U. gibba has about 28500 genes comparable to relatives like grape and tomato which have much larger genomes of about 490 and 780 million base pairs respectively.
--and there are dozens--sacred lotus bears the closest resemblance to the ancestor of all eudicots a broad category of flowering plants that includes apple cabbage cactus coffee cotton grape melon peanut poplar
Many agricultural crops benefit from genome duplications including banana papaya strawberry sugarcane watermelon and wheat said Robert Vanburen a graduate student in Ming's lab and collaborator on the study.
#Exotic atoms hold clues to unsolved physics puzzle at the dawn of the universean international team of physicists has found the first direct evidence of pear shaped nuclei in exotic atoms.
The researchers confirmed that the cores of these atoms are shaped like pears rather than the more typical spherical orange or elliptical watermelon profiles.
The pear shape makes the effects of the new interaction much stronger and easier to detect.
The pear shape is said special Chupp. It means the neutrons and protons which compose the nucleus are in slightly different places along an internal axis. The pear-shaped nuclei are lopsided
because positive protons are pushed away from the center of the nucleus by nuclear forces which are fundamentally different from spherically symmetric forces like gravity.
and it aligns the direction of the spin and the charge axis in these pear-shaped nuclei.
Instead the nuclei were excited to higher energy levels producing gamma rays that flew out in a specific pattern that revealed the pear shape of the nucleus. In the very biggest picture we're trying to understand everything we've observed directly
The paper is titled Studies of nuclear pear-shapes using accelerated radioactive beams. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Michigan.
According to the scientists these findings reinforce the recommendation that we should all eat a wide variety of whole fruits and vegetables.
#An electronic nose can tell pears and apples apartswedish and Spanish engineers have created a system of sensors that detects fruit odours more effectively than the human sense of smell.
For now the device can distinguish between the odorous compounds emitted by pears and apples.
Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV Spain) and the University of Gävle (Sweden) have created an electronic nose with 32 sensors that can identify the odours given off by chopped pears and apples.
The fruit samples are placed in a pre-chamber into which an air flow is injected which reaches the tower with the sensors which are metal oxide semiconductors that detect odorous compounds such as methane
or butane explained Jos Pelegrã Sebastiã¡UPV researcher at the Gandia campus and co-author of the paper.
which distinguishes between the pear and apple scores. This study which is published in the'Sensors
or type of grape or recognising the vintage a wine belongs to would be very useful.
and beyond food safety mandates to ensure that healthy fresh fruits and vegetables do not carry bacteria
#Mechanism for how grapes reduce heart failure associated with hypertension identifieda new study appearing in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry demonstrates that grapes are able to reduce heart failure associated with chronic high blood pressure (hypertension) by increasing the activity of several genes responsible for
Grapes are known a natural source of antioxidants and other polyphenols which researchers believe to be responsible for the beneficial effects observed with grape consumption.
This study funded by a grant from the National institutes of health (NIH) and conducted at the University of Michigan Health System uncovered a novel way that grapes exert beneficial effects in the heart:
influencing gene activities and metabolic pathways that improve the levels of glutathione the most abundant cellular antioxidant in the heart.
Antioxidant-rich diets containing lots of fruits and vegetables consistently correlate with reduced hypertension. In this study conducted at the University of Michigan Health System hypertensive heart failure-prone rats were fed a grape-enriched diet for 18 weeks.
The results reproduced earlier findings that grape consumption reduced the occurrence of heart muscle enlargement and fibrosis and improved the diastolic function of the heart.
Furthermore the mechanism of action was uncovered: grape intake turned on antioxidant defense pathways increasing the activity of related genes that boost production of glutathione.
Our earlier studies showed that grapes could protect against the downward spiral of hypertensive heart failure
but just how that was accomplished--the mechanism--was known not yet said lead investigator E. Mitchell Seymour Ph d. The insights gained from our NIH study including the ability of grapes to influence several genetic pathways related to antioxidant defense provide further evidence
that grapes work on multiple levels to deliver their beneficial effects. Seymour noted that the next phase of the NIH study
which will continue into 2014 will allow his team to further define the mechanisms of grape action
and also look at the impact of whole grape intake compared to individual grape phytonutrients on hypertension-associated heart failure.
