ABSTRACT
Cape gooseberry fruits have positioned in the world market due to their excellent nutritional characteristics, because they are an ideal food that contributes to raising the defenses of the human body and helps it to face diseases such as COVID-19, they are also a natural source of antioxidants and anticancer agents. In order to avoid the physiopathy of cracking in cape gooseberry fruits, these were characterized at harvest time, coming from greenhouse plants irrigated with different applications of water levels and irrigation frequencies, as well as different calcium doses, in a design of randomized complete blocks with 12 treatments. The blocks were the irrigation frequencies (4, 9 and 14 days), while the treatments were the combination of four irrigation coefficients (0.7, 0.9, 1.1 and 1.3 of the evaporation of the tank class A) and three doses of calcium (0, 50 and 100 kg ha-1). The plants were sown in 20 L pots with peat moss substrate. Fruits were harvested at the color stage 5 and 6 of the calyx, from 19 weeks after transplanting. The different water levels and irrigation frequencies did not significantly affect the firmness of the cape gooseberry fruits, but there was a strong tendency that cracked gooseberry fruits are less firm than healthy fruits. As the irrigation coefficient increased, the total soluble solids (TSS) increased while the total titratable acids (TTA) decreased. Irrigation frequency of 14 days generated fruits with higher TSS and pH values. The calcium doses did not affect the calcium concentration in the fruits or the TSS, TTA and pH values. Therefore, it can be concluded that incremented irrigation coefficients (up to 1.3) increase the quality of cape gooseberry fruits.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To conduct a comprehensive evaluation of coagulation profiles - via traditional and whole blood thromboelastometry tests - in COVID-19 positive vs. COVID-19 negative patients admitted to medical wards for acute pneumonia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled all consecutive patients admitted to Internal Medicine wards of Padova University Hospital between 7 March and 30 April 2020 for COVID-19-related pneumonia (cases) vs. non-COVID-19 pneumonia (controls). A group of healthy subjects acted as baseline for thromboelastometry parameters. RESULTS: Fifty-six cases (mean age 64±15 yrs, M/F 37/19) and 56 controls (mean age 76±11 yrs, M/F 35/21) were enrolled. Cases and controls showed markedly hypercoagulable thromboelastometry profiles vs. healthy subjects, mainly characterized by a significantly shorter propagation phase of coagulation (Clot Formation Time, CFT) and significantly increased maximum clot firmness (MCF) (p <0.001 in all comparisons). COVID-19 patients with pneumonia had significantly shorter CFT and higher MCF (p <0.01 and <0.05, respectively in all comparisons) vs. controls. CONCLUSION: Patients admitted to internal medicine wards for COVID-19 pneumonia presented a markedly prothrombotic state, which seems peculiar to COVID-19 rather than pneumonia itself.