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Summary: This is a reprint of the articles from the Special Issue entitled "10th Anniversary of Actuators", published in the open-access journal, Actuators. It consists of 18 representative works with four main topics: systematic reviews for specific types of actuators, performance evaluation, design and controls, and new actuators' applications. This reprint helps readers to understand the challenges and the trends of research and development in advancing the theories, methodologies, and design tools of actuators.

Summary: This reprint contains contributions focusing on recent developments in the design, synthesis, and characterization of nanocatalysts intended for applications in environmental protection and low carbon footprint power generation processes thanks to the overall effort of scientists and researchers for a cleaner and more sustainable future. New synthetic approaches to the production and in-depth characterization of innovative nanostructured composites and hybrid materials with well-controlled textural and surface chemistry properties that give performance advantages in a variety of important environmental and energy applications such as CO2 utilization/recycling, hydrogen and syngas production, biosensing, and biocatalysis as well as in ways to obtain useful materials from waste are included, among others. This reprint is the result of one of the cutting-edge Special Issues in the field of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology organized by Nanomaterials to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Summary: This Special Issue of the journal Applied Sciences presents recent advances and developments in the use of digital 3D technologies to protect and preserve cultural heritage. While most of the articles focus on aspects of 3D scanning, modeling, and presenting in VR of cultural heritage objects from buildings to small artifacts and clothing, part of the issue is devoted to 3D sound utilization in the cultural heritage field.

Summary: Road transportation is a basic need for mobility and daily life. Currently, there are a number of challenges in dealing with distressed pavement and seeking new materials with sustainability in mind in pavement systems. Therefore, it is important to conduct further research in the following areas: (1) pavement structure, materials, and design; (2) pavement models as better solutions for pavement constructions; (3) pavement mechanics for improved understanding and mechanism analyses; (4) utilization of recycled materials for environmentally friendly solutions; (5) maintenance and rehabilitation for an extended life span of pavement; (6) intelligent construction for project management, energy conservation, and future constructions; and (7) innovative approaches to test and evaluate the performance of pavement materials. The purpose of this Special Issue "Achievements and Prospects of Advanced Pavement Materials Technologies" is to explore new research ideas for pavement materials as described above.

Summary: Based on five Special Issues in Coatings, this e-book contains a series of 15 articles demonstrating actual perspectives and new trends in advanced coatings in buildings. Innovative materials and multiperformance solutions provide a basis, contributing also to the better protection of buildings' surfaces during the service life, and the users' wellbeing.

Summary: According to the National Research Council, the use of embedded systems throughout society could well overtake previous milestones in the information revolution. Mechatronics is the synergistic combination of electronic, mechanical engineering, controls, software and systems engineering in the design of processes and products. Mechatronic systems put "intelligence" into physical systems. Embedded sensors/actuators/processors are integral parts of mechatronic systems. The implementation of mechatronic systems is consistently on the rise. However, manufacturers are working hard to reduce the implementation cost of these systems while trying avoid compromising product quality. One way of addressing these conflicting objectives is through new automatic control methods, virtual sensing/estimation, and new innovative hardware topologies.

Summary: Smart, wearables devices on a miniature scale are becoming increasingly widely available, typically in the form of smart watches and other connected devices. Consequently, devices to assist in measurements such as electroencephalography (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), electromyography (EMG), blood pressure (BP), photoplethysmography (PPG), heart rhythm, respiration rate, apnoea, and motion detection are becoming more available, and play a significant role in healthcare monitoring. The industry is placing great emphasis on making these devices and technologies available on smart devices such as phones and watches. Such measurements are clinically and scientifically useful for real-time monitoring, long-term care, and diagnosis and therapeutic techniques. However, a pertaining issue is that recorded data are usually noisy, contain many artefacts, and are affected by external factors such as movements and physical conditions. In order to obtain accurate and meaningful indicators, the signal has to be processed and conditioned such that the measurements are accurate and free from noise and disturbances. In this context, many researchers have utilized recent technological advances in wearable sensors and signal processing to develop smart and accurate wearable devices for clinical applications. The processing and analysis of physiological signals is a key issue for these smart wearable devices. Consequently, ongoing work in this field of study includes research on filtration, quality checking, signal transformation and decomposition, feature extraction and, most recently, machine learning-based methods.

Summary: Antiferromagnetic spintronics is an emerging topic in spintronics that is attracting interest due to its wide range of advantages, including terahertz operation, memory without stray fields, and highly efficient spin generation. The discussion of this topic covers aspects ranging from the development of new antiferromagnetic materials to the applications of these materials in devices. Traditionally, antiferromagnets were treated as less common magnetic materials for fundamental studies and applications. However, recent miniaturisation and high-frequency operation have revealed that they are advantageous over conventional ferromagnets. This Special Issue reviews the current status and future perspectives of antiferromagnetic spintronics.