Our hypothesis is that whole grapes will be superior to any individual grape component in each of the areas being investigated said Dr. Seymour.
The whole fruit contains hundreds of individual components which we suspect likely work together to provide a synergistic beneficial effect.
The insights gained from this research will further the knowledge on grapes and heart health but will also provide translational information on the value of dietary (whole foods)
and dietary supplement approaches for prevention of heart disease stemming from chronic hypertension. The NIH grant is allowing the team at the University of Michigan Medical System to expand its work in this important area
and further highlight the multifaceted role of grapes in supporting heart health said Kathleen Nave president of the California Table Grape Commission.
This work will also provide key insights into the role of whole fruit versus individual components of a fruit using grapes as the benchmark.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Michigan Health System. Note:
#Is the humble fig more than just a fruit? Figs and fig trees are familiar to a wide cross-section of human society both as a common food and for their spiritual importance.
What is understood less well is the global nature of this association between figs and humans
which is maintained across species continents and societies. This relationship is explored by David Wilson of Ecology
Using examples from around the world the authors show that figs are a vital resource for humans no matter
It is well known that figs are a recurring theme in religion: it is the first fruit tree mentioned in the Bible
Figs can also have powerful impacts on everyday life both in a positive or negative fashion.
In Bolivia soul-stealing spirits dwell in the canopy of figs and walking under or felling these trees can cause illness.
In Papua new guinea figs are believed to be the haunt of evil spirits which would be released if they are felled.
Aside from their spiritual connections figs provide a range of material uses and the authors explore examples of these from around the world.
The fig is an important food source for both humans and animals in both fresh and dried form.
Different species of fig bear fruit at different times so in areas where there are a large variety of fig species fruit can be available all year round.
Despite the different fig species involved the same method for making barkcloth has evolved three times--a remarkable demonstration of cultural convergent evolution.
Figs are also a source of traditional medicine with sap being used to treat a variety of illnesses from intestinal upsets to heart problems and malaria.
Figs and fig trees have a seemingly inexhaustible list of qualities and uses. Despite populations being continents apart there are consistent similarities in the ways in
which the fig and its tree are valued. The authors hope to emphasize the global nature of this relationship.
They also provide hints that figs may benefit from humans by providing two examples where figs have used humans as a dispersal agent.
and all fig species in Fundong Cameroon have been introduced from elsewhere. Given the examples the authors provide further work is likely to further uncover just how close the connection is between humans and figs.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Springer Science+Business Media. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
The restricted foods included grains beans fruit poultry and plants belonging to the nightshade family
while taking supplements containing the antioxidant polyphenol from fish oil grape seed extract and vitamins. Antioxidants are thought to slow cell aging.
or other healthy foods from their diets said the American Heart Association which recommends consuming a diet with plenty of fruits vegetables whole grains and fish.
which is produced in the leaves fruit bark and roots of the plant into the amphibian breeding pond environment at various times of year.
when fruits (its main food) are no longer on the menu according to the Wildlife Conservation Society
We know that peccaries are primarily fruit-eaters but will consume aquatic plants tubers grasses and small invertebrates such as insect larvae worms and snails when fruits are said scarce Dr. Keuroghlian.
At the time I knew this was a rare observation but was unaware of the fact that
As a major fruit-eater the white-lipped peccary plays an important ecological role in rainforests and other habitats as a seed predator and disperser and it is a favorite prey of jaguars and pumas.
including close relatives of globally important food crops such as sunflower bean sweet potato and strawberry. The findings which were published today (Apr 29) in the journal Crop science are good news for plant breeders who've relied increasingly in recent years on the wild kin of domesticated crops as new sources of disease resistance drought tolerance
U s. wild relatives of the world's most important food crops--including strawberry sunflower sweet potato bean stone fruits
and grape--form the bulk of the list. But it also contains relatives of forage crops like alfalfa;
and strawberry which were domesticated in other temperate regions of the globe. More controversially 12 percent of the taxa in the U s. inventory are nonnative plants
and crops to determine what the soil needs to improve crop growth in terms of crop nutrients lime and irrigation for example.
