Books published by Mdpi AG

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disorder caused by antiphospholipid antibodies. It was characterized by excessive clotting of blood and/or certain complications of pregnancy (premature miscarriages, unexplained fetal death, or premature birth) and the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (such as anti-cardiolipin antibodies or lupus anticoagulant) in the blood. Fifty percent of people with lupus have APS. The exact pathogenesis of APS is inadequately understood, so no specific treatment is available.This Special Issue of Antibodies focuses on the symptoms, pathogenesis, diagnosis, clinical manifestation, therapy of APS, the new research development of antiphospholipid antibodies, and all the other aspects of APS.

The rapid progress in sensor science in recent years has resulted in the development of fluorescence probes with enhanced analytical capabilities. Because of the vast evolution of this research field, therefore, we have decided to combine all the research articles published in "Fluorescence Probes and Sensors"  for a Special Issue (SI) book of Sensors which was focusing on the important role sensors play in “Fluorescent Probes and Sensors”. Fluorescence novel Probes make an ideal candidate for promising applications in biological analytes and environmental monitoring. Fluorescent probes along with metal complexes have been developed as a new class of fluorophores with excellent properties. This book illustrating the suitability of newly developed sensors for fluorescent analysis applications, as well as describing novel applications of established sensors in solving real life analytical problems. 

Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated that oxidative stress is associated with a number of health disorders, including cardiovascular malfunction, certain types of cancer, diabetes mellitus, many other auto-immune diseases, and even ageing. The body possesses multiple mechanisms to counteract oxidative stress, which employ antioxidant compounds that are either naturally generated in situ (endogenous antioxidants) or externally supplied through food (exogenous antioxidants). These antioxidants are able to counteract oxidative stress, thanks to their ability to neutralize excess free radicals and protect the cellular lipids, proteins, and DNA from molecular damage. Exogenous antioxidants from the diet are of increasing interest because of their beneficial role in maintaining good health and in preventing chronic diseases. Indeed, a diet rich in dietary antioxidants, especially from fruits and vegetables, has been correlated with a successful prevention and lower incidence of several degenerative pathologies, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.This Special Issue of Nutrients welcomes the submission of manuscripts, either describing original research or reviewing scientific literature, examining the role of diets rich in antioxidant compounds in the prevention of chronic diseases and the characteristics of the antioxidants included in such diets. 

This book contains the successful invited submissions to a Special Issue of Symmetry in the subject area of “Fuzzy Techniques for Decision Making”. We invited contributions addressing novel techniques and tools for decision making (e.g., group or multi-criteria decision making) with notions that overcome the problem of finding the membership degree of each element as in Zadeh's original model. We could garner interesting articles on a variety of setups as well as applications. As a result, this book includes some novel techniques and tools for decision making, such as instrumental tools for analysis (correlation coefficients, similarity measures, aggregation operators) in various settings and novel methodological contributions (discrete optimization with fuzzy constraints, COMET, or fuzzy bi-matrix games) and applications (to project delivery systems, maintenance performance in industry, group emergencies, pedestrians flows, valuation of assets, water pollution control, or aquaculture enterprise sustainability). The published submissions cover models like fuzzy soft sets, hesitant fuzzy sets, (fuzzy) soft rough sets, neutrosophic sets, as well as other hybrid models.

This Special Issue of Nutrients, entitled “Reducing Dietary Sodium and Improving Human Health”, welcomes the submission of manuscripts either describing original research or reviewing scientific literature related to salt reduction. Manuscripts should focus on population interventions for reducing dietary sodium and we are particularly interested in innovative approaches to changing the food environment and/or consumer behaviour. Manuscripts that discuss theoretical models informing the design of interventions for reducing dietary sodium are also welcome, as are studies from low or lower middle income countries.Potential topics may include, but are not limited to:    Development/evaluation of regional or national strategies to reduce population salt intake    Methodological issues related to measuring salt consumption patterns    Use of policy or legislative approaches to reduce salt consumption    Design and/or assessment of impact of behavioural change programs    Modelling of the impact of interventions on salt intake and health outcomes. 

