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

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In recent years, power systems have shifted from centralized generation and one-way transmission toward distributed architectures that are centered on renewable energy, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging. This transition highlights the need for advanced control and operational strategies in microgrids and distribution networks that not only enhance efficiency but also secure stability, flexibility, and reliability. With growing variability and forecasting uncertainties in renewable generation and demand, sophisticated approaches are required to manage uncertainty and sustain system stability. This Special Issue presents nine contributions on control, operation, optimization, energy management systems, and AI-based approaches for microgrids and distribution networks. The papers span theoretical modeling, algorithm development, hardware implementation, and case studies. Highlights include a switched-capacitor inverter reducing common-mode voltage, an ANN-assisted energy management framework integrating load and weather forecasting with DC exchange and storage scheduling, flexible operating envelopes for reverse power flow grids, techno-economic studies of underground systems, seamless AC/DC hybrid microgrid control, deep learning for transformer fault detection, and voltage regulation for inverter-based UPS systems. Collectively, these works reflect the technological trajectory toward more advanced and sustainable power systems. This volume provides researchers and practitioners with insights into the state of the art and points to promising directions for future research and applications.

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This reprint presents advances in operation and maintenance in solar plants, wind farms and microgrids. This compendium of scientific articles will help clarify the current advances in this subject, so it is expected that it will please the reader.

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This Special Issue puts together recent findings in advanced technologies for the optimization of internal combustion engines in order to help the scientific community address the efforts towards the development of higher-power engines with lower fuel consumption and pollutant emissions.

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Hydropower is an essential part of the renewable energy sector. High efficiency, immediate availability, and safe operation of hydroelectric power plants are the three key issues in recent developments in the hydropower sector. This book brings together the latest achievements addressing these key factors. In addition, one contribution deals with the alternative harvesting of hydro energy from pivoted cylinders by generating flow-induced vibrations, which are unwanted phenomena in classical pump–turbine units.

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This e-book aims to compile advances in the area of food manufacturing including packaging to address issues of food safety, quality, fraud, and how these processes (new or old) could affect the organoleptic characteristics of foods, with the aim to promote consumers’ satisfaction. Moreover, food supply issues are explored. New and improved technologies are employed in the area of food manufacturing to address consumer needs in terms of quality and safety. The issues of research and development should be taken into account seriously before launching a new product onto the market. Finally, food fraud and authenticity are very important issues, and the food industry should focus on addressing them.

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It is difficult to imagine a modern society without rotating electric machines. Their use has been increasing not only in the traditional fields of application but also in more contemporary fields, including renewable energy conversion systems, electric aircraft, aerospace, electric vehicles, unmanned propulsion systems, robotics, etc. This has contributed to advances in the materials, design methodologies, modeling tools, and manufacturing processes of current electric machines, which are characterized by high compactness, low weight, high power density, high torque density, and high reliability. On the other hand, the growing use of electric machines and drives in more critical applications has pushed forward the research in the area of condition monitoring and fault tolerance, leading to the development of more reliable diagnostic techniques and more fault-tolerant machines. This book presents and disseminates the most recent advances related to the theory, design, modeling, application, control, and condition monitoring of all types of rotating electric machines.

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It is difficult to imagine a modern society without rotating electric machines. Their use has been increasing not only in the traditional fields of application but also in more contemporary fields, including renewable energy conversion systems, electric aircraft, aerospace, electric vehicles, unmanned propulsion systems, robotics, etc. This has contributed to advances in the materials, design methodologies, modeling tools, and manufacturing processes of current electric machines, which are characterized by high compactness, low weight, high power density, high torque density, and high reliability. On the other hand, the growing use of electric machines and drives in more critical applications has pushed forward the research in the area of condition monitoring and fault tolerance, leading to the development of more reliable diagnostic techniques and more fault-tolerant machines. This book presents and disseminates the most recent advances related to the theory, design, modeling, application, control, and condition monitoring of all types of rotating electric machines.

