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Topic Review
Cows and Pain
The main conditions and diseases considered painful in dairy cows are mastitis, lameness, calving (including dystocia and caesarean section) and metritis. The cattle literature reports that deviation from normal daily activity patterns (both increased and/or reduced daily lying time) can be indicative of painful conditions and diseases in cows. This entry discusses on how pain due to several health conditions in dairy cows modifies its activity pattern and explores if non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are capable of restoring it. Divergent outcomes may differ depending upon the painful cause, the severity and the moment, and consequently its interpretation should be properly explained. For instance, cows with clinical mastitis reduced their time lying and increased the number of lying bouts and stepping due to pain caused by the swollen udder when cows are lying. However, lame cows show longer lying times, with a lower number of lying bouts and longer and more variable lying bouts duration, as compared to non-lame cows. When the relationship between painful disorders and daily activity patterns is studied, factors such as parity, bedding type and severity of disease are important factors to take into consideration. The potential benefits of the NSAIDs treatment in painful health disorders depend upon the type of drug administered, its dosage and administration mode, and the time of administration relative to the painful health disorder. 
  • 1.3K
  • 19 Jan 2022
Topic Review
DNA-Based Animal Species Authentication in Dairy Products
Milk is one of the most important nutritious foods, widely consumed worldwide, either in its natural form or via dairy products. Currently, several economic, health and ethical issues emphasize the need for a more frequent and rigorous quality control of dairy products and the importance of detecting adulterations in these products. For this reason, several conventional and advanced techniques have been proposed, aiming at detecting and quantifying eventual adulterations, preferentially in a rapid, cost-effective, easy to implement, sensitive and specific way. DNA-based methods relying on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been widely applied to detect adulterations in foods from both plant and animal origins, including dairy products because of their simplicity, high sensitivity and high specificity. They benefit from the high thermal stability of DNA molecules, which is particularly relevant when analysing processed foods, and are independent from immunochemical recognition, making them not susceptible to cross-reactivity. The ubiquity of nucleic acids in every type of cell and particularity in healthy mammary glands, which have high numbers of leucocytes and epithelial cells that are transferred to the milk, is another advantage to highlight. During cheese making, these cells are concentrated and allow the isolation of DNA to discriminate the species.
  • 1.3K
  • 28 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Drought and Salinity in Citriculture
Among the various abiotic stresses, drought is the major factor limiting crop productivity worldwide. Citrus has been recognized as a fruit tree crop group of great importance to the global agricultural sector since there are 140 citrus-producing countries worldwide. The majority of citrus-producing areas are subjected to dry and hot summer weather, limited availability of water resources with parallel low-quality irrigation water due to increased salinity regimes. Citrus trees are generally classified as “salt-intolerant” with high water needs, especially during summer. Water scarcity negatively affects plant growth and impairs cell metabolism, affecting the overall tree growth and the quality of produced fruit. Key factors that overall attempt to sustain and withstand the negative effect of salinity and drought stress are the extensive use of rootstocks in citriculture as well as the appropriate agronomical and irrigation practices applied.
  • 1.3K
  • 29 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Constraints to Cowpea Production
Climate change and variability trends affect crop yields both directly and indirectly. Direct impacts include effects caused by a modification of physical characteristics such as low or high atmospheric temperature, soil fertility level, and water deficiency or erratic rainfall distribution in specific crop production systems. Indirect effects are those that affect production through changes in other species such as pollinators, insect pests, diseases, and weeds. These indirect effects can play a significant role in the production and productivity of cowpea. These limiting factors can broadly be termed abiotic and biotic stresses, resulting in climatic variations and ultimately reducing cowpea yield potential and its productivity.
  • 1.3K
  • 27 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Engineering Climate-Change-Resilient Crops
Environmental adversities, particularly drought and nutrient limitation, are among the major causes of crop losses worldwide. Due to the rapid increase of the world’s population, there is an urgent need to combine knowledge of plant science with innovative applications in agriculture to protect plant growth and thus enhance crop yield. In recent decades, engineering strategies have been successfully developed with the aim to improve growth and stress tolerance in plants. Most strategies applied so far have relied on transgenic approaches and/or chemical treatments.
