\r\n\tGlobalization does not represent a pure and generous process for humanity or other species, but rather it implies social exclusion and also provokes situations of vulnerability in groups of people, forced exclusion, and apartheid: poor job opportunities, lack of access to education, worse socio-sanitary conditions. Specifically, it can be said that social segregation entails the apartheid of social groups of different ages, genders, and ethnicities; these groups live a reality manifested through the deepening of poverty, in terms of increased vulnerability of the poor and groups with little economic, social, cultural, labor and health stability.
\r\n\r\n\tThis book aims to talk about some topics that are neglected in the discourses of academic communities and political elites. The inequality process is deeply rooted among humans and is part of many people's lives in the form of modern apartheid, gender segregation, lack of health access, and cultural gap. All those structural inequality processes are the product of the biopower perpetuated and produced in the macrosystem, exosystem, mesosystem, and microsystem. For many people from the academy, the information-consuming public, and the society in general, it is a problem to talk about these processes, since they have either lost interest or have normalized the structural and social inequity. For this reason, we see it as transcendental to explain how this situation occurs from the most internal fibers to the most evident processes, intending to make it more visible and thus expose the situation for possible solutions.
",isbn:"978-1-83768-406-9",printIsbn:"978-1-83768-405-2",pdfIsbn:"978-1-83768-407-6",doi:null,price:0,priceEur:0,priceUsd:0,slug:null,numberOfPages:0,isOpenForSubmission:!0,isSalesforceBook:!1,isNomenclature:!1,hash:"cefab077e403fd1695fb2946e7914942",bookSignature:"Ph.D. Yaroslava Robles-Bykbaev",publishedDate:null,coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11473.jpg",keywords:"Wage Gap, Gender Segregation, Fundamental Human Rights, Health Access, Social Inequity Processes, Modern Apartheid, Resilience, Cultural Gaps, Globalization, Geopolitics of Social Inequality, Public Policies, Social Vulnerability",numberOfDownloads:null,numberOfWosCitations:0,numberOfCrossrefCitations:null,numberOfDimensionsCitations:null,numberOfTotalCitations:null,isAvailableForWebshopOrdering:!0,dateEndFirstStepPublish:"June 15th 2022",dateEndSecondStepPublish:"July 13th 2022",dateEndThirdStepPublish:"September 11th 2022",dateEndFourthStepPublish:"November 30th 2022",dateEndFifthStepPublish:"January 29th 2023",dateConfirmationOfParticipation:null,remainingDaysToSecondStep:"14 days",secondStepPassed:!1,areRegistrationsClosed:!1,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:2,editedByType:null,kuFlag:!1,biosketch:"Dr. Bykbaev is a member of the UNESCO Chair of Politecnica Salesiana University. 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Adult learners have a duty to take greater responsibility for ensuring that their own skills or needs are met, and they often share in the costs of investment [24, 48].
\nOpen and distance learning (ODL) is relatively new in the field of education. It gained eminence only in the past 25 years [27]. Open learning is a philosophy, and distance learning is a methodology in education. Openness and remaining learner‐centric is a basic philosophy of ODL.
\nQuality assurance in ODL ought to be decentralised from central administration to citizens, employers, and communities in order for them to play a leading role in determining services that will meet their needs competently [24].
\nAdults learn better in a non‐threatening environment, and their individual learning style needs are met [47]. These positive experiences occur when: (1) previous experience is valued and utilized, (2) there are opportunities to have control over the learning process, (3) adequate time is allocated for integration of new knowledge to take place, (4) there is enough opportunity to practice and apply what has been learned, (5) there is a clear focus on relevant challenges and practical applications of key concepts, and (6) there is feedback to assess progress towards their goals. Skills play an important role in creating a fairer society by promoting social inclusion and mobility [24].
\nThe literature review included here promotes an understanding of the subject area and the criticisms that have been made on the topic [26].
\nIn this research paper, age is not taken into consideration for adult learners who choose open and distance learning. Adult learners list reasons such as personal enrichment, improving pay for their current job, a desire to change careers, preparing for a new job within their field, earning a required credential, interacting with other students and networking, returning to complete a degree, the availability of tuition assistance, and renewing a certification [17]. The labeling of adults learners chronologically and categorizing them according to age is no longer relevant in the ODL environment because of the high demand for higher education worldwide [1]. Young people are pursuing their studies through ODL for various reasons such as the shortage of space at contact universities and availability of technology [36].
\nThe word “practice” itself has multiple meanings depending on the context. People develop skills through practice, though repetition alone is not sufficient as learning requires varied practice in different settings and with increasing complexity [58]. Modules that ODL institutions provide must enable students to use theory and apply it to practical situations.
\nThere are seven attributes of blended learning environments that support self‐regulation. The attributes are important because students choose ODL because they are able to monitor and control their own learning by looking at the attributes. These attributes are as follows:
\nAuthenticity, which refers to the contextual situation in which support is provided;
Personalisation, which indicates the relatedness of the support to the learners’ individual preference, to make learning more identifiable as belonging to them as learners;
Learner control, which refers to the amount of control learners have over the support provided;
Scaffolding, which describes the temporal structure provided to help learners complete the tasks;
Interaction, which indicates the amount of social interaction evoked by the support;
Reflection cues, which trigger thought or consideration on the learner’s part about his or her own approach to the task; and finally,
Calibration cues, which help the learners form a sensible and practical idea of what can be achieved; calibration issues occur as the result of an instructional design model that makes it possible to describe learning environments on course levels) [59].
Transformative learning theory offers clarification of adult learners’ experiences of fundamental change in their perspective or frame of reference that can occur as the result of being involved in educational or academic work [32]. “Learning can be seen as an experience of critical questioning of beliefs and assumptions, as the adult learner examines the frame from which he or she has been viewing the world. Adult learners have developed a comprehensible body of knowledge such as associations, concepts, values, feelings, and conditioned responses in their frame of reference that defines their life world” [64]. The theory of transformative learning, because of its support of constructivist philosophy of learning, can assist adult learners to build from their experiences and construct knowledge and meaning [64]. Theory of transformative learning is a useful tool through which to understand the ODL experiences of adult learners [32].
