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Topic Review
Soybean Molasses in Animal Nutrition
Soybean molasses is a by-product of the soybean processing industry that is accumulated in large quantities and usually disposed of like liquid manure or in landfills, thus causing severe ecological problems. At the same time, soybean molasses has a promising potential to be included regularly in animal diets because of its high nutritive value and functional properties. It is rich in sugars and is a cheap energy source for animals compared to other energy-rich feed ingredients. 
  • 1.5K
  • 25 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Cat Behavior and Cat–Human Interactions: Brief Introduction
This entry summarised what is known about domestic cat behaviour and cat-human relations and what still needs to be examined, listing unanswered questions and hypotheses. Below is a selection of the topics covered in the original review. An English version of reference "50" (in French) may be requested and e-mailed legally (by contract) from the author by individuals as long as the original reference will be cited in French.
  • 1.5K
  • 28 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Anisakidae Family
Nematodes of the Anisakidae family have a cosmopolitan distribution, due to their ability to infest a wide variety of aquatic hosts during the development of their larval stages, mainly marine mammals and aquatic birds, such as pelicans; being the hosts where the life cycle is completed. The participation of intermediate hosts such as cephalopods, shrimp, crustaceans and marine fish, are an important part to complete this cycle. However, its importance in human health is due to its zoonotic capacity, which causes the clinical presentation in humans, known as Anisakiasis or Anisakidosis, depending on the species of the infecting parasite.
  • 1.5K
  • 16 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Sicilian Black Pig
In the paper we report, for the first time, an overview  about  a Italian local pig breed with the aim to offer a general overview concerning the Sicilian black pig and to review the recent findings related to genome investigation. The recent use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies in the study of autochthonous breeds genome showed that polymorphism of some candidate genes for productions performance and phenotypic traits represent important information for selection processes.The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has expressed concern about the lack of interest in local breeds compared to high-output animals and conservation programs have been implemented by various countries worldwide.  Autochthonous pig breeds represent a valuable genetic reserve to be utilized for typical products linked to italian gastronomic traditions, or for recovering some organoleptic proprieties of pork which have been lost through of severe selective programmes. Furthermore, consumers’ concerns about animal welfare, sensorial meat quality and specificity of meat products have led to increasing demand for foodstuffs obtained from local breeds reared under natural conditions. Considering that the information on the Italian local pigs is limited, it is necessary to increase a suitable activity of research to exploit these breeds and to increase the knowledge of their genetic variability. The present paper could be of great interest to the scientific community; in particular to readers of "Animals", involved in the field of animal breeding and genetics, animal genomics, and involved in local pig productions.
  • 1.4K
  • 28 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Dietary Polyphenol Supplementation in Animals
Polyphenols are secondary plant metabolites mainly known for their antioxidant properties. Their use as feed additives in the nutrition of farm animals is becoming increasingly popular as they are particularly exposed to oxidative stress which is reflected in a lipoperoxidation of the final product. For this reason, it is essential to preserve the quality and the safety of meat and milk products by attenuating oxidative deterioration. Moreover, polyphenols present the advantage of being more acceptable to the consumers than synthetic counterparts, as they are considered to be “non-toxic”.
  • 1.4K
  • 11 Mar 2021
Topic Review
DIetary Magnesium: Human-Animal Nutrition
Magnesium (Mg) is a mineral acting as cofactor of more than 300 enzymes. Mg in farm animals’ is recommended to avoid Mg deficiency, ensure adequate growth and health maintenance. Further, Mg supplementation above the estimated minimum requirements is the best practice to improve farm animals’ performances (fertility and yield) and food products’ quality. In human nutrition, sub-optimal Mg intake has several implications in bone development, muscle function and health maintenance.
  • 1.4K
  • 25 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Poultry Litter
Poultry litter is a combination of aviary excreta and bedding materials such as wood shavings, sawdust, peanut hulls, shredded sugar cane, straw, or other dry, absorbent, uneaten feed, broken eggs, dead birds, bird feathers and low-cost organic material [1].
