10863.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",editors:[{id:"62780",title:"Prof.",name:"Mart",middleName:null,surname:"Min",slug:"mart-min",fullName:"Mart Min"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10874",title:"Insights on Antimicrobial Peptides",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"23ca26025e87356a7c2ffac365f73a22",slug:"insights-on-antimicrobial-peptides",bookSignature:"Shymaa Enany, Jorge Masso-Silva and Anna Savitskaya",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10874.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",editors:[{id:"81926",title:"Dr.",name:"Shymaa",middleName:null,surname:"Enany",slug:"shymaa-enany",fullName:"Shymaa Enany"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"11137",title:"Mineralogy",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"e0e4727c9f1f9b34d788f0dc70278f2b",slug:"mineralogy",bookSignature:"Miloš René",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11137.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",editors:[{id:"142108",title:"Dr.",name:"Miloš",middleName:null,surname:"René",slug:"milos-rene",fullName:"Miloš René"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10882",title:"Smart Drug Delivery",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"70c3ce4256324b3c58db970d446ddac4",slug:"smart-drug-delivery",bookSignature:"Usama Ahmad, Md. Faheem Haider and Juber Akhtar",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10882.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",editors:[{id:"255360",title:"Dr.",name:"Usama",middleName:null,surname:"Ahmad",slug:"usama-ahmad",fullName:"Usama Ahmad"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10885",title:"Snake Venom and Ecology",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"cc4503ed9e56a7bcd9f2ca82b0c880a8",slug:"snake-venom-and-ecology",bookSignature:"Mohammad Manjur Shah, Umar Sharif, Tijjani Rufai Buhari and Tijjani Sabiu Imam",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10885.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",editors:[{id:"94128",title:"Dr.",name:"Mohammad Manjur",middleName:null,surname:"Shah",slug:"mohammad-manjur-shah",fullName:"Mohammad Manjur Shah"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10381",title:"Electrocatalysis and Electrocatalysts for a Cleaner Environment",subtitle:"Fundamentals and Applications",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"9dbafb0b297cf5cbdb220707e022a228",slug:"electrocatalysis-and-electrocatalysts-for-a-cleaner-environment-fundamentals-and-applications",bookSignature:"Lindiwe Eudora Khotseng",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10381.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",editors:[{id:"236596",title:"Dr.",name:"Lindiwe Eudora",middleName:null,surname:"Khotseng",slug:"lindiwe-eudora-khotseng",fullName:"Lindiwe Eudora Khotseng"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10900",title:"Prunus",subtitle:"Recent Advances",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"9261926500acb26c4ae5a29eee78f0db",slug:"prunus-recent-advances",bookSignature:"Ayzin B. Küden and Ali Küden",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10900.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",publishedDate:"July 6th 2022",editors:[{id:"200365",title:"Prof.",name:"Ayzin B.",middleName:"B.",surname:"Küden",slug:"ayzin-b.-kuden",fullName:"Ayzin B. Küden"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}]},subject:{topic:{id:"34",title:"Ecology",slug:"agricultural-and-biological-sciences-ecology",parent:{id:"5",title:"Agricultural and Biological Sciences",slug:"agricultural-and-biological-sciences"},numberOfBooks:21,numberOfSeries:0,numberOfAuthorsAndEditors:637,numberOfWosCitations:592,numberOfCrossrefCitations:366,numberOfDimensionsCitations:878,videoUrl:null,fallbackUrl:null,description:null},booksByTopicFilter:{topicId:"34",sort:"-publishedDate",limit:12,offset:0},booksByTopicCollection:[{type:"book",id:"9727",title:"Silviculture",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"22ee60f177a2963821d834c66c466115",slug:"silviculture",bookSignature:"Ana Cristina Gonçalves",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9727.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"194484",title:"Prof.",name:"Ana Cristina",middleName:null,surname:"Gonçalves",slug:"ana-cristina-goncalves",fullName:"Ana Cristina Gonçalves"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"10248",title:"Ecosystem and Biodiversity of Amazonia",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"1218c819f575bd951d5de0e85f3ea006",slug:"ecosystem-and-biodiversity-of-amazonia",bookSignature:"Heimo Juhani Mikkola",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10248.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"144330",title:"Dr.",name:"Heimo",middleName:"Juhani",surname:"Mikkola",slug:"heimo-mikkola",fullName:"Heimo Mikkola"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9698",title:"Invasive Species",subtitle:"Introduction Pathways, Economic Impact, and Possible Management Options",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"132b23bdec7eff6ba300d67cc44d2d91",slug:"invasive-species-introduction-pathways-economic-impact-and-possible-management-options",bookSignature:"Hamadttu El-Shafie",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9698.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"192142",title:"Dr.",name:"Hamadttu",middleName:null,surname:"El-Shafie",slug:"hamadttu-el-shafie",fullName:"Hamadttu El-Shafie"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9720",title:"Advances in Forest Management under Global Change",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"df888eab42f96e1bd89b300edfaec25a",slug:"advances-in-forest-management-under-global-change",bookSignature:"Ling Zhang",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9720.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"219350",title:"Dr.",name:"Ling",middleName:null,surname:"Zhang",slug:"ling-zhang",fullName:"Ling Zhang"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"8833",title:"Habitats of the World",subtitle:"Biodiversity and Threats",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"4b7673e0edb8a67093ee8f925f1c1614",slug:"habitats-of-the-world-biodiversity-and-threats",bookSignature:"Carmelo Maria Musarella, Ana Cano Ortiz and Ricardo Quinto Canas",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/8833.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"276295",title:"Dr.",name:"Carmelo Maria",middleName:null,surname:"Musarella",slug:"carmelo-maria-musarella",fullName:"Carmelo Maria Musarella"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"9351",title:"Silvicultures",subtitle:"Management and Conservation",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"f15a0f8b37429d28751d44f084e0ca69",slug:"silvicultures-management-and-conservation",bookSignature:"Fernando Allende Álvarez, Gillian Gomez-Mediavilla and Nieves López-Estébanez",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/9351.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"139581",title:"Dr.",name:"Fernando",middleName:null,surname:"Allende Álvarez",slug:"fernando-allende-alvarez",fullName:"Fernando Allende Álvarez"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"4",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Authored by"}},{type:"book",id:"6264",title:"Forest Biomass and Carbon",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"964f96c9209ff2a3eaf3c5c6a54d81c3",slug:"forest-biomass-and-carbon",bookSignature:"Gopal Shukla and Sumit Chakravarty",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/6264.