Perpustakaan Digital

Agriculture is facing the challenge of the transition to sustainability under a changing climatic scenario. Understanding the complexity of the agroecosystems can favor research on innovative agronomic practices to guide this change. The optimization of the spatiotemporal combination among plants in farming systems (crop sequence and intercropping), the exploitation of the different forms of biodiversity at the soil and plant levels, the increase in the use efficiency of native resources (radiation and rainfall, N2, CO2, H2O, etc.), and the reduction in the dependence on external energy input (soil tillage, agrochemicals, and mineral fertilizers) represent the driving force behind this paradigmatic change. This approach will ensure the enhancement of the territorial vocation in productive and qualitative terms, whilst also promoting several ecosystem services from carbon sequestration to landscape ecology. The scientific community is called to take up this challenge. The present repr

The Special Issue papers comprise classified into four categories: The first category includes three papers that examine the practical application of design theory in different contexts. The second category comprises three papers exploring the role of technology in design education. The third category includes three papers that analyze the intersection of design education and cross-cultural communication. The final category encompasses two papers investigating the application of design education in diverse fields.  It offered invaluable insights into the latest pedagogical approaches, technologies, and trends in the field of design education. It provided a rich and nuanced view of the challenges and opportunities faced by design educators today. It was an invaluable resource for researchers, educators, and practitioners in the field of design education. Related Books Learning Environment Design and Use Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities Engineering Education and Technological / Prof

Polymerized nanoparticles and nanofibers can be prepared using various processes, such as chemical synthesis, the electrochemical method, electrospinning, ultrasonic irradiation, hard and soft templates, seeding polymerization, interfacial polymerization, and plasma polymerization. Among these processes, plasma polymerization and aerosol-through-plasma (A-T-P) processes have versatile advantages, especially due to them being “dry", for the deposition of plasma polymer films and carbon-based materials with functional properties suitable for a wide range of applications, such as electronic and optical devices, protective coatings, and biomedical materials. Furthermore, it is well known that plasma polymers are highly cross-linked, pinhole free, branched, insoluble, and adhere well to most substrates. In order to synthesize the polymer films using the plasma processes, therefore, it is very important to increase the density and electron temperature of plasma during plasma polymerization

This Special Issue contains articles include, but not limited to, empirical, analytical, or design-oriented approaches to the following topics: Monitoring of carrying capacity and mechanisms for managing tourist flows in rural areas; Systems and tools to measure the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of rural tourism; Integration between public tourism policies and private strategies in the promotion and implementation of sustainable practices; Policies for promoting public participation in the planning and development of sustainable rural tourism; The impacts of tourism on traditional agricultural activities; Identity enhancement of the territory and its productions; "Good practices" in the implementation of rural tourism sustainability. Related Books Tourism, Smart Specialization and Sustainable Development Business & Economics Sustainable Rural Development: Strategies, Good Practices and Opportunities Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities Sustainable Rural Developmen

Acceptance or rejection of implanted biomaterials is strongly dependent on an appropriate bio-interface between the biomaterial and its surrounding tissue. Given the fact that most bulk materials only provide mechanical stability for the implant and may not interact with tissues and fluids in vivo, surface modification and engineering of biomaterials plays a significant role towards addressing major clinical unmet challenges. Increasing data showed that altering surface properties including physiochemical, topographical, and mechanical characteristics, is a promising approach to tackle these problems. Surface engineering of biomaterials could influence the subsequent tissue and cellular events such as protein adsorption, cellular recolonization, adhesion, proliferation, migration, and the inflammatory response. Moreover, it could be based on mimicking the complex cell structure and environment or hierarchical nature of the bone. In this case, the design of nano/micrometer patterns and

