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Topic Review
Taro in West Africa
Taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] is the most commonly cultivated species in genus Colocasia and is the fourth most consumed tuber crop globally. It is a member of family Araceae, sub-family Aroideae, and is a tropical monocotyledonous, vegetatively propagated, perennial crop grown primarily for its starchy corm or underground stem. Taro is one of the world’s oldest food crops, with its domestication dating back over 9000 years. It was probably first domesticated in Southeast Asia and thereafter spread across the world, to become one of the most important staple food crops in the Pacific Islands. It is widely distributed across Africa, Oceania, Asia, and the Americas. The crop has been largely maintained by smallholder farmers, and the species’ genetic resources have remained largely within local communities. In many societies, taro is considered a sacred plant of strong cultural importance and is used in religious festivals, domestic and agricultural rituals, and as bride price.
  • 2.8K
  • 19 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Epidemiology and Consequences of ARFID
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is an avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder identified in the DSM V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) diagnostic criteria for mental disorders in 2013, which replaced feeding disorder of infancy and early childhood (FEDIC), among others.
  • 2.8K
  • 28 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Causes of Egg Spoilage and Preventing Egg Spoilage
Eggs are a rich source of protein, minerals, lipids, and vitamins. Eggs are an essential source of bacterial microflora. Controlling antimicrobial resistance and reducing food loss and waste are essential for a sustainable future. To prevent spoilage and to preserve eggs, a variety of techniques, including thermal and non-thermal, are often used. The decontamination methods for egg preservation that have been applied are discussed. In previous studies, the initial contamination of the eggs varied from 2 to 9 log CFU per egg. Either thermal or non-thermal techniques resulted in reduced concentrations of Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium, and Escherichia coli, respectively, on the surface of the egg that ranged 0.62–5.9 log, 1.27–4.9 log, and 0.06–6.39 log, respectively, for the former, and being 1.2–7.8 log, 5.0–7.8 log, and 6.5–6.6 log, respectively, for the latter. Thermal approaches were more effective than the non-thermal approaches. Some of these methods had negative consequences on the egg’s functionality, while combination methods, such as thermoultrasonifcation (ozone-UV radiation or heat-ozone), mitigated these effects.
  • 2.7K
  • 12 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Hybrid Plant
In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in blending inheritance), but can show hybrid vigor, sometimes growing larger or taller than either parent. The concept of a hybrid is interpreted differently in animal and plant breeding, where there is interest in the individual parentage. In genetics, attention is focused on the numbers of chromosomes. In taxonomy, a key question is how closely related the parent species are. Species are reproductively isolated by strong barriers to hybridisation, which include genetic and morphological differences, differing times of fertility, mating behaviors and cues, and physiological rejection of sperm cells or the developing embryo. Some act before fertilization and others after it. Similar barriers exist in plants, with differences in flowering times, pollen vectors, inhibition of pollen tube growth, somatoplastic sterility, cytoplasmic-genic male sterility and the structure of the chromosomes. A few animal species and many plant species, however, are the result of hybrid speciation, including important crop plants such as wheat, where the number of chromosomes has been doubled. Human impact on the environment has resulted in an increase in the interbreeding between regional species, and the proliferation of introduced species worldwide has also resulted in an increase in hybridisation. This genetic mixing may threaten many species with extinction, while genetic erosion from monoculture in crop plants may be damaging the gene pools of many species for future breeding. A form of often intentional human-mediated hybridisation is the crossing of wild and domesticated species. This is common in both traditional horticulture and modern agriculture; many commercially useful fruits, flowers, garden herbs, and trees have been produced by hybridisation. One such flower, Oenothera lamarckiana, was central to early genetics research into mutationism and polyploidy. It is also more occasionally done in the livestock and pet trades; some well-known wild × domestic hybrids are beefalo and wolfdogs. Human selective breeding of domesticated animals and plants has resulted in the development of distinct breeds (usually called cultivars in reference to plants); crossbreeds between them (without any wild stock) are sometimes also imprecisely referred to as "hybrids". Hybrid humans existed in prehistory. For example, Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans are thought to have interbred as recently as 40,000 years ago. Mythological hybrids appear in human culture in forms as diverse as the Minotaur, blends of animals, humans and mythical beasts such as centaurs and sphinxes, and the Nephilim of the Biblical apocrypha described as the wicked sons of fallen angels and attractive women.
