Prime Strategy Research Articles

Precompetition Strategies to Improve Performance in Endurance or Repeated Intermittent Activity: Evidence and Practical Suggestions

ABSTRACT Athletes engage in training programs that develop physical and physiological attributes to improve performance over time. However, ensuring athletes are optimally prepared just before competition is also of utmost importance. Indeed, such approaches may often adopt 1 or more strategies in the days, hours, and minutes preceding competition, including exercise priming, active warm-up, and/or postactivation performance-enhancing (PAPE) activities. Despite a plethora of discrete research, such information seems poorly synthesized, making it difficult for coaches and athletes to implement optimal evidence-based physical preparation approaches in many sporting contexts. This article aims to provide a scoping overview of evidence, facilitate discussion, and where possible, propose practical exercise-based recommendations that may be useful leading up to (∼48 hours–∼1 minute) tasks with a short or prolonged endurance component or requiring repeated intermittent efforts (e.g., team-based field sports). Well-timed and -designed activities can facilitate several aspects of physical performance, potentially improve athletes' psychological state(s) and mental preparedness. The benefits of a warm-up are most well-documented, but priming and PAPE strategies also warrant consideration. It is intended that the evidence and suggestions presented will be useful for strength and conditioning professionals preparing athletes for competition.

Priming self-assembly pathways by stacking block copolymers

Block copolymers spontaneously self-assemble into well-defined nanoscale morphologies. Yet equilibrium assembly gives rise to a limited set of structures. Non-equilibrium strategies can, in principle, expand diversity by exploiting self-assembly’s responsive nature. In this vein, we developed a pathway priming strategy combining control of thin film initial configurations and ordering history. We sequentially coat distinct materials to form prescribed initial states, and use thermal annealing to evolve these manifestly non-equilibrium states through the assembly landscape, traversing normally inaccessible transient structures. We explore the enormous associated hyperspace, spanning processing (annealing temperature and time), material (composition and molecular weight), and layering (thickness and order) dimensions. We demonstrate a library of exotic non-native morphologies, including vertically-oriented perforated lamellae, aqueduct structures (vertical lamellar walls with substrate-pinned perforations), parapets (crenellated lamellae), and networks of crisscrossing lamellae. This enhanced structural control can be used to modify functional properties, including accessing regimes that surpass their equilibrium analogs.

Parental Intervention Strategies to Reduce Screen Time Among Preschool-aged Children: A Systematic Review

Aims: Children below five years have been the target of screen time guidelines. The adverse health outcomes associated with it require focusing on prime strategies for reducing screen time. The current study reviews parental intervention strategies to reduce screen time among preschool-aged children. Design: Systematic review. Data sources: A total of five databases of the Cochrane register of controlled trials, CINAHL, Medline PubMed, and Scopus databases were searched from May 1 to 31, 2020. Review Methods: The keywords of “screen time”, “television”, “video”, “computer”, “mobile device”, “hand phone”, “media use”, “preschool-aged children”, “interventions”, and “strategies” used for search. The inclusion criteria are limited to specific study populations, intervention, comparison and outcomes (PICOs), language, and published study types. The quality of articles was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) tool. Results: A total of six studies that met the inclusion criteria were further analysed. It showed that besides providing knowledge and awareness regarding screen time, restrictive practices, offering alternative activities to parents and removing the screen from the child’s bedroom were the most common strategies used by successful studies. The duration of intervention between 6-8weeks was sufficient to observe screen time reduction, while face-to-face methods dominated the mode of delivery. Increasing parental self-efficacy, listing outcome expectations, and reinforcement strategies targeting both the parents and their home environment were beneficial in reducing screen time. Conclusion: Future screen time reduction studies could benefit from incorporating the above approaches for screen time reduction intervention among preschool children.

Prime editing for precise and highly versatile genome manipulation.