Summary: Unlike other construction materials, road materials have developed minimally over the past 100 years. However, since the 1970s, the focus has been on more sustainable road construction materials such as recycled asphalt pavements. Recycling asphalt involves removing old asphalt and mixing it with new (fresh) aggregates, binders, and/or rejuvenators. Similarly, there are various efforts to use alternative modifiers and technical solutions such as crumb rubber, plastics, or various types of fibres. For the past two decades, researchers have been developing novel materials and technologies, such as self-healing materials, in order to improve road design, construction, and maintenance efficiency and reduce the financial and environmental burden of road construction. This Special Issue on "Advances in Asphalt Pavement Technologies and Practices" curates advanced/novel work on asphalt pavement design, construction, and maintenance. The Special Issue comprises 19 papers describing unique works that address the current challenges that the asphalt industry and road owners face.

Summary: The main purpose of this Special Issue of "Advances in Fluid Power Systems" was to present new scientific work in the field of fluid power systems for hydraulic and pneumatic control of machines and devices used in various industries. Advances in fluid power systems are leading to the creation of new smart devices that can replace tried-and-true solutions from the past. The development work of authors from various research centres has been published. This Special Issue focuses on recent advances and smart solutions for fluid power systems in a wide range of topics, including: • Fluid power for IoT and Industry 4.0: smart fluid power technology, wireless 5G connectivity in fluid power, smart components, and sensors.• Fluid power in the renewable energy sector: hydraulic drivetrains for wind power and for wave and marine current power, and hydraulic systems for solar power. • Hybrid fluid power: hybrid transmissions, energy recovery and accumulation, and energy efficiency of hybrid drives.• Industrial and mobile fluid power: industrial fluid power solutions, mobile fluid power solutions, eand nergy efficiency solutions for fluid power systems.• Environmental aspects of fluid power: hydraulic water control technology, noise and vibration of fluid power components, safety, reliability, fault analysis, and diagnosis of fluid power systems.• Fluid power and mechatronic systems: servo-drive control systems, fluid power drives in manipulators and robots, and fluid power in autonomous solutions.

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

Summary: This Special Issue reports on recent research trends in hydraulics, hydrodynamics, and hydroinformatics, and their novel applications in practical engineering. The Issue covers a wide range of topics, including open channel flows, sediment transport dynamics, two-phase flows, flow-induced vibration and water quality. The collected papers provide insight into new developments in physical, mathematical, and numerical modelling of important problems in hydraulics and hydroinformatics, and include demonstrations of the application of such models in water resources engineering.

Summary: This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Advances in Intelligent Vehicle Control that was published in the journal Sensors. It presents a collection of eleven papers that covers a range of topics, such as the development of intelligent control algorithms for active safety systems, smart sensors, and intelligent and efficient driving. The contributions presented in these papers can serve as useful tools for researchers who are interested in new vehicle technology and in the improvement of vehicle control systems.

Summary: In recent years, ironmaking and steelmaking have witnessed the incorporation of various new processes and technologies that can be operated and organized in different combinations depending on the properties of raw materials and the required quality of the final products. Indications from the steel industry and local and global government institutions suggest that the breakthrough technologies for decarbonization will be based on new fuels and energy vectors. For CO2-lean process routes, three major solutions have been identified: decarbonizing, whereby coal would be replaced by hydrogen or electricity in the hydrogen reduction or electrolysis of iron ore processes; the introduction of CCS technology; and the use of sustainable biomass. Today, hydrogen-based steelmaking is a potential low-carbon and economically attractive route, especially in countries where natural gas is cheap. By considering systems for increasing energy efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of steel production, CO2 emissions may be greatly reduced by hydrogen-based steel production if hydrogen is generated by means of carbon-free and renewable sources. Currently, the development of the hydrogen economy has received a great deal of attention in that H2 is considered a promising alternative to replace fossil fuels. Based on hydrogen, the "hydrogen economy" is a promising clean energy carrier for decarbonized energy systems if the hydrogen used is produced from renewable energy sources or coupled with carbon capture and storage (CCS) or nuclear energy.

