Böcker utgivna av Mdpi AG

Rock and rock-like materials such as concrete, soil, and underground backfilling materials are considered to be geomaterials. Geomaterials are essential for life due to human construct extraction, mining, storage, and transport areas in the Earth's crust for raw material. Drilling and excavations of underground openings in the Earth's crust are requirements for the exploitation and utilization of mineral resources, energy resources, and underground spaces. The deepest drilling depth has exceeded 12 km, and the deepest underground excavation now operates mines with depths exceeding 4 to 5 km. Drilling, excavation, and rock support processes largely rely on the physical and mechanical properties of geomaterials. Rock excavations are faced with some instability phenomena, such as caving, rock bursts, slabbing, large deformation, and zonal disintegration, posing a serious threat to the safety of mining and tunneling operations. Rock drilling also encounters many challenges deep underground. Deformation, fracture, failure, and fragmentation are the different stages of geomaterials, the monitoring and control of which are essential for ensuring drilling and excavation safety. Therefore, understanding the response processes of geomaterials during drilling and excavation activities depends on the precise characterizations of geomaterials.

This Special Issue of Biomolecules, "Physics of Protein Folding, Misfolding, and Intrinsic Disorder: A Themed Issue in Honour of Professor Vladimir Uversky on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday", is a dedication to one of the discoverers of IDPs. This collection is a small token of the respect, admiration, and affection the contributors have for Prof. Vladimir (Volodya) Uversky. It is also a celebration of his illustrious career, and his accomplishments, and contributions to the IDP field that have inspired so many minds worldwide. This Special Issue presents the state of the art as it emerges from the contribution of the community of IDP researchers (IDPers), who have responded to the invitation to give credit to the pioneering work of Prof. Vladimir Uversky aimed at defining the class of disordered proteins and at promoting the attention of scientists toward the existence of "non-globular proteins". The papers in this collection show the advancement of our knowledge through the application of an integrative structural approach and witnesses at the same time the interest of the IDPer community toward new concepts (i.e., liquid-liquid phase separation) and new methodological frontiers (i.e., the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence to disorder prediction and modelling).

As one of the fastest-growing topics in machine learning, deep learning algorithms have achieved unprecedented success in recent years. Novel paradigms (such as contrastive learning and few-shot learning) in deep learning and rising neural network architectures (e.g., transformer and masked autoencoder) are dramatically changing the field of data-driven algorithms. More importantly, deep learning models are redefining the next generation of industrial applications spanning image recognition, speech processing, language translation, healthcare, and other sciences. For example, recent advances in deep representation learning are allowing us to learn about protein 3D structures, which sheds new light on fundamental medicine and biology along with potentially bringing in billions of dollars (e.g., in the pharmaceutical market). This collection gathers the advanced studies of novel deep learning algorithms/frameworks and their applications in real-world scenarios. The topics cover, but are not limited to, supervised learning, explainable deep learning, finance, healthcare, and sciences.

This reprint discussed Coding and compression; Content storing and management; Electronic media; Internet technology; Image and video signals; Multimedia processing; Quality of experience (QoE); Quality of service (QoS); Signal processing; Streaming services; Subjective and objective metrics; User experience (UX).

The current Special Issue of Publications is dedicated to PUBMET2022, The 9th Conference on Scholarly Communication in the Context of Open Science. The PUBMET conference aimed to provide a forum for the community involved in scholarly communication and the dissemination of knowledge, inviting researchers, information and communication specialists, librarians, editors, publishers, teachers, students, research funders, policy makers, repository managers, and other stakeholders involved in scholarly communication to discuss the current changes, developments, and advancements in scholarly communication from the perspective of open science. The PUBMET conference is open to individuals who are interested in learning more about and sharing their research results and experiences on the practices in open science.The current Special Issue contains submissions of research that reflect both practical and technical innovations, which serve the implementation of open science. The following topics are addressed in the present publication: Assessing the quality of research processes, research outputs, and publication channels; Re-designing open access-rights-retention strategies and alternatives to paid OA; FAIRness of open science; The potential of public engagement with science and environmental activism; Raising efficiency and effectiveness in scholarly communication.

