Books published by Springer Nature Singapore

This book outlines comprehensive information on the global trends, policies, research priorities and frontier innovations made in the research domain of breeding, biotechnology, biofortification and quality enhancement of wheat and barley. With contributions by international group of leading wheat and barley researchers, this book offers data-based insights along with a holistic view of the subject and serve as a vital resource of information for scientists engaged in breeding future high-yielding biofortified varieties.  It catalogs both conventional as well as modern tools for gene identification and genome editing interventions for enhancing the yield, grain quality, disease and pest resistance, nutrient-use efficiency and abiotic stress tolerance. The prospects of processing high quality wheat end-products with long term storage and high nutritional quality are also discussed. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, molecular breeders, cereal biochemists and biotechnologist, policymakers and professionals working in the area of wheat and barley research, food and cereal industry. Also, the book serves as an additional reading material for the undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture and food sciences. National and international agricultural scientists, policy makers will also find this book to be a useful read.Volume 2 of New Horizons in Wheat and Barley Research covers topics in crop protection and resource management. 

This edited book unpacks the nature of Central Asian migration to East Asia. This book uses the case of Uzbekistan, the most populous country of Central Asia, and demonstrates the migration channels and adaptation strategies of migrants to the realities of Japan. What are the foreign policy engagements of Japan in Central Asia? How do they relate to the intensifying educational mobility and labour migration from Central Asia (in particular, Uzbekistan) to Japan? By answering these two questions, this book aims to detail the social factors that play important roles in localizing foreign policy engagements and narrating them in terms easily understood by the public.

This book describes the growing clinical and healthcare relevance of nano-therapeutics in treating respiratory diseases. It begins with a brief introduction on the different types of nanoparticles in respiratory disease conditions. It further discusses the current trends in understanding the disease pathology using different in vitro and in vivo models, which are important towards the onsite clinical applications and development of new therapeutics. The book includes exciting topics such as formulation of these nanoparticles, targeting various organelles etc. It also describes the future prospects and challenges in the field. Different chapters are written by researchers actively working in the area of pulmonary diseases. This book is designed to address the requirements of both beginners and specialized scientists involved in pulmonary research. The contents include basic concepts followed by advanced state-of-art monitoring and treatment of diseases. The book is meant for researchers and industry experts in nanotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences and drug design.

This book aims to provide a comprehensive analysis on social, economic, and political issues to understand why forests in the Demacratic People's Repblican of Korean have been so severely deforested. Deforestation and forest degradation issues in the DPRK has been highlighted as an important international political issue, which has been intervening with food security issues and energy issues, and it's hard to discover the way out. The DPRK provides a unique case to international community that illustrate why the forests issue is so complex, illuminating the issues of declining forest coverage that beset developing nations around the world. This book will interest political scientists, conservation ecologists, and journalists.

This book coherently presents advances in design principles, processes, and methods in healthcare product design. It captures the implications of technological advances on designing healthcare products especially when market and societal needs pull each other in opposite directions. The contents focus on innovative design thinking processes and methods in developing healthcare products, applications of digital technologies in healthcare product design, amalgamation of artificial intelligence and design thinking for healthcare product design and quality, sustainability, and regulatory aspects in the design process. This book is a useful reference for those in the industry and academia.

This book introduces a research method called 'auto-teach(er)/ing-focused research,' a research process that aims to document understandings generated by, and for the teacher when that teacher teaches or re-teaches a course. It demonstrates how this method is applied by the author/researcher within the pedagogical space that is the teaching of a course, one that has been taught numerous times by the author/researcher over many years. This book documents understandings about learning and teaching that have emerged within the pedagogical space that is the teaching of a course, and the pedagogical space that is the writing of a book. It explores the notion that pedagogical spaces are complex, and that subjects navigate and are produced within them in a multiplicity of ways. This book applies a research method that generates a knowledge product that research practitioners in a variety of settings might find useful to adopt or adapt.

