Search

Summary The gaseous plant hormone ethylene induces the ripening of climacteric fruit, including apple (Malus domestica). Another phytohormone, auxin, is known to promote ethylene production in many horticultural crops, but the regulatory mechanism remains unclear.Here, we found that auxin application induces ethylene production in apple fruit before the stage of commercial harvest, when they are not otherwise capable of ripening naturally.The expression of MdARF5, a member of the auxin response factor transcription factor (TF) family involved in the auxin signaling pathway, was enhanced by treatment with the synthetic auxin naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Further studies revealed that MdARF5 binds to the promoter of MdERF2, encoding a TF in the ethylene signaling pathway, as well as the promoters of two 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylic acid synthase (ACS) genes (MdACS3a and MdACS1) and an ACC oxidase (ACO) gene, MdACO1, all of which encode key steps in ethylene biosynthesis, thereby inducing their expression. We also observed that auxin‐induced ethylene production was dependent on the methylation of the MdACS3a promoter.Our findings reveal that auxin induces ethylene biosynthesis in apple fruit through activation of MdARF5 expression.

Protein kinase SOS2L1 phosphorylates the malate transporter ALMT14, resulting in malate excretion from root to rhizosphere to improve cadmium tolerance in apple., Heavy metal contamination is a major environmental and human health hazard in many areas of the world. Organic acids sequester heavy metals and protect plant roots from the effects of toxicity; however, it is largely unknown how these acids are regulated in response to heavy metal stress. Here, protein kinase SOS2L1 from apple was functionally characterized. MdSOS2L1 was found to be involved in the regulation of malate excretion, and to inhibit cadmium uptake into roots. Using the DUAL membrane system in a screen of an apple cDNA library with MdSOS2L1 as bait, a malate transporter, MdALMT14, was identified as an interactor. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation, pull-down, and co-immunoprecipitation assays further indicated the interaction of the two proteins. Transgenic analyses showed that MdSOS2L1 is required for cadmium-induced phosphorylation at the Ser358 site of MdALMT14, a modification that enhanced the stability of the MdALMT14 protein. MdSOS2L1 was also shown to enhance cadmium tolerance in an MdALMT14-dependent manner. This study sheds light on the roles of the MdSOS2L1–MdALMT14 complex in physiological responses to cadmium toxicity.

An ohmic assisted vacuum evaporation (OAVE) processes was used to concentrate orange juice from 11.4% total soluble solid content (TSSC) to 42% TSSC by applying 13 V/cm constant voltage gradient at different temperatures. The evaporation temperatures were adjusted to 100 degrees C, 85 degrees C, 75 degrees C and 65 degrees C by setting absolute system pressures of 101.32 kPa, 58 kPa, 39 kPa and 25 kPa, respectively. The total time for the processes, including heating and evaporation, was 34, 40, 48, and 54 min for 100, 85, 75, and 65 degrees C, respectively. As the evaporation temperature increased, the applied energy required for phase change decreased while maximum current values increased from 0.6 A at 65 degrees C to 2.52 A at 100 degrees C. During any given run, the current value increased as the orange juice pulp heated up, but then decreased after it began to boil, leading to a reduction in the rate of heat generation. Increasing evaporation temperature has a positive effect on evaporation rates, energy efficiency, specific water removal ratio (SWRR), exergy efficiency, and Improvement Potential (IP) (p < 0.05). The reduced energy requirement with higher temperature is partially due to reduced work from the vacuum pump at the higher absolute pressure. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers.

