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This chapter explores the radical potentials of mycelic practice. Mycelium is the root network of mushrooms, consisting of spores, which seeks nourishment in their surroundings, constantly spreading, showing ability to interpret its environmental circumstances and distributing nourishment to the spores needing it the most. Each spore develops individual and flexible characteristics, but always in contact with the communal mycelic body. The chapter unpacks the four phases of mycelic life and death: expansion, cannibalism, heksering formation and communication. Mycelic practice, as expansive and cannibalistic, invites us to surpass our individuality, reject the ego and any given dominant order of, say, Western civilisation, such as individual ownership or capitalist logics of growth. Death is part of life. Death sustains life. Just as closeness or intimacy involves awareness of absence understood as that which is not visibly present. Each of the phases in the life and death of mycelium points towards particular strategies and ways of working: politics, organising, methods, writing and citing. Each phase contributes to the critique disrupting the hegemonic political orders.

Mycelium is an upcoming bio-based alternative material that has various applications in different industries. Mycelium materials used as composites, leather, construction materials and some are even available for commercial purposes. However, there was not much research found when it came to the application of mycelium as a textile alternative. The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential of mycelium in the textile industry and its possible applications.

This review consolidates literature that refers the two major methods used in fungal mycelium production namely; as a composite and as a pure self-grown mycelium sheet. The study compared the current research status in this respective field and reported the scope in the pure mycelium development.

The results of the review reported that several research works are performed in composite production with different feedstock. The production methods and product development steps were well established for several applications from home utilities to construction materials. Whereas, in the case of self-grown mycelium sheet production only limited research works were found. Though the possibilities of engineered composite sheets are developed with various properties, research on self-grown pure mycelium sheets are at infant stage. Sensitive production methods, lower tensile, tearing, poor handle properties with brittle structure and non-uniformity in thickness are noted as limitations. Sustainable nature, self-grown three-dimensional nano-fibril network with porous structure are found to be advantageous.

The solid culture method was identified as a potential method to develop a sheet-like self-grown mycelium with different dimensions. The review results clearly show the lack of research in the direct application of self-grown pure mycelium area concerning feedstock material, fungal species selection and characterization of the developed product. Addressing the existing limitations will yield a sustainable textile material for fashion and textile industry with great potential.

Carotenoids have been extensively used in many industries owing to their colorant and strong antioxidant properties. Because of their useful properties, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of penicillin‐adding time on stimulation of carotenoid production by Neurospora intermedia, and the effect of drying methods on stability of synthesized carotenoids.

In the first stage, curve of growth kinetic of cultures incubated at 31°C and different times (24, 48, 72, 80, 96, 104, 112, 120, 128, 136 and 144 h) to determine log and stationary phases was depicted. Then penicillin (1 mg/l) at initial and middle of log phase and initial of stationary phase was applied and its effect on carotenoid production was evaluated. In the second stage, mycelia containing carotenoid were dried by microwave oven, vacuum microwave, vacuum oven and freeze drier. Thereafter, effect of drying methods applied on stability of synthesized carotenoid was determined.

The results showed that penicillin could stimulate carotenoid biosynthesis in N. intermedia. Furthermore, this study indicated that the best time of penicillin adding is middle of log phase or after this time. Also the study indicated that there was a significant difference among applied methods as microwave‐dried mycelium had the highest carotenoid contents in comparison to the other drying methods.

This paper is believed to be the only one which investigates the effect of different factors on stimulate and stability of synthesized carotenoid by N. intermedia. Also mycelia containing carotenoid were dried by using new drying methods.

β-Carotene is the most appropriate and significant precursor of vitamin A. Synthetic carotene supplements have been known to pose a threat to human health, making natural sources such as the indefensible choice for the production and extraction of carotene.

This study considers Blakeslea trispora, a filamentous fungus, as a source of production of carotenoids by fermentation and wet and dry mycelium were used to analyse and obtain better extraction results.

In this study, natural oils such as soy oil and cottonseed oil were incorporated into fermentation media to increase the production of carotene. For the optimization process, Plackett–Burman and one-factor-at-a-time (OVAT) models were identified as being of great value.

OVAT was carried out for corn starch because it plays a major role in the production of carotene and the corn starch at 30 g/L concentration has shown the maximum activity of 3.48 mg/gm. After optimizing process variables, submerged fermentation was eventually carried out under highly controlled media conditions. The resulting product was quantified using UV spectroscopy and extraction of carotene has been observed in the presence of various solvents. Among a range of solvents used, the methylene Di chloride produced-carotene at 86% recovery at a significantly lower temperature of 35°C.

Annotation is a practice that is familiar to many of us, and yet it is a practice so natural that it is hard to pin down its characteristics, to find where its edges are, and identify what it does for us. In this piece, we use reflections on the practices of annotation in four fields of work: academia, software engineering, medical sonography and visual art as a point of departure to theorise annotation as a set of practices that bridge reading, writing and thinking. We think about annotation being performative and consider what and how it brings into being. Revealing hidden practices in our working lives, such as annotation, helps us to understand how knowledge comes to be created, disseminated, legitimated and popularised. To this end, we make the practices of annotation involved in writing the present piece visible in an effort to write differently in management and organisation studies, unpicking and exposing it as ever dialogical and unfinished.

This paper aims to examine how blockchain technology is disrupting business models for new venture finance.

The role of blockchain technology in the evolution of new business models to monetize the creative economy is explored by means of a case study approach. The focus is on the recorded music industry, which is in the vanguard of new forms of intermediation and financialization. There is a particular focus on emerging artists.

This paper provides novel case study insights and concludes by considering how further research can contribute to building a theory of technology-driven business models which apply to the development, on the one hand, of new forms of financial intermediaries, more correctly referred to as “infomediaries,” and on the other hand, to new forms of direct monetization by artists.

This paper provides early insight into the emerging potential applications of blockchain technologies to streamline music industry business service models and improve finance streams for new artists. The findings have far-reaching implications across the creative sector.

Discusses the means and methods of detecting timber decay and damp, briefly outlining the historic use of wood in the construction of dwellings and the role of the timber infestation surveyor. Details the process of a thorough inspection, both external and internal, suggesting that particular note should be taken of high earth or path levels, gaps round window frames, broken guttering, rainwater spillage, cracked renderings, missing slates, defective linings and blocked outlets in gutters, blocked airbricks and sagging roof tiles. Concentrates on fungal and insect damage and stresses the results of dampness. Discusses the importance of thoroughness.

Gathering edible mushrooms from the fields and forest is nowadays more of a leisure activity than a serious search for food. When man's survival depended on his searches for the products of nature, wild edible species of mushroom probably made significant contributions to his diet and this is probably true today in some remote regions of the world where acute food shortages occur. In the Himalayas for example, the wild mushrooms that are eaten by the native monkeys are regarded as nutritious and edible. When plentiful these are gathered by the native population and preserved by drying in the sun for later consumption.

Since the time of primitive man, timber has remained the most useful and versatile of all naturally available materials. Its obvious aesthetic value makes it irreplaceable in the manufacture of fine musical instruments, furniture and great works of sculpture, but its greatest use is in the construction of our dwellings. Whether used in its almost natural state to construct a forester's log cabin, or sliced up into convenient pieces to build most of the world's homes, it is unsurpassed for versatility, ease of working and mechanical strength.