Open Access Books

Biomass Chars: Elaboration, Characterization and Applications

Biology, Ecology and Management of Crown-of-Thorns Starfish

Networks of coordinated interactions among biological entities govern a myriad of biological functions that span a wide range of both length and time scales—from ecosystems to individual cells and from years to milliseconds. For these networks, the concept “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” applies as a norm rather than an exception. Meanwhile, continued advances in molecular biology and high-throughput technology have enabled a broad and systematic interrogation of whole-cell networks, allowing the investigation of biological processes and functions at unprecedented breadth and resolution—even down to the single-cell level. The explosion of biological data, especially molecular-level intracellular data, necessitates new paradigms for unraveling the complexity of biological networks and for understanding how biological functions emerge from such networks. These paradigms introduce new challenges related to the analysis of networks in which quantitative approaches such as machine learning and mathematical modeling play an indispensable role. The Special Issue on “Biological Networks” showcases advances in the development and application of in silico network modeling and analysis of biological systems.

Anthropogenic climate change has become a reality, and in Australia this means longer wildfire seasons with more intense fires across a wider area. The GunaiKurnai people of southeastern Victoria saw a large proportion of their Country decimated by the Gippsland Fires of ‘Black Summer’ (2019–2020), prompting questions about the management of Country and its heritage places and artefacts, and of the role that traditional (‘cultural’) burning could play. This volume, written at the request of the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GKLaWAC), seeks to investigate these twin issues. Bringing together a multi-disciplinary team of Aboriginal Elders, archaeologists, environmental scientists, ecologists, historians and art historians, it considers the histories of GunaiKurnai and European settler burning-based landscape management practices, the impacts of fire on specific classes of cultural materials, and the broader impact of changing wildfire patterns on cultural sites in the landscape. This is a truly collaborative venture that sees GunaiKurnai and academic expertise brought to bear in the service of common and pressing issues.

For at least six hundred million years, life has been a fascinating laboratory of crystallization, referred to as biomineralization. During this huge lapse of time, many organisms from diverse phyla have developed the capability to precipitate various types of minerals, exploring distinctive pathways for building sophisticated structural architectures for different purposes. The Darwinian exploration was performed by trial and error, but the success in terms of complexity and efficiency is evident. Understanding the strategies that those organisms employ for regulating the nucleation, growth, and assembly of nanocrystals to build these sophisticated devices is an intellectual challenge and a source of inspiration in fields as diverse as materials science, nanotechnology, and biomedicine. However, “Biological Crystallization” is a broader topic that includes biomineralization, but also the laboratory crystallization of biological compounds such as macromolecules, carbohydrates, or lipids, and the synthesis and fabrication of biomimetic materials by different routes. This Special Issue collects 15 contributions ranging from biological and biomimetic crystallization of calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, and silica-carbonate self-assembled materials to the crystallization of biological macromolecules. Special attention has been paid to the fundamental phenomena of crystallization (nucleation and growth), and the applications of the crystals in biomedicine, environment, and materials science.

The intention of the Special Issue “Biological and Biogenic Crystallization” was to create an international platform aimed at covering a broad field of results involving the crystallization of biological molecules, including virus and protein crystallization, biogenic crystallization including physiological and pathological crystallization taking place in living organisms (human beings, animals, plants, bacteria, etc.), and bio-inspired crystallization. Despite many years of research on biological and biogenic crystals, there are still open questions as well as hot and timely topics. This Special Issue contains seven articles that present a cross-section of the current research activities in the of field of biological and biogenic crystals. The authors of the presented articles prove the vibrant and topical nature of this field. We hope that this Special Issue will serve as a source of inspiration for future investigations, and will be useful for scientists and researchers who work on the exploration of biological and biogenic crystals.