Today, interventional treatment and clinical management of cardiac arrhythmias represent a continuous challenge. This is mainly due to the widening of indications for implantable electronic devices and for catheter ablation procedures as well as the continuous improvement of technologies and medical therapies. Despite international guidelines and worldwide consensus updates, evidence gaps persist at all points in the real-world setting.This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of advances in the indications, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiac rhythm disturbances, with particular interest in the use of innovative techniques and technologies in interventional therapies.

Porous media play an important role in a wide range of scientific and engineering problems. Therefore, the problems of their application are associated with the solution of multiscale processes that combine the transfer of mass, momentum, and energy.This Special Issue is devoted to the actual scientific problem of studying the processes of interconnected heat and mass transfer in porous media. This problem is one of the most complex and important fundamental areas of modern science and is of great applied importance. The results of heat and mass transfer studies in porous materials can be used to intensify heat transfer at various power plants in order to increase their energy efficiency. The purpose of this Special Issue is to showcase the latest developments in PM heat transfer and mass transfer technologies that contribute to sustainable development. Despite the fact that considerable attention has been paid to these issues, there is constant demand for innovative solutions to solve a wide range of problems in this area. Therefore, this Special Issue attempts to highlight and propose new solutions to these problems. These works develop a basic understanding of the scientific problems of heat and mass transfer in porous materials. Thematically, it is possible to distinguish three areas covered by the studies within this Special Issue: mass transfer in porous media, methods for the formation of a porous medium, and conjugate heat and mass transfer.

Every new development in biosensors matters to the global sensor market and burgeoning field of interdisciplinary research that is hailed as a potential revolution in healthcare, consumer and industrial testing. The goal/objective of this Special Issue is to keep scholars, inspection agencies and companies informed on the progress of research into state-of-the-art biosensors in China. Specifically, this Special Issue serves as a means of showing that the biosensors have been proven at the concept level and developed in the laboratory setting; thus, many sensors could have strong healthcare or commercial applications.

This reprint focuses on the mechanisms of crop response to abiotic stresses and quality formation, which are an important basis for breeding high-quality and stress-resistant varieties, especially addressing global climate change. In addition, crop adversity adaptability is closely related to the quality of agricultural products. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms that crops use to respond to environmental changes is of great significance to improve their quality.

Pavement materials such as asphalt mixtures, granular aggregates, and soils exhibit complex material properties and engineering performance under external loading and environmental conditions. For instance, the asphalt mixture shows highly nonlinear viscoelastic and viscoplastic properties at high temperatures, and it presents fatigue cracking damage and fracture properties at intermediate or low temperatures. Constitutive models based on mechanics theories have been the kernel of performance prediction of pavement infrastructures and materials. They lay down a solid foundation for material selection, design, pavement structural evaluation and maintenance decisions. Advances in mechanics modeling and associated experimental testing for pavement infrastructures and construction materials are emerging constantly, such as nonlinear viscoelasticity, viscoplasticity, fracture, and damage mechanics models. Meanwhile, various numerical modeling technologies are being developed and implemented to solve the multiscale and multiphysical equations. Examples include finite element, discrete element, and micromechanics or molecular dynamics simulations at different dimensions and scales. This reprint provides a unique platform, presenting novel studies and new discoveries in the areas of mechanics, numerical modeling and experimental testing of pavement infrastructures and materials.

According to the latest NACE estimation (2013), the global cost of corrosion is equivalent to approximately 3.4% of the global GDP (2.5 trillion US dollars), not considering environmental consequences or safety issues. A reduction between 15% and 35% could be realized if prevention techniques and proper precaution are used, which means savings between 375 and 875 billion US dollars. Corrosion involves different sectors such as industry, military, civilian, services, etc., in particular energy production, transport, chemical and petrochemical industries, the mechanical industry, and drink and beverage. Among these sectors, most of the constituents are made out of steel, which is the most produced metal in the world (1808 million tons in 2018), or light alloys, mainly aluminum (60.1 million tons of consumption in 2018).A proper alloy design in terms of composition, heat treatments, microstructural features, etc. is mandatory in order to obtain the best combination of mechanical properties and corrosion resistance during operation, reducing maintenance costs and the overall impact on the global economy. In fact, microstructural features can affect both the corrosion of the material itself and the eventual production of protective layers on its surfaces.The purpose of this Special Issue was to correlate the key role of the microstructure of steels and light alloys to their corrosion properties.