Programmable gene-editing tools have transformed the life sciences and have shown potential for the treatment of genetic disease. Among the CRISPR-Cas technologies that can currently make targeted DNA changes in mammalian cells, prime editors offer an unusual combination of versatility, specificity and precision. Prime editors do not require double-strand DNA breaks and can make virtually any substitution, small insertion and small deletion within the DNA of living cells. Prime editing minimally requires a programmable nickase fused to a polymerase enzyme, and an extended guide RNA that both specifies the target site and templates the desired genome edit. In this Review, we summarize prime editing strategies to generate programmed genomic changes, highlight their limitations and recent developments that circumvent some ofthese bottlenecks, and discuss applications and future directions.

Recent advances in seed priming strategies for enhancing planting value of vegetable seeds

Vegetable crops benefit from seed priming technology by their low volume and high value. Early sowing of vegetables under suboptimal environments is practised often to fetch better remuneration in the market, although simultaneously it compels the farmers to use high seed rates to compensate for poor seedling emergence. To tackle this problem, farmers and seed companies world over practice on-farm and wet/dry priming techniques of seeds as it facilitates synchrony in flowering and fruiting, resulting in improved yields. The various priming strategies used for seed treatment are classified into: conventional/invasive (hydro-, osmo-, hormonal, halo-, solid matrix, nutrient, bio- or nano-priming) and physical/non-invasive (magneto, UV-irradiation, γ-radiation, cold plasma, electron and laser priming). The farmers can reap the benefits of seed priming as it minimizes (i) the time for plant emergence, (ii) expense of re-seeding, (iii) additional irrigation and fertilization, (iv) weed management, (v) ineffectiveness of cultural practices used on a stand of non-uniform growth. This review discusses the recent details about various seed priming techniques used for the enhancement of germination rate as well as vigor in vegetable crops. The biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying the priming effects have also been comprehensively reviewed to explain the scientific basis of the technology.

Inflammatory priming with IL-1β promotes the immunomodulatory behavior of adipose derived stem cells.

Inflammatory processes contribute to osteoarthritis (OA) severity and progression. Mesenchymal stem cells, particularly those derived from adipose tissue (ASCs), are able to sense and control the inflammatory environment. This immunomodulatory potential can be boosted by different priming strategies based on inflammatory stimulation. The aim of the present study is to investigate the transcriptional modulation of a huge panel of genes and functionally verify the predicted immunomodulatory ability of ASCs after interleukin one beta (IL-1β) priming. ASCs were isolated from adipose tissue obtained from three donors and expanded. After stimulation with 1ng/ml of IL-1β for 48h, cells were collected for gene array and functional tests. Pooled cells from three donors were used for RNA extraction and gene array analysis. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were performed to assess the involvement of the modulated genes after priming in specific biological processes and pathways. Functional co-culture tests of ASCs with T cells and macrophages were performed to assess the ability of primed ASCs to modulate immune cell phenotype. Among the overall genes analyzed in the gene array, about the 18% were up- or down-regulated in ASCs after IL-1β priming. GO enrichment analysis of up- or down-regulated genes in ASCs after IL-1β priming allowed identifying specific pathways involved in the modulation of inflammation and extracellular matrix remodeling. The main processes enriched according to the GSEA are related to the inflammatory response and cell proliferative processes. Functional tests on immune cells showed that primed and non-primed ASCs induced a decrease in the CD3+ T lymphocytes survival rate and an anti-inflammatory macrophage polarization. In conclusion, IL-1β priming represents a tailored strategy to enhance the ability of ASCs to direct macrophages towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype and, consequently, improve the efficacy of ASCs in counteracting the OA inflammatory component.