Bioinspired Catechol-Based Systems: Chemistry and Applications

Biogenic amines have been known for some time. These compounds are found in varying concentrations in a wide range of foods (fish, cheese, meat, wine, beer, vegetables, etc.) and their formations are influenced by different factors associated to those foods (composition, additives, ingredients, storage, microorganism, packaging, handing, conservation, etc.). The intake of foods containing high concentrations of biogenic amines can present a health hazard. Additionally, they have been used to establish indexes in various foods in order to signal the degree of freshness and/or deterioration of food. Nowadays, there has been an increase in the number of food poisoning episodes in consumers associated with the presence of these biogenic amines, mainly associated with histamines. Food safety is one of the main concerns of the consumer and safety agencies of different countries (EFSA, FDA, FSCJ, etc.), which have, as one of their main objectives, to control these biogenic amines, principally histamine, to assure a high level of food safety.Therefore, it is necessary to deepen our understanding of the formation, monitoring and reduction of biogenic amines during the development, processing and storage of food, even the effect of biogenic amines in consumers after digestion of foods with different levels of these compounds.With this aim, we are preparing a Special Issue on the topic of “Biogenic Amines in Food Safety”, and we invite researchers to contribute original and unpublished research articles and reviews articles that involve studies of biogenic amines in food, which can provide an update to our knowledge of these compounds and their impacts on food quality and food safety.

Research and technology developments in bioenergy and biochemical production systems are of the utmost importance for the development of next generation, highly efficient biomass conversion concepts, maximizing the total energy and chemical output. The utilization of non-conventional biomasses and unexploited residual resources (e.g., agriculture and agroindustry wastes), innovative solutions for online monitoring and process control, novel biochemical pathways, microbial platforms and reactor technologies are key issues to be addressed. Though conventional technologies are constantly developing and novel processes are continually emerging, major challenges have still to be solved, such as the design of high performance and cost-effective technologies for the production of bioenergy (gaseous, liquid, sold biofuels, heat, renewable electricity) and biochemicals from residual resources from a biorefinery point of view, where the potential of the biomass and residual waste streams is fully valorized. In this context, evaluation of the environmental, technological, economical, and social sustainability of the concepts developed is of utmost importance. The main objective of this Special Issue is, therefore, to provide cost-effective and technologically sound solutions for next generation bioenergy and biochemical production systems.

MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) undertook extensive excavations during the construction of two separate, but adjacent road schemes, some 4.5km apart near Houghton Regis and Toddington, in south Central Bedfordshire. Taken as a whole, the excavations provide a detailed multi-period dataset for regional and national comparison. The first evidence for occupation occurred in the middle/late Bronze Age comprising pits and clusters of postholes, including four-post and six-post structures. Two pit alignments, more than 2km apart, also indicate that land divisions were being established, and in the late Bronze Age/early Iron Age a significant new settlement emerged in the valley bottom. Parts of a further contemporary earlier-middle Iron Age settlement lay at the top of the valley but neither settlement extended into the Roman period. In the late Iron Age or early Roman period three or four new settlements emerged with occupation continuing into the late Roman period in at least one of these. Of particular interest was the recovery of two significant Aylesford-Swarling type cemeteries as well as a third cemetery which largely comprised unurned burials, including some busta, but with few accompanying grave goods. In the late 7th-century a small probable Christian conversion open-ground inhumation cemetery was established with burials accompanied by a range of objects, including a rare work box, knives, brooches, chatelaine keys and a spearhead. Parts of three medieval settlements were uncovered including one with a potters’ working area.

Biodiversity and Protected Areas assembles twelve topics from around the world, illustrating the complexities and promise of addressing the biodiversity crisis. Authors from Mongolia, Africa, India, Canada, Iraq, and the United States dwell on particular aspects and challenges relevant to those regions. Lessons and approaches from interesting localities, coupled with global analyses give the reader a synthetic view of emerging problems. The opportunities for understanding common issues across different geographies abound, such as comparing local conservation in sub-Saharan Africa with a distribution of very small protected areas in Massachusetts. Several topics will be of immediate interest to policymakers. The book is illustrated with numerous color maps and figures and the authors strove for clear, uncomplicated writing. The editors provide an overview of chapters, placing them in the context of other biodiversity and protected area literature. Students and conservationists attempting to broaden their views of biodiversity and protected areas should find this collection to be interesting.