\nThere is a tendency for professional development activities to focus on technology and not on pedagogy.
Adult learning theorists are of the view that “good practices for teaching adults need not reflect those for teaching children because of different prior experiences and motivations. Seminal ideas of andragogy (the method and practice of teaching adult learners) serve as a shared foundation for the variety of adult learning theories in education. Adult learning ought to involve learners from the planning stages; to incorporate the life experiences that learners bring; to put more emphasis on subjects that are relevant for learners’ professional or personal life; and to adopt a problem oriented method that will enable adult learners to use new concepts immediately” [4, 9]. Providing quality services to adult learners implies that the adult education programs ought to have the capacity to do so [50].
\nLearners in various professional education settings are not only expected to act professionally but are also expected to become professionals. In addition to acquiring on‐the‐job knowledge, skills, and abilities relevant to the discipline, learners in advanced professional training need also adopt the professional values and behaviors that society associates with being a professional. Rather than being explicitly taught, however, much of what is learned is often acquired tacitly through observation of role models and enculturation in professional practice settings, often termed the “hidden curriculum” [37].
\nTheories are there to provide people with a description to make sense of complex practices and phenomena and can provide a viewpoint that reduces intricacies while enabling generalisability. Currently, a single theory exclusive to the field of ODL is unavailable [15]. Reflection is very important in transformative learning. We know that people’s beliefs, perceptions, and assumptions—personal frames of reference—mediate their educational experiences when they are learning as an adult student or as a teacher [38]. The popularity of ODL stems from its flexibility and openness in entry and admission requirements, program structure, and flexible learner support (when, where and how to study) [27].
\nThere are six basic principles and eight design elements of andragogy. In order to teach adult learners successfully, the focus of learning has to be learner‐centred. These principles comprise self‐directed learning, previous experience, willingness to learn, orientation to learning, purpose for learning, and intrinsic motivation to learn. There are eight design elements of andragogy that occur before, during, and after the learning experience, namely “preparing the learners, setting the climate, mutual planning, diagnosis of learning needs, formulation of learning objectives, learning plan design, learning plan execution, and evaluation” [49].
\nPhilosophies of constructivism for instructional design that focus on knowledge construction for ODL mode can be facilitated by: (a) creating learning environments that offer several illustrations of reality, (b) focusing on knowledge construction and not reproduction, (c) providing real world case‐based learning environments, (d) fostering reflective practice, (e) enabling context and content dependent knowledge construction, and (f) supporting collaborative construction of knowledge through shared intervention. Social presence is a potentially significant factor in improving instructional effectiveness in both traditional and communication technology mediated distance classes [18, 25].
\nIn practice, educators and practitioners working with adult learners could use the principles of adult learning to integrate andragogical design elements into their curriculum to improve learning outcomes. Adult learners need advance information about a training or learning experience in order to evaluate its relevance; they learn best when they have the opportunity to control or have input into the goals and purposes of a learning experience; they prefer a problem‐solving approach and they learn best when new learning is couched in real‐life context [49]. Dewey thought that a worthwhile educational experience should be grounded in a process of reflective inquiry [23].
\nAdult learners face numerous situational hurdles, including finances, family life, health, work conflict, and transportation [45]. They enroll voluntarily in educational programs and are usually part‐time students who have to balance education with other life tasks like work and family, which means that they are often more at risk of dropping out from education and training [52]. Gaining independence and confidence can help to develop self‐directedness in learning [34]. “Mezirow (1991) distinguished between three types of reflection on experience, only one of which, premise reflection, can lead to transformative learning [38]. Content reflection is thinking about the actual experience itself; process reflection is thinking how to deal with the experience; and premise reflection involves examining long held, socially constructed assumptions, beliefs, and values about the experience or challenges. Premise reflection, or critical reflection on assumptions, can be about assumptions ODL learners hold about the self (narrative), the cultural systems in which they live (systemic), their workplace (organisational), their ethical decision making (moral‐ethical), or feelings and dispositions” [38].
\nHowever, “when frames of reference are shaken by new, sometimes unexpected incidents, a myriad of emotions can lead to critical assessment of those personal assumptions and understandings. Critical reflection on assumptions, or premise reflection, is not just thinking about an experience or about how to manage the experience; instead, it necessitates that adult learners ought to reflect on long‐held, socially constructed assumptions, beliefs, and values about their experience and challenges in ODL” [5, 14].
\nWhen developing adult learners in an ODL environment, learning should rest on the following pillars of knowledge:
\nLearning to know depends on the power of concentration, memory and thought. Acquiring knowledge is a never‐ending process and can be interwoven with the experience of work [29].
Learning must change and can no longer be regarded as the simple transmission of knowledge for routine practice. Adult learners must be able to communicate, work with others, and manage and resolve conflicts in their own life environment [29].
In ODL, adult learners must know the diversity of the human race and be aware of the similarities between, and the interdependence of all humans. Dialogue and debate are one of the tools that must be encouraged in ODL [29].
Adult learners should be able to solve their own problems, make their own decisions and shoulder their own responsibilities [29].
Quality assurance is that part of a quality management system providing assurance that quality requirements will be met. It includes those entire planned or systematic activities essential to provide enough evidence that the service will meet the required needs [2]. Quality assurance tools should not be constructed and handled by staff who are far removed from core activities which implies that, in ODL, teachers and other workers who have not been engaged and involved in the construction of these tools cannot easily relate to or implement them [16]. “A quality culture is nothing if it isn’t owned by the people who live it” [30].
