The Role of Polyculture in Sustainable Agricultural Development and Prevention of Land Degradation

The aim of the chapter is to show the possible impact of policulture farming on some determinants of sustainable agricultural development, especially from the point of view of economic viability, biodiversity, and land degradation. Increasing the area under polyculture is one of the main solutions to the present environmental problems. The key constraints are economic pressures due to the question of the cost-effectiveness of such a mode of production and the need to provide sufficient food for a growing population, especially in developing countries. The results of the research show that policulture (organic agriculture) should be favored, while monoculture farming must be adequately directed and put in the function of achieving ecological goals of sustainable development as much as possible. In addition, on the example of European countries, it was assessed that there are good conditions for further “greening” of agriculture, bearing in mind the movement of the analyzed indicators.

Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ating pathway regulates development from stem cell niche to longevity control

The regulation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of homopolymer ADP-ribose chains on nuclear proteins, has been extensively studied over the last decades for its involvement in tumorigenesis processes. However, the regulation of poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG), the enzyme responsible for removing this posttranslational modification, has attracted little attention. Here we identified that PARG activity is partly regulated by two phosphorylation sites, ph1 and ph2, in Drosophila. We showed that the disruption of these sites affects the germline stem-cells maintenance/differentiation balance as well as embryonic and larval development, but also the synchronization of egg production with the availability of a calorically sufficient food source. Moreover, these PARG phosphorylation sites play an essential role in the control of fly survivability from larvae to adults. We also showed that PARG is phosphorylated by casein kinase 2 and that this phosphorylation seems to protect PARG protein against degradation in vivo. Taken together, these results suggest that the regulation of PARG protein activity plays a crucial role in the control of several developmental processes.

Removal of Hydrophobic Contaminants from the Soil by Adsorption onto Carbon Materials and Microbial Degradation

The pollution of soil is a worldwide concern as it has harmful consequences on the environment and human health. With the continuous expansion of industry and agriculture, the content of hydrophobic organic pollutants in the soil has been increasing, which has caused serious pollution to the soil. The removal of hydrophobic organic contaminants from soil, aiming to recover environmental safety, is an urgent matter to guarantee sufficient food and water for populations. Adsorption has proven to be an effective and economically practicable method for removing organic contaminants. This paper summarizes the use of low-cost adsorbents, such as biochar and activated carbon, for removing hydrophobic organic contaminants from soil. Biochar is usually appropriate for the adsorption of organic contaminants via the adsorption mechanisms of electrostatic interaction, precipitation, and ion exchange. Biochar also has numerous benefits, such as being obtained from several kinds of raw materials, having low costs, recyclability, and potential for environmental treatment. This paper illustrates biochar’s adsorption mechanism for organic contaminants and discusses the microbial degradation of hydrophobic organic contaminants.

Environmental Performance in EU Countries from the Perspective of Its Relation to Human and Economic Wellbeing

The actual development challenges impose new criteria of national performance evaluation, the concept of wellbeing tending to be measured not just in terms of economic and social dimensions, but also vs. the environment. Accordingly, considering the national environmental performance among the EU countries in 2006–2019 period, we grouped them and concentrated on the clusters registering the highest and lowest levels, analyzing how the components of the human and economic dimensions influence it. Applying panel data models, our main results emphasized that, firstly, for the countries with a better environmental performance, sufficient drinking water, safe sanitation, education, gender equality, and good governance were significant; in the countries with the lowest levels of environmental wellbeing, sufficient food, sufficient to drink, education, and income distribution were insignificant, while the remaining components were relevant. Secondly, in both groups of countries, organic farming and public debt were significant; nevertheless, differences were observed for genuine savings and employment, for which the peculiarities of economic activities seemed to be materialized as different influences upon environmental wellbeing. Our study draws alarm signals regarding the development patterns applied in the EU, seeming to have results that strengthen the sustainable goals, but not sufficient for exceeding the traditional growth-oriented model.

