Books published by Mdpi AG

The food packaging industry is experiencing one of the most relevant revolutions associated with the transition from fossil-based polymers to new materials of renewable origin. However, high production costs, low performance, and ethical issues still hinder the market penetration of bioplastics. Recently, coating technology was proposed as an additional strategy for achieving a more rational use of the materials used within the food packaging sector. According to the packaging optimization concept, the use of multifunctional thin layers would enable the replacement of multi-layer and heavy structures, thus reducing the upstream amount of packaging materials while maintaining (or even improving) the functional properties of the final package to pursue the goal of overall shelf life extension. Concurrently, the increasing requirements among consumers for convenience, smaller package sizes, and for minimally processed, fresh, and healthy foods have necessitated the design of highly sophisticated and engineered coatings. To this end, new chemical pathways, new raw materials (e.g., biopolymers), and non-conventional deposition technologies have been used. Nanotechnology, in particular, paved the way for the development of new architectures and never-before-seen patterns that eventually yielded nanostructured and nanocomposite coatings with outstanding performance. This book covers the most recent advances in the coating technology applied to the food packaging sector, with special emphasis on active coatings and barrier coatings intended for the shelf life extension of perishable foods.

Active (also called "smart") coatings and thin films are defined as those that are capable of sensing their environment and appropriately responding to that external stimulus. This Special Issue "Active Organic and Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Coatings and Thin Films: Challenges, Developments, Perspectives" collected a series of papers that outline the current frontiers in the development of smart coatings and thin films for corrosion and other types of materials applications. The first four papers focus on novel discoveries on coatings with corrosion protection properties. These include environmentally-friendly polyurethane loaded with cerium nitrate corrosion inhibitor for mild steel protection, hot-pressed organic polymer coatings for the protection of pre-treated aluminum alloy surfaces exposed to NaCl aqueous solutions, functional epoxy coating with modified functional TiO2 for steel substrates protection, and hybrid composites against the thermo-oxidative corrosion of the metal parts of the internal combustion engines, turbines, and heaters. The next paper explores the potential of organic polymer/ceramic composite coatings to enhance the scratch resistance of typical floor laminates. The next three papers highlight other types of smart coatings and thin films, including low-temperature curable hybrid dielectric materials for field-effect transistors, bilayer antireflective coatings for optoelectronic devices, and organic polymers as the thin-film component for enthalpy exchanger systems in air conditioning applications. The final two papers focus on important research specific to coatings that serve as protection and preservation cultural heritage materials.

PV power plant integration into the grid has been a relevant topic of interest over the last years. Policies supported by governments, technology maturity, favorable incentives, and cost decreasing have significantly promoted the integration of PV power plants into power systems at the transmission and distribution levels. Nevertheless, some barriers remain in terms of forecasting generation, grid reliability, and power quality, which must be overcome for the massive PV integration into future power systems. Additionally, the ancillary services provided by these generation units are increasingly required by different agents to facilitate grid operation under a high proportion of renewables. Topics of interest for this Special Issue include the following areas: large-scale PV power plants, energy policies related to PV power plants, grid integration and interaction, PV power plant modeling, monitoring and case studies, communication systems for PV power plants integration, economic analyses, PV inverters and sizing analyses, new trends in PV technologies, and reviews.

Plastic anisotropy is a common property of many metallic materials. This property affects the analysis and design of structures and metal forming processes. The present edited collection of papers concerns analytic and numerical methods of structural and metal forming analysis and design using material models for anisotropic materials. Some qualitative features of rigid plastic solutions in anisotropic plasticity are investigated. Both rate-independent and rate-dependent constitutive equations are considered. The effect of plastic anisotropy on the distribution of residual stresses and strains is shown. Some papers deal with thermo-mechanical problems.

The analysis of power systems under various conditions represents one of the most important and complex tasks in electrical power engineering. Studies in this area are necessary to ensure that the reliability, efficiency, and stability of the power system is not adversely affected. This issue is devoted to reviews and applications of modern methods of signal processing used to analyze the operation of a power system and evaluate the performance of the system in all aspects. Smart grids as an emerging research field of the current decade is the focus of this issue. Monitoring capability with data integration, advanced analysis of support system control, enhanced power security and effective communication to meet the power demand, efficient energy consumption and minimum costs, and intelligent interaction between power-generating and -consuming devices depends on the selection and implementation of advanced signal analysis and processing techniques.