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"101105",title:"Dr.",name:"Gopal",middleName:null,surname:"Shukla",slug:"gopal-shukla",fullName:"Gopal Shukla"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"6304",title:"Forest Fire",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"5d379ad4bcbaa4c9b702c13254a45f76",slug:"forest-fire",bookSignature:"Janusz Szmyt",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/6304.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"180608",title:"Dr.",name:"Janusz",middleName:null,surname:"Szmyt",slug:"janusz-szmyt",fullName:"Janusz Szmyt"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"6162",title:"New Perspectives in Forest Science",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"514f8da8e59157028c3707db0deec202",slug:"new-perspectives-in-forest-science",bookSignature:"Helder Filipe dos Santos Viana and Francisco Antonio García Morote",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/6162.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"37172",title:"Prof.",name:"Helder",middleName:null,surname:"Viana",slug:"helder-viana",fullName:"Helder Viana"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"6171",title:"Climate Resilient Agriculture",subtitle:"Strategies and Perspectives",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"8e2bc4a305c45c415bf556037d355377",slug:"climate-resilient-agriculture-strategies-and-perspectives",bookSignature:"Ch Srinivasa Rao, Arun K. Shanker and Chitra Shanker",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/6171.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"58592",title:"Dr.",name:"Arun",middleName:null,surname:"Shanker",slug:"arun-shanker",fullName:"Arun Shanker"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"5877",title:"Plant Ecology",subtitle:"Traditional Approaches to Recent Trends",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"788a981ecedf0d9c0205869788524a80",slug:"plant-ecology-traditional-approaches-to-recent-trends",bookSignature:"Zubaida Yousaf",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/5877.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"196003",title:"Dr.",name:"Zubaida",middleName:null,surname:"Yousaf",slug:"zubaida-yousaf",fullName:"Zubaida Yousaf"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"5988",title:"New Insights into Morphometry Studies",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"3c8701d62860a9cdfb6d09d9ffb32493",slug:"new-insights-into-morphometry-studies",bookSignature:"Pere M. Pares-Casanova",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/5988.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"199463",title:"Dr.",name:"Pere M.",middleName:null,surname:"Pares-Casanova",slug:"pere-m.-pares-casanova",fullName:"Pere M. Pares-Casanova"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null,productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}],booksByTopicTotal:21,seriesByTopicCollection:[],seriesByTopicTotal:0,mostCitedChapters:[{id:"36125",doi:"10.5772/33342",title:"Deforestation: Causes, Effects and Control Strategies",slug:"deforestation-causes-effects-and-control-strategies",totalDownloads:158175,totalCrossrefCites:32,totalDimensionsCites:98,abstract:null,book:{id:"2246",slug:"global-perspectives-on-sustainable-forest-management",title:"Global Perspectives on Sustainable Forest Management",fullTitle:"Global Perspectives on Sustainable Forest Management"},signatures:"Sumit Chakravarty, S. K. Ghosh, C. P. Suresh, A. N. Dey and Gopal Shukla",authors:[{id:"94999",title:"Dr.",name:"Sumit",middleName:null,surname:"Chakravarty",slug:"sumit-chakravarty",fullName:"Sumit Chakravarty"},{id:"101102",title:"Prof.",name:"Swapan Kr.",middleName:null,surname:"Ghosh",slug:"swapan-kr.-ghosh",fullName:"Swapan Kr. Ghosh"},{id:"101103",title:"Dr.",name:"C. P.",middleName:null,surname:"Suresh",slug:"c.-p.-suresh",fullName:"C. P. Suresh"},{id:"101104",title:"Dr.",name:"A N",middleName:null,surname:"Dey",slug:"a-n-dey",fullName:"A N Dey"},{id:"101105",title:"Dr.",name:"Gopal",middleName:null,surname:"Shukla",slug:"gopal-shukla",fullName:"Gopal Shukla"}]},{id:"48718",doi:"10.5772/60841",title:"Possibilities and Perspectives of Agroforestry in Chhattisgarh",slug:"possibilities-and-perspectives-of-agroforestry-in-chhattisgarh",totalDownloads:2747,totalCrossrefCites:34,totalDimensionsCites:41,abstract:"Agroforestry (AF) is an ecofriendly and sustainable modern farming land use practice that maintains overall farm productivity by combining herbaceous food crops with woody perennial trees and livestock on the same piece of land, either alternately or at the same time, using scientific management practices that improve the socioeconomic condition of people. It is the new name for an ancient land use practice and just a compromise between agriculture and forestry. It plays a major role in enhancement of overall farm productivity, soil enrichment through litter fall, maintaining environmental services such as climate change mitigation (carbon sequestration), phytoremediation, watershed protection and biodiversity conservation. It is an effective and alternative management system to meet the target of increasing forest cover to 33 % as given by the national forest policy. Their scope and potential in any state including Chhattisgarh is tremendous. Farmers use generally N2-fixing trees like some from the Leguminosae family including Acacia spp., Dalbergia sissoo, etc., on their farmland for enhancing their field crops and generating incomes and employment. Therefore, rural people should make some strategy for the implementation of agroforestry model with suitable combination of trees and field crops, and this combination does not only generate income for the upliftment of socioeconomic value but also concerns the ecological and environmental stability on the sustained basis, i.e. emphasis should be more on scientific management of these models.",book:{id:"4757",slug:"precious-forests-precious-earth",title:"Precious Forests",fullTitle:"Precious Forests - Precious Earth"},signatures:"M.K. Jhariya, S.S. Bargali and Abhishek Raj",authors:[{id:"175133",title:"Dr.",name:"S. S.",middleName:null,surname:"Bargali",slug:"s.-s.-bargali",fullName:"S. S. Bargali"}]},{id:"30816",doi:"10.5772/30596",title:"Entomopathogenic Fungi as an Important Natural Regulator of Insect Outbreaks in Forests (Review)",slug:"entomopathogenic-fungi-as-an-important-natural-regulator-of-insect-outbreaks-in-forests-review-",totalDownloads:6681,totalCrossrefCites:12,totalDimensionsCites:37,abstract:null,book:{id:"616",slug:"forest-ecosystems-more-than-just-trees",title:"Forest Ecosystems",fullTitle:"Forest Ecosystems - More than Just Trees"},signatures:"Anna Augustyniuk-Kram and Karol J. Kram",authors:[{id:"83229",title:"Dr.",name:"Karol",middleName:"J.",surname:"Kram",slug:"karol-kram",fullName:"Karol Kram"},{id:"87728",title:"Dr.",name:"Anna",middleName:null,surname:"Augustyniuk-Kram",slug:"anna-augustyniuk-kram",fullName:"Anna Augustyniuk-Kram"}]},{id:"55309",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.69088",title:"Plant-Microbe Ecology: Interactions of Plants and Symbiotic Microbial Communities",slug:"plant-microbe-ecology-interactions-of-plants-and-symbiotic-microbial-communities",totalDownloads:4644,totalCrossrefCites:11,totalDimensionsCites:27,abstract:"Plant community dynamics are driven by the microbial mediation of soil resource partitioning and sharing by the inhibition of other host symbionts or sharing the broadly specific symbiotic fungi. The plant phenotype and ecology can be affected by the impact of the symbiotic microbes on the environment and competition for soil resources.",book:{id:"5877",slug:"plant-ecology-traditional-approaches-to-recent-trends",title:"Plant Ecology",fullTitle:"Plant Ecology - Traditional Approaches to Recent Trends"},signatures:"Ying-Ning Ho, Dony Chacko Mathew and Chieh-Chen