Variability in strawberry tunnels impacts fruit quality and limits melatonin effects.

Background: Fluctuations in environmental conditions within fields and crop plant performance can greatly affect production and quality standards. These factors are particularly relevant for producers, who require sustained optimal production to profit from small margins. Fluctuations might be exacerbated at the end of the crop season, where neither of the aforementioned factors are optimal.

Fruit-specific effects of tryptophan and melatonin as active components to extend the functionality of red fruits during post-harvest processing.

Preserving quality attributes in the distribution chain is a challenging task, particularly in fruits with a brief shelf life. The application of melatonin in cherries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries stored at room temperature was evaluated, as well as the effects of its precursor (tryptophan) to determine their specificity and interchangeable feasibility for post-harvest applications. The results demonstrated that melatonin is effective in all tested fruits, reducing deterioration rate and its severity, preserving fruit firmness and reducing darkening and weight loss.

A plan for systematic reviews for high-need areas in forensic science.

Forensic scientific practitioners and researchers must navigate a rapidly growing body of research. This makes it increasingly challenging to inform courts, lawyers, and other decision makers about the state of the field, thus heightening the chances of wrongful convictions and acquittals. When similar challenges have arisen in other fields, they have turned to systematic reviews, which are research reviews that use formal, articulated methods to provide a comprehensive summary of the literature on a specific research question.

Experimental approaches in studying active biomolecules modulating fruit ripening: Melatonin as a case study.

Phytohormones are naturally occurring small organic molecules found at low concentrations in plants. They perform essential functions in growth and developmental processes, from organ initiation to senescence, including fruit ripening. These regulatory molecules are studied using different experimental approaches, such as performing exogenous applications, evaluating endogenous levels, and/or obtaining genetically modified lines.

Melatonin triggers tissue-specific changes in anthocyanin and hormonal contents during postharvest decay of Angeleno plums.

Plum is a stone fruit that stands out for having a short shelf-life because of its high susceptibility to rapid deterioration. Part of this deterioration is explained by fruit overripening. Recently, the role of melatonin in delaying postharvest decay has been investigated but its regulatory function during overripening is still under extensive debate.

Differential physiological response to heat and cold stress of tomato plants and its implication on fruit quality.

The upcoming climate change presents a great challenge for plant growth and development being extremes temperatures among the major environmental limitations to crop productivity. Understanding the repercussions of these extreme temperatures is of high importance to elaborate future strategies to confront crop damages. Tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.

Differential accumulation of tocochromanols in photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic tissues of strawberry plants subjected to reiterated water deficit.

Tocochromanols are a group of lipid-soluble antioxidants that include tocopherols, tocotrienols and plastochromanol-8. Here, we examined a putative differential accumulation of tocochromanols in photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic tissues (including leaves and whole fruits) of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa cv. Albion) plants and evaluated their endogenous variations in response to a reiterated water deficit during a vegetative (non-productive) and a fruiting (productive) period.

Neuroprotection by complement (C1) inhibitor in mouse transient brain ischemia.

The authors investigated the effect of the C1 inhibitor (C1-INH), the only known inhibitor of complement C1, in a murine model of transient focal ischemia. Ischemia was induced by intraluminal occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. After 2 hours, reperfusion was produced by removing the nylon monofilament occluding the artery.

Impaired central stress-induced release of noradrenaline in rats with heart failure: a microdialysis study.

Sympathetic hyperactivity in rats with heart failure is associated with increased extracellular noradrenaline in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus at rest. However, it is unknown how this nucleus responds to stressful stimuli. In the present study we therefore examined the basal and stress-induced release of noradrenaline in the paraventricular nucleus of conscious Sprague-Dawley rats with heart failure measured by in vivo microdialysis.

Systemic administration of cocaine, given alone or in combination with sensory stimuli, differentially affects L-arginine-nitric oxide metabolism in discrete regions of the brain of rat.

The effect of cocaine on brain regional metabolism of L-arginine to nitric oxide (NO) has been studied in rat by measuring the level of citrulline, the co-product of NO synthesis, using a HPLC based methodology. A single i.p.

Increased striatal proenkephalin mRNA subsequent to production of spreading depression in rat cerebral cortex: activation of corticostriatal pathways?

Cortical Spreading Depression (CSD) is a slowly propagating wave of depolarization and negative interstitial DC potential, that when induced in the rat brain extends across the entire homolateral hemisphere. Despite evidence that CSD does not penetrate into subcortical regions, neurochemical changes in areas anatomically connected to cortex have been reported. In this study in situ hybridization histochemistry was used to examine the levels of cholecystokinin (CCK), proenkephalin (ENK) and prodynorphin (DYN) mRNA in cortex and forebrain basal ganglia following KCl-induced CSD.

Autopsy study of very old hospitalized patients.

All autopsies (n = 63) performed over the period from January 1, 1989 to December 31, 1990 on patients older than 85 years who died at the Policlinico Umberto I of Rome were reviewed retrospectively. The purpose of the study was to determine the autopsy rate, to ascertain accordance between clinical and pathological diagnoses and to clarify problems in diagnosis and complications of geriatric management in our University Hospital. The autopsy rate was 12.

Systemic administration of lithium chloride and tacrine but not kainic acid augments citrulline content of rat brain.

The effects of tacrine (5 mg/kg i.p.) in lithium chloride (LiCl; 12 mEq/kg i.