Search results for "QUALITY"
showing 10 items of 8136 documents
Secondary metabolites and eco-friendly techniques for agricultural weed/pest management
2021
In agro-ecosystems, pests (insects, weeds, and other plant’s parasites) compete with crops for edaphic resources, negatively affecting quality and crop yields [1]. Nowadays, synthetic pesticides, easy to apply and accessible to farmers, are the most common and effective methods for pest management [2]. Nevertheless, the negative impact of these chemicals on the environment, human health, and the development of herbicides/pesticides-resistance are shifting the attention to alternative pest control technologies based on natural compounds [3–6]. Therefore, new eco-friendly agronomic techniques and the use of natural or natural-like molecules might represent a valid alternative strategy for pes…
NMD-Based Gene Regulation—A Strategy for Fitness Enhancement in Plants?
2019
Abstract Post-transcriptional RNA quality control is a vital issue for all eukaryotes to secure accurate gene expression, both on a qualitative and quantitative level. Among the different mechanisms, nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is an essential surveillance system that triggers degradation of both aberrant and physiological transcripts. By targeting a substantial fraction of all transcripts for degradation, including many alternative splicing variants, NMD has a major impact on shaping transcriptomes. Recent progress on the transcriptome-wide profiling and physiological analyses of NMD-deficient plant mutants revealed crucial roles for NMD in gene regulation and environmental response…
Effect of fruit-set time on the quality performance of Anona cherimola Mill. fruit in south italy
2019
Abstract The aim of this work was to analyse the differences between fruits obtained by different dates of fruit set and identify the proper fruit-set time that allows to obtain the optimum fruit quality in Annona cherimola cv Fino de Jete, planted in Southern Italy. Six fruit-set dates were selected from the first week of June to the second week of July. Fruits were sampled from October to November, when 1500 Growing Degree Days (DD) were accumulated; The DD were calculated using a base temperature of 12 °C. Fruit fresh weight (FW) and skin colour were measured. These parameters were measured also after storage, and in addition, the following parameters were measured: fruit shape (FS), pul…
UV-screening and springtime recovery of photosynthetic capacity in leaves of Vaccinium vitis-idaea above and below the snow pack
2019
International audience; Evergreen plants in boreal biomes undergo seasonal hardening and dehardening adjusting their photosynthetic capacity and photoprotection; acclimating to seasonal changes in temperature and irradiance. Leaf epidermal ultraviolet (UV)-screening by flavonols responds to solar radiation, perceived in part through increased ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation, and is a candidate trait to provide cross-photoprotection. At Hyytiälä Forestry Station, central Finland, we examined whether the accumulation of flavonols was higher in leaves of Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. growing above the snowpack compared with those below the snowpack. We found that leaves exposed to colder temperature…
Berries variability: causes and effects on the quality of ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’
2018
In this study the objective was to investigate if differences in berry size (within a population of berries from different bunches) and flowering process would lead to differences in qualitative parameters and berries variability. The trial was conducted during the 2009 vegetative season at an irrigated ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’/1103 P vineyard. At the beginning of flowering, for 100 inflorescences, all open flowers were marked by red ink while 5 days later, closed flowers were marked by black ink. Open and closed flower distribution was investigated along the rachis. At pea size, 20 marked bunches were sampled. The diameter and weight of all berries was measured and Gaussian distribution was pe…
Is homoploid hybrid speciation that rare? An empiricist’s view
2017
Is homoploid hybrid speciation that rare? An empiricist’s view
Sperm Quality Assessment in Honey Bee Drones
2020
The quality of honey bee drone semen is relevant in different contexts, ranging from colony productivity to pathology, toxicology and biodiversity preservation. Despite its importance, considerably less knowledge is available on this subject for the honey bee when compared to other domestic animal species. A proper assessment of sperm quality requires a multiple testing approach which discriminates between the different aspects of sperm integrity and functionality. Most studies on drone semen quality have only assessed a few parameters, such as sperm volume, sperm concentration and/or sperm plasma membrane integrity. Although more recent studies have focused on a broader variety of aspects …
Sex in space: population dynamic consequences
1999
Sex, so important in the reproduction of bigametic species, is nonetheless often ignored in explorations of the dynamics of populations. Using a growth model of dispersal-coupled populations we can keep track of fluctuations in numbers of females and males. The sexes may differ from each other in their ability to disperse and their sensitivity to population density. As a further complication, the breeding system is either monogamous or polygamous. We use the harmonic mean birth function to account for sex-ratio-dependent population growth in a Moran–Ricker population renewal process. Incorporating the spatial dimension stabilizes the dynamics of populations with monogamy as the breeding sys…
‘Communication breakdown’: the evolution of signal unreliability and deception
2014
For a signalling system to be stable, signals must confer net fitness benefits to senders and receivers, which means that some aspect of their design must correlate with a quality that receivers benefit from knowing about. However, examples abound where this correlation is complicated by phenomena commonly referred to as deception and/or signal unreliability. We argue here that unreliability and deception are notions marred with conceptual ambiguities, often used as equivalent or as catch-all terms for qualitatively different processes. Signal unreliability refers to a pattern of design–information dissociation that can arise through different processes, some deceptive and some not, with di…
Co-Designing Social Simulation Models For Policy Advise: Lessons Learned From the INFSO-SKIN Study
2019
This paper describes a participatory approach to co-designing social simulation models with policymakers using a case study of modeling European Commission policy. Managing the collaboration of a wide range of individuals or organizations is challenging but increasingly important as policy making becomes more complex. A framework for a co-design process based on a participatory approach is proposed. The framework suggests that the collaborative design should go through the following phases: Identifying user questions, data provision, model discussion for validation, visualization of results and discussing scope and limitations with stakeholders. Key findings are that the co-design process r…