Huang",authors:[{id:"198872",title:"Dr.",name:"Ying-Ning",middleName:null,surname:"Ho",slug:"ying-ning-ho",fullName:"Ying-Ning Ho"},{id:"199676",title:"Prof.",name:"Chieh-Chen",middleName:null,surname:"Huang",slug:"chieh-chen-huang",fullName:"Chieh-Chen Huang"},{id:"201133",title:"Dr.",name:"Dony",middleName:"Chacko",surname:"Mathew",slug:"dony-mathew",fullName:"Dony Mathew"}]},{id:"36984",doi:"10.5772/29590",title:"Individual-Based Models and Scaling Methods for Ecological Forestry: Implications of Tree Phenotypic Plasticity",slug:"individual-based-models-and-scaling-methods-for-ecological-forestry-implications-of-tree-phenotypic-",totalDownloads:2714,totalCrossrefCites:4,totalDimensionsCites:24,abstract:null,book:{id:"617",slug:"sustainable-forest-management-current-research",title:"Sustainable Forest Management",fullTitle:"Sustainable Forest Management - Current Research"},signatures:"Nikolay Strigul",authors:[{id:"78465",title:"Prof.",name:"Nikolay",middleName:null,surname:"Strigul",slug:"nikolay-strigul",fullName:"Nikolay Strigul"}]}],mostDownloadedChaptersLast30Days:[{id:"58228",title:"Pepper Crop under Climate Change: Grafting as an Environmental Friendly Strategy",slug:"pepper-crop-under-climate-change-grafting-as-an-environmental-friendly-strategy",totalDownloads:2189,totalCrossrefCites:9,totalDimensionsCites:17,abstract:"Pepper is an extremely important vegetable worldwide in socio-economic terms. However, persistent land use, monoculture, and intensified production processes have led to soil diseases. This, along with abiotic stress, and mainly salinity of soil and waters, water stress, and suboptimal temperatures, can lead to physiological disorders emerging in peppers, e.g., cracking and Blossom end rot, which induce plant senescence, and lower not only in yields, but also in product quality. Salinity and water shortage are the two main environmental problems that crops face in the Mediterranean Region. One way of overcoming stresses from an ecological or integrated crop management viewpoint is to use grafted plants as an adaptation strategy. Initially, grafting technology has expanded in Solanaceae and Cucurbitacea species to overcome biotic stress. Nowadays, grafts are being used as several approaches to cushion the impact of climate change on agricultural systems. Furthermore, grafts allow desirable varieties by organoleptic or productivity traits, but they are sensitive to abiotic stress and can be grown under abiotic stress. As far as we know, very few studies on grafted pepper plants under abiotic stress are available.",book:{id:"6171",slug:"climate-resilient-agriculture-strategies-and-perspectives",title:"Climate Resilient Agriculture",fullTitle:"Climate Resilient Agriculture - Strategies and Perspectives"},signatures:"Consuelo Penella and Angeles Calatayud",authors:[{id:"213492",title:"Dr.",name:"Angeles",middleName:null,surname:"Calatayud",slug:"angeles-calatayud",fullName:"Angeles Calatayud"},{id:"213498",title:"Dr.",name:"Consuelo",middleName:null,surname:"Penella",slug:"consuelo-penella",fullName:"Consuelo Penella"}]},{id:"65961",title:"The Disturbed Habitat and Its Effects on the Animal Population",slug:"the-disturbed-habitat-and-its-effects-on-the-animal-population",totalDownloads:1542,totalCrossrefCites:1,totalDimensionsCites:7,abstract:"Changes in the “habitat” may interfere with the normal functioning of all biological systems. The existence of relationships between environmental changes and health in humans and animal species is well known and it has become generally accepted that poor health affects the animal’s natural behaviors and animal welfare and, consequently, food safety and animal production quality. Microclimate alterations, husbandry-management conditions, quality of human-animal interactions, feeding systems, and rearing environment represent the main factors that could negatively affect animal welfare and may produce behavioral, biochemical, endocrine, and pathological modifications in domestic and wild animals. Particularly, high stress levels can reduce the immune system response and promote infectious diseases. Adverse socio-environmental factors can represent a major stimulus to the development of different pathologies. This chapter will discuss the main pathological modifications described in domestic and wild animals due to “disturbed habitat” paying more attention to critical points detected in standard breeding systems.",book:{id:"8833",slug:"habitats-of-the-world-biodiversity-and-threats",title:"Habitats of the World",fullTitle:"Habitats of the World - Biodiversity and Threats"},signatures:"Maria Teresa Capucchio, Elena Colombino, Martina Tarantola, Davide Biagini, Loris Giovanni Alborali, Antonio Marco Maisano, Federico Scali, Federica Raspa, Emanuela Valle, Ilaria Biasato, Achille Schiavone, Cristian Salogni, Valentina Bar, Claudia Gili and Franco Guarda",authors:[{id:"57235",title:"Dr.",name:"Maria Teresa",middleName:null,surname:"Capucchio",slug:"maria-teresa-capucchio",fullName:"Maria Teresa Capucchio"},{id:"291161",title:"Dr.",name:"Elena",middleName:null,surname:"Colombino",slug:"elena-colombino",fullName:"Elena Colombino"},{id:"291162",title:"Dr.",name:"Martina",middleName:null,surname:"Tarantola",slug:"martina-tarantola",fullName:"Martina Tarantola"},{id:"291163",title:"Dr.",name:"Davide",middleName:null,surname:"Biagini",slug:"davide-biagini",fullName:"Davide Biagini"},{id:"291164",title:"Dr.",name:"Loris Giovanni",middleName:null,surname:"Alborali",slug:"loris-giovanni-alborali",fullName:"Loris Giovanni Alborali"},{id:"291165",title:"Dr.",name:"Antonio Marco",middleName:null,surname:"Maisano",slug:"antonio-marco-maisano",fullName:"Antonio Marco Maisano"},{id:"291166",title:"Dr.",name:"Federico",middleName:null,surname:"Scali",slug:"federico-scali",fullName:"Federico Scali"},{id:"291167",title:"Dr.",name:"Federica",middleName:null,surname:"Raspa",slug:"federica-raspa",fullName:"Federica Raspa"},{id:"291168",title:"Dr.",name:"Emanuela",middleName:null,surname:"Valle",slug:"emanuela-valle",fullName:"Emanuela Valle"},{id:"291169",title:"Dr.",name:"Ilaria",middleName:null,surname:"Biasato",slug:"ilaria-biasato",fullName:"Ilaria Biasato"},{id:"291170",title:"Prof.",name:"Achille",middleName:null,surname:"Schiavone",slug:"achille-schiavone",fullName:"Achille Schiavone"},{id:"291171",title:"Dr.",name:"Cristian",middleName:null,surname:"Salogni",slug:"cristian-salogni",fullName:"Cristian Salogni"},{id:"291172",title:"Dr.",name:"Valentina",middleName:null,surname:"Bar",slug:"valentina-bar",fullName:"Valentina Bar"},{id:"291173",title:"Dr.",name:"Claudia",middleName:null,surname:"Gili",slug:"claudia-gili",fullName:"Claudia Gili"},{id:"291174",title:"Prof.",name:"Franco",middleName:null,surname:"Guarda",slug:"franco-guarda",fullName:"Franco Guarda"}]},{id:"36125",title:"Deforestation: Causes, Effects and Control Strategies",slug:"deforestation-causes-effects-and-control-strategies",totalDownloads:158170,totalCrossrefCites:32,totalDimensionsCites:96,abstract:null,book:{id:"2246",slug:"global-perspectives-on-sustainable-forest-management",title:"Global Perspectives on Sustainable Forest Management",fullTitle:"Global Perspectives on Sustainable Forest Management"},signatures:"Sumit Chakravarty, S. K. Ghosh, C. P. Suresh, A. N. Dey and Gopal Shukla",authors:[{id:"94999",title:"Dr.",name:"Sumit",middleName:null,surname:"Chakravarty",slug:"sumit-chakravarty",fullName:"Sumit Chakravarty"},{id:"101102",title:"Prof.",name:"Swapan Kr.",middleName:null,surname:"Ghosh",slug:"swapan-kr.-ghosh",fullName:"Swapan Kr. Ghosh"},{id:"101103",title:"Dr.",name:"C. P.",middleName:null,surname:"Suresh",slug:"c.-p.