Books published by Mdpi AG

Nutraceuticals are a challenge for the future of prevention and therapy in healthcare. The possibility to prevent and/or support pharmacological therapy, which is nowadays mainly based on pharmaceuticals, can be a powerful tool to face pathological, chronic, long-term diseases in subjects who do not qualify for a pharmacological therapy. Nutraceuticals are obtained from vegetal or animal origin foods, and prospective research on these products will clarify their role, safety and efficacy by substantiating their role with clinical data. An effort to clarify their mechanism of action will open a door to the next generation of therapeutic agents that do not propose themselves as an alternative to drugs, but, instead, can be helpful to complement a pharmacological therapy, and to prevent the onset of chronical diseases. The market as well as the interest of people in naturally-derived remedies and less synthetic pharmaceuticals is growing, and the attention of the collective public imagination is nowadays more strongly focused on these food-derived products. This Special Issue is dedicated to the role of and perspectives on nutraceuticals in human health, examined from different angles ranging from analytical aspects to clinical trials, and from efficacy studies to beneficial effects on health conditions.

Salt (NaCl) is a key component of the human diet because it provides the sodium ion (Na+), an essential mineral for our body. Na+ regulates extracellular fluid volume and plays a key role in many physiological processes, such as the generation of nerve impulses. Na+ is lost continuously through the kidneys, intestine, and sweating. Thus, to maintain proper bodily balance, losses have to be balanced with foods containing this cation. The need for salt explains our ability to detect Na+ in foodstuffs: Na+ elicits a specific taste sensation called "salty", and gustatory sensitivity to this cation is crucial for regulating its intake. Indeed, the widespread use of salt in food products for flavoring and to improve their palatability exploits our sense of taste for Na+. When consumed in excess, however, salt might be detrimental to health because it may determine an increase in blood pressure-a major risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases. Understanding how salt taste works and how it affects food preference and consumption is therefore of paramount importance for improving human nutrition. This book comprises cutting-edge research dealing with salt taste mechanisms relevant for nutrition and health.

Disordered proteins are relatively recent newcomers in protein science. They were first described in detail by Wright and Dyson, in their J. Mol. Biol. paper in 1999. First, it was generally thought for more than a decade that disordered proteins or disordered parts of proteins have different amino acid compositions than folded proteins, and various prediction methods were developed based on this principle. These methods were suitable for distinguishing between the disordered (unstructured) and structured proteins known at that time. In addition, they could predict the site where a folded protein binds to the disordered part of a protein, shaping the latter into a well-defined 3D structure. Recently, however, evidence has emerged for a new type of disordered protein family whose members can undergo coupled folding and binding without the involvement of any folded proteins. Instead, they interact with each other, stabilizing their structure via "mutual synergistic folding" and, surprisingly, they exhibit the same residue composition as the folded protein. Increasingly more examples have been found where disordered proteins interact with non-protein macromolecules, adding to the already large variety of protein-protein interactions. There is also a very new phenomenon when proteins are involved in phase separation, which can represent a weak but functionally important macromolecular interaction. These phenomena are presented and discussed in the chapters of this book.

The management of cultural heritage and public real-estate assets is one of the most crucial challenges concerning the sustainable use of these resources, involving dynamic methods to stimulate preservation, development, renewal, and transmission to future generations of these essential assets. The contributions presented in this book provide a rich and varied panorama of research experiences and innovative tools, capable of promoting the re-use of cultural heritage in European cities and cultural landscapes, using a circular economy logic as a model of sustainable development. From this point of view, cultural capital becomes the driver of a regeneration process on the local, urban, and metropolitan scales, in which the transversal interconnections between the production cycles of the adaptive re-use of the available heritage, both in the adaptation and in the management phase, configure a circular process of multidimensional production of value. Therefore, future territorial redevelopment projects can base their idea strength on an open system of appropriately selected social attractors, whose enhancement and use have the objective of triggering widespread regeneration effects on the whole territory of influence, receiving inducement and resources to progress.

