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Summary: This reprint, as a continuation of a previous Special Issue entitled "Efficiency and Optimization of Buildings Energy Consumption", gives an up-to-date overview of new technologies based on Machine Learning (ML) and Internet of Things (IoT) procedures to improve the mathematical approach of algorithms that allow control systems to be improved with the aim of reducing housing sector energy consumption.

Summary: Silica and silicon-based nanostructures are now well-understood materials for which the technologies are mature. The most obvious applications, such as electronic devices, have been widely explored over the last two decades. The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together the state of the art in the field and to enable the emergence of new ideas and concepts for silicon and silica-based nanostructures.

Summary: Movement and locomotion have always been key activities for all animals, being related to the most crucial life functions: retrieving food, facing environmental issues and mating. Humans developed complex upper arms movements and bipedal gaits in order to move and locomote. To enhance their performance, they started inventing smart passive mechanical tools. This need arose from intrinsic limitations of their muscle-joint-bone systems and metabolic power availability. Newly invented devices were mainly introduced in order to cope with such constraints. The aim of this Special Issue is to advance knowledge regarding symmetry, biomechanics and energetics of passively assisted human movement and locomotion.

Summary: This book presents the latest research published in the Special Issue Preventing the Adverse Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 through Diet, Supplements, and Lifestyle in the journal Nutrients. In this book, we explore the role of supplements, lifestyle choices, and nutritional status on COVID-19 patient outcomes and risk reduction.

Summary: Functional nutrition is deeply connected with healthy lifestyle and sustainable food production, due to its positive health benefits and the use of economically underexplored and natural raw materials. Expectedly, it appeals to large number of interested consumers while becoming lucrative segment of the food industry with a fast-growing market fueled by new sociodemographic trends. Accordingly, functional juices and beverages made of indigenous fruits are interesting niche for various food market stakeholders. Here, biologically active compounds (BACs) and probiotics that have positive health effects in functional foods (juices) are mostly thermolabile. This is especially important for industry that still employs classical heat treatments (e.g., pasteurization), while being concerned with degradation of food quality in the final products. To prevent this, focus is on designing economic and ecological technologies that are able to preserve nutritional and sensory quality while maintaining microbiological stability in products. Such approaches are based on low-energy consumption and low-impact processing, e.g. "hurdle technology" that combines advanced and conventional methods (e.g., high-power ultrasound, pulse electric field). Food design is another important focus point for consumers' sensory appeal and economic success of foods. Hence, technologies as 3D food printing can be particularly useful for manufacturing. Based on the above, presented topics are relevant to sustainable functional food production, functional fruit juices, BACs, "hurdle technology," advanced food processing, 3D food printing, and authentic fruits.

Summary: From small-scale vertical axis wind turbines for urban usage to large-scale horizontal axis wind turbines for offshore wind farms, design, fabrication, and optimization technologies are highly required to manage wind energy effectively. Moreover, some new opportunities, such as in wind farm design, fluid-structure interaction, aero-acoustics, fabrication methods and performance tests by experimental and computational fluid dynamics should be engaged in modern wind turbine communities. The basic objectives of this book include improving the reliability and promoting the high efficiency of wind turbines as well as their dynamic performance, reducing wind turbine-generated noise and improving power generation efficiencies through high-fidelity approaches. Students, scholars, and engineers who manage such a wide range of wind turbine scales and usages, design, fabrication, and performance test protocols for various wind turbines, are highly recommended to read this book.

Summary: Rural areas have a very important role in society and the economy. They provide residence and employment and also serve as recreational sites, enabling visitors to enjoy unspoiled nature. Rural areas not only supply raw materials and products, but they also provide space for other functions. Spatial planning has a very important role in the process of rural space modeling. It is also important to study local and external conditions. A rural development framework can be proposed based on an evaluation of the observed phenomena. The following list provides some examples of topics of interest to ensure the consistency of the papers in this Special Issue: - Spatial planning;- Spatial order;- Institutional efficiency;- Spatial, financial, and environmental effects of planning studies;- The urbanization of rural areas;- Town-village relationships;- Social, cultural, economic, environmental, and spatial aspects of rural development. Dynamically growing new technologies (e.g., multi-criteria methods and GIS tools) are gaining popularity worldwide as tools for use in spatial analysis. This Special Issue focuses on the practice and theory of the application of modern technologies in rural space modeling and rural area development planning.The monograph includes papers on contemporary research directions on rural space modeling in areas such as spatial planning, spatial order, spatial-temporal analysis, land use change, environmental aspects, etc. The integration of different data, GIS tools and modeling can provide valuable support for rural space modeling and decision making.

Summary: This reprint provides information on the novel analytical methods used to address challenges occurring at academic, regulatory, and commercial level. All topics covered include information on the basic principles, procedures, advantages, limitations, and applications. Integration of biological reagents, (nano)materials, technologies, and physical principles (spectroscopy and spectrometry) are discussed. This reprint is ideal for professionals of the food industry, regulatory bodies, as well as researchers.

