Composite coating of chitosan with salicylic acid retards pear fruit softening under cold and supermarket storage.

Fruit softening is enzyme mediated degradation process determined by the action of cell wall modifying enzymes. Present study evaluated the combined effects of chitosan (CH) and salicylic acid (SA) coatings in modulation of fruit softening enzymes in Punjab Beauty pear (Pyrus pyrifolia × Pyrus communis) fruit stored under cold (0-1 °C and 90-95 % RH) and supermarket (20-22 °C and 80-85 % RH) conditions. Composite CH + SA coatings reduced mass loss and retained fruit firmness throughout the 67 and 20 days storage period. In addition, CH + SA prevented membrane damage by suppressing the electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation as compared to CH or SA alone. CH 2.0 % + SA 2.0 mM coating efficiently delayed the cell wall degrading enzymatic activities including pectin methylesterase (PME), polygalacturonase (PG) and cellulase associated with fruit softening up to 60 and 15 days storage period in cold and supermarket conditions, respectively.

Increased prevalence of HCV and hepatic decompensation in adults with psoriasis: a population-based study in the United Kingdom.

BACKGROUND: The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of global morbidity and mortality, with conflicting evidence regarding a possible association with psoriasis. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of HCV in psoriasis patients, compared to controls, and to determine the incidence of hepatic decompensation in HCV+ psoriasis patients compared to HCV+ controls. METHODS: Cross-sectional and cohort studies were conducted in The Health Improvement Network (THIN). RESULTS: In fully adjusted models, a statistically significant increase in prevalence was seen in the adults with psoriasis (OR: 1.24, 95% CI 1.10-1.40). A "dose-response" of HCV prevalence with increasing psoriasis severity was not observed. HCV+ patients with psoriasis had a non-statistically significant increased incidence of hepatic decompensation compared to HCV+ individuals without psoriasis (aHR: 1.58, 95% CI: 0.90-2.77). The risk was highest and statistically significant, in those with moderate-to-severe psoriasis (aHR: 21.51, 95% CI: 7.58-61.03). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate a higher prevalence of HCV in adults with psoriasis and a higher rate of hepatic decompensation in HCV+ individuals with moderate-severe psoriasis.

Parasitism of molluscs by nematodes: types of associations and evolutionary trends.

Although there are no confirmed fossil records of mollusc parasitic nematodes, diverse associations of more than 108 described nematode species with slugs and snails provide a fertile ground for speculation of how mollusc parasitism evolved in nematodes. Current phylogenic resolution suggests that molluscs have been independently acquired as hosts on a number of occasions. However, molluscs are significant as hosts for only two major groups of nematodes: as intermediate hosts for metastrongyloids and as definitive hosts for a number of rhabditids. Of the 61 species of nematodes known to use molluscs as intermediate hosts, 49 belong to Metastrongyloidea (Order Strongylida); of the 47 species of nematodes that use molluscs as definitive hosts, 33 belong to the Order Rhabditida. Recent phylogenetic hypotheses have been unable to resolve whether metastrongyloids are sister taxa to those rhabditids that use molluscs as definitive hosts. Although most rhabditid nematodes have been reported not to kill their mollusc hosts prior to their reproduction, some species are pathogenic. In fact, infective juveniles of Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita vector a lethal bacterium into the slug host in which they reproduce. This life cycle is remarkably similar to the entomopathogenic nematodes in the families Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae. Also, the discoveries of Alloionema and Pellioditis in slugs are interesting, as these species have been speculated to represent the ancestral forms of the entomopathogenic nematodes. Development of the infective stage appears to be an important step toward the acquisition of molluscs as definitive hosts, and the association with specific bacteria may have arisen in conjunction with the evolution of necromeny.

The role of working memory in analogical mapping.

The impact of a working-memory load on analogical mapping was examined in two experiments, using a dual-task paradigm. In Experiment 1, we used a phonological working-memory load; in Experiment 2, we used a phonological working-memory load and an executive working-memory load. The subjects were required to identify correspondences between visual scenes, either for single objects or for three objects simultaneously. The results indicated that the imposition of either a phonological or an executive working-memory load decreased the frequency with which the subjects identified correspondences between scenes based on relations and increased the frequency with which they identified correspondences based on object attributes. The frequency with which subjects made relational mappings was increased by the instruction to find correspondences for multiple objects in a scene simultaneously, rather than for just one. These results indicate that mapping on the basis of relations places greater demands on both modality-specific buffers and executive components of working memory than does mapping on the basis of object attributes.