The world of laser matter interaction has known great and rapid advancements in the last few years, with a considerable increase in the number of both experimental and theoretical studies. The classical paradigm used to describe the dynamics of laser produced plasmas has been challenged by new peculiar phenomena observed experimentally, like plasma particles'' oscillations, plume splitting and self-structuring behavior during the expansion of the ejected particles. The use of multiple complementary techniques has become a requirement nowadays, as different aspects can be showcased by specific experimental approaches. To balance these non-linear effects and still remain tributary to the classical theoretical, views on laser produced plasma dynamics novel theoretical models that cover the two sides of the ablation plasma (differentiability and non-differentiability) still need to be developed. Plasma is a strongly nonlinear dynamic system, with many degrees of freedom and other symmetries, favorable for the development of ordered structures, instabilities and transitions (from ordered to chaotic states). In such contexts, we showcased research based on global and local symmetries, complexity and invariance. This special number highlighted exciting new phenomena related to laser produced plasma dynamics with the implementation of theoretical models, towards understanding the complex reality of laser matter interaction.

ROS were long considered one of the key players in tissue injury. Indeed, overproduction of ROS results in oxidative stress, a process leading to the development of many pathological conditions. For the treatment of these conditions, the use of antioxidants was proposed. Over time, it was shown that ROS at low concentrations act as signaling molecules, leading to the regulation of physiological functions. Moreover, several interventions that increase ROS generation activate stress-adaptive responses that extend the lifespan. It was also shown that excessive use of antioxidants can counter the beneficial effects of ROS. Currently, much progress has been made in understanding the role of ROS in human diseases and aging, as well as in the regulation of physiological functions, and in identifying the signaling pathways involved in ROS. However, much remains to be understood about the mutual interactions among signaling pathways underlying organisms'' adaptive responses, their modifications (which occur during aging), and some disease states. The aim of this Special Issue is to underline the effects of ROS production and antioxidant treatment in living organisms, focusing on their impact on health, disease, and aging.

Electromagnetic (EM) waves carry energy through propagation in space. This radiation associates with entangled electric and magnetic fields which must exist simultaneously. Although all EM waves travel at the speed of light in vacuum, they cover a wide range of frequencies called the EM spectrum. The various portions of the EM spectrum are referred to by various names based on their different attributes in the emission, transmission, and absorption of the corresponding waves and also based on their different practical applications. There are no certain boundaries separating these various portions, and the ranges tend to overlap. Overall, the EM spectrum, from the lowest to the highest frequency (longest to shortest wavelength) contains the following waves: radio frequency (RF), microwaves, millimeter waves, terahertz, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays. This Special Issue consists of sixteen papers covering a broad range of topics related to the applications of EM waves, from the design of filters and antennas for wireless communications to biomedical imaging and sensing and beyond.

Migration has become a structural part of the globalized society in which we live and, as such, it is essential to determine the causes and effects it produces in the involved social groups. Sociolinguistics has a very important role to play in this respect, insofar as its object of study focuses precisely on the analysis of the interrelationships between the linguistic and the social dimensions. This volume presents a series of proposals that involve theoretical approaches, models, and applications related to the process of sociolinguistic integration in contact situations arising from migration. The volume includes studies of general interest which present models and theoretical foundations for the analysis of this process of integration, as well as others which focus on other more specific aspects, such as how migration influences the construction of individual identity, emotional and affective factors in the preservation of the heritage language, and the processes of interlingual convergence that take place in situations of migratory contact. This volume also contains the didactic dimension applied to the immigrant population, with proposals for teaching with proven effectiveness.

Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics has a long history featuring diverse aspects. It has been a major research field in physics and will remain so in the future. Even regarding the concept of entropy, there exists a longstanding problem concerning its definition for a system in a state far from equilibrium. In this Special Issue, we offered the possibility to discuss and present up-to-date problems that were not necessarily restricted to statistical mechanics. Theoretical and experimental papers are both presented, in addition to unifying research works. As the entropy itself is the central element of nonequilibrium processes, papers discuss various formulations of the second law and its consequences. In this Special Issue, recent progress in kinetic approaches to hydrodynamics, rational extended thermodynamics, entropy in a strongly nonequilibrium stationary state, and related topics are reported as both review articles as well as original research works.