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Energy storage is a key topic for research, industry, and business, which is gaining increasing interest. Any available energy-storage technology (batteries, fuel cells, flywheels, and so on) can cover a limited part of the power-energy plane and is characterized by some inherent drawback. Supercapacitors (also known as ultracapacitors, electrochemical capacitors, pseudocapacitors, or double-layer capacitors) feature exceptional capacitance values, creating new scenarios and opportunities in both research and industrial applications, partly because the related market is relatively recent. In practice, supercapacitors can offer a trade-off between the high specific energy of batteries and the high specific power of traditional capacitors. Developments in supercapacitor technology and supporting electronics, combined with reductions in costs, may revolutionize everything from large power systems to consumer electronics. The potential benefits of supercapacitors move from the progresses in the technological processes but can be effective by the availability of the proper tools for testing, modeling, diagnosis, sizing, management and technical-economic analyses. This book collects some of the latest developments in the field of supercapacitors, ranging from new materials to practical applications, such as energy storage, uninterruptible power supplies, smart grids, electrical vehicles, advanced transportation and renewable sources.

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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.

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The following Reprint, based on the Special Issue “Advances in Wastewater Treatment 2024”, compiles 12 papers (one Editorial, five review papers, and six original scientific papers) on innovative pollutant-removal technologies aimed at harnessing renewable energy from wastewater. Several papers included in this Special Issue address energy efficiency: the authors of one study assess the economic feasibility of a hydropower plant at the Toruń (Poland) treatment facility, while the authors of another study analyze energy use across three plants in southwestern Poland to propose strategies for reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint. In another study, the authors evaluate a novel Venturi-assisted confined tube aerator designed to lower aeration energy demand. The focus of three of the included papers is contaminant removal: synthesis and testing of Zn/Al layered double hydroxides for Congo red dye removal; assessment of low direct-current densities for phosphorus, nitrogen, and organic-compound removal in a sequential electrochemical reactor treating greenhouse wastewater; and evaluation of biochars and activated carbon for removing heavy metals from wastewater generated during soil remediation. The five review papers focus on renewable-energy integration for energy-self-sufficient municipal plants; advances in chemical coagulation and electrocoagulation; methanogenesis for biomethane production; solar-driven photocatalytic treatment using concentrator systems; and modeling and management strategies to optimize aeration energy use.

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This 2028 Special Issue presents recent developments and achievements in the field of Mechanism and Machine Science coming from the Italian community with international collaborations and ranging from theoretical contributions to experimental and practical applications. It contains selected contributions that were accepted for presentation at the Second International Conference of IFToMM Italy, IFIT2018, that has been held in Cassino on 29 and 30 November 2018. This IFIT conference is the second event of a series that was established in 2016 by IFToMM Italy in Vicenza. IFIT was established to bring together researchers, industry professionals and students, from the Italian and the international community in an intimate, collegial and stimulating environment.

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This book deals with sustainable agriculture at a time of climate change. It seeks to identify a number of solutions to deal with the agricultural stresses caused by climate change. These range from the identification and cultivation of appropriate crop varieties and the adoption of climate adaptive agricultural practices. Significant sustainable agricultural innovation is required to deal with these challenges. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) may be of crucial importance for modern agriculture. They serve to make R&D in agriculture attractive, by encouraging investment in new technologies and generating tradeable assets. A number of the chapters of this book refer to the principal IPRs relevant to agricultural innovation, namely: (i) patents, which protect inventions; (ii) plant variety rights, which protect the breeding of new and distinct plant varieties; and (iii) trademarks and geographical indications, which facilitate the marketing of products by providing protection for the symbols of their manufacturing or geographic origin. The United Nations Climate Change Panel has urged the consideration of the agricultural practices of traditional communities and some of these practices particularly involving rice, banana, and brassica cultivation are explored in the book. This book is essential reading for officials of governments and international organizations concerned with sustainability, as well as scholars and students concerned with these subjects

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The search for alternative sources of energy is an attempt to solve two of the main problems facing the modern world. Today's resources are mainly based on fossil flammable substances such as coal, oil, and natural gas. The first problem is related to the expected and observed depletion of deposits, not only those available but also less accessible. Another is related to global warming from emissions of greenhouse gases (mainly carbon dioxide) as well as emissions of other pollutants in the atmosphere. Mitigating the harmful effects of fossil fuel use is an obvious challenge for mankind. This Special Issue includes articles on the search for new raw materials and new technologies for obtaining energy, such as those existing in nature, methane hydrates, biomass, etc., new more efficient technologies for generating electricity, as well as analyses of the possibilities and conditions of use of these resources for practical applications.