The conditions of convective drying induce a negative effect on the quality of the dried products, and thus, innovative solutions, such as the utilization of ultrasound and dehumidified air are gaining importance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of ultrasound pretreatment and variable air temperature on the kinetics of convective drying with dehumidified air and the quality of dried apples. Apples were dried with dehumidified and non-dehumidified air at 55, 70 and 85 °C. Preliminary ultrasound treatment was conducted by immersion for 60 min. The effect of both ultrasound and dehumidified air utilization was more prominent in the terms of drying time reduction, when lower drying temperatures were used. Drying of apples with dehumidified air, preceded by ultrasound pretreatment, resulted in a greater rehydration capacity of the products, and limited the browning process. Dehumidified air increased the lightness of the dried products, while sonication darkened them. The use of ultrasound before drying coupled with a drying with dehumidified medium at a temperature of 70 °C reduced the exposure of the product to a high temperature and oxygen. Products treated before dehumidified air drying with ultrasounds were characterized by high total phenolic content and the greatest antioxidant activity. This was because such technological treatment reduced exposure of the product to a high temperature and oxygen.

In this study, a metabolomic investigation was presented to correlate single polyphenolic compounds in apple pulp with quality characteristics such as antioxidant activity and content of phenolic compounds and anthocyanins in apple skin. Since the concentration of these compounds is influenced by environmental factors, the twenty-two apple cultivars originate from the same site. The polyphenolic compounds were analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS). The antioxidant activity, phenolic content, and anthocyanins were evaluated on the sunny and the shady sides of apple skin by spectrometric assays. In old apple varieties, the measured parameters were higher than in the commercial and red-fleshed varieties. By contrast, the profile of flavan-3-ols and anthocyanins was variable amongst commercial and red-fleshed varieties. The partial least square (PLS) method was applied to investigate the association between the skin proprieties and the metabolic profile of the pulp. The highest coefficients of determination in prediction (Q2) were obtained for compounds quantified in old cultivars. These results provided information to define the old apple varieties as a reliable group based on the pathway of the antioxidant compounds and anthocyanins content. Our results show the possibility to find cultivars with promising health features based on their content of polyphenols suitable for commercialization or breeding.

Annual extension growth (AEG), an indicator of tree vigor, was recorded maximum (145.63 cm) in Granny Smith and minimum (111.04cm) in Spartan, where as correlation matrix showed negative relation between trunk cross sectional area (TCSA) and AEG. Granny Smith exhibited maximum (184.09 g) fruit weight and it was minimum (128.68 g) in Spartan, the correlation matrix between fruit weight and yield efficiency exhibited significant positive correlation over the years. Yield tree-1 was maximum (29.45 kg tree-1) in Coe red Fuji and minimum (16.04 kg/tree) in Spartan. Significant and positive correlation coefficient (0.870) observed between yield and TCSA. TCSA has positive correlation with fruit weight and yield efficiency, maximum mean yield efficiency (1.11 kg/cm2) was recorded in Granny Smith. All the cultivars trained on this architecture had high chroma values (color intensity).

Drought and heat stress are significant factors limiting fruit crop yield in arid conditions. Foliar fertilization is a common practice of supplying fruit crop production with mineral nutrients, especially under limited soil nutrient availability conditions. To evaluate potential effectiveness of the foliar application of macro-, micronutrient and growth regulators on dynamics of physiological parameters of the pear and apple cultivars under abiotic stresses, three–year experiments were carried out under arid conditions at the Russian Research Institute of Arid Agriculture during the 2015–2017 growing seasons. It has been revealed that foliar nutrition reduces the negative influence of heat stress, stabilizes the functional state of plants, thereby enhancing resistance to drought. During the most severe drought periods of vegetation, under the influence of foliar nutrition, there was a significant increase in the total water content (TWC), relative leaf turgidity (RLT) and water retention capacity (WRC); and also index of leaf water deficiency (LWD) was improved as compared to the non-treated control. All foliar treatments involving the macro-, micronutrient and growth regulators significantly enhanced fruit crop yield of pear and apple varieties over the control, yield enhancement was obtained 2.7–22.0 t ha−1 for the Talgar beauty (pear variety), 2.2–19.3 t ha−1 for the Renet Symirenko (apple variety), and 1.6–10.5 t ha−1 for the Starkrimson (apple variety). The most effective treatments for water consumption coefficient (WCC) were plantafol and speedphol. The results suggest that foliar plantafol and speedfol could be used as part of an efficient, sustainable fertilizer program for apple and pear trees for maintaining or improving fruit quality, productivity, and avoiding negative efficacy of abiotic stresses.