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signal transmission has an essential function in embryonic development and tissue repair, and is dysregulated in the vast majority of malignancies studied. The FGF signaling in the tumor cells is usually increased by autocrine and paracrine mechanisms and gives them a high growth potential, resistance to apoptosis, neoangiogenesis and metastasis, all essential parameters relevant for tumor progression. This makes FGFs, and their tyrosine kinase receptors FGFRs, valuable targets for therapeutic interventions. This book is a collection of 15 recent articles-both original work and reviews-that summarize the current research state effectively. The content covers FGF signaling aspects in gastric, skin, liver, esophageal cancer, melanoma, mesothelioma and glioblastoma, including one article that addresses the role of FGF in the tumor-microenvironment cross-talk. Several reports describe the development of compounds targeting FGFRs, their structure and interaction with the receptor molecules, and their effectivity in preclinical and clinical testing. In summary, the papers demonstrate the complexity of the topic, with various FGF ligands and receptors involved and the need for further research. They also present results that fuel hope that targeting cancer with dysfunctional FGF signaling can become a realistic treatment option.

Circular solutions are essential to tackle the eminent challenges of depleting resources and emerging environmental problems. The complex nature of material and energy systems and the changing of economic and technological conditions differ among countries and, therefore, lead to the application of vastly different practices in developed and rapidly developing countries of the world. A wide variety of theoretical approaches can be used to facilitate a shift from the linear use of resources to circular systems, e.g., circular product planning, life cycle planning, sharing and platform economy, refurbishing, and remanufacturing, to name but a few. The introduction and examination of circular solutions can be based on theoretical models in order to guarantee ensure successful application. Successful application of innovative technology approaches, business solutions, and organizational development can be facilitated through theoretical models and new scientific results that support innovation processes. This Special Issue reprint focuses on sustainable and innovative methods which help and enable the proper use and recovery of resources. We present a collection of research papers, reviews, research reports, and case studies that introduce or discuss circular solutions for the sustainable use of resources.

Applied functional analysis has an extensive history. In the last century, this field has often been used in physical sciences, such as wave and heat phenomena. In recent decades, with the development of nonlinear functional analysis, this field has been used to model a variety of engineering, medical, and computer sciences. Two of the most significant issues in this area are modeling and optimization. Thus, we consider some recently published works on fixed point, variational inequalities, and optimization problems. These works could lead readers to obtain new novelties and familiarize them with some applications of this area.

Plants provide the foundation for the structure and function, as well as interactions, among organisms in both tropical and temperate zone habitats. To date, many investigations have revealed patterns and mechanisms generating plant diversity at various scales and from diverse ecological perspectives. However, in the era of climate change, anthropogenic disturbance, and rapid urbanization, new insights are needed to understand how plant species in these forest habitats are changing and adapting. Investigations of plants in both little-disturbed, more natural environments, as well as in urban areas in which crucial green infrastructure is ever more important for sustaining complex human societies are needed. This Special Issue of Forests will focus on plant variation from the perspectives of morphology, genetics, and function, especially plant interactions with biotic and abiotic factors. Research articles may address any aspect of plant evolution and community phylogenetics (explorations of patterns and mechanisms from diverse organismal levels, e.g., molecular, population, species, community, landscape, and ecosystem), plant functional traits (e.g., nutrient traits of leaf, stem, root; reproductive traits of flower, fruit, seed), and/or responses of plant species to changing environments (e.g., water, atmosphere, soil, human activities). Studies providing quantitative evaluation or description of interactions of plants with animals and microbes, both in natural and urban environments, including terrestrial and aquatic systems, are also welcome.

Zinc-dependent matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) belong to metzincins that comprise not only 23 human MMPs but also other metalloproteinases, such as 21 human ADAMs (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain) and 19 secreted ADAMTSs (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase thrombospondin domain). The many setbacks from the clinical trials of broad-spectrum MMP inhibitors for cancer indications in the late 1990s emphasized the extreme complexity of the participation of these proteolytic enzymes in biology. This editorial mini-review summarizes the Special Issue, which includes four review articles and 10 original articles that highlight the versatile roles of MMPs, ADAMs, and ADAMTSs, in normal physiology as well as in neoplastic and destructive processes in tissue. In addition, we briefly discuss the unambiguous involvement of MMPs in wound healing.

Flow analysis is an automatic, precise and fast way to perform analytical tests. Flow instruments are used for clinical and pharmaceutical analyses, quality control of industrial products, monitoring of environmental pollution and many other fields. The book presents the latest methodological, technical and instrumental achievements in flow analysis. It shows new possibilities for the miniaturization and full mechanization of flow systems, together with examples of their interesting application. The proposed solutions contribute to reducing the amount of used reagents and waste, as well as increasing the safety of working with hazardous reagents, resulting in modern devices operating in accordance with the principles of green chemistry. A number of innovative methods of processing and measuring analytical samples have also been described. The book very well reflects the current state of flow analysis and development directions.

