OBJECTIVES The objectives of this in vitro study were (1) to assess the bond strength of the universal cement RelyX Unicem to dentin and to compare it with three conventional resin cements, (2) to test the influence of aging on their bonding capacity and (3) to test the influence of the operator on bonding quality by performing the same test in two different centers. METHODS 160 third molars,...

Water potential is amongst the most useful parameters for the measurement of the degree of water stress in plants. With the objective of mitigating adverse effects of moisture stress on water potential, osmotic potential and pressure potential of wheat variety Inquilab-91, a greenhouse experiment was conducted using two moisture levels viz., normal moisture supply and moisture stress at crown r...

A pot experiment was conducted to determine the response of two recent forage sorghum cultivars (JS-2002 and Chakwal Sorghum) and an old one (JS-263) to three levels of soil moisture (30%, 50% and 70% field capacity). Several traits were assessed addressing plant morphology, functional growth, leaf water status, biomass yield and water use efficiency (WUE). Soil moisture variation greatly affec...

High-pressure methods have become attractive tools for investigation of the structural stability of proteins. Besides protein unfolding, dimerization can be studied this way, too. HIV-1 protease is a convenient target of experimental and theoretical high-pressure studies. In this study molecular-dynamics simulations are used to predict the response of HIV-1 protease to the pressure of 0.1 to 60...

Guard cell turgor pressures in epidermal peels of broad bean (Vicia faba) were measured and controlled with a pressure probe. At the same time, images of the guard cell were acquired using confocal microscopy. To obtain a clear image of guard cell volume, a fluorescent dye that labels the plasma membrane was added to the solution bathing the epidermal peel. At each pressure, 17 to 20 optical se...

Growth and carbon (C) fluxes are severely altered in plants exposed to soil water deficit. Correspondingly, it has been suggested that plants under water deficit suffer from C shortage. In this study, we test this hypothesis in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) by providing an overview of the responses of growth, C balance, metabolites, enzymes of the central metabolism, and a set of sugar-res...

In an effort to determine the biochemical markers for identifying genotypes before sowing for drought tolerance, changes in activities of antioxidant enzymes were determined in the seedlings of five drought-tolerant and five drought-sensitive wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes, each with different genetic background growing under normal and water deficit conditions induced by 6% mannitol. I...