This book highlights recent advancements and innovations in trenchless technology via the adoption of combined micro-tunnelling and pipe-jacking techniques. This technique is more environmentally friendly, cost effective, less time-consuming and less disruptive compared to conventional open trench excavations for urban construction and urban infrastructure renewal projects. Pipe jacking is a non-destructive technique used in the installation of underground pipelines using a tunnel boring machine (TBM) and thrust forces derived from the hydraulic jack set-up in a deep jacking shaft. It is popular and commonly used worldwide for the installation of sewer and common services cable tunnels as well as for oil and gas pipelines.

This book explores how stretching stories through posthuman and autoethnographic perspectives can produce new stories that decolon(ial)ize traditional thinking and approaches to Early Childhood Education (ECE). It demonstrates how stories can provide a different way of knowing, and a way of knowing differently: a way of decolon(ial)izing current discourses of early childhood education within educational institutions.The book uses research and practice in ECE to act as a canvas, a context with which to explore how autoethnography can become other when viewed through a posthumanist lens. As a consequence the chapters and stories within allow for an interplay between the posthumanist and the autoethnographic, an interplay that allows for a very specific type of meaning to emerge; a meaning that traffics in numerous and disruptive possibilities rather than settled certainties. In so doing, authors rethink and perturb the notion of child-centered approaches to knowing, be(com)ing, and doing within the Early Childhood Education context.

The book is aimed to foster knowledge based on Blockchain technology highlighting on the framework basics, operating principles and different incarnations. The fundamental problems encountered in existing blockchain architectures and means for removing those would be covered. It would also touch upon blockchain based IoT systems and applications. The book covers applications and use cases of blockchain technology for industrial IoT systems. In addition, methods for inducing computational intelligence into existing blockchain frameworks thereby thwarting most of the limitations are also discussed. The readers would benefit from the rich technical content in this rapidly emerging field thereby enabling a skilled workforce for the future.

This book encapsulates recent applications of CI methods in the field of computational oncology, especially cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and its optimized therapeutics.The cancer has been known as a heterogeneous disease categorized in several different subtypes. According to WHO's recent report, cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for over 10 million deaths in the year 2020. Therefore, its early diagnosis, prognosis, and classification to a subtype have become necessary as it facilitates the subsequent clinical management and therapeutics plan. Computational intelligence (CI) methods, including artificial neural networks (ANNs), fuzzy logic, evolutionary computations, various machine learning and deep learning, and nature-inspired algorithms, have been widely utilized in various aspects of oncology research, viz. diagnosis, prognosis, therapeutics, and optimized clinical management. Appreciable progress has been made toward the understanding the hallmarks of cancer development, progression, and its effective therapeutics. However, notwithstanding the extrinsic and intrinsic factors which lead to drastic increment in incidence cases, the detection, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutics remain an apex challenge for the medical fraternity. With the advent in CI-based approaches, including nature-inspired techniques, and availability of clinical data from various high-throughput experiments, medical consultants, researchers, and oncologists have seen a hope to devise and employ CI in various aspects of oncology. The main aim of the book is to occupy state-of-the-art applications of CI methods which have been derived from core computer sciences to back medical oncology. This edited book covers artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic and fuzzy inference systems, evolutionary algorithms, various nature-inspired algorithms, and hybrid intelligent systems which are widely appreciated for the diagnosis, prognosis, and optimization of therapeutics of various cancers. Besides, this book also covers multi-omics exploration, gene expression analysis, gene signature identification of cancers, genomic characterization of tumors, anti-cancer drug design and discovery, drug response prediction by means of CI, and applications of IoT, IoMT, and blockchain technology in cancer research.

This book comprehensively and systematically discusses in situ aluminum matrix composites, from their system design, material development, and preparation technology, to their solidification structure, plastic processing, and properties. As a new type of metal matrix composite, it not only provides a technical framework for the low-cost, large-scale development of high-performance compliant materials, but also provides important technical support for the promotion of the aluminum industry. The book appeals to researchers and industrial practitioners in the area of materials development for in situ aluminum matrix composites.

This book provides an overview on the latest technology and applications of bio-based fiber composite materials. It covers the mechanical and thermal properties of bio-fibers for polymeric resins and explains the different pre-treatment methods used by the researchers for the enhancement. In addition, this book also presents a complete analysis on the tribological behavior of bio-fiber reinforced polymer composites to appreciate the friction and wear behavior. This book would be a handy to the industrial practitioners and researchers in the direction of achieving optimum design for the components made of natural fiber based polymer matrix composites.