Catalysis, in the industrial production of chemicals, fuels, and materials, accounts for more than half of gross material production worldwide. Heterogeneous catalysis enables fast and selective chemical transformations, resulting in superior product yield and facilitating catalyst separation and recovery. The synthesis of novel catalysts has emerged as a hot topic for process and product development with numerous research publications and patents. Hence, development of efficient catalysts and their applications is important for sustainable energy production and use, green chemicals production and use, and economic growth. This Special Issue discusses recent developments related to catalysis for the production of sustainable fuels and chemicals and traverses many new frontiers of catalysis including synthesis, characterization, catalytic performances, reaction kinetics and modelling, as well as applications of catalysts for the production of biofuels, synthesis gas, and other green products. This covers the current state-of-the-art catalysis research applied to bioenergy, organic transformation, carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatoms, reforming, hydrogenation, hydrodesulfurization, hydrodenitrogenation, hydrodemetalization, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, to name a few. This book highlights new avenues in catalysis including catalyst preparation methods, analytical tools for catalyst characterization, and techno-economic assessment to enhance a chemical or biological transformation process using catalysts for a betterment of industry, academia and society.

Photovoltaic (PV) cells, which directly convert sunlight into electricity, are renewable sources of energy that are sustainable and totally inexhaustible. Emerging classes of solar PV cells have drawn considerable attention because they provide significant advantages over traditional silicon solar cells, such as low cost and attractive designs (lightweight, flexible, and portable) while exhibiting promising performance. Despite these features, certain challenges restrict the possible commercialization of these technologies. The world''s leading scientists are making numerous efforts focused on bringing these promising technologies closer to commercialization. Some of these scientists provided valuable research contributions to this Special Issue on "Advances in Emerging Solar Cells" published by Nanomaterials, MDPI. This Special Issue presents 12 excellent articles, 10 research and 2 review papers, covering perovskite solar cells, heterojunction solar cells, organic solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, and PV materials. We think that this Special Issue will attract significant attention from a broad research community including renewable energy, photovoltaic, emerging solar cells, material science and nanotechnology.

This eBook focuses on current progress in understanding the role of chromatin structure, its modifications and remodeling in developmental and physiological processes. Eukaryotic genomes are packed into the supramolecular nucleoprotein structure of chromatin. Therefore, our understanding of processes such as DNA replication and repair, transcription, and cell differentiation requires an understanding of the structure and function of chromatin. While the nucleotide sequence of the DNA component of chromatin constitutes the genetic material of the cell, the other chromatin components (and also modifications of bases in the DNA itself) participate in so-called epigenetic processes. These processes are essential, e.g., in ontogenesis or adaptation to environmental changes. Therefore, epigenetics is particularly important (and elaborated) in plants that show a high developmental plasticity and, as sessile organisms, display an enormous capacity to cope with environmental stress. In these processes, epigenetic mechanisms show a crosstalk with plant signaling pathways mediated by phytohormones and redox components. You are welcome to read examples of current research and review articles in this hot research topic.

The agricultural community is face with the challenge of increasing food production by more than 70% to meet demand from the global population increase by the mid-21st century. Sustainable food production involves the sustained availability of resources, such as water and energy, to agriculture. The key challenges to sustainable food production are population increase, increasing demands for food, climate change, climate variability, and decreasing per capita land and water resources. To discuss more details on (a) the challenges for sustainable food production and (b) mitigation options available, a Special Issue on "Water Management for Sustainable Food Production" was assembled. This Special Issue focused on issues such as irrigation using brackish water, virtual water trade, allocation of water resources, consequences of excess precipitation on crop yields, strategies to increase water productivity, rainwater harvesting, irrigation water management, deficit irrigation, fertilization, environmental and socio-economic impacts, and irrigation water quality. The articles in the Special Issue cover several water-related issues across the U.S., Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan concerning sustainable food production. The articles in this Special Issue highlight the substantial impacts on agricultural production, water availability, and water quality in the face of increasing demands for food and energy.