Intercropping can introduce greater plant diversity and functional complementarity in an arable crop system but inter- and intracompetition can between intercropped crops. The rhizo-box was established of apple-white clover intercropped system to examine the competitive relationship between intercropped crops on the Loess Plateau. The results showed that the competitive relationship between intercropped crops was dynamic and changed with the crop competitiveness. Crop competitiveness was characterized by root development, although intercropping inhibited the development and nutrient accumulation aboveground of apple trunks and branches, intercropped apples still maintained a larger root system than under monoculture and the root morphology of intercropped apples changed significantly. White clover had lower competitiveness than apple at the beginning of the year, which was reflected in the inhibited development in May. However in July and October, intercropped white clover had more biomass and nutrient accumulation than under monoculture., Graphical Abstract

Highlights • US-CD significantly improved antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content of dried apples. • US-CD reduced drying time by nearly 45% compared to traditional hot air drying (HAD). • US-CD reserved the micro-structure of the dried apples better than the HAD samples. • US-CD samples had improved rehydration ratio, color, and textural properties compared to the HAD treatment., Drying is one of the most prevalent methods to reduce water activity and preserve foods. However, it is also the most energy-intensive food processing unit operation. Although a number of drying methods have been proposed and tested for the purpose of achieving a time- and energy-efficient drying process, almost all current drying methods still rely on thermal energy to remove moisture from the product. In this study, a novel use of power ultrasound was explored for drying of apple slices without the application of heat. The non-thermal ultrasound contact drying (US-CD) was performed in the presence of an air stream (26–40 °C) flowing over product surface to remove mist or vapor produced by the ultrasound treatment. The effects of the non-thermal US-CD, hot-air drying (HAD), and freeze drying (FD) on the changes in rehydration ratio, pH, titratable acidity, water activity, color, glass transition temperature, texture, antioxidant capacity, total phenols, and microstructures of the samples were evaluated. The moisture content of the apple slices reached below 5% (w.b.) after 75–80 min of US-CD, which was about 45% less than that of the HAD method. The antioxidant capacity and total phenol contents of the US-CD samples were significantly higher than that of the AD samples. The non-thermal ultrasonic contact drying is a promising method which has the potential to significantly reduce drying time and improve product quality.

Background In Japan, as a countermeasure against the COVID-19 outbreak, both the national and local governments issued voluntary restrictions against going out from residences at the end of March 2020 in preference to the lockdowns instituted in European and North American countries. The effect of such measures can be studied with mobility data, such as data which is generated by counting the number of requests made to Apple Maps for directions in select countries/regions, sub-regions, and cities. Objective We investigate the associations of mobility data provided by Apple Inc and an estimate an an effective reproduction number R(t). Methods We regressed R(t) on a polynomial function of daily Apple data, estimated using the whole period, and analyzed subperiods delimited by March 10, 2020. Results In the estimation results, R(t) was 1.72 when voluntary restrictions against going out ceased and mobility reverted to a normal level. However, the critical level of reducing R(t) to Conclusions We demonstrated that Apple mobility data are useful for short-term prediction of R(t). The results indicate that the number of trips should decrease by 10% until herd immunity is achieved and that higher voluntary restrictions against going out might not be necessary for avoiding a re-emergence of the outbreak.

