Antioxidant activity of fresh Allium sativum L. (garlic) is well known and is mainly due to unstable and irritating organosulphur compounds. Fresh garlic extracted over a prolonged period (up to 20 months) produces odourless aged garlic extract (AGE) containing stable and water soluble organosulphur compounds that prevent oxidative damage by scavenging free radicals. The aim of this study was t...

Epidemiologic studies show that the cardiovascular diseases are associated with multiple factors such as raised serum total cholesterol, increased LDL, increased platelet aggregation, hypertension and smoking. In-vitro studies have confirmed the ability of some plants of Allium species to reduce these parameters. Therefore, we evaluated anti-platelet aggregation effect of some Allium species (A...

Chlidoplitis and Megahoplitis are closely related Palaearctic subgenera of the osmiine bee genus Hoplitis (Megachilidae) containing nine and two species, respectively. Analysis of female pollen loads and field observations suggest that all species are pollen specialists. Whereas the H. (Chlidoplitis) species are probably all narrowly oligolectic and exclusively collect pollen on Allium (Alliace...

As in many other crop species, also in Allium crops genetic erosion is taking place. In this mini review the current global state of the art is presented on Allium ex situ genetic resources and more in particular on onion genetic resources. Furthermore future possible actions are indicated to preserve the Allium genepool in a more effective way, amongst which a proposal to develop an Allium gen...

Two new species of Culicoides Latreille of the Neotropical subgenus Mataemyia Vargas are described and illustrated based on female specimens from Juruti, Pará, Brazil and compared with their similar congeners. This paper also presents a diagnosis of the subgenus Mataemyia and a systematic key for the identification of the 19 species of the subgenus.

Nine species of the subgenus Albuginosus, one species of the subgenus Aedimorphus Grjebinei Group and two species of the subgenus Aedimorphus Apicoannulatus Group of the genus Aedes Meigen in the Afrotropical Region are treated in three pictorial keys based on diagnostic morphological features.

The adenovirus fiber mediates the agglutination of erythrocytes. Based on differential hemagglutinating properties, subgenus D adenoviruses can be subdivided into clusters DI, DII, and DIII. While subgenus DI adenoviruses agglutinate rat and human erythrocytes, DII adenoviruses simply agglutinate rat erythrocytes and DIII adenoviruses display no or only weak rat erythrocyte agglutination. Amino...

Species of Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum comprise almost one third of the genus and are distributed worldwide. Members of this group are defined by their sharp epidermal prickles; thus, they are commonly referred to as the ‘‘spiny solanums.’’ This subgenus includes a number of economically important species such as the Old World eggplants, as well as locally cultivated New World species such a...

BACKGROUND There are inconsistencies in the literature on reproductive and genital health determinants of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the primary cause of cervical cancer. We examined these factors in the Ludwig-McGill Cohort Study, a longitudinal, repeated-measurements investigation on the natural history of HPV infection. METHODS We analyzed a cohort subset of 1867 women with one ...