Rapid urbanization, the demand for efficient mobility, and the need to mitigate climate change are among the major societal challenges of our time. These challenges have driven the extensive expansion of railway infrastructure in modern cities, raising environmental concerns about the generation and propagation of vibrations and noise, which can adversely affect the comfort, well-being, and quality of life of people living and working in the vicinity of railway lines. In parallel, the increasing demands placed on railway systems, including higher speeds, traffic density, and enhanced operational reliability, have intensified the need for a deeper understanding of railway dynamics and the mechanisms governing the generation, transmission, and mitigation of vibrations and noise.Addressing these challenges requires multidisciplinary approaches encompassing vehicle-track interaction, wave propagation in soils, structural dynamics, vibration control technologies, and monitoring systems. The Special Issue brings together nine contributions covering a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from fundamental studies of railway dynamic behaviour to practical solutions for vibration and noise prediction, mitigation, and monitoring.

This Reprint provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of vitreoretinal diseases, their clinical features, and the latest progress in diagnosis and treatment. Vitreoretinal diseases encompass a wide spectrum of ocular conditions affecting the vitreous, retina, and surrounding structures, posing major challenges for both patients and clinicians. The articles in this collection address the pathophysiology, epidemiology, and risk factors of disorders such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment, and vitreomacular traction. Contributing authors highlight new diagnostic tools that enable earlier and more accurate detection of these conditions. Emphasizing innovative therapeutic and surgical strategies, this Reprint discusses advances in intravitreal injections, laser photocoagulation, vitrectomy, and emerging pharmacological approaches, with attention to their efficacy and safety. By gathering contributions from leading experts, this Reprint serves as a valuable reference for ophthalmologists, optometrists, and researchers. It aims to enhance understanding, promote timely diagnosis, and improve patient management and visual outcomes in vitreoretinal diseases.

This Reprint presents a collection of research focused on "Smart Electric Vehicle Charging Approaches for Demand Response," addressing the critical challenge of integrating electric vehicles (EVs) into smart grids. As the adoption of EVs increases, maintaining the balance between supply and demand within the electrical grid becomes more complex. This Reprint highlights innovative smart charging solutions, including vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and smart charging (V1G) strategies, which aim to enhance grid reliability through demand response mechanisms. The articles explore optimization techniques for assessing various demand response programs, taking into account grid and market requirements. Furthermore, the Reprint includes research on integrating renewable energy sources into EV charging stations, managing fleets of EVs, and optimizing microgrid operations under uncertainty. By bringing together diverse perspectives on smart charging, this collection of papers offers valuable insights into the future of EV integration and its impact on sustainable grid operations.

In 2020, the world was shaken by a very unexpected development, an unseen virus which could kill millions and spread without control. To reduce the impact of the pandemic and before the vaccine was created, lockdown and other safety measures were implemented. In this context, the socio-economic burden of the disease was, in our opinion, a major issue because we always considered that COVID-19 would have a hard impact on human beings and that that impact would be the most prominent effect of the pandemic. In consequence, when designing this Special Issue, we hoped to receive papers with "tales from the field" that would describe the mentioned socio-economic burden. Therefore, it was deeply rewarding to receive so many contributions of very good quality that ended up composing the Special Issue that is reprinted here. We sincerely thank all the authors and reviewers for the work they produced and we congratulate them for their success.  We believe that this reprint of the Special Issue contributes to the understanding of the major consequences of COVID-19 in society. Crucially, the reprint includes papers on global perspectives but also national cases and also sector-specific cases.  Finally, we hope the legacy of this volume will be long-lasting and that the papers it contains will be quoted and cited for many years to come.