-suresh",fullName:"C. P. Suresh"},{id:"101104",title:"Dr.",name:"A N",middleName:null,surname:"Dey",slug:"a-n-dey",fullName:"A N Dey"},{id:"101105",title:"Dr.",name:"Gopal",middleName:null,surname:"Shukla",slug:"gopal-shukla",fullName:"Gopal Shukla"}]},{id:"55309",title:"Plant-Microbe Ecology: Interactions of Plants and Symbiotic Microbial Communities",slug:"plant-microbe-ecology-interactions-of-plants-and-symbiotic-microbial-communities",totalDownloads:4638,totalCrossrefCites:11,totalDimensionsCites:27,abstract:"Plant community dynamics are driven by the microbial mediation of soil resource partitioning and sharing by the inhibition of other host symbionts or sharing the broadly specific symbiotic fungi. The plant phenotype and ecology can be affected by the impact of the symbiotic microbes on the environment and competition for soil resources.",book:{id:"5877",slug:"plant-ecology-traditional-approaches-to-recent-trends",title:"Plant Ecology",fullTitle:"Plant Ecology - Traditional Approaches to Recent Trends"},signatures:"Ying-Ning Ho, Dony Chacko Mathew and Chieh-Chen Huang",authors:[{id:"198872",title:"Dr.",name:"Ying-Ning",middleName:null,surname:"Ho",slug:"ying-ning-ho",fullName:"Ying-Ning Ho"},{id:"199676",title:"Prof.",name:"Chieh-Chen",middleName:null,surname:"Huang",slug:"chieh-chen-huang",fullName:"Chieh-Chen Huang"},{id:"201133",title:"Dr.",name:"Dony",middleName:"Chacko",surname:"Mathew",slug:"dony-mathew",fullName:"Dony Mathew"}]},{id:"57881",title:"Forest Fire Monitoring",slug:"forest-fire-monitoring",totalDownloads:1707,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:2,abstract:"Thousands of hectares around the globe destroyed by forest fires every year causing tragic loss of houses, properties, lives, fauna and flora. Forest fires are a great menace to ecologically healthy grown forests and protection of the environment. This problem has been the research interest for years, and there are a number of solutions available to resolve this problem. In this chapter, a summary is given for all the technologies that have been used for forest fire detection with explanation of what parameters these systems looking for to understand the fire behaviour.",book:{id:"6304",slug:"forest-fire",title:"Forest Fire",fullTitle:"Forest Fire"},signatures:"Ahmad AA Alkhatib",authors:[{id:"215875",title:"Dr.",name:"Ahmad",middleName:null,surname:"Alkhatib",slug:"ahmad-alkhatib",fullName:"Ahmad Alkhatib"}]}],onlineFirstChaptersFilter:{topicId:"34",limit:6,offset:0},onlineFirstChaptersCollection:[],onlineFirstChaptersTotal:0},preDownload:{success:null,errors:{}},subscriptionForm:{success:null,errors:{}},aboutIntechopen:{},privacyPolicy:{},peerReviewing:{},howOpenAccessPublishingWithIntechopenWorks:{},sponsorshipBooks:{sponsorshipBooks:[],offset:0,limit:8,total:null},allSeries:{pteSeriesList:[{id:"14",title:"Artificial Intelligence",numberOfPublishedBooks:9,numberOfPublishedChapters:90,numberOfOpenTopics:6,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2633-1403",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.79920",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"7",title:"Biomedical Engineering",numberOfPublishedBooks:12,numberOfPublishedChapters:104,numberOfOpenTopics:3,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2631-5343",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.71985",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],lsSeriesList:[{id:"11",title:"Biochemistry",numberOfPublishedBooks:32,numberOfPublishedChapters:320,numberOfOpenTopics:4,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2632-0983",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.72877",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"25",title:"Environmental Sciences",numberOfPublishedBooks:1,numberOfPublishedChapters:12,numberOfOpenTopics:4,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2754-6713",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100362",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"10",title:"Physiology",numberOfPublishedBooks:11,numberOfPublishedChapters:141,numberOfOpenTopics:4,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2631-8261",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.72796",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],hsSeriesList:[{id:"3",title:"Dentistry",numberOfPublishedBooks:8,numberOfPublishedChapters:133,numberOfOpenTopics:2,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2631-6218",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.71199",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"6",title:"Infectious Diseases",numberOfPublishedBooks:13,numberOfPublishedChapters:113,numberOfOpenTopics:3,numberOfUpcomingTopics:1,issn:"2631-6188",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.71852",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"13",title:"Veterinary Medicine and Science",numberOfPublishedBooks:11,numberOfPublishedChapters:107,numberOfOpenTopics:3,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2632-0517",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.73681",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],sshSeriesList:[{id:"22",title:"Business, Management and Economics",numberOfPublishedBooks:1,numberOfPublishedChapters:19,numberOfOpenTopics:3,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:"2753-894X",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100359",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"23",title:"Education and Human Development",numberOfPublishedBooks:0,numberOfPublishedChapters:5,numberOfOpenTopics:1,numberOfUpcomingTopics:1,issn:null,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100360",isOpenForSubmission:!0},{id:"24",title:"Sustainable Development",numberOfPublishedBooks:0,numberOfPublishedChapters:17,numberOfOpenTopics:5,numberOfUpcomingTopics:0,issn:null,doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100361",isOpenForSubmission:!0}],testimonialsList:[{id:"6",text:"It is great to work with the IntechOpen to produce a worthwhile collection of research that also becomes a great educational resource and guide for future research endeavors.",author:{id:"259298",name:"Edward",surname:"Narayan",institutionString:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/259298/images/system/259298.jpeg",slug:"edward-narayan",institution:{id:"3",name:"University of Queensland",country:{id:null,name:"Australia"}}}},{id:"13",text:"The collaboration with and support of the technical staff of IntechOpen is fantastic. The whole process of submitting an article and editing of the submitted article goes extremely smooth and fast, the number of reads and downloads of chapters is high, and the contributions are also frequently cited.",author:{id:"55578",name:"Antonio",surname:"Jurado-Navas",institutionString:null,profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRisIQAS/Profile_Picture_1626166543950",slug:"antonio-jurado-navas",institution:{id:"720",name:"University of Malaga",country:{id:null,name:"Spain"}}}}]},series:{item:{id:"6",title:"Infectious Diseases",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.71852",issn:"2631-6188",scope:"This series will provide a comprehensive overview of recent research trends in various Infectious Diseases (as per the most recent Baltimore classification). Topics will include general overviews of infections, immunopathology, diagnosis, treatment, epidemiology, etiology, and current clinical recommendations for managing infectious diseases. Ongoing issues, recent advances, and future diagnostic approaches and therapeutic strategies will also be discussed. This book series will focus on various aspects and properties of infectious diseases whose deep understanding is essential for safeguarding the human race from losing resources and economies due to pathogens.",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series/covers/6.jpg",latestPublicationDate:"June 25th, 2022",hasOnlineFirst:!0,numberOfPublishedBooks:13,editor:{id:"131400",title:"Prof.",name:"Alfonso J.",middleName:null,surname:"Rodriguez-Morales",slug:"alfonso-j.