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This book is intended to shed some light on recent advances in antenna design for these new emerging applications and identify further research areas in this exciting field of communications technologies. Considering the specificity of the operational environment, e.g., huge distance, moving support (satellite), huge temperature drift, small dimension with respect to the distance, etc, antennas, are the fundamental device allowing to maintain a constant interoperability between ground station and satellite, or different satellites. High gain, stable (in temperature, and time) performances, long lifecycle are some of the requirements that necessitates special attention with respect to standard designs. The chapters of this book discuss various aspects of the above-mentioned list presenting the view of the authors. Some of the contributors are working strictly in the field (space), so they have a very targeted view on the subjects, while others with a more academic background, proposes futuristic solutions. We hope that interested reader, will find a fertile source of information, that combined with their interest/background will allow efficiently exploiting the combination of these two perspectives.

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This reprint focuses on the recent advances in fluid power technology reporting results in a wide range of applications. Studies concerning the developments of pumps both at constant and variable displacement are reported. Analyses are focused on the improvement of efficiency, control, design and pressure ripple reduction. About fluid power, several applications are investigated with the aim of reducing energy losses, in particular implementations in an excavator, a hybrid transmission and a system for agricultural solutions are described. Applications are studied focusing also on the effects of a particular load holding valve, and facing the relevant aspects of the condition monitoring, failure modes and effects analysis. The fluid power covers a very wide range of application as demonstrated by the paper concerning an exoskeleton device. Finally, a particular application concerning a gas pressure regulator with lower noise emission is reported.

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Advanced and novel thermal technologies, such as ohmic heating, dielectric heating (e.g., microwave heating and radio frequency heating), and inductive heating, have been developed to improve the effectiveness of heat processing whilst guaranteeing food safety and eliminating undesirable impacts on the organoleptic and nutritional properties of foods. Novel thermal technologies rely on heat generation directly inside foods, which has implications for improving the overall energy efficiency of the heating process itself. The use of novel thermal technologies is dependent on the complexity and inherent properties of the food materials of interest (e.g., thermal conductivity, electrical resistance, water content, pH, rheological properties, food porosity, and presence of particulates). Moreover, there is a need to address the combined use of thermal processing with emerging technologies such as pulsed electric fields, high hydrostatic pressure, and ultrasound to complement the conventional thermal processing of fluid or solid foods. This Special Issue provides readers with an overview of the latest applications of various novel technologies in food processing. A total of eight cutting-edge original research papers and one comprehensive review paper discussing novel processing technologies from the perspectives of food safety, sustainability, process engineering, (bio)chemical changes, health, nutrition, sensory issues, and consumers are covered in this Special Issue.

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Although the theme of the monograph is primarily related to “Applied Econometrics”, there are several theoretical contributions that are associated with empirical examples, or directions in which the novel theoretical ideas might be applied. The monograph is associated with significant and novel contributions in theoretical and applied econometrics; economics; theoretical and applied financial econometrics; quantitative finance; risk; financial modeling; portfolio management; optimal hedging strategies; theoretical and applied statistics; applied time series analysis; forecasting; applied mathematics; energy economics; energy finance; tourism research; tourism finance; agricultural economics; informatics; data mining; bibliometrics; and international rankings of journals and academics.

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The simultaneous availability of large datasets and high-performance computing capability in recent years has enabled the rapid development of powerful machine learning algorithms. On the one hand, state-of-the-art machine learning techniques have transformed many areas of science and engineering; on the other hand, theoretical discoveries in mathematical algorithms, differential equations, and statistical inferences, to name a few, have provided the foundation for the exploration of new multidisciplinary models for solving practical problems. This Special Issue endeavors to continue the journey that started in our previous Special Issue (Applied Mathematics and Computational Physics) by providing a platform for researchers from both academia and industry, as well as government, to present their new computational methods that have engineering and physics applications. We publish papers from all areas of mathematics and engineering, and especially those that showcase novel machine learning techniques that leverage subject matter expertise. We aim to foster the communication of the latest research results in the areas of applied and computational mathematics.

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The business model concept has gained a prominent position both in academia and among practitioners during the past 30+ years. The aim of this Special Issue of Systems is to contribute to a stronger theoretical basis for the business model concept. This includes a focus on the systemic character of business models and the systems approaches that this entails. Another important aspect is to allocate more attention to innovations of business models. The business models that emerged with e-commerce and e-business as such were in themselves innovations. However, innovations of business models have received too little attention. Most of the business models analyzed and discussed in the business model literature have been rather static instead of dynamic. This is the reason why this Special Issue of Systems, entitled ‘Business Model—the Perspective of Systems Thinking and Innovation’, has been developed.