In this Special Issue of Brain Sciences, we will be discussing “Mental Illness in Children” from a range of  perspectives, exploring the prevalence and recognition of mental disorders in children, the types of disorders and approaches to meeting their needs, and the complexity and severity of mental health problems in children. We look to what models of care best respond to children’s needs, the identification and management of risk, and the expertise needed to appropriately and effectively intervene when children need mental health care. We will welcome articles describing the range of issues that impact on mental disorder in children; models of intervention implemented and evaluated; new data on prevalence and nature of disorder; and critical reviews on mental health problems and vulnerability. We look forward to your valuable contribution to this Special Issue for this journal.

Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated that oxidative stress is associated with a number of health disorders, including cardiovascular malfunction, certain types of cancer, diabetes mellitus, many other auto-immune diseases, and even ageing. The body possesses multiple mechanisms to counteract oxidative stress, which employ antioxidant compounds that are either naturally generated in situ (endogenous antioxidants) or externally supplied through food (exogenous antioxidants). These antioxidants are able to counteract oxidative stress, thanks to their ability to neutralize excess free radicals and protect the cellular lipids, proteins, and DNA from molecular damage. Exogenous antioxidants from the diet are of increasing interest because of their beneficial role in maintaining good health and in preventing chronic diseases. Indeed, a diet rich in dietary antioxidants, especially from fruits and vegetables, has been correlated with a successful prevention and lower incidence of several degenerative pathologies, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.This Special Issue of Nutrients welcomes the submission of manuscripts, either describing original research or reviewing scientific literature, examining the role of diets rich in antioxidant compounds in the prevention of chronic diseases and the characteristics of the antioxidants included in such diets. 

Cities across the globe are installing sensors and actuators to become more sustainable, safe, efficient, and greener, with the hope of improving urban life. This book examines how sensors and actuators enable smart cities to provide critical services from road traffic management and disaster preparedness to key infrastructure, e.g., healthcare, and public safety. It presents a systems engineering perspective of the foundations and principles that span the various challenges and opportunities of developing smart cities. In addition, the studies presented in this book give the state of the art, system design, use cases, simulation, and real-life deployments or testbeds. The comprehensiveness of this book pose it as a reference for researchers and practitioners working on building the future smart cities and applications. 

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) sensing has progressed significantly in the past few years. In particular, smart sensors play an increasingly important role in structural damage detection. There is growing progress in the performance of strategic sensors, such as piezoelectric sensors, as well as noncontact sensors, such as air-coupled transducers, magnetic flux leakage sensors and pulsed laser ultrasonic propagation applications. The most progress has been made in the development of application software for all technologies. We are now able to enhance damage resolutions and then focus on damage visualization in many applications.This Special Issue highlights advances in the development, testing, and use of damage visualization tools for smart sensor-based nondestructive evaluations. Topics covered include: • New developments in smart sensing-based nondestructive evaluations• Magnetic flux leakage sensors• Laser scanning-based ultrasonic propagation sensors• Piezoelectric sensors• Air-coupled transducers• Damage detection and visualization

The introduction of "smart machines" for agricultural operations will allow several  advantages, such as an increase in their efficiencies, a reduction in environmental impacts and a reduction of work injuries. There are partially- and fully-automatic devices for most aspects of agricultural functions, from seeding and planting to harvesting and postharvesting, from spraying to livestock management, and so onThe objectives of this book are: study of man–machine dialogue systems; analysis on towed or carried machines: forestry chippers, manure spreaders, round balers and others; safety and health management system design and engineering; safety and health monitoring sensors and sensing; data-driven methods for anomaly detection, diagnosis and prognosis; precision farming; mechatronic; automotive and agriculture machinery applications; engineering of hybrid and integrated systems and their efficiency maximization, especially for safety and health purposes, aimed to injuries and accidents reduction, use of remote sensor and mechatronic systems applied in several aspects.