This book develops a progressive program of engagement with issues, problems and critical thinking which helps universities and students understand and engage with some of the key issues of our time. It focuses on curriculum concerns, and presents a sustained and critical analysis and dialogue about knowledge, culture and ways of seeing important issues. This book provides critical and analytical insights into the importance of the emergence of mass higher education into public awareness. It explores what is termed 'contested knowledge' as part of modern students' experiences and expectations. By broadcasting some of the future prospects for a democratic university, especially in relation to its communities, it highlights the need to grasp the significance of global change and instability in teaching and learning, and how an adequate curriculum in higher education can be constructed to address the issues that arise.

This book approaches Silk Road studies from within the microcosm of China's Southwest avant-garde arts sector in order to approach the macrocosm of China's cultural heritage and creative industry influence worldwide. While reading China's cultural hegemony and its attendant ideologies as 'shaping' memory and history throughout New Silk Road regions, the book includes new regional research from within China's borders, as well as throughout New Silk Road regions. With twenty years of experience in China, Sophia G. Kidd fills a void in discussions of the New Silk Roads (NSR) which fail to underscore the importance of the initiative's people-to-people component. Cultural diplomacy aids cooperation between New Silk Road Regions by reducing 'cultural discount' of Chinese cultural exports, i.e., ideas and values, creating a shift of geo-cultural thinking to come. This book will prove illuminating for students of the arts and soft power in greater China.

The book includes select proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Intelligence in Machine Learning (ICCIML 2021). The book constitutes peer-reviewed papers on machine learning, computational intelligence, the internet of things, and smart city applications emphasizing multi-disciplinary research in artificial intelligence and cyber-physical systems. This book addresses the comprehensive nature of computational intelligence, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning to emphasize its character in modeling, identification, optimization, prediction, forecasting, and control of future intelligent systems. The book will be useful for researchers, research scholars, and students to formulate their research ideas and find future directions in these areas. It will help the readers to solve a diverse range of problems in industries and their real-world applications.

This book addresses a special topic in the field of nonlinear dynamical systems, develops a new research direction of surface chaos and surface bifurcation. It provides a clear watershed for original nonlinear chaos and bifurcation research. The novel content of this book makes nonlinear system research more systematical and personalized.This book introduces the chaos and bifurcation behavior of surface dynamics in the sense of Li Yorke, the basic properties, Lyapunov exponent and Feigenbaum constant of nonlinear behavior of surface, and obtained the wave behavior of chaotic process in surface motion, the control of surface chaos and bifurcation, and the wide application of surface chaos in engineering technology.Through this book, readers can obtain more abundant and novel contents about surface chaos and surface bifurcation than the existing mixed fitting bifurcation of plane curve and space curve, which can also expand the realm and vision of research.

This book demonstrates fatigue crack growth under random loading graphically. This state-of-the-art monograph introduces an expert system for crack growth predictions, particularly based on crack closure. The system is developed after years of research by the authors by using the Math-type software consisting of 5 parts. This system is unique as it is fundamentally different from previous systems as it focuses on fatigue crack growth predictions based on fatigue crack closure. This book can be a useful guide for practicing engineers, researchers, and students in the fields of mechanical, aerospace, or civil engineering.

This book is concerned with the systemic examination of the prospects for the development of smart agriculture for sustainable development. This book substantiates the top-priority significance of smart innovation in agriculture for modern economic and ecological systems. The book not only examines the theoretical concept of smart agriculture, but also gives consideration to the rule of thumb in terms of its implementation in different countries worldwide. The book contains both fundamental and applied recommendations on the innovative technological development of smart agriculture in modern economic and ecological systems for sustainable development. The book is not limited to a single vector of development of smart agriculture, but is representative of all of them, making it possible to describe the future prospects in the fullest, most reliable and accurate manner, and to comprehensively present the directions for its development. The book has developed and applied an advanced and sophisticated methodology, the advantage of which consists in the reliance on big data with the use of datasets, which allows improving accuracy, reliability, authenticity, and coverage of results.