Evaluation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cell Toll-like receptor priming and effects on interaction with prostate cancer cells

Background aimsMesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are a multipotent cell population of clinical interest because of their ability to migrate to injury and tumor sites, where they may participate in tissue repair and modulation of immune response. Although the processes regulating MSC function are incompletely understood, it has been shown that stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) can alter MSC activity. More specifically, it has been reported that human bone marrow-derived MSCs can be “polarized” by TLR priming into contrasting immunomodulatory functions, with opposite (supportive or suppressive) roles in tumor progression and inflammation. Adipose-derived MSCs (ASCs) represent a promising alternative MSC subpopulation for therapeutic development because of their relative ease of isolation and higher abundance compared with their bone marrow-derived counterparts; however, the polarization of ASCs remains unreported. MethodsIn this study, we evaluated the phenotypic and functional consequences of short-term, low-level stimulation of ASCs with TLR3 and TLR4 agonists. ResultsIn these assays, we identified transient gene expression changes resembling the reported pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory MSC phenotypes. Furthermore, these priming strategies led to changes in the functional properties of ASCs, affecting their ability to migrate and modulate immune-mediated responses to prostate cancer cells in vitro. ConclusionsTLR3 stimulation significantly decreased ASC migration, and TLR4 stimulation increased ASC immune-mediated killing potential against prostate cancer cells.

Investigating the relationship between groundwater augmentation and water quality in the 6000 ha watershed in Telangana state, India

Groundwater augmentation through rainwater harvesting has become a prime strategy to address water security and cope with the impact of climate change, especially in semi-arid regions. Increased water availability due to groundwater augmentation and its impact on rainfed agriculture has been well documented, but its impact on groundwater quality was rarely explored. In this study, data collected over 33-months on groundwater quality and groundwater table from a micro-watershed spread over 6000 ha in the semi-arid region of peninsular India were explored to assess the association between rainfall, groundwater augmentation, and groundwater quality. It was observed that the groundwater augmentation and related changes in the groundwater levels were influenced by the density of rainwater harvesting structures, rainfall distribution during the rainy season, groundwater withdrawals around the monitoring wells, and the distance between the wells and water storage structures. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchal clustering revealed that the spatial and temporal variations in the groundwater quality governed by hydrogeochemical processes and preferential flow recharge processes might have been affected by groundwater augmentation and withdrawal. The fertilizer use in croplands as a non-point source of NO3–N and NH4–N in groundwater was affected by rainfall distribution. The high NO3–N levels in the vicinity of a burial site had indicated a possible point source of groundwater contamination. About 5%, 76%, 20%, and 4% of water samples were classified as poor, marginal, fair, and good as per the guidelines for drinking water with high fluoride and NH4–N content in groundwater as a point of concern. The majority of water samples were also classified as high salinity and low sodium hazard water, which may cause salt build-up in the poorly drained soil and affect crop water availability.

Priming mesenchymal stem cells with α-synuclein enhances neuroprotective properties through induction of autophagy in Parkinsonian models

BackgroundMesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may be one of candidates for disease-modifying therapy in Parkinsonian diseases. As knowledge regarding the therapeutic properties of MSCs accumulates, some obstacles still remain to be overcome, especially, successful clinical translation requires the development of culture systems that mimic the natural MSC niche, while allowing clinical-scale cell expansion without compromising quality and function of the cells. In recent years, priming approaches using bioactive peptide or complement components have been investigated to enhance the therapeutic potential of MSCs.MethodsWe investigated an innovative priming strategy by conditioning the MSCs with α-synuclein (α-syn). To induce priming, MSCs were treated with different concentrations of α-syn and various time course. We evaluated whether α-syn enhances stemness properties of MSCs and priming MSCs with α-syn would modulate autophagy-related gene expression profiles.ResultsTreatment of naïve MSCs with α-syn upregulated transcriptional factors responsible for regulation of stemness, which was associated with the elevated expression of genes involved in glycolysis and cell re-programming. Primed MSCs with α-syn enhanced the expression of autophagy-regulating miRNA, and exosomes derived from primed MSCs were packed with autophagy-associated miRNA. In α-syn-overexpressing neuronal cells, primed MSCs with α-syn enhanced neuronal viability relative to naïve MSCs, through the induction of autophagy and lysosome activity. Animal study using an α-syn-overexpressing mice showed that the pro-survival effect of MSCs on dopaminergic neurons was more prominent in primed MSC-treated mice compared with that in naïve MSC-treated mice.ConclusionsThe present data suggest that MSC priming with α-syn exerts neuroprotective effects through augmented stemness and possibly the enhancement of autophagy-mediated α-syn modulation in Parkinsonian models.