Summary: Stroke is a common cause of death and disability worldwide. Malnutrition is prevalent in stroke rehabilitation patients, and has serious negative effects on outcomes. In addition, there is growing interest in new concepts related to malnutrition, such as sarcopenia, frailty, cachexia, chronic inflammation, dysphagia, and oral problems, all of which contribute to a poor prognosis. Therefore, it is necessary to assess nutritional status early and, if needed, provide appropriate nutritional interventions to improve patient outcomes. A multidisciplinary approach is strongly recommended in this setting; as such, high-quality clinical evidence regarding clinical nutrition in stroke rehabilitation is needed. This reprint updates our knowledge of clinical nutrition for stroke patients and includes interesting studies on topics including nutrition and weight management in the early stages of stroke, the relationship between frailty and improved physical function, weight gain by providing stored energy, physical activity and diet quality, L-carnitine and cognitive levels, and the prediction of stroke prognosis using temporal muscles. The Guest Editor hopes that this reprint will help provide clinicians with up-to-date knowledge of nutritional management in stroke rehabilitation.

Summary: p38 Mitogen activated protein kinases (p38MAPK) are a group of evolutionary conserved protein kinases which are central for cell adaptation to environmental changes as well as for immune response, inflammation, tissue regeneration and tumour formation. The interest in this group of protein kinases has grown continually since their discovery. Recent studies using new genetic and pharmacological tools are providing helpful information on the function of these stress-activated protein kinases and show that they have an acute impact on the development of prevalent diseases related to inflammation, diabetes, neurodegeneration, and cancer. In this Special Issue we present novel advances and review the knowledge on the identification of p38MAPK substrates, functions, and regulation; mechanisms underlying the role of p38MAPK in malignant transformation and other pathologies; and therapeutic opportunities associated with regulation of p38MAPK activity.

Summary: Energy storage currently plays an important role in the electricity systems. Innovative energy storage solutions will play an important role in ensuring the integration of renewable energy sources into the electrical grids in the European Union. Pumped storage hydropower systems are the most mature technology of energy storage and account for over 90% of installed energy storage capacity wordwide. However, PSH technology is constrained by topography and land availability in flat areas. In addition, PSH plants are controversial due to their impacts on landscape, land use and the environment. Conversely, underground energy storage systems may be an interesting alternative to increase the energy storage capacity with low envoronmental impacts.To help address and resolve these types of questions, this book is comprised of eleven chapters that explore new ways of energy stororage reducing the environmental impacts caused by the installation of conventional energy storage systems, as well as to increase the energy storage capacity and promote the use of disused underground space, such as abandoned mines and quiarries.The chapters included in this book cover a wide spectrum of issues related to underground energy storage systems. Advances in underground pumped storage hydropower, compressed air energy storage and hydrogen energy storage systems are presented. Finally, we would like to thank both the MDPI publishing and editorial staff for their excellent work and support, as well as the authors who collaborated with your interesting research works.

Summary: Effective environmental decision-making is often challenging and complex, where final solutions frequently possess inherently subjective political and socio-economic components. Consequently, complex sustainability applications in the "real world" frequently employ computational decision-making approaches to construct solutions to problems containing numerous quantitative dimensions and considerable sources of uncertainty. This volume includes a number of such applied computational analytics papers that either create new decision-making methods or provide innovative implementations of existing methods for addressing a wide spectrum of sustainability applications, broadly defined. The disparate contributions all emphasize novel approaches of computational analytics as applied to environmental decision-making and sustainability analysis - be this on the side of optimization, simulation, modelling, computational solution procedures, visual analytics, and/or information technologies.

Summary: The present reprint contains five articles accepted and published in the Special Issue "Logic and Computation 2023" of the MDPI "Mathematics" journal, covering several topics on computing science based on some form of logic. These topics include the model theory for formal logic-based formal specification and programming, logic mining and logic for games. It is hoped that the reprint will be interesting and useful for those working in the area of applying logic to computing.

Summary: A Special Issue of the international journal Sustainability under the section Sustainability of Culture & Heritage has been made, entitled Natural Sciences in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage. The bridge between science/technology and the humanities (archaeology, anthropology, history of art, and cultural heritage) has formed a well-established interdisciplinary subject with several sub-disciplines; it is growing exponentially, spurred by the fast development of technology in other fields (space exploration, medical, military, and industrial applications). On the other hand, art and culture struggle to survive due to neglect, lack of funding, or the dangers of events such as natural disasters and war. This volume strengthens and exerts the documentation of the sustainability of the issue that arises from the outcome of resulting research and the application of such a duality link. The sustainable dimension emerges from society, education, and economics through the impact of cultural growth, all of which produce a balanced society, in which prosperity, harmony, and development are merged at a sustainable local/regional/national/social level. A wide range of subjects linking the applied natural sciences with archaeology and the cultural heritage of innovative research and applications are presented in this volume.

Summary: This reprint, which was edited by Prof. Dr. Nazar R. Ikhsanov, Prof. Dr. Galina L. Klimchitskaya, and Prof. Dr. Vladimir M. Mostepanenko, contains research and review articles published in a Special Issue of the journal Universe in memory of outstanding astrophysicist Prof. Dr. Yuri N. Gnedin, who organized and led the Department of Astrophysics at the famous Pulkovo Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences for several decades. In these articles, the reader will find new and intriguing ideas in several topical problems of astrophysics as well as comprehensive and readily accessible sketches of a few recently performed investigations.

