The agricultural environment refers to the combination of various natural and artificially modified natural factors that affect the survival and development of agricultural organisms, including farmland, forest, grassland, irrigation water, air, light, the heat and chemical fertilizers applied to farmland, pesticides, and agricultural equipment. These factors constitute a comprehensive agricultural environment system, interacting with each other and affecting agricultural production together. As a vital component of the agricultural environment, plant protection equipment plays an indispensable role in agricultural production. The intellectualization of plant protection equipment is important in driving agricultural development processes. With the advantages of saving time and effort, precision, and a high efficiency, intelligent plant protection equipment makes great contributions to cost reduction, increasing incomes, as well as to the healthy and sustainable development of agriculture. In this Special Issue, we aim to exchange knowledge on any aspect related to the agricultural environment and intelligent plant protection equipment to promote sustainable agricultural development.

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Biomaterials can be used as implantable devices or drug delivery platforms with a significant influence on a patients’ quality of life. Indeed, every year a substantial number of new biomaterials and scaffolding systems are engineered and introduced in the biomedical field with increased potential for biomedical uses. However, their long-term use can be threatened by the adhesion and proliferation of microorganisms, which can interact and form biofilms, or the formation of fibrosis, with cytotoxic responses being very common. Pathogenic microorganisms may cause local infection and consequent implant failure; furthermore, they can hinder the delivery of therapeutic molecules by specialized delivery platforms, turning them ineffective. Many alternatives have been proposed over the years to prevent such events, including the use of antiseptics and antibiotics or the physical modification of the biomaterial surface, with the incorporation of biomolecules of interest. From specialized polymers and functional groups to silver and, more recently, antimicrobial peptides and natural extracts, different functionalization/modification techniques have been employed in this fight against pathogenic agents.

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The purpose of this Special Issue is to celebrate 25 years of “World Wetlands Day”. There is no other ecosystem that has its very own Ramsar Convention or such a challenge impacting ecosystem sustainability. Papers for this Special Issue provide an overview of wetland status and function within different regions of the world. The papers in this Special Issue of Land consist of three review papers, ten research articles and one perspective paper. Edward Maltby’s review paper provides us with an overview of the paradigm shift of how we value and assess wetlands over time. Ballut-Dajud et al. provide us with a worldwide perspective on factors affecting wetland loss. Finally, Jan Vymazal provides us with a historical overview of the development of water quality treatment wetlands in Europe and North America. The research papers can be grouped into four groups: 1) use of remote sensing to analyze stability and dynamic factors affecting wetlands; 2) factors affecting the wetlands’ ability to store carbon; 3) assessment of wetlands effect on water quality; and 4) understanding historical use and value of wetlands, farmer’s attitudes about wetland management, and how we can value wetland ecosystem services. Finally, Bryzek et al. remind us that, as wetland researchers and managers, we should minimize damage to wetlands even through field monitoring work.

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Drought stress is one of the main factors limiting horticultural crops, especially in environments like the Mediterranean basin, which is often characterized by sub-optimal water availability. The global change will determine the increase in semi-arid conditions, so all horticultural crops will have to cope with the water scarcity. Appropriate plant selection and new cultivation methods, especially methods of deficit irrigation, are crucial in improving the crop cultivation performances.Horticultural plants can have specific adaptive mechanisms to overcome the negative effects of drought stress. Drought-tolerant plants show different adjustment mechanisms to overcome this stress, including morphological, physiological, and biochemical modifications. The plant responses include increasing the root/shoot ratio, growth reduction, leaf anatomy change, reduction of leaf size, and reduction of total leaf area to limit the water loss and guarantee the photosynthesis process. Furthermore, drought stress influences gas exchange and other physiological parameters. Recent acquisitions on the mechanism of signal transduction and the development of drought tolerance in plants are useful to understand the action mechanisms. Dr. Stefania Toscano Dr. Giulia Franzoni Dr. Sara Álvarez Guest Editors

