Thiazolidinediones represent an established class of insulin sensitizing agents for treating noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Darglitazone, a thiazolidinedione approximately 200x more potent than ciglitazone, was evaluated in preclinical safety assessment studies using rats (1, 5, and 50 mg/kg/day) and cynomolgus monkeys (50, 75, and 100 mg/kg/day). Darglitazone was a potent adipogenic a...

Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) is one of the most important freshwater fish that is native to China, and crisp grass carp is a kind of high value-added fishes which have higher muscle firmness. To investigate biological functions and possible signal transduction pathways that address muscle firmness increase of crisp grass carp, microarray analysis of 14,900 transcripts was performed. Co...

Freezing is a standard method to preserve perishable agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables, which increases off-season availability. Nevertheless, freezing of plant tissue with high water content causes cellular damage by the formation ice crystals. This leads drip loss decreased firmness, then reduces quality thawed product. To maximize cell survival for industrial processes, pro...

Firmness is an important aspect of the quality of fresh tomatoes. Its measurement is necessary for quality control, as well as for postharvest studies to develop procedures for preparation and handling of fresh-cut tomato slices. This study had two objectives, to determine how initial ripeness and cutting affect the textural changes in tomato tissue during storage and to develop a method for me...

Non-destructive firmness sensors have recently become available for packers and fruit handlers although they demand more information on their performance and reliability. A commercial sensor, aimed both for in-line or bench-top usage, based on low mass impact has been tested on kiwifruit. Correlation between the firmness index given by the device and Magness-Taylor force was low (R 2 = 0.594 an...

in this study, the effect of foliar spray with calcium chloride (0, 0.75, 1.5 and 3 g l-1) during 2, 4 and 6 weeks before commercial harvesting time of apple fruit cv. ‘gala’ and ‘delbarestival’ which trained in three different systems (v shape, hightech and cordon) was investigated. the results showed that types of training systems and foliar application of calcium can affect on fruits quality...

BACKGROUND Extracorporeal pulse activation therapy (EPAT), also called extracorporeal acoustic wave therapy, seeks to achieve effective and long-lasting improvement of age-related connective tissue weakness in the extremities, especially in the treatment of unsightly cosmetic skin defects referred to as cellulite. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to stimulate metabolic activity in su...

It has previously been shown that down-regulation of an auxin response factor gene (DR12) results in pleiotropic phenotypes including enhanced fruit firmness in antisense transgenic tomato (AS-DR12). To uncover the nature of the ripening-associated modifications affecting fruit texture, comparative analyses were performed of pectin composition and structure in cell wall pericarp tissue of wild-...

Objectives: The overall objective of the project was to develop a novel light-based sensing technique to assess internal quality (firmness and sugar content or soluble solids content) of apples. Specific objectives were to: 1. Investigate a new sensing method, using hyperspectral and multispectral imaging, for quantifying the absorption and scattering properties of apple fruit; 2. Develop mathe...