Antiviral agents are used for the treatment of viral diseases. Antiviral drugs have been successfully developed and used clinically for a limited number of important human viral diseases notably caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), herpes, and influenza viruses. Despite the successes of these antiviral drugs, issues with drug resistance and toxicity remain challenging. These challenges are driving research to identify new drug candidates and to investigate novel drug targets to develop new mechanistic drug classes. Antiviral agents are not available against many viruses that cause human disease and economic burdens; in particular, the development of antiviral agents against emerging, re-emerging, and neglected viruses is increasingly becoming a priority. This book includes six review articles that discuss new antiviral strategies. The reviews either discuss advances relating to a specific virus or new therapeutic targets and approaches. The book includes 15 original research articles reporting new antiviral agents against a variety of clinically and economically important viruses and studies into the prevalence or acquisition of drug resistance. Overall, this book is an exciting collection of new research and ideas relating to the development of antiviral agents.

This Special Issue comprises selected papers from the proceedings of the 5th International Electronic Conference on Sensors and Applications, held on 15-30 November 2018, on sciforum.net, an online platform for hosting scholarly e-conferences and discussion groups. In this 5th edition of the electronic conference, contributors were invited to provide papers and presentations from the field of sensors and applications at large, resulting in a wide variety of excellent submissions and topic areas. Papers which attracted the most interest on the web or that provided a particularly innovative contribution were selected for publication in this collection. These peer-reviewed papers are published with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications. We hope this conference series will grow rapidly in the future and become recognized as a new way and venue by which to (electronically) present new developments related to the field of sensors and their applications.

Improved understanding of the cellular and molecular makeup of tumors in the last 30 years has unraveled a previously unexpected level of heterogeneity among tumor cells as well as within the tumor microenvironment. The concept of tumor heterogeneity underlines the realization that different tumors can display significant differences in their genomic content as well as in their overall behavior. Our capacity to better understand the heterogeneous make up of tumors has very important consequences on our ability to design efficient therapeutic strategies to improve patient survival. This book highlights several aspects of tumor heterogeneity in the context of metastatic development and summarize some of the challenges posed by heterogeneity for tumor diagnostics and therapeutic management of tumors.

Calcium is the main mineral in the body, involved in a variety of structural and functional roles. The maintenance of calcium homeostasis is perhaps the most studied function of vitamin D. This Special Issue of Nutrients, "Calcium, Vitamin D and Health" contains 12 original publications and two reviews investigating the contribution of (mainly) vitamin D and calcium on relevant health outcomes in a variety of populations, which reflect the evolving and broad interest of researchers on this topic.

With the rapid development of nanotechnology, nanomaterials have been widely applied in many industrial sectors, including medicine, consumer products, and electronics. While such technology has brought benefits and convenience to our daily lives, it may also potentially threaten human health. In some cases, nanomaterials present unexpected risks to both humans and the environment. Assessments of the potential hazards associated with nanotechnology have been emerging, but substantial challenges remain, because the large number of different nanomaterials cannot be effectively evaluated in a timely manner. The development of a good strategy for a nanomaterials hazard assessment not only promotes the more widespread adoption of non-rodent or 3Rs principles, but also makes nanotoxicology testing more ethical, relevant, and cost- and time-efficient. A thorough understanding of the mechanisms by which nanomaterials perturb biological systems is critical for a more comprehensive elucidation of their nanotoxicity, and this will also facilitate the development of prevention and intervention policies against adverse outcomes induced by them. We hope that the articles included in this eBook can provide updated knowledge on nanotoxicology and nanosafety, from the point of view of both toxicology and ecotoxicology.

Nowadays, all scientists recognize that fluorescent probes play important roles in wide research areas, from chemistry to biology. By combining this fact with specific functional benefits from synthetic polymers, fluorescent polymeric probes are occasionally superior to small organic and inorganic fluorescent (or luminescent) probes in terms of sensitivity, robustness, and multiple functionality. The targets of fluorescent polymeric probes have extended from chemical species to physical parameter. This special issue is a platform for researches to develop a novel fluorescent polymeric probe and to establish a new analytical method using a conventional fluorescent polymeric probe. Related researches, e.g., fluorometric investigation of functional polymers, are also included.