Summary: This book is a hard copy of the editorial and all the papers in a Special Issue of the peer-reviewed open access journal 'Water' on the theme 'Managed Aquifer Recharge for Water Resilience'. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is the purposeful recharge of water to aquifers for subsequent recovery or environmental benefit. MAR is increasingly used to make water supplies resilient to drought, climate change and deteriorating water quality, and to protect ecosystems from declining groundwater levels. Global MAR has grown exponentially to 10 cu.km/year and will increase ten-fold within a few decades. Well informed hydrogeologists, engineers and water quality scientists are needed to ensure that this investment is effective in meeting increasingly pressing needs. This compilation contains lessons from many examples of existing projects, including several national and continental summaries. It also addresses the elements essential for identifying and advancing projects such as mapping aquifer suitability and opportunities, policy matters, operational issues, and some innovations in MAR methods and monitoring. This collection exemplifies the state of progress in the science and practice of MAR and is intended to be useful, at least to water managers, water utilities, agricultural water users and urban planners, to facilitate water resilience through new MAR projects.

Summary: Quantum field theory has achieved some extraordinary successes over the past sixty years; however, it retains a set of challenging problems. It is not yet able to describe gravity in a mathematically consistent manner. CP violation remains unexplained. Grand unified theories have been eliminated by experiment, and a viable unification model has yet to replace them. Even the highly successful quantum chromodynamics, despite significant computational achievements, struggles to provide theoretical insight into the low-energy regime of quark physics, where the nature and structure of hadrons are determined. The only proposal for resolving the fine-tuning problem, low-energy supersymmetry, has been eliminated by results from the LHC. Since mathematics is the true and proper language for quantitative physical models, we expect new mathematical constructions to provide insight into physical phenomena and fresh approaches for building physical theories.

Summary: This book highlights the role of research in innovation and sustainability in the forest sector. The contributions included fall within the broad thematic areas of forest science and cover crucial topics such as biocontrol, forest fire risk, harvesting and logging practices, quantitative and qualitative assessments of forest products, urban forests, and wood treatments-topics that have also been addressed from an interdisciplinary perspective. The contributions also have practical applications, as they deal with the ecological and economic importance of forests and new technologies for the conservation, monitoring, and improvement of services and forest value.

Summary: This book explores how the concepts, methods and tools of systemic analyses have been utilised in various contexts, and at different levels, to improve the efficiency and optimisation of sustainable energy systems.

Summary: Recently, aluminium scandium nitride (AlScN) emerged as a material with superior properties compared to aluminium nitride (AlN). Substituting Al with Sc in AlN leads to a dramatic increase in the piezoelectric coefficient as well as in electromechanical coupling. This discovery finally allowed us to overcome the limitations of AlN thin films in various piezoelectric applications while still enabling us to benefit from all of the advantages of the parent material system, such as a high temperature stability, CMOS compatibility, and good mechanical properties. Potential applications include RF filters (bulk acoustic wave (BAW) or surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators), energy harvesting, sensing applications, and infra-red detectors. The recent progress in MOCVD- and MBE-grown AlScN has led to high-frequency and -power electronics, (high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs)). AlScN is the first wurtzite III-nitride where ferroelectric switching was observed, allowing for many new possible applications in semiconductor memories additionally, it enables the additional functionality of switching to applications where piezoelectric materials are already in use. This Special Issue was very successful in covering all of the main aspects of AlScN research, including its growth, the fundamental and application-relevant properties, and device fabrication and characterization. We can see that AlScN technology is mature enough to be utilized in wafer-level material development and complicated devices, but there is still much to discover in terms of deposition process control, anisotropy, and, in particular, ferroelectric behavior.

Summary: Food, by nature, is a biological substrate and is therefore capable of supporting the growth of microbials that are potential producers of toxic compounds. Among them mycotoxins, marine biotoxins, plant toxins, cyanogenic glycosides, and toxins occurring in poisonous mushrooms pose not only a risk to both human and animal health but also impact food security and nutrition by reducing people's access to healthy food. This book collects some of the recent key improvements of analytical methodologies for the detection of natural toxins and their metabolites in food, and highlights the challenges yet to be resolved. Special emphasis is given to emerging or less-investigated toxins, to provide the scientific community with new tools and/or data supporting a better understanding of related food safety issues.

Summary: This book consists of original and review papers which describe basic and applied studies for the modifications of metallic and inorganic materials by using energetic ion/electron beams. When materials are irradiated with energetic charged particles (ions /electrons), their energies are transferred to electrons and atoms in materials, and the lattice structures of the materials are largely changed to metastable or non-thermal-equilibrium states, modifying several physical properties. Such phenomena will engage the interest of researchers as a basic science, and can also be used as promising tools for adding new functionalities to existing materials and for the development of novel materials. The papers in this book cover the ion/electron-beam-induced modifications of several properties (optical, electronic, magnetic, mechanical, and chemical properties) and lattice structures. This book will, therefore, be useful for many scientists and engineers who have been involved in fundamental material science and the industrial applications of metallic and inorganic materials.