Examples include where to apply lime in a field where more water or drainage is needed and
#Tart cherries linked to reduced risk of strokefor the millions of Americans at risk for heart disease
or diabetes a diet that includes tart cherries might actually be better than what the doctor ordered according to new animal research from the University of Michigan Health System.
The new research from the U-M Cardioprotection Research Laboratory suggests that tart cherries not only provide similar cardiovascular benefits as the prescribed medications
The group's previous research has shown that intake of U s.-produced Montmorency tart cherries activates PPAR isoforms (peroxisome proliferator activating receptors) in many of the body's tissues.
Researchers believe that anthocyanins--the pigments that give the fruit its red color--may be responsible for PPAR activation.
Our previous research has shown that Montmorency tart cherries can have a positive effect on cardiovascular health
if a tart cherry-rich diet might provide similar cardiovascular benefits without the risk of heart attack or stroke.
The researchers compared the effect of tart cherries and the drug Actos in stroke-prone rats by measuring the animals'systolic blood pressure as well as locomotion balance coordination all of
While the research results indicate that rats who consumed only tart cherries had the best results those who had the combination of tart cherries
if the risk for stroke would decline in animals taking both tart cherry and the drug Seymour says.
It turns out that the cherries did have a positive effect even when combined with the medication.
and the laboratory's director said the study adds to the group's growing body of research linking cherries to positive heart health.
This research is the first to link to cherries to a reduction in stroke-related symptoms Bolling says.
#Grape intake may protect against metabolic syndrome-related organ damageconsuming grapes may help protect against organ damage associated with the progression of metabolic syndrome according to research presented Monday at the Experimental Biology conference in Boston.
Natural components found in grapes known as polyphenols are thought to be responsible for these beneficial effects. The study led by investigator E. Mitchell Seymour Ph d. of the University of Michigan Health System studied the effects of a high fat American-style diet both with added grapes
and without grapes (the control diet) on the heart liver kidneys and fat tissue in obesity-prone rats.
The grapes--a blend of red green and black varieties--were provided as a freeze-dried grape powder
and integrated into the animals'diets for 90 days. Specifically the results showed that three months of a grape-enriched diet significantly reduced inflammatory markers throughout the body but most significantly in the liver and in abdominal fat tissue.
Consuming grapes also reduced liver kidney and abdominal fat weight compared with those consuming the control diet.
Additionally grape intake increased markers of antioxidant defense particularly in the liver and kidneys. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together--increased blood pressure a high blood sugar level excess body fat around the waist
or low HDL (the good cholesterol) and increased blood triglycerides--significantly increasing the risk for heart disease stroke and Type 2 diabetes.
Intake of fruits and vegetables is thought to reduce these risks and grapes have shown benefits in multiple studies.
Metabolic syndrome is a major public health concern and is on the rise in the U s. Our study suggests that a grape-enriched diet may play a critical role in protecting against metabolic syndrome
and the toll it takes on the body and its organs said Seymour. Both inflammation and oxidative stress play a role in cardiovascular disease progression and organ dysfunction in Type 2 diabetes.
Grape intake impacted both of these components in several tissues which is a very promising finding.
which demonstrated that a grape-enriched diet reduced risk factors for heart disease and diabetes in obesity-prone rats.
#More evidence berries have health-promoting propertiesadding more color to your diet in the form of berries is encouraged by many nutrition experts.
The protective effect of berries against inflammation has been documented in many studies. Diets supplemented with blueberries
and strawberries have also been shown to improve behavior and cognitive functions in stressed young rats.
To evaluate the protective effects of berries on brain function specifically the ability of the brain to clear toxic accumulation researchers from the Human Nutrition Research center on Aging at Tufts University
and University of Maryland Baltimore County recently fed rats a berry diet for 2 months
and then looked at their brains after irradiation a model for accelerated aging. All of the rats were fed berries 2 months prior to radiation
and then divided into two groups-one was evaluated after 36 hours of radiation and the other after 30 days.
