Your browser does not fully support modern features. Please upgrade for a smoother experience.
Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort by:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Coenzyme Q in Disease
Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is a key component of the respiratory chain of all eukaryotic cells. Its function is closely related to mitochondrial respiration, where it acts as an electron transporter. However, the cellular functions of coenzyme Q are multiple: it is present in all cell membranes, limiting the toxic effect of free radicals, it is a component of LDL, it is involved in the aging process, and its deficiency is linked to several diseases. 
  • 1.0K
  • 16 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Effect of Using Milk Replacers on Goat Carcass
Since goat milk has a higher value than kid meat in Europe, some farmers rear kids with milk replacers, although some studies have stated that kids raised on natural milk yield higher-quality carcasses. The previous studies showed some interactions between breed and rearing system on carcass and meat quality.
  • 1.0K
  • 02 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Bearded Seal
The Bearded Seal (Erignathus barbatus) stands as a distinctive and well-adapted marine mammal inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions. Recognized for its prominent and lengthy whiskers, or "beards," this species belongs to the family Phocidae and plays a crucial role in Arctic marine ecosystems. With its robust physique and specialized behaviors, the Bearded Seal remains a fascinating subject for researchers studying the unique adaptations of polar marine life.
  • 1.0K
  • 08 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Green Bioinoculants
Biofertilizers are emerging as a suitable alternative to counteract the adverse environmental impacts exerted by synthetic agrochemicals. Biofertilizers facilitate the overall growth and yield of crops in an eco-friendly manner.
  • 1.0K
  • 28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Human Mobility
Human mobility is a significant factor for disease transmission. Little is known about how the environment influences mobility during a pandemic.
  • 1.0K
  • 25 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Camelina Meal as a Livestock Feed Ingredient
Camelina sativa is an annual oilseed crop that requires low inputs. Recently, interest in camelina oil for both human use and biofuel production has increased. Camelina meal can result in decreased dry matter (DM) intake; it has greater neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents, as well as greater antinutritional factors than protein meal produced from some of the more commonly cultivated oilseeds. It is, however, still a viable feed ingredient in animal diets as a protein source.
  • 1.0K
  • 17 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Methods for Determination of Dietary Composition in Ruminants
The botanical and chemical composition of diets consumed by ruminants is different from the composition of plant species available in typical rangeland on which they graze. Exploring alternatives, and improving existing methods of estimating botanical composition (diet selection) is imperative in advancing sustainable feeding practices in extensive production systems. The ability to predict the intake and digestibility of the diet consumed by ruminant species is important in designing grazing management for different feeding systems as well as supplementation strategies to meet their nutrient requirements.
  • 1.0K
  • 08 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Silphium perfoliatum
Silphium perfoliatum L. is a perennial crop native to North America that has been the subject of increased scientific interest in recent years, especially in Europe. It is drought and frost-resistant, which makes it suitable for cultivation in Europe on marginal lands that are not used for growing other crops. 
  • 1.0K
  • 24 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Analysis of Microplastics in Agricultural Matrices
Microplastics (MPs) are small plastic particles that are less than 5 mm in size, and they have become a significant environmental concern due to their ubiquitous presence in the environment.
  • 1.0K
  • 28 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Oat Grain Quality
Oats (Avena sativa L.) belong to the main group of important cereal crops in Northern Europe and Northern America.
  • 1.0K
  • 26 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Housing Conditions Determine Pigs Welfare
Humans who care for pigs prefer an environment that not only allows the pigs to express their natural behaviors but also limits the development of aggression and stereotypes. Most of the behavioral and health problems encountered by pigs in barren, conventional conditions are solved by alternative housing systems. 
  • 1.0K
  • 26 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Nano-Restoration for Sustaining Soil Fertility
Soil is a real treasure that humans cannot live without. Therefore, it is very important to sustain and conserve soils to guarantee food, fiber, fuel, and other human necessities. Healthy or high-quality soils that include adequate fertility, diverse ecosystems, and good physical properties are important to allow soil to produce healthy food in support of human health. When a soil suffers from degradation, the soil’s productivity decreases. Soil restoration refers to the reversal of degradational processes.
  • 1.0K
  • 27 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Enteric Methane Emissions
The mitigation of enteric methane (CH4) emissions from ruminants to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 °C can use feed additives inhibitors of rumen methanogenesis. A mathematical simulation conducted herein predicted that pronounced inhibition of rumen methanogenesis with pure chemicals or bromoform-containing algae with an efficacy higher than that obtained in most studies can be important to limiting global temperature increase by 2050 to 1.5 °C but will likely need to be accompanied by improved production efficiency and other mitigation measures.
  • 1.0K
  • 14 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Chemical Compositions and Biosynthesis of Black Goji Anthocyanins
Lycium ruthenicum is a therapeutic plant and its fruits (black goji) are commonly used as a traditional Chinese medicine. Among the 39 identified black goji anthocyanins (BGAs), most are 3,5-diglycoside derivatives of petunidin (>95%) with an individual anthocyanin [petunidin 3-O-rutinoside (trans-p-coumaroyl)-5-O-glucoside], accounting for 80% of the total BGAs. Due to their unique anthocyanin profile, BGAs possess various health benefits.
