BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Pollens from the Cupressaceae family are considered important allergens in the Mediterranean area, though reports of the prevalence of allergic symptoms have ranged from 1.04% to 35.4%. Our aim was to detect the prevalence of cypress pollen sensitization and determine its clinical importance in patients with seasonal respiratory allergy. METHODS We used skin prick tes...

After recent changes to the taxonomy of the Botryosphaeriaceae species with diplodia-like (= dark, ovoid, often pigmented) conidia are considered to belong to at least three genera including Diplodia, Lasiodiplodia and Dothiorella. In a recent molecular phylogenetic study it became apparent that two groups of isolates with diplodia-like conidia required taxonomic revision. One group of isolates...

Predicting paper properties based on a limited number of measured variables can be an important tool for the industry. Mathematical models were developed to predict mechanical and optical properties from the corresponding paper density for some softwood papers using support vector machine regression with the Radial Basis Function Kernel. A dataset of different properties of paper handsheets pro...

Although most living organisms reproduce sexually, some have developed a uniparental reproduction where the embryo usually derives from the female parent. A unique case of paternal apomixis in plants has been recently reported in Cupressus dupreziana, an endangered Mediterranean conifer. This species produces unreduced pollen that develop into all-paternal embryos within the seed tissues. We an...

The commercial essential oils of Citrus aurantium L., Cupressus sempervirens L., Eucalyptus globulus Labill., Foeniculum vulgare Mill. and Thymus vulgaris L., isolated by steam distillation by a company of Morocco were evaluated in terms of in vitro antioxidant activity through several methods. In vitro acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity was also determined. Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f. oil...

Over the past 70 years a destructive blight of Cupressus macrocarpa and other Cupressaceae, caused by Seiridium cardinale, has spread worldwide from California, devastating forests, plantations, and ornamental cypresses. The epidemic has been particularly severe in the Mediterranean region, on C. sempervirens. A similar destructive blight induced by Lepteutypa cupressi, which caused serious los...

Spontaneous ignition tests of various forest species were performed with a specifically designed apparatus. The forest species selected: Arbutus andrachne, Cistus incanus, Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Cupressus sempervirens, Pistacia lentiscus, Abies cephalonica are very common in the Mediterranean region which is frequently devastated by forest fires. The same tests were performed in the pr...

The feasibility of using cypress cone chips from Cupressus sempervirens as a low-cost biosorbent for the removal of two representative basic dyes, methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB), from aqueous solutions was investigated in batch and continuous modes. Dyes biosorption was strongly dependent on the solution's pH. Sorption kinetics was determined and properly described by the pseudo-seco...

Rabbits can experience stress during transport. This study explores the effects of Essential Oils (EOs) on heart rate rabbits were submitted to 3 different treatments: no olfactory exposure EOs (treatment 1, control); 30 drops Lavandula angustifolia EO 2); and a blend 5 3, Cananga odorata, Citrus aurantium, Cupressus sempervirens, angustifolia, Litsea citrata EOs) in randomized controlled cross...