Dokumenti, nazvani Rajski dokumenti, datiraju u razdoblju od 1950. do 2016. i naziv su za 13.4 milijuna dokumenata koji dokazuju navodnu umiješanost brojnih osoba iz javnog života, uključujući mnogobrojne poduzetnike i političare, ali i sportaše, pjevače i međunarodne korporacije, u financijske nepravilnosti, pranje novca i utaje poreza putem offshore tvrtki sa sjedištima u poreznim oazama. Dokumenti potječu iz odvjetničke tvrtke Appleby osnovane na Bermudama i tvrtke Asiaciti Trust iz Singapura. Njemački list Süddeutsche Zeitung došao je do navedenih dokumenata i podijelio ih s javnošću početkom studenoga 2017. U radu, Rajskim dokumentima pristupit ću kao ekonomsko-političkom i društvenom problemu enormnih razmjera s elementima medijsko-spektakularnog uprizorenja. Rajske dokumente i njegove pojedinačne slučajeve proučavat ću na temelju podataka i članaka objavljenih na internetskom portalu Süddeutsche Zeitunga - Süddeutsche.de. Pojedinačnim slučajevima Rajskih dokumenata pristupit ću metodom kvalitativne analize. S obzirom na opsežan broj imena uključenih u aferu Rajskih dokumenata, analizu ću usmjeriti na one slučajeve koji imaju veliki značaj i utjecaj na javnost. Pri tome, analizirat ću poslovanje švicarske korporacije Glencore kongoanskim rudama; offshore poslovanje kraljice Elizabete II.; poslovanje SAD-ova ministra trgovine Wilbura Rossa s ruskom energetskom tvrtkom Sibur; posljedice aneksije Krima ruskog predsjednika Vladimira Putina, te offshore poslovanje međunarodnih korporacija Apple i Nike. Cilj je rada ukazati na istovremeno postojanje dva paralelna svijeta: jednog koji pripada nekolicini svjetskih moćnika, za koje zakoni ne vrijede i onog drugog, svijeta običnih smrtnika koji se svakodnevno bore za vlastitu egzistenciju i čiji su postupci podvrgnuti daleko strožem režimu., The documents, named Paradise Papers, which date from 1950 to 2016 and represent 13.4 million documents that prove the presumed involvement of many persons from public life, including many entrepreneurs and politicians, but also athletes, singers and international corporations in financial irregularities, money laundring and tax evasion through offshore companies with headquarters in tax havens. The documents originate from the Appleby attorney company established in Bermuda and from Asiaciti Trust in Singapore. The german newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung came in possession of the mentioned documents and shared them with public at the beginning of November 2017. In my work I will approach the Paradise papers documents as an economical, political and social issue of enormous proportions with elements of media and spectacular appearance. I will study the documents and their individual cases based on the dates and articles published on the website of Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. The individual cases of Paradise Papers I will approach with the method of qualitative analysis. Given the extensive number of names involved in the Paradise Papers scandal I will focus my analysis on those cases that have great significance and impact on public life. During my work I will pay my attention on the business of the swiss corporation Glencore with congolese ores; offshore business of Queen Elizabeth II; business between U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and russian energy company Sibur; the consequences of the annexation of Crimea by Russian President Vladimir Putin; offshore business of international corporations Apple and Nike. The aim of my work is to point out the simultaneous existence of two parallel worlds: one belonging to a few powerful world leaders, who do not have to respect the law nor the law applies to them, and to the other, the world of ordinary mortals, who are struggling for their own existence on a daily basis and who are subjected to far more rigid regimes.

International audience; The texture of pureed fruits and vegetables depends primarily on the original tissue structure and cell wall (CW) properties. However, how variations in the raw fruits’ cellular and molecular structure determine the rheological behaviour of the purees is little understood, though pectin degradation appears to play a key role. Cultivars, fruit load and post-harvest storage were used to obtain raw apples with different tissue structures, which were processed into purees under simulation of an industrial process. The rheological behaviour of the purees was then compared to particle size, pulp wet mass and serum viscosity. The polysaccharide composition of soluble and insoluble CW material were determined after preparation of alcohol insoluble residue. Macromolecular size and molar mass distributions of soluble pectins were analysed using high performance size-exclusion chromatography coupled to multi-angle laser light scattering and online viscometry. Variations in the raw material, especially induced by post-harvest storage, generated a wide range of different puree’s textures. Rheological behaviour of apple purees was driven by particle size, which decreased during prolonged post-harvest storage due to reduced cell adhesion. This was correlated with pectic side chain hydrolysis and modifications in pectin molar mass and structure. Similar trends during storage were observed with different apple cultivars and agricultural practices.