Due to the increased capabilities of microprocessors and the advent of graphics processing units (GPUs) in recent decades, the use of machine learning methodologies has become popular in many fields of science and technology. This fact, together with the availability of large amounts of information, has meant that machine learning and Big Data have an important presence in the field of Energy. This Special Issue entitled "Predicting the Future-Big Data and Machine Learning" is focused on applications of machine learning methodologies in the field of energy. Topics include but are not limited to the following: big data architectures of power supply systems, energy-saving and efficiency models, environmental effects of energy consumption, prediction of occupational health and safety outcomes in the energy industry, price forecast prediction of raw materials, and energy management of smart buildings.

Our senses shape our reality and allow us to adapt to the everlasting changing environment. From all sensory modalities, olfaction is maybe the most intriguing one, probably because olfactory information influences our daily life without us even noticing. However, we can all relate to the powerful impact that the smell of our favorite food has on us. Likewise, olfactory cues could be determinants for partner selection (because love can be blind but not anosmic), mood regulation and cognition. Furthermore, recent studies link early olfactory dysfunctions to the occurrence of devastating pathologies, such as Alzheimer┬┤s and Parkinson┬┤s. Thus, the study of olfaction, at different levels from genetics to behavior, will pave the way for a better understanding of brain processes and associated disorders.

This book is a collection of state-of-the-art research works in the field of materials science. Specifically, the works deal with issues related to the welding, joining and coating of metallic materials. These methods are known as main processes in the field of metallurgy, and are usually applied in order to solve complex problems of joining metals or the fabrication of metallic surfaces with required properties and performance. The focus of this book is on metals such as aluminum, magnesium, titanium, various types of steel, intermetallics and shape memory alloys. These scientific works address microstructural evaluation, as well as the performance of the produced joints and coatings. Scientists from all over the globe have presented novel advances and possible solutions for metallic materials joints and coatings for applications in the automotive, aerospace, chemical and medical industries, among others.

Farmland abandonment is one of the major land use changes occurring in many rural territories, especially in mountainous regions. Without intervention (passive land management), farmland abandonment leads to an expansion of shrubs and forest on formerly cultivated hillslopes and grazing areas. All these land use changes affect the hydrological and geomorphological dynamics of slopes and channels, having important implications for water resources and soil conservation. However, the heterogeneity of abandoned scenarios complicates the assessment of farmland abandonment on water resources and soil conservation. In this Special Issue, we will publish papers that examine the hydrological and geomorphological consequences of farmland abandonment in one (or several) of these abandoned scenarios. Our final purpose is to help water and land managers to select the most sustainable strategy (in terms of water resources and soil conservation) for the land management of marginal rural areas.

Changing the temperature of a substance can stimulate dramatic changes of its state. These changes can be intermolecular (physical) and intramolecular (chemical) in nature. Physical changes occur without breaking intramolecular bonds, and lead to transitions between the four major phases: gas, liquid, crystal, and glass. Chemical changes are associated with chemical reactions that originate from breaking intramolecular bonds. Phase transitions as well as chemical reactions occur at finite rates. Measuring the rates of processes is the realm of kinetics. The kinetics of thermally stimulated processes is routinely measured using thermal analysis techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Knowing the process rates and their dependence on temperature is of vital importance for understanding the behavior of materials exposed to variations in temperature. In recent years, thermal analysis kinetics has made significant progress by developing computational tools for reliable kinetic analysis. It has also expanded its traditional application area to newly developed nano- and biomaterials. This Special Issue is a series of papers that reflect recent developments in the field and highlight the essential role of thermal analysis kinetics in understanding the processes responsible for the thermal behavior of various materials.

Mast cells, which play critical roles in IgE-mediated immediate allergic responses, have recently been found to be involved in much broader immune responses, a fascinating process of which is partly depicted in this volume.

Advances in technology have produced a range of on-body sensors and smartwatches that can be used to monitor a wearer''s health with the objective to keep the user healthy. However, the real potential of such devices not only lies in monitoring but also in interactive communication with expert-system-based cloud services to offer personalized and real-time healthcare advice that will enable the user to manage their health and, over time, to reduce expensive hospital admissions. To meet this goal, the research challenges for the next generation of wearable healthcare devices include the need to offer a wide range of sensing, computing, communication, and human-computer interaction methods, all within a tiny device with limited resources and electrical power. This Special Issue presents a collection of six papers on a wide range of research developments that highlight the specific challenges in creating the next generation of low-power wearable healthcare sensors.