After 30 days on the same berry diet the rats experienced significant protection against radiation compared to control said investigator Shibu Poulose Phd.
We saw significant benefits to diets with both of the berries and speculate it is due to the phytonutrients present.
Most diseases of the brain such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's have shown an increased amount of toxic protein Berries seem to promote autophagy the brain's natural housekeeping mechanism thereby reducing the toxic accumulation said Poulose.
and most of what you're smoking is a moist fruit preparation which is mixed with the tobacco.
and cups filled with fruit. Measuring the activity of hippocampus neurons in the bats'brains revealed that the representation of three-dimensional space is similar to that in two dimensions:
The Mediet is characterized by a high consumption of fruits vegetables legumes olive oil nuts and whole grain;
#Making fruit easier to eat increases sales and consumption in school cafeteriasprevious studies and surveys have shown that kids love to eat fruit in ready-to-eat bite-sized pieces yet in most school settings the fruit is served whole
which could be the cause that children are taking fruits but not eating them. Most people believe that children avoid fruit because of the taste and allure of alternative packaged snacks.
A study by Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab researchers Brian Wansink David Just Andrew Hanks and Laura Smith decided to get to the bottom of why children were avoiding their fruit.
Could perhaps increasing the convenience of fruit increase consumption? To address this question researchers conducted a pilot study in eight elementary schools within the same district.
Each school was given a commercial fruit slicer and instructed to use it when students requested apples.
The fruit slicer cut the fruit into six pieces and the process took three to four seconds.
Results from interviews conducted with students during this pilot indicated they dislike eating fruit for two main reasons:
for younger students who might have braces or missing teeth a large fruit is too inconvenient to eat;
for older girls it is unattractive-looking to eat such a fruit in front of others. Initial results showed fruit sales increased by an average of 61
%when the fruit was sliced. Fruit Bytes with Paula Mee--Getting Kids to Eat Fruitto confirm this finding six middle schools in this same district were added to the study.
Three of the schools were given fruit slicers while the other three continued normal cafeteria operations to act as a control.
Fruit slices were placed in cups in two of the three schools and on a tray in the third school.
To assess actual consumption trained field researchers were assigned to every school to record how much of the apple was wasted by counting the number of slices thrown away by each student.
Results showed that apple sales in schools with fruit slicers increased by 71%compared to control schools.
More importantly researchers found that the percentage of students who ate more than half of their apple increased by 73%an effect that lasted long after the study was over.
This study shows that making fruit easier to eat encourages more children to select it
and to eat more of it. With an initial investment of just $200 fruit slicers constitute a means for school cafeterias
not only to encourage fruit consumption among students but also to prevent food waste. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Cornell Food
& Brand Lab. The original article was written by Joanna Ladzinski and Brooke Pearson. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference e
#Parents tend to share more bacteria with family dogs than childrenas much as dog owners love their children they tend to share more of themselves at least in terms of bacteria with their canine cohorts rather than their kids.
That is just one finding of a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder that looked at the types
and transfer modes of microbes from the guts tongues foreheads and palms (or paws) of members of 60 American families including canines.
Identifying how such bacterial communities can be affected by environmental exposure may help scientists better understand how they can be manipulated to prevent
Getting people to eat more fruits and vegetables is challenging but results of the study offer hope she said.
In the U k. the general public is told that they should be eating five portions of fruit
If one could eat just one (fruit or vegetable) a day this is one more than nothing
The USDA recommends filling half your plate with fruits and vegetables and the American Heart Association recommends eating eight or more fruit and vegetable servings every day.
Co-authors are Suborno M. Ghosh B. Sc.;Vikas Kapil M a m. B b. S m. R c. P.;Isabel Fuentes-Calvo Ph d.;
The American Heart Association has tips on adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet.
#Why do people with apple-shaped bodies have increased an risk of kidney disease? High blood pressure in the kidneys of people with apple-shaped bodies may be increased responsible for their risk of developing kidney disease later in life according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN.