  • 1.0K
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Flax Lectin Gene Expression
Plant proteins with lectin domains play an essential role in plant immunity modulation, but among a plurality of lectins recruited by plants, only a few members have been functionally characterized. The lectin gene expression in flax root tips infected with Fusarium oxysporum was analyzed. For the analysis of flax lectin gene expression, FIBexDB was used, which includes an efficient algorithm for flax gene expression analysis combining gene clustering and coexpression network analysis. Two pools of lectin genes have been revealed: downregulated and upregulated during the infection. 
  • 1.0K
  • 21 Mar 2022
Topic Review
SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Livestock Industry and Agro-environment
The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a public health emergency that turns the year 2020–2021 into annus horribilis for millions of people across international boundaries. The interspecies transmission of this zoonotic virus and mutated variants are aided by exposure dynamics of infected aerosols, fomites and intermediate reservoirs. The spike in the first, second and third waves of coronavirus confirms that herd immunity is not yet reached and everyone including livestock is still vulnerable to the infection. Of serious concern are the communitarian nature of agrarians in the livestock sector, aerogenous spread of the virus and attendant cytocidal effect in permissive cells following activation of pathogen recognition receptors, replication cycles, virulent mutations, seasonal spike in infection rates, flurry of reinfections and excess mortalities that can affect animal welfare and food security. As the capacity to either resist or be susceptible to infection is influenced by numerous factors, identifying coronavirus-associated variants and correlating exposure dynamics with viral aerosols, spirometry indices, comorbidities, susceptible blood types, cellular miRNA binding sites and multisystem inflammatory syndrome remains a challenge where the lethal zoonotic infections are prevalent in the livestock industry, being the hub of dairy, fur, meat and egg production. This entry provides insights into the complexity of the disease burden and recommends precision smart-farming models for upscaling biosecurity measures and adoption of digitalised technologies (robotic drones) powered by multiparametric sensors and radio modem systems for real-time tracking of infectious strains in the agro-environment and managing the transition into the new-normal realities in the livestock industry.
  • 1.0K
  • 22 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Trends in Smart Irrigation for Smart Agriculture
Smart agriculture and smart irrigation play a strategic role in agricultural production: not only they provide approaches to adapt to climate change, but also they contribute in ensuring food security, optimizing efficiency and minimizing or reducing environmental impact.  
  • 1.0K
  • 17 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Modern Olive Planting Systems
The objective of fully mechanizing olive harvesting has been pursued since the 1970s to cope with labor shortages and increasing production costs. Only in the last twenty years, after adopting super-intensive planting systems and developing appropriate straddle machines, a solution seems to have been found. The spread of super-intensive plantings, however, raises serious environmental and social concerns, mainly because of the small number of cultivars that are currently used (basically 2), compared to over 100 cultivars today cultivated on a large scale across the world. Olive growing, indeed, insists on over 11 million hectares. Despite its being located mostly in the Mediterranean countries, the numerous olive growing districts are characterized by deep differences in climate and soil and in the frequency and nature of environmental stress. To date, the olive has coped with biotic and abiotic stress thanks to the great cultivar diversity. Pending that new technologies supporting plant breeding will provide a wider number of cultivars suitable for super-intensive systems, in the short term, new growing models must be developed. New olive orchards will need to exploit cultivars currently present in various olive-growing areas and favor increasing productions that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. As in fruit growing, we should focus on “pedestrian olive orchards”, based on trees with small canopies and whose top can be easily reached by people from the ground and by machines (from the side of the top) that can carry out, in a targeted way, pesticide treatments, pruning and harvesting.
  • 1.0K
  • 15 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Wandong Bulls (Bos taurus)
The Wandong cattle breed is recently recognized in Fangyang County, Anhui Province, China, by the National Commission for Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources. The breed was domesticated in the watershed region between the Huai River and Yangtze River approximately 500 years ago, and mainly found in two kinds of coat color, yellow and brown. This is one of the best breed reared in Anhui China, and very popular for high quality meat production. The breed survives with extreme weather and raw feed as well as resistant to tick born diseases. Additionally, the animals raised in ecological environment in the hilly areas. The statistical data showed 1000,000 heads of Wandong cattle in the 1990s. 
  • 1.0K
  • 20 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Types and Applications of Unconventional Feed
Unconventional feed, which is abundant in China, contains anti-nutritional factors and toxins; however, these can be greatly reduced with microbial fermentation, thus improving the nutrient content of the feed, enhancing animal appetites, and ultimately significantly improving the intestinal health and growth performance of animals. When oxidative stress occurs, fermented feed can effectively reduce the damage caused by stress to the gastrointestinal tract, accelerate the removal of gastrointestinal abnormalities, improve the ability to resist intestinal stress, and ensure the efficient production of animals. 
  • 1.0K
  • 11 Mar 2024
  • Page
  • of
  • 70
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Reprints

>>
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Medieval Royal Iconography
Academic Video Service
Feedback

Quick Survey

Encyclopedia MDPI is conducting a targeted survey to identify the specific barriers hindering efficient research. We invite you to spend 3 minutes defining the priorities for our next generation of structured knowledge tools.
Take Survey