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This Special Issue on "Advanced Nanomaterials in Biomedical Application" aimed to showcase the most recent advances in nanomaterials, not only in terms of their synthesis and characterization, but also their technological application. This Special Issue welcomed the submission of original research articles and reviews. Research areas include all types of nanomaterials used in the development of medical applications (e.g., therapeutic: anticancer, antibacterial, toxicology; diagnostic: imaging; nanodevices, and others).

Mg alloy is the lightest metallic structural material and possesses the advantages of high specific strength, high specific stiffness, good electromagnetism shield, good damping capacity, good machinability, and easy recycling, etc. Therefore, it has extremely broad application prospects and has drawn considerable interest in the fields of automobile, electronics, electrical appliances, transportation, aerospace, and aviation. In addition, Mg alloys are gradually showing application potential in emerging industries, serving as biodegradable metals in the biomedical field, functional material for hydrogen storage, and so on. This Special Issue (SI), entitled "Research Progress in High-Performance Magnesium Alloy and Its Applications", presents recent developments and excellent results in the field of Mg alloys, and includes 10 articles and one editorial covering some interesting aspects of the topic.

This Special Issue focuses on fundamental and applied aspects of the design, characterization, and properties of biopolymeric drug and gene delivery systems. It contains eleven articles, including nine original research papers and two reviews. The papers cover various topics related to the use of biopolymers (polysaccharides such as cellulose and its derivatives, starch and its derivatives, chitosan and its derivatives, hyaluronan, sodium alginate, agarose, arabinoxylan, heparin, cyclodextrin, peptides and proteins, and synthetic biopolymers) for delivery of various drugs and therapeutic nucleic acids. The biomaterials studied include polymer conjugates, nano- and submicroparticles, gels, films, and implants for drug administration via intravascular, intravitreal, buccal, topical, and implantation routes.

This reprint provides an essential comprehensive overview of chronic pain research. New research developments, clinical updates and treatments' perspectives in chronic pain-in general and specific chronic pain conditions, with a particular focus on chronic noncancer pain, cancer pain, chronic tension-type headaches, chronic neck pain, shoulder pain, chronic back pain, fibromyalgia syndrome, and degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis-are described and discussed. Future trends on the topic are also covered.

In this era of rapid technological evolution, the landscape of education continually transforms. This compilation is a timely endeavor, capturing the intersection of technology and learning, a synergy pivotal for the future. This anthology, a mosaic of innovation and insight, beckons readers to witness the dawn of a transformative epoch in education.

Since the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, the cryptocurrency market has experienced exponential expansion. Evolving from sets of transactions primarily conducted on Internet fora into a significant market valued at over 1.2 trillion USD as of August 2023, today cryptocurrency trading occurs 24/7 on more than 600 platforms. Despite its persistent volatility, recurrent speculation bubbles and subsequent market crashes, the trading characteristics of cryptocurrency exchanges are similar to those observed in mature financial markets. Recently, the correlation between the most frequently traded cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin and Etherereum, has increased significantly versus the stock indices and other financial assets, suggesting an emerging connectedness with the global financial markets. This Special Issue collected research studies that make steps towards developing a better understanding of cryptocurrency market, with a particular aim of confirming or denying the growing signs of market maturity. Most submissions focus on price fluctuations in the cryptocurrency exchanges and produce evidence of the cryptocurrency market's evolution into a valid and interrelated component of the global financial markets. Interestingly, the events related to COVID-19 contributed to the intensification of this process. Some articles address the structure of the cryptocurrency market, including DeFi, the methods of obtaining consensus used, and the environmental impact of these transactions.

Coal is an important natural resource. Improving the safety levels of the coal mining process while ensuring that coal production is at an acceptable level are problems to which we must attribute great importance. This reprint focuses on the safety of coal mine production, including the latest work from leading researchers. It discusses and studies the progress of research on safety in theory, experiments and simulation. The content covers the safety of coal mine-related fields, including mine ventilation, fire and explosion prevention, gas drainage, coal dust prevention, safety equipment, and other aspects of safety technology research. Despite the interdisciplinary nature of the different studies, the common theme of security is closely linked to the different studies in this period.

This reprint presents recent advances in understanding the molecular processes that take place in adipose tissue inflammation in the context of obesity. It discusses the impact of adipose tissue inflammation on systemic metabolic alterations associated with excess adiposity, as well as its repercussion in several pathological conditions that may help to understand obesity-associated metabolic derangements.