\nQuality ought to be emphasised and accomplished for good quality education to be achieved. Quality assurance is the most important tool to enable a cycle of equal opportunity, fair competition and just rewards in ODL. For quality programs to take place in ODL, quality assurance must concentrate on the mechanisms, procedures and processes in place to ensure that the anticipated quality is delivered [40]. In making judgements, where there is substantial ambiguity and uncertainty, different outcomes will be achieved by adult learners because they tend to be more reliant on the information provided to them by ODL institutions [3]. “Efficacy and outcome expectations are assumed to be the influence of development both of interests and of goals, although contextual influences might also play part in ODL [55]. Goals are often an implicit element of the career choice and decision‐making process, with plans, decisions, aspirations, and behavioural choices all involving goal mechanisms” [7].
\nThere are various reasons to do quality assurance in ODL. Quality assurance in ODL can assist students’ mobility from one institution to another and can help maintain accountability for public resources [33]. Quality assurance can advance the quality of higher education provided through ODL. It can also be used to support the transfer of authority between the state and institutions. ODL institutions can rely on quality assurance to inform their funding choices and to update students and employers. In grading institutions, quality assurance can encourage competition within and between organizations. Quality assurance can assist with international comparisons and with a quality check on new (and sometimes private) institutions. For example, in European countries, including the United States, any formal decisions that are taken must be based on external quality assurance activity which is determined by explicit published criteria that can be used consistently [20].
\nContent planning and delivery should more holistically include student needs, interests, and perspectives. There should be an emphasis on adult learners sharing the responsibility for their own learning [66]. Adult learners rely on quality assurance to make decisions about their learning. They are expected to take financial decisions, reorganise their home and/or occupational life, negotiate with family members, and limit their social activities [12].
\nThere are dimensions of cross‐cultural values involved in ODL, for example: (a) “the power distance” (the extent to which power, prestige, and wealth are unequally distributed in a culture); (b) the uncertainty avoidance (the value placed on risk and ambiguity in a culture); (c) the individualism‐collectivism (the individualistic cultures stress the individual’s goals while the collectivist cultures emphasise group goals); and (d) the masculinity/femininity (the masculine traits include strength, assertiveness, and competitiveness while the feminine traits include affection, compassion, and emotionality)” [28]. Adult development ideas give a better understanding of how adult learners learn differently from younger learners, by offering insight into the professional development of adult learners in ways that will serve their career needs [63].
\nIt is well established that adult learners come into higher education with many at risk factors, such as age, working at full or part‐time jobs, dependents, and academic unpreparedness, to name a few. These characteristics have proven to be barriers to success for some adult learners [21]. There is a clear consensus in literature that dropping out, especially in ODL, is a puzzling phenomenon. The dropout phenomenon is similar to automobile accidents, in that it has a single symptom, but many possible causes [35]. It is essential for ODL institutions to be able to identify reasons for students dropping out, for example, late application to the institution, finding it difficult to make friends, finding it difficult to settle in at the beginning of their course, not satisfied with the quality of teaching, not satisfied with their course timetable, and lastly difficult financial or family circumstances, as well as programme/course related reasons –“workload” and “difficulty” [61, 65].
\nSome of these problems have an impact on the students’ behaviour, attitudes, confidence, learning styles and motivation.
\nThere are also epistemological challenges with some brought about by the perception that the content is difficult [56]. Throughout the process of developing study material, it should be taken into consideration that adult learners often feel exposed because of the powerless position they occupy in the educational discourse. When adult learners are thrown into distance learning environments, they may feel lonely, insecure and isolated from the education system. Most of these adult learners enroll in ODL institutions with expectations from past schooling. In ODL, adult learners view their role as directed by the teacher [51].
\nThere are different challenges experienced by ODL learners, namely institutional, situational, and student support challenges.
\nThese are difficulties that students may experience with the institution, such as admission requirements, course pacing, and inadequate support services. Some of the institutional challenges include: (a) quality assurance plans are often too general and not favourable to ODL environments; (b) academics tend to have a “passive resistance” to getting involved; (c) some teaching staff that facilitates ODL programmes has not been given sufficient special training on the delivery of open and distance learning practices; (d) time constraints for academics seem to be a challenge that must be overcome along with the development of a common institutional approach to ODL; (e) shortage of tools and technologies that enable scalability; (f) lack of financial sustainability models; (g
Adult learners’ main challenge lies in situational factors that are beyond their control, such as obtaining employment, caring for a child, health crises, financial difficulties, legal dilemmas, personal or family interferences, and transport problems. Furthermore, adult learners are expected to deal with institutional challenges such as the level of difficulty of content that is being taught, situation, class attendance, and even re‐admission policies.
\nThese adult learners are also expected to deal with dispositional barriers, including educational attitudes, self‐efficacy, resilience, and attribution of failure [11, 43]. These arise from each adult learner’s particular life circumstances, such as an altered employment situation, a change in marital status, or the arrival of a baby. Traumatic factors and chronic intermittent events such as on‐going financial problems, or acute stress due to sudden conflict with family members may affect ODL students in ODL mode. Additionally, self‐confidence was found to be a vital requirement for persistence in ODL: if an adult learner is motivated to study but lacks self‐confidence, he or she may fail [12].
\nThe cost and lack of student support and services, alienation and isolation, and lack of experience in ODL and training all influence adult ODL learners [22, 42]. Work and domestic obligations are expected to hamper ODL learners’ achievements far more than would be the case in contact settings, mainly so amid challenging socio‐economic circumstances [54]. Their achievement is shaped by a complex, layered, and dynamic set of events. It is the outcome of interaction between personal, institutional, and broader contextual factors. Some of the challenges affecting adult learners in ODL environments include “faceless” teaching, fear of the imminent replacement of face‐to face learning by computers, diffusion of value usually placed on attaining a qualification, faculty culture, lack of independent learning skills and local library resources, lack of formalised agreements to sustain program commitment through difficulties and problems, and high cost of materials [18, 41].
\nAdult students are expected to make a substantial effort when they start studying. These learners are expected to make financial decisions, reorganise their home and/or occupational life, negotiate with family members, and limit their social life [12]. For adult learners to succeed, more time is required for preparation of assignments and activities. The more technologically advanced the learning systems become, the more they go wrong. Non‐educational considerations take precedence over educational priorities. Adult learners are also challenged by their resistance to change and the lack of technological assistance [6].
