Editor’s Choice Articles

Perovskite-type oxides (ABO₃) are a highly versatile class of materials. They are compositionally flexible, as their constituents can be chosen from a wide range of elements across the periodic table with a vast number of possible combinations. This flexibility enables the tuning of the materials’ properties by doping the A- and/or B-sites of the base structure, facilitating the application-oriented design of materials. The ability to undergo exsolution under reductive conditions makes perovskite-type oxides particularly well-suited for catalytic applications. Exsolution is a process during which B-site elements migrate to the surface of the material where they form anchored and finely dispersed nanoparticles that are crucially important for obtaining a good catalytic performance, while the perovskite base provides a stable support. Recently, exsolution catalysts have been investigated as possible materials for CO₂ utilization reactions like reverse water–gas shift reactions or methane dry reforming. Full article

Feedback is essential for the development of veterinary medical learners. This review explores the theory and practical use of feedback in the modern clinical teaching environment. Our purpose is to assist veterinary teaching institutions engage in effective feedback exchange between instructors and learners. Based on literature evidence, quality feedback requires training for both learners and instructors. Effectively executed feedback should be a powerful learning and teaching tool in the development of competencies of the learner. Following the theoretical discussion, we propose a method for delivering scheduled feedback sessions to veterinary medical learners. This differs from ‘on-the-go’ feedback during each clinical encounter, which we have discussed in a previous article related to the use of the five microskills in clinical teaching. Full article

Interest in covalent organic frameworks as high-value materials has grown steadily since their development in the 2000s. However, the great advantage that allows us to obtain these crystalline materials—the reversibility of the bonds that form the network—supposes a drawback in terms of thermal and chemical stability. Among the different strategies employed for the stabilization of imine-based Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs), cycloaddition and other related cyclization reactions are especially significant to obtain highly stable networks with extended π-delocalization and new functionalities, expanding even further the potential application of these materials. Therefore, this entry gathered the most recent research strategies for obtaining stable COFs by means of cyclization reactions, including the Povarov reaction and intramolecular oxidative cyclization reactions as well as some other recent innovative approaches. Full article

Chytridiomycota (zoosporic true fungi) have a consistent presence in soils and have been frequently identified within many diverse terrestrial environments. However, Chytridiomycota and other early-diverging fungi have low representation in whole-genome sequencing databases compared to Dikarya. New molecular techniques have provided insights into the diversity and abundance of chytrids in soils and the changes in their populations both spatially and temporally. Chytrids complete their life cycle within rapidly changing soil environments where they may be more common within micropores due to protection from predation, desiccation, and extreme temperatures. Reproductive and morphological changes occur in response to environmental changes including pH, fluctuating nutrient concentrations, and metals at levels above toxic thresholds. Rhizoids share some features of hyphae, including the spatial regulation of branching and the ability to attach, adapt to, and proliferate in different substrates, albeit on a microscale. Soil chytrids provide a pool of novel enzymes and proteins which enable a range of lifestyles as saprotrophs or parasites, but also can be utilised as alternative tools with some biotechnological applications. Thus, 3D live-cell imaging and micromodels such as MicroCT may provide insight into zoospore functions and rhizoid plasticity, respectively, in response to various conditions. A combination of classical techniques of soil chytrid baiting with simultaneous molecular and ecological data will provide insights into temporal population changes in response to environmental change. The authors emphasise the need to review and improve DNA-based methodologies for identifying and quantifying chytrids within the soil microbiome to expand our knowledge of their taxonomy, abundance, diversity, and functionality within soil environments. Full article