The spectra of ionized atoms continue to play an important role in understanding a wide variety of plasmas. The relatively new discipline of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is being used on earth to produce lower ionization stages of atoms for diagnostics of samples, but also in space to determine contents of rocks on Mars and Venus.  Spectra of lower stages of ionization are also found in nebulae, interstellar clouds, chemically peculiar stars, and in the sun. For higher ionization stages, there is continuing need for spectra found in the hot plasmas of tokamaks and other machines aimed at developing new energy sources. Since much of the data for these hot plasmas must come from ab initio calculations, laboratory experiments can serve to evaluate the accuracy of the calculations. Experiments with electron beam ion traps (EBITs) can remove all but a few remaining electrons and thus form a basis for evaluating calculations of ions having only a few electrons. This Special Issue of Atoms highlights the need for continuing research on the spectra of all types of ionized atoms.

This is a book about young people—youth and emerging adults. The contributors investigate the religious and spiritual lives of young people, especially as they relate to inclinations to do good for others. This edited volume is the result of a special issue that invited social scientific insights on responses to these questions. The background for this volume, summarized below, is the evolving life course developmental processes, as well as the culmination of numerous social and cultural changes in recent decades and their implications for socialization of religiosity, spirituality, and generosity. The included chapters focus on the faith and giving of youth and emerging adults, in the United States and internationally. The emphasis is on research that contributes breadth to social scientific understandings of religion, charitable giving, volunteering, generosity, youth, and emerging adults. We are especially interested in trends related to participation in religious and civic organizations, including changing cultural structures, beliefs, and orientations to faith and giving in less formal or non-organizational contexts. 

Obesity and eating disorders remain major public health concerns worldwide that often co-exist. While we are far from having definitive solutions, scientific insights into the prevention and management of obesity and eating disorders have developed significantly in recent years. This research has been stimulated by the continuous challenge of reducing the global burden of obesity and its commonly associated health complications, as well as the life-threatening characteristics of eating disorders. Looking towards better solutions for these pressing public health concerns, this book addresses recent scientific findings regarding the prevention and management of obesity and eating disorders. It reports on cognition and mental health in people with obesity, as well as on food addiction, co-morbidities of eating disorders, cultural aspects of eating, intermittent dietary energy restriction as a treatment for overweight or obesity, factors influencing the adherence to dietary treatments for overweight and obesity, philosophies underpinning dietary practices, treatment of eating disorders in men, cognitive remediation therapy for anorexia nervosa, and online or virtual interventions for weight management or bulimia nervosa. This book includes culturally diverse findings from research groups around the world (e.g. Australia, UK, Norway, Brazil), and is informative for healthcare professionals and researchers working in the fields of obesity and/or eating disorders.

The interest in human polyomaviruses (HPyV) has seen a renaissance because of new species that have been isolated and their previously unknown association with diseases. Likewise, the increasing evidence for the association of human papillomaviruses (HPV) with oropharyngeal cancer has sparked the attention of researchers and clinicians. The Special Issue “Human Polyomaviruses and Papillomaviruses” presents studies describing the nuclear egress of BK polyomavirus mediated by the viral agnoprotein and the cellular a-SNAP protein.  In addition, a study examines the promoter activity of two different variants of human polyomavirus 9 in different cell lines. This Special Issue offers an interesting perspective on the epidemiology of HR-HPV in different cancers and on the mechanisms by which these viruses target host cell proteins to replicate their genome, express their genes, interfere with autophagy, and induce cancer. Other topics that are highlighted include the role of co-factors, such as smoking and co-infection, novel therapeutic strategies, and surface immunoregulatory proteins, chemokines, and cytokines as possible biomarkers to determine the stage of a tumor and to predict clinical outcomes.

