Bücher veröffentlicht von Mdpi AG

This reprint is the printed edition of the Special Issue published in Materials. The reprint provides an overview on current international research activities in the field of advanced pulse laser machining technology. It covers fundamental and applied aspects and collects contributions of renowned scientists from academics and industries working in the fields of laser processing, materials science, physics, chemistry, and engineering in order to foster the current knowledge and present new ideas for future applications and new technologies.

For centuries, nature has been an inspirational source for the discovery of drugs used in modern medicine. Nowadays, natural-based treatments continue to be employed for primary health care, particularly playing a significant role in folk medicine. In addition, we are currently observing an increasing use of natural-products-based supplements from botanical and marine sources, making their standardization and scientific validation a priority to guarantee the safety of these products. Natural products and/or synthetic derivatives using their novel structures have also been of utmost importance in drug discovery and development in several clinical areas. After a period of discreditation and reduced investment, we are now witnessing a renewed interest from the pharmaceutical industry and scientific community due to the urgent need to develop new drugs. This reprint comprises 11 original and 6 review articles dedicated to plant and marine natural products research, contributing to the scientific validation of their use and opening new perspectives in drug discovery

In recent years, there has been a growing need for both nutritional and healthy foods with superior functional properties. In this line, bioactive compounds are economically available in different foods systems with limitations in quality and functionality.The present Special Issue is placed in this context, and aimed to provide a collection of modern chemical strategies developed with the intent of extracting, characterizing, tracing, or authenticating food bioactive compounds. Original research articles dealing with innovative techniques for the extraction (e.g., green chemistry) of bioactive compounds were welcomed. In addition, when discussing modern analytical methods, the structural characterization and identification of these active components were required. Attention was also devoted to theoretical aspects of the determination of the bioactivity and mechanisms of action of food bioactive compounds, as well as challenging properties for application as drug agents. Review articles providing an overview of the latest trends in this area of interest were also very welcomed.

This reprint focuses on ecosystem observation, simulation and assessment. Ecosystems provide supply, regulation, culture and support services for human beings in addition to overall support human survival and sustainable development. However, driven by multiple factors such as climate change, population growth, urbanization, and exploitation of mineral resources, global problems such as ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss have affected the sustainable development of human beings. Because of this, it has become a hot spot in ecology research to develop basic theories, model methods and technical means for ecosystem observation, simulation and evaluation for the quantitative analysis of the structure, process and function of ecosystems as well as the improvement of the scientific understanding of the changing characteristics and evolution laws of natural ecosystems.

Polymer-processing techniques are of the utmost importance for producing polymeric parts. They must produce parts with the desired qualities, which are usually related to mechanical performance, dimensional conformity, and appearance. Aiming to maximize the overall efficiency of the polymer-processing techniques, advanced modeling codes along with experimental measurements are needed to simulate and optimize the processes.Thus, this reprint exploits the digital transformation of the plastics industry, both through the creation of more robust and accurate modeling tools and the development of cutting-edge experimental techniques. Furthermore, it addresses advanced topics, such as crystallization during the solidification processes, prediction of fiber orientation in the cases of short and long fiber composites, prediction of the foaming process (such as microcellular foaming), and flow instabilities by including viscoelastic constitutive equations.

This Special Issue on MNEs, sustainability, and innovation contains a collection of 13 papers that address several subjects that are on related themes. The authors of these contributions study the boundaries of the previous literature on these relevant topics by providing insightful findings and review, as well as proposals for future research ideas in various contexts. For this Special Issue, we invited both conceptual and (qualitative and quantitative) empirical articles, as well as literature reviews and meta-analysis articles from a range of fields; these included not only business and management, but also sociology, political science, psychology, economics, and economic geography, among others.

