Books published by Mdpi AG

The rapid development and growth of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a remote sensing platform, as well as advances in the miniaturization of instrumentation and data systems, have resulted in an increasing uptake of this technology in the environmental and remote sensing science communities.Although tough regulations across the globe may still limit the broader use of UAVs, their use in precision agriculture, ecology, atmospheric research, disaster response biosecurity, ecological and reef monitoring, forestry, fire monitoring, quick response measurements for emergency disaster, Earth science research, volcanic gas sampling, monitoring of gas pipelines, mining plumes, humanitarian observations and biological/chemo-sensing tasks continues to increase.This book provides a forum for high-quality peer-reviewed papers that broaden the awareness and understanding of UAV developments, applications of UAVs for remote sensing, and associated developments in sensor technology, data processing and communications, and UAV system design and sensing capabilities.The book covers the following topics:• improvements in UAV sensor technology;• UAV sensor design;• descriptions of processing algorithms applied to UAV-based imagery datasets;• the use of optical, multi-spectral, hyperspectral, laser, and optical SAR technologies onboard UAVs;• Artificial intelligence and data mining-based strategies from UAV-acquired datasets;• UAV onboard data storage, transmission, and retrieval;• multiple platform UAV, AUV, and ground robot networks;• UAV sensor applications including: precision agriculture, construction, mining, pest detection, forestry, wildlife tracking, atmosphere, wildfire monitoring and prevention, reef monitoring, Earth science research pollution monitoring, micro-climates, land use precision agriculture, ecology, atmospheric research, quick response measurements for emergency disaster.

Epilepsy is a common neurological disease that can affect all ages. Although the majority of people with epilepsy can have excellent seizure control with medication, about 30% will fail anti-epileptic drugs. For those with medically intractable epilepsy, recurrent seizures lead to elevated mortality and injury risks, and the seizures themselves are socially disabling. Fortunately, for many people with intractable epilepsy, epilepsy can be cured or seizures better controlled with surgery. Localization of the seizure focus followed by surgical resection provide the best opportunities to cure epilepsy. Having a better understanding of the neuro-anatomy and physiology of epilepsy improves our ability to define the epileptic network and effectively treat epilepsy. Minimal access surgical approaches result in more rapid recovery from surgery, less pain, and more satisfied patients. For individuals without an opportunity to cure their epilepsy, new and emerging technologies can improve their quality of life by preventing injuries and reducing seizure frequency and severity. This Special Issue will highlight advances in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of epilepsy, including imaging and electroencephalography (EEG) approaches to defining the epileptic focus, understanding the epileptic network, and characterizing the anatomical substrate of epilepsy.

The proposed existence of the edge and screw dislocation in the 1930s, and the subsequent work showing that dislocation theory could explain the plastic deformation of crystals, represent an important step in developing our understanding of materials into a science. The continued work involved with characterization of dislocations and linking them to a variety of physical properties in both single and poly crystals have made enormous progress over the past 50 years. It is rare to find a technical application involving a material with any crystal structure that is not impacted by dislocations; mechanical properties, massive phase transformations, interphases, crystal growth, electronic properties, the list goes on. In many systems the properties is controlled by the formation of partial dislocations separated by a stacking fault; for example plastic deformation via deformation twinning. And finally, giant strides have been made in characterization and modeling of systems containing dislocations. The Special Issue on “Crystal Dislocations” is intended to provide a unique international forum aimed at covering a broad range of results involving dislocations and their importance on crystal properties and crystal growth. Scientists working in a wide range of disciplines are invited to contribute to this cause. Dr. K. Peter D. Lagerlof, Associate Professor of CeramicsGuest Editor

Power transformers are key components in electric power distribution and transmission systems, and it is essential that they function properly for many years. With increasing age, there are potential risks of extremely high monetary losses due to unexpected failures and outages. A simple solution would be to replace all aging and risky transformers at once with new ones. Such an approach is obviously not a fiscally realistic solution. The main objectives are to extend their service life and optimize their performance through increased availability. For these reasons, in the past decades transformer life management has gained an ever-increasing interest. The greatest challenges are related to the need for methods to assess their condition and life expectancy along with the improvement of transformers’ efficiency by noble designs and/or the application of new materials. This book covers some theoretical and practical developments with special emphasis on R&D trends in transformer diagnostics and monitoring. Graduate-level students and academics as well as scientists and engineers involved in power equipment design, diagnostics, and monitoring will benefit from this book.

ca. 200 words; this text will present the book in all promotional forms (e.g. flyers). Please describe the book in straightforward and consumer-friendly terms.[Real-time and networked embedded systems are important bidirectional bridges between the physical and the information worlds. Embedded intelligence is increasingly pervading industry, infrastructure, and public and private spaces, being identified as an emerging societal and economic “neural system” that supports both societal changes and economic growth. As cost/performance improves, objects connected in everyday life increasingly rely on embedded intelligence in an ever-growing array of application fields, specialized technologies, and engineering disciplines. While this process gradually builds the IoT, it exposes a series of specific non-trivial timing and other extra-functional requirements and system properties that are less common in other computing areas. The ten articles in this book propose solutions to the specific open problems of cyber–physical and real-time embedded systems applicable to both traditional application domains, such as industrial automation and control, energy management, automotive, aerospace and defense systems, as well as emerging domains, such as medical devices, household appliances, mobile multimedia, gaming, and entertainment systems.]