Based on this evidence, a deep understanding of the immunological status and biological targets modulating immunological microenvironments should be quite informative for the development of future immunotherapy in HCC. From this point of view, this Special Issue will highlight the current state of the art in the immunotherapy of HCC from both the basic and clinical perspectives, and outline future perspectives for improving therapies. Related Books Diagnosis and Treatment for Hepatocellular Tumors Biology & Life Sciences Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Resistance Medicine & Pharmacology Cancer Immunology Biology & Life Sciences Challenges and Opportunities for Effective Cancer Immunotherapies Medicine & Pharmacology New Therapies of Liver Diseases Medicine & Pharmacology The recommendations have been generated using an AI system. About: About MDPI Books Advisory Board Legal Information: MDPI Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions Terms of Use Accessibility Sales: Order and De

The coming years will see an exponential increase in the proportion of elderly people in our society. This accelerated growth brings with it major challenges in relation to the sustainability of the system. There are different aspects where these changes will have a special incidence: health systems and their monitoring; the development of a framework in which the elderly can develop their daily lives satisfactorily; and in the design of intelligent cities adapted to the future sociodemographic profile. The discussion of the challenges faced, together with the current technological evolution, can show possible ways of meeting the challenges. There are different aspects where these changes will have a special incidence: health systems and their monitoring; the development of a framework in which the elderly can develop their daily lives satisfactorily; and in the design of intelligent cities adapted to the future sociodemographic profile. This special issue discusses various ways in w

The book is dedicated to the work and achievements of Howard Flack. It combines articles which describe his own work and the advances he made in the field of crystallography, with original research articles which focus on aspects related to Howard Flack's interests. Related Books Commemorative Issue in Honor of Professor Karlheinz Schwarz on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday Chemistry & Materials Science Advances in Chemical Crystallography: A Themed Issue Honoring Professor Alexandra M. Z. Slawin on the Occasion of Her 60th Birthday Chemistry & Materials Science Particle Theory and Theoretical Cosmology—Dedicated to Professor Paul Howard Frampton on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday Physical Sciences Frontiers in Protein Folding and Related Areas – in Memory of Professor Sir Christopher M. Dobson (1949–2019) Biology & Life Sciences Turbulence from Earth to Planets, Stars and Galaxies—Commemorative Issue Dedicated to the Memory of Jackson Rea Herring Physical Sciences The recommendat

Zinc-dependent matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) belong to metzincins that comprise not only 23 human MMPs but also other metalloproteinases, such as 21 human ADAMs (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain) and 19 secreted ADAMTSs (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase thrombospondin domain). The many setbacks from the clinical trials of broad-spectrum MMP inhibitors for cancer indications in the late 1990s emphasized the extreme complexity of the participation of these proteolytic enzymes in biology. This editorial mini-review summarizes the Special Issue, which includes four review articles and 10 original articles that highlight the versatile roles of MMPs, ADAMs, and ADAMTSs, in normal physiology as well as in neoplastic and destructive processes in tissue. In addition, we briefly discuss the unambiguous involvement of MMPs in wound healing. Related Books Matrix Metalloproteinases in Health and Disease Public Health & Healthcare ... Novel Approaches for Targeting Metalloproteinase

This Reprint presents a collection of peer-reviewed research articles focused on recent advances in photonic and optoelectronic devices and systems. The contributions cover innovative materials, device architectures, design methodologies, fabrication techniques, numerical modeling, and experimental characterization of integrated and free space photonic technologies. Key topics include optical waveguides, photonic integrated circuits, optical sensors, microring and resonator-based devices, plasmonics, metamaterials, photonic crystals, optical communications, semiconductor lasers, light emitting devices, nonlinear photonics, and emerging applications in quantum and artificial intelligence-enabled photonic systems. Emphasis is placed on solutions that improve device performance, sensitivity, efficiency, integration density, and manufacturability while addressing practical challenges in sensing, communications, healthcare, environmental monitoring, and information processing. By bringing together interdisciplinary contributions from academia and industry, this Reprint provides an up-to-date overview of current developments and highlights future directions for next generation photonic and optoelectronic technologies. It serves as a valuable reference for researchers, engineers, and graduate students working in the rapidly evolving field of photonics.