This book gathers selected papers presented at the 5th International Conference on Intelligent Data Communication Technologies and Internet of Things (ICICI 2021), organized by JCT College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India during 27 - 28 August 2021. This book solicits the innovative research ideas and solutions for almost all the intelligent data intensive theories and application domains. The general scope of this book covers the design, architecture, modeling, software, infrastructure and applications of intelligent communication architectures and systems for big data or data-intensive applications. In particular, this book reports the novel and recent research works on big data, mobile and wireless networks, artificial intelligence, machine learning, social network mining, intelligent computing technologies, image analysis, robotics and autonomous systems, data security and privacy.

The book contains select proceedings of the International Conference on Smart Grid Energy Systems and Control (SGESC 2021). The proceedings is divided into 03 volumes, and this volume focuses on renewable energy towards the smart grid. It includes papers related to smart grid, renewable energy, its integration, and DERs in the network for better energy management and ancillary services. The book presents cutting-edge research in the emerging fields of micro, nano, and smart devices and systems from experts. Most of the contributors have built devices or systems or developed processes or algorithms in these areas. This book is a unique collection of chapters from different areas with a common theme and will be immensely useful to academic researchers and practitioners in the industry.

This book offers an overview of five categories of alternative assessments used by established and emerging faculty throughout Malaysian institutions of higher education, namely peer and self-assessment, group-based assessment, performance-based assessment, portfolio, and technology-based assessment. It features 29 innovative case studies of alternative assessments, serving as both inspiration and practical guide for educators planning to design and implement alternative assessments in their own classes. Each chapter showcases viable examples of authentic, holistic, meaningful and effective assessments as practiced by educators in major universities throughout Malaysia. This book also provides readers a greater appreciation of the varied forms of alternative assessments that are possible, limited only by the individual's innovation and motivation.

This book explores the multifaceted obstacles to social change that India, Myanmar and Thailand face, and ways to overcome them. With a collection of essays that identify common challenges and salient features affecting diverse communities, this volume examines topics from subnational and local perspectives across the peripheries. The book argues that identity-based divisions have created a system of oppression and political contention that have led to conflicts of different kinds, and hence serving as the common cause of different social issues. At the same time, such issues have created space for marginalized groups around the world to call for change. The volume recognizes that social transformation comes into being through an active process of deconstructing and reconstructing shared norms and ideas. The contents in this book are thus centered around two focuses: the impacts of identities and grassroots. Both of these aspects are at the heart of each country's transformations towards democracy, peace, justice, and freedom. Under this framework, the chapters cover a diverse range of common issues, such as, minority grievances, gender inequality, ethnic identity, grassroots power in alliance-making towards community peace, recovery and resilience, digital freedom, democracy assistance and communication, and bridging multiple divides. As identity-based cleavages are daily lived experiences for individuals and communities, it requires grassroots initiatives and alliances as well as democratic communication to tackle obstacles at the root. Ultimately, the book convinces readers that social transformations must begin at the individual to communal level and local to national level.

This volume presents selected papers presented during the 18th International Conference on Humanizing Work and Work Environment (HWWE 2020). The book presents research findings on different areas of ergonomics for developing appropriate tools and work environment considering capabilities and limitations of working people for maximum effectiveness on their performance. The book is divided into several sections focusing on different ergonomic research activities currently being undertaken at both national and international levels. The volume will be of use to researchers, practitioners and students working in different fields of ergonomics.

This book asks researchers what uncertainty means for literacy research, and for how literacy plays through uncertain lives. While the book is not focused only on COVID-19, it is significant that it was written in 2020-2021, when our authors' and readers' working and personal lives were thrown into disarray by stay-at-home orders. The book opens up new spaces for examining ways that literacy has come to matter in the world.Drawing on the reflections of international literacy researchers and important new voices, this book presents re-imagined methods and theoretical imperatives. These difficult times have surfaced new communicative practices and opened out spaces for exploration and activism, prompting re-examination of relationships between research, literacy and social justice. The book considers varied and consequential events to explore new ways to think and research literacy and to unsettle what we know and accept as fundamental to literacy research, opening ourselves up for change. It provides direction to the field of literacy studies as pressing global concerns are prompting literacy researchers to re-examine what and how they research in times of precarity.