3D printing has revolutionized the microfabrication prototyping workflow over the past few years. With the recent improvements in 3D printing technologies, highly complex microfluidic devices can be fabricated via single-step, rapid, and cost-effective protocols as a promising alternative to the time consuming, costly and sophisticated traditional cleanroom fabrication. Microfluidic devices have enabled a wide range of biochemical and clinical applications, such as cancer screening, micro-physiological system engineering, high-throughput drug testing, and point-of-care diagnostics. Using 3D printing fabrication technologies, alteration of the design features is significantly easier than traditional fabrication, enabling agile iterative design and facilitating rapid prototyping. This can make microfluidic technology more accessible to researchers in various fields and accelerates innovation in the field of microfluidics. Accordingly, this Special Issue seeks to showcase research papers, short communications, and review articles that focus on novel methodological developments in 3D printing and its use for various biochemical and biomedical applications.

Nowadays, we meet microsystems in a variety of devices used in modern life. They are used, for example, in medicine, biology, industry, home appliances, transport, and aerospace. One of the main problems in the technological development of microsystems is their actuation. Several solutions have been suggested, such as electrostatic, electrothermal, electromagnetic, or piezoelectric actuation, although a valid solution seems to be still out of our reach.Another crucial problem in designing, manufacturing, and operating microsystems for micromanipulation consists in the loss of some basic paradigms commonly used as a source of inspiration at the macroscale. The differences in designing at the two different scales may have either positive or negative effects. For example, an unthinkable structure in the day–life domain, as, for example, a long “cantilever” bridge over the Hudson river, would become possible after downscaling “everything” from road dimensions to the micro-world. Alternatively, a fantastic electric motor that works very well in our world, by virtue of the basic principles of electromagnetism, would become useless if scaled back to the micro cosmos.This book opens a small window on the world of research, presenting a group of papers that try to respond to the challenge of increasing the efficiency and functionality of modern microsystems. A final little section is also dedicated to the development of new teaching methods successfully adopted in some university courses.

ca. 200 words; this text will present the book in all promotional forms (e.g. flyers). Please describe the book in straightforward and consumer-friendly terms.[Since the 2008 financial crisis, modeling of the extreme values of financial risk has become important. Postgraduate programs and PhD research programs in mathematical finance are cropping up in nearly every university. Additionally, many conferences are being held annually on the topic of extreme financial risk. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a collection of papers from leading experts in the area of extreme financial risk.]

ca. 200 words; this text will present the book in all promotional forms (e.g. flyers). Please describe the book in straightforward and consumer-friendly terms.The use of polymeric materials from renewable resources dates back in history. Even though synthetic polymers dominated the market for years, there is now a need for the development of sustainable, safe, and environmentally benign plastics from renewable resources.Green polymers from renewable resources can be isolated from biomass, obtained through the chemical modification of natural polymers, or synthesized through a two-step process from biomass involving monomer synthesis and then polymerization. Finally, polymer synthesis can be achieved in plants through photosynthesis using carbon dioxide or in microorganisms (e.g. synthesis of poly(hydroxy-alkanoate)s).In this issue, the developments in sustainable polymers including PLA, PHB, and furan-based materials are presented together with those concerning bionanocomposites of lignocellulosic mater or starch, and blends of bioplastics. The use of biomass-based plasticizers, fillers, and additives for the improvement of polymers’ properties and the applications of biopolymers such as hyaluronic acid, carrageenans, chitosan, and polysaccharides in medicine and pharmaceutics are discussed.

ca. 200 words; this text will present the book in all promotional forms (e.g. flyers). Please describe the book in straightforward and consumer-friendly terms.[Yeasts are truly fascinating microorganisms. Due to their diverse and dynamic activities, they have been used for the production of many interesting products, such as beer, wine, bread, biofuels, and biopharmaceuticals. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (brewers’ or bakers’ yeast) is the yeast species that is surely the most exploited by humans. Saccharomyces is a top-choice organism for industrial applications, although its use for producing beer dates back to at least the 6th millennium BC. Bakers’ yeast has been a cornerstone of modern biotechnology, enabling the development of efficient production processes. Today, diverse yeast species are explored for industrial applications. This Special Issue “Yeast Biotechnology 2.0” is a continuation of the first Special Issue, “Yeast Biotechnology” (https://www.mdpi.com/books/pdfview/book/324). It compiles the current state-of-the-art of research and technology in the area of “yeast biotechnology” and highlights prominent current research directions in the fields of yeast synthetic biology and strain engineering, new developments in efficient biomolecule production, fermented beverages (beer, wine, and honey fermentation), and yeast nanobiotechnology.]