The aim of this Special Issue is to describe the recent approaches for and efficacious treatment of wounds from different aspects. These include the description of new ingredients (e.g. A.P.I., polymers) able to stimulate the wound healing, new delivery systems, new formulations as well as new understanding in the stimulation of physiological biochemical pathways (that change according to many factors such as age, sex, etc.) involved in wound healing.

This reprint delves deep into the principles, practices, and possibilities of the sustainable circular bioeconomy. Within these pages, you will find a wealth of knowledge and insights contributed by experts, researchers, and practitioners who have dedicated their lives to advancing the boundaries of sustainability. Each chapter of this reprint is carefully crafted to provide a holistic view of the subject, covering a wide range of topics, including renewable energy, waste management, food-energy-water nexus, digital innovation in sustainability, aquaculture, agriculture, biotechnology, and more.

This IJERPH special issue on "Health Care from the Patient's Perspective" focuses on the perspective of patients as experts, on their challenges and experiences with health care, embedded in a biopsychosocial framework. In doing so, the special issue offers contributions across the entire health and disease continuum from health promotion to rehabilitation and to the outpatient setting described from different perspectives on disease-related situations such as Parkinson's disease, stroke, or multiple sclerosis, diabetes mellitus, and others, to methodological highlights, with a focus on qualitative, but also participatory research as well as quantitative approaches. Experiential research forms the core of this issue. They will not only provide insights into complex health care situations and ethical issues, but also highlight patient-centered problems as a possible starting point for health system and/or policy improvement. It will also take an interprofessional perspective on patients' care providers, family members, or caregivers. We received 19 impressive and important contributions to healthcare that we encourage you to read.

Faced with an ever-growing resource scarcity and environmental regulations, the last 30 years have witnessed the rapid development of various renewable power sources, such as wind, tidal, and solar power generation. The variable and uncertain nature of these resources is well-known, while the utilization of power electronic converters presents new challenges for the stability of the power grid. Consequently, various control and operational strategies have been proposed and implemented by the industry and research community, with a growing requirement for flexibility and load regulation placed on conventional thermal power generation. Against this background, the modelling and control of conventional thermal engines, such as those based on diesel and gasoline, are experiencing serious obstacles when facing increasing environmental concerns. Efficient control that can fulfill the requirements of high efficiency, low pollution, and long durability is an emerging requirement. The modelling, simulation, and control of thermal energy systems are key to providing innovative and effective solutions. Through applying detailed dynamic modelling, a thorough understanding of the thermal conversion mechanism(s) can be achieved, based on which advanced control strategies can be designed to improve the performance of the thermal energy system, both in economic and environmental terms. Simulation studies and test beds are also of great significance for these research activities prior to proceeding to field tests. This Special Issue will contribute a practical and comprehensive forum for exchanging novel research ideas or empirical practices that bridge the modelling, simulation, and control of thermal energy systems. Papers that analyze particular aspects of thermal energy systems, involving, for example, conventional power plants, innovative thermal power generation, various thermal engines, thermal energy storage, and fundamental heat transfer management, on the basis of one or more of the following topics, are invited in this Special Issue: - Power plant modelling, simulation, and control; - Thermal engines; - Thermal energy control in building energy systems; - Combined heat and power (CHP) generation; - Thermal energy storage systems; - Improving thermal comfort technologies; - Optimization of complex thermal systems; - Modelling and control of thermal networks; - Thermal management of fuel cell systems; - Thermal control of solar utilization; - Heat pump control; - Heat exchanger control.

Recent developments in the natural gas industry warrant new analysis of related issues. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments have accelerated the shift away from coal as the dominant source of electricity. Its low environmental impact, reduced volume, and broad availability make liquefied natural gas (LNG) a popular alternative, during this time of transition between traditional fuels and newer options. In the United States, the shale gas revolution has made natural gas a game changer. In this book, we focus on empirical analyses of the natural gas market and its growing relevance worldwide.