Summary: Laser processing has become more relevant today due to its fast adaptation to the most critical technological tasks, its ability to provide processing in the most rarefied and aggressive mediums (vacuum conditions), its wide field of potential applications, and the green aspects related to the absence of industrial cutting chips and dust. With the development of 3D production, laser processing has received renewed interest associated with its ability to achieve pointed to high-precision powder melting or sintering. New technologies and equipment, which improve and modify optical laser parameters, contribute to better absorption of laser energy by metals or powder surfaces and allow for multiplying laser power that can positively influence the industrial spread of the laser in mass production and advance the existing manufacturing methods. The latest achievements in laser processing have become a relevant topic in the most authoritative scientific journals and conferences in the last half-century. Advances in laser processing have received multiple awards in the most prestigious competitions and exhibitions worldwide and at international scientific events. The Special Issue is devoted to the most recent achievements in the laser processing of various materials, such as cast irons, tool steels, high entropy alloys, hard-to-remelt materials, cement mortars, and post-processing and innovative manufacturing based on a laser.

Summary: This reprint features 12 research articles that contribute to the research on lubricated bearings. The articles focus on the latest steps in understanding bearing operating behavior, its interaction with lubricants, and its role as a component in the drive train. In addition to the description of novel modeling approaches, a variety of experimental data are presented to provide interesting identification results as well as validation data for the research and engineering community.

Summary: The fundamentals of mechanical system dynamics were established before the beginning of the industrial era. The 18th century was a very important time for science and was characterized by the development of classical mechanics. This development progressed in the 19th century, and new, important applications related to industrialization were found and studied. The development of computers in the 20th century revolutionized mechanical system dynamics owing to the development of numerical simulation. We are now in the presence of the fourth industrial revolution. Mechanical systems are increasingly integrated with electrical, fluidic, and electronic systems, and the industrial environment has become characterized by the cyber-physical systems of industry 4.0. Within this framework, the status-of-the-art has become represented by integrated mechanical systems and supported by accurate dynamic models able to predict their dynamic behavior. Therefore, mechanical systems dynamics will play a central role in forthcoming years. This Special Issue aims to disseminate the latest research findings and ideas in the field of mechanical systems dynamics, with particular emphasis on novel trends and applications.

Summary: In response to the demanding requirements of different sectors, such as construction, transportation, energy, manufacturing, and mining, new generations of microalloyed steels are being developed and brought to market. The addition of microalloying elements, such as niobium, vanadium, titanium, boron, and/or molybdenum, has become a key tool in the steel industry to reach economically-viable grades with increasingly higher mechanical strength, toughness, good formability, and weldable products. The challenges that microalloying steel production faces can be solved with a deeper understanding of the effects that these microalloying additions and combinations of them have during the different steps of the steelmaking process.

Summary: Mobile mapping is applied widely in society, for example, in asset management, fleet management, construction planning, road safety, and maintenance optimization. Yet, further advances in these technologies are called for. Advances can be radical, such as changes to the prevailing paradigms in mobile mapping, or incremental, such as the state-of-the-art mobile mapping methods. With current multi-sensor systems in mobile mapping, laser-scanned data are often registered in point clouds with the aid of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning or simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) techniques and then labeled and colored with the aid of machine learning methods and digital camera data. These multi-sensor platforms are beginning to undergo further advancements via the addition of multi-spectral and other sensors and via the development of machine learning techniques used in processing this multi-modal data. Embedded systems and minimalistic system designs are also attracting attention, from both academic and commercial perspectives.This book contains the accepted publications of the Special Issue 'Advances in Mobile Mapping Technologies' of the Remote Sensing journal. It consists of works introducing a new mobile mapping dataset ('Paris CARLA 3D'), system calibration studies, SLAM topics, and multiple deep learning works for asset detection. We, the Guest Editors, Ville Lehtola from University of Twente, Netherlands, Andreas Nüchter from University of Würzburg, Germany, and François Goulette from Mines Paris- PSL University, France, wish to thank all the authors who contributed to this collection.

Summary: Modern societies demand high and varied mobility, which in turn requires a complex transport system adapted to social needs that guarantees the movement of people and goods in an economically efficient and safe way, but all are subject to a new environmental rationality and the new logic of the paradigm of sustainability. From this perspective, an efficient and flexible transport system that provides intelligent and sustainable mobility patterns is essential to our economy and our quality of life. The current transport system poses growing and significant challenges for the environment, human health, and sustainability, while current mobility schemes have focused much more on the private vehicle that has conditioned both the lifestyles of citizens and cities, as well as urban and territorial sustainability. Transport has a very considerable weight in the framework of sustainable development due to environmental pressures, associated social and economic effects, and interrelations with other sectors. The continuous growth that this sector has experienced over the last few years and its foreseeable increase, even considering the change in trends due to the current situation of generalized crisis, make the challenge of sustainable transport a strategic priority at local, national, European, and global levels. This Special Issue will pay attention to all those research approaches focused on the relationship between evolution in the area of transport with a high incidence in the environment from the perspective of efficiency.