At present, data is constantly generated across various industries, including the internet. New technologies have emerged to trace data origins and assess their potential for collection, quantification, decoding, and analysis. Big data, signals, and images are of particular importance due to the wealth of domain-specific information they hold. These data play a critical role in addressing issues like national security, cybersecurity, marketing, medical informatics, and fraud detection. Deep learning techniques have gained immense popularity. They empower the analysis and understanding of vast amounts of unsupervised data, making them invaluable for processing when raw data lack categorization and labels. These applications extend to working with medical images and signal processing for wellness devices, remote monitoring, and neural devices. In industrial settings, data can be used for early warning systems in assembly lines, while massive datasets can be derived from electronic health records and hospital information systems, for example. This reprint is dedicated to exploring the application of deep learning in tackling significant challenges related to big data, images, and signals. It seeks to unravel the potential of these cutting-edge technologies in addressing complex real-world problems across diverse sectors.

This reprint, devoted to the topic of "Polymer Materials for Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering", gathers a multidisciplinary collection of articles that merge the knowledge and expertise of worldwide researchers who present their latest research in the field of polymer-based materials. This reprint brings together articles that report original research on the design and synthesis of novel drug delivery systems and scaffolds or highlight insights into polymer interactions.

In this Special Issue are collected original research articles, short communications, and reviews on new perspectives for the chemical and functional properties of natural products, including the molecular mechanisms behind the therapeutic effects of natural products used to treat human diseases. This reprint is addressed to all researchers interested in the studies about the bioavailability and biological effects of natural products isolated from plants and algae.

This academic reprint is a timely and essential resource for educators, researchers, and policymakers seeking to revolutionize STEAM education. As we embark on the era of intelligence, technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) offer unique possibilities to improve learning experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. However, there is a notable gap in the research on how to effectively integrate these innovations and foster critical skills for the 21st century. Comprising 12 groundbreaking papers, this Special Issue addresses the urgent need for transformative teaching and learning methods that blend intelligent technologies with cutting-edge pedagogies in STEAM education. The reprint showcases original research and reviews that provide valuable insights into the current landscape of STEAM education and innovative approaches in this intelligence-driven age. This collection is designed to inspire further exploration, collaboration, and advancement in the field, ultimately benefiting future generations through the enhancement of STEAM education. Perfect for anyone interested in the future of education, this reprint is your guide to unlocking the potential of intelligent technologies and innovative pedagogies for a new era of learning.

Studies on global human genomic variation have shown important population-based differences in allele frequencies of common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that influence the expression of genes related to nutrition and, secondarily, chronic disease. Some SNP sites have known functions or associations with diseases or other phenotype characteristics, including nutritional deficiencies and metabolism dietary components. There are many components of human diets that, when combined with the impact of diverse genetics on the metabolism of certain nutrients, have the capacity to give rise to harmful diet-gene interactions. This situation has the potential capacity to modify molecular phenotypes and clinical phenotypes, including human disease. Obesity, diabetes mellitus, chronobiology, osteoporosis, cancer, and many other diseases are fields of potential investigation in this topic area. This Special Issue will include manuscripts that focus on the complex relationship between gene polymorphisms and nutrition across all physiological and chronic diseases.

This reprint focuses on land use change processes and their driving mechanisms, ecological risks and eco-environmental effects. The spatio-temporal pattern changes and key driving factors of cultivated land, urban land, wetland, ecological land and mining land were studied at national or regional scales, such as in China, the Tibetan Plateau, the Yangtze River Delta, the Yellow River Basin, urban agglomeration and mountainous areas. The economic or ecological efficiency, ecological risks and environmental effects of typical land use changes, e.g., the effects of ecological restoration on critical services, the impact of planting structure changes on water resources and the impacts of urban expansion on food security and air pollution, as well as the environmental risks of chemical fertilizer application and coal-mining, were analyzed in depth using multi-source data and multiple methods. Revealing land use change characteristics and their potential ecological risks and impacts on food security, ecosystem services and climate change is an important basis for the sustainable development of social economies and ecosystems. The scientific methodologies, analyzed findings, systematic insights, and policy implications of this reprint will contribute to the advancement of knowledge and provide practical guidance for sustainable land management and land optimization to improve human wellbeing and eco-environment quality.