Targeted genomic translocations and inversions generated using a paired prime editing strategy

A variety of cancers have been found to have chromosomal rearrangements, and the genomic abnormalities often induced expression of fusion oncogenes. To date, a pair of engineered nucleases including ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR-Cas9 nucleases have been used to generate chromosomal rearrangement in living cells and organisms for disease modeling. However, these methods induce unwanted indel mutations at the DNA break junctions, resulting in incomplete disease modeling. Here, we developed prime editor nuclease-mediated translocation and inversion (PETI), a method for programmable chromosomal translocation and inversion using prime editor 2 nuclease (PE2 nuclease) and paired pegRNA. Using PETI method, we successfully introduced DNA recombination in episomal fluorescence reporters as well as precise chromosomal translocations in human cells. We applied PETI to create cancer-associated translocations and inversions such as NPM1-ALK and EML4-ALK in human cells. Our findings show that PETI generated chromosomal translocation and inversion in a programmable manner with efficiencies comparable of Cas9. PETI methods, we believe, could be used to create disease models or for gene therapy.

Ischaemic preconditioning blunts exercise-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, speeds oxygen uptake kinetics but does not alter severe-intensity exercise capacity.

What is the central question of this study? Ischaemic preconditioning is a novel pre-exercise priming strategy. We asked whether ischaemic preconditioning would alter mitochondrial respiratory function and pulmonary oxygen uptake kinetics and improve severe-intensity exercise performance. What is the main finding and its importance? Ischaemic preconditioning expedited overall pulmonary oxygen uptake kinetics and appeared to prevent an increase in leak respiration, proportional to maximal electron transfer system and ADP-stimulated respiration, that was evoked by severe-intensity exercise in sham-control conditions. However, severe-intensity exercise performance was not improved. The results do not support ischaemic preconditioning as a pre-exercise strategy to improve exercise performance in recreationally active participants. We examined the effect of ischaemic preconditioning (IPC) on severe-intensity exercise performance, pulmonary oxygen uptake ( ) kinetics, skeletal muscle oxygenation (muscle tissue O2 saturation index) and mitochondrial respiration. Eight men underwent contralateral IPC (4×5min at 220mmHg) or sham-control (SHAM; 20mmHg) before performing a cycling time-to-exhaustion test (92% maximum aerobic power). Muscle (vastus lateralis) biopsies were obtained before IPC or SHAM and ∼1.5min postexercise. The time to exhaustion did not differ between SHAM and IPC (249±37vs. 240±32s; P=0.62). Pre- and postexercise ADP-stimulated (P) and maximal (E) mitochondrial respiration through protein complexes (C) I, II and IV did not differ (P>0.05). Complex I leak respiration was greater postexercise compared with baseline in SHAM, but not in IPC, when normalized to wet mass (P=0.01vs. P=0.19), mitochondrial content (citrate synthase activity, P=0.003vs. P=0.16; CI+IIP, P=0.03vs. P=0.23) and expressed relative to P (P=0.006vs. P=0.30) and E (P=0.004vs. P=0.26). The mean response time was faster (51.3±15.5vs. 63.7±14.5s; P=0.003), with a smaller slow component (270±105vs. 377±188mlmin-1 ; P=0.03), in IPC compared with SHAM. The muscle tissue O2 saturation index did not differ between trials (P>0.05). Ischaemic preconditioning expedited kinetics and appeared to prevent an increase in leak respiration through CI, when expressed proportional to E and P evoked by severe-intensity exercise, but did not improve exercise performance.