This edited book captures key trends that are driving changes in policy education and presents a repertoire of pedagogies to prepare educators and policy programme designers to teach for better impact in learning and policy practice. Supported with observations from selected Asian universities the chapters cover the experiences of authors in working with students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as professional programmes such as executive education, training, and capacity building for mid-career professionals and practitioners. Part I of this book presents ideas that are asserting the need for incorporation of new content as well as teaching practices for policy education. Part II covers selected cases of application of pedagogical approaches and strategies in Asian universities, tested at different education levels, modes of teaching, and disciplines.

This book highlights how the human security aspect has been affected by the global pandemic, based on the specific case study, field data, and evidence. COVID-19 has exemplified that the pandemic is global, but its responses are local. The responses depend on national governance and policy framework, use of technology and innovation, and people's perceptions and behavior, among many others. There are many differences in how the pandemic has affected the rich and the poor, urban and rural sectors, development and fiscal sectors, and developed and developing nations and communities.Echoing human security principles, the 2030 Agenda emphasized a "world free of poverty, hunger, disease and want... free of fear and violence... with equitable and universal access to quality education, health care, and social protection....to safe drinking water and sanitation... where food is sufficient, safe, affordable and nutritious... where habitats are safe, resilient and sustainable...and where there is universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy." These basic human security [PA1] principles and development agenda are highly affected by the global pandemic worldwide, irrespective of its development and economic status. Thus, the book highlights the nexus between human security and development issues. It has two major pillars, one is the development and the other is technology issues. These two inter-dependent topics are discussed in the perspective of the global pandemic, making this the most important feature of this book.While the world is still in the middle of a pandemic, and possibly other natural and biological hazards may affect peoples' lives and livelihoods in the future, this book provides some key learning, which can be used to cope with future uncertainties, including climate risks. Thus, the book is timely and relevant to wider readers.

Plant secondary metabolites are plant-based natural products that display a variety of pharmacological effects. This book discusses the invaluable bioactivity and multifaceted potential of these compounds. The book describes the physico-chemical and biochemical aspects of the plant secondary metabolites along with the chemistry, therapeutics and future perspectives of these plant secondary metabolites. Moreover, the book also discusses about various sources of plant secondary metabolites, and the metabolite determination through various analytical techniques. It further describes the potential applications of plant secondary metabolites as anticancer and chemo preventive agents, their role as cosmetic ingredients and activity in skin cancer therapy. Further chapters emphasize upon the plethora of roles of plant secondary metabolites, including those as antivirals, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory drugs, cardioprotective agents etc. The book culminates with chapters on the impact of certain plant secondary metabolites in plant defence and human healthcare. This book is meant for researchers and students in the field of pharmacology and plant sciences. Moreover, this book is also useful for industry experts especially working in the field of herbal therapeutics.

This book summarizes recent Chinese discussions about Internet finance-a new financial business type resulting from an innovative thinking under the new normal-in the light of the actual situation of China in transformation, especially the thirst of the grass-roots economy including medium-small and micro-sized enterprises as well as residents for financial services. The Internet finance is of great significance for optimizing and upgrading the industrial structure, improving the demand structure and reshaping the economic growth mode in China. This book will interest scholars, journalists, and businesspeople.

The book involves the basic principles, methods, anatomy and other knowledge for modelling and simulation of the musculoskeletal system. In addition, abundant examples are presented in detail to help readers easily learn the principles and methods of modelling and simulation. These examples include the impact injury and clinical application of the modelling of bone and muscle. In terms of impact injury, the book introduces the biomechanical simulation of impact injury in head, spine, ankle, knee, eyeball and many other parts. With regard to clinical application, it explores the optimization of orthopaedic surgery and design of orthopaedic implants. Readers will find this is a highly informative and carefully presented book, introducing not only the biomechanical principles in the musculoskeletal system, but also the application abilities of modelling and simulation on the musculoskeletal system.