EFFECT OF PITHECELLOBIUM DULCE BENTH LEAVES IN DEXAMETHASONE INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

Objective: The objective of the present study was to study the effect of Pithecellobium dulce Benth (P. dulce) leaves in dexamethasone-induced diabetic rats.Methods: The authenticated P. dulce leaves were collected from a local area of Sangli, Maharashtra. The leaves of the plant were extracted with water and ethanol by maceration and soxhelation respectively. Acute toxicity studies of the both extracts were performed using rat and according to OECD 425 guidelines. The dose of 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg was selected for further studies. The albino rats were divided into seven groups with five animals in each group. The diabetes was induced by dexamethasone (10 mg/kg, s. c.) and treated with extract and standard drug for 10 d. Then blood glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol and glycogen level in liver, muscle and kidney were estimated according to standard procedures.Results: The study revealed that P. dulce at 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg showed significant (p Ë‚ 0.05) antidiabetic activity. All the extract treated groups showed a significant reduction in blood glucose level on 11th day when compared to diabetic control group. The significant increase in blood glucose, triglyceride, and total cholesterol level was observed in the diabetic control group when compared to normal control group. The liver and muscle glycogen level was decreased significantly (p Ë‚ 0.05) in the diabetic control group.Conclusion: It can be concluded that P. dulceaqueous and ethanolic extract at two different doses (200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg) possesses antidiabetic and hypolipidemic activity.Â

Material Food Probes:Personalized 3D Printed Flavors for Intimate Communication

Interactions with food are complex, integrating rich multisensory experiences within emotionally meaningful social contexts. Yet, the opportunities to explore food as material resource for emotional communication have been less explored. We describe a two-month project with 5 couples centered on the co-design of personalized flavors for intimate communication, which were experienced through an explorative three day study involving a 3D food printer in participants’ homes. We discuss the value of our findings indicating preferences for both remembered and imagined positive flavors and their integration in focal intimacy practices to support emotional coregulation. We also discuss material food probes and their value for exploring and inspiring both design-with and design-around food

Isolation and characterization of lactic acid bacteria with potential probiotic activity and further investigation of their activity by α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitions of fermented batters

Probiotic microbiota plays a vital role in gastrointestinal health and possesses other beneficial attributes such as antimicrobial and antibiotic agents along with a significant role in the management of diabetes. The present study identifies the probiotic potential of Lactobacillus spp. isolated from three traditionally fermented foods namely, jalebi, medhu vada, and kallappam batters at biochemical, physiological, and molecular levels. By 16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing, the isolates were identified. A similarity of >98% to Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus RAMULAB13, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum RAMULAB14, Lactiplantibacillus pentosus RAMULAB15, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei RAMULAB16, Lacticaseibacillus casei RAMULAB17, Lacticaseibacillus casei RAMULAB20, and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei RAMULAB21 was suggested when searched for homology using NCBI database. Utilizing the cell-free supernatant (CS), intact cells (IC), and cell-free extract (CE) of the isolates, inhibitory potential activity against the carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes α-glucosidase and α-amylase was assessed. CS, CE, and IC of the isolates had a varying capability of inhibition against α-glucosidase (15.08 to 59.55%) and α-amylase (18.79 to 63.42%) enzymes. To assess the probiotic potential of seven isolates, various preliminary characteristics were examined. All the isolates exhibited substantial tolerance toward gastrointestinal conditions and also demonstrated the highest survival rate (> 99%), hydrophobicity (> 65%), aggregation (> 76%), adherence to HT-29 cells (> 84%), and chicken crop epithelial cells suggesting that the isolates had a high probiotic attribute. Additionally, the strains showed remarkable results in safety assessment assays (DNase and hemolytic), and antibacterial and antibiotic evaluations. The study concludes that the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) characterized possesses outstanding probiotic properties and has antidiabetic effects. In order to obtain various health advantages, LAB can be utilized as probiotic supplements

Comparative bioaccumulation potential of Pyxine cocoes and Bacidia submedialis in and around Faizabad city, Uttar Pradesh, India

Spatial trend in lichens diversity pattern with respect to pollution source provides vital information regarding environmental condition of the study area. In order to assess lichen diversity changes in one of the cultural centre of Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad city, lichen zone mapping technique was employed to observe spatial trends of lichen diversity in a grid of 1x1 km within 0-5,6-12 and 13-20 km distance from city centre in all the four directions. Overall 15 species were recorded from different directions. Among the different lichen species, Pyxine cocoes and Bacidia submedialis were common in most of the grids. Changes in physiological parameters and metal profile with respect to distance from city centre to the outskirts of the city in both P. cocoes and B. submedialis were analyzed. It was observed that the physiological parameters varied from site to site and in different directions, but the metal profile clearly indicates a decreasing trend of metal concentration with increasing distance from the city centre. The present study provides baseline data for future biomonitoring studies and further confirms the lichen biomonitoring study as an effective tool to monitor changes in environmental condition