  • 1.4K
  • 27 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Hydrogen Sulfide in Rumen
Hydrogen sulfide is a Janus-faced molecule with many beneficial and toxic effects on the animal health. In ruminants, rumen fermentation plays a vital role in the digestion and absorption of nutrients. During rumen fermentation, the production of hydrogen sulfide can occur, and it can be rapidly absorbed into the body of the animals through the intestinal wall. If the production of hydrogen sulfide concentration is higher in the rumen, it can cause a toxic effect on ruminants known as poliomyelitis. The production of hydrogen sulfide depends on the population of sulfate-reducing bacteria in the rumen. In rodents, H2S maintains the normal physiology of the gastrointestinal tract and also improves the healing of the chronic gastric ulcer. In the gut, H2S regulates physiological functions such as inflammation, ischemia–reperfusion injury and motility. In this review article, we summarize the toxicity occurrence in the body of animals due to high levels of hydrogen sulfide production and also recent progress in the studies of physiological function of H2S in the gut, with a special emphasis on bacteria-derived H2S is discussed in this review.
  • 1.4K
  • 28 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Soiling of Pig Pens
The soiling of pig pens has important implications for animal welfare, health, workload, and environmental emissions of pig farming. This excerpt provides an overview of the historical reasons behind current production systems, of pen soiling prevalence and its importance. Possible strategies and specific suggestions on how to address pen soiling in current systems are described, based on an extensive review on pigs’ normal eliminatory behaviour.
  • 1.4K
  • 16 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Slow-Release Urea
Slow-release urea (SRU) is a coated non-protein nitrogen (NPN) source for ruminant nutrition. This study applied a meta-analytic technique to quantify the effect of a commercial SRU (Optigen®, Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, KY, USA) on the performance of beef cattle. Data were extracted from 17 experiments and analysed using the random-effects model to estimate the effect size of SRU on dry matter intake (DMI), crude protein intake (CPI), live weight gain (LWG) and feed efficiency (FE) of growing and finishing beef cattle. There was no effect of feeding SRU on the overall DMI and CPI of beef cattle. Dietary inclusion of SRU improved the overall LWG (+92 g/d/head) and FE (+12 g LWG/kg DMI/head) of beef cattle. Notably, SRU supplementation in growing cattle exhibited a better improvement on LWG (130 vs. 60 g/d/head) and FE (18 vs. 8 g LWG/kg DMI/head) compared with finishing cattle. Moreover, SRU showed consistent improvements on the LWG and FE of beef cattle under several study factors. Simulation analysis indicated that positive effects of SRU on LWG and FE improved profitability through reduction in feed cost and reduced the emission intensity of beef production. These results indicate that SRU is a sustainable NPN solution in beef cattle production.
  • 1.4K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Biological Medicinal Products
Definitions of biological medicinal products (BMPs) vary depending on the source. BMPs are manufactured using complex biological/biotechnological processes involving living cell lines, tissues and organisms such as microorganisms, plants, humans and even animals.
  • 1.4K
  • 25 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Tannins
There are diverse challenges in the poultry production industry that decrease the productivity and efficiency of poultry production, impair animal welfare, and pose issues to public health. Furthermore, the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) in feed, which have been used to improve the growth performance and gut health of chickens, has been restricted in many countries. Tannins, polyphenolic compounds that precipitate proteins, are considered as alternatives for AGP in feed and provide solutions to mitigate challenges in poultry production due to their antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and gut health promoting effects. However, because high dosages of tannins have antinutritional effects when fed to poultry, determining appropriate dosages of supplemental tannins is critical for their potential implementation as a solution for the challenges faced in poultry production.
  • 1.3K
  • 11 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Froth Nesting
This entry provides information regarding the proposed functions of the anuran froth nest as a mucous-based solution to the environmental challenges offspring face during development, with consideration of the functions of froth nest breakdown and communal froth nesting, as well. The adults of several anuran amphibian species deposit their eggs externally in mucus secretions that are purposely aerated to produce a froth nest. This type of clutch structure has evolved independently several times in this group and has been proposed to serve a variety and often simultaneous adaptive functions associated with protecting offspring from sub-optimal conditions during embryogenesis and later stages after hatching has occurred. These functions range from buffering offspring from sub-optimal temperatures and desiccation, to defending against predation and improving oxygenation. This versatility has likely helped facilitate the reduced reliance of egg development on water and thus the penetration of anurans into environments where permanent aquatic systems are not always available.
