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"Advances in the Experimentation and Numerical Modeling of Material Joining Processes" is an innovative compilation offering a comprehensive exploration of the latest developments in material-joining techniques. With 22 chapters, this MDPI scientific reprint addresses adhesive bonding, welding, friction stir welding, hybrid joining, and miscellaneous topics. The editorial (Chapter 1) provides the main limitations, possible improvements, active research lines, and prospects of material joining processes. Chapters 2 to 10 relate to adhesive bonded and welded joints. Chapters 11 to 17 shift the focus to friction stir welding, covering the aerospace industry's progress, microstructure analysis, tool tilt angles, and corrosion behaviour. Hybrid joining processes are the topic of chapters 18 and 19, discussing numerical simulation of laser-arc hybrid welding and steel-aluminium joints made by resistance spot welding. Chapters 20 to 22 explore miscellaneous topics, including interpenetrating phase composites and concrete blocks in seismic areas. This volume serves as a vital resource for researchers, engineers, and practitioners, enabling a deeper understanding of material-joining techniques and inspiring further innovation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fragility and importance of the fresh food supply chain system. The pandemic has affected the production and transportation of high-value, labor-intensive, perishable, and nutritious fresh foods, such as fruits and vegetables, meat, and aquatic products. On the other hand, changes in the characteristics of microorganisms, production methods, environment, and ecology, and the increasing amount of fresh food in world markets have created new risks. Over the years, food preservation processes have satisfied consumers' increased demand for high-quality fresh foods. Consequently, exploring the novel technologies of processing, storage, and preservation is becoming essential for fresh food. Innovative and promising technologies have been adopted to ensure safe productions with changing consumer needs and fresh food-health issues. This Special Issue aspired to collate a range of original research and review articles on the latest progress, challenges, and prospects of new processing, storage, and fresh-keeping technologies for fresh food.

We are pleased to inform you that the Special Issue reprint "Drug Treatments for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases" has been published online and is freely accessible on the MDPI Books platform. We hope that the reprint meets the reader's expectations in the field and further promotes investigations into the treatment of IBD by the scientific community.

Rickets and osteomalacia are associated with impaired mineralization in growth plate cartilage and the bone osteoid. Vitamin D deficiency has been one of the major causes for rickets and osteomalacia. In addition, it has been also known that there are diseases called vitamin D-resistant rickets/osteomalacia which cannot be cured by native vitamin D. Since the cloning of FGF23 in 2000, it has become clear that most cases of vitamin D-resistant rickets/osteomalacia are caused by excessive actions of FGF23. X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is the most common cause of inherited FGF23-reltated hypophosphatemic rickets. Patients with XLH suffer from life-long morbidity of bone, cartilage, ligament, joint, tooth and muscle which significantly affects quality of life. Since FGF23 was shown to be the humoral factor causing hypophosphatemia in patients with XLH, anti-FGF23 antibody that blocks the actions of FGF23 has been developed and become clinically available in several countries. The introduction of this new drug together with advanced knowledge concerning physiological and pathophysiological significance of FGF23 has further stimulated research and promoted dissemination of fruits of the studies in this field. From these backgrounds, a variety of both basic and clinical topics concerning XLH are covered in this special issue to provide up-to-date summaries of the current understanding.

Rapid growth in algorithms and computing power over recent years has spurred the emergence of machine learning and image processing techniques as new tools, which are rapidly entering every aspect of our life, from intelligent personal assistance such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Home to self-driving cars. The medical community has begun taking advantage of these new possibilities to create new predictive models and improve existing models. For example, novel methods applying machine learning and image processing/analysis methods that are robust and theoretically sound to solve the learning task efficiently and intuitively have become widespread across different facets of biomedical imaging for identifying complex patterns. Likewise, advances in biomedical imaging may lead to new technologies for developing predictive models for all diseases and guide the decision of who should receive preventive therapy.

Mathematical problems in the aerospace industry deeply affect the development of many related fields, such as aerodynamics, astrodynamics, deep space exploration, space environment, manned space flight, space traffic management, etc. As a result, these challenges have together become a hotbed of research and have garnered significant attention in recent years. However, notwithstanding the enormous efforts of mathematicians, natural scientists, and engineers, many major issues remain unresolved. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide a comprehensive introduction to the major mathematical problems in aerospace in order to help people refer to and conduct further in-depth research. This reprint thus contains a systematic review and several technical studies regarding the latest major mathematical problems in aerospace and their respective applications in different fields. This Special Issue aspires to make a valuable contribution to the knowledge on the mathematical theories, computational methods, and other issues relating to aerospace.