Global forest communities cover only about 30% of land areas, but they provide important ecosystem services, such as watershed protection, carbon sequestration, and oxygen production, as well as renewable forest products for human subsistence and markets. Forests also support the majority of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. Although land conversion for agriculture and pastureland has historically resulted in fragmentation and declining forested areas, forests worldwide are now experiencing change at an unprecedented rate due to various anthropogenic activities and growing human populations. Global warming trends are altering snowpack and hydrology, fostering outbreaks of native forest pests, and accelerating the loss of older tree age classes. Modeling suggests that future fire regimes in temperate regions will have shorter return intervals, with more severe wildfires. In addition, a by-product of trade and travel globalization has been the accelerated transport of plants and animals, and plant and animal diseases, around the world. Exotic species have altered community composition, especially where foundation tree species are affected. Every forest community worldwide is challenged by some of these problems. In this Special Issue of the journal Forests we explore the unique biodiversity supported by forest communities, how forest communities are rapidly changing, and conservation approaches to preserving forest biodiversity.

This book focus principally on ions-releasing and other smart dental materials for application in preventive and restorative dentistry, as well as in endodontics in the form of adhesives, resin-based composites, pastes, varnishes, liners and dental cements. Special attention has been given to bioactive materials developed to induce cells differentiation/stimulation, hard tissue formation and exert antimicrobial actions. New innovations are necessary to continue to help reinforcing existing technologies and to introduce new paradigms for treating dental disease and restoring teeth seriously compromised by caries lesions via biomimetic and more biological operative approaches. Dental bioactive materials is arguably the latest research area in dentistry and thus the amount of new research is overwhelming. However, in this day and age of evidence based practice it important for this new information to be distilled into a practical and understandable format.

Trump and Trumpism, 21st century warfare, chronic illness, intellectual property: These are just some of the issues examined here. Inspired by the work of Michel Foucault, this book includes articles from scholars employing political genealogy as a methodology and model of theoretical inquiry representing a wide range of disciplines, from the social sciences to the humanities, from philosophy to medicine, to economics, to political and cultural theory. Featuring some of the best and most current work in political genealogy, this work invites us to rethink many of the key concepts in political theory as well as cultural types of expression that we do not routinely think of as political, such as dance, romantic movies, and literature. Broadly conceived, this volume contains essays—excursions, explorations, experimentations—into how political genealogy helps us to understand what Foucault calls “the history of our present,” while at the same time looking to our future, to what being a political subject will look like in the 21st century.

Khirbet el-Maqatir lies 16 km north of Jerusalem. The Associates for Biblical Research excavated 14 summer seasons and 5 winter seasons between 1995 and 2016. The remains range from Middle Bronze Age to Early Islamic and include a Bronze Age fortress, a Late Hellenistic/Early Roman village, and a Byzantine ecclesiastical complex. Volume 2 focuses on the later time periods.

Berry crops include, but are not limited to, the genera: Fragaria (strawberry, Rosaceae), Ribes (currant and gooseberry, Grossulariaceae), Rubus (brambles: raspberry and blackberry; Rosaceae), Vaccinium (blueberry, cranberry and lingonberry; Ericaceae) and Vitis (grapes, Vitaceae). The significant role of these fruits in maintaining human health has increased their popularity and production, dramatically, across the world. This Special Issue of Agronomy covers berry crops in the areas of breeding, genetics, germplasm, production systems, propagation, plant and soil nutrition, pest and disease management, postharvest, health benefits, marketing and economics and other related areas. The aim will be to bring together a collection of valuable articles that will serve as a foundation of innovative ideas for production and protection of health-promoting berry crops in changed environment.]