Physiological response of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) during vegetative growth to gradual, persistent and intermittent drought

Drought priming at the vegetative growth stage has been demonstrated to be an effective water regulation strategy to enhance drought resistance in wheat. Therefore, exploring the stress response of winter wheat to different soil water changes during this stage can improve the drought priming strategies. This study examined the physiological response of winter wheat during two seasons of greenhouse pot experiments (2018–2019, 2019–2020) in the following four treatments: adequate water supply (control, C), persistent drought (P), intermittent drought (I), and gradual drought (G). An adequate water supply (75–85 % FC, field capacity) was always maintained for treatment C. Before jointing, plants in treatment P were maintained in a drought state (55–65 % FC), while in treatment I, plants underwent a change in soil water status from 55–65% FC to re-watering up to 75–85 % FC and back to 55–65 % FC. After entering the jointing stage, plants in treatments P and I were re-watered to 75–85 % FC. There was no water supplied in treatment G throughout the experiment. The soil water content (SWC) in treatment G gradually decreased with time (100–34 % FC). At the same time, abscisic acid (ABA), and osmotic substances accumulated exponentially with the reduction of SWC, the activity of antioxidant protective enzymes increased significantly, and the change in the stomatal closure rate was faster than the decrease in photosynthetic rate (Pn). Drought priming before jointing in treatments P and I prompted photosynthetic compensation after re-watering at the jointing stage, with the highest Pn in treatment I, followed by treatment P, and lastly, treatment C. The drought-re-watering cycle stimulated the stress response indicators in primed plants; hence, they were significantly higher than the stable levels in non-primed plants. Specifically, the ABA level in the leaves increased faster than the other indicators under repeated drought. Moreover, the relationship between photosynthesis and ABA was stronger than with antioxidative enzymes and osmolytes. Besides, increasing the number of drought-re-watering cycles enabled the primed plants to achieve a higher maximum Pn after re-watering and enhanced the association between soluble sugar and Pn. Overall, increasing the frequency of drought-re-watering enhanced the drought priming effect on the wheat stress response. Besides, there is a time difference in the response of different drought stress indicators to soil water changes. The findings in this study provide an empirical reference for better utilization of drought priming strategies to stimulate crop production.

Identification of therapeutic miRNAs from the arsenic induced gene expression profile of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer, with a rising worldwide burden due to a lack of efficient treatment techniques and diagnosis after it has metastasized. Therefore, small non-coding RNA (miRNAs) as protein translation inhibitors are gaining attention that degrades or suppress specific gene transcripts, making it a prime strategy for oncogenes or tumor suppression. Systematic research with miRNAs in combination with Arsenic, which has been employed as a drug to treat several diseases, including cancer, was focused on cellular responses through interacting with multiple biological targets. The differential gene expression of the DNA microarray dataset (GSE48441) revealed the association of sterol, cholesterol, and lipid metabolic processes. With the aid of the network pharmacology approach, hsa-mir-335-5p was uncovered to negatively regulate the important nodes driving the transport and utilization of essential compounds for the rapid growth and proliferation of cancer cells. The binding energies of the duplexes were validated by the minimal free energies of the mRNAs for hsa-mir-335-5p, indicating energetically desirable binding association. The molecular interactions between hsa-mir-335-5p, which interacts with the Argonaute protein in the RNA induced silencing complex, and the target-specific genes were also investigated, revealing its susceptibility to be employed in in vitro studies.