"AI and the Technological Singularity: A Fallacy or a Great Opportunity" is a collection of essays that addresses the question of whether the technological singularity-the notion that AI-based computers can program the next generation of AI-based computers until a singularity is achieved, where an AI-based computer can exceed human intelligence-is a fallacy or a great opportunity. The group of scholars that address this question have a variety of positions on the singularity, ranging from advocates to skeptics. No conclusion can be reached, as the development of artificial intelligence is still in its infancy, and there is much wishful thinking and imagination in this issue rather than trustworthy data. The reader will find a cogent summary of the issues faced by researchers who are working to develop the field of artificial intelligence and, in particular, artificial general intelligence. The only conclusion that can be reached is that there exists a variety of well-argued positions as to where AI research is headed.

The work published in this book is related to the application of advanced signal processing in smart grids, including power quality, data management, stability and economic management in presence of renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles. The distinct architecture of smart grids has prompted investigations into the use of advanced algorithms combined with signal processing methods to provide optimal results. The presented applications are focused on data management with cloud computing, power quality assessment, photovoltaic power plant control, and electrical vehicle charge stations, all supported by modern AI-based optimization methods.

The next healthcare revolution will apply regenerative medicines using human cells and tissues. The aim of the regenerative medicine approach is to create biological therapies or substitutes in vitro for the replacement or restoration of tissue function in vivo lost through failure or disease. However, whilst science has revealed the potential, and early products have shown the power of such therapies, there is an immediate and long-term need for expertise with the necessary skills to face the engineering and life science challenges before the predicted benefits in human healthcare can be realized. Specifically, there is a need for the development of bioprocess technology for the successful transfer of laboratory-based practice of stem cell and tissue culture to the clinic as therapeutics through the application of engineering principles and practices. This Special Issue of Bioengineering on Stem Cell Bioprocessing and Manufacturing addresses the central role in defining the engineering sciences of cell-based therapies, by bringing together contributions from worldwide experts on stem cell biology and engineering, bioreactor design and bioprocess development, scale-up, and manufacturing of stem cell-based therapies.

Bladder cancer is the second most common genitourinary malignancy, with 81,190 estimated new diagnoses in 2018, in the United States alone. Transurethral resection of the bladder and radical cystectomy with bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection constitute the standard treatment for non-muscle invasive or very high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, respectively. However, survival expectations have not shown to improve in the last 20 years, and new diagnostic and therapeutic tools are urgently needed to improve the outcomes of this potentially lethal disease.

Even in ancient times, semi-solid preparations for cutaneous application, popularly known as ointments, played an important role in human society. An advanced scientific investigation of "ointments" as dosage forms was initiated in the 1950s. It was only from then on that the intensive physico-chemical characterization of ointments as well as the inclusion of dermatological aspects led to a comprehensive understanding of the various interactions between the vehicle, the active ingredient and the skin. From then on, many researchers were involved in optimizing semi-solid formulations with respect to continuously changing therapeutic and patient needs. Aspects that have been dealt with were the optimization of dermato-biopharmaceutical properties and many different issues related to patient compliance, such as skin tolerance, applicability, and cosmetic appeal. Moreover, processing technology has been improved and analytical techniques were developed and refined in order to enable the improved characterization of the formulation itself as well as its interaction with the skin. This Special Issue serves to highlight and capture the contemporary progress and current research on semi-solid formulations as dermal drug delivery systems. We invite articles on all aspects of semi-solid formulations, highlighting the research currently undertaken to improve and better understand these complex drug delivery systems with respect to their formulation, processing and characterization issues.

Health is defined as "the state of the organism when it functions optimally without evidence of disease". Surprisingly, the words "microbes" or "microorganism" are missing in this definition. The regulation of gut microbiota is mediated by an enormous quantity of aspects, such as microbiological factors, host characteristics, diet patterns, and environmental variables. Some protective, structural, and metabolic functions have been reported for gut microbiota, and these functions are related to the regulation of homeostasis and host health. Host defense against pathogens is, in part, mediated through gut microbiota action and requires intimate interpretation of the current microenvironment and discrimination between commensal and occasional bacteria. The present Special Issue provides a summary of the progress on the topic of intestinal microbiota and its important role in human health in different populations. This Special Issue will be of great interest from a clinical and public health perspective. Nevertheless, more studies with more samples and comparable methods are necessary to understand the actual function of intestinal microbiota in disease development and health maintenance.

