Reproductive biology is the basis of species improvement and a thorough understanding of this is needed for plant improvement, whether by conventional or biotechnological methods. This book presents an up to date and comprehensive description of reproduction in lower plants, gymnosperms and higher plants. It covers general plant biology,...

The theory of optimal control systems has grown and flourished since the 1960's. Many texts, written on varying levels of sophistication, have been published on the subject. Yet even those purportedly designed for beginners in the field are often riddled with complex theorems, and many treatments fail to include topics that are essential...

The promise of MEMS for aerospace applications has been germinating for years, and current advances bring the field to the very cusp of fruition. Reliability is chief among the challenges limiting the deployment of MEMS technologies in space, as the requirement of zero failure during the mission is quite stringent for this burgeoning field....

Together, the nano explosion and the genomic revolution are ushering in a new frontier in drug delivery. In recent years we’ve seen how polymers can play a crucial role in controlling the rate of drug release, enhancing solubility and uptake, and limiting degradation and toxicity. In the very near future, they may well be used to...

What if you were suddenly in charge? After the initial excitement of a "battlefield promotion" wears off, you need to get in the trenches and get the job done. And if you are already in the trenches, you need quick access to information that will make your job easier. A comprehensive desk reference and guide, Clinical Studies...

World-wide there are more overweight and obese people (1 billion) than there are malnourished (0.8 billion). Today the challenge lies not just in meeting basic nutritional needs, but providing additional protective ingredients to help prevent the major chronic diseases associated with obesity. Biotechnology has become an important tool in...

My objective in writing this book was to produce a general, comprehensive textbook that treats all the essential core areas of cryptography. Although many books and monographs on cryptography have been written in recent years, the majority of them tend to address specialized areas of cryptography. On the other hand, many of the existing general...

In the near future, organic semiconductors may be used in a variety of products, including flat-screen TVs, e-book readers, and third-generation organic photovoltaics applications, to name just a few. While organic electronics has received increased attention in scientific journals, those working in this burgeoning field require more in-depth...

Surfaces are a central to geographical analysis. Their generation and manipulation are a key component of geographical information systems (GISs). However, geographical surface data is often not precise. When surfaces are used to model geographical entities, the data inherently contains uncertainty in terms of both position and attribute....