-rodriguez-morales",fullName:"Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/131400/images/system/131400.png",biography:"Dr. Rodriguez-Morales is an expert in tropical and emerging diseases, particularly zoonotic and vector-borne diseases (especially arboviral diseases). He is the president of the Travel Medicine Committee of the Pan-American Infectious Diseases Association (API), as well as the president of the Colombian Association of Infectious Diseases (ACIN). He is a member of the Committee on Tropical Medicine, Zoonoses, and Travel Medicine of ACIN. He is a vice-president of the Latin American Society for Travel Medicine (SLAMVI) and a Member of the Council of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID). Since 2014, he has been recognized as a Senior Researcher, at the Ministry of Science of Colombia. He is a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Fundacion Universitaria Autonoma de las Americas, in Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia. He is an External Professor, Master in Research on Tropical Medicine and International Health, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain. He is also a professor at the Master in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima, Peru. In 2021 he has been awarded the “Raul Isturiz Award” Medal of the API. Also, in 2021, he was awarded with the “Jose Felix Patiño” Asclepius Staff Medal of the Colombian Medical College, due to his scientific contributions to COVID-19 during the pandemic. He is currently the Editor in Chief of the journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Diseases. His Scopus H index is 47 (Google Scholar H index, 68).",institutionString:"Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Colombia",institution:null},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},subseries:{paginationCount:4,paginationItems:[{id:"3",title:"Bacterial Infectious Diseases",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/3.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!1,editor:null,editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},{id:"4",title:"Fungal Infectious Diseases",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/4.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"174134",title:"Dr.",name:"Yuping",middleName:null,surname:"Ran",slug:"yuping-ran",fullName:"Yuping Ran",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bS9d6QAC/Profile_Picture_1630330675373",biography:"Dr. Yuping Ran, Professor, Department of Dermatology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. Completed the Course Medical Mycology, the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (CBS), Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Netherlands (2006). International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS) Fellow, and International Emerging Infectious Diseases (IEID) Fellow, Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA. Diploma of Dermatological Scientist, Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology. Ph.D. of Juntendo University, Japan. Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, Medicine, West China University of Medical Sciences. Chair of Sichuan Medical Association Dermatology Committee. General Secretary of The 19th Annual Meeting of Chinese Society of Dermatology and the Asia Pacific Society for Medical Mycology (2013). In charge of the Annual Medical Mycology Course over 20-years authorized by National Continue Medical Education Committee of China. Member of the board of directors of the Asia-Pacific Society for Medical Mycology (APSMM). Associate editor of Mycopathologia. Vice-chief of the editorial board of Chinses Journal of Mycology, China. Board Member and Chair of Mycology Group of Chinese Society of Dermatology.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Sichuan University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"China"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},{id:"5",title:"Parasitic Infectious Diseases",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/5.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"67907",title:"Dr.",name:"Amidou",middleName:null,surname:"Samie",slug:"amidou-samie",fullName:"Amidou Samie",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/67907/images/system/67907.jpg",biography:"Dr. Amidou Samie is an Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Venda, in South Africa, where he graduated for his PhD in May 2008. He joined the Department of Microbiology the same year and has been giving lectures on topics covering parasitology, immunology, molecular biology and industrial microbiology. He is currently a rated researcher by the National Research Foundation of South Africa at category C2. He has published widely in the field of infectious diseases and has overseen several MSc’s and PhDs. His research activities mostly cover topics on infectious diseases from epidemiology to control. His particular interest lies in the study of intestinal protozoan parasites and opportunistic infections among HIV patients as well as the potential impact of childhood diarrhoea on growth and child development. He also conducts research on water-borne diseases and water quality and is involved in the evaluation of point-of-use water treatment technologies using silver and copper nanoparticles in collaboration with the University of Virginia, USA. He also studies the use of medicinal plants for the control of infectious diseases as well as antimicrobial drug resistance.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Venda",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"South Africa"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},{id:"6",title:"Viral Infectious Diseases",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/6.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"158026",title:"Prof.",name:"Shailendra K.",middleName:null,surname:"Saxena",slug:"shailendra-k.-saxena",fullName:"Shailendra K. Saxena",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRET3QAO/Profile_Picture_2022-05-10T10:10:26.jpeg",biography:"Professor Dr. Shailendra K. Saxena is a vice dean and professor at King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India. His research interests involve understanding the molecular mechanisms of host defense during human viral infections and developing new predictive, preventive, and therapeutic strategies for them using Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), HIV, and emerging viruses as a model via stem cell and cell culture technologies. His research work has been published in various high-impact factor journals (Science, PNAS, Nature Medicine) with a high number of citations. He has received many awards and honors in India and abroad including various Young Scientist Awards, BBSRC India Partnering Award, and Dr. JC Bose National Award of Department of Biotechnology, Min. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. Dr. Saxena is a fellow of various international societies/academies including the Royal College of Pathologists, United Kingdom; Royal Society of Medicine, London; Royal Society of Biology, United Kingdom; Royal Society of Chemistry, London; and Academy of Translational Medicine Professionals, Austria. He was named a Global Leader in Science by The Scientist. He is also an international opinion leader/expert in vaccination for Japanese encephalitis by IPIC (UK).",institutionString:"King George's Medical University",institution:{name:"King George's Medical University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"India"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null}]},overviewPageOFChapters:{paginationCount:10,paginationItems:[{id:"82380",title:"Evolution of Parasitism and Pathogenic Adaptations in Certain Medically Important Fungi",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105206",signatures:"Gokul Shankar Sabesan, Ranjit Singh AJA, Ranjith Mehenderkar and Basanta Kumar Mohanty",slug:"evolution-of-parasitism-and-pathogenic-adaptations-in-certain-medically-important-fungi",totalDownloads:6,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Fungal Infectious Diseases - Annual Volume 2022",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11400.jpg",subseries:{id:"4",title:"Fungal Infectious Diseases"}}},{id:"82367",title:"Spatial Variation and Factors Associated with Unsuppressed HIV Viral Load among Women in an HIV Hyperendemic Area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105547",signatures:"Adenike O. Soogun, Ayesha B.M. Kharsany, Temesgen Zewotir and Delia North",slug:"spatial-variation-and-factors-associated-with-unsuppressed-hiv-viral-load-among-women-in-an-hiv-hype",totalDownloads:13,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"HIV-AIDS - Updates, Perspectives and Applications",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11575.jpg",subseries:{id:"6",title:"Viral Infectious Diseases"}}},{id:"82193",title:"Enterococcal Infections: Recent Nomenclature and emerging trends",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.104792",signatures:"Kavita Raja",slug:"enterococcal-infections-recent-nomenclature-and-emerging-trends",totalDownloads:7,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Streptococcal Infections",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/10828.jpg",subseries:{id:"3",title:"Bacterial Infectious Diseases"}}},{id:"82207",title:"Management Strategies in Perinatal HIV",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105451",signatures:"Kayla Aleshire and Rima Bazzi",slug:"management-strategies-in-perinatal-hiv",totalDownloads:8,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"HIV-AIDS - Updates, Perspectives and Applications",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11575.jpg",subseries:{id:"6",title:"Viral Infectious Diseases"}}}]},overviewPagePublishedBooks:{paginationCount:13,paginationItems:[{type:"book",id:"6667",title:"Influenza",subtitle:"Therapeutics and Challenges",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/6667.jpg",slug:"influenza-therapeutics-and-challenges",publishedDate:"September 19th 2018",editedByType:"Edited by",bookSignature:"Shailendra K. Saxena",hash:"105e347b2d5dbbe6b593aceffa051efa",volumeInSeries:1,fullTitle:"Influenza - Therapeutics and Challenges",editors:[{id:"158026",title:"Prof.",name:"Shailendra K.",middleName:null,surname:"Saxena",slug:"shailendra-k.-saxena",fullName:"Shailendra K. Saxena",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRET3QAO/Profile_Picture_2022-05-10T10:10:26.jpeg",biography:"Professor Dr. Shailendra K. Saxena is a vice dean and professor at King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India. His research interests involve understanding the molecular mechanisms of host defense during human viral infections and developing new predictive, preventive, and therapeutic strategies for them using Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), HIV, and emerging viruses as a model via stem cell and cell culture technologies. His research work has been published in various high-impact factor journals (Science, PNAS, Nature Medicine) with a high number of citations. He has received many awards and honors in India and abroad including various Young Scientist Awards, BBSRC India Partnering Award, and Dr. JC Bose National Award of Department of Biotechnology, Min. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. Dr. Saxena is a fellow of various international societies/academies including the Royal College of Pathologists, United Kingdom; Royal Society of Medicine, London; Royal Society of Biology, United Kingdom; Royal Society of Chemistry, London; and Academy of Translational Medicine Professionals, Austria. He was named a Global Leader in Science by The Scientist. He is also an international opinion leader/expert in vaccination for Japanese encephalitis by IPIC (UK).",institutionString:"King George's Medical University",institution:{name:"King George's Medical University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"India"}}}]},{type:"book",id:"7064",title:"Current Perspectives in Human Papillomavirus",subtitle:null,coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7064.jpg",slug:"current-perspectives-in-human-papillomavirus",publishedDate:"May 2nd 2019",editedByType:"Edited by",bookSignature:"Shailendra K. Saxena",hash:"d92a4085627bab25ddc7942fbf44cf05",volumeInSeries:2,fullTitle:"Current Perspectives in Human Papillomavirus",editors:[{id:"158026",title:"Prof.",name:"Shailendra K.",middleName:null,surname:"Saxena",slug:"shailendra-k.-saxena",fullName:"Shailendra K. Saxena",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRET3QAO/Profile_Picture_2022-05-10T10:10:26.jpeg",biography:"Professor Dr. Shailendra K. Saxena is a vice dean and professor at King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India. His research interests involve understanding the molecular mechanisms of host defense during human viral infections and developing new predictive, preventive, and therapeutic strategies for them using Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), HIV, and emerging viruses as a model via stem cell and cell culture technologies. His research work has been published in various high-impact factor journals (Science, PNAS, Nature Medicine) with a high number of citations. He has received many awards and honors in India and abroad including various Young Scientist Awards, BBSRC India Partnering Award, and Dr. JC Bose National Award of Department of Biotechnology, Min. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. Dr. Saxena is a fellow of various international societies/academies including the Royal College of Pathologists, United Kingdom; Royal Society of Medicine, London; Royal Society of Biology, United Kingdom; Royal Society of Chemistry, London; and Academy of Translational Medicine Professionals, Austria. He was named a Global Leader in Science by The Scientist. He is also an international opinion leader/expert in vaccination for Japanese encephalitis by IPIC (UK).",institutionString:"King George's Medical University",institution:{name:"King George's Medical University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"India"}}}]},{type:"book",id:"7123",title:"Current Topics in Neglected Tropical Diseases",subtitle:null,coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7123.jpg",slug:"current-topics-in-neglected-tropical-diseases",publishedDate:"December 4th 2019",editedByType:"Edited by",bookSignature:"Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales",hash:"61c627da05b2ace83056d11357bdf361",volumeInSeries:3,fullTitle:"Current Topics in Neglected Tropical Diseases",editors:[{id:"131400",title:"Prof.",name:"Alfonso J.",middleName:null,surname:"Rodriguez-Morales",slug:"alfonso-j.