Childhood is a crucial period for establishing lifelong healthy nutritional habits. The environment has an important influence on children''s dietary intake. This book focuses on the influence of environmental factors on the dietary intake of children and adolescents (0-18 years of age) within various settings including home, early care and education, school, college, holiday clubs, neighborhoods, and supermarkets. The reported studies examine a variety of factors within these settings, including the influence of cooking and parenting, teacher style, resources and barriers within various settings, marketing, and many other factors. The dietary intake behaviors examined include snacking, fruit and vegetable intake, beverage intake, and also nutrition in general. In addition, several papers focus on problems caused by inadequate nutrition, such as hunger and obesity. This work underlines the importance of the environment in influencing children''s and adolescents'' dietary intake. In addition, the papers identified some crucial barriers and facilitators for the implementation of environmental changes to enable a healthy diet for young children. Therefore, it provides some important directions for both future research and practice.

The book presents a collection of 10 articles published in a Special Issue entitled "Oral Inflammations and Systemic Diseases" in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067) in the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics". The oral inflammations that are covered in this issue consist of dental caries, periodontitis, and gingivitis, with a preponderance of periodontitis. Periodontitis is clearly a bacterial disease; however, it is not an infectious disease in the classical sense because it results from complex interactions between the commensal microbiota, host susceptibility and environmental factors such as diet and smoking. The human mouth contains one of the most diverse microbiomes in the human body, comprising viruses, fungi, protozoa, archaea and bacteria. The peer-reviewed articles of the book consist of original and review papers focused on the question of how exposure of the mouth to specific oral microbiota impacts systemic diseases, such as neuroinflammation, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and arthritis.

The articles presented in this Special Issue cover different aspects of the urban planning process, such as simulation, optimization or decision-making. The authors highlighted the importance of performing an integrated design of the district, considering different sectors, different energy vectors and different operation modes. In order to better integrate renewable and residual energy sources (R┬▓ES), careful design of systems and storage solutions should be performed. Different storage solutions were tested, ranging from large-scale thermal energy storage to vehicle batteries or the thermal mass of buildings. Van der Heijde et al. (2019) proposed a two-layer design optimization algorithm to design a district heating network with solar thermal collectors, seasonal thermal energy storage and excess heat injection. Pajot et al. (2019) also performed an optimization of the sizing and control of energy systems in a district equipped with heat pumps, with thermal energy storage or thermal mass utilization. A hybrid distribution system, coupling the thermal and electrical networks, was proposed by Widl et al. (2019). Arnaudo et al. (2019) used the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) concept to decrease the overloading of the electrical distribution network during heat pump operation. Finally, Kazmi et al. (2019) proposed an integrated decision-making planning approach for a better integration of R┬▓ES in the distribution network. The complexity of urban planning leads to the development of new tools and methodologies. Until now, operation was poorly integrated in the design phase. New urban building energy modeling tools were proposed by the different authors. These tools are either based on co-simulations or integrated solutions to be able to capture the fine dynamics of a district. The difficulty of generating the input data for the models was also discussed. Regarding the methodology, most articles proposed a two-stage optimization procedure to optimize both the operational and design aspects. Mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) and genetic algorithms were often used to find optimal solutions.

Christian ethics is a wide and varied field; so diverse are the methods and approaches, theological perspectives and starting points, and scopes of inquiry and purposes-dare we even call it a discipline?-that the field is rarely considered as a whole. Christian ethics includes historical, descriptive, critical, constructive, and applied projects on countless topics. Lending creative energy to this field of study are a range of partner disciplines, including, most prominently, theology, philosophy, and sociology, each containing multiple schools themselves. To envision the entire field of Christian ethics is a difficult task; to reenvision the entire field may perhaps be impossible for one person. Thus, this publication includes original research by multiple scholars, each offering a distinct perspective from their primary partner discipline. Chapters include Roman Catholic and Protestant voices from Europe, Asia, and North America. In aggregate, these writings contribute to a composite reenvisioning of Christian ethics, refracting our collective vision through the prisms of diverse academic and methodological perspectives in this vast field of inquiry, study, and practice.