Bücher veröffentlicht von Mdpi AG

The green approach is no longer (and can no longer be) a goal of the future, but it is a concrete and practical necessity of the present. To take stock of new trends, this Special Issue lines up some recently developed green materials and remarkable progress and developments in manufacturing processes.

This Special Issue explores the fascinating topic of urban heat islands (UHIs), examining them from temporal and spatial perspectives. We embark on a journey that focuses on the essential impacts of UHI formations, including land use composition, city characteristics, and anthropogenic factors. Our objective is to raise awareness of the many facets of UHIs and their significant effects on urban environments and sustainability. This collective aim is to further strengthen urban sustainability through a deeper understanding of UHI dynamics. This volume includes a wide range of topics related to UHIs, including cutting-edge methods and datasets for capturing UHI phenomena. We investigate the spatial interactions between UHI intensity and land use/cover distribution within metropolitan areas, examine the geographic patterns and processes underlying UHIs in sprawling cities, and analyze the spatial differences in UHI intensity between developing and developed countries. Additionally, we focus on UHI catastrophe mitigation and adaptation measures, which are crucial for setting sail for a sustainable urban future. Finally, we engage in the critical work of prediction and scenario analysis, equipping policymakers and urban planners with the insights necessary for informed decision-making. We express our thanks to the researchers, academics, and contributors who have made this Special Issue possible as we begin this investigation into urban heat islands. We aim to foster a comprehensive understanding of UHIs and contribute to the broader discourse on urban sustainability.

This reprint covers the following topics in the field of smart grids:1. Optimal dg location and sizing to minimize losses and improve the voltage profile using garra rufa optimization. 2. Solar and wind energy forecasting for the green and intelligent migration of traditional energy sources. 3. Optimized micro-grid's operation with electrical-vehicle-based hybridized sustainable algorithm. 4. The detection of nontechnical losses in smart meters using a MLP-GRU deep model and augmenting data via theft attacks. 5. A hybrid deep-learning-based model for the detection of electricity losses using big data in power systems. 6. Load frequency control and automatic voltage regulation in a multi-area interconnected power system using nature-inspired computation-based control methodology. 7. Line overload alleviations in wind energy integrated power systems using automatic generation control. 8. Electric price and load forecasting using a CNN-based ensembler in a smart grid. 9. Day-ahead energy forecasting in a smart grid considering the demand response and microgrids. 10. A dragonfly optimization algorithm for extracting the maximum power of grid-interfaced pv systems. 11. An economic load dispatch problem with multiple fuels and valve point effects using a hybrid genetic-artificial fish swarm algorithm. 12. Incentive-based dynamic pricing in a smart grid.

Nurses represent the highest number of healthcare workers globally and have played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic. This reprint highlights the issues and challenges faced by nurses practicing in hospital and community settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The manuscripts herein focus on nurses in various areas of practice, including nurse managers, highlighting the impact, experience, and reality of providing care during the crisis. Interventions and strategies to support practice environments and the mental health and wellbeing of the nursing workforce were identified. Evidence from these manuscripts shed light on how nurse leaders can provide relevant, coordinated, and consistent organizational and leadership support to better establish a safe and healthy work environment that protects and fosters the mental health and wellbeing of all nursing personnel. The pandemic exacerbated the already demanding quality of work environments for nurses, as well as their mental health and wellbeing, thereby inducing a global nursing shortage; therefore, improving these factors, which ultimately influence nurse retention, is critical. We trust that sharing the lived experiences of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic can enable us to leverage their expertise in meeting the complex care needs of patients, including COVID-19 patients, while improving the care needed by nurses in their working environments, alongside preparing for future pandemic waves.

Soil degradation is a complex phenomenon that can result in a diminished capacity of the ecosystem to provide goods and services for its beneficiaries. Degraded soils have a health status such that they do not provide the normal goods and services of the particular soil in its ecosystem. Ecological rehabilitation is required when the soil is degraded to such an extent that the land becomes unproductive. Soil degradation can be caused by various factors, including physical aspects such as soil sealing and crusting, soil erosion, and soil compaction, which may result in severe landscape deterioration. Soil nutrient imbalance or depletion is also a widespread cause of soil degradation due to inappropriate practices in agricultural areas. Acidification, alkalization, and salinization are also serious problems of soil degradation. In addition to physical and chemical soil degradation, the biological health of the soil can be damaged as well. In recent decades, toxic contamination of soil, for instance, heavy metal pollution, organic pollutant contamination, etc., has brought more pressing issues. Therefore, effective and up-to-date technology for soil degradation and soil pollution restoration is urgently needed. The goal of this Special Issue was to establish a platform for researchers to communicate research results or the latest insights in related fields.