Priming Strategies for Parsley Seedling Production

Parsley seeds are known for nonuniform and long germination; consequently, vegetable nurseries commonly use priming techniques to improve the production of parsley seedlings. The objectives of this study were 1) to characterize the imbibition curve of parsley seeds, 2) to evaluate the effect of different priming agents on parsley seedling production, and ultimately 3) to compare priming techniques for emergence and vigor of parsley’s seedlings, thus providing an optimal priming strategy for parsley seedling production. Using three priming agents—water (seeds imbibed for 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours), polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG6000) (seeds imbibed at –0.5, –1.0, –1.5, and –2.0 MPa for 29, 58, 87, and 116 hours), and gibberellic acid (GA) (seeds imbibed at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 g·L−1 a.i. of solution for 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes), and two parsley cultivars (Krausa and Titan), three experiments evaluated parsley seedling parameters, including emergence speed index (ESI) and total emergence (TE) in a complete randomized block design (n = 4) each. In Expt. 1 (hydropriming), increasing water imbibition time (IT) reduced ESI on both parsley cultivars. In addition, the TE quadratically reduced with the increase of water IT. In Expt. 2 (osmopriming), there was no significant main effect or interaction of treatments on ESI. Regardless of PEG6000 concentration, the TE had a linear increase with the increase of IT for cultivar Krausa but not for cultivar Titan. In Expt. 3 (hormonal priming), there was a significant increase in ESI and TE with the increase in GA rate. Ultimately, strategies for analysis of best priming were water at 24 hours of IT, PEG6000 at –2.0 MPa for 116 hours of IT, and GA at 2.0 g·L−1 a.i. of solution for 15 minutes of IT. Once compared with an untreated seeds treatment, priming strategies of water imbibition for 24 hours and PEG6000 at –2.0 MPa for 116 hours had the highest ESI and TE.

Team approach to fall reduction in paediatric ward of national referral hospital, Thimphu, Bhutan: a quality improvement initiative

Falls are common and preventable adverse events that occur in a hospital setting. Falls can cause pain, damage, increase cost and mistrust in the health system. Inpatient fall is a...

Improving gene expression analysis efficacy from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissues.

Improving RNA isolation and cDNA synthesis techniques has emerged due to advancements in the knowledge of molecular basis of most diseases. This in turn increased the need of higher quantity and quality of the extracted genetic material to be used for a variety of diagnostic tests and experiments. The aim of the study was to compare three modified methods for RNA extraction from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) biopsied tissue and different cDNA synthesis strategies to facilitate study of gene expression. Compared RNA extraction methods were: lysis buffer, phenol-based extraction, and combination of both with concomitant use of silica-based spin columns. RNA quantity and purity were estimated spectrophotometrically. Different priming strategies for cDNA synthesis were applied: oligodT, combination of oligodT and random hexamer, and gene specific primer. Two-step RT-qPCR of ribosomal protein L37A on preamplified and non-preamplified cDNA templates was performed. The combination of lysis buffer with phenol based extraction gave higher RNA yield. By doing cDNA preamplification, the confidence of detection by qPCR was raised, and efficiency was improved. The preamplified template increased the sensitivity of analysis. Together, the combination of approaches improved substantially the reproducibility and validity of quantitative gene expression analyses from FFPE tissues.

Review: Creating the Creation Museum: How Fundamentalist Beliefs Come to Life, by Kathleen C. Oberlin

Review: <i>Creating the Creation Museum: How Fundamentalist Beliefs Come to Life</i>, by Kathleen C. Oberlin

Climax thinking on the coast: a focus group priming experiment with coastal property owners about climate adaptation

Coastal communities face increasingly difficult decisions about responses to climate change. Armoring and defending the coast are being revealed as ineffective in terms of outcomes and cost, particularly in rural areas. Nature-based options include approaches that make space for coastal dynamism (e.g., through managed retreat) or leverage ecosystem services such as erosion control (e.g., by restoring coastal wetlands). Resistance can be strong to these alternatives to hard infrastructure. Nova Scotia, off Canada’s Atlantic coast, is a vulnerable coastal jurisdiction facing such decisions. The emerging climax thinking framework was used to design 14 experimental online focus groups. These focus groups explored how three priming treatments influenced discussions about adaptation options and urgency and quantitative pre/post-tests, compared with information-only control treatments. A future-focused priming strategy seemed most effective since it fostered discussions about duties to future generations. The altruism-focused priming strategy involved reflections of wartime mobilization and more recent collective action. It also worked but was more difficult to implement and potentially higher risk. Past-focused priming was counterproductive. Further research should test the future-focused and altruism-focused strategies among larger groups and in different jurisdictions, reducing some of the biases in our sample.