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The current demand for healthy and sustainable foods has encouraged the development of new alternatives, even in traditional products. Improved foods may be produced by reducing the amount of some ingredients, adding new ones, or replacing traditionally used ingredients for others. By reformulating their products, manufacturers can offer healthier choices for an ever-growing number of consumers interested in maintaining a balanced diet. In addition, market demand for more sustainable foods contributes to a lower environmental impact in their production. In this regard, current areas of interest include the production of foods using a lower amount of inputs, as well as the utilization of food by-products to improve the amount and quality of available foods. Another aspect to be considered is that not all consumers are willing to eat foods produced with new ingredients or novel technologies. Hence, the development of innovations in food products should take into account the influence of the so-called consumer food neophobia. For this reason, papers dealing with the consumer acceptance of these food innovations are also welcome. Thus, the aim of this Special Issue of Foods is to provide documents focused on the production of healthier and more sustainable foods by using novel ingredients, food by-products, or new production processes.

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Rabbit breeding, although being a small sector of animal husbandry, is widespread in many areas of the world, as the rabbit is intended both for food (meat) and not food (fur) purposes. The rabbit production chain has to face various problems, mainly concerning animal health and product quality. To overcome these issues, studies using a multidisciplinary approach addressing aspects of the rabbit nutrition and feeding, with a direct impact on the rabbit farming, welfare, health, and meat quality are particularly appreciated and requested by the scientific community. This book is composed of four original papers and one review focused on different nutritional approaches. In particular a phyto-additive (thyme essential oil) and a rabbit-derived bacteriocin-producing strain (Enterococcus faecium CCM7420) with probiotic properties were investigated as new feed additives, while two types of insect fats were studied, in order to understand their effects as dietary replacements for soybean oil and their in vitro antimicrobial activities as alternative raw materials. Results collected in this book will be of particular interest for farmers and animal nutritionists working in the rabbit breeding sector

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This Special Issue examines state-of-the-art in-cell NMR spectroscopy as it relates to biological systems of increasing complexity. The compendia of research and recent innovations from prominent laboratories in the field of solid state and solution in-cell NMR spectroscopy, metabolomics and technology development are presented. The work establishes in-cell NMR spectroscopy as the premier method for determining the structures and interaction capabilities of biological molecules at high resolution within the delicately intricate interior of living cells, and the means of utilizing cells as living laboratories to directly assess the effects of exogenous and endogenous stimuli on cell physiology.]

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Food packaging and shelf life have been the subject of remarkable research in recent years. They are so important because only by understanding a good storage system is it possible to avoid any food waste. Moreover, the best packaging has to prolong the food quality while also reducing the packaging volume or better, become itself biodegradable, and guarantee the nutritional characteristics of food products.In particular, the increasing interest in reducing packaging wastes is becoming a rising problem, just considering that food packaging alone contributes to a huge portion of total packaging wastes in the world. On the other side, consumers judge the food quality based on appearance and freshness, but also using their awareness of the environmental implications of packaging. Nowadays, many technologies can be applied to improve food quality and shelf life, such the application of edible films or coatings, from biodegradable materials or biopolymers, trying to reduce the package barrier requirements, incorporating natural bioactive compounds and lengthening shelf life making then packaging easily compostable.