Surface integrity management is remarkably important when metal alloys are used to manufacture relevant parts. Advanced materials such as titanium, nickel alloys, non-ferrous alloys, or special steels make surface integrity preservation after machining particularly difficult. Consequently, thorough finishing techniques are required to rectify the surface integrity. Engineering surfaces that exemplify the importance of surface integrity control are typically found in the transportation industry. Pieces formed using complex curved surfaces, such as turbine blades or landing gears, and molds and dies for upsetting operations are good examples. These kinds of parts are often manufactured through 3- or 5-axis machining with the aid of successive adjacent passes of hemispherical tools, whereas this ball-end milling strategy allows one to achieve complex surfaces by following the desired shape through NC interpolations generated by a CAM (it also has deep constraints). In this context, processes such as burnishing, honing, plateau-honing, grinding, and shot-peening can contribute to improving the described surfaces in terms of texture, residual stress, and hardness, and are easily maneuverable from a procedural point of view. This Special Issue collected the research results on these kinds of finishing processes, which are very important to the transportation industry.

This Special Issue aimed to cover a diverse scope of topics, from diagnostics to the management of temporomandibular disorders and myofascial pain, with a special focus on innovations in those areas. Intense research progress in the subject as well as technological development, access to knowledge, and novel digital tools allow developing more precise, reproducible, and dedicated diagnostic and therapeutic protocols.

Plant responses to environmental factors are extraordinarily complex. They can be observed at various levels of plant organization, ranging from changes in the intensity of basic biochemical processes, such as respiration, photosynthesis, and transpiration, to morphological and anatomical changes in organs. However, these biochemical changes are preceded by the activation of an efficient signaling system which endures environmental fluctuations. This Special Issue showcases the latest reports on the impact of abiotic factors on plant responses. It contains 3 reviews and 9 original works and is preceded by an editorial summarizing the most important issues discussed in the publications.

Nurses represent the highest number of healthcare workers globally and have played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic. This reprint highlights the issues and challenges faced by nurses practicing in hospital and community settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The manuscripts herein focus on nurses in various areas of practice, including nurse managers, highlighting the impact, experience, and reality of providing care during the crisis. Interventions and strategies to support practice environments and the mental health and wellbeing of the nursing workforce were identified. Evidence from these manuscripts shed light on how nurse leaders can provide relevant, coordinated, and consistent organizational and leadership support to better establish a safe and healthy work environment that protects and fosters the mental health and wellbeing of all nursing personnel. The pandemic exacerbated the already demanding quality of work environments for nurses, as well as their mental health and wellbeing, thereby inducing a global nursing shortage; therefore, improving these factors, which ultimately influence nurse retention, is critical. We trust that sharing the lived experiences of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic can enable us to leverage their expertise in meeting the complex care needs of patients, including COVID-19 patients, while improving the care needed by nurses in their working environments, alongside preparing for future pandemic waves.

Lower genital tract diseases include vulvovaginal and HPV-related diseases, ranging from benign to pre-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions. Nowadays, there has been increasing interest in innovative methods to diagnose and prevent cervical cancer through HPV primary screening programs. However, other lower genital tract diseases are unrelated to HPV infection; hence, cytology, colposcopy, and sonography might play a crucial role in assessment and management. This Special Issue aims to address current and emerging issues in the field of the diagnosis, assessment, staging, and management of HPV-related and not-related pathology of the lower female anogenital tract. These may include new advancements in HPV testing and laboratory biomarkers, investigations on the actual role of cytology and implementation of diagnostic tools to implement differential diagnosis, and the current clinical management of lower genital tract diseases.

The world faces a water crisis that is exacerbated by climate change. With just 3% of Earth's water being freshwater, much of it is inaccessible. Only 0.08% is used by humans, impacting ecosystems. This collection aims to provide solutions, knowledge, and tools for sustainable water resource management. The demand for water, particularly for agriculture, is rising, leading to competition among users. The conservation of freshwater ecosystems is vital. Climate change will further strain water resources, affecting agriculture and soil productivity. This collection of 89 papers offers insights and solutions for global stakeholders, aiding decision-makers in addressing water-related challenges in an ever-changing world.