Summary: This book collects selected high-quality papers published in 2018-2020 to inaugurate the "Natural Hazards" Section of the Geosciences journal. The topics encompass: trends in publications at international level in the field of natural hazards research; the role of Big Data in natural disaster management; assessment of seismic risk through the understanding and quantification of its different components; climatic/hydro-meteorological hazards; and finally, the scientific analysis and disaster forensics of recent natural hazard events. The target audience includes not only specialists, but also graduate students who wish to approach the challenging, but also fascinating

Summary: This book contains original peer-reviewed articles written by some of the most prominent international physicists active in the field of hydrodynamics. The topic is entirely devoted to the study of the transitional regimes of incompressible viscous flow found at the onset of turbulent flows. Nine articles written for this 2020 Special Issue of the journal Entropy (MDPI) have been gathered at the crossroads of fluid mechanics, statistical physics, complexity theory, and applied mathematics. They include experimental, analytic, and computational material of an academic level that has not been published anywhere else.

Summary: This Special Issue (SI) deals with different end-users' perspectives on newly developed energy policy and technology. Although the importance of end-users' preferences is not totally new to the energy sector, this issue needs to be urgently and consistently addressed if new policies, projects, and technologies are to be introduced successfully. The eight papers included in this SI are focused on various issues such as modeling the future energy demand, household energy consumption behavior, public perceptions of new energy technologies and projects, and ICT-energy efficiency interrelationship. Some papers also analyze end-users' experiences with recently introduced energy technologies. Based on these eight articles with various topics, this SI will provide fruitful insights in assessing and forecasting the evolution of the future energy sector. I hope this SI can contribute to the increase in communication and cooperation among academic researchers as well as practitioners in energy fields.

Summary: Gastrointestinal tract disorders are a wide group of diseases involving both the gastrointestinal tube (esophagus, stomach, small and large intestine) and related organs (liver, pancreas, and gallbladder). These dysfunctions may differ by site, etiology, and severity, going from simple malfunctions to mere diseases. Because of their variety and heterogeneity, gastrointestinal disorders can affect many people and are widespread throughout the population. Therefore, scientific research in this area is facing a great challenge. Better knowledge of gastrointestinal disorders in terms of their pathophysiology, clinical features, and possible complications is necessary for the development of new diagnostic methods and therapeutic strategies. During the last several decades, some scientific developments have already been made, giving more opportunities to these patients. However, much remains to be discovered and to be done to help physicians in their everyday work and to give patients a better prognosis. The present Special Issue aims to highlight recent advances in gastrointestinal tract disorders, focusing on their diagnostic and therapeutic path, evolution, and complications.

Summary: This reprint is the printed edition of the Special Issue published in Materials. The reprint provides an overview on current international research activities in the field of advanced pulse laser machining technology. It covers fundamental and applied aspects and collects contributions of renowned scientists from academics and industries working in the fields of laser processing, materials science, physics, chemistry, and engineering in order to foster the current knowledge and present new ideas for future applications and new technologies.

Summary: Regular physical activity (PA) is both a preventive measure and a cure for non-communicable diseases. Moreover, PA improves mental health, quality of life, and well-being. Conversely, physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyles have negative impacts on individuals, families, and society, as evidenced in particular by the spread of the obesity epidemic. PA has proven to be a low-cost alternative for the treatment and prevention of disease. Therefore, interventions to prevent avoidable diseases by increasing the proportion of physically active people are fundamental. The Special Issue "Physical Activity, Wellness and Health: Challenges, Benefits and Strategies" was collected research articles on anthropometric determinants of health and performance, PA and healthy habits, exercise and diet, exercise and body composition, interventions to promote PA for people of all ages, strategies for the implementation of an active life, and the beneficial effects of exercise on metabolic syndrome. A total of 20 articles were published, falling mainly into the following three areas: anthropometry, health, and sport; health benefits of exercise; population studies and strategies for an active life. All of the studies support strategies to promote PA and reduce sedentary behavior among adolescents, adults and the elderly. There is no doubt that regular exercise is beneficial to health, but the general population should be encouraged to engage in more of it.

Summary: In recent years, researchers have shown a special interest in natural products as alternative methods for the prevention, treatment, and/or management of various skin illnesses and disorders, primarily due to their natural availability, efficacity, reduced cost, and minimal toxicity. In a similar vein, synthetic bioactives, as well as small molecules, have been studied in vitro, in vivo, and in clinical studies as potential drugs or supplements. This Special Issue of Nutrients comprises an array of literature reviews, original communications, and studies on the roles of natural products, synthetic bioactives, and small molecules in a variety of skin disorders and diseases, such as aging, atopic dermatitis, cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, melanoma, allergies, hyperpigmentation, inflammation, and more, which were investigated through in vitro and ex vivo approaches, preclinical trials, cell-based assays, and animal models. The mechanisms of action of certain compounds are proposed, while others are currently under investigation. The authors of the papers also explore technologies designed to improve the bioavailability and delivery of certain compounds. In lieu of ongoing research on a variety of skin disorders, the wealth of information published in this Special Issue can act as a springboard for the development of new preventive and therapeutic modalities for the management of skin diseases.