Apple (Malus pumila Mill.) is a popular fruit with high economic values and various biological activities that are beneficial to human health. In this study, 35 apple cultivars were collected and were evaluated for their basic quality indexes, phenolic compositions, antioxidant activity, anti-tumour, and anti-diabetic activities. The compositions of phenolics were detected by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and high-resolution mass spectroscopy (HRMS) assays. The antioxidant activities of peel and pulp extracts from 35 apple cultivars were evaluated by using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Results showed that the contents of phenolic acids and proanthocyanidins showed significant correlations with the antioxidant activities. Phenolic-rich extracts significantly inhibited HepG2 cell proliferation, with the inhibition activity varied significantly between cultivars. &lsquo, Gold Delicious&rsquo, pulp extract, &lsquo, Xiboliyabaidian&rsquo, peel and pulp extracts showed protective effects on H2O2-induced injury of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). &lsquo, Red Fuji&rsquo, peel extract, &lsquo, peel and pulp extracts, as well as &lsquo, peel extract, significantly increased glucose consumption of HepG2 cells, in a dose-dependent manner. This research may provide theoretical guidance for further nutritional investigation of the apple resources.

Sliced fruits (apple and kiwi) were dried under atmospheric freeze-drying (AFD) and/or low-temperature drying (LTD) conditions, and the drying kinetics, resultant degree of shrinkage, and vitamin C retention were evaluated. The air temperature programs were set in the range of −20 to 10 °C, and the impact of the sub-zero temperature setting was investigated. As expected, shortening the sub-zero temperature time and increasing the air temperature led to a shorter total drying time. Notably, the application of freezing had an effect to reduce the drying time. The application of the LTD condition without freezing significantly increased the total drying time compared with that of the drying condition with freezing. When the temperature was increased stepwise from −20 to 10 °C, the total drying time was effectively reduced when the sub-zero temperature was maintained for a relatively long time. This was the most practical drying program for maintaining product quality. It was found that drying at sub-zero temperatures has advantages in reducing product shrinkage; however, the impact was not remarkable. The application of sub-zero temperature conditions was advantageous for vitamin C retention for both apple and kiwi drying. However, if the negative effect of freezing on quality is significant, simple LTD conditions may be a good compromise for balancing total drying time and product quality.