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Orchids are fascinating, with attractive flowers that sell in the markets and an increasing demand around the world. Additionally, some orchids are edible or scented and have long been used in preparations of traditional medicine.This book presents recent advances in orchid biochemistry, including original research articles and reviews. It provides in-depth insights into the biology of flower pigments, floral scent formation, bioactive compounds, pollination, and plant–microbial interaction as well as the biotechnology of protocorm-like bodies in orchids. It reveals the secret of orchid biology using molecular tools, advanced biotechnology, multi-omics, and high-throughput technologies and offers a critical reference for the readers.This book explores the knowledge about species evolution using comparative transcriptomics, flower spot patterning, involving the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathways, the regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis, which contributes to leaf color formation, gene regulation in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds, the mechanism of pollination, involving the biosynthesis of semiochemicals, gene expression patterns of volatile organic compounds, the symbiotic relationship between orchids and mycorrhizal fungi, techniques using induction, proliferation, and regeneration of protocorm-like bodies, and so on. In this book, important or model orchid species were studied, including Anoectochilus roxburghii, Bletilla striata, Cymbidium sinense, Dendrobium officinale, Ophrys insectifera, Phalaenopsis ‘Panda’, Pleione limprichtii.

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Processing and storage can cause changes and interactions in food components that have effects on nutritional value, organoleptic characteristics or even food safety. This book includes 19 research works showing important and interesting advances, as well as new approaches, in this research topic. Four articles are dedicated to studying the effect of canning conditions (filling media and some ingredients) on the diverse parameters of quality for fish and pet foods. Three articles are devoted to studying the effects of dehydration (pre-treatments and drying procedures). One article is dedicated to monitoring the elaboration of a fermented and dehydrated product (sausage) using a portable NIRS device. The ninth article of this book studies the effect of low-dose electron beam irradiation on cooking quality, moisture migration, and thermodynamics, as well as the digestion properties of the isolated starches in newly harvested and dried rice. The next contribution studies the use of different preservatives to avoid the formation of undesirable volatile organic compounds in stracciatella cheese. Another article examines the impact of source material, kibble size, temperature, and duration on the efficiency of the aqueous extraction of sugars and phenolics from carob kibbles by conventional heat-assisted (HAE) and ultrasound-assisted (UAE) methods. In two articles, marinating with different extracts, alone or combined with other seasoning/conditioning methods, was essayed to tenderize beef or to improve the sensory quality of chicken leg and breast meat. The effect of various cooking methods on the quality, structure, pasting, water distribution and protein oxidation of fish and meat-based snacks is studied in the fourteenth article. The last five articles are dedicated to the study of the effects of storage on several foods (olive oil, blueberry, beetroot and Atlantic mackerel).

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Plants under natural conditions often face multiple stresses, including drought, salinity, temperature extremes, submergence stress, bacteria, viruses, fungi, insects, etc. These biotic and abiotic stresses negatively influence plant growth and productivity. Various approaches have recently been used to overcome stresses in plants. It is necessary to evaluate and explore how diverse molecular techniques can be applied to different biological studies to improve biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. This will help reduce production losses and increase crop tolerance to various stresses. It is now the time to make a difference by developing plants that can withstand biotic and abiotic stresses.

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Plants under natural conditions often face multiple stresses, including drought, salinity, temperature extremes, submergence stress, bacteria, viruses, fungi, insects, etc. These biotic and abiotic stresses negatively influence plant growth and productivity. Various approaches have recently been used to overcome stresses in plants. It is necessary to evaluate and explore how diverse molecular techniques can be applied to different biological studies to improve biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. This will help reduce production losses and increase crop tolerance to various stresses. It is now the time to make a difference by developing plants that can withstand biotic and abiotic stresses.

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Abiotic stress includes not only single adversities, i.e., drought, salt, temperature, and elevated CO2, but also complex stresses, i.e., saline and alkali soil, and karst environment. Abiotic stresses strongly affect many aspects of a plant’s substance and energy metabolism. Meanwhile, abiotic stress not only affects the physiological processes of photosynthesis, water metabolism, and inorganic nutrient absorption, but it also influences the electrophysiology and other physical parameters of plants. Plant physiological information, especially online physiological information, helps us to understand the plant’s adaptive mechanism and take the effective measures to improve the production of horticultural plants. This Special Issue contains a collection of 11 important research works, which deepen the connotation and expand the denotation of plant physiology under abiotic stress. These works will provide a theoretical basis for the production of horticultural crops under single stresses, such as drought and salt stress, or under complex stresses, such as saline and alkali and karst environments. Readers from all over the globe are expected to greatly benefit from this Special Issue collection both in terms of their own work and to improve the productivity of horticultural crops under complex abiotic stresses. In the future, we hope that the field of plant (horticultural crop) physiology under abiotic stresses flourishes in terms of academic research and publications.