Rising global temperatures, changing climate conditions, and increasing expectations regarding indoor comfort have intensified the demand for more accurate tools to predict and optimise the performance of buildings. As the construction sector remains one of the largest energy consumers, understanding the complex interactions between buildings, their systems, and occupant behaviour is essential for reducing energy use and improving indoor environmental quality. Advances in information technology and simulation methods offer new possibilities for analysing building behaviour under dynamic real-world conditions. This Reprint focuses on recent developments in building performance simulation and indoor environmental quality modelling. It presents research addressing energy demand, thermal comfort, thermal sensation, airflow behaviour, and the environmental impact of buildings. The contributions demonstrate a variety of modelling approaches, including whole-building simulation, airflow modelling, and computational fluid dynamics, as well as studies on calibration, validation, and optimisation of building systems. The Reprint provides an overview of current methods and tools used to analyse and improve the energy efficiency and indoor environment of contemporary buildings.

In the last few decades, significant progress has been made towards characterizing and modelling the thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils, including the decisive refinements of experimental techniques and the recent developments of reasonably robust constitutive and computational models under static and dynamic loading conditions. This Special Issue of Geosciences aims to assemble the most significant advances recently made in the thermo-hydro-mechanical characterization and modelling of unsaturated soils. The contributions selected for this Special Issue will undergo a rigorous review process and should be primarily focused on recent advances in the thermo-hydro-mechanical testing of unsaturated soils, including equipment, protocols, and data interpretation, as well as a postulation of refined computational modelling frameworks based on thorough experimental evidence.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, and although it is usually considered as a disorder that only affects movement, a broad spectrum of non-motor symptoms (NMSs) can be observed in PD patients. Although the realities of the disease vary enormously from patient to patient, almost all of them have one or more NMS. In fact, a wide range of behavioural, neuropsychiatric, and physical symptoms frequently play a primary role in managing the disorder and constitute a major disease burden for patients and caregivers. The current reprint includes a compilation of published articles about NMSs in Parkinson’s disease and potential treatment strategies. Related Books The Molecular and Cellular Basis for Parkinson's Disease Biology & Life Sciences Neurobiology Research on Neurodegenerative Disorders Biology & Life Sciences ... Parkinson's Disease: Genetics and Pathogenesis Biology & Life Sciences Clinical Management of Movement Disorders Public Health

We invite you to read the Special Issue on The Financial Industry 4.0. It is a collection of 13 articles published in a Special Issue of International Journal of Financial Studies (MDPI) in 2020-2022. The main emphasis of this reprint is on The Financial Industry 4.0 to provide insightful understanding about the benefits as well as the challenges that financial institutions are facing under the Industry 4.0 era. The articles in this Special Issue discussed the potential of blockchain technology, the impact of fintech on financial inclusion in developing countries, the role of fintech in the insurance industry, and so on. It highlights the benefits of fintech, such as improved efficiency, accuracy, and customer experience, but also notes the challenges and risks involved, such as data privacy and security concerns. Collaboration between financial institutions, regulators, and technology firms is seen as necessary to promote innovation and ensure the stability and security of the fina

Cybercrime is increasingly exposing the health domain to growing risk. The push towards a strong connection of citizens to health services, through digitalization, has undisputed advantages. Digital health allows remote care, the use of medical devices with a high mechatronic and IT content with strong automation, and a large interconnection of hospital networks with an increasingly effective exchange of data. However, all this requires a great cybersecurity commitment—a commitment that must start with scholars in research and then reach the stakeholders. New devices and technological solutions are increasingly breaking into healthcare, and are able to change the processes of interaction in the health domain. This requires cybersecurity to become a vital part of patient safety through changes in human behaviour, technology, and processes, as part of a complete solution. All professionals involved in cybersecurity in the health domain were invited to contribute with their experiences.