Research and technology developments in bioenergy and biochemical production systems are of the utmost importance for the development of next generation, highly efficient biomass conversion concepts, maximizing the total energy and chemical output. The utilization of non-conventional biomasses and unexploited residual resources (e.g., agriculture and agroindustry wastes), innovative solutions for online monitoring and process control, novel biochemical pathways, microbial platforms and reactor technologies are key issues to be addressed. Though conventional technologies are constantly developing and novel processes are continually emerging, major challenges have still to be solved, such as the design of high performance and cost-effective technologies for the production of bioenergy (gaseous, liquid, sold biofuels, heat, renewable electricity) and biochemicals from residual resources from a biorefinery point of view, where the potential of the biomass and residual waste streams is fully valorized. In this context, evaluation of the environmental, technological, economical, and social sustainability of the concepts developed is of utmost importance. The main objective of this Special Issue is, therefore, to provide cost-effective and technologically sound solutions for next generation bioenergy and biochemical production systems.

Social cognition focuses on how people process, store, and apply information about other people and social situations. It focuses on the role that cognitive processes play in social interactions. On the other hand, the term cognitive computing is generally used to refer to new hardware and/or software that mimics the functioning of the human brain and helps to improve human decision-making. In this sense, it is a type of computing with the goal of discovering more accurate models of how the human brain/mind senses, reasons, and responds to stimuli.Socio-Cognitive Computing should be understood as a set of theoretical interdisciplinary frameworks, methodologies, methods and hardware/software tools to model how the human brain mediates social interactions. In addition, Affective Computing is the study and development of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human affects, a fundamental aspect of socio-cognitive neuroscience. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer science, electrical engineering, psychology, and cognitive science.Physiological Computing is a category of technology in which electrophysiological data recorded directly from human activity are used to interface with a computing device. This technology becomes even more relevant when computing can be integrated pervasively in everyday life environments. Thus, Socio-Cognitive and Affective Computing systems should be able to adapt their behavior according to the Physiological Computing paradigm.This book integrates proposals from researchers who use signals from the brain and/or body to infer people's intentions and psychological state in smart computing systems. The design of this kind of systems combines knowledge and methods of ubiquitous and pervasive computing, as well as physiological data measurement and processing, with those of socio-cognitive and affective computing.

Human development has made remarkable social and economic progress possible for most of us but has also entailed a range of serious impacts on natural resources, local communities and the economy at multiple scales. Thus, achieving sustainable territorial management that combines healthy and prosperous societies with the long-term maintenance of biodiversity and productive ecosystem services remains the biggest challenge of our modern world. This Special Issue seeks to collect a coherent set of studies on techniques and experiences (case studies) aimed at increasing the environmental, social, economic &/or institutional sustainability of landscapes and seascapes from a range of geographic and socioeconomic contexts. Ten case studies representing urban areas, rural areas (chiefly protected areas) and coastal areas from four countries in Europe and Asia by internationally renowned authors are shown. 

Aluminum-based light-weight materials offer great potential for novel engineering applications, particularly when they are optimized to exhibit high strength and yet provide sufficient reliability. The last decade has thus seen substantial activity in the research fields of high-strength aluminum alloys and aluminum-based composite materials.For twelve years, backed by solid funding from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), scientists of the Collaborative Research Center, “High-strength aluminum-based light-weight materials for safety components” (SFB 692) at TU Chemnitz, Germany, have contributed to this research area. Our research efforts have been focused on three main areas: ultrafine-grained aluminum alloys produced by severe plastic deformation; aluminum matrix composites; and aluminum-based composite materials (including material combinations such as magnesium/aluminum or steel/aluminum and the corresponding joining and forming technologies). The framework of SFB 692 has served as a base for numerous scientific collaborations between scientists in the fields of materials science, design engineering, production engineering, mechanics, and even economics—in Chemnitz, and with many well-established international experts around the world.In this Special Issue, we present recent results on high-strength aluminum-based light-weight materials that also provide a broad overview of research activities in SFB 692 and elsewhere.