-rodriguez-morales",fullName:"Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/131400/images/system/131400.png",biography:"Dr. Rodriguez-Morales is an expert in tropical and emerging diseases, particularly zoonotic and vector-borne diseases (especially arboviral diseases). He is the president of the Travel Medicine Committee of the Pan-American Infectious Diseases Association (API), as well as the president of the Colombian Association of Infectious Diseases (ACIN). He is a member of the Committee on Tropical Medicine, Zoonoses, and Travel Medicine of ACIN. He is a vice-president of the Latin American Society for Travel Medicine (SLAMVI) and a Member of the Council of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID). Since 2014, he has been recognized as a Senior Researcher, at the Ministry of Science of Colombia. He is a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Fundacion Universitaria Autonoma de las Americas, in Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia. He is an External Professor, Master in Research on Tropical Medicine and International Health, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain. He is also a professor at the Master in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima, Peru. In 2021 he has been awarded the “Raul Isturiz Award” Medal of the API. Also, in 2021, he was awarded with the “Jose Felix Patiño” Asclepius Staff Medal of the Colombian Medical College, due to his scientific contributions to COVID-19 during the pandemic. He is currently the Editor in Chief of the journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Diseases. His Scopus H index is 47 (Google Scholar H index, 68).",institutionString:"Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Colombia",institution:null}]},{type:"book",id:"7839",title:"Malaria",subtitle:null,coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/7839.jpg",slug:"malaria",publishedDate:"December 11th 2019",editedByType:"Edited by",bookSignature:"Fyson H. Kasenga",hash:"91cde4582ead884cb0f355a19b67cd56",volumeInSeries:4,fullTitle:"Malaria",editors:[{id:"86725",title:"Dr.",name:"Fyson",middleName:"Hanania",surname:"Kasenga",slug:"fyson-kasenga",fullName:"Fyson Kasenga",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/86725/images/system/86725.jpg",biography:"Dr. Kasenga is a graduate of Tumaini University, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College, Moshi, Tanzania and Umeå University, Sweden. He obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health and PhD in Public Health and Epidemiology. He has a background in Clinical Medicine and has taken courses at higher diploma levels in public health from University of Transkei, Republic of South Africa, and African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Kasenga worked in different places in and outside Malawi, and has held various positions, such as Licensed Medical Officer, HIV/AIDS Programme Officer, HIV/AIDS resource person in the International Department of Diakonhjemet College, Oslo, Norway. He also managed an Integrated HIV/AIDS Prevention programme for over 5 years. He is currently working as a Director for the Health Ministries Department of Malawi Union of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Dr. Kasenga has published over 5 articles on HIV/AIDS issues focusing on Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT), including a book chapter on HIV testing counseling (currently in press). Dr. Kasenga is married to Grace and blessed with three children, a son and two daughters: Happy, Lettice and Sungani.",institutionString:"Malawi Adventist University",institution:{name:"Malawi Adventist University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Malawi"}}}]}]},openForSubmissionBooks:{paginationCount:3,paginationItems:[{id:"11446",title:"Industry 4.0 - Perspectives and Applications",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11446.jpg",hash:"be984f45b90c1003798661ef885d8a34",secondStepPassed:!0,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:3,submissionDeadline:"May 12th 2022",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editors:[{id:"303193",title:"Dr.",name:"Meisam",surname:"Gordan",slug:"meisam-gordan",fullName:"Meisam Gordan"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null},{id:"11448",title:"Artificial Neural Networks - Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Applications",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11448.jpg",hash:"e57ff97a39cfc6fe68a1ac62b503dbe9",secondStepPassed:!0,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:3,submissionDeadline:"June 3rd 2022",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editors:[{id:"22866",title:"Dr.",name:"Chi Leung Patrick",surname:"Hui",slug:"chi-leung-patrick-hui",fullName:"Chi Leung Patrick Hui"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null},{id:"11447",title:"Swarm Intelligence - Recent Advances and Current Applications",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11447.jpg",hash:"f68e3c3430a74fc7a7eb97f6ea2bb42e",secondStepPassed:!1,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:2,submissionDeadline:"July 22nd 2022",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editors:[{id:"24555",title:"Dr.",name:"Marco Antonio",surname:"Aceves Fernandez",slug:"marco-antonio-aceves-fernandez",fullName:"Marco Antonio Aceves Fernandez"}],equalEditorOne:null,equalEditorTwo:null,equalEditorThree:null}]},onlineFirstChapters:{paginationCount:5,paginationItems:[{id:"82394",title:"Learning by Doing Active Social Learning",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105523",signatures:"Anat Raviv",slug:"learning-by-doing-active-social-learning",totalDownloads:5,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Active Learning - Research and Practice",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11481.jpg",subseries:{id:"89",title:"Education"}}},{id:"82310",title:"Knowledge of Intergenerational Contact to Combat Ageism towards Older People",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105592",signatures:"Alice Nga Lai Kwong",slug:"knowledge-of-intergenerational-contact-to-combat-ageism-towards-older-people",totalDownloads:8,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Social Aspects of Ageing - Selected Challenges, Analyses, and Solutions",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11479.jpg",subseries:{id:"90",title:"Human Development"}}},{id:"81993",title:"Emergent Chemistry: Using Visualizations to Develop Abstract Thinking and a Sense of Scale Within the Preschool Setting",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105216",signatures:"Karina Adbo",slug:"emergent-chemistry-using-visualizations-to-develop-abstract-thinking-and-a-sense-of-scale-within-the",totalDownloads:5,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Active Learning - Research and Practice",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11481.jpg",subseries:{id:"89",title:"Education"}}},{id:"82252",title:"Early Childhood: Enriched Environments and Roles of Caring Adults",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105157",signatures:"Analía Mignaton",slug:"early-childhood-enriched-environments-and-roles-of-caring-adults",totalDownloads:4,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Active Learning - Research and Practice",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11481.jpg",subseries:{id:"89",title:"Education"}}},{id:"81996",title:"Perspective Chapter: New Active Learning Models in Africa",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.105217",signatures:"Fred Awaah, Cosmas Lambini Kombat and Emmanuel Okyere Ekwam",slug:"perspective-chapter-new-active-learning-models-in-africa",totalDownloads:8,totalCrossrefCites:0,totalDimensionsCites:0,authors:null,book:{title:"Active Learning - Research and Practice",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11481.jpg",subseries:{id:"89",title:"Education"}}}]},subseriesFiltersForOFChapters:[{caption:"Human Development",value:90,count:1,group:"subseries"},{caption:"Education",value:89,count:4,group:"subseries"}],publishedBooks:{},subseriesFiltersForPublishedBooks:[],publicationYearFilters:[],authors:{}},subseries:{item:{id:"25",type:"subseries",title:"Evolutionary Computation",keywords:"Genetic Algorithms, Genetic Programming, Evolutionary Programming, Evolution Strategies, Hybrid Algorithms, Bioinspired Metaheuristics, Ant Colony Optimization, Evolutionary Learning, Hyperparameter Optimization",scope:"Evolutionary