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Topic Review
Extracellular Vesicles from Animal Milk
Milk represents the main source of nutrition for newborn mammals and serves as the conveyor of maternal messages of a sophisticated signaling system to promote postnatal health. It contains bioactive components that are essential for the development of the newborn immune system such as oligosaccharides, lactoferrin, lysozyme, alpha-lactalbumin, and immunoglobulins. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) were identified to be pivotal in this mother-to-child exchange. EVs are micro- and nanosized structures enclosed in a phospholipidic double-layer membrane that are produced by all cell types. They are released in the extracellular environment and reach close and distant cells. EVs can induce the modulation of biological processes in receiving cells after their absorption through the release of the molecular cargo contained within vesicles. In this way, EVs can also serve through immunomodulant anti-inflammatory, angiogenetic, and pro-regenerative actions depending on the cell of origin and patho/physiological conditions. EVs can be recovered from all biological fluids including milk.
  • 658
  • 02 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Monitor and Evaluate Calves’ Health and Welfare
Precision livestock farming (PLF) research is rapidly increasing and has improved farmers’ quality of life, animal welfare, and production efficiency. Automatic milk feeding systems (AMFS) and 3D accelerometers have been the most extensively used technologies in dairy calves.
  • 658
  • 04 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Detection of SARS-CoV-2 and Its Immune Response
Coronaviruses are a large family of well-established pathogens of various hosts, including domestic animals, wildlife, and humans.
  • 657
  • 22 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Biotechnological Innovations from Ocean
Marine drugs are abundant in number, comprise of a diverse range of structures with corresponding mechanisms of action, and hold promise for the discovery of new and better treatment approaches for the management of several chronic diseases. There are huge reserves of natural marine biological compounds, as 70 percent of the Earth is covered with oceans, indicating a diversity of chemical entities on the planet.
  • 656
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Cactus Pears
Cactus pears are nutritious, drought-tolerant plants that flourish in hot and arid regions. All its plant parts can be consumed by humans and animals. Fruit seed oil production is an important emerging industry in South Africa. As part of an initiative to promote cactus pears as multi-functional crops, dual-purpose cultivars should be identified, and their production increased.
  • 654
  • 27 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Big Data in Biodiversity Science
Biodiversity refers to the variety of genes, species and ecosystems of life on Earth, and is the source of many essential goods and services (e.g., food, timber, medicine, nutrient recycling, crop pollination) that support human well-being and quality of life. Despite several international treaties, efforts and commitments to curb its loss, biodiversity continues to decline at a rate above species discovery rate, largely due to anthropogenic factors. To assess the status and trends (local and global) in biodiversity requires a vast amount of relevant information on the distribution and abundance of different species across varying spatial and temporal scales. In other words, relevant data need to be collected, collated, and analyzed.
  • 654
  • 30 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Immunomodulation Potential of Probiotics
The use of probiotics in livestock has been suggested to significantly improve their health, immunity, growth performance, nutritional digestibility, and intestinal microbial balance. Furthermore, it was reported that the use of probiotics in animals was helpful in equilibrating their beneficial microbial population and microbial turnover via stimulating the host immune response through specific secretions and competitive exclusion of potentially pathogenic bacteria in the digestive tract.
  • 653
  • 11 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Anticancer Activities of Selected Medicinal Plants of Himalayas
Prunus cornuta Wall. ex Royle (Rosaceae) and Quercus semicarpifolia Sm (Fagaceae) are widely found in the Himalayan regions of Pakistan and India. These plants contain numerous phytochemicals such as alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, and tannins. Traditionally, P. cornuta has been used to cure anemia. In contrast, Q. semicarpifolia is used to treat various ailments such as muscular pain, bleeding, chronic diarrhea, wound healing, inflammation, and dysentery.
  • 653
  • 11 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Galeus melastomus
We reviewed literature on the diet of the Galeus melastomus Rafinesque, 1810, from the Mediterranean Sea. Specific keywords (“Galeus melastomus diet”, “feeding habits”, “trophic position”, “biology”, “deep environment adaptation”) in the principal data sources, such as Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar were used. Seventeen studies conducted on the diet and trophic position of G. melastomus have been considered for Mediterranean Sea regions. The feeding habits have been analyzed in many areas of the western basin; instead, for the Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, and central Mediterranean Seas, information is outdated and fragmentary. In all investigated sub areas, the data showed that G. melastomus is an opportunistic demersal supra benthic predator, benthic feeder, and scavenger, that adapts its diet to the seasonal and geographical fluctuations of the prey availability. It occupies a generalist niche showing individual specialization. In all reviewed Mediterranean sub areas, the most important prey groups were crustaceans, cephalopods, and teleost fishes. Taxa percentage in its diet composition can vary depending on different habitats with ontogenetic development of individuals, depth (that is correlated with the ontogenetic development), seasonal availability, and distribution of different prey groups. 
  • 652
  • 28 May 2021
Topic Review
Integrated-Smart Agriculture
The targets that smart agriculture tries to reach and respond to encompass not only the climate effects, but also other environmental factors as well as social and economic aspects linked with the life of farmers and rural communities all over the world. Hence, the concept of smart agriculture shall be expanded to include all these dimensions.
  • 651
  • 14 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Biomedical Properties of Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides are considered as vital bio-macromolecules for all living organisms, which are structurally comprised of homo or hetero monosaccharides and uronic acids connected with glycosidic linkages.
  • 651
  • 23 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soo
Dactylorhiza hatagirea (Orchidaceae) is a perennial herb inhabiting sub-alpine to alpine regions, ranging at elevations between 2500 and 5000 m.a.s.l. With palmately lobed rhizome and lanceolate leaves having a sheathing leaf base, it bears pink flowers with purple-colored notches and a curved spur.