Summary: This book collects fifteen papers published in s Special Issue of Mathematics titled "Fuzzy Sets in Business Management, Finance, and Economics", which was published in 2021. These paper cover a wide range of different tools from Fuzzy Set Theory and applications in many areas of Business Management and other connected fields. Specifically, this book contains applications of such instruments as, among others, Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Neuro-Fuzzy Methods, the Forgotten Effects Algorithm, Expertons Theory, Fuzzy Markov Chains, Fuzzy Arithmetic, Decision Making with OWA Operators and Pythagorean Aggregation Operators, Fuzzy Pattern Recognition, and Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets. The papers in this book tackle a wide variety of problems in areas such as strategic management, sustainable decisions by firms and public organisms, tourism management, accounting and auditing, macroeconomic modelling, the evaluation of public organizations and universities, and actuarial modelling. We hope that this book will be useful not only for business managers, public decision-makers, and researchers in the specific fields of business management, finance, and economics but also in the broader areas of soft mathematics in social sciences. Practitioners will find methods and ideas that could be fruitful in current management issues. Scholars will find novel developments that may inspire further applications in the social sciences.

Summary: This book presents a collection of works published in a recent Special Issue (SI) entitled "Computational Fluid Dynamics". These works address the development and validation of existent numerical solvers for fluid flow problems and their related applications. They present complex nonlinear, non-Newtonian fluid flow problems that are (in some cases) coupled with heat transfer, phase change, nanofluidic, and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) phenomena. The applications are wide and range from aerodynamic drag and pressure waves to geometrical blade modification on aerodynamics characteristics of high-pressure gas turbines, hydromagnetic flow arising in porous regions, optimal design of isothermal sloshing vessels to evaluation of (hybrid) nanofluid properties, their control using MHD, and their effect on different modes of heat transfer. Recent advances in numerical, theoretical, and experimental methodologies, as well as new physics, new methodological developments, and their limitations are presented within the current book. Among others, in the presented works, special attention is paid to validating and improving the accuracy of the presented methodologies. This book brings together a collection of inter/multidisciplinary works on many engineering applications in a coherent manner.

Summary: Proteins represent one of the most abundant classes of biological macromolecules and play crucial roles in a vast array of physiological and pathological processes. The knowledge of the 3D structure of a protein, as well as the possible conformational transitions occurring upon interaction with diverse ligands, are essential to fully comprehend its biological function.In addition to globular, well-folded proteins, over the past few years, intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) have received a lot of attention. IDPs are usually aggregation-prone and may form toxic amyloid fibers and oligomers associated with several human pathologies. Peptides are smaller in size than proteins but similarly represent key elements of cells. A few peptides are able to work as tumor markers and find applications in the diagnostic and therapeutic fields. The conformational analysis of bioactive peptides is important to design novel potential drugs acting as selective modulators of specific receptors or enzymes. Nevertheless, synthetic peptides reproducing different protein fragments have frequently been implemented as model systems in folding studies relying on structural investigations in water and/or other environments.This book contains contributions (seven original research articles and five reviews published in the journal Molecules) on the above-described topics and, in detail, it includes structural studies on globular folded proteins, IDPs and bioactive peptides. These works were conducted usingdifferent experimental methods.

Summary: Biofilms are multicellular sessile microbial communities embedded in hydrated extracellular polymeric matrices. Their formation is common in microbial life in most environments, whereas those formed on food-processing surfaces are of considerable interest in the context of food hygiene. Biofilm cells express properties that are distinct from planktonic ones, in particular, due to their notorious resistance to antimicrobial agents. Thus, a special feature of biofilms is that once they have developed, they are hard to eradicate, even when careful sanitization procedures are regularly applied. A large amount of ongoing research has investigated how and why surface-attached microbial communities develop such resistance, and several mechanisms can be acknowledged, such as heterogeneous metabolic activity, cell adaptive responses, diffusion limitations, genetic and functional diversification, and microbial interactions. The articles contained in this Special Issue deal with biofilms of some important food-related bacteria (including common pathogens such as Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as spoilage-causing spore-forming bacilli), providing novel insights into their resistance mechanisms and implications, together with novel methods (e.g., use of protective biofilms formed by beneficial bacteria, enzymes) that could be used to overcome resistance and thus improve the safety of our food supply and protect public health.

Summary: Urbanisation and climate change are pushing cities to find novel pathways leading to a sustainable future. The urban context may be viewed as a new experimentation space to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Urban symbiosis and the circular economy are emerging concepts attracting more and more attention within the urban context. Moreover, new business models are emerging around sharing and peer-to-peer practices, which are challenging existing roles of actors in society. These developments are having an important impact on the flows of resources and the use of the city infrastructure, and each research area has taken a different perspective in the analysis of such impacts. This Special Issue aims to explore what a "circular city" could constitute and how and why cities engage in circularity. This Special Issue includes seven high-quality papers on the theories and practices of circular cities. Actors, concepts, methods, tools, the barriers to and enablers of circular cities are discussed and a solid base and inspiration for the future development of circular cities are provided.