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Despite being described for the first time more than 110 years ago, Chagas disease (caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi) persists as one of the most neglected tropical diseases. This persistent neglect of those affected by this disease is evidenced by the ongoing scientific evidence gaps, the difficulty of incorporating new diagnostic and treatment technologies into the market, and public health failures to ensure timely access to diagnosis and treatment associated with the development of consistent surveillance and control actions. As a result, there is a high burden of morbidity and mortality, and poor quality of life, poverty, stigma, and a fear of death persist for affected people, both in endemic areas in Latin America, and in non-endemic areas. This book spans a variety of disciplines and contributes significantly to reducing the gap in scientific knowledge on Chagas disease, towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

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The year 2019 has been prolific in terms of new evidence regarding the effects of coffee and caffeine consumption on diverse aspects of human functioning. This book collects 20 high-quality manuscripts published in Nutrients that include original investigation or systematic review studies of the effects of caffeine intake on human performance and health. The diversity of the articles published in this Special Issue highlights the extent of the effects of coffee and caffeine on human functioning, while underpinning the positive nature of most of these effects. This book will help with understanding why the natural sources of caffeine are so widely present in the nutrition behaviors of modern society.

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Caffeine is present in coffee and many other beverages and is the most widely used central nervous system stimulant. Coffee drinking or caffeine supplementation may have a role in preventing cardiometabolic and endocrine disease, neuroinflammation, cancer, and even all-cause mortality. Other aspects are either less known or controversial, including the effects on the brain–gut axis, neurodevelopment, behavior, pain, muscle–skeletal health, skin or sexual function. Studies focusing on special populations (neonates, children, adolescents, athletes, elderly, pregnant and nonpregnant women), or interactions with other drugs and foods, are relatively scarce but of obvious interest. Other compounds present in coffee and other caffeinated food stuffs may affect caffeine´s physiological effects with a tremendous impact on health. This Special Issue, which contains twenty-one manuscripts, has focused on some of these varied topics, providing further evidence of the multiple health benefits that coffee/caffeine intake may exert in humans, at least in specific populations (with a particular genetic profile or suffering from specific diseases). However, the specific effects in the different organs and systems, as well as the mechanisms involved are not yet clear. Furthermore, within the current context aiming to sustainable development, the coffee plant Coffee sp. and its so-far relatively neglected by-products are expected to become soon a source of ingredients for new functional foods whose properties will need to be precisely determined. We hope the readers of this Special Issue will find inspiration for new studies on the topic.

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The existence of financial intermediaries is arguably an artifact of information asymmetry. Beyond simple financial transactions, financial intermediation provides a mechanism for information transmission, which can reduce the degree of information asymmetry and consequently increase market efficiency. During the process of information transmission, the bank is able to provide unique services in the production and exchange of information. Therefore, banks have comparative advantages in information production, transmission, and utilisation. This book provides an overview of commercial banking and includes empirical methods in banking such risk and bank performance, capital regulation, bank competition and foreign bank entry, bank regulation on bank performance, and capital adequacy and deposit insurance.

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Commodity markets have evolved substantially since the early 2000s and have become more financialized. The recent cold war between the U.S.A. and China, the outbreak of COVID-19, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have caused resource prices to soar, leading to greater volatility in the commodity markets. The volatility of the commodity markets has increased, and at the same time, financial markets such as the stock market, bond market, and foreign exchange market have become unstable. This has increased the linkage between the commodity and financial markets and has led to a great deal of attention being paid to the commodity markets by governments, companies, and investors.This reprint delves into recent developments in the commodity markets and elucidates the multifaceted factors that have shaped their trajectory. It examines how the interwoven dynamics of supply and demand, geopolitics, technology, and financialization have brought about a new era in commodity trading. By providing a comprehensive survey of these developments, we aim to provide insights that will help stakeholders successfully navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by this evolving landscape.

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Financial services firms play a key role in the European economy. The efficiency and profitability of these firms and the competition among them have an impact on allocation of savings, financing of investment, economic growth, the stability of the financial system and the transmission of monetary policy. This collection of research contributions includes evaluations of trends in the European financial service industry and examinations of the driving forces of efficiency, competition and profitability of financial firms and institutions in Europe. The papers have been written by leading academics and researchers in the field, who specialize in strategic, systematic and policy issues related to the European financial services industry. This edited collection will be will be essential reading for students and academics but will also be of interest to financial practitioners and government officials interested in acquiring a deeper understanding of this complex issue.

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