Five years of Separations are celebrated by a collection of ten feature articles: one review and nine research articles on topics of current interest. Applications of Gas Chromatography for the Analysis of Tricyclic Antidepressants in Biological Matrices are presented focusing on novel extraction techniques and novel materials used for sample preparation due to the great demand for method development for the determination of TCAs in biofluids, especially for therapeutic drug monitoring. Original research articles include the following: 1. Insights into the Mechanism of Separation of Bisphosphonates by Zwitterionic Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography: Application to the Quantitation of Risedronate in Pharmaceuticals. 2. A method based on micro-matrix solid-phase dispersion (μ-MSPD) followed by gas-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), developed to analyze UV filters in personal care products. 3. The performance of a vibratory shear-enhanced process (VSEP) combined with an appropriate membrane unit for the treatment of simulated or industrial tannery wastewaters. 4. A method for the analysis of thyroid hormones by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry that was used for the dissolution testing of single- and dual-component thyroid hormone supplements via a two-stage biorelevant dissolution procedure. 5. A method involving the collection and determination of organic and inorganic gunshot residues on hands using online in-tube solid-phase microextraction (IT-SPME) coupled to miniaturized capillary liquid chromatography with diode array detection (CapLC-DAD) and scanning electron microscopy coupled to energy dispersion X-ray (SEM-EDX), respectively, for quantifying both residues. 6. The gas chromatographic retention behavior of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylated PAHs on a new ionic liquid stationary phase, 1,12-di(tripropylphosphonium) dodecane bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (SLB®-ILPAH) intended for the separation of PAH mixtures, which was compared with the elution pattern on more traditional stationary phases: a non-polar phenyl arylene (DB-5ms) and a semipolar 50% phenyl dimethyl siloxane (SLB PAHms) column. 7. The Multiple-Stage Precursor Ion Separation and High Resolution Mass Spectrometry toward Structural Characterization of 2,3-Diacyltrehalose Family from Mycobacterium tuberculosis 8. The use of micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) for studying the hydrophobic character of modified Monomethyl Auristatin E derivatives, as Novel Candidates for the Design of Antibody-Drug Conjugates, which are promising state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical drugs for selective drug-delivery applications and the treatment of diseases such as cancer. 9. The use of recycled diatomaceous earth as the extraction phase in solid phase microextraction (SPME) technique for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in river water samples, with separation/detection performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

The sustainable development of our planet depends on the use of energy. The growing population of the world inevitably causes an increase in the demand for energy, which, on the one hand, threatens the potential for shortages of energy supply, and, on the other hand, causes the deterioration of the environment.Therefore, our task is to reduce this demand through different innovative solutions (i.e., both technological and social). Social marketing and economic policies can also play a role in affecting the behavior of households and companies, by causing behavioral change oriented to energy stewardship, and an overall switch to renewable energy resources. This book provides a platform for the exchange of a wide range of ideas, which, ultimately, would facilitate the driving of societies to long-term energy efficiency.

The open access journal Micromachines invites manuscript submissions for the Special Issue "Silicon Photonics Bloom". The past two decades have witnessed a tremendous growth of silicon photonics. Lab-scale research on simple passive component designs is now being expanded by on-chip hybrid systems architectures. With the recent injection of government and private funding, we are living the 1980s of the electronic industry, when the first merchant foundries were established. Soon, we will see more and more merchant foundries proposing well-established electronic design tools, product development kits, and mature component libraries. The open access journal Micromachines invites the submission of manuscripts in the developing area of silicon photonics. The goal of this Special Issue is to highlight the recent developments in this cutting-edge technology.]

This volume consists of a collection of 14 accepted submissions (including several invited feature articles) to the Special Issue of MDPI''s journal Symmetry on the general subject area of integral transformations, operational calculus and their applications from many different parts around the world. The main objective of the Special Issue was to gather review, expository, and original research articles dealing with the state-of-the-art advances in integral transformations and operational calculus as well as their multidisciplinary applications, together with some relevance to the aspect of symmetry. Various families of fractional-order integrals and derivatives have been found to be remarkably important and fruitful, mainly due to their demonstrated applications in numerous diverse and widespread areas of mathematical, physical, chemical, engineering, and statistical sciences. Many of these fractional-order operators provide potentially useful tools for solving ordinary and partial differential equations, as well as integral, differintegral, and integro-differential equations; fractional-calculus analogues and extensions of each of these equations; and various other problems involving special functions of mathematical physics and applied mathematics, as well as their extensions and generalizations in one or more variables.