\nGenerally, adult learners are motivated to learn. Unlike their younger peers in residential campus programs, adult learners are often self‐motivated, and thrive on intrinsic, rather than extrinsic rewards. Course material must be relevant to the position adult learners see themselves in several years in the future [13]. People become more ready to learn something new when they experience a need to learn and they are able to manage real‐life responsibilities and challenges. ODL institutions have an obligation to create conducive conditions by providing tools and procedures for helping adult learners discover their needs to know [62]. In organizing learning programs, ODL institutions should focus on life application categories and sequence them according to the adult learners’ readiness to study [57].
\nStudents are able to study at their own pace and receive immediate feedback. Computers can make this type of learning far more interactive and dynamic than studying from books and notes. Open and distance learning allows adult learners to study whenever they have time, which makes it an especially good fit for those learners with work and family obligations [53]. ODL adult learners are presented with the opportunity to think about and decide whether they are ready to commit to distance learning [10].
\nODL provides widespread access to training and education resources. It strengthens ties between people, takes the fear out of differences and encourages tolerance [31]. It increases the availability of information resources [60]. Generally, it reduces the cost of traditional training and education while still meeting students’ training and education needs.
\nODL institutions should respect adult learners’ multitasking abilities but may initially need to follow a structured, traditional approach to learning. Some ODL adult learners have to focus on obtaining skills required to stay relevant in the job market, and therefore, ODL institutions should ensure that this learner population continues to grow.
\nAdult learners’ orientation to knowledge depends on methods of knowing, such as “What is in it for me?,” “What do you think I must know?,” “What do I want and need to know and learn?,” and “What is of importance for me to know to keep on learning and growing?” If adult learners succeed in open and distance learning, learning can be an effective vehicle for continuous growth and development. In ODL, adult learner success is influenced by personal factors such as intrinsic capacities, as well as issues extraneous to the institution. Adult learners are expected to proceed with their studies according to due dates for the submission of assignments and examination dates. They should be able to act independently and be self‐directed.
\nAdult students need guidance in more interactive classroom settings, and ODL institutions need more formalised training in effective teaching strategies for adult students. In order for ODL institutions and their programs to be responsive to adult learners, the adult learner’s context should be taken into consideration. Adult learners are motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. In developing adult learners, ODL institutions should provide education and programs to expedite workforce training. For ODL to succeed, a structured process for designing programs, which includes quality assurance, is required. In doing needs analysis with involving stakeholders, ODL staff should try to involve people with appropriate skills and should bear in mind the organisation’s constraints.
\nCanned foods were well known and widely used for feeding the armies since the mid-eighteenth century. Nowadays, they play a crucial role in the everyday nutrition of everyone all over the globe, where they provide food with good quality that can last for a long time compared with fresh food. The canned food production industry, as any other industry, includes material processing, storing, and transportation. These activities lead to waste and emission generation and can affect the environment negatively if not well planned and applied. These negative effects might include air and water pollution and soil contamination. Of the major pollutants generated by this industry, the organic pollutants are very crucial [1].
In general, food processing from raw materials requires large volumes of high-grade water, which will become wastewater after usage. In particular, it requires a large volume of potable water for several usages, e.g. raw materials cleaning, fluming, blanching, pasteurizing, processing equipment cleaning, and cooling of the final products. These vast usages require the enforcement of quality criteria for the water used in each application; the best quality usage often requires independent treatment to assure complete freedom from odor and taste and to ensure uniform conditions [1]. The wastewater effluents from this industry are characterized by their large volumes. On average, some 10–20 m3 wastewaters are produced per tonne of products. The precise characteristics of these wastewaters are highly dependent on the performed processes during the canned food production, i.e. the process of vegetable washing leads to the generation of wastewaters with high loads of some dissolved organics, and particulate matter [2].
The organic content in the wastewater generated as a result of the operation of different processes in the food canning industries is characterized by high concentrations of biodegradable contaminants and variable pH levels. When an environmental reservoir, e.g. a stream or waterway, receives these wastewater effluents, the organic pollutants will consume some of the dissolved oxygen (DO) that exists in the reservoir during their stabilization. This will reduce considerably the DO to levels below that required for the sustainability of lives of the aquatic organisms. The extent of pollution caused by these effluents can be characterized based on the plant capacity, the utilized process, and the characteristics of the raw materials. In this respect, it is beneficial to categorize the plant capacity in terms of population, where seasonal plants are likely to generate waste loads equivalent to 15,000 to 25,000 people, and large plants generate loads up to 250,000 people. The processing of fruit and vegetables is one of the sources of wastewaters, which contain organic matters. Fruit and vegetable canning companies generate wastewaters with high levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total solid (TS), and suspended solids (SS) [1]. This chapter aims to introduce the available technologies for secondary wastewater treatment that are widely investigated to prevent and control pollution from the food industry. In this respect, the features of the aerobic and anaerobic biological treatment technologies are summarized. Then, an overview of the uncertainty management in biological treatment plants is provided.
Due to the nature of the food industry, the preparatory and operational processes of the raw animals, vegetables, and fruits into edible products do not include the application of chemicals. Subsequently, the organic maters in most of the cannery wastewater effluents are best treated using biological treatment, where these matters are rarely present toxicant or inhibitory compounds in their composition. Yet in some operations, e.g. sterilizing and cleaning the equipment, chemicals are used. In particular, disinfectants and caustic soda are used at the end of the processed batch. These effluents could be characterized as short-time concentrated discharges. They may cause shock loads in the wastewater treatment plants that are not designed to deal with these effluents. In this case, the use of equalization unit can achieve acceptable flow equalization and pH adjustment and dilute the high concentration to a nominal concentration that allows safe operation for the biological treatment unit [3].