Various molecular techniques based on omics (transcriptomics, proteomics, genomics) and phylogenetics have been applied in biological sciences. Molecular dynamics and approaches evolved over time into various quantitative tools that allow researchers from multiple disciplines to design different studies. The molecular-based techniques can be comprehensive and systematic, as they allow identification, resolve genetic differences, molecular docking, and prediction models of ecological niches and taxonomic ranks. Investigating genomics, proteomics, and phylogenetic techniques utilize a novel class of DNA elements, such as microsatellites from mitochondria and chloroplast and retrotransposons, resulting in genetic variations using molecular data. In addition to this, the advantages and limitations of molecular approaches have been well studied and acknowledged. The combination of molecular phylogenetic and omics techniques and expression and pathways analysis may greatly increase our capacity to understand and develop new molecular mechanisms and stress responses in biological systems. Furthermore, these techniques offer extensive opportunities for researchers to develop targeted therapy approaches and disease diagnoses using molecular data. It is necessary to evaluate and explore how data from diverse molecular techniques can be applied to different biological studies. The study and applications of molecular approaches hold significant potential for advancing genomics, proteomics, and phylogenetic techniques in biological sciences.

Sustainable marketing practice is essential for developing a more comprehensive understanding of consumers' purchase decisions in dynamic digital marketing environments. Scholars and practitioners conceive sustainable marketing practices as episodic, predicated on temporal practices in response to emerging digital environments. Consumers are increasingly becoming aware of the ecological issues that their consumption creates in the marketplace.Despite the importance of sustainable practices, when and how sustainability occurs regarding the consumer's purchase decision remains largely unexplored. In part, this is because the practices of sustainability in the emerging computer-mediated marketing environments (CMMEs) are difficult to anticipate and study. Much of what we know about sustainable marketing practice is mainly focused on customer-brand relationships.Prior literature examining sustainable marketing practice through CMMEs remains sparse, despite consistent emphasis on the benefits of sustainable marketing practices in the emerging digital world.

This Special Issue reprint, "Advanced Polymer Nanocomposites II", addresses high-quality original and review papers, focused on the scientific discussion and practical application in the field of functional polymer nanocomposites, including: (a) optoelectronic materials (papers 1-9); (b) biomedical materials (papers 10-14); and (c) other functional polymer nanocomposites (papers 15-23). We hope that this Special Issue reprint can promote academic research exchanges and identify and respond to tremendous challenges of research in this burgeoning field.

Robotics and intelligent systems are key technologies to promote efficient and innovative applications in the most diverse domains (industry, healthcare, agriculture, construction, mobility, etc.), performing and supporting activities that are not suitable to be performed by humans. Such activities are frequently time-consuming, repetitive tasks with low added value, which are physically demanding and/or dangerous. Nevertheless, robotics and intelligent systems face several scientific and technological challenges related to their integration and interoperability with other systems, safety, flexibility, re-configurability and autonomy. These challenges are especially relevant when robots operate in real unstructured environments and share a workspace with humans and other equipment. This book collects research achievements, ideas, and applications regarding advanced intelligent robotic systems, covering diverse technologies and application domains. Generically, the contributions cover optimal path-planning strategies and innovative designs for mobile manipulators, the integration of robotic and intelligent systems, grasping, manipulation, teleoperation, haptics, user experience approaches for collaborative robots, and multi-agent systems.

This reprint is an excellent collection of articles that deal with difficult-to-treat infections in the ICU environment. Multiresistant bacteria and fungi create severe treatment problems to the physician charged with their care. We hope that this book will help everyday dilemmas and add useful information on difficult topics.

In this Special Issue, we aim to represent the vibrant state of protein structure studies at the end of 2021. Recent decades have brought significant changes to the protein structure research field. Thanks to the genome projects and advances in structure determination methods, the number of solved protein structures has increased significantly. Protein structure research is experiencing a new renaissance, and in 2020 the number of deposited structures in the PDB database reached a new record. An assortment of many new frontiers are presented in this collection. A single Special Issue cannot give a comprehensive overview of a large field such as proteins science, but we aim to give a broad overview of current research.

This reprint summarizes the ongoing research on the topic of polymer nanoparticles for different applications. It includes functionalization of graphene, silver, and titanium surface with polymers as electrochemical sensors, and antimicrobial agents. The Special Issue "Polymer nanoparticles: Synthesis and Applications" reviews the latest research in polymeric and functionalized nanoparticles, providing a new platform for development and further research. The reprint helps the researcher to fabricate polymeric nanoparticles and nanocomposites with detailed properties.