Extraction and characterization of polyphenols from fruits and vegetable waste through green extraction technologies with special reference to antioxidant profile

Food insecurity is deemed as one of the biggest challenges faced by the developing economies and Pakistan is no more exception. Moreover, the food waste further amplified the scarcity. The utilization of food waste is considered as one of the prime strategies to support the circular economy and food security. The mandate of the current investigation was to extract and characterize the polyphenols from selected fruits and vegetable waste via green extraction technologies. Purposely, banana, orange, apple, onion, and garlic processing industry by-products (peel& husk) were collected and subjected to compositional analysis followed by nutritional profiling with special reference to minerals. Later, the antioxidants from the studied peel were extracted by adapting the supercritical and ultrasound added extraction techniques alongside conventional extraction. The results indicated that the tested peels exhibited a promising amount of fiber and protein alongside K, Mg, iron, sodium, and calcium. Among the extraction modules, supercritical at 3000 psi elucidated the highest total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoids (TF), DPPH, FRAP, ABTS activities as 473.73 ± 23.6 mg GAE/100 g, 126.39 ± 9.54 mg CE/100 g, 53.81 ± 3.82 (%), 22.24 ± 0.25 μM Fe+2/g, and 12.14 ± 0.15 μM TE/g, respectively followed by ultrasound and conventional extraction. Among the peels, onion peel showed the highest antioxidant activity as 914.44 ± 39.4 mg GAE/100 g) 178.19 ± 14.5 mg CE/100 g, 82.47 ± 5.48%, 30.22 ± 0.19 μM Fe+2/g, and 17.33 ± 0.26 μM TE/g for TPC, TF, DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS, respectively. Novelty impact statement The current investigation is a unique effort to valorize the fruits and vegetable waste through green extraction technologies in Pakistan. No doubt, fruits and vegetable waste are explored earlier; however, the application of different novel/green technologies for the extraction of biomolecules from waste is limited. Outcomes delineated that the fruits and vegetable peels exhibited promising nutritional and antioxidant profiles. The extraction module and processing parameters significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected the extraction yield and antioxidant indices. It is also worth mentioning that the supercritical fluid extraction caused a pronounced effect followed by ultrasound added extraction as compared with conventional extraction.

Ethanol induces heat tolerance in plants by stimulating unfolded protein response.

Ethanol priming induces heat stress tolerance by the stimulation of unfolded protein response. Global warming increases the risk of heat stress-related yield losses in agricultural crops. Chemical priming, using safe agents, that can flexibly activate adaptive regulatory responses to adverse conditions, is a complementary approach to genetic improvement for stress adaptation. In the present study, we demonstrated that pretreatment of Arabidopsis with a low concentration of ethanol enhances heat tolerance without suppressing plant growth. We also demonstrated that ethanol pretreatment improved leaf growth in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) plants grown in the field conditions under high temperatures. Transcriptome analysis revealed a set of genes that were up-regulated in ethanol-pretreated plants, relative to water-pretreated controls. Binding Protein 3 (BIP3), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-stress marker chaperone gene, was among the identified up-regulated genes. The expression levels of BIP3 were confirmed by RT-qPCR. Root-uptake of ethanol was metabolized to organic acids, nucleic acids, amines and other molecules, followed by an increase in putrescine content, which substantially promoted unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling and high-temperature acclimation. We also showed that inhibition of polyamine production and UPR signaling negated the heat stress tolerance induced by ethanol pretreatment. These findings collectively indicate that ethanol priming activates UPR signaling via putrescine accumulation, leading to enhanced heat stress tolerance. The information gained from this study will be useful for establishing ethanol-mediated chemical priming strategies that can be used to help maintain crop production under heat stress conditions.