Health organizations have recently highlighted the need to improve the nutritional and functional characteristics of foods and beverages as a strategy to prevent chronic disease and enhance, globally, the life quality. Many staple foods are characterized by critical issues such as high glycemic response, low biological value of proteins, high concentrations of salt and fat, the presence of ingredients associated with hypersensitivity reactions, often lacking functional compounds such as fibers and polyphenols. The use of fermentation and selected starters, such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeasts, has long been considered an excellent tool to improve the nutritional/functional characteristics of foods by the synthesis of bioactive compounds, or by the degradation of antinutrional factors, while ameliorating their organoleptic and technological features. In recent years, natural fermented foods, novel food matrices and their microbial communities have been studied in order to select microorganisms with characteristics useful for the nutritional/functional improvement of traditional and novel fermented foods. In this Special Issue, an overview of the latest scientific evidences on the improvement of nutritional and functional properties resulting from the use of beneficial microorganisms, is provided.

The idea of an intelligent machine has fascinated humans for centuries. Intelligence can be defined as the capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, or the aptitude for grasping truths, relationships, facts, or meanings. Any of these perspectives requires the capacity to acquire data from the surrounding environment and possibly act over that environment. In short, the building of autonomous agents served with sensors and actuators, capable of learning and producing educated answers was long foreseen. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is impacting our day-to-day lives, our cities, and even our free time. AI is still closely associated with some popular misconceptions that cause the public to either have unrealistic fears about it or unrealistic expectations about how it will change our workplace and life in general. It is important to show that such fears are unfounded, and that new trends, innovations, and technologies will be able to improve the way we live, benefiting society without replacing humans in their core activities. This Special Issue delves into mutually dependent subfields including, but not restricted to, machine learning, computer vision, data analysis, data science, big data, Internet of Things, sentiment analysis, natural language processing, privacy and ethics, and robotics. The chapters build a comprehensive collection of research and development trends on contemporary "Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovation" that will serve as a convenient reference for AI experts, as well as newly arrived practitioners, introducing them to the field's trends.

The aim of this Special Issue is to expand our knowledge around the rational use of foods and natural antioxidant compounds, also extracted from high-quality byproducts, in the management and prevention of chronic inflammatory and metabolic diseases. In this regard, the papers submitted should include robust biological data underlying the protective role of foods and their ingredients, alongside a detailed description of their chemical composition. Specifically, biological and pharmacological investigations may include an evaluation of the protective effects through in vitro models (i.e., cell cultures, pathogen microbiological strains, isolated tissue), including preclinical and clinical data based on validated and reproducible models. Regarding the chemical composition of the investigated products, the authors were strongly invited to submit papers reporting the identification and quantification of food components, through chromatographic and/or spectroscopic data. A description of the mechanism of action will be much appreciated, which could also include a bioinformatics approach based on targets-components analysis, in particular, for bioactive extracts from foods.

The beginning of the 21st century was marked by an increase in the number of emerging/reemerging infectious diseases detected worldwide and by the challenging COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these emerging diseases are caused by viruses that are primarily RNA viruses of animal origin, with a long history of adaptation to their natural hosts, becoming pathogenic when crossing species barriers.The conditions for viral persistence in animal reservoirs, particularly among the very diverse species of rodents and bats, and pathogenicity in humans are not always elucidated. Meanwhile, outbreaks are influenced by human activities that disrupt ecosystems and increase contact between infected animals and humans. Therefore, population dynamics are of great importance, with domestic animals playing key roles as intermediaries in the transmission of viruses.Considering the increase in emerging infectious disease and their occurrence on a global scale, damage to ecosystems, mainly caused by human activities that, thereby increase contact between wild animals, domestic animals, and humans, the global "One Health" approach is essential. The articles published in the Special Issue, "Viral Zoonoses: Interactions and Factors Driving Virus Transmission ", contribute to this reflection.

This Special Issue reprint focuses on the latest advances and development of fusion bonding/welding of polymer composites. It contains research articles addressing materials, processing, modeling, monitoring, or performance issues with experimental or numerical approaches. Whatever the process, e.g., resistance, induction, ultrasonic, laser or conduction welding, or 3D printing using fused deposition modeling, one of the challenges is to master the interfacial phenomena, structure, and quality in the assembly area (welds), which is rather tricky due to the presence of the reinforcement fibers. Additionally, it is of paramount importance to develop reliable predictive process simulation software and monitor and control the process parameters in situ.

This reprint highlights novel findings of state-of-the-art computational models based on multiscale, multiphysics, data-driven, artificial intelligence, and machine learning approaches in the field of bioengineering. Ten individual contributions from renowned research groups across the world have been published in this Special Issue.

