The Mediterranean region shows unique environmental and ecological characters. The observed ecological complexity is the result of a long-lasting and intense coevolutionary process between human and non-human organisms. Most of valuable landscapes at present time are under serious threats from agricultural intensification, land abandonment and forestation, urban sprawl and mass tourism. The urgency of conservation clashes against permanent land use conflicts. Such complexity of human-nature interactions is best represented by the "full and empty" world ecological model. Cultural landscape and niche construction theories belong to this framework. In turn, perception and cognition are central themes in the definition of such paradigms. This leads ecological research into the field of the eco-2 semiotics, a new scientific perspective that can provide powerful tools for the study of the Mediterranean ecological complexity, as it addresses the interpretation of signs that human and other evolutionary drivers leave in the environment. Such signs are the expression of mutual interactions that shaped patterns and processes in the region. The eco-field paradigm, derived from the eco-semiotic approach, is a theoretical tool that allows to intercept a portion of such signals to model the relationship between any species and its environment.
Probiotics represent a potential important therapy resource. Nevertheless, no clear-cut evidence about their use has yet been established. In fact, numerous studies exist on the application of probiotics in gastrointestinal disease but results are often controversial or produced from an inadequate study design. The aim of this review is to analyze the main experimental data regarding the use of probiotics. In particular, analyses have identified what probiotic strains could be used in acute diseases such as diarrhea and in chronic ones like inflammatory bowel diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, dysbiosis, Helicobacter pylori colonisation, and necrotizing enterocolitis. Finally, this review also provides an observation about the actual need of efficient research on the safety of products containing probiotics, verifying the effects of probiotic therapy at short, medium, and long term. This information is very important and could ensure a safer and more conscious use of such therapeutic agents.
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