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As plant-based foods, both vegetables and fruits have been clearly associated with the presence of high amounts of bioactive compounds, and have been demonstrated as having a central role in the prevention of diseases. Many scientists of different research fields have lavished great effort both to characterize the bioactive compounds’ compositions and to deepen understanding regarding the mechanisms of action through which fruits and vegetables exert their health-promoting and/or disease-preventing properties. In this book, studies on the bioactive compounds’ composition of the main fruit and vegetable species, on their health effects as fresh-consumed, transformed products or applied in in vitro models, and on their mechanisms of actions against human pathologies are presented.

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Agricultural practices involving the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides pose major risks to the environment and to human health. The development and adoption of sustainable ecofriendly agricultural management to preserve and enhance the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils and improve agroecosystem functions is a challenge for both scientists and farmers. The Special Issue entitled “Sustainable Agricultural Practices—Impact on Soil Quality and Plant Health” is a collection of 10 original contributions addressing the state of the art of sustainable agriculture and its positive impact on soil quality. The content of this Special Issue covers a wide range of topics, including the use of beneficial soil microbes, intercropping, organic farming and its effects on soil bacteria and nutrient stocks, application of plant-based nematicides and zeolite amendments, sustainability in CH4 emissions, and the effect of irrigation, fertilization, and environmental conditions as well as land suitability on crop production.

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In a rapidly globalizing world, it is crucial for industries to consider waste minimization and therefore adopt and implement environmentally friendly and sustainable/circular waste/water/wastewater management and treatment strategies. For this purpose, priority should be given to the reuse of the treated process stream, the recovery of beneficial nutrients, and the valorization of waste/wastewater-derived by-products to create a more eco-friendly and sustainable production model. On the other hand, due to the limiting high costs and the various process-related difficulties associated with traditional methods, there is a need to explore cost-effective, manageable, environmentally sound, and profitable treatment methods that will effectively remove/recover excess nutrients/contaminants from industrial waste streams. In this context, it is critical and urgent to deploy proper innovative and techno-sustainable water/wastewater treatment solutions from an environmental standpoint, while fulfilling the expanding industrial demands worldwide.

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Interest in the study of life in hot environments, both with respect to the inhabiting microorganisms and the enzymes they produce, is currently very high. The biological mechanisms responsible for the resistance to high temperatures are not yet fully understood, whereas thermostability is a highly required feature for industrial applications. In this e-book, the invited authors provide diverse evidence contributing to the understanding of such mechanisms and the unlocking of the biotechnological potential of thermophiles and thermozymes.

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Satisfying consumer needs through the production of healthy and nutritious agricultural products is a substantial challenge facing modern agriculture. However, agricultural production should be carried out with care for plant health, biological safety of products, and environmental safety while minimizing the risks to human health. Therefore, the implementation of agricultural practices while respecting these principles is very important for improving the quantity and quality of crops. Additionally, ecosystems have been altered as a result of human activities and climate change, resulting in the reduction of biodiversity and creation of new niches where pests can thrive. This is of particular importance in 2020, as the United Nations General Assembly declared this year as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH), with “protecting plants, protecting life” as a leading subject.This Special Issue promotes the subject of plant health and emphasize the importance of preventing the spread of pests, including weeds, which cause substantial economic losses. Research articles cover topics related to the biology and harmfulness of weeds, particularly in connection with crop health, segetal weed communities and their biodiversity, and integrated methods of weed control. For this Special Issue, we welcome all types of articles, including original research, opinions, and reviews.

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