This reprint focuses on applications of different Space Geodetic Techniques on Earth exploration and geodetic research. The topics range from the classical estimation of Earth observation at high precision, to more comprehensive aims and scales. Special attention is given to the new orbit determination method, development status and service performance of the BeiDou global navigation system, intersystem bias of satellite onboard receiver and precise orbit determination of low-earth-orbit vehicles, ultra-rapid satellite clock offset estimation, variability of GNSS-derived water vapor, refined gravity field modeling in China, local enhancement of marine gravity fields assisted by satellite SAR data, enhanced prediction models of universal time, etc.

Discover the latest advancements in the world of chemical organic compounds with our Special Issue, "Synthesis, Application, and Biological Evaluation." Leading researchers have converged to showcase a diverse array of synthesized compounds, nanostructures, and extractions from plant and animal sources. Explore in silico analyses and biological assessments utilizing cutting-edge methodologies. Highlights: 1) Outstanding Antibacterial Activity: Chitosan/Fe(III)/deferoxamine nanoparticles outperform conventional drugs, showing promise in in vivo and in vitro applications. 2) Innovative Nanocomposites: Poly(o-anisidine)/BaSO4 nanocomposites exhibit potential antibacterial capabilities with tunable characteristics. 3) Novel Compounds: Discover N-acyl-¿-amino acids, 4H-1,3-oxazol-5-ones, 2-acylamino ketones, and 1,3-oxazoles with remarkable antibacterial and antioxidant properties. 4) Anti-Inflammatory Agents: Explore hybrid molecules with enhanced anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity, outperforming standard drugs. 5) Osteoporosis Prevention: Ethanolic extracts of G. littoralis show promise in preventing osteoporosis. 6) Perfume Longevity: Deuterated ambrox extends perfume shelf life, a fascinating innovation in the fragrance industry.This Special Issue represents the cutting edge of chemical research and applications, offering solutions to global challenges. Join us in the pursuit of knowledge and innovation regarding chemical organic compounds.

Photocatalysis is an advanced technique that transforms solar energy into sustainable fuels and oxidizes pollutants via the aid of semiconductor photocatalysts. The main scientific and technological challenges toward effective photocatalysis are the stability, robustness, and efficiency of semiconductor photocatalysts. For major practical applications in energy conversion (i.e., hydrogen evolution, CO2 reduction, and oriented synthesis) and environmental remediation (i.e., air purification and antibacterial and wastewater treatment), highly efficient and stable photocatalysts need to be developed. This Special Issue collects published original researches on synthesizing novel photocatalytic materials and their application in energy conversion and environmental remediation.

This reprint focuses on exploring the relationship between urban form, mobility, and social well-being across neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Understanding more about these relationships is helpful in shaping integrated sustainable urban planning and transport development strategies. All reprint chapters primarily contribute to the existing literature on the interdisciplinary field of the impact of urban planning and transport on social well-being and facilitate novel ways of measuring the abstract concept of well-being, particularly in Asian and European countries. We suggested that further research could explore these themes in greater depth by means of both theoretical frameworks and methodological developments in this integrated field.

This Topic in memory of Academician Duzheng Ye (1916-2013) was written on the tenth anniversary of Professor Ye's passing. It comprises 31 original research manuscripts and reviews spanning atmospheric dynamics and physics, synoptic weather patterns, climate change, and remote sensing observations for weather and climate. It represents a collective dedication and expertise from 30 esteemed invited authors and their collaborators who hold Prof. Ye in high regard. This Topic serves a dual purpose to not only pay homage to Professor Ye's academic legacy but also transmit their admiration for him to the forthcoming generations.

