Böcker utgivna av Mdpi AG

Five papers were selected for this Special Issue, with three relating to solar energy applications in houses, smart cities, and microgrids; one studying the relationship between the smart city model and the concept of energy sustainability; and one addressing the following two topics: the lack of effectiveness of detection algorithms based on the voltage/frequency displacement concept under voltage-controlled inverters and the applicability limits of others based on the impedance measurement (IM).

Two review papers, eight research articles, and one brief report were published in this Special Issue. They showed the rich resources that are present within the genomes of marine microorganisms and discussed the use of recently developed tools and technologies to exploit this genetic richness. Examples include the rational supply of precursors according to the relevant biosynthetic pathway and stress driven discovery together with the use of histone deacetylase inhibitors to facilitate the discovery of new bioactive molecules with potential biopharmaceutical applications. We believe that the content of this Special Issue reflects the current state-of-the-art research in this area and highlights the interesting strategies that are being employed to uncover increasing numbers of exciting novel compounds for drug discovery from marine genetic resources.

Cell-free synthetic biology is in the spotlight as a powerful and rapid approach to characterize and engineer natural biological systems. The open nature of cell-free platforms brings an unprecedented level of control and freedom for design compared to in vivo systems. This versatile engineering toolkit is used for debugging biological networks, constructing artificial cells, screening protein library, prototyping genetic circuits, developing new drugs, producing metabolites, and synthesizing complex proteins including therapeutic proteins, toxic proteins, and novel proteins containing non-standard (unnatural) amino acids. The book consists of a series of reviews, protocols, benchmarks, and research articles describing the current development and applications of cell-free synthetic biology in diverse areas.

This book brings together the latest research results of air quality assessment standards and sustainable development in developing countries. The content is full and the discussion is vivid. These articles are suitable for students and researchers at all levels seeking to understand the status of air pollution, governance standards, and governance effects in developing countries.

This book is a compilation of 10 recently published academic articles addressing sustainable residential landscape design and planning across geographies, scales, and perspectives: from American rain garden design to South Korean urban forestry; from Mexican community open space design to Australian neighborhood park planning; and from Chinese urban design to Bolivian land-use change. This volume brings together authors from a growing community of landscape sustainability scholars of landscape architecture and architecture; planning and construction; ecology and horticulture; agricultural and environmental sciences; and health, exercise, and nutrition. In summary, these papers address facets of a fundamental challenge for the 21st century: the design and planning of sustainable and resilient human settlements.

The use of renewable energy is an effective solution for the prevention of global warming. On the other hand, environmental plasmas are one of powerful means to solve global environmental problems on nitrogen oxides, (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and carbon dioxides (CO2) in the atmosphere. By combining both technologies, we can develop an extremely effective environmental improvement technology. Based on this background, a Special Issue of the journal Energies on plasma processes for renewable energy technologies is planned. On the issue, we focus on environment plasma technologies that can effectively utilize renewable electric energy sources, such as photovoltaic power generation, biofuel power generation, wind turbine power generation, etc. However, any latest research results on plasma environmental improvement processes are welcome for submission. We are looking, among others, for papers on the following technical subjects in which either plasma can use renewable energy sources or can be used for renewable energy technologies: Plasma decomposition technology of harmful gases, such as the plasma denitrification method;Plasma removal technology of harmful particles, such as electrostatic precipitation;Plasma decomposition technology of harmful substances in liquid, such as gas–liquid interfacial plasma;Plasma-enhanced flow induction and heat transfer enhancement technologies, such as ionic wind device and plasma actuator;Plasma-enhanced combustion and fuel reforming;Other environment plasma technologies.

Pregnancy is a viewed as a window to future health. With the birth of the developmental origins of human adult disease hypothesis, research and clinical practice has turned its attention to the influence of maternal factors such as health and lifestyle surrounding pregnancy as a means to understand and prevent the inter-generational inheritance of chronic disease susceptibility. Outcomes during pregnancy have long-lasting impacts on both women on children. Moreover, nutrition early in life can influence growth and the establishment of lifelong eating habits and behaviors.This Special Issue on “Nutrition during Pregnancy and Lactation: Implications for Maternal and Infant Health” is intended to highlight new epidemiological, mechanistic and interventional studies that investigate maternal nutrition around the pregnancy period on maternal and infant outcomes. Submissions may include original research, narrative reviews, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

In the last few decades, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has distinguished itself as one of the most rapidly advancing spectroscopic techniques. Mainly known as an analytical tool useful for sample characterization and content quantification, NIR spectroscopy is essential in various other fields, e.g. NIR imaging techniques in biophotonics, medical applications or used for characterization of food products. Its contribution in basic science and physical chemistry should be noted as well, e.g. in exploration of the nature of molecular vibrations or intermolecular interactions. One of the current development trends involves the miniaturization and simplification of instrumentation, creating prospects for the spread of NIR spectrometers at a consumer level in the form of smartphone attachments—a breakthrough not yet accomplished by any other analytical technique. A growing diversity in the related methods and applications has led to a dispersion of these contributions among disparate scientific communities. The aim of this Special Issue was to bring together the communities that may perceive NIR spectroscopy from different perspectives. It resulted in 30 contributions presenting the latest advances in the methodologies essential in near-infrared spectroscopy in a variety of applications.