UNLABELLED A method is described for growth of a Lactobacillus plantarum starter culture in jars of commercially available pasteurized fresh-pack kosher dill cucumbers so that jars can be used to inoculate commercial scale cucumber fermentation tanks. A procedure is also described to transfer lactic acid bacteria from frozen storage in MRS broth into cucumber juice and commercial jars of kosher...

We characterize the "sequence landscapes" in several simple, heteropolymer models of proteins by examining their mutation properties. Using an efficient flat-histogram Monte Carlo search method, our approach involves determining the distribution in energy of all sequences of a given length when threaded through a common backbone. These calculations are performed for a number of Protein Data Ban...

Allergic reactions to fresh fruits and nuts have become increasingly common. Mango (Mangifera indica) is a popular fruit eaten all over the world. We report the case of a 43-year-old woman who experienced oropharyngeal itching, swelling of the face and other parts of the body, and difficulty breathing within a few minutes of eating ripe mango fruit. The woman had no history of pollen or latex a...

Background. Helicobacter pylori is one of the most prevalent gastric pathogens, causing gastric dysfunction, ulceration and, eventually, cancer. Antibiotic resistance, a rapidly growing problem, may interfere with the success of eradication therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-H. pylori effect of crude extracts derived from dill, fennel, caraway and cinnamon, all of which are...

BACKGROUND Our previous studies revealed Anethum graveolens L. caused some changes in female reproductive system that induced infertility. Therefore, in this study, oocyte changes as one of probable reasons of infertility were investigated. METHODS In this study, 59 adult female rats were divided into 3 groups of control, low dose (0.5 g/kg) and high dose (5 g/kg) of dill seed aqueous extract...