The findings suggest that these individuals may benefit from treatments that reduce kidney blood pressure. People with apple-shaped bodies--when fat is concentrated mostly in the abdominal area--are more likely than those with pear-shaped bodies to develop kidney disease.
The mechanisms underlying this risk are understood not well. To study the issue Arjan Kwakernaak MD/Phd candidate (University Medical center Groningen in The netherlands)
We found that apple-shaped persons --even if totally healthy and with a normal blood pressure--have elevated an blood pressure in their kidneys.
This suggests that elevated blood pressure in the kidneys of individuals with apple-shaped bodies may be increased responsible for their risk of developing kidney disease later in life.
but don't consider that it can survive on fruits vegetables or dry products which are cooked not always said Ponder.
#Chimpanzees use botanical skills to discover fruitfruit-eating animals are known to use their spatial memory to relocate fruit yet it is unclear how they manage to find fruit in the first place.
in order to find fruit in the rain forest. The result: Chimpanzees know that trees of certain species produce fruit simultaneously
and use this botanical knowledge during their daily search for fruit. To investigate if chimpanzees know that
if a tree is carrying fruit then other trees of the same species are likely to carry fruit as well the researchers conducted observations of their inspections
i e. the visual checking of fruit availability in tree crowns. They focused their analyses on recordings in
which they saw chimpanzees inspect empty trees when they made mistakes. By analysing these mistakes the researchers were able to exclude that sensory cues of fruit had triggered the inspection
and were the first to learn that chimpanzees had expectations of finding fruit days before feeding on it.
They in addition significantly increased their expectations of finding fruit after tasting the first fruit in season.
They did not simply develop a'taste'for specific fruit on which they had fed frequently says Karline Janmaat.
Instead inspection probability was predicted by a particular botanical feature--the level of synchrony in fruit production of the species of encountered trees.
The researchers conclude that chimpanzees know that trees of certain species produce fruit simultaneously and use this information during their daily search for fruit.
They base their expectations of finding fruit on a combination of botanical knowledge founded on the success rates of fruit discovery
and an ability to categorize fruits into distinct species. Our results provide new insights into the variety of food-finding strategies employed by our close relatives the chimpanzees
and may well elucidate the evolutionary origins of categorization abilities and abstract thinking in humans says Christophe Boesch director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology's Department of Primatology.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Chlorogenic acids are a family of substances that occur naturally in apples cherries plums dried plums and other fruits and vegetables.
People eat cellulose in dietary fiber the indigestible material in fruits and vegetables. Cows horses and termites can digest the cellulose in grass hay and wood.
If you look at any basic virology textbook it will say that these are categories that distinguish all viruses said lead researcher Stanley M. Lemon MD professor of medicine and a member of UNC Lineberger and the Center for Translational Immunology.
In a paper published online in Nature on March 31 Dr. Lemon's team discovered that Hepatitis a virus does not have an envelope
No one has shown that previously for a virus. It really blurs that classic distinction between these two types of viruses said Dr. Lemon.
Dr. Lemon believes the dual nature of Hepatitis a virus allows it to use the advantages of both virus types to enhance its survivability.
and facilitate its spread within the host once it has infected a person said Lemon. While no other virus has been shown to exhibit this particular behavior Dr. Lemon said that it is likely that Hepatitis a virus is not unique in its dual nature.
Hepatitis a is endemic in developing nations that lack modern sanitation and clean water. The virus is transmitted orally
I think this is one of the most important things to come out of the study said Dr. Lemon.
Future studies will investigate the mechanisms behind the vaccine's effectiveness Dr. Lemon said. While it was thought previously that vaccine-induced antibodies attacked the virus outside of the cell the new findings suggest antibodies may actually be able to restrict viral replication within a cell.
Understanding how this really good vaccine works will help us in the future to develop better vaccines for other viruses that we are having difficulty developing vaccines for said Dr. Lemon.
The efforts will help scientists at the Universidad de La Serena's Terra Pacific Group better understand the value of soil moisture data in grape and wine production.
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