  • 1.3K
  • 03 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Flavivirus Infection
The flaviviruses are important human pathogens, and a deeper understanding of the virus–host cell interaction is required to identify cellular targets that can be used as therapeutic candidates. Flaviviruses hijack several cellular functions, such as exosome-mediated cell communication during infection, which is modulated by the delivery of the exosomal cargo of pro- or antiviral molecules to the receiving host cells. Therefore, to study the role of exosomes during flavivirus infections is essential to identify molecular factors that may contribute to the development of new strategies to block viral infections. This review explores the implications of exosomes in flavivirus dissemination and transmission from the vector to human host cells, as well as their involvement in the host immune response. Although several studies have been performed to identify and characterize cellular and viral molecules released in exosomes, the role of these components in viral pathogenesis is unclear. Further studies will determine the balance between protective and harmful exosomes secreted by flavivirus infected cells, the characteristics and components that distinguish them both, and how they could be a factor that determines the infection outcome.
  • 1.3K
  • 29 Jul 2020
Topic Review
Milk Thistle Seed and Hempseed
In accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 726/2004, the use of antibiotics as stimulators of animal growth and performance has been banned in all European Union countries since 2006 (due to the elimination of antibiotic residues from the human food chain). Due to this ban, many scientists are studying alternative approaches to the use of various biologically active substances with a growth-promoting e ect. A promising direction is the use of alternative feeds containing bioactive compounds or mixtures of natural origin, or the use of phytoadditives or plant extracts, probiotics, prebiotics, symbiotics or oilseed by-products, such as hempseed cakes and milk thistle seed cakes in animal nutrition.
  • 1.3K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Appendage Regeneration in Vertebrates
Appendage regeneration in vertebrates means the ability to regenerate amputated or injured tissues and organs, which is a fascinating property shared by several invertebrates and, interestingly, some vertebrates.
  • 1.3K
  • 01 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Hp-NCL Network in Routing Encoding
Goal-directed navigation is a crucial behavior for the survival of animals, especially for the birds having extraordinary spatial navigation ability. In neural mechanism of the goal-directed behavior, especially involving the information encoding mechanism of the route, the hippocampus (Hp), nidopallium caudalle (NCL) and their local networks of the avian brain play important roles.
  • 1.2K
  • 09 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Equine Endometrium Morphology
Mares are seasonal polyestric. The morphology of the healthy equine endometrium is influenced by the season of the year, the stage of the endometrial cycle, as well as the presence of endometrial diseases. The latter have an impact on the wellbeing of individual mares and can also inflict major financial losses for the horse breeding industry. The microscopic examination of an endometrial biopsy is an important diagnostic tool, since it can also detect subclinical diseases. This review provides an overview about morphological and molecular features of the healthy and diseased equine endometrium. It reviews the diagnostic findings of inflammatory and degenerative endometrial disease of mares, as well as the current state of knowledge regarding their cellular and molecular pathogenesis. It further shows that the comparative evaluation of morphological features and molecular characteristics of the healthy and diseased equine endometrium is an important prerequisite for the identification of disease-associated molecular markers, which in turn will facilitate the development of diagnostic and predictive biomarkers, as well as novel prophylactic and therapeutic options. Although currently numerous molecular data are already available, future studies are required to establish their translation into clinical practice.
  • 1.2K
  • 01 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Antimicrobial Peptides in Farm Animals
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are the arsenals of the innate host defense system, exhibiting evolutionarily conserved characteristics that are present in practically all forms of life. Recent years have witnessed the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria compounded with a slow discovery rate for new antibiotics that have necessitated scientific efforts to search for alternatives to antibiotics. Research on the identification of AMPs has generated very encouraging evidence that they curb infectious pathologies and are also useful as novel biologics to function as immunotherapeutic agents. Being innate, they exhibit the least cytotoxicity to the host and exerts a wide spectrum of biological activity including low resistance among microbes and increased wound healing actions. Notably, in veterinary science, the constant practice of massive doses of antibiotics with inappropriate withdrawal programs led to a high risk of livestock-associated antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, the world faces tremendous pressure for designing and devising strategies to mitigate the use of antibiotics in animals and keep it safe for posterity.
  • 1.2K
  • 07 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Olfaction in Eusocial Ants
Eusocial ants (family Formicidae) engage in a broad range of social behaviors such as nursing the queen’s offspring, foraging for food, and defending their nest. Importantly, these behaviors critically depend on the exchange of information through the detection of chemical cues by a sophisticated olfactory system comprising among the largest number of odorant receptors (ORs) of any insect.
  • 1.2K
  • 05 Jul 2021
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