Aerobic wastewater treatment processes could be applied using several technologies, i.e. pond and lagoon-based treatments; surface and spray aeration; oxidation ditches; trickling filters; septic or aerobic tanks; activated sludge; and aerobic digestion. In this section, sequencing batch reactor (SBR), activated sludge (AS), rotating biological contactor (RBC), and aerobic lagoons (AELs) for treating food processing wastewater are discussed.
In general, SBR is a fill-and-draw activated sludge system for wastewater treatment. In that system, wastewater effluent is added to a single batch reactor, where treatment is achieved by removing undesirable components, and then, the effluent is discharged. In the same single batch reactor, equalization, aeration, and clarification are conducted.
The formation of granules in aerobic conditions has been possible and appears as a promising technique for treating high-strength or highly toxic wastewaters. It appeared that aerobic granules were successfully cultivated only in SBR. The cyclic operation of SBR consisted of influent filling, aeration, settling, and effluent removal [4].
The development of aerobic granular sludge to achieve simultaneous removal of COD, phosphorous (P), and nitrogen (N) from saline fish-canning wastewater was investigated by Campo [5]. In that work, a 1.6-L SBR with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 0.25 d and a volumetric exchange ratio (VER) of 50% was used. The wastewater fed to the SBR was collected from a fish-canning factory located in the south of Galicia (Spain). The SBR was operated in 3-hour cycles comprising 60-min anaerobic feeding, 112-min aeration, 7–1-min settling, and 1–7-min effluent discharge. The salt concentration was approximately 10.4 ± 0.8 g NaCl/l, and the applied organic loading rate (OLR) equals 5.4 ± 1.9 kg COD/(m3d). Under these conditions, aerobic granules were detected after operational time equals 34 days. Some filamentous bacteria were detected on the surface of the aggregates. The granular biomass has a volatile suspended solids (VSS) concentration of 1.34 gVSS/l, density near 11.5 gVSS/l granule, and mean diameter of 1.35 mm. After 41 days of operation, fluffy-flocculent suspension was formed in the presence of the granules. This behavior was attributed to the salinity and the respectively high fraction of slowly biodegradable COD in the influent (35% of total COD). The study reported good removal efficiencies of soluble COD nearly equal to 80%. The phosphorus and ammonium were mainly concluded to be removed to cover the minimum metabolic demand of heterotrophic bacteria. The study indicated that the enrichment of the biomass with slow growing autotrophic and phosphorus-accumulating bacteria in a saline environment requires a longer operational time [5].
The most commonly used biological wastewater treatment technology is the activated sludge. In that technology, the activated sludge (bacterial biomass suspension) is used to degrade the organic pollutants. Over years, various activated sludge processes have been developed. Depending on the design of the AS unit, the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) can degrade organic carbon substances and remove nutrients, i.e. N and P. In some biological wastewater treatment systems, activated sludge was attached to a surface to form a bio-film. Examples of these systems are integrated fixed-film activated sludge systems, rotating biological reactors, trickling filters, and moving bed bio-film reactors [6].
RBC process entails the contact between the wastewater and the biological medium that is used to degrade the organic contaminants. A RBC is described as a device that “consists of a series of closely spaced, parallel discs mounted on a rotating shaft which is supported just above the surface of the wastewater” [4, 7]. RBCs are used to remove biodegradable organic matter and convert ammonia-N and organic-N to nitrate-N. Operational problems caused by high organic loading rates restrict the use of RBCs for partial removal of organic matter (i.e. for “roughing” treatment). However, they can be used quite effectively for the substantial removal of organic matter. Process effluent (i.e. clarified) five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations can easily be reduced to less than 30 mg/l each, and even lower can be obtained in some instances [8].
Aerobic lagoons (AELs) are designed and operated to exclude algae. This is accomplished by two means. First, sufficient mixing is used to keep all biomass from the treatment system in suspension, thereby providing turbidity that restricts penetration of light into the water column. The mixing also has the effect of making the solid retention time (SRT) equal to the hydraulic retention time (HRT). Second, the HRT is controlled to values less than the minimum SRT for algal growth (about two days). Because algae are excluded, oxygen must be delivered by mechanical means [8].
This class of biological wastewater treatment technology utilizes microorganisms to degrade the organic pollutants in the absence of oxygen. The sludge in the anaerobic biological reactor consists of anaerobic bacteria and other microorganisms. Food processing wastewaters are particularly suitable for anaerobic treatment processes, firstly because of their high organic load and secondly because they rarely contain toxicants or inhibitory compounds [2].
The UASB process makes use of suspended growth biomass, but the gas-liquid-solids separation system is integrated with the bioreactor. The operating conditions within the reactor could be adjusted to allow the formation of large, dense, and readily settleable particles that can lead to the accumulation of very high concentrations of SS, on the order of 20 to 30 g/l as VSS. These high suspended solids concentrations allow significant separation between the SRT and HRT, and operation at relatively short HRTs, often on the order of two days or less, even when the SRT is long. The three-phase UASB reactor allows the achievement of compact and cheaper units due to its ability to separate the gas, water, and sludge mixtures under high turbulence conditions. It has multiple gas hoods for the separation of biogas and can be operated in a one-metre-height reactor that prevents the formation of floating layers [9]. Due to the extremely large gas/water interfaces, the turbulence is greatly reduced, so it is possible to operate the treatment process with relatively high loading rates of 10–15 kg/m3d [8].
UASB technology is known for its efficiency in treating wastewaters with high carbohydrate content. In this respect, the wastewater effluents from the canning industry are efficiently treated by microbes to produce a nutrient-rich starting material for anaerobic hydrogen production. This has led to the wide application of up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for the treatment of the wastewater effluents from food processing plants [10]. These reactors are well known for their ability to withstand variations in wastewater quality and complete shutdown of the reactor in off season [11].