computing is a paradigm that has grown dramatically in recent years. This group of bio-inspired metaheuristics solves multiple optimization problems by applying the metaphor of natural selection. It so far has solved problems such as resource allocation, routing, schedule planning, and engineering design. Moreover, in the field of machine learning, evolutionary computation has carved out a significant niche both in the generation of learning models and in the automatic design and optimization of hyperparameters in deep learning models. This collection aims to include quality volumes on various topics related to evolutionary algorithms and, alternatively, other metaheuristics of interest inspired by nature. For example, some of the issues of interest could be the following: Advances in evolutionary computation (Genetic algorithms, Genetic programming, Bio-inspired metaheuristics, Hybrid metaheuristics, Parallel ECs); Applications of evolutionary algorithms (Machine learning and Data Mining with EAs, Search-Based Software Engineering, Scheduling, and Planning Applications, Smart Transport Applications, Applications to Games, Image Analysis, Signal Processing and Pattern Recognition, Applications to Sustainability).",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/25.jpg",hasOnlineFirst:!1,hasPublishedBooks:!0,annualVolume:11421,editor:{id:"136112",title:"Dr.",name:"Sebastian",middleName:null,surname:"Ventura Soto",slug:"sebastian-ventura-soto",fullName:"Sebastian Ventura Soto",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/136112/images/system/136112.png",biography:"Sebastian Ventura is a Spanish researcher, a full professor with the Department of Computer Science and Numerical Analysis, University of Córdoba. Dr Ventura also holds the positions of Affiliated Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, USA) and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). Additionally, he is deputy director of the Andalusian Research Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence (DaSCI) and heads the Knowledge Discovery and Intelligent Systems Research Laboratory. He has published more than ten books and over 300 articles in journals and scientific conferences. Currently, his work has received over 18,000 citations according to Google Scholar, including more than 2200 citations in 2020. In the last five years, he has published more than 60 papers in international journals indexed in the JCR (around 70% of them belonging to first quartile journals) and he has edited some Springer books “Supervised Descriptive Pattern Mining” (2018), “Multiple Instance Learning - Foundations and Algorithms” (2016), and “Pattern Mining with Evolutionary Algorithms” (2016). He has also been involved in more than 20 research projects supported by the Spanish and Andalusian governments and the European Union. He currently belongs to the editorial board of PeerJ Computer Science, Information Fusion and Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence journals, being also associate editor of Applied Computational Intelligence and Soft Computing and IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics. Finally, he is editor-in-chief of Progress in Artificial Intelligence. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE Computer, the IEEE Computational Intelligence, and the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Societies, and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). Finally, his main research interests include data science, computational intelligence, and their applications.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Córdoba",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Spain"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null,series:{id:"14",title:"Artificial Intelligence",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.79920",issn:"2633-1403"},editorialBoard:[{id:"111683",title:"Prof.",name:"Elmer P.",middleName:"P.",surname:"Dadios",slug:"elmer-p.-dadios",fullName:"Elmer P. Dadios",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/111683/images/system/111683.jpg",institutionString:"De La Salle University",institution:{name:"De La Salle University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Philippines"}}},{id:"106873",title:"Prof.",name:"Hongwei",middleName:null,surname:"Ge",slug:"hongwei-ge",fullName:"Hongwei Ge",profilePictureURL:"//cdnintech.com/web/frontend/www/assets/author.svg",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Dalian University of Technology",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"China"}}},{id:"171056",title:"Dr.",name:"Sotirios",middleName:null,surname:"Goudos",slug:"sotirios-goudos",fullName:"Sotirios Goudos",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bS9IuQAK/Profile_Picture_1622623673666",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Aristotle University of Thessaloniki",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Greece"}}},{id:"15895",title:"Assistant Prof.",name:"Takashi",middleName:null,surname:"Kuremoto",slug:"takashi-kuremoto",fullName:"Takashi Kuremoto",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002aYLrqQAG/Profile_Picture_1625656196038",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Nippon Institute of Technology",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Japan"}}},{id:"125844",title:"Prof.",name:"Wellington",middleName:"Pinheiro Dos",surname:"Santos",slug:"wellington-santos",fullName:"Wellington Santos",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/125844/images/4878_n.jpg",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Federal University of Pernambuco",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Brazil"}}}]},onlineFirstChapters:{},publishedBooks:{},testimonialsList:[{id:"27",text:"The opportunity to work with a prestigious publisher allows for the possibility to collaborate with more research groups interested in animal nutrition, leading to the development of new feeding strategies and food valuation while being more sustainable with the environment, allowing more readers to learn about the subject.",author:{id:"175967",name:"Manuel",surname:"Gonzalez Ronquillo",institutionString:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/175967/images/system/175967.png",slug:"manuel-gonzalez-ronquillo",institution:{id:"6221",name:"Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México",country:{id:null,name:"Mexico"}}}},{id:"18",text:"It was great publishing with IntechOpen, the process was straightforward and I had support all along.",author:{id:"71579",name:"Berend",surname:"Olivier",institutionString:"Utrecht University",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/71579/images/system/71579.png",slug:"berend-olivier",institution:{id:"253",name:"Utrecht University",country:{id:null,name:"Netherlands"}}}},{id:"8",text:"I work with IntechOpen for a number of reasons: their professionalism, their mission in support of Open Access publishing, and the quality of their peer-reviewed publications, but also because they believe in equality.",author:{id:"202192",name:"Catrin",surname:"Rutland",institutionString:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/202192/images/system/202192.png",slug:"catrin-rutland",institution:{id:"134",name:"University of Nottingham",country:{id:null,name:"United Kingdom"}}}}]},submityourwork:{pteSeriesList:[],lsSeriesList:[],hsSeriesList:[],sshSeriesList:[],subseriesList:[],annualVolumeBook:{},thematicCollection:[],selectedSeries:null,selectedSubseries:null},seriesLanding:{item:null},libraryRecommendation:{success:null,errors:{},institutions:[]},route:{name:"profile.detail",path:"/profiles/291302",hash:"",query:{},params:{id:"291302"},fullPath:"/profiles/291302",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)}()