Nowadays, there is great pressure on energy conservation and emission reduction. In order to achieve these goals, weight reduction in manufacturing fields, such as the vehicle, marine, and aerospace industries, and microelectromechanical systems is the major trend. Although some structures and parts that require special properties and service conditions must use ferrous materials such as steels due to their superior thermal and wear resistance, there is a desperate need to replace these alloys with non-ferrous materials such as Al alloys, Mg alloys, Ti-based alloys, Cu alloys, and others in order to decrease the operational and maintenance costs. Recently, many new material processing techniques, i.e., irradiation, cryogenic rolling, wet chemical method, induction sintering, liquid/solid casting, heat treatment, electromagnetic hot forming, and five-axis flank milling, have been developed to enhance the performance of non-ferrous materials. Excellent work hardening, fracture toughness, mechanical properties, magnetic properties, and wear resistance could be realized depending on the appropriate application of these new technologies. This Special Issue covers these topics and focuses on the process-structure-properties relationships of high-performance non-ferrous materials.

This book covers works related to research on the environments of coastal zones and inland waters, solving complex and current scientific problems in these areas. Tasks undertaken by the authors address current research trends using contemporary remote sensing techniques and cover various thematic areas or scientific approaches. Some works propose new possibilities of using geospatial data or methods of remote sensing data processing. They include issues related to the use of augmented and virtual reality, object-oriented image analysis, UAV-based photogrammetry, fusion of hydroacoustic and photogrammetric data, spatial interpolation, and geodata reduction techniques. These methods are being developed to support safe navigation in inland waters; low-cost monitoring of underwater objects; creating bathymetric maps and topobathymetric digital models or mapping submerged aquatic vegetation. The papers also focus on improving existing solutions and demonstrate new research approaches, including atmospheric correction, adjacency effects for remotely sensed images, classification of wetland vegetation, as well as determining the speed of sound in shallow waters for hydrography applications. These papers demonstrate the potential of the information contained in the remote sensing data acquired by the various platforms, as well as techniques for image processing based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE).

The aim of this Special Issue is to gather recent advances and development in target tracking techniques to determine how they can be adapted for modern radar and sonar systems. After peer review, 17 articles in related areas have been accepted for publishing in this Special Issue. The published articles cover a range of topics and applications central to target tracking. There are eight papers about general multi-target tracking, including the topics of joint tracking and classification [3], adaptive estimation using clutter measurement probability [6], joint localization and tracking [7], extended target tracking [8], tracking with smoothing [11], DOA tracking [12], tracking under low detection probability [14], and sonar tracking and interception [17]. Three papers address multi-sensor multi-target tracking methods. Specifically, a multi-target estimating method for pulsed radar systems is proposed in [2], a joint dwell time and bandwidth optimization method in a radar network is proposed in [4], a and multiple marine ship tracking method with unknown backgrounds is presented in [9]. There are 2 papers [10,15] on the problem of target assignment in multi-sensor multi-target tracking. Moreover, Mallick et al. considered measures of nonlinearity of a polynomial curve in two dimensions [1], Zhao et al. explored the use of calibration targets for which the positions are known to the MPR system, to counter the loss in target localization accuracy arising from transmitter/receiver position errors [13], and Li et al. proposed an algorithm to apply the frequency diversity technique to passive azimuth estimation in [16].

This reprint focuses on a number of timely and challenging issues in areas that support the design, implementation, and experimental testing of single and multiple autonomous air, land, and marine robots. Special emphasis is placed on the methods and techniques employed for motion planning and control that are rooted in solid theoretical concepts. Applications are also addressed in the area of advanced manipulator control. The reprint affords the reader a well-balanced presentation of a wide spectrum of topics that include, but are not limited to, the generation of optimal collision-free trajectories for heterogeneous vehicles working collaboratively or independently, the rapid adaptation of manipulator trajectories to task perturbations, the automatic collision avoidance for surface vessels, the path following controllers for marine and ground robots, the large-scale swarm counterattack strategies, and the optimal actuator configuration design for over-actuated underwater robots.

