You may have to register before you can download all our books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Nanotechnologies and Food : 1st report of session 2009-10, Vol. 2: Evidence
The continued advancement in the sciences of functional foods and nutraceuticals has clearly established a strong correlation between consumption of bioactives and improved human health and performance. However, the efficacy and bioavailability of these bioactive ingredients (e.g., omega-3 oils, carotenoid antioxidants, vitamins, and probiotic bacteria) in foods often remains a challenge, due to their instability in food products and gastrointestinal tract, as well as their limited bioavailability. In some cases, these bioactive ingredients may impart an undesirable organoleptic characteristic to the final product, which hinders acceptance by consumers. In addressing these challenges, develo...
The science of nanotechnology, the manipulation, design and engineering of devices at the atomic and molecular scale, is starting to be applied to many disciplines including aspects of agriculture and crop science. This book opens with a brief history of nanotechnology in agriculture. Applications are then examined in detail, including nanopesticides, nanosensors, nanofertilizers, and nanoherbicides. Topics covered include; the biosynthesis of nanoparticles (through microbes, plants and other biotic agents); the ecological consequences of their delivery into the environment (examining effects and toxicity on soil, soil biota, and plants); safety issues; an overview of the global market for n...
Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) for Pesticide Regulatory Purposes stems from the experience of the EC funded project DEMETRA. This project combined institutes involved in the regulatory process of pesticides, industries of the sector and scientists to develop and offer original software for the prediction of ecotoxicity of pesticides. Then to be used within the dossier preparation for pesticide registration. The basis of this book is more than three-years of research activities, discussions, studies and successful models. This experience represents a useful example not only for the case of pesticides, but also for the prediction of ecotoxicity and toxicity in general. QSA...
Advances in Nano-fertilizers and Nano-pesticides in Agriculture: A Smart Delivery System for Crop Improvement explores the use of nanotechnology for the controlled delivery of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers that improve the safety of products while also increasing the efficiency of food production and decreased environmental pollution. The development of nanodevices such as smart delivery systems to target specific sites, as well as nanocarriers for chemical controlled release are currently important aspects in novel agriculture and require a strong foundation of understanding, not only the technology, but also the resulting impacts. - Fills key knowledge- gaps of bio-nanotechnology, how they interact with plant cells and their biological consequences - Focuses on agro-nanotechnology which can be utilized for developing healthy seeds - Explores the possibilities of macronutrient nano-based fertilizers
This book investigates the role of law in confronting major societal transformations embodied by the emergence of nanotechnologies. Taking the case of the European Union, it explores who the key decision-makers in the regulation of nanotechnologies are and how they take decisions. The questions are explored through two distinct case studies: the food and chemicals sectors. The book charts an incremental retreat of the European Union to its executive powers, including 'soft law' measures such as agencies' guidelines or implementing measures. This, the author argues, results in the Union's fundamental democratic control mechanisms, the EU legislature and the Court of Justice of the EU, being circumvented. The book recommends several immediate proposals to reform EU risk regulation, advocating a greater reliance on the European Parliament and outlining measures to increase the transparency of guidance drafting by EU agencies. This important work provides a timely examination of how emerging technologies pose both regulatory and democratic challenges.
Here are the proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Advanced Data Mining and Applications, ADMA 2006, held in Xi'an, China, August 2006. The book presents 41 revised full papers and 74 revised short papers together with 4 invited papers. The papers are organized in topical sections on association rules, classification, clustering, novel algorithms, multimedia mining, sequential data mining and time series mining, web mining, biomedical mining, advanced applications, and more.
Ever wondered what the state of the art is in machine learning and data mining? Well, now you can find out. This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Machine Learning and Data Mining in Pattern Recognition, held in Leipzig, Germany, in July 2007. The 66 revised full papers presented together with 1 invited talk were carefully reviewed and selected from more than 250 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections.
For the promotion of global trading and the reduction of potential risks, the role of international standardization of nanotechnologies has become more and more important. This book gives an overview of the current status of nanotechnology including the importance of metrology and characterization at the nanoscale, international standardization of nanotechnology, and industrial innovation of nano-enabled products. First the field of nanometrology, nanomaterial standardization and nanomaterial innovation is introduced. Second, major concepts in analytical measurements are given in order to provide a basis for the reliable and reproducible characterization of nanomaterials. The role of standards organizations are presented and finally, an overview of risk management and the commercial impact of metrology and standardization for industrial innovations.
Food scarcity and insecurity is an alarming issue throughout the world. Postharvest loss due to both mechanical damage and microbial spoilage significantly influences the shelf life and hence the availability of agricultural produce. Once initiated, the microbial spoilage can make bulk quantity of a given agricultural product unacceptable for human consumption, and several methods have already been used to try to manage this. Considering the limited success of the available methods, there is increasing interest in exploring nanotechnological methods. These methods are being considered for both the development of various platforms for antimicrobial/barrier packaging applications that minimize...