Anaerobic treatment of a highly alkaline fruit-cannery lye-peeling wastewater was investigated, using an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UArSB) reactor. Only a short initializing period was required before COD reduction and OLR had stabilized at 85 to 90% and 2.40 kg COD/m3d, respectively. With subsequent increases in OLR to 8.1kgCOD/m3d, the COD reduction remained between 85 and 93% and biogas production peaked at 4.1 l/d (63% methane). After 111 days, the COD and reactor pH started to decrease and the gas production was reported to decrease after 102 days and continue to decrease to reach the lowest value of 0.93 l/d after 129 days. Subsequent reductions in the OLR, by reducing influent COD, had no effect on reactor stability. This reduction in the reactor performance was attributed to the inhibition of methanogenesis due to the sodium accumulation of sodium (potentially >20,000 mg/l) in the biomass [10, 12].
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is used for the stabilization of particulate organic matter. An anaerobic digester is well mixed with no liquid-solids separation. Consequently, the bioreactor can be treated as a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) in which the HRT and SRT are identical. An SRT of 15 to 20 days is typically used, although SRTs as low as 10 days have been used successfully and longer SRTs are employed when greater waste stabilization is required [8].
For several cannery waste streams, the recovery of useful by-products could be achieved by anaerobic digestion. High COD content fruit and vegetable wastes (>50,000 mg/l) have been treated successfully by AD using a HRT of 10 days and a sludge age of 80 days. For elder sludges, the SS build-up within the reactor reached 30,000 mg/l, but at higher concentrations settling became a problem. Generally, successful treatment of food processing wastes could be achieved using AD with a retention time greater than 10 days and gas production of up to 0.75 m3/kg volatile solids [9, 11].
A Single reactor system for High activity Ammonium Removal Over Nitrite (SHARON) is a treatment process, which utilizes partial nitrification process for the degradation of ammonia and organic nitrogen components from wastewaters. The process results in stable nitrite formation, rather than complete oxidation to nitrate. The process relies on controlling the pH, temperature, and retention time to prevent the nitrate formation by nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, e.g. Nitrobacter. The wastewater denitrification that employs SHARON reactors can proceed with an anoxic reduction, such as Anammox. In the Anammox process (anaerobic ammonium oxidation), nitrite and ammonium are converted into nitrogen gas under anaerobic conditions without the need to add an external carbon source. In comparison with conventional N-removal processes, the SHARON process results in a reduction of required aeration energy and carbon source.
The application of the successive SHARON-Anammox processes was tested to treat the wastewater from a fish cannery plant. The effluents generated from the anaerobic digestion are characterized by their salinity up to 8000–10,000 g NaCl m−3, organic carbon content (1000–1300 g TOCm−3), and high ammonium content (700–1000 g NH+4−Nm−3). In the SHARON reactor, nearly half the ammonia is oxidized to NO−2-N via partial nitrification. Then, SHARON effluent was directed to feed the Anammox reactor. The system was reported to attain average nitrogen removal of 68%. The bacterial population distribution in the Anammox reactor, followed by FISH analysis and batch activity assays, did not change significantly despite the continuous entrance to the system of aerobic ammonium oxidizers coming from the SHARON reactor. Most of the bacteria corresponded to the Anammox population and the rest with slight variable shares to the ammonia oxidizers. Despite the continuous variations in the amounts of ammonium and nitrite in the feed wastewater, the Anammox reactor showed an unexpected robustness. Only in the period when NO−2-N concentration was higher than the NH+4-N concentration did the process destabilized and it took 14 days until the nitrogen removal percentage decreased to 34% with concentrations in the effluent of 340 g NH+4-Nm−3 and 440 g NO−2-N m−3, respectively. That study concluded that this successive application of SHARON-Anammox reactors is successful in treating high nitrogen and saline effluents with acceptable control on the ratio between the NO−2-N and NH+4-N [13].
An-MBR can be simply defined as a biological treatment process operated without oxygen and using a membrane to provide solid–liquid separation. The advantages offered by this process over conventional anaerobic systems and aerobic MBR are widely recognized [12].
Saline wastewaters are known for their negative impact on the performance of the biological treatment units. Sodium chloride is widely used, not only for cooking and to melt snow and ice, but also in a wide variety of food industries including food canning, seafood processing, milk processing, etc. In particular, the operation of the seafood processing industry leads to the generation of wastewaters with high soluble and colloidal pollutants and a high concentration of N and SS. For these effluents, the application of conventional biological treatment is not efficient. It was reported that the efficiency could be enhanced by reducing the sodium toxicity with compatible solutes that can increase the sludge activity. Moreover, the anaerobic membrane bioreactor reduces the COD concentration in the wastewater [14].
AF consists of a fixed bed biological reactor with one or more series of filtration chambers. This technology relies on the entrapment of the particles in the wastewater on the filter media and the subsequent degradation of the organic matter by the active biomass attached to the surface of the filter media [15]. As the anaerobic biomass should grow on the filter media, 6–9-month start-up period is required for AF to attain the full treatment capacity. The filter can be inoculated with anaerobic bacteria to reduce the start-up time, and the flow should be gradually increased [13, 16].
Hybrid UASB/AF systems combine aspects of the UASB process with aspects of the AF process. Influent wastewater and recirculated effluent are distributed across the bioreactor cross section and flow upward through granular and flocculent sludge blankets where anaerobic treatment occurs. The effluent from the sludge blanket zone enters a section of media similar to that used in AF systems where gas-liquid-solids separation occurs. Treated effluent then exits the media section and is collected for discharge from the bioreactor. Gas is collected under the bioreactor cover and is transported to storage and/or use. The hybrid UASB/AF process primarily uses suspended biomass, and process loadings are similar to those used with the UASB process. The solids removal system is similar to that used with the UASB process [8].
A research study on the treatment of wastewater generated from vegetable processing was conducted. In this project, an anaerobic filter, a fluidized bed reactor, and an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor associated with an anaerobic filter were designed, constructed, and tested [5]. For the anaerobic filter, the removal efficiency for COD was reported to exceed 80% for HRT of 16 h, at temperatures ranging from 20 to 31°C. The FBAR was operated at HRT of 2 h with mean COD removal efficiency of 63%. The UASB/AF achieved mean COD removal efficiency of 80% at HRT of 6 h [17].