This reprint, titled "New approaches to Qur'anic hermeneutics in the Muslim world", discusses the approaches that play significant roles in modern Qur'anic interpretation in the Islamic world. The eleven articles in this reprint demonstrate the richness of resources in Qur'anic hermeneutics in the Muslim World. The authors from different backgrounds and regions have made a great contribution to Qur'anic studies and hermeneutics in the modern period. The following topics are covered throughout the reprint: Decolonizing Qur¿anic Studies, contextualist approach in the modern period and its theoretical origins in the classical Islamic scholarship, Qur'an hermeneutics and historicism (or contextualism in western context) in contemporary Turkey, transempirical exegesis in Said Nursi's Risale-i Nur Collection, F¿dil al-Samarr¿'¿'s (b. 1933) contribution to literary and rhetorical Qur'anic exegesis, Shia scholar Ayatollah Yusuf Sanei's (d.2020) broader jurisprudential approach, Comparative Theology and comparative readings (isr¿'¿liyy¿t and direct Bible citations) in Qur'anic exegesis with special reference to the narrative of Prophet Yäy¿ (John the Baptist) in the Qur'an and the Bible, critique of the concept of naskh (abrogation) in contemporary Qur'¿nic hermeneutics (När ¿¿mid Ab¿ Zayd's critique), thematic interpretation (tafs¿r maw¿¿'¿) in Indonesia in the 2000s, inclusive Islamic interpretations in the light of rationalistic Maturidite theology, and violence and jihad in Islam: From the war of words to the clashes of definitions.

This Special Issue, "Biotechnology Applications of Microalgae", is focused on the latest novel advances related to the production of different bioactive compounds from microalgae and their biotechnological use.

This book includes research papers on different disciplines related to composites. It contains research related to new topics such as nanotubes, fibres, admixtures added in cement and concrete. Additionally self-healing and self-sensing issues are presented. Environmental, and thermal-related topics are also discussed. Studies related to consolidation topics and alkali activation of clays are included. This blend of traditional and modern building materials, all having a common ground, the use of new technologies for improving fresh and harden state properties, make this volume interesting.

A multidisciplinary approach that involves multiple sectors and stakeholders is essential for disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change. This Special Issue explores how interdisciplinary approaches could resolve a wide range of issues, including risk and damage assessment, behavior change, investment, and evidence-based policy formulation.

Knowledge engineering and data mining are fundamental topics in the area of artificial intelligence and knowledge-based systems.This Special Issue covers the entire knowledge engineering pipeline: from data acquisition and data mining to knowledge extraction and exploitation. The reader will find topics including data mining methods, multidimensional data analysis, supervised and unsupervised learning methods, methods of knowledge-based management, language ontologies, ontology learning, and others.

Given the current growth in global challenges, the need for smart agriculture practices and effective strategies is emerging as an imminent issue at a planetary scale. Agriculture 4.0 involves a large variety of mobile apps, web applications, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and platforms, drones, robots, and smart machinery for precision agriculture. The expansion of cloud technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and big data collection are setting the stage for Agriculture 5.0. Agriculture science and natural sciences are further promoting this trend with the development of leading-edge scientific models and platforms, including stochastic, process-based, and data-driven machine learning modeling.This Special Issue covers the most recent and up-to-date progress in all aspects of internet and computer software applications in agriculture, focusing on the development of web applications and mobile apps, smart IoT devices and platforms, AI, ML and DL solutions in precision agriculture for detection, recognition, classification, monitoring, cultivation, harvesting, and marketing; development of cloud technologies for smart agriculture; computer and machine vision methods and applications for drones and smart machinery, and sensors for field operations; diagnostics and data collection; big data science; scientific process-based and stochastic modeling; and machine learning modeling for agriculture, agroecosystems and natural ecosystems. The research in this Special Issue will contribute to the promotion of modern agriculture practices in the current climate and in the future.

This reprint, entitled "Process Control and Smart Manufacturing for Industry 4.0", contains the extended papers from the Series of annual IFSA conferences on Automation, Robotics and Communications for Industry 4.0/5.0 (ARCI) on the following topics: Process Automation, Process Control and Monitoring, Design Principles in Industry 4.0, Smart Manufacturing and Technologies, Smart Factories, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing.The reprint contains 13 chapters written by 54 ARCI conference participants from seven countries: China, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania. This reprint will inform readers of cutting-edge developments in the field and provide effective starting points and a road map for further research and development. All chapters follow the same structure: firstly, an introduction to the specific topic under study; secondly, a description of the field, including sensing or/and measuring applications. Each chapter ends with a curated list of references, including books, journals, conference proceedings and websites."Process Control and Smart Manufacturing for Industry 4.0" is intended for researchers and scientists from academia and industry, as well as for postgraduate students.

