This article lists agricultural universities and colleges around the world, by continent and country.
Understanding how soil-plant systems regulate water use and productivity is critical for improving agricultural resilience in semiarid regions. However, the functional mechanisms linking hydrological management with rhizosphere biological processes and crop productivity remain insufficiently quantified. This study developed an integrated framework to evaluate soil-plant system functionality under ridge-furrow rainwater harvesting compacted with eco-engineered chopped straw-soil crust management. A 3-year field study was executed under randomized complete block design containing ten treatments and replicated three times. Treatments comprised three ridge widths (30 cm (W30), 45 cm (W45), and 60 cm (W60)) × three straw mulching treatments (ridges compacted with soil crust (SC0), short chopped straw-soil crust (SSC2, 2 cm), and long chopped straw-soil crust (LSC10, 10 cm)), and flat planting (FP) was control. Soil water storage, microbial biomass carbon, extracellular enzyme potential activities, nutrient availability, sainfoin water use efficiency (WUE), and fodder yield were measured to characterize hydrological, biochemical, and productivity responses. Soil health was quantified using a principal component analysis-based soil health index, while structural equation modeling identified functional pathways linking soil biological activity, water availability, and crop performance. A multi-criteria decision framework using entropy-weighted TOPSIS was applied to rank treatment performance and identify optimal management strategies. Results showed that wide ridges combined with long chopped straw-soil crust significantly enhanced soil water storage, microbial enzyme activity, and nutrient availability, resulting in improved soil health and higher WUE. Structural equation modeling revealed that ridge geometry enhanced productivity primarily through microbially mediated pathways that strengthened soil-plant functional interactions. The integrated framework explained more than 90% of yield variability and identified the 60-cm ridge width with a 10-cm chopped straw as the optimal configuration for maximizing system functionality and sainfoin productivity. These findings demonstrate that integrating hydrological management with multi-dimensional soil indicators provides a robust strategy for improving soil-plant system functionality and sustainable productivity in semiarid agroecosystems.
Insect dormancy (diapause) is a state of developmental arrest triggered by environmental signals and serves as a vital survival strategy for insects facing harsh seasonal conditions. This article provides a comprehensive review of how photoperiod and temperature regulation of insect dormancy works, covering molecular signaling pathways (such as circadian clock genes, hormone regulation, and the insulin–FoxO pathway), epigenetic mechanisms (like DNA methylation and histone modification), physiological changes (including metabolism inhibition and buildup of cold-hardiness substances), and ecological adaptation strategies. Research indicates that insects sense shifts in photoperiod and temperature to activate intricate endocrine and gene regulatory networks, enabling the precise initiation or termination of dormancy. Although considerable progress has been made recently in understanding the molecular basis of dormancy, challenges remain, including significant variation among species, complex regulatory networks, and unclear mechanisms of climate response. Future research should integrate multi-omics approaches, conduct cross-species comparisons, and develop ecological models to deepen theoretical understanding of dormancy, thereby supporting green agricultural pest management and biodiversity conservation.
Reproductive disorders remain a major cause of subfertility and infertility in human and animals, encompassing ovarian dysfunction, endometritis, impaired endometrial receptivity, and treatment-induced gonadotoxicity. These conditions substantially reduce reproductive efficiency and quality of life. In recent years, advances in translational medicine have shifted focus toward regenerative strategies, particularly stem cell-based therapies, as alternatives to conventional pharmacological or surgical interventions that often yield limited or transient benefits. Among these, mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) have emerged as promising candidates for infertility management due to their self-renewal ability, multilineage differentiation potential, low immunogenicity, and robust paracrine activity. Growing preclinical and early clinical evidence demonstrates that MSC-based therapies can restore ovarian function, enhance folliculogenesis, promote endometrial regeneration, and modulate inflammatory and fibrotic microenvironments associated with female infertility. Notably, these effects are mediated primarily through the secretion of bioactive factors, stimulation of angiogenesis, regulation of apoptosis, and immunomodulation rather than direct cell replacement alone. Despite their therapeutic promise, challenges related to targeted delivery, therapeutic precision, and safety remain. In this context, emerging targeting strategies, particularly aptamer-based approaches, represent a rational advancement to enhance MSC efficacy. Aptamers are short single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules with high affinity and specificity for target proteins, offering advantages over antibodies, including improved tissue penetration, minimal immunogenicity, and ease of synthesis and modification. This review aimes to summarizes current progress in MSC-based therapies for female infertility and highlights aptamer-guided targeting strategies to improve therapeutic precision, efficacy, and safety.
The intensifying need for sustainable agriculture demands nitrogen management strategies that enhance crop productivity while minimizing environmental losses. Coated urea fertilizers offer controlled nitrogen release synchronized with crop demand, stabilizing soil ammonium and nitrate pools and attenuating actions responsible for N₂O emissions and nitrate leaching. Coated urea increases nitrogen use efficiency (20–40
Docetaxel (DTX) is an efficient and normally used anticancer drug. But it results in systemic organ toxicity and damages various non-target organs of the body. Vanillic acid (VA) is a biologically active phenolic acid that exhibits potential therapeutic properties. This research was conducted to understand the protective effects of VA against DTX-induced liver damage in rats. Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assorted into four groups. One group was the control, and the other groups were as follows: DTX group, DTX + VA group, and VA group. Thirty milligrams per kilogram DTX was given once on the first day of the trial while VA (50 mg/kg) was given on a daily basis via intragastric gavage for 7 days. The results showed that DTX disrupted TLR4/MyD88/TRAF6, NF-κB, and JAK/STAT signaling pathways and caused oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis as well as mitochondrial and histological damages in liver. However, the supplementation of VA protected the hepatic tissues from these damages by mitigating the effects of DTX. VA protected the hepatic tissues by reducing the expressions of TLR4, MyD88, TRAF6, NF-κB, and other inflammatory cytokines, while upregulating the expressions of IκB. Importantly, it lowered the levels of ALT and AST by 29.10