Anoxic process is widely used in wastewater treatment. Anoxic means depletion or deficiency of oxygen. Anoxic process is a biological treatment process by which NO3-N is converted to molecular nitrogen gas in the absence of oxygen.
A system comprised of anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic reactors was tested to treat the wastewater from tuna cooker. This wastewater stream is characterized by high COD and N concentrations. The up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor was used to achieve the anaerobic digestion in a two-step process. In the first, the COD concentration was varied and ORLs up to 4 g COD/(l.d) were achieved. In the second step, the 6 g COD/l and the HRT were varied between 0.5 and 0.8 day, and this step led to ORLs less than 15 g COD/(l.d). The denitrification process was carried out in an up-flow anoxic filter, and the result of the project indicated that the efficiency of this process is dependent on the supplied carbon content. For optimum carbon content, the ratio between the COD and N equalled 4 and the denitrification percentage equalled 80%. Finally, the nitrification was reported to be fixed at 100% ammonia removal regardless of the amount of carbon in the range of 0.2–0.8 g TOC/l. The variation of the recycling ratios between the denitrification and nitrification reactors in the range of 1–2.5 was found to affect the efficiency of the COD and N-removal percentage, where 90 and 60% removal for COD and N was reported at recycling ratio between 2 and 2.5 [15].
There are several types of uncertainties that should be addressed during the design of a wastewater treatment plant, e.g. the variation in strength and quantity of wastewater entering into the plant, the diversity, and the dynamics of the microbial community. An uncertainty analysis for a pre-denitrification plant that uses an activated sludge unit was performed [18]. The unit consists of five compartments: the first two are anoxic and the last three are aerobic. Three scenarios were considered in that study that cover the uncertainty due to stoichiometric, bio-kinetic and influent parameters; uncertainty due to hydraulic behavior of the plant and mass transfer parameters; and uncertainty due to the combination of both scenarios. The study concluded that parameters related to the first and second scenarios introduce significant uncertainties in the plant performance measures. In addition, it was stated that the applied uncertainty farming technique largely affects the uncertainty estimates.
The Monte Carlo simulation was intensively used to simulate the design and upgrade of wastewater treatment plants under uncertainty in balancing effluent costs, violating effluent quality standards, predicting the disinfection performance, generating different influent compositions for posterior process performance evaluation or as a pragmatic procedure to automate the calibration of ASM models, and considering the impact of the input parameter uncertainty on the multi-criteria evaluation of control strategies at wastewater plant [19, 20, 21, 22].
Due to the complexity and non-linearity of wastewater treatment plant operations, mathematical models are generally not sufficient to predict the performance of WWTPs. Therefore, AI models have been proposed as an alternative model to linear methods. The methods for minimizing the effect of uncertainty in wastewater characteristics and wastewater flow on wastewater treatment reported in the literature have included support vector machine (SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN) [23]. An optimization model to control uncertainty in operation of wastewater treatment from the shale gas production has been reported in the literature [24]. In addition, genetic algorithms have been developed to model and optimize a biological wastewater treatment plant [25].
Information regarding uncertainty in the wastewater treatment plants in treating cannery wastewater is lacking in the literature. However, the principles governing uncertainty in wastewater treatment plants can be applied to control uncertainty in cannery wastewater treatment.
The following conclusions can be reached based on the review of literature in cannery wastewater treatment:
The wastewater that is generated in food canning industries contains high quantities of organic material, a high level of biodegradables and variable pH levels.
The food processing industry requires a large amount of potable water for a variety of non-consumption usages, such as for initial cleaning of raw material, fluming, blanching, pasteurizing, cleaning of processing equipment, and cooling of finished product.
The nature of the organic matter of cannery industry wastewater makes it suitable for biological treatment.
Flow equalization and influent pH control normally have enough diluting and neutralizing effect to permit the use of biological processes for cannery wastewater treatment.
Various treatment processes using aerobic and anaerobic treatment can be applied for the treatment of cannery wastewater, depending upon wastewater strength.
Information regarding uncertainty in wastewater treatment plants in treating cannery wastewater is lacking in the literature. However, the principles governing uncertainty in wastewater treatment plants can be applied to control uncertainty in cannery wastewater treatment.
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All published Book Chapters are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Monographs are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license granted to all others. Our Copyright Policy aims to guarantee that original material is published while at the same time giving significant freedom to our Authors. IntechOpen upholds a flexible Copyright Policy meaning that there is no copyright transfer to the publisher and Authors hold exclusive copyright to their work.
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\n\n\n\nIntechOpen is committed to disseminating high-quality scientific research in a manner that exemplifies the best practice in scholarly publishing. IntechOpen is an official member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which advocates the maintenance of the highest ethical standards for all parties involved in the act of publishing, including Authors, Academic Editors of the book, Peer Reviewers, the publisher and Societies, where applicable.
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\n\n\n\nIntechOpen publishes different types of publications.
