This book sheds new light on the role of various environmental factors in regulating the metabolic adaptation of medicinal and aromatic plants. Many of the chapters present cutting-edge findings on the contamination of medicinal plants through horizontal transfer, as well as nanomaterials and the biosynthesis of pharmacologically active compounds. In addition, the book highlights the impacts of environmental factors (e.g., high and low temperature, climate change, global warming, UV irradiation, intense sunlight and shade, ozone, carbon dioxide, drought, salinity, nutrient deficiency, agrochemicals, waste, heavy metals, nanomaterials, weeds, pests and pathogen infections) on medicinal and aromatic plants, emphasizing secondary metabolisms. In recent years, interest has grown in the use of bioactive compounds from natural sources. Medicinal and aromatic plants constitute an important part of the natural environment and agro-ecosystems, and contain a wealth of chemical compounds known as secondary metabolites and including alkaloids, glycosides, essential oils and other miscellaneous active substances. These metabolites help plants cope with environmental and/or external stimuli in a rapid, reversible and ecologically meaningful manner. Additionally, environmental factors play a crucial role in regulating the metabolic yield of these biologically active molecules. Understanding how medicinal plants respond to environmental perturbations and climate change could open new frontiers in plant production and in agriculture, where successive innovation is urgently needed due to the looming challenges in connection with global food security and climate change. Readers will discover a range of revealing perspectives and the latest research on this vital topic.

Biomedical Innovations to Combat COVID-19 provides an updated overview on the development of vaccines, antiviral drugs and nanomaterials, and diagnostic methods for the fight against COVID-19. Perspectives on such technologies are identified, discussed, and enriched with figures for easy understanding and applicability. Furthermore, it contains basic aspects of virology, immunology, and antiviral drugs that are needed to fully appreciate these innovations. This book is split into four sections: introduction, presenting basic virologic and epidemiological aspects of COVID-19; vaccines against COVID-19, discussing their different types and applications used to develop them; diagnostic approaches for SARS-CoV-2, encompassing advanced sensing and microfluidic-based biosensors; and drug development and delivery, where antivirals based on nanomaterials or drugs are presented. It is a valuable source for virologists, biotechnologists, and members of biomedical field interested in learning more about how novel technologies can be applied to fasten the eradication of the COVID-19 and similar pandemics. - Presents updated literature coverage summarizing the most relevant information on COVID-19 - Written by experts from diverse scientific domains in order to provide readers with a thorough view on the subject - Encompasses tables, figures and information trees especially developed for the book in order to condense and highlight key points for quick reference

This will be the first textbook on the integration of food, energy and water systems (FEWS). In recent years, the world has seen a dramatic rise in interdisciplinary energy and environmental courses and degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In the US for instance, the number and variety of such programs has increased significantly over the past decade, Simultaneously, national and international initiatives that integrate food, energy and water systems have been launched. This textbook provides a substantive introduction to the food-energy-water nexus suitable for use in higher level undergraduate and graduate level courses and for scholars moving into the field of nexus studies without a strong background in all three areas and the many aspects of nexus studies.

This volume presents a comprehensive account of the COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the novel coronavirus pandemic, as it happened. Originating in China in late 2019, the COVID-19 outbreak spread across the entire world in a matter of three to four months. This volume examines the first responses to the pandemic, the contexts of earlier epidemics and the epidemiological basics of infectious diseases. Further, it discusses patterns in the spread of the disease; the management and containment of infections at the personal, national and global level; effects on trade and commerce; the social and psychological impact on people; the disruption and postponement of international events; the role of various international organizations like the WHO in the search for solutions; and the race for a vaccine or a cure. Authored by a medical professional and an economist working on the frontlines, this book gives a nuanced, verified and fact-checked analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic and its global response. A one-stop resource on the COVID-19 outbreak, it is indispensable for every reader and a holistic work for scholars and researchers of medical sociology, public health, political economy, public policy and governance, sociology of health and medicine, and paramedical and medical practitioners. It will also be a great resource for policymakers, government departments and civil society organizations working in the area.

