Increasing fruit load (from no berries present to 25, 50 and 100% of the initial fruit load) significantly decreased branch growth on 5-year-old coffee (Coffea arabica L.) trees of the dwarf cultivar 'Costa Rica 95', during their third production cycle. Ring-barking the branches further reduced their growth. Berry dry mass at harvest was significantly reduced by increasing fruit load. Dry matte...

There are several aspects concerning self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) which can influence the outcome of the measurement. For example, there is no general agreement regarding the use of the first or second drop of blood for glucose monitoring. Our aim was to investigate the influence of wiping a drop of blood on glucose concentrations measured by SMBG when having a finger soiled with dif...

One of the main factors that cause to quality loss for fresh fruit market apples is bruise damage. Amongst the factors that affect apple sensitivity to bruising, major one is drop height and area profile during the impact. In the present study, four Iranian apple varieties consisted of Atirli, Kapak, Kowse and Paiez that were selected and 100 fruits of each variety were picked up, then apples w...

Avocado thrips arrived in California in 1996. Since then, we have made substantial progress in our understanding of this pest. We now know the area of origin of the avocado thrips and have compiled an inventory of other potential pest thrips species on avocados in Mexico and Central America. Trials have helped us to identify several selective insecticides for use in treating avocado thrips in o...

In this study, oil palm empty fruit bunch fibres (EFB) reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites were prepared by two different methods i.e. physical treatment of the composites using electron beam irradiation and chemical treatment by adding coupling agent such as maleated PP. The composites pellets were then subjected to injection moulding for preparation of test pieces for physical, mechanica...