Summary: The present book contains 14 papers accepted and published in the Special Issue of the MDPI Mathematics journal, entitled "Fuzzy Logic and Soft Computing - Dedicated to the Centenary of the Birth of Lotfi A. Zadeh (1921-2017)", which covers a wide range of topics connected to the theory and applications of fuzzy logic and soft computing. More precisely, these topics include: mathematical programming problems with coefficients and/or decision variables expressed by fuzzy numbers; soft computing methods in a fuzzy environment; fuzzy inner product spaces; M-hazy vector spaces; interval ranges of fuzzy sets; arithmetic operations of fuzzy sets; gradual numbers; Interval-valued fuzzy soft sets; interval-valued fuzzy soft topology; preference relationships; L-fuzzy sub-effect algebras; Fuzzy differential subordinations; m-polar fuzzy set in semigroups; practical use of the marks; the fuzzy logic approach for decision-making systems in management control; multigranulation rough sets; the multigranulation roughness of an intuitionistic fuzzy set; decision-making algorithms, etc. We hope that this book will be useful for those who work in the domains of fuzzy logic and soft computing or for those who want to familiarize themselves with the most advanced knowledge in the field of fuzzy mathematics.

Summary: We live in a constantly changing society, in which life expectancy has continuously increased, and, therefore, important health issues need to be solved. The development of nanotechnology with applications in the medical field-nanomedicine-has been proven to have strong therapeutic potential, especially by combining drugs with natural polymers, polysaccharides being most commonly used in the development of sustained and controlled release systems of biologically active principles. Polymeric nanoparticles loaded with drugs can actively target various diseases, being able to penetrate cells more effectively or succeed in overcoming some physiological barriers such as the blood-brain barrier. Drug-loaded hydrogels are used to treat dermal and dental conditions, and can act as scaffolds for the development of cell cultures with applications in tissue engineering. The recent literature abounds with articles discussing aspects of obtaining new polymer drug systems and their use in various biomedical applications. The editors of this Special Issue of the journal Molecules, entitled Drug Delivery Systems Based on Polysaccharides, are researchers with decades of experience in this field, and they consider justified and useful these several articles which report recent results of drug delivery systems based on polysaccharides and derivatives, respectively, and their biomedical applications. The authors of the articles are experts in the field, and the editors express their gratitude for the kindness and promptness with which they responded to the call to contribute the recently obtained results of their research to this specific edition of the journal Molecules.

Summary: This volume celebrates the 30th anniversary of the first very-high energy (VHE) gamma-ray Source detection: the Crab Nebula, observed by the pioneering ground-based Cherenkov telescope Whipple, at teraelectronvolts (TeV) energies, in 1989. As we entered a new era in TeV astronomy, with the imminent start of operations of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) and new facilities such as LHAASO and the proposed Southern Wide-Field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), we conceived of this volume as a broad reflection on how far we have evolved in the astrophysics topics that dominated the field of TeV astronomy for much of recent history.In the past two decades, H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS pushed the field of TeV astronomy, consolidating the field of TeV astrophysics, from few to hundreds of TeV emitters. Today, this is a mature field, covering almost every topic of modern astrophysics. TeV astrophysics is also at the center of the multi-messenger astrophysics revolution, as the extreme photon energies involved provide an effective probe in cosmic-ray acceleration, propagation and interaction, in dark matter and exotic physics searches. The improvement that CTA will carry forward and the fact that CTA will operate as the first open observatory in the field, mean that gamma-ray astronomy is about to enter a new precision and productive era.This book aims to serve as an introduction to the field and its state of the art, presenting a series of authoritative reviews on a broad range of topics in which TeV astronomy provided essential contributions, and where some of the most relevant questions for future research lie.

Summary: The available range of ornamental plants (cut flowers, potted plants, perennials, bulbous, woody ornamental plants) is constantly being supplemented with new species and cultivars; thus, new methods for their production are required. The sustainable development of the floriculture industry requires modern and environmentally friendly solutions that can maximize the plant's potential. Therefore, it is necessary to adapt flower production methods to actual conditions and take into account the energy transformation and biological, technical, and organizational advances. This Special Issue is a collection of seven well-written research works covering the current state-of-the-art of ornamental crop production. The main body of the Special Issue gives an interesting coverage of new strategies that can be utilized for plant reproduction, regulating their growth and flowering, adapting production technologies to fit the concept of sustainable development, and optimizing supply chain management. This Special Issue will provide a good reference source for growers, research scientists, and advanced undergraduate students.

Summary: Achieving economic growth and sustainable development requires that we urgently reduce our ecological footprint by changing the way we produce and consume goods and resources. We consume more resources than the planet can generate, and growing rates of pollution and waste only worsen the problem. In this context, globally, a significant number of frameworks and programs on sustainable consumption and production have been introduced. Most of them concern the environmentally sound management of energy and raw materials and all wastes throughout their life cycle; the substantially reduce of waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse; the adoption of sustainable practices and the integration of sustainability information into their reporting cycle; the promotion of procurement practices that are sustainable; the enhancement of scientific and technological capacity intending to more sustainable patterns of consumption and production etc. This reprint" Sustainable Production and Environmentally Responsible Consumption" takes a broad view of all these issues and aimed to inform about ways contributing to sustainable consumption and production by reducing our environmental impact, promoting the use of renewable sources of energy and encouraging responsible purchasing decisions.