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Thus, further research focusing on the AM -mediated promotion of crop quality and productivity is needed.",book:{id:"10249",slug:"mycorrhizal-fungi-utilization-in-agriculture-and-forestry",title:"Mycorrhizal Fungi",fullTitle:"Mycorrhizal Fungi - Utilization in Agriculture and Forestry"},signatures:"Kavita Chahal, Vaishali Gupta, Naveen Kumar Verma, Anand Chaurasia and Babita Rana",authors:[{id:"327437",title:"Assistant Prof.",name:"Kavita",middleName:null,surname:"Chahal",slug:"kavita-chahal",fullName:"Kavita Chahal"}]},{id:"48639",title:"Negative and Positive Staining in Transmission Electron Microscopy for Virus Diagnosis",slug:"negative-and-positive-staining-in-transmission-electron-microscopy-for-virus-diagnosis",totalDownloads:5167,totalCrossrefCites:10,totalDimensionsCites:19,abstract:"Visualization of virus particles and morphological features depends on the resolution of microscopes. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is the starting point for obtaining the best resolution of images. Two different techniques are available and described in this paper. Firstly, negative staining of viral suspensions provides detailed information of virus particles' structure. It is a technique that can be quickly performed and is able to accommodate the highest magnifications of virus particles. Secondly, ultra-thin sections of virus-infected tissues or cell cultures, combined with a positive staining technique can provide information regarding the localization of viruses inside or around cells. These two complementary techniques for investigating the structure of a virus and its parasitic life cycle are presented in this paper.",book:{id:"4692",slug:"microbiology-in-agriculture-and-human-health",title:"Microbiology in Agriculture and Human Health",fullTitle:"Microbiology in Agriculture and Human Health"},signatures:"Debora Ferreira Barreto-Vieira and Ortrud Monika Barth",authors:[{id:"174492",title:"Dr.",name:"Debora",middleName:"Ferreira",surname:"Barreto-Vieira",slug:"debora-barreto-vieira",fullName:"Debora Barreto-Vieira"},{id:"175200",title:"Dr.",name:"Ortrud Monika",middleName:null,surname:"Barth",slug:"ortrud-monika-barth",fullName:"Ortrud Monika Barth"}]},{id:"18412",title:"C4 Plants Adaptation to High Levels of CO2 and to Drought Environments",slug:"c4-plants-adaptation-to-high-levels-of-co2-and-to-drought-environments",totalDownloads:26513,totalCrossrefCites:6,totalDimensionsCites:31,abstract:null,book:{id:"371",slug:"abiotic-stress-in-plants-mechanisms-and-adaptations",title:"Abiotic Stress in Plants",fullTitle:"Abiotic Stress in Plants - Mechanisms and Adaptations"},signatures:"María Valeria Lara and Carlos Santiago Andreo",authors:[{id:"60504",title:"Dr.",name:null,middleName:null,surname:"Andreo",slug:"andreo",fullName:"Andreo"},{id:"62008",title:"Dr.",name:"María",middleName:"Valeria",surname:"Lara",slug:"maria-lara",fullName:"María Lara"}]},{id:"60831",title:"Introductory Chapter: Fusarium: Pathogenicity, Infections, Diseases, Mycotoxins and Management",slug:"introductory-chapter-fusarium-pathogenicity-infections-diseases-mycotoxins-and-management",totalDownloads:1872,totalCrossrefCites:2,totalDimensionsCites:4,abstract:null,book:{id:"6329",slug:"fusarium-plant-diseases-pathogen-diversity-genetic-diversity-resistance-and-molecular-markers",title:"Fusarium",fullTitle:"Fusarium - Plant Diseases, Pathogen Diversity, Genetic Diversity, Resistance and Molecular Markers"},signatures:"Tulin Askun",authors:[{id:"89795",title:"Dr.",name:"Tulin",middleName:null,surname:"Askun",slug:"tulin-askun",fullName:"Tulin Askun"}]},{id:"58344",title:"Fusarium Wilt: A Killer Disease of Lentil",slug:"fusarium-wilt-a-killer-disease-of-lentil",totalDownloads:1814,totalCrossrefCites:3,totalDimensionsCites:10,abstract:"Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus subsp. culinaris) is an important dietary source of protein and other essential nutrients in South and West Asia, North and East Africa. Lentil crops are vulnerable to a number of diseases caused by fungi, viruses, nematodes, insect pests, parasitic plants and abiotic stresses. Among them, the most significant and serious soil-borne disease is Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lentis: Fol). Fusarium wilt causes yield loss up to 50% in farmers’ fields. The pathogen showed high levels of phenotypic and genotypic diversity in India, Algeria, Syria and Iran. The disease thrives at 22–25°C temperature and affect lentil either at seedling and vegetative or the reproductive stages of the crop. To minimize yield losses, an integrated management strategy comprising resistant/partial resistant cultivars, adjusting sowing time, bio-control and chemical seed treatments is the best approach to reduce the incidence of the Fusarium wilt of lentil. This review covers past achievements in managing the disease, pathogen diversity and identify gaps in managing Fusarium wilt to improve productivity and production of the crop.",book:{id:"6329",slug:"fusarium-plant-diseases-pathogen-diversity-genetic-diversity-resistance-and-molecular-markers",title:"Fusarium",fullTitle:"Fusarium - Plant Diseases, Pathogen Diversity, Genetic Diversity, Resistance and Molecular Markers"},signatures:"Neha Tiwari, Seid Ahmed, Shiv Kumar and Ashutosh Sarker",authors:[{id:"213094",title:"Dr.",name:"Neha",middleName:null,surname:"Tiwari",slug:"neha-tiwari",fullName:"Neha Tiwari"},{id:"213095",title:"Dr.",name:"Ashutosh",middleName:null,surname:"Sarker",slug:"ashutosh-sarker",fullName:"Ashutosh Sarker"},{id:"213176",title:"Dr.",name:"Seid Ahmed",middleName:null,surname:"Kemal",slug:"seid-ahmed-kemal",fullName:"Seid Ahmed Kemal"}]}],onlineFirstChaptersFilter:{topicId:"407",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:89,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:317,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:129,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:105,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:2,numberOfUpcomingTopics:1,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:15,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:"25",title:"Environmental Sciences",doi:"10.5772/intechopen.100362",issn:"2754-6713",scope:"
\r\n\tScientists have long researched to understand the environment and man’s place in it. The search for this knowledge grows in importance as rapid increases in population and economic development intensify humans’ stresses on ecosystems. Fortunately, rapid increases in multiple scientific areas are advancing our understanding of environmental sciences. Breakthroughs in computing, molecular biology, ecology, and sustainability science are enhancing our ability to utilize environmental sciences to address real-world problems.
\r\n\tThe four topics of this book series - Pollution; Environmental Resilience and Management; Ecosystems and Biodiversity; and Water Science - will address important areas of advancement in the environmental sciences. They will represent an excellent initial grouping of published works on these critical topics.