Background Providing parents with resources that aid in the identification and management of acute childhood illnesses helps those parents feel better equipped to assess their children’s health and significantly changes parental health-seeking behaviors. Some of these resources are limited by accessibility and scalability. Remote locations and staffing limitations create challenges for parents aiming to access their child’s health information. Mobile health apps offer a scalable, accessible solution for improving health literacy by enabling access to health information through mobile devices. Objective The aim of our study is to create an inventory of acute childhood illness apps that are available to North American parents and caregivers, assess their quality, and identify the areas in which future apps can be improved. Methods We conducted an environmental scan to identify and summarize app information for parents and digital health researchers. The Google and Apple app marketplaces were used as search platforms. We built a list of search terms and searched the platforms for apps targeted at parents and related to acute pediatric illnesses in the United States and Canada. We assessed apps meeting the inclusion criteria using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), a validated tool for assessing the quality of health apps. The MARS examines apps on 5 subscales: engagement, functionality, aesthetics, information quality, and subjective quality. Data were analyzed by MARS subscale averages and individual item scores. Results Overall, 650 unique apps were screened, and 53 (8.2%) were included. On a scale of 1-5, apps had an average engagement score of 2.82/5 (SD 0.86), functionality score of 3.98/5 (SD 0.72), aesthetics score of 3.09/5 (SD 0.87), information quality score of 2.73/5 (SD 1.32), and subjective quality score of 2.20/5 (SD 0.79). On the same scale of 1-5, app scores ranged from 2.2/5 to 4.5/5 (mean 3.2, SD 0.6). The top 3 MARS-scored apps were Baby and Child First Aid (4.5/5), Ada (4.5/5), and HANDi Paediatric (4.2/5). Taken together, the top 3 apps covered topics of emergency pediatric first aid, identification of (and appropriate response to) common childhood illnesses, a means of checking symptoms, and a means of responding to emergency situations. There was a lack of Canadian-based app content available to parents in both marketplaces; this space was filled with content originating primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, published evidence of the impact of the included apps was poor: of 53 apps, only 5 (9%) had an evidence base showing that the app had been trialed for usability or efficacy. Conclusions There is a need for evidence-based acute childhood illness apps of Canadian origin. This environmental scan offers a comprehensive picture of the health app landscape by examining trends in acute childhood illness apps that are readily available to parents and by identifying gaps in app design.

Summary Apple (Malus × domestica) accumulates bioactive ursane-, oleanane-, and lupane-type triterpenes in its fruit cuticle, but their biosynthetic pathway is still poorly understood. We used a homology-based approach to identify and functionally characterize two new oxidosqualene cyclases (MdOSC4 and MdOSC5) and one cytochrome P450 (CYP716A175). The gene expression patterns of these enzymes and of previously described oxidosqualene cyclases were further studied in 20 apple cultivars with contrasting triterpene profiles. MdOSC4 encodes a multifunctional oxidosqualene cyclase producing an oleanane-type triterpene, putatively identified as germanicol, as well as β-amyrin and lupeol, in the proportion 82 : 14 : 4. MdOSC5 cyclizes 2,3-oxidosqualene into lupeol and β-amyrin at a ratio of 95 : 5. CYP716A175 catalyses the C-28 oxidation of α-amyrin, β-amyrin, lupeol and germanicol, producing ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, betulinic acid, and putatively morolic acid. The gene expression of MdOSC1 was linked to the concentrations of ursolic and oleanolic acid, whereas the expression of MdOSC5 was correlated with the concentrations of betulinic acid and its caffeate derivatives. Two new multifuntional triterpene synthases as well as a multifunctional triterpene C-28 oxidase were identified in Malus × domestica. This study also suggests that MdOSC1 and MdOSC5 are key genes in apple fruit triterpene biosynthesis.

In this study, double-pass solar air dryer (DPSAD) and infrared assisted double-pass solar air dryer (DPSAIRD) were designed and tested. The effects of using infrared energy have been experimentally investigated to ensure continuity in climatic conditions (cloudy, etc.) where solar energy is insufficient. Comparative experiments were carried out in the summer and autumn. Energy and exergy analysis, mass and heat transfer, performance coefficient, specific energy consumption, drying efficiency, energy efficiency and error bars have been used as criteria for evaluating thermal and structural performance of solar dryer and to see the effects of infrared energy on dried products (apple slices and mint leaves). The highest thermal efficiency of the collector was obtained as 83.56%. For DPSAIRD and DPSAD, exergy efficiency values were calculated as 49.17%, 59.07%, 59.06% and 69.35%, respectively. Energy efficiencies varied between 1.15% and 8.59% for DPSAIRD, 2.20% and 26.46% for DPSAD. Despite the low radiation values in autumn and the lower ambient temperature, it was found that the drying times are almost the same as in the summer months, thanks to the use of infrared energy. The IR lamp significantly increased energy consumption; however, in cases where the collector was insufficient, it supported both the collector and protected the products against deterioration. © 2019 2-s2.0-85060332980