Just Love Me, Feed Me, Never Leave Me: Understanding Pet Food Anxiety, Feeding and Shopping Behavior of US Pet Owners in Covidian Times

The study provides insights for pet food retailers, vets and managers and volunteers at animal shelters, pet food pantries and food banks into the behavioral changes in feeding and pet food buying resulting from pet food anxiety in Covidian times. This study proposes a model that investigates the impact of pet owner’s perceptions of their pet, their engagement with their pet, sociodemographic factors and the frequency of incidences where pet owners could not provide sufficient food for their pet. For this purpose, an online survey with a sample of 206 US residents was conducted. Partial least squares structural equation modelling shows that perceiving the pet as an animal or family/friend, as well as active engagement with the pet, heightens a sense of pet food anxiety. Similarly, past experiences where pet owners could not provide sufficient food for their pet impacts pet food anxiety, which leads to changes in pet food shopping and pet feeding behavior. Sociodemographic factors (biological sex, age, income and education) were not found to impact anxiety.

​​Unravelling Detailed Insights on Phylloplane Bacteria: A Review

A fast-growing field of research focuses on microbial biocontrol within the phyllosphere. Phyllosphere microorganisms possess biocontrol capacity with good range of adaptation to the phyllosphere environment and inhibit the expansion of microbial pathogens, thus sustaining plant health. These biocontrol factors are often categorized in direct, microbe-microbe, and indirect, host-microbe, interactions. This review gives an summary of the modes of action of microbial adaptation and biocontrol within the phyllosphere, the genetic basis of the mechanisms and samples of experiments which will detect these mechanisms in laboratory and field experiments. Detailed insights in such mechanisms are key for the rational design of novel microbial biocontrol strategies and increase crop protection and production. Such novel biocontrol strategies are much needed in today’s world to ensure sufficient food production to feed the growing world population.

Development of health monitoring method for pecan nut trees using side video data and computer vision

Increasing efficiency and productivity in the field of agriculture is important to provide sufficient food to the world’s increasing population. It is important to monitor crops using image processing in order to realize these increases in efficiency and productivity. In order to monitor crops with high quality and accuracy, high resolution images are needed. In this research, a crop monitoring method for pecan nut trees was developed using high-resolution video taken from the side of a vehicle. First, trees were extracted by applying an object detection model to the video data. Second, the extracted trees were divided into canopy and trunk areas. Finally, using labels made by experts and the canopy image as input, the convolutional neural network (CNN) model was trained to classify unhealthy and healthy trees. The model achieved an area under the curve for classification over 0.95. Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM) was also applied to the model for the purpose of evaluation, and it clarified that the model is focusing on the hollow features of the canopy when performing its classification.

Food Insecurity: What Are Its Effects, Why, and What Can Policy Do About It?

Food insecurity—lack of access to sufficient food for an active and healthy lifestyle—affects more than 10 million children in the United States. Ample research links food insecurity to hampered child physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development and provides insights for policy. After introducing food insecurity and its measurement, this article summarizes what is known about the effects of food insecurity on child development. It then considers how food insecurity harms children and explores both direct pathways through child health and indirect pathways through parenting and parent well-being. Finally, after reviewing existing policy for reducing food insecurity, we provide suggestions for new policy and policy-targeted research.

Climate “Psychopathology”

Climate change is now widely recognized as the greatest threat faced by humanity for thousands of years and is known to affect the social and environmental determinants of health; including access to clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food, and secure shelter ( WHO, 2018 ). Anthropogenic climate change has already resulted in warming and precipitation trends that claim 150,000 lives annually, and a recent report from the WHO forecasts that between 2030 and 2050 climate change will cause an additional 250,000 additional deaths per year ( WHO, 2018 ). The interaction between climate change, mental health, and physical health is not yet well understood. This review addresses the question of how climate change is affecting mental health and will demonstrate that climate psychopathologies really matter in the face of the climate emergency.