Due to the accumulation of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere, endogenous antioxidants in aerobic organisms evolved. More than a simple attack (reactive species) or a defense (enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants) duel, redox metabolism also comprises non-radical redox metabolites, redox-sensitive transcription factors, and redox-sensitive proteins that form a network of signaling pathways. These pathways are now known to mediate important processes in aerobic organisms, from circadian rhythms to ageing and lifespan regulation. Indeed, oxidative stress is considered to be important to living organisms. Unsurprisingly, environmental stresses might disrupt the redox balance, triggering compensatory adaptive responses. The modulation of redox metabolism has been documented for phylogenetically diverse species exposed to a myriad of environmental stressors, such as warming, freezing, dehydration, exposure to UV radiation, exposure to pollutants, and variations in oxygen availability. In natural settings, several of these environmental factors (e.g., temperature, water availability, oxygen availability, and radiation incidence) fluctuate over time (e.g., daily and seasonally). This Special Issue focuses on the responses of organisms' redox metabolism when exposed to single or combined changes, biotic or abiotic, in environmental factors (e.g., oxygen availability, temperature, drought, radiation, and pollutants) and provides insights into the adaptive responses of antioxidant systems to environmental perturbations.

This reprint is focused on analyzing modern trends and recent advances in the synthesis of new metal-based composite materials. Such composites are increasingly used in civil, automotive, and aerospace engineering, shipbuilding, robotics, nuclear power, portable energy devices, biomedicine, electronic devices, and portable aircraft. Non-ferrous metals are often used as the matrix of composites, aluminum, magnesium, nickel, titanium, and their alloys can act as modifiers with boron, carbon structures, borides, carbides, nitrides, and oxides of refractory metals and high-strength steel. For high-temperature composites, tungsten or molybdenum fibers are used. Despite the large number of scientific works, new methods for the synthesis of such composites in order to improve and optimize their structure and properties are still needed. In this regard, completed works of experimental and theoretical orientation, aimed at the development and optimization of methods for the synthesis of composite materials, as well as the search for new materials, were welcomed for inclusion in this reprint.

The "New Approaches to Synthetic Organic Chemistry" Special Issue has continued to challenge and expand our scientific knowledge of the surrounding world, exploring the frontiers between at least two of its dynamic interfaces: human life and the environment. Subject to all evolutionary facets of organic chemistry, its perpetual developments reimagined within the current organic synthesis (strategies, methodologies, reaction mechanisms, reagents, catalysts, chemical and instrumental auxiliaries) nevertheless obey two crucial common denominators, "selectivity" vs. "specificity" (these terms being, equally, preceded by typical prefixes, either chemo-, regio- or stereo-), as mandatory criteria. The present Special Issue gathered research articles, communications, and review papers, disclosing the most recent advances in organic synthesis, i.e., those related to its near future defined as "atomic precision" in chemical reactions. The sustainability of these efforts, which denotes an intrinsic chemical diversity, is expected to highlight, to the interested readers, their innovative applications in human life and the environment.

The production of food enriched with bioactive compounds, through natural means, represents a concept desired by nutritionists, doctors and consumers. Animal products with high nutritional quality can be designed using innovative feeding strategies. Animals are known to be able to ''bio-convert'' health-promoting components from their diet into their eggs, milk or meat. The nutritional quality of animal products depends on genetic, physiological and environmental conditions, but also upon their diets. Lately, various feed additives have been shown to increase the nutritional quality of animal-origin food, which in turn promotes a healthy human diet. Some of them have proven effects on productive parameters or on the sensory attributes of animal products, or modify the nutrient composition of products. Nutritional evaluations of animal products and feeds are necessary for establishing the bioconversion yield of nutrients, from feeds to animal-origin food. This Special Issue focuses on, but is not limited to, the development of new feeding formulas thst lead to improved animal production or the enhanced nutritional profiles of conventional or ecological animal products. Studies presenting feed additives that have beneficial effects on the production and quality of animal products, as well as natural feeding solutions that are environmentally friendly, were also welcomed. The proposed Special Issue is addressed to specialists from the domains of animal nutrition, food quality, chemistry and biology.