Primary chondroprogenitors obtained from standardized cell sources (e.g., FE002 clinical grade cell sources) may be cultured in vitro and may be cytotherapeutically applied in allogeneic musculoskeletal regenerative medicine. Multicentric translational research on FE002 human primary chondroprogenitors under the Swiss progenitor cell transplantation program has notably validated their robustness and high versatility for therapeutic formulation in clinically compatible prototypes, as well as a good safety profile in diverse in vivo preclinical models. Therein, stringently controlled primary cell source establishment and extensive cell manufacturing optimization have technically confirmed the adequation of FE002 primary chondroprogenitors with standard industrial biotechnology workflows for consistent diploid cell biobanking under GMP. Laboratory characterization studies and extensive qualification work on FE002 progenitor cell sources have elucidated the key and critical attributes of the cellular materials of interest for potential and diversified human cytotherapeutic uses. Multiple formulation studies (i.e., hydrogel-based standardized transplants, polymeric-scaffold-based tissue engineering products) have shown the high versatility of FE002 primary chondroprogenitors, for the obtention of functional allogeneic cytotherapeutics. Multiple in vivo preclinical studies (e.g., rodent models, GLP goat model) have robustly documented the safety of FE002 primary chondroprogenitors following implantation. Clinically, FE002 primary chondroprogenitors may potentially be used in various forms for volumetric tissue replacement (e.g., treatment of large chondral/osteochondral defects of the knee) or for the local management of chondral affections and pathologies (i.e., injection use in mild to moderate osteoarthritis cases). Overall, standardized FE002 primary chondroprogenitors as investigated under the Swiss progenitor cell transplantation program were shown to constitute tangible contenders in novel human musculoskeletal regenerative medicine approaches, for versatile and safe allogeneic clinical cytotherapeutic management. Full article

Probiotics are live microorganisms recognized as natural candidates to substitute antibiotic substances, usually used to treat bacterial infections responsible for numerous human and animal diseases. Antibiotics are mostly prescribed for treating infections caused by bacteria. However, their excessive and inappropriate use has resulted in the increase of bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and host microbiota imbalance or dysbiosis phenomena. Even though antibiotics are the most well-known lifesaving substances, the AMR within the bacterial community has become a growing threat to global health, with the potential to cause millions of deaths each year in the future. Faced with these worldwide issues, it is high time to discover and develop antibiotic alternatives. There exists some evidence of probiotic roles in antagonizing pathogens, modulating immune systems, and maintaining general host health by restoring the gut microbiota balance. The multi-antimicrobial action mechanisms of such beneficial living microorganisms are one approach to practicing the “prevention is better than cure” concept to avoid antibiotics. The current review proposes a comprehensive description of antibiotic-related AMR issues and the potential of probiotics as antibiotic alternatives, while discussing pros and cons, as well as some evidence of beneficial uses of probiotics for human and animal health protection through recent results of experimental models and clinical trials. Full article

Synaptosomes are subcellular components isolated from nerve terminations that can be prepared by homogenizing brain tissue in isotonic sucrose solution followed by appropriate centrifugation. Their preparation technique has a long history since synaptosomes were first isolated from nerve endings and described by Gray and Whittaker in 1962. The preparation of synaptosomes produces presynaptic boutons alone or in combination with fragments of postsynaptic membranes. Interestingly, synaptosomes contain organelles and vesicles that express native channels, receptors, and transporters. At 37 °C, these isolated nerve endings are metabolically active and synthesize and release neurotransmitters. They are actively used to investigate neurotransmission, its actors, and the mechanisms of neurotransmitter release. To date, many functional and non-functional applications of synaptosomes have been documented. Due to their versatility, synaptosomes have been actively used to study neuroinflammatory processes. Full article

Recent developments in modeling and analysis of nanostructures are illustrated and discussed in this paper. Starting with the early theories of nonlocal elastic continua, a thorough investigation of continuum nano-mechanics is provided. Two-phase local/nonlocal models are shown as possible theories to recover consistency of the strain-driven purely integral theory, provided that the mixture parameter is not vanishing. Ground-breaking nonlocal methodologies based on the well-posed stress-driven formulation are shown and commented upon as effective strategies to capture scale-dependent mechanical behaviors. Static and dynamic problems of nanostructures are investigated, ranging from higher-order and curved nanobeams to nanoplates. Geometrically nonlinear problems of small-scale inflected structures undergoing large configuration changes are addressed in the framework of integral elasticity. Nonlocal methodologies for modeling and analysis of structural assemblages as well as of nanobeams laying on nanofoundations are illustrated along with benchmark applicative examples. Full article