This Reprint presents an Editorial and ten original studies from different areas of nonlinear optics carried out in the last three years by research groups with high levels of expertise. The object of most of them is femtosecond (fs) nonlinear optical phenomena in nanostructures. In this Reprint, the results of a study on higher harmonics generation from fs and picosecond lasers in laser-induced plasma from various nanomaterials are presented; an example of the application of the generation of the second and third harmonics of fs laser radiation for the design of a unique microscope is presented; fs nonlinear-optical properties of aqueous suspensions of nanodiamonds are investigated; nonlinear up-conversion luminescence is found in aqueous suspensions of carbon dots; an example of the application of a thin-film topological insulator for the generation of THz radiation under the action of a fs laser is described; a new type of robust photonic topological insulator for laser array applications is designed; new algorithms for the theoretical study of laser pulse interactions with metals and nonlinear dielectric media interfaces are developed; the findings of a study on helicity-dependent photocurrents in thin nanostructured CuSe films due to the surface photogalvanic effect are presented; a kinetic theory of the edge photogalvanic effect for intraband electron transport in 2D materials is developed. In general, all the studies presented in this Reprint were performed at a high level and demonstrate the continuing interest of the world's scientific community in research in the field of nonlinear optics.

The world faces a water crisis that is exacerbated by climate change. With just 3% of Earth's water being freshwater, much of it is inaccessible. Only 0.08% is used by humans, impacting ecosystems. This collection aims to provide solutions, knowledge, and tools for sustainable water resource management. The demand for water, particularly for agriculture, is rising, leading to competition among users. The conservation of freshwater ecosystems is vital. Climate change will further strain water resources, affecting agriculture and soil productivity. This collection of 89 papers offers insights and solutions for global stakeholders, aiding decision-makers in addressing water-related challenges in an ever-changing world.

The advent of optical coherence tomography (OCT) has arrived in an era in which the in vivo, cross-sectional imaging of both the retina and choroid is possible. Infra-red rays of light are used to image the chorioretinal layers with an image resolution reaching 10-15 microns. During the last three decades, OCT technology has undergone several improvements, such as spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT), swept source OCT (SS-OCT), enhanced depth imaging (EDI-OCT), wide field OCT, intraoperative OCT, OCT angiography (OCTA), and adaptive optics OCT. These enhancements help in both the qualitative and quantitative analysis of chorioretinal parameters in pathologies such as macular edema, neurosensory detachment, retinoschisis, macular holes, epiretinal membranes, and choroidal tumors. An added advantage is the role of OCT in the evaluation of optic disc disorders, including optic neuritis and glaucoma, via the quantitative analysis of the retinal nerve fiber layer. Moreover, OCT being non-invasive provides an opportunity for serial imaging during follow-up visits. Overall, OCT imaging provides tissue details, closely mimicking the histopathology, and is an invaluable asset in the armamentarium of retina physicians. This special issue includes applications of OCT in various chorioretinal disorders.

Relative to model plants, ornamental plants have many special characteristics, such as their flower color, shape and fragrance. Furthermore, these traits are unique and complex compared to different plants. With the development of sequencing technology and omics tools, core regulatory networks and genes related to specific traits were discovered in a variety of ornamental plants. These research methods have enriched the exploration of the regulatory mechanisms of ornamental traits and provided elite candidate genes for directional breeding. This Special Issue "Molecular Biology of Ornamental Plants" covers 13 ornamental plant species, including 7 woody flowers, 3 perennial flowers, 1 aquatic flower and 2 herbs. The research topics include flower color, abiotic stress, species diversity, plant development and research protocol innovation. The research methods integrate the latest methods of bioinformatics and molecular biology.

The recovery of cells after tissue and organ injury is a complex process, more detailed insights into the cellular processes of repair and regeneration are urgently needed if we are to understand underlying molecular biological mechanisms. Based on this knowledge, this Special Issue will focus on current in vitro systems exploring repair and regeneration mechanisms. As such, this SI includes experimental research approaches to investigate the mechanisms involved and laboratory methods to establish and optimise models for tissue and organ repair and regeneration, theoretical modelling and computational models, as well as review papers are included here. Eleven articles are published in the Special Issue, which deals with various tissue and organ regeneration questions or the modelling or summary of the research models used in this process.

The fields of cyberpsychology, e-health and virtual reality have evolved during the last 20 years and this Special Issue is devoted to recent developments in the understanding and treatment of psychological and mental disorders. Researchers have studied how mental health can be delivered online decades before the COVID-19 pandemic. This knowledge suddenly became invaluable when professionals had to find alternative ways to provide psychotherapy and other services. Reprints from articles about telepsychology include results from randomized control trials and studies trying to isolate and understand factors involved in treatment processes and acceptability. It is followed by a literature review on virtual reality applications on mental health. The authors then address how the human body is experienced and how it impacts body image and pain. The Special Issue concludes with innovative work on how virtual reality could be used for depression.