Designing Ultraflexible Perovskite X-Ray Detectors through Interface Engineering

X-ray detectors play a pivotal role in development and advancement of humankind, from far-reaching impact in medicine to furthering the ability to observe distant objects in outer space. While other electronics show the ability to adapt to flexible and lightweight formats, state-of-the-art X-ray detectors rely on materials requiring bulky and fragile configurations, severely limiting their applications. Lead halide perovskites is one of the most rapidly advancing novel materials with success in the field of semiconductor devices. Here, an ultraflexible, lightweight, and highly conformable passively operated thin film perovskite X-ray detector with a sensitivity as high as 9.3 ± 0.5 µC Gy−1 cm−2 at 0 V and a remarkably low limit of detection of 0.58 ± 0.05 μGy s−1 is presented. Various electron and hole transporting layers accessing their individual impact on the detector performance are evaluated. Moreover, it is shown that this ultrathin form-factor allows for fabrication of devices detecting X-rays equivalently from front and back side

Disco Jalebi : an ethnographic exploration of Gay Bombay

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 368-401).Gay Bombay is an online-offline community (comprising a website, a newsgroup and physical events in Bombay city), that was formed as a result of the intersection of certain historical conjectures with the disjunctures caused via the flows of the radically shifting ethnoscape, financescape, politiscape, mediascape, technoscape and ideoscape of urban India in the 1990. Within this thesis, using a combination of multi-sited ethnography, textual analysis, historical documentation analysis and memoir writing, I attempt to provide various macro and micro perspectives on what it means to be a gay man located in Gay Bombay at a particular point of time. Specifically, I explore what being gay means to the members of Gay Bombay and how they negotiate locality and globalization, their sense of identity as well as a feeling of community within its online/offline world. On a broader level, I critically examine the formulation and reconfiguration of contemporary Indian gayness in the light of its emergent cultural, media and political alliances. I realize that Gay Bombay is a community that is imagined and fluid; identity here is both fixed and negotiated, and to be gay in Gay Bombay signifies being 'glocal' - it is not just gayness but Indianized gayness. I further realize that within the various struggles in and around Gay Bombay, what is being negotiated is the very stability of the idea of Indianness. I conclude with a modus vivendi - my draft manifesto for the larger queer movement that I believe Gay Bombay is an integral part of, and a sincere hope that as the struggle for queer rights enters its exciting new phase, groups like Gay Bombay might be able to cooperate with other queer groups in the country, and march on the path to progress, together.by Parmesh Shahani.S.M

Ultrastructural Studies on Root Nodules of Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth. (Fabaceae)

Ultrastructural studies were conducted on Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb) Benth. root nodules collected from trees growing under natural conditions. Rhizobial infection on root surface of P. dulce started with curling of root hair. Both curled and straight root hairs were observed. The internal structure of a mature nodule showed an epidermis, cortex, vascular region and a bacteriod region. Vascular bundles were amphicribral. A distinct periderm consisted of sclereid tissue could be observed in the cortex outside the vascular tissue. The bacteroid region contained infected and un-infected (interstitial) cells intermingled with each other. Infected cells of developing nodules as well as of mature nodules were vacuolated. Infection threads were also observed in the bacteroid zone. The rhizobia were released from the infection thread into the host cytoplasm form rhizobial (unwalled) droplets. Rhizobia were also observed in the intercellular spaces between infected cells. Starch grains were observed in the interstitial cells

The bottlenecks of Cs2AgBiBr6 solar cells : how contacts and slow transients limit the performance

Cs2AgBiBr6 has attracted much interest as a potential lead-free alternative for perovskite solar cells. Although this material offers encouraging optoelectronic features, severe bottlenecks limit the performance of the resulting solar cells to a power conversion efficiency of below 3%. Here, the performance-limiting factors of this material are investigated in full solar cells featuring various architectures. It is found that the photovoltaic parameters of Cs2AgBiBr6-based solar cells strongly depend on the scan speed of the J/V measurements, suggesting a strong impact of ionic conductivity in the material. Moreover, a sign change of the photocurrent for bias voltages above 0.9 V during the measurement of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) is revealed, which can be explained by non-selective contacts. The radiative loss of the VOC from sensitive subgap-EQE measurements is calculated and it is revealed that the loss is caused by a low external luminescence yield and therefore a high non-radiative recombination, supported by the first report of a strongly red shifted electroluminescence signal between 800 and 1000 nm. Altogether, these results point to a poor selectivity of the contacts and charge transport layers, caused by poor energy level alignment that can be overcome by optimizing the architecture of the solar cell