Summary: The purpose of this reprint based on the Special issue "Molecules in Diabetes Melitus, Dyslipidemia and Cardiovascular Disease", IJMS journal, MDPI, is to present the impact in clinical practice as well as in medical research of novel molecules that have been introduced in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular disease.

Summary: Most of the typical materials employed in today's constructions present limitations, especially concerning their durability, in either common or severe environmental conditions, and their impact on the environment. In response to these issues, academic and industrial efforts around the world have been devoted to developing new smart materials that can provide efficient alternatives, improve the energy efficiency of buildings, or can upgrade, repair, or protect existing infrastructures. Different and wide technological innovations are, therefore, quickly fostering advancements in the field of construction materials. A new generation of materials (bricks, cement, coatings, concrete, FRP, glass, masonry, mortars, nano-materials, PCM, polymers, steel, wood, etc.) is gaining a prominent position in modern building technology, since they can overcome various limits and flaws of conventional materials employed in constructions, without neglecting the smart applications of pioneering materials in ancient constructions and historic buildings. Even though the adoption of innovative materials in the construction field has been a successful route in achieving enhanced performance, or even new and unexpected characteristics, some issues have not been completely solved. On top of them, the cost/performance ratio of novel solutions, since their introduction must be convenient, without compromising quality. Other concerns are related to their sustainability, with eco-friendly options, possibly exploiting recycled materials or by-products from other productions, being the most desirable solution. Finally, the use of materials or systems that are unconventional in this field raises the need to update or develop new specifications and standards. This special issue aims at providing a platform for discussing open issues, challenges, and achievements related to innovative materials proposed for the construction industry.

Summary: System dynamics is a simulation modeling approach to strategic and policy analysis that has been applied to many health care and public health issues since the 1960s and has become increasingly prevalent since the 2000s. The ten articles in this reprint appeared in a Special Issue of Systems and cover a broad cross-section of relevant methodological topics as well as applications to specific health problems.One methodological article describes the use of cascaded system archetypes, with an application to reducing hospital congestion. Another discusses Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis, with an application to the US opioid crisis. Three of the articles describe models of community response to severe shocks, including recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Two other articles address strategies for dealing with myriad chronic diseases and risk factors in a population. Other papers include in-depth analyses of prostate cancer screening, digital prosthetic services for lower-limb amputees, and the complex behavioral health challenge of youth homelessness.This reprint provides an excellent snapshot of the current state of practice in system dynamics as it is applied to public health, health care delivery, and health policy. It offers practical policy guidance and will be of interest to both experienced practitioners and those new to the field.

Summary: This book gathers a collection of papers summarizing some of the latest developments in the thermomechanical processing of steels. The replacement of conventional rolling plus post-rolling heat treatments by integrated controlled forming and cooling strategies implies important reductions in energy consumption, increases in productivity and more compact facilities in the steel industry. The metallurgical challenges that this integration implies, though, are relevant and impressive developments that have been achieved over the last 40 years. The frequency of the development of new steel grades and processing technologies devoted to thermomechanically processed products is increasing, and their implementation is being expended to higher value added products and applications. In addition to the metallurgical peculiarities and relationships between chemical composition, process and final properties, the relevance impact of advanced characterization techniques and innovative modelling strategies provides new tools to achieve the further deployment of the TMCP technologies. The contents of the book cover low carbon microalloyed grades, ferritic stainless steels and Fe-Al-Cr alloys, medium-Mn steels, and medium carbon grades. Authors of the chapters of this "Thermomechanical Processing of Steels" book represent some of the most relevant research groups from both the steel industry and academia.

Summary: Energies is open to submissions for a Special Issue on "Renewable Energy Production from Energy Crops and Agricultural Residues". Biomass represents an important source of renewable and sustainable energy production. Its increasing consumption is mainly related to the increase in global energy demand and fossil fuel prices, but also to a lower environmental impact compared to non-renewable fuels. These factors take RED II directives into consideration. In the past, forestry interventions were the main supply source of biomass, but in recent decades two others sources have entered the international scene. These are dedicated energy crops and agricultural residues, which are important sources of biomass for biofuel and bioenergy. Below, we consider four main value chains: • Oil crops: Oil production from non-food oilseed crops (such as camelina, Crambe, safflower, castor, cuphea, cardoon, etc.), oil extraction, and oil utilization for fuel production. • Lignocellulosic crops: Biomass production from perennial grasses (miscanthus, giant reed, switchgrass, reed canary grass, etc.), woody crops (willow, poplar, Robinia, eucalyptus, etc.), and agricultural residues (pruning, maize cob, maize stalks, wheat chaff, sugar cane straw, etc.), considering two main transformation systems: 1. Electricity/heat production 2. Second-generation ethanol production • Carbohydrate crops (cereals, sweet sorghum, sugar beets, sugar cane, etc.) for ethanol production. • Fermentable crops (maize, barley, triticale, Sudan grass, sorghum, etc.) and agricultural residues (chaff, maize stalks and cob, fruit and vegetable waste, etc.) for production of biogas and/or biomethane.