Harvesting machinery has the main function of cutting, picking, or digging mature crop seeds, fruits, stalks, leaves, root parts, or the whole plant and are also necessary to complete collection, threshing, cleaning, transfer, and other operations. The characteristics of harvesting machinery are as follows: first, the operating object is biological; second, the working process refers to the separation between plant tissues or the separation of a plant from soil; and third, the working environment is unstructured. Therefore, efficient harvesting machinery is an area of comprehensive research that integrates the fields of mechanical and biological material, information, and computers. This Special Issue focused on precise identification and positioning systems ("eyes"), sensitive decision-making and control systems ("brain"), highly adaptable chassis and mobile platforms ("feet"), efficient end-effectors and harvesting components ("hands"), etc., related to efficient harvesting machinery. The topics of the publications include: Crop-soil-machine systems; Mechanics and dynamics of harvesting machinery; Chassis of harvesting machinery; Efficient harvesting components; Field environment sensing and recognition; Navigation and positioning systems of harvesting machinery; Multi-source information fusion, analysis, and decision making in harvesting operations; Cooperative harvesting operations of multiple machines in the field; Unmanned harvesters.

This reprint addresses healthcare transformation towards personalized, participative, preventive, predictive, and precision medicine (5P Medicine) with the support of new technologies such as micro-, nano-, and bio-techniques, as well as artificial intelligence and learning systems. It focuses, therefore, on the representation and management of knowledge from different domains and their actors, using their methodologies and languages but also individual skills and experiences. The outcome is a system-oriented, architecture-centric, ontology-based, policy-driven approach allowing a formal representation and management of health ecosystems, including their integration and interoperability. Such development is accompanied by security, privacy, and ethical challenges to be resolved. The reprint describes the principles, methodologies, and standards for successfully managing the transformation of health and social care, illustrated by many practical examples and implemented use cases. The reprint is based on papers published in the context of the pHealth 2021 Conference in Genoa, Italy. However, the content goes far beyond the focus and size of the original papers.

This volume 'Sustainability in Heritage and Urban Planning' represents an extraordinary collection of papers spanning a broad spectrum of topics at the intersection of sustainability and heritage in urban planning. These articles included here are intellectually stimulating and vital in our contemporary context. From adaptive reuse of cultural landscapes to passive strategies in vernacular architecture, and from commercial culture's impact on urban structures to sustainable management of historic greenery, these articles cover a wide spectrum of crucial subjects. Each article contributes unique insights to the fields of architecture, heritage, urban planning, and sustainability. Explore these articles and join the conversation on shaping our built environment and cultural heritage.

The growing improvement of medical sciences in the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck oncological diseases has produced a significant increase in the life expectancy of affected patients. it is therefore necessary to direct new energies towards understanding and protecting the quality of life of cancer patients. This reprint presents the fruit of the research protocols of numerous groups around the world on the topics of life expectancy and quality of life of patients suffering from head and neck cancer.

The agri-food sector has faced several challenges in recent years. The increase in the global population, and thus, growing food demand has led to the over-exploitation of numerous agricultural systems by farmers and agri-food entrepreneurs. However, in most cases, producers prioritize increasing their incomes, neglecting to consider the environmental and social impacts of their production processes. The search for ever greater yields and revenues has degraded agro-ecosystems, forcing both farmers and agri-food firms leave rural areas. Moreover, as global warming requires us to rethink existing production processes from economic, environmental and social points of view to reduce GHGs emissions, it is necessary to adopt sustainable agri-food production. This reprint contains empirical studies and systematic reviews regarding the achievement of a sustainable agri-food sector by assessing entrepreneurs' choices, consumer behavior and policy interventions.

Professor Yingguo Zhu, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, devoted his whole life (1939-2017) with tremendous enthusiasm to breeding hybrid rice. He studied and worked at Wuhan University for 58 years and contributed to enriching the diversity of hybrid rice, such as Maxie-type and Honglian-type hybrid rice. We are organizing this Special Issue in his honor to remember his great contributions to hybrid rice, especially Honglian-type male sterility. We invite researchers, including his former students, to submit manuscripts focused on male sterility, rice breeding, and, in particular, hybrid rice breeding, functional genomics research, gene mining and utilization, transposons, and the creation of germplasm. In addition, new technology and cutting-edge research studies are also welcome. We believe that this Special Issue will be helpful to the research on rice and the improvement of hybrid rice breeding in the future.

