Books published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing

Currently, there is the highest level of evidence for physiotherapy and bracing for scoliosis. In contrast, evidence for spinal fusion surgery remains questionable. Moreover, recent improvements in bracing now strive to improve curvature rather than merely stopping progression during the pubertal growth spurt. Adolescent patients can potentially achieve significant corrections via bracing and improve postural imbalances. Pattern-specific exercises, based on long-established Schroth methodology, have also been updated. Used during phases of significant growth velocity, patients have potential for improvement without surgery. ¿Original Schroth¿ exercises, developed by Katharina Schroth, were initially for curvatures in excess of 90º. Schroth Best Practice® simplifies the exercises so adolescents, as well as adults, of all curve magnitudes can benefit. The protocols include new additions with respect to the sagittal profile. Patients acquire a new sense of postural awareness and are able to help themselves by learning to avoid curve-stimulating behaviors.

Robotics is an ever growing market, to put things in perspective, the worldwide market for both industrial and service robots is forecast by the IFR to exceed the $66 Billion by 2025. Numerous breakthroughs have been achieved thanks to robotics research, in all walks of life, the 3d printing boom, space exploration, unprecedented production efficiency and last but not least the entertainment industry. Locally the attempts to delve into this lucrative and promising field is still hindered by a tendency to be on the consumer side, even in the more ambitious projects we haven''t moved away from ready made concepts. Hence, it makes financial and even common sense to be pursuing an endeavor in areas this promising. Faced with the sheer vastness of the field, and a poignant fragmentation and lack of standardization of both hardware and software components, we have set out to develop our own modular, reusable robotics platform. In this book, we detail the agile system design process we adopted and attempted to remold, and go over the different phases of building our platform up to the manufacturing of the first prototypes.

As we face global population growth, increased competition for land and water resources from industrial and urban growth, climate change and the need to protect the environment, we need new solutions to increasing agricultural productivity to combat hunger and poverty. One particularly effective form of bioconversion biotechnology is mushroom cultivation for food, and also for the production of mushroom derived substances. Mushroom production is so far the most profitable way of utilizing ligno-cellulose containing waste materials into foods of higher yields, protein and gross energy per unit area of land. This book investigates the effect of compost size/height, composting period and supplementation on the yield of mushrooms. Mushrooms are gaining popularity due to its nutritive, medicinal and spiritual uses.