Modern technical facilities are constructions that are sophisticated in terms of functionality and in terms of the material technologies used. Therefore, it becomes necessary to obtain reliable information about the material and its current state. This is not easy task considering the variety of materials present and their applications. Therefore, this reprint brings together publications focused on two areas: new diagnostic methods adapted to new materials; and the procurement of new information about conventional materials used in innovative technical solutions. The solutions to the above are seen in the use of modern sensory systems, enabling and seeking information in new physical relationships, i.e., analyzing cross effects. In this collection, we can read about research on intelligent materials based, for example, on microgranules or rubber-ferritic conglomerate, which, in addition to fulfilling functional tasks, can provide valuable information about the operation of the object. Innovative ways of obtaining information about composites, steel, concrete and even printed plastic elements are discussed. Additionally, a review is provided, covering topics from miniature steel samples to the elements of a construction crane. This reprint is a necessary supplement and provides an exchange of experience and achievements in acquiring new information on both classic and modern materials used currently in mechanical engineering. By accessing new information on materials and their condition, it will be possible to maintain the safety and reliability of mechanical engineering facilities at an appropriate level.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the metaphorical butterfly effect, born from Edward Lorenz's 1963 work on initial condition sensitivity. In 1972, it became a metaphor for illustrating how minor changes could yield an organized system. ¿Lorenz Models: Chaos and Regime Changes: Explore Lorenz models' 1960-2008 evolution, chaos theory, and coexisting attractors. ¿Unraveling High-dimensional Instability: Challenge norms in "Butterfly Effect without Chaos?" as non-chaotic elements contribute uniquely. ¿Modeling Atmospheric Dynamics: Delve into atmospheric dynamics via "Storm Sensitivity Study." ¿Navigating Data Assimilation: Explore data assimilation's dance in chaotic and nonchaotic settings via the observability Gramian. ¿Chaos, Instability, Sensitivities: Explore chaos, instability, and sensitivities with Lorenz's 1963 and 1969 models. ¿Unraveling Tropical Mysteries: Investigate tropical atmospheric instability, uncovering oscillation origins and cloud-radiation interactions. ¿Chaos and Order: Enter atmospheric regimes, exploring attractor coexistence and predictability. ¿The Art of Prediction: Peer into predictability realms, tracing the "butterfly effect's" impact on predictions. ¿Navigating Typhoons: Journey through typhoons, exploring rainfall and typhoon trajectory prediction. ¿Analyzing Sea Surface Temperature: Examine sea surface temperature analysis and nonlinear analysis for classification.

This reprint focuses on fundamental and applied research in the validation and testing of mechatronic systems and machine elements. It presents test strategies, reliability methods, and special insights into the systems under investigation. The focus is on advanced and complex mechatronic systems up to intelligent mechatronic systems with integrated sensor systems. The reliability of mechatronic systems and their machine elements is a key aspect of engineering design, which will become even more important in the future due to the complexity of mechatronic systems and systems control, especially in human-machine systems. Advances in mechatronic design require systematic testing and validation methods, test environments such as test benches, and modeling approaches. Effective test and validation methods are still a challenging topic for validating the system reliability of mechatronic systems and their machine elements, especially for human-machine interaction and mechatronic machine elements. This reprint covers a wide range of topics, from reliability strategies and design for reliability, to machine elements for intelligent mechatronic systems, to the role of testing and validation in the product development of these systems.

This Special Issue will provide a snapshot of the state of the art in metals, alloy coatings, and films produced through several techniques, including PVD, CVD, MOCVD, electrodeposition, electroless, ALD, welding, etc. These metal and alloy coatings and films can act as corrosion and oxidation resistance barriers and catalysts to enable water splitting, among other catalysis applications. Ten contributions (nine articles and one review) have been published in this Special Issue, covering research topics such as the fracture of metal parts, progress in coating growth and characterization techniques, processing condition-structure-property relations, the development of novel lubricants and advanced simulations relevant to tribological contacts and metal manufacturing, and the structural, morphological, corrosion, oxidizing, wear, and catalytic properties of thin films. As the Guest Editor, I hope that the research results presented in this Special Issue will contribute to the further progression of research in the field of special metal alloy coating and catalysis.