Over the centuries, technological advancements have significantly enhanced various aspects of human life by improving the performance of materials that interact with living systems. Nevertheless, the mass production and disposal of numerous newly developed materials have given rise to a pressing 21st-century challenge: environmental sustainability. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization estimated that 89 million facial masks were required monthly for frontline health workers. A promising solution to this challenge lies in the micro- and nanofabrication of bio-based materials, which can transform current technology that is reliant on traditional materials by providing recyclable, biodegradable, and energy-efficient alternatives. Bio-based materials, such as papers and silk textiles, have demonstrated their sustainability over thousands of years. Recent progress in science and engineering has unveiled innovative functionalities and applications of these conventional materials through processes such as regeneration, recombination, and structural modification. This Special Issue is dedicated to exploring the future potential of bio-based materials in various applications interfacing with living systems, such as the human body, plants, soil microbiomes, and food.

The present reprint contains 11 articles accepted for publication and published in the Special Issue From COVID-19 to Resilience: Quantitative Methods in Economics and Business of the MDPI Mathematics journal. These articles cover a wide range of topics analyzing economics and business situations during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. It is hoped that these selected research papers will be found to be impactful by the international scientific community and that these papers will facilitate further research on quantitative techniques for solving complex problems in various disciplines and application fields.

Inland wetlands are among the ecosystems disappearing with the highest rate, although they can offer numerous benefits to humans and their welfare. We have learned that wetlands are not just the treasures of biodiversity and a refuge for many threatened or vulnerable species but are also one of the best tools to mitigate the consequences of climate changes. The significance of this should not be understated if we want to increase the resilience of our cities, communities and civilization to extreme weather events. This Special Issue contains 17 papers presenting a variety of wetland types, species and communities thriving within, discussing their structure, functioning and suitable management practices to preserve them.

The world faces a water crisis that is exacerbated by climate change. With just 3% of Earth's water being freshwater, much of it is inaccessible. Only 0.08% is used by humans, impacting ecosystems. This collection aims to provide solutions, knowledge, and tools for sustainable water resource management. The demand for water, particularly for agriculture, is rising, leading to competition among users. The conservation of freshwater ecosystems is vital. Climate change will further strain water resources, affecting agriculture and soil productivity. This collection of 89 papers offers insights and solutions for global stakeholders, aiding decision-makers in addressing water-related challenges in an ever-changing world.

This Engineering Proceedings reprint is focused on how Industry 4.0 technologies may benefit agri-food supply chains by alleviating socio-economic and environmental challenges. The evolving interdisciplinary research is motivated by aiding Ukraine in the war against Russia.

At present, the world is experiencing global changes that have effects on all social, economic, political, and environmental fields, etc. Climate change, natural hazards, social inequalities, immigration, refugees, and the spread of diseases (COVID-19, etc.) are just some examples of topics addressed by Social Sciences. All of these questions can be dealt with in the field of education at all educational stages (including university). We now are now facing different problems that must be dealt with in Social Sciences classes (mainly those of Geography and History), and that can be linked to the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): "gender equality" (SDG 4), "clean water and sanitation" (SDG 5), "affordable and clean energy" (SDG 6), "reduction of inequalities" (SDG 10), "sustainable cities and communities" (SDG 11), "responsible production and consumption" (SDG 12), "climate action" (SDG 13), "life of terrestrial ecosystems" (SDG 15) and "peace, justice and strong institutions" (SDG 16). This Special Issue aims to answer the following research questions through theoretical and empirical studies: *What are the purposes of teaching History, Geography and Social Sciences in schools today? *What place do social thought formation and social problems have in learning/teaching in Social Sciences?

This reprint presents a global and multidisciplinary approach towards the cultivation of Muslim identities in various socio-political, cultural and geographical contexts. It draws on empirical case studies conducted on Muslim communities in Britain, France, Pakistan, Turkey and Australia. The covered topics include: the identity of Deobandi ulama in contemporary Britain; Muslim loyalty and identity formation in France; the cultural identity of Jafari Shi'is in Turkey; religious attire among male Tablighi adherents in Pakistan; and the question of intra-Muslim dialogue among Australian Muslims. This reprint provides profound insights into how Muslims navigate socio-political pressures and Islamophobia to break stereotypes and assert their religiosity in diverse political settings. The contributions underscore and challenge important questions regarding Muslim loyalty to non-Muslim states, the treatment of Muslim minority groups by governments, the status of intra-Muslim relations, and non-discursive expressions of identity through religious attire.