This book presents collective works published in the recent Special Issue (SI) entitled "Aero/Hydrodynamics and Symmetry". These works address the existence of symmetry and its breakdown in aero-/hydro-dynamics and their related applications. The presented problems are complex nonlinear, non-Newtonian fluid flow problems that are (in some cases) coupled with heat transfer, phase change, nanofluidic, and magnetohydrodynamics phenomena. The applications vary and range from polymer chain transfer in micro-channel to the evaluation of vertical axis wind turbines, as well as autonomous underwater hovering vehicles. Recent advances in numerical, theoretical, and experimental methodologies, as well as finding new physics, new methodological developments, and their limitations are presented within the scope of the current book. Among others, in the presented works, special attention is paid to validation and improving the accuracy of the presented methodologies. This book brings together a collection of inter-/multi-disciplinary works applied to many engineering applications in a coherent manner.

Complex systems with symmetry arise in many fields, at various length scales, including financial markets, social, transportation, telecommunication and power grid networks, world and country economies, ecosystems, molecular dynamics, immunology, living organisms, computational systems, and celestial and continuum mechanics. The emergence of new orders and structures in complex systems means symmetry breaking and transitions from unstable to stable states. Modeling complexity has attracted many researchers from different areas, dealing both with theoretical concepts and practical applications. This Special Issue fills the gap between the theory of symmetry-based dynamics and its application to model and analyze complex systems.

It is very well known that differential equations are related with the rise of physical science in the last several decades and they are used successfully for models of real-world problems in a variety of fields from several disciplines. Additionally, difference equations represent the discrete analogues of differential equations. These types of equations started to be used intensively during the last several years for their multiple applications, particularly in complex chaotic behavior. A certain class of differential and related difference equations is represented by their respective fractional forms, which have been utilized to better describe non-local phenomena appearing in all branches of science and engineering. The purpose of this book is to present some common results given by mathematicians together with physicists, engineers, as well as other scientists, for whom differential and difference equations are valuable research tools. The reported results can be used by researchers and academics working in both pure and applied differential equations.

The book deals with mycotoxins, their presence in various types of food, and how to prevent their presence in food . In addition to well-known molecules, such as aflatoxins or fumonisins, some contributors have dealt with emerging mycotoxins (e.g., alternaria toxins, botryodiplodin). Readers of the book can also find a new approach to reducing aflatoxins and fumonisins in food. In conclusion, the book presents both new mycotoxins and new information on old mycotoxins.

Advances in miniaturization of sensors, actuators, and smart systems are receiving substantial industrial attention, and a wide variety of transducers are commercially available or with high potential to impact emerging markets. Substituting existing products based on bulk materials, in fields such as automotive, environment, food, robotics, medicine, biotechnology, communications, and other technologies, with reduced size, lower cost, and higher performance, is now possible, with potential for manufacturing using advanced silicon integrated circuits technology or alternative additive techniques from the mili- to the nano-scale. In this Special Issue, which is focused on piezoelectric transducers, a wide range of topics are covered, including the design, fabrication, characterization, packaging, and system integration or final applications of mili/micro/nano-electro-mechanical systems based transducers.

When the domestic government, the private sector, and people in various professional fields talk about long-term care issues, they all focus on creating a warm and home-like care institution. However, we actively emphasize the importance of community-based long-term care. For "aging in place", the development of domestic non-institutional care is still in its infancy, and some long-term care needs must still be met through institutional care, and the facilitation of the extension or outreach of community-based care and respite service platforms for the development of community-based long-term care still rely on institutional care. The history of the development of long-term care in Taiwan is much shorter than that of Japan, Europe, the United States, and Canada. Despite years of hard work and rapid development, the long-term care resources needed to establish a complete system in terms of universalization, fairness, accessibility, and selectivity are not available. In the future, based on the soundness of institutional care, it hoped that outreach will move toward the goals of community care and aging in place. We hope the studies in this Special Issue will help further develop clinical medicine for healthcare and stainability.

The stratospheric ozone is important for the protection of the biosphere from the dangerous ultraviolet radiation of the sun, forms the temperature and dynamical structure of the stratosphere, and, therefore, has a direct influence on the general circulation and the surface climate. The tropospheric ozone can damage the biosphere, impact human health, and plays a role as a powerful greenhouse gas. That is why the understanding of the past and future evolution of the ozone in different atmospheric layers, as well as its influence on surface UV radiation doses, and human health is important. The problems of preventing further destruction of the ozone layer, the restoration of the ozone shield in the future, and air quality remain important for society. The interest in these problems was recently enhanced by the unexpected discovery of a negative ozone trend in the lower stratosphere and the appearance of a large ozone hole over the Arctic in spring 2020. This book includes papers describing several aspects of the ozone layer''s state and evolution based on the recent experimental, statistical, and modeling works. The book will be useful for readers, scientists, and students interested in environmental science.