  • 1.3K
  • 28 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Genomics and Crop Domestication
Most domesticated crop species share common traits such as increased yield and seed size and decreased dormancy and seed shattering. Though crop domestication is long and slow, only a few genes are involved in it, and some of them are conserved in various species. Hence, both targeted re-domestication and de novo wild species domestication are feasible. In these processes, targeted genes are identified, introgressed, or modified to produce new cultivars. Unlocking the potential of wild crop species domestication will improve global food security and help realize certain sustainable development goals of the United Nations such as zero poverty (No. 1) and zero hunger (No. 2). Targeted domestication, crop improvement, and mass crop cultivation are generally cost-effective approaches towards these objectives.
  • 1.3K
  • 03 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Epididymal Sperm of Canine and Feline
Epididymal spermatozoas  are often described as immature, immotile, and infertile sperm cells, yet the epididymis is the organ where spermatozoa mature, acquire motility, and become fully fertile. This coiled duct constitutes a reservoir for millions of spermatozoa before ejaculation.
  • 1.3K
  • 03 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Genetics Matters
The understanding of how genetic information may be inherited through generations was established by Gregor Mendel in the 1860s when he developed the fundamental principles of inheritance. The science of genetics, however, began to flourish only during the mid-1940s when DNA was identified as the carrier of genetic information. The world has since then witnessed rapid development of genetic technologies, with the latest being genome-editing tools, which have revolutionized fields from medicine to agriculture. This entry walks through the historical timeline of genetics research and deliberates how this discipline might furnish a sustainable future for humanity.
  • 1.3K
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Classification of Genetic Load
The term “genetic load” refers to the accumulation of lethal and sublethal harmful mutations that significantly reduce an individual’s viability or result in their death when the mutation enters a homozygous state. Each type of genetic load in farm animals correlates with a certain type of natural or artificial selection in them. In animal husbandry, four types of genetic load are generally distinguished: mutation, immigration, segregation, and substitution.
  • 1.3K
  • 20 May 2023
Topic Review
The Medicinal Mushroom Cordyceps militaris
Cordyceps militaris is an entomopathogenic ascomycete with similar pharmacological importance to that of the wild caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis C. militaris has attracted significant research and commercial interest due to its content in bioactive compounds beneficial to human health and the relative ease of cultivation under laboratory conditions. 
  • 1.3K
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Fermented Foods and Gut Microbiota
Fermented foods and beverages are generally defined as products made by microbial organisms and enzymatic conversions of major and minor food components. Further to the commonly-recognized effects of nutrition on the digestive health and well-being, there is now strong evidence for the impact of fermented foods and beverages, produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms, on general health, namely their significance on the gut microbiota balance and brain functionality. 
  • 1.3K
  • 19 May 2021
Topic Review
Rumex dentatus L.
Herbicide resistance in weeds is a global threat to sustaining food security. In India, herbicide-resistant Phalaris minor was the major problem in wheat for more than two decades, but the continuous use of metsulfuron-methyl (an ALS inhibitor) to control broadleaf weeds has resulted in the evolution of ALS inhibitor-resistant Rumex dentatus L. This review summarizes the current scenario of herbicide resistance in R. dentatus, along with its ecology and management perspectives. Studies have provided valuable insights on the emergence pattern of R. dentatus under different environments in relation to tillage, cropping systems, nutrients, and irrigation. Moreover, R. dentatus has exhibited higher emergence under zero tillage, with high infestation levels in rice-wheat compared to other wheat-based cropping systems (sorghum-wheat). Alternative herbicides for the management of resistant R. dentatus include pendimethalin, 2,4-D, carfentrazone, isoproturon, and metribuzin. Although the pre-emergence application of pendimethalin is highly successful in suppressing R. dentatus, but its efficiency is questionable under lower field soil moisture and heavy residue load conditions. Nevertheless, the biological data may be utilized to control R. dentatus. Therefore, herbicide rotation with suitable spray techniques, collecting weed seeds at differential heights from wheat, crop rotation, alternate tillage practices, and straw retention are recommended for addressing the resistance issue in R. dentatus in North India conditions. Overall, we discuss the current state of herbicide resistance in R. dentatus, the agronomic factors affecting its population, its proliferation in specific cropping systems (rice-wheat), and management strategies for containing an infestation of a resistant population. 
