Many processing techniques can be employed to preserve fruits and vegetables. Drying and dehydration is one of the most important operations that are widely practiced because of considerable saving in packaging, storage and transportation. Osmotic dehydration has received greater attention in recent years as an effective method for preservation of fruits and vegetables. Being a simple process, ...

Plant growth is severely affected by hyper-osmotic salt conditions. Although a number of salt-induced genes have been isolated, the sensing and signal transduction of salt stress is little understood. We provide evidence that alfalfa cells have two osmo-sensing protein kinase pathways that are able to distinguish between moderate and extreme hyper-osmotic conditions. A 46 kDa protein kinase was...

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide-induced ‘ocean acidification’ is predicted to have major implications for marine organisms. As the oceans becomes increasingly hypercapnic (elevated CO2) and seawater pH decreases, the ability of organisms to maintain extracellular pH homeostasis (acid– base balance) may be compromised. Acid–base regulation occurs by ionic transport, where hydrogen and bicarbonate i...

BACKGROUND The use of glucose as the only osmotic agent in peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions (PDSs) is believed to exert local (peritoneal) and systemic detrimental actions, particularly in diabetic PD patients. To improve peritoneal biocompatibility, we have developed more biocompatible PDSs containing xylitol and carnitine along with significantly less amounts of glucose and have tested them...

The mouthparts of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus hold primarily two types of setae--simple setae and cuspidate setae. Mechanosensory neurons from these setae were examined by electrophysiological recordings. The population of simple setae contained two types of mechanosensory neurons: displacement-sensitive neurons, which responded to deflection at the setal base; and bend-sensitive neurons,...

Chronic hypoxia causes pulmonary hypertension with vascular remodeling, increase in vascular tone, and altered reactivity to agonists. These changes involve alterations in multiple Ca(2+) pathways in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). We have previously shown that vanilloid (TRPV)- and melastatin-related transient receptor potential (TRPM) channels are expressed in pulmonary arter...