Readers of this journal will be well aware of the strong evidence that diets rich in fruit and vegetables inhibit the development of major diseases such as CHD and certain cancers (Block et al. 1992; Ness & Powles, 1997). This beneficial effect is ascribed, in part, to the antioxidants in such foods which protect biomolecules in our cells, such as lipids, proteins and DNA, from oxidative damage...

In spring 1590, book-buyers in London were confronted with a long narrative poem, ‘Disposed into twelue books, Fashioning XII. Morall vertues’, published by William Ponsonby. If they bought the poem, or leafed through it on the stationer’s stall, they encountered first a dedication ‘TO THE MOST MIGHTIE AND MAGNIFICENT EMPRESSE ELIZABETH’, then, on the following pages, the title and subtitle of ...

parsley has a very high nutritional value, containing a, b and c vitamins and mineral nutrients. in order to investigation of the effect of different nitrogen sources on parsley an experiment conducted in a factorial combination of three nitrogen forms (calcium nitrate, ammonium sulphate and urea) and four nitrogen levels (0, 100, 125, 150 kg ha-1) by using a factorial experiment based on rando...

BACKGROUND Among mouse genetic mutants that develop neural tube defects (NTDs), some respond to folic acid administration during early pregnancy, whereas NTDs in other mutants are not prevented. This parallels human NTDs, in which up to 30% of cases may be resistant to folic acid. Most spina bifida cases in the folic acid-resistant 'curly tail' mouse can be prevented by treatment with inositol ...

Based on prior evidence of coordinated multiple leaf trait scaling, we hypothesized that variation among species in leaf dark respiration rate (Rd) should scale with variation in traits such as leaf nitrogen (N), leaf life-span, specific leaf area (SLA), and net photosynthetic capacity (A,,,). However, it is not known whether such scaling, if it exists, is similar among disparate biomes and pla...

Theory suggests that alternative resources may begin to support a food web when highly used resources become less available relative to alternatives. To test the potential for alternative resources to support consumers, we experimentally darkened a lake whose consumers had relied heavily on algal resources (phytoplankton and benthic algae). We estimated the support consumers received from resou...

Black pigmented leaves are common among horticultural cultivars, yet are extremely rare across natural plant populations. We hypothesised that black pigmentation would disadvantage a plant by reducing photosynthesis and therefore shoot productivity, but that this trait might also confer protective benefits by shielding chloroplasts against photo-oxidative stress. CO2 assimilation, chlorophyll a...

Combinations of winter and fall cover crops were evalu­ ated for the management of plant-parasitic nematodes. The winter cover crops examined were rye (Secale cereale) and narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) and the fall cover crops were soybean (Glycine max), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), sorghum-sudangrass (Sor­ ghum bicolor x S. sudanense), sun hemp (Crotalaria juncea), and corn (Zea m...

The relationship between timing of closure of the posterior neuropore (PNP) and development of spinal neural tube defects (NTD) has been studied in individual mutant curly tail mouse embryos maintained in culture. Moderate delay in PNP closure results in development of tail flexion defects whereas extreme delay of PNP closure is associated with development of open NTD. Experimental enlargement ...

Background: The sources of radioactivity in the environment have natural, terrestrial and extraterrestrial, and anthropogenic origins. Plants may get radioactive nuclides in two ways: (i) by the deposition of radioactive fallout, (ii) by absorption from the soil. Materials and Methods: The Concentrations of the natural radionuclides (226Ra, 228Ra, 40K) and the artificial radionuclide (...