  • 649
  • 12 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Land Use and Sustainable Sugarcane
Large-scale land-use change (LUC) to expand bioenergy crops, such as sugarcane, raises concerns about the potential negative environmental and socioeconomic side effects. However, such effects are context-specific, and depending on the LUC scenario and management practices, several co-benefits can be attained. In that context, sugarcane-derived bioenergy becomes an important, feasible and sustainable option for mitigating global warming and climate change.
  • 648
  • 28 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Amazon weasel
The Amazon weasel (Mustela africana), also known as the tropical weasel, is a small carnivorous mammal native to the Amazon rainforest. With its slender body, short legs, and distinctive coat, this elusive species plays a crucial role in the ecological dynamics of its dense and biodiverse habitat.
  • 648
  • 04 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Campylobacter Biofilms
Microbial biofilms occur naturally in many environmental niches and can be a significant reservoir of infectious microbes in zoonotically transmitted diseases such as that caused by Campylobacter jejuni, the leading cause of acute human bacterial gastroenteritis world-wide. The greatest challenge in reducing the disease caused by this organism is reducing transmission of C. jejuni to humans from poultry via the food chain. Biofilms enhance the stress tolerance and antimicrobial resistance of the microorganisms they harbor and are considered to play a crucial role for Campylobacter spp. survival and transmission to humans. Unconventional approaches to control biofilms and to improve the efficacy of currently used antibiotics are urgently needed. This review summarizes the use plant- and microorganism-derived antimicrobial and antibiofilm compounds such as essential oils, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), polyphenolic extracts, algae extracts, probiotic-derived factors, d-amino acids (DAs) and glycolipid biosurfactants with potential to control biofilms formed by Campylobacter, and the suggested mechanisms of their action. Further investigation and use of such natural compounds could improve preventative and remedial strategies aimed to limit the transmission of campylobacters and other human pathogens via the food chain.
  • 648
  • 16 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment on Seed
The use of non-thermal plasmas in agriculture or plant biology has also been widely reported in the last few years. The topics, related to the decontamination of seeds, modification of surface properties, metabolomic pathways, and enzymatic activity, enhancing seed germination and the initial growth, are summarized e.g., in Plants 2021, 10, 1616; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10081616. Disease control and mycotoxin degradation were also reported.
  • 647
  • 31 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Fertilizers with Regional Climate Variability
Climate change affects global crop production year after year. Authors try to explore the effects of various fertilization regimes with climate variability on yield stability for sweet corn production in southern Taiwan. Three fertilization treatments composed of chemical fertilizer only (CF), integrated fertilizer (half organic/half chemical fertilizer) (IF), and organic fertilizer only (OF) were implemented from 2009 to 2018. While the same amounts of these fertilizers were applied during the period, we found that different fertilization changed the marketable yields of fresh fruit (ear), which slightly increased for organic fertilizer, but substantially decreased for both chemical and integrated fertilizer. Above all, we show for the first time that chemical fertilizer had the lowest yield resilience in response to regional relative humidity change compared to organic and integrated fertilizers. Our results also indicate that specific soil microbes have the potential to help sweet corn face environmental vulnerability in subtropical regions.
  • 646
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Conservation Agriculture
Conservation agriculture (CA) is considered a sustainable practice with the potential to maintain or increase crop productivity and improve environmental quality and ecosystem services. It typically improves soil quality and water conservation; however, its effect on crop productivity is highly variable and dependent on local conditions/management. Crop residue retention plays a crucial role in CA and can help to improve overall soil health and ultimately crop productivity and sustainability.
  • 646
  • 09 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Methods for Monitoring Udder Health and Milk Quality
To maximize milk production, efficiency, and profits, modern dairy cows are genetically selected and bred to produce more and more milk and are fed copious quantities of high-energy feed to support ever-increasing milk volumes. As demands for increased milk yield and milking efficiency continue to rise to provide for the growing world population, more significant stress is placed on the dairy cow’s productive capacity. In this climate, which is becoming increasingly hotter, millions of people depend on the capacity of cattle to respond to new environments and to cope with temperature shocks as well as additional stress factors such as solar radiation, animal crowding, insect pests, and poor ventilation, which are often associated with an increased risk of mastitis, resulting in lower milk quality and reduced production. 
  • 646
  • 26 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Agroecology-Based Local Agri-Food Systems
ALAS are assemblages of alternative food networks, assets and infrastructures for local (sustainable) distribution, new and emerging types of institutionality, political measures, and appropriate bottom-up institutional governance, together with the symbolic revival of place-based cultural and historical identities. These assemblages are embedded in specific territories with the aim of maximizing social and ecological sustainability, supported by food and nutritional equality and security, the relocation of metabolic flows, and the improvement of the food system's ecological efficiency. To achieve this, agroecological experiences of production, distribution and consumption must be coordinated among themselves and with other actors, linking rural and urban areas, forming a plural subject led by farmers and peasants committed to agroecology. The aim of this plural subject is to develop operative and place-based ways of de-commodify and de-privatize food systems. Its aim is to achieve economic viability, agency and access to decision-making spheres, the development of physical infrastructures, and symbolic contexts to allow ALAS to emerge as hegemonic food systems as the corporate food regime loses its legitimacy. Such a social subject is tasked with promoting these transitions, while redefining our underlying thought categories and building economic flows, beyond the dualities of urban–rural and productive–reproductive work
  • 645
  • 13 Sep 2021
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