This article collection from the Special Issue "Sustainable Processes for the Removing of Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solutions" attempts to summarize the state-of-the-art of current macro-, micro- and nanotechnologies for water purification, discussing their field of application, especially for heavy-metal ion removal. For instance, it presents the recently available information on utilizing different biomass materials for heavy metals removal, highlighting the increasing use of these materials due to their low cost, regeneration ability, high adsorption efficiency, and small chemical or biological sludge with a possibility of metal recovery.

This reprint focuses on fish otoliths, as one of the most useful and important biological structures for fishery scientists and managers around the world. Collected papers cover several different research areas, from the otolith macro- to the microstructure and microchemistry, analyzing different types of otoliths and investigating various freshwater and marine species in their larval, juvenile and adult stages. Special attention is given to different approaches in otolith research and to many practical applications of such studies. The obtained data served to determine the age and growth of individual fish; to study habitat interactions, migration patterns, or habitats that the fish live in; to detect water temperatures or the presence of certain pollutants in the environment; and to reveal all other vital information about the life history of the fish.

Herein we describe some molecular aspects of the recent anti-COVID-19 research, including some approaches making use of natural remedies, especially from medicinal plants, in silico methods, and different experimental procedures that led to the discovery of novel targets of SARS-CoV-2 and consequently novel potential COVID-19 therapeutics. COVID-19 vaccines also find mention in this book with also a description of some adverse effects reported in some cases. Considering that the different beta coronaviruses present certain conserved biomolecular mechanisms and, thus, some common therapeutic targets, finding effective therapies for a specific member of their family (such as SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV) even in a scenario of a reduced impact at the time of the related disease on humankind is still relevant as it could offer or inspire efficacious therapeutic strategies not only in the context of novel pathogenic mutations of the already known beta coronaviruses, but also when future zoonoses caused by other beta coronaviruses will emergence, which is not unlikely to occur in the current world where the interactions between humans and wildlife are made more and more frequent due to the growing loss of intact ecosystems worldwide.

Polymer-processing techniques are of the utmost importance for producing polymeric parts. They must produce parts with the desired qualities, which are usually related to mechanical performance, dimensional conformity, and appearance. Aiming to maximize the overall efficiency of the polymer-processing techniques, advanced modeling codes along with experimental measurements are needed to simulate and optimize the processes.Thus, this reprint exploits the digital transformation of the plastics industry, both through the creation of more robust and accurate modeling tools and the development of cutting-edge experimental techniques. Furthermore, it addresses advanced topics, such as crystallization during the solidification processes, prediction of fiber orientation in the cases of short and long fiber composites, prediction of the foaming process (such as microcellular foaming), and flow instabilities by including viscoelastic constitutive equations.

Hydrologic modeling at the watershed scale is a key topic in the field of hydrology. The hydrological model is an important tool in understanding the impact of climate change and human activities on rainfall-runoff processes, and especially on water resources for human beings in a changing environment. In the last two decades, with the development of satellite remote sensing and artificial intelligence, many new datasets and methods have been introduced into hydrological modeling.Hydrologic modeling at the watershed scale is an important and fundamental research field in hydrology. Therefore, we proposed a Special Issue entitled "Advanced Hydrologic Modeling in Watershed Scales" in Water to publish results regarding the recent progress in hydrological modeling at the watershed scale against global changes. Before the deadline for the submission of manuscripts to this Special Issue, we received many manuscripts regarding hydrological modeling at the watershed scale. In total, ten articles have been published in this Special Issue. Researchers interested in hydrological modeling and the impacts of environmental changes on water resources may be interested in this reprint.

The active molecules or bioactives (i.e., polysaccharides, fatty acids, proteins, polyphenols, diterpenes, steroids and alkaloids) from algae (seaweed and microalgae) have been widely studied in recent years for multiple pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. Innovative and emerging technologies, including but not limited to ultrasounds, microwaves, electric fields, high-pressure supercritical fluids, ionic fluids and plasma, are currently being explored throughout multiple stages of the pre-treatment, extraction, isolation/purification and preservation of biomolecules from algae. This Special Issue will target research papers, reviews, short communications and perspectives on the use of novel technologies for the pre-treatment, extraction, isolation¿purification, characterization and preservation of marine compounds from algae. It will particularly focus on novel research related to algal bioactives with clear and demonstrated industrial applications and focuses.