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Looming Tower, and the pandemic novel The End of October: an unprecedented, momentous account of Covid-19—its origins, its wide-ranging repercussions, and the ongoing global fight to contain it "A book of panoramic breadth ... managing to surprise us about even those episodes we … thought we knew well … [With] lively exchanges about spike proteins and nonpharmaceutical interventions and disease waves, Wright’s storytelling dexterity makes all this come alive.” —The New York Times Book Review From the fateful first moments of the outbreak in China to the storming of the U.S. Capitol to the extraordinary vaccine rollout, Lawrence Wright’s The Plague Year tells the story of Covid-19 in authoritative, galvanizing detail and with the full drama of events on both a global and intimate scale, illuminating the medical, economic, political, and social ramifications of the pandemic. Wright takes us inside the CDC, where a first round of faulty test kits lost America precious time . . . inside the halls of the White House, where Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger’s early alarm about the virus was met with confounding and drastically costly skepticism . . . into a Covid ward in a Charlottesville hospital, with an idealistic young woman doctor from the town of Little Africa, South Carolina . . . into the precincts of prediction specialists at Goldman Sachs . . . into Broadway’s darkened theaters and Austin’s struggling music venues . . . inside the human body, diving deep into the science of how the virus and vaccines function—with an eye-opening detour into the history of vaccination and of the modern anti-vaccination movement. And in this full accounting, Wright makes clear that the medical professionals around the country who’ve risked their lives to fight the virus reveal and embody an America in all its vulnerability, courage, and potential. In turns steely-eyed, sympathetic, infuriated, unexpectedly comical, and always precise, Lawrence Wright is a formidable guide, slicing through the dense fog of misinformation to give us a 360-degree portrait of the catastrophe we thought we knew.

Published since 1953, Advances in Virus Research covers a diverse range of in-depth reviews providing a valuable overview of the current field of virology. In 2004, the Institute for Scientific Information released figures showing that the series has an Impact Factor of 2.576, with a half-life of 7.1 years, placing it 11th in the highly competitive category of Virology.* Edited by an experienced plant pathologist who has over 50 years experience in plant virus epidemiology* Covers topics such as Evolutionary epidemiology of plant virus disease, The control of tropical plant virus diseases, and Control of plant virus diseases* A valuable resource for students and researchers alike

Environmental and Health Management of Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) examines mitigation measures that can be adopted at the time of a novel coronavirus outbreak to lessen environmental contamination and impacts on human health. The book discusses origin, structure and pathogenesis, epidemiology, environmental transmission and the potential spread routes of COVID-19 via surfaces, air, water, wastewater, medical waste and food products. It also covers guidelines and protocols for setting safety conditions to provide adequate health care and reduce the risk of infection in health and non-healthcare settings, along with preventative measures and disinfection technologies. In addition, the book discusses challenges, opportunities and future perspectives, the global crisis, and global consequences on the environment and health. With contributions from experts, this book presents a multidisciplinary reference resource for virologists, microbiologists, public health professionals, environmental health managers and others engaged in the study and mitigation of the environmental and health impacts of the virus. Covers the environmental transmission and spread of COVID-19 Includes environmental disinfection technologies for prevention of COVID-19 Provides guidelines, standards and protocols related to COVID-19

Governments, businesses, and individuals around the world are thinking about what happens after the COVID-19 pandemic. Can we hope to not only ward off another COVID-like disaster but also eliminate all respiratory diseases, including the flu? Bill Gates, one of our greatest and most effective thinkers and activists, believes the answer is yes. The author of the #1 New York Times best seller How to Avoid a Climate Disaster lays out clearly and convincingly what the world should have learned from COVID-19 and what all of us can do to ward off another catastrophe like it. Relying on the shared knowledge of the world’s foremost experts and on his own experience of combating fatal diseases through the Gates Foundation, Gates first helps us understand the science of infectious diseases. Then he shows us how the nations of the world, working in conjunction with one another and with the private sector, how we can prevent a new pandemic from killing millions of people and devastating the global economy. Here is a clarion call—strong, comprehensive, and of the gravest importance.

Conservation physiology is a rapidly expanding, multidisciplinary field that utilizes physiological knowledge and tools to understand and solve conservation challenges. This novel text provides the first consolidated overview of its scope, purpose, and applications, with a focus on wildlife. It outlines the major avenues and advances by which conservation physiology is contributing to the monitoring, management, and restoration of wild animal populations. This book also defines opportunities for further growth in the field and identifies critical areas for future investigation. By using a series of global case studies, contributors illustrate how approaches from the conservation physiology toolbox can tackle a diverse range of conservation issues including the monitoring of environmental stress, predicting the impact of climate change, understanding disease dynamics, improving captive breeding, and reducing human-wildlife conflict. Moreover, by acting as practical road maps across a diversity of sub-disciplines, these case studies serve to increase the accessibility of this discipline to new researchers. The diversity of taxa, biological scales, and ecosystems highlighted illustrate the far-reaching nature of the discipline and allow readers to gain an appreciation for the purpose, value, applicability, and status of the field of conservation physiology. Conservation Physiology is an accessible supplementary textbook suitable for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of conservation science, eco-physiology, evolutionary and comparative physiology, natural resources management, ecosystem health, veterinary medicine, animal physiology, and ecology.