This Special Issue sheds light on the escalating significance of intelligent data analysis and its applications in the era of burgeoning big data. It has emerged as a pivotal driver for progress across diverse domains, necessitating in-depth research and practical applications within this framework. This multifaceted endeavor facilitates the revelation of latent value within extensive datasets and provides robust support for innovation and progress across various industries. Consequently, the imperative nature of discussing and exploring the latest research developments in intelligent data analysis and its practical applications becomes apparent, representing a vital initiative to keenly discern and proactively address trends in the big data era. This compilation is dedicated to comprehensively exploring recent research advancements in intelligent data analysis, elucidating their specific manifestations in practical applications. Encompassing diverse and profound topics, including intelligent data mining algorithms and their applications, the integration of machine learning in intelligent data analysis, models for natural language processing, intelligent granular computing models, cognitive computing, and hybrid models, the overarching goal is to provide profound insights into the academic development of intelligent data analysis. This, in turn, extends innovative guidance for academic research and industrial applications, thereby nurturing the continuous advancement and evolution of intelligent data analysis technologies.

The aim of this reprint is to present novel research topics regarding the biology, ecology and diversity of zooplanktonic organisms. The contributions collected focus on a wide range of topics - from host-parasite interactions to seasonal variability - over different scales - from the molecular to the population level - and systems - from lagoons to hydrothermal vents. The result is a volume with a strong interdisciplinary nature that is able to attract the interest of a diversified audience of scientists.

Analytic number theory is a branch of number theory which uses methods from mathematical analysis in order to solve difficult problems about integers. Analytic number theory can be split into two major areas: multiplicative number theory and additive number theory. Bernhard Riemann made some very important contributions to the field of analytic number theory; among others, he investigated the Riemann zeta function, and he established its importance for understanding the distribution of prime numbers. A typical problem of analytic number theory is the enumeration of number-theoretic objects like primes, solutions of Diophantine equations, etc. Algebraic number theory on the other hand studies the arithmetic of algebraic number fields, i.e., the ring of integers of arbitrary number fields. It embraces, among others, the study of the ideals and of the group of units in the ring of integers and the extent to which unique factorization holds. The purpose and scope of this ''Special Issue" were to collect new results in algebraic number theory and analytic number theory (namely in the areas of ramification theory in algebraic number fields, class field theory, arithmetic functions, L-functions, modular forms and elliptic curves) and in some similar research areas (namely associative algebras, logical algebras, elementary number theory, combinatorics, difference equations, group rings and algebraic hyper-structures).

Although various non-pharmaceutical strategies addressed to the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases such as tobacco control policies, reducing the consumption of harmful food, and increasing physical activity still represent a key strategy, often they are not sufficient. Moreover, despite the availability of a plethora of pharmaceutic approaches specifically targeting mechanisms involved in cardiovascular diseases over recent years, the burden of these pathologies has only been marginally alleviated. Therefore, new pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical strategies are necessary for both primary and secondary prevention to reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases. The present reprint brings together original and review articles aiming to highlight the advances in the development of modern pharmaceutics for cardiovascular diseases in recent years.

This SI reprint comprehensively explores the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, addressing various facets, from treatment protocols to global health implications. This 30-article reprint reflects the breadth and depth of the medical community's response to this unprecedented health crisis. Each article brings a unique perspective, contributing to a multifaceted understanding of the pandemic. Topics range from innovative therapeutics and vaccine development to the impact of COVID-19 on different patient populations and healthcare systems globally. This SI includes research articles, reviews, and communications that highlight the rapid advancements in understanding and managing COVID-19 and the challenges faced by healthcare professionals and researchers. One of the notable features of this SI is its focus on the evolving nature of the disease and responses to it. Articles discuss the efficacy of various treatment methods against emerging virus variants, providing crucial insights for ongoing and future pandemic preparedness. This SI also sheds light on the real-world experiences of healthcare providers, patients, and policymakers, offering a holistic view of the pandemic's impact. It is an essential resource for healthcare professionals, researchers, and policymakers. It underscores the importance of high-quality, rapid research in response to global health emergencies and fosters a collaborative approach to overcoming the challenges posed by COVID-19. These articles contribute to the current understanding of the pandemic and lay a foundation for future research and response strategies in the face of similar global health threats.