Summary: The reprint book of the "Remote Sensing of Snow and Its Applications" Special Issue provides recent studies on all aspects of remote sensing of snow, from retrieving the data to the application. These studies mainly address the following: (a) New opportunities (Copernicus Sentinels) and emerging remote sensing methods, (b) use of snow data in modeling, and (c) characterization of snowpack.

Summary: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental chronic disorder which etiology seems the result of complex interactions between multiple factors, including genetic, biological, and environmental influences. Treatment research has proved that the combination of both medication with behavioral therapy can improve ADHD symptoms; Moreover, recent studies suggest the need for new approaches aimed at the underlying triggers of this complex disorder (such as stress, poor sleep or certain dietary plans), on the basis that making adequate lifestyle changes to minimize these triggers could contribute to better control ADHD symptoms. In this context, studies addressing the efficacy of nutrition on the developmental course of ADHD observe that deficiencies in certain types of foods can worse the symptoms of attention deficit, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, while adequate dietary plans could optimize brain functions. Nevertheless, the specific causal pathways of the dietary styles adjuvant for medication and psychotherapies contributing to prevent/reduce ADHD symptoms are largely unknown, as well as the long-term effects. This book includes evidence of the potential contribution of the nutrition styles on the treatment outcomes of individuals with ADHD and other frequent mental-psychiatric disorders across development, and the underlying mechanisms explaining the direct and mediational effects. The contents of this book could contribute to the elaboration of guidelines/recommendations for improving caring capacity of healthcare practitioners and family caregivers.

Summary: This book provides a review of the management of chronic diseases (evaluation and treatment) through eHealth. Studies that examine how eHealth can help to prevent, evaluate, or treat chronic diseases and their outcomes are included.

Summary: To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the prestigious journal Cells launched a series of Special Issues in 2021. The Special Issue entitled "10th Anniversary of Cells-Advances in Cell Cycle" was launched together with other sister Special Issues under the umbrella "10th Anniversary of Cells." The cell cycle is a series of events that drives cells to divide and produce two new daughter cells. The typical cell cycle in eukaryotes is composed of the following phases: G1, S, G2, and M phases. Cell cycle progression is mediated by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and their regulatory cyclin subunits. CDKs, such as CDK4/6, CDK2, and CDK1 (also known as CDC2), are serine/threonine kinases with a wide variety of substrates. CDKs are activated mainly by binding to their cyclin partners, whose expressions rise and fall throughout the cell cycle to mediate the temporal activation of each CDKs. Various cell cycle checkpoints exist to ensure that critical processes are engaged prior to progression to the next phase. These cell cycle checkpoints are the G1 (restriction) checkpoint, the G2/M DNA damage checkpoint, and the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC).This Special Issue attracted the attention of many scientists in the cell cycle field and consists of 10 high quality papers, including four research articles and six scientific reviews: a great success. The four research articles focus on various important topics of the cell cycle using a broad range of model organisms, including yeast, sea urchins, green algae, and human cancer cell lines.

Summary: At present, the increasing demand for novel biotechnological products is supported through the continuous development of biocatalytic applications. As a consequence, the progress of research regarding enzymatic catalysis in aqueous, non-aqueous, organic (polar or non-polar), and/or non-solvent media is decisive. Experimental design methods, which also may comprise in silico studies, the design of specific reactors and conditions, the reactions of significant chemical and/or biochemical processes that are relevant to industrial production, enzyme kinetic methods, the investigation of enzymatic mechanisms and the use of immobilized enzymes and/or microbial cells on various inert matrices, are all useful. A plethora of enzymes of several classes, which may potentially be used as biocatalysts in biotechnological applications, are available. Among these enzymes, the more common are oxidoreductases (laccase, catalase, glucose oxidase, etc.), hydrolases (amylases, lipases, proteases, amidases, cellulases, esterases, etc.), isomerases (epimerases, topoisomerases, mutases, etc.), and others. By means of the aforementioned biocatalysts and the utilization of specific biotechnological methods, important, cost-effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly processes have been applied for the synthesis and/or the conversion of a huge number of market-required products.

Summary: The sensation of flavor reflects the complex integration of aroma, taste, texture, and chemesthetic (oral and nasal irritation cues) from a food or food component. Flavor is a major determinant of food palatability-the extent to which a food is accepted or rejected-and can profoundly influence diet selection, nutrition, and health. Despite recent progress, gaps in knowledge still remain regarding how taste and flavor cues are detected at the periphery, conveyed by the brainstem to higher cortical levels, and then interpreted as a conscious sensation. Taste signals are also projected to central feeding centers where they can regulate hunger and fullness. Individual differences in sensory perceptions are also well known and can arise from genetic variation, environmental causes, or a variety of metabolic diseases, such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. Genetic taste/smell variation could predispose individuals to these same diseases. Recent findings have opened new avenues of inquiry, suggesting that fatty acids and carbohydrates may provide nutrient-specific signals informing the gut and brain of the nature of the ingested nutrients. This Special Issue, Taste, Nutrition, and Health, presents original research communications and comprehensive reviews on topics of broad interest to researchers and educators in sensory science, nutrition, physiology, public health, and health care.