  • 2.7K
  • 24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Biostimulants Application in Horticultural Crops under Abiotic Stress Conditions
Abiotic stresses strongly affect plant growth, development, and quality of production; final crop yield can be really compromised if stress occurs in plants’ most sensitive phenological phases. Additionally, the increase of crop stress tolerance through genetic improvements requires long breeding programmes and different cultivation environments for crop performance validation. Biostimulants have been proposed as agronomic tools to counteract abiotic stress. Indeed, these products containing bioactive molecules have a beneficial effect on plants and improve their capability to face adverse environmental conditions, acting on primary or secondary metabolism. Many companies are investing in new biostimulant products development and in the identification of the most effective bioactive molecules contained in different kinds of extracts, able to elicit specific plant responses against abiotic stresses. Most of these compounds are unknown and their characterization in term of composition is almost impossible; therefore, they could be classified on the basis of their role in plants. Biostimulants have been generally applied to high-value crops like fruits and vegetables; thus, in this review, we examine and summarise literature on their use on vegetable crops, focusing on their application to counteract the most common environmental stresses.
  • 2.7K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19
Since the pandemic induced by the coronavirus SARS-CoV2 began to be spread throughout the whole world, many medical attempts to control the infection and avoid the high rate of mortality and morbidity have been made, collapsing the ICUs of many Hospitals. Many different treatments have been tested, but mortality reached very high values, especially in people in the middle/ elder age. Survivors usually develop important sequelae, even time after the infection had been controlled. In this article, we propose two different approaches to avoid the infection or mitigate their effects. One of them is based in the administration of GH, as preventive,  given its known effect on the production of lymphocytes and a high number of antibodies, as well as for helping in the recovery of the damaged organs. The other one is the administration of melatonin, both to prevent the infection and to act on inflammation once the disease is established. Both hormones are safe and can synergize when the damage to organs is established. GH administration has to be interrupted if the cytokine storm appears because the hormone can increase it. This is a novel approach that will be analyzed in extent, on scientific bases, throughout this article.  
  • 2.7K
  • 05 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Maize Breeding
Maize or corn (Zea mays L.), a plant species particularly generous in its production potential and in its wide diversity of uses, is fundamental for the development of a modern and efficient agriculture. Globally, maize ranks third in area and first in production, ahead of wheat and rice. Due to the large areas corn occupies, but especially to its yielding performance, maize is a major source of food for the world’s population. In addition to its nutritional importance for humans, corn is also basic food for animal feed and valuable raw material for industrial processing. The importance of corn for human health results from the fact that it is a food rich in nutrients, especially energy of 355 kcal per 100 g flour with 15% moisture, compared to 352 kcal for wheat flour, 348 kcal for rye flour, and 346 kcal for hulled barley. As food, maize also has some shortcomings, of which that the low amount of some essential amino acids was noted, such as lysine and tryptophan. Maize is also a valuable raw material for industry, extracting oil, starch, alcohol, glucose, and other products such as syrup, pectin, dextrin, plastics, lactic acid, acetic acid, acetone, dyes, and synthetic rubber from its grains. Paper, cardboard, and nitrocellulose can be made from corn stalks. Every part of the maize plant has economic worth, including the grain, leaves, stalk, tassel, and cob, which can be used to make a variety of food and non-food goods. Maize breeding research has traditionally concentrated on enhancing productive potential in newly created maize varieties because this criterion ensures a crop’s economic efficiency. Nowadays, genomics tools are essential for a precise, fast, and efficient breeding of crops especially in the context of climate challenges, but also may in the future represent a way to accelerate the processes of de novo domestication of the species.
  • 2.7K
  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Cell Cycle
The cell cycle is the series of events that take place in a cell, which drives it to divide and produce two new daughter cells. The typical cell cycle in eukaryotes is composed of the following phases: G1, S, G2, and M phase.
  • 2.7K
  • 03 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Fungal decomposition of dead wood
Fungi create a nutritional niche for deadwood-eaters ------------------------------ Direct comparison of the amounts of essential nutrients and ergosterol in wood provides evidence that the changes in the stoichiometry of decaying dead wood are driven by the action of fungi. They infest dead wood to take advantage of the ample supply of an energy-rich substrate. However, to exploit this resource, these fungi must import an array of essential nutrients from outside of the dead wood. This nutritional enrichment of dead wood creates a nutritional niche for xylophages that allows them to grow, develop, and reach maturity. Therefore, xylophagous beetles (considered as “wood-eaters”) are unable to gather the necessary amounts of nutrients from pure dead wood to grow and mature, but instead must utilize fungal tissues. ------------------------------
  • 2.7K
  • 03 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Detection of Beta-Glucan
This entry provides a comprehensive review of the current literature about biological properties and available methods for the detection of beta-glucans. It shares the experience of the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory with the detection of beta-glucans in nanotechnology-based drug products. This entry summarizes and discusses five different approaches currently applied for the data interpretation of beta-glucan tests with respect to the acceptability (or lack thereof) of the beta-glucan levels in pharmaceutical products.
  • 2.7K
  • 03 Nov 2020
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