Aquaculture supplies large quantities of high-value proteins to human beings and remains the most efficient protein-producing industry. Fish feed is the largest cost during aquaculture practice, and it is of great importance to explore the nutrient requirements and physiology of different aquatic animals. The last decade has seen a growing number of studies revealing the metabolic responses in aquatic animal nutrition, physiology and disease.The inner metabolic regulatory mechanism in aquatic animal nutrition, physiology and disease remains largely unresolved. This Special Issue Reprint showcases a collection of original research articles that highlight the latest discoveries and advances in the field of metabolic research in aquatic animal nutrition, physiology and disease. In improving our understanding of the metabolic regulation in multiple aspects of aquatic animals, there is potential to develop functional feed components or high-efficiency fish feed, to finally promote the continual blooming of the aquaculture industry.

The Special Issue entitled "Data Mining and Machine Learning with Applications" aimed to connect researchers in the fields of deep learning, artificial intelligence, data mining, and machine learning. Included within this reprint are all the accepted articles that were published in the Special Issue. It is our hope that readers can benefit from the valuable insights presented in these papers, ultimately contributing to the advancement of these rapidly expanding areas. Furthermore, we believe that this Special Issue will shed light on major developments in machine learning and data mining, drawing the attention of the scientific community towards further investigations that will expedite the implementation of these techniques.

This reprint details some of the latest developments and the science of durum wheat products outlining the latest research in durum milling innovations, role of durum wheat oil and wheat germ in product stability, available rheological methods to assess semolina, role of processing variables on pasta quality and drying behavior of bulgur. The impact of functional food design on human health and some examples where pasta glycaemic index has been surveyed and products made using waste streams, such as brown algae, tiger nut flour, carrot waste, and other approached to new durum product design such as high amylose durum wheat and soft durum wheat.

The journal "Diversity" has a competent and ambitious international Editorial Board. A number of the EB members published their research in a Special Issue in 2021. About 52 publications on biodiversity, ecology and evolution are organized in this Special Issue.The publications cover a broad range of several timely aspects of biodiversity, such as invasive species; biodiversity management; floristics; Citizen Science; the influence of human activities on plant, insect, mammal, bird, reptile and amphibia populations; parasites; genetic diversity and DNA barcoding; as well as microbiome, genome and transcriptome studies. Additionally, taxonomic and biosystematic topics, with the description of new species, including a new species of dinosaur, are covered in several of the SI publications.

The journal "Diversity" has a competent and ambitious international Editorial Board. A number of the EB members published their research in a Special Issue in 2021. About 52 publications on biodiversity, ecology and evolution are organized in this Special Issue.The publications cover a broad range of several timely aspects of biodiversity, such as invasive species; biodiversity management; floristics; Citizen Science; the influence of human activities on plant, insect, mammal, bird, reptile and amphibia populations; parasites; genetic diversity and DNA barcoding; as well as microbiome, genome and transcriptome studies. Additionally, taxonomic and biosystematic topics, with the description of new species, including a new species of dinosaur, are covered in several of the SI publications.

Nowadays, the newest technologies, devices, and techniques related to IoT, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are constantly developing. Therefore, they have a significant impact on our sustainable lifestyle. Accordingly, the application domain of these technologies and tools involves agriculture, water management, healthcare, bioinformatics, smart grid, smart cities, security, and so on. In addition, the IoT has brought an innovative perspective that is totally distinct from the usual approaches: the former consists of a device that can communicate with the network and is capable of implementing intelligent solutions. The goal of this Special Issue is to create a common gateway between researchers, allowing them to exchange and share their results related to the application of IoT, artificial intelligence, and machine learning in various domains.

The agri-food supply chain (AFSC) is undoubtedly a chain that must be transformed to adjust to the needs and requirements of the new era, following the COVID-19 pandemic. New challenges and prospects and the sustainability of the AFSC are already emerging, with the scientific community obliged to come up with answers and solutions to global food consumption issues. Scientific research concerning different aspects of the AFSC with selected topics, including technologies, new foods, consumers' perceptions, socioeconomic and environmental issues of conservation and sustainability, eco-innovation solutions, and green transformative pathways in the agri-food sector are included in this Special Issue. Emphasis is placed on the end users-the consumers-who need healthy, sustainable, value-added, economic food produced within the new global environmental, political, and social conditions which are currently, and for a long time have been, under a major transformation. The papers included in this Special Issue give practical, innovative, and sustainable solutions to existing drawbacks of the supply chain, thus providing useful knowledge to readers or researchers interested in these specific subject matters. This is the second Special Issue of a series of Special Issues that we initiated a year ago as a follow-up to the changes and progress of the AFSC, and we will continue this, with more Special Issues on the way, highlighting more and more scientific achievements in selected subject areas of the chain to our respected global readers.