This Special Issue entitled “Water Quality Assessments for Urban Water Environment,” strives to highlights the status quo of water environment, opportunities and challenges for their sustainable management in lieu of rapid global changes (land us eland cover changes, climate change, population growth, change in socio-economic dimension, urbanization etc.), in the urban space particularly in developing nations around the world. It also highlights the effect of COVID19 pandemic on water resources and way forward to minimize the risk of spreading health risk associated with wastewater management. Considering the complex nature of the urban water security, it highlights the importance of emerging approaches like socio-hydrology, landscape ecology, regional-circular-ecological sphere etc., which presents a perfect combination of hard (infrastructure) and soft (numerical simulations, spatial technologies, participatory approaches, indigenous knowledge) measures, as the potential solutions

This Systems Thinking Special Issue contains 12 papers on the nature of systems thinking as it applies to systems engineering, systems science, system dynamics, and related fields. Systems thinking can be broadly considered the activity of thinking applied in a systems context, forming a basis for fundamental approaches to several systems disciplines, including systems engineering, systems science, and system dynamics. Although these are somewhat distinct fields, they are bound by common approaches in regard to systems. Whereas systems engineering seeks to apply a multidisciplinary, holistic approach to the development of systems, systems science seeks to understand the basics related to systems of all kinds, from natural to man-made, and system dynamics seeks to understand system structures in order to influence its dynamics. Man-made systems have become more ubiquitous and complex. The study of systems, both natural and engineered, presents new challenges and opportunities to unders

In forestry-related research, forestry should not be simplistically viewed as merely a process of tree production and processing but rather as a complex, integrated system that incorporates elements such as climate, soil, water resources, industrial economics, regional governance, and livelihood development into a comprehensive research framework. Such a broad perspective allows researchers to capture the multiple feedback loops and interdependencies that characterize real-world forestry systems. Without this integrative view, critical interactions between natural and social systems can easily be overlooked. Against the backdrop of global climate change, increasing biodiversity loss, and rapid socio-economic transformation, the boundaries between forest ecosystems and human social systems have become increasingly blurred, making it essential to explore their interactive relationships from an integrated perspective. Based on nine representative studies, this review systematically synthesizes research findings on modern forestry across various dimensions—including economic forest cultivation, industrial structure, digital empowerment, timber processing, ecological efficiency, carbon sequestration benefits, green technologies, community governance, and livelihood protection—to provide a comprehensive understanding of the interaction mechanisms between forest ecosystems and socio-economic systems. Each of these dimensions offers a unique lens through which the complexity of modern forestry can be better understood, and together they form a coherent analytical framework.

The dissemination of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology results primarily from the progress in the field of integrated electronics technology, as well as from our better understanding of the phenomena that determine the principles of the wireless transmission of information and energy at a distance. Until recently, RFID transponders were used only as electronic tags for marking objects. At present, these radio devices are becoming integrated into sensors of various physical quantities in order to monitor the operating state of marked objects, as well as to gather information on their working environment. On this basis, innovative applications of RFID transponder sensors can be developed towards distributed IT systems, and their implementation can be achieved in various areas of socio-economic activity (e.g., Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, smart homes and cities, smart agriculture, e-healthcare, retail and supply chain). The progress in RFID transponder sensors also stimulates the availability and continuous improvements in low-power energy-efficient integrated circuits. The combination of these advancements with the ability of energy harvested from various sources present in the surrounding environment makes the construction of autonomous battery-free systems possible. Additional development factors include the integration of transponder sensors with marked objects, as well as their use as semi-finished products in technological processes unrelated to electronic systems (e.g., textronic systems and product packaging).

In recent years, researchers have shown a special interest in the role of signaling pathways as disease molecular targets and capitalized on such pathways to derive natural products, biologics, and synthetic scaffold-based prevention and treatments. These can lead to naturally available, efficacious, low-cost, and minimally toxic long-term therapies for human diseases. This Special Issue of Cells comprises an array of literature reviews, original communications, and studies on the roles of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR and associated pathways in a diversity of pathways using in vitro cell-based assays and preclinical animal models. 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 human disorders, the wealth of information published in this Special Issue can act as a springboard for the identification of novel disease targets and the development of new preventive and therapeutic modalities for the management of human diseases.