The plastic forming of metallic materials is the most efficient and an important manufacturing technology in today's industry. Lightweight materials, such as titanium alloys, aluminum alloys, and ultra-high-strength steels, are used extensively in the automotive, aerospace, transportation, and construction industries, leading to increased demand for advanced innovative forming technologies. Today, numeric simulations are highly focused and provide a better understanding of the innovative forming processes. Computational methods and numerical analysis coupled with the modelling of the structural evolution allow us to reduce time costs and eliminate experimental tests. The subjects of research articles published in this nook are multidisciplinary, including friction and lubrication in sheet metal forming, hot strip rolling and tandem strip rolling, application of numeric methods to simulate metal forming processes, development of new creep performance materials, the single point incremental forming process, and the fatigue fracture characteristics of Alclad 7075-T6 aluminum alloy sheets joined by refill friction stir spot welding. Review articles summarize the approaches on the innovative numerical algorithms, experimental methods, and theoretical contributions that have recently been proposed for sheet metal forming by researchers and business research centers.

Microelectrode arrays are increasingly used in a wide variety of situations in the medical device sector. For example, one major challenge in microfluidic devices is the manipulation of fluids and droplets effectively at such scales. Due to the laminar flow regime (i.e., low Reynolds number) in microfluidic devices, the mixing of species is also difficult, and unless an active mixing strategy is employed, passive diffusion is the only mechanism that causes the fluid to mix. For many applications, diffusion is considered too slow, and thus many active pumping and mixing strategies have been employed using electrokinetic methods, which utilize a variety of simple and complex microelectrode array structures. Microelectrodes have also been implemented in in vitro intracellular delivery platforms to conduct cell electroporation on chip, where a highly localized electric field on the scale of a single cell is generated to enhance the uptake of extracellular material. In addition, microelectrode arrays are utilized in different microfluidic biosensing modalities, where a higher sensitivity, selectivity, and limit-of-detection are desired. Carbon nanotube microelectrode arrays are used for DNA detection, multi-electrode array chips are used for drug discovery, and there has been an explosion of research into brain-machine interfaces, fueled by microfabricated electrode arrays, both planar and three-dimensional. The advantages associated with microelectrode arrays include small size, the ability to manufacture repeatedly and reliably tens to thousands of micro-electrodes on both rigid and flexible substrates, and their utility for both in vitro and in vivo applications. To realize their full potential, there is a need to develop and integrate microelectrode arrays to form useful medical device systems. As the field of microelectrode array research is wide, and touches many application areas, it is often difficult to locate a single source of relevant information. This Special Issue seeks to showcase research papers, short communications, and review articles, that focus on the application of microelectrode arrays in the medical device sector. Particular interest will be paid to innovative application areas that can improve existing medical devices, such as for neuromodulation and real world lab-on-a-chip applications.

This Special Issue is a compilation of the recent advances in thermal fluid engineering related to supercritical CO2 power cycle development. The supercritical CO2 power cycle is considered to be one of the most promising power cycles for distributed power generation, waste heat recovery, and a topping cycle of coal, nuclear, and solar thermal heat sources. While the cycle benefits from dramatic changes in CO2 thermodynamic properties near the critical point, design, and analysis of the power cycle and its major components also face certain challenges due to the strong real gas effect and extreme operating conditions. This Special Issue will present a series of recent research results in heat transfer and fluid flow analyses and experimentation so that the accumulated knowledge can accelerate the development of this exciting future power cycle technology.

The incidence and prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease are increasing worldwide due to aging and comorbidities. The classical neuropathogenetic model, which concentrates on brain amyloid plaque deposition, neurofibrillary tangles, and cholinergic system dysfunction, is being expanded and integrated with newer molecular models. Understanding the relationships between the classical pathogenetic pathways and newer hypotheses is imperative for guiding future research and developing effective drugs. The existence of newer molecular mechanisms such as risk factors, comorbidities like vascular diseases and diabetes mellitus, and neuroanatomical/neurofunctional alterations as blood-brain barrier breakdown and neurovascular unit dysfunction, offer potential targets to improve Alzheimer's Disease diagnosis and treatment. This reprint provides an overview of the pathophysiologic role of newer and older molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer's Disease, shedding light on new insights for the development of new therapeutic approaches. It also highlights newer candidate markers of disease onset and progression.

10th Anniversary of Plants-Recent Advances and Perspectives is a scientific paper collection specially published on the anniversary of Plants. Covering all major areas of plant science, it is a valuable guide through current achievements and future discoveries in this scientific field.