A subsea pipeline (also known as an offshore pipeline or submarine pipeline) is a pipeline that is laid on the seabed or inside a specially constructed trench. The use of pipelines represents a reliable mode of transport of oil and gas. The prevention of failure scenarios, such as improper pressurization, localized buckling, fatigue failure and instability, the limit strength, internal/external pressure, corrosion-resistant material selection, and stability management, is the main concern in the design, installation, and operation of submarine pipelines.Fifteen recent research studies broadly covering the structural design and analysis of subsea pipelines or risers are featured in this reprint. The applications of the digital twin in subsea pipelines are highlighted. Classic structural topics including collapse strength, burst strength, tensile performance, buckling, fatigue, and bending are investigated in this reprint using numerical and experimental methods. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and proportional integral derivative (PID) control of the pipelines and risers are also included.

The Special Issue "Soft Actuators and Robotics" presents a curated collection of innovative research papers that delve into the design, fabrication, and application of soft actuators and soft robotics. This issue captures the interdisciplinary nature of soft robotics, blending principles from engineering, materials science, and computer science to advance the development of robots that are flexible, adaptable, and capable of safe interactions with humans and delicate environments. Each contribution in this issue sheds light on the latest advancements in actuator technology, offering insights into compliant mechanisms, embedded sensors, and artificial muscles. The featured research highlights the progress in programmable soft materials, modeling and simulation of sensorized actuators, and introduces novel approaches to control systems that pave the way for more intuitive and responsive robots. The scope of this issue extends beyond theoretical research, with practical demonstrations of soft actuators in action. From soft grippers that gently handle fragile objects to wearable devices that seamlessly interact with human users, the applications explored here are as diverse as they are groundbreaking. In essence, this Special Issue serves as a testament to the transformative potential of soft robotics. It is a resource for researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts alike, reflecting the current trends and future directions in soft actuator design and robotics.

This reprint provides the most recent advancements and trends in the analysis of cultural heritage samples, including archaeological and bio-archaeological samples, confirming the growing public and academic interest in this field. The submitted papers cover different aspects of cultural and archaeological heritage protection, conservation, and restoration. The complexity of such samples, including archaeological samples, generally requires a multi-analytical approach. The integrated use of different analytical techniques, with the preference for noninvasive or micro-invasive ones, allows an in-depth understanding of the original materials and their degradation processes and helps obtain innovative solutions for the restoration and conservation of artworks.

The innovative multi-component, nanocomposite, self-healing adaptive, and nano-thin coatings, technologies of their deposition, surface hardening and engineering developed in recent years allow us to obtain practically any physical-mechanical or crystal-chemical properties of the surface for prolongation of the service life of responsible product working under the conditions of intensive mechanical and thermal loads, and moisture. The scientific approach to improving the operational parameters of the product's surface made of traditional industrial materials is a highly costly and long-lasting process. Different technological techniques, such as plasma vapor deposition (radio frequency magnetron sputtering, high-power impulse magnetron sputtering, closed-field unbalanced magnetron sputtering, filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition), atomic layer deposition, and other solutions are used for this. The edition aims to provide a review of the current state of the research and developments in the field of coatings and surface hardening technologies for cutting tools and microelectronics components, diagnostic solutions of the sputtering systems that can ensure a substantial increase in the reliability and operational life of the product. The main emphasis lies in the results of the research and engineering works that have proven successful in laboratory or manufacturing conditions. The presented studies are aimed at completing the previously published advances in the first Special Issue and contributing to the transfer of the tool industry to the next technological paradigm.

Good land administration and spatial enablement help to improve people's living conditions in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas. They protect people's land rights (including of individuals, communities, and the state) through good governance principles and practices. This makes research concerning land administration practices and geographic (spatial) sciences-whether in developed or developing countries-essential to developing tools or methods for securing natural resource rights for people. In the time of COVID-19, understanding the land and health or wellbeing nexus is also crucial for adequate living conditions for people in living urban, peri-urban, and rural areas. This Special Issue comprises 15 articles (including the editorial) that present insights on theories and practices on land administration and geographic (spatial) sciences in the context of land/water/forest-people-health-wellbeing nexus.

This Special Issue is devoted to some serious problems that the Fractional Calculus (FC) is currently confronted with and aims at providing some answers to the questions like "What are the fractional integrals and derivatives?", "What are their decisive mathematical properties?", "What fractional operators make sense in applications and why?'', etc. In particular, the "new fractional derivatives and integrals" and the models with these fractional order operators are critically addressed. The Special Issue contains both the surveys and the research contributions. A part of the articles deals with foundations of FC that are considered from the viewpoints of the pure and applied mathematics, and the system theory. Another part of the Special issue addresses the applications of the FC operators and the fractional differential equations. Several articles devoted to the numerical treatment of the FC operators and the fractional differential equations complete the Special Issue.