  • 1.3K
  • 29 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Cucurbits
Cucurbit viruses cause considerable economic losses worldwide. The most common viral diseases affecting this crop family are Potyviruses, Cucumoviruses, Criniviruses, Ipomoviruses, Tobamoviruses, and the emerging Begomoviruses. Four main cucurbit crops are grown worldwide, namely melon, cucumber (Cucumis), watermelon (Citrullus), and squash (Cucurbita). Huge natural variation is also available within each genus, providing valuable sources of genetic resistance to these diseases. Intraspecific and intrageneric diversity and crossability are key factors to select the optimum breeding strategies. Melon and cucumber are diverse species for which intraspecific resistance is available. Conversely, in Citrullus and Cucurbita, wild relatives provide the resistance diversity absent in watermelon and in C. pepo. Some of the classical sources used by breeders, many of which are multi-resistant, come from corresponding origin centers in Asia, Africa, and America, as well as from secondary centers of diversity. Genetic studies have identified dominant and recessive and often complex resistance. Many of the genes identified have been mapped and markers for MAS are available, but higher mapping resolutions are required to identify the corresponding genes. Only a few genes could be cloned and functionally characterized. Efforts are underway to use genome mapping and functional genomics to advance toward a genomic-assisted breeding against viral diseases in cucurbits.
  • 1.3K
  • 14 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Applications of Gellan Gum
Gellan gum (GG) is a linear, negatively charged exopolysaccharide that is biodegradable and non-toxic. When metallic ions are present, a hard and transparent gel is produced, which remains stable at a low pH. It exhibits high water solubility, can be easily bio-fabricated, demonstrates excellent film/hydrogel formation, is biodegradable, and shows biocompatibility. These characteristics render GG a suitable option for use in food, biomedical, and cosmetic fields.
  • 1.3K
  • 13 May 2024
Topic Review
Rheumatoid Arthritis Diagnosis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease that preferably affects small joints. As the well-timed diagnosis of the disease is essential for the treatment of the patient, several works have been conducted in the field of deep learning to develop fast and accurate automatic methods for RA diagnosis.
  • 1.3K
  • 29 Dec 2021
Topic Review
CRISPR/Cas Systems
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins is a natural adaptive immune system that some bacterial and most archaeal species present to defend themselves against invading bacteriophages, which works on the basis of sequence complementarity via cleavage. Genetic engineering using CRISPR/Cas systems enables accurate and precise genomic modifications. The easiness and rapidity of execution, low cost, reproducibility and efficiency turns understandable why it is the system of choice for many genome engineering applications in several fields using different organisms. 
  • 1.3K
  • 18 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Ribozymes and Riboswitches in S.cerevisiae
Among noncoding RNA sequences, riboswitches and ribozymes have attracted the attention of the synthetic biology community as circuit components for translation regulation. When fused to aptamer sequences, ribozymes and riboswitches are enabled to interact with chemicals. Therefore, protein synthesis can be controlled at the mRNA level without the need for transcription factors. Potentially, the use of chemical-responsive ribozymes/riboswitches would drastically simplify the design of genetic circuits. 
  • 1.3K
  • 04 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Fragmentation of Human Embryos
Embryo fragmentation represents a phenomenon generally characterized by the presence of membrane-bound extracellular cytoplasm into the perivitelline space. 
  • 1.3K
  • 18 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Estrogens and Androgens in Plants
Steroids are a group of compounds to which a number of crucial metabolism-controlling hormones belong. The group of steroid hormones that are present and active in animals and humans (mammalian steroid hormones) is large and includes, among others, corticosteroids, which control, for example, water and mineral management and sex hormones—i.e., androgens, estrogens, progesterone, which are responsible for development and reproduction.  Ecdysteroids are mainly known as being the steroid hormones of arthropods that regulate ecdysis and development. In plants, the steroid regulators include the brassinosteroids, which are hormones that have a multidirectional activity and are engaged in plant growth, development, and its response to environmental stresses.
  • 1.3K
  • 11 Jan 2022
Topic Review
ULF-TENS on Myogenous Temporomandibular Dysfunction
Ultra-low frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (ULF-TENS) is an active therapeutic device that affects relaxation of masticatory and mandibular postural muscles through applying low-frequency, low current stimulation of the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve and a branch of the superficial facial nerve.
  • 1.3K
  • 27 Oct 2021
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