Impacto do Taraxerol em combinação com o extrato da planta de Euphorbia tirucalli nos parâmetros biológicos da Lymnaea acuminata

The present work was carried out to evaluate the molluscicidal activity of active ingredient Taraxerol with the acetone extract of Euphorbia tirucalli against Lymnaea acuminata snail. The (fecundity, hatchability and survivability) of snail L. acuminata exposed to this extract was studied. The effects of the tested extracts on life-history traits of harmful snail L. acuminata have also been evaluated, and this study also expounds the inhibitory effects of these extracts singly as well as in binary combination (1:1 ratio). It concluded that these herbal products act as a potential source of molluscicides, and that they would also have the advantage of easy availability, low cost, biodegradability and greater acceptance amongst users than synthetic pesticide.O presente trabalho foi levado a efeito para avaliar a atividade moluscicida do ingrediente ativo Taraxerol junto com o extrato de acetona da Euphorbia tirucalli contra o caramujo Lymnaea acuminata. Foram estudados a fecundidade, o desenvolvimento e sobrevivência do caramujo Lymnaea acuminata exposto a estes extratos. Os efeitos danosos destes extratos testados na vida do caramujo L. acuminata foram também avaliados e este estudo demonstra os efeitos inibidores destes extratos isolados ou em combinação binária (relação l:1). Concluiu-se que estes produtos vegetais agem como fontes potenciais de moluscicidas e que eles também têm a vantagem de obtenção fácil, baixo custo, biodegradabilidade e maior aceitação entre os usuários do que os pesticidas sintéticos

Exploiting Moodle Performance under Various Configuration

Education is not the learning of facts. It’s rather training of the mind to think as said by Einstein. Online learning plays a vital role in any educational sector. From the past few decades this is really expand in terms of the development of latest technology both hardware and or software to make e-learning (virtual and also remote) possible across the globe. There are several resources available now a days in market both proprietary and or open source, Moodle is one of them which are indexed under the open source (this is one of the biggest advantage). For distance education Web-based labs are innovative tools that help to describe scientific phenomena. Those phenomena require costly equipment which is also very hard when it comes to the arrangement of those equipments. Easy Java Simulations (EJS) is the promising tool for such problem. Open Source Physics (OSP) repository shows how important EJS is. OSP hosts hundreds of free EJS labs. In this case Moodle LMS (learning management system) provide social contexts where students interact with each other. The work described in this paper looks for the best performance gives by Moodle configuration which is decided by changing the paging size of a server machine. To check this we use Jmeter as a server Load testing Tool. Finally decided paging is use for server configuration for showing a setup of EJS virtual lab which helps maximum number of user to understand the Gyroscope (as an experiment). Keywords: Moodle, learning management system, remote laboratory, virtual laboratory, web-based experimentation

Basal cell carcinoma in oculo-cutaneous albinism

The basal cell carcinoma is the most common skin tumour especially affecting the white individuals worldwide. The exact incidence of basal cell carcinoma is not known from India but non melanoma skin cancers comprises about 1-2% of cutaneous tumour in India. The most common skin tumour is squamous cell carcinoma in albinism and the incidence of basal cell carcinoma is less. Hereby, we report a peculiar case of basal cell carcinoma in albinism to highlights the importance of early recognition and diagnosis of suspected lesions by performing histopathological examination in unusual circumstances

Does self-regulatory efficacy matter? Effects of punishment certainty and punishment severity on organizational deviance

Extant empirical research has reported conflicting findings with respect to the effects of punishment certainty and punishment severity on organizational deviance, suggesting the need to introduce a moderator.The present study tested whether self regulatory efficacy matters on the relationships among punishment certainty, punishment severity, and organizational deviance. Drawing on deterrence and self-efficacy theories, this study examined the effects of punishment certainty, punishment severity, and self-regulatory efficacy on organizational deviance among 197 employed postgraduate students who enrolled in the Master of Business Administration program at two large universities located in the north-west geopolitical zone of Nigeria.We used self-administered questionnaires to collect data. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), we found a significant negative relationship between punishment certainty and organizational deviance.Similarly, the results indicated that punishment severity had a significant negative relationship with organizational deviance.The study also found a significant negative relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and organizational deviance. As expected, selfregulatory efficacy was found to moderate the relationship between punishment certainty and organizational deviance.On the contrary, no significant interaction effect was found between self-regulatory efficacy and punishment severity.Implications of the study in the Nigerian context have been discussed

Modeling the Iinfluence of group norms and self-regulatory efficacy on workplace deviant behaviour

This study investigated the influence of group norms and self-regulatory efficacy on workplace deviant behaviour.A web-based survey was used to collect data from 217 teaching staff from various higher education institutions in Nigeria.The data collected was analysed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) path modeling.As predicted, the path coefficient results supported the direct influence of perceived injunctive norms and self-regulatory efficacy on organisational deviance. Similarly, perceived injunctive norm and self-regulatory efficacy were found to be significant predictors of interpersonal deviance.On the contrary, perceived descriptive norms were not significant predictors of both organisational deviance and interpersonal deviance. In addition, self-regulatory efficacy does not moderate the relationship between perceived descriptive norms and organisational deviance.We also found support for the moderating role of self-regulatory efficacy on the relationship between perceived injunctive norms and dimensions of workplace deviance. The moderating role of self-regulatory efficacy on the relationship between perceived descriptive norms and interpersonal deviance was also supported. Finally, the policy implications of the study are discussed

Current understanding on micro RNAs and its regulation in response to Mycobacterial infections

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are evolutionarily conserved, naturally abundant, small, regulatory non-coding RNAs that inhibit gene expression at the post-transcriptional level in a sequence-specific manner. Due to involvement in a broad range of biological processes and diseases, miRNAs are now commanding considerable attention. Although much of the focus has been on the role of miRNAs in different types of cancer, recent evidence also points to a critical role of miRNAs in infectious disease, including those of bacterial origin. Now, miRNAs research is exploring rapidly as a new thrust area of biomedical research with relevance to deadly bacterial diseases like Tuberculosis (caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis). The purpose of this review is to highlight the current developments in area of miRNAs regulation in Mycobacterial diseases; and how this might influence the diagnosis, understanding of disease biology, control and management in the future

Challenges in marketing of Islamic banking products in Malaysia

The history of banking is as old as Islam but the history of Islamic banking is only half a century old. It is agreed that Islamic banking started with a saving bank based on profit sharing in Mit Ghamr, Egypt in 1963. But, the first proper Islamic bank is deemed to be the Nasser Social Bank in 1971, again in Egypt. In 2013, after 50 years, there are about 400 Islamic banks and institutions in 53 countries with a fund based of USD 992 billion and asset based of USD 1.3 trillion. When Islamic banking started, Malaysia was busy with independence. Therefore, the start of Islamic banking in Malaysia was delayed by two decades. Malaysia passed Islamic banking Act in 1983 to start Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad with a capital based RM 80 million. The next three decades saw a tremendous growth. By 2013, there were 16 domestic and 5 international Islamic banks in Malaysia with an asset based of RM 442 billion, which does not include 15 Takaful operators. In spite of this tremendous growth, Islamic banking does not compare with conventional banking in terms of volume and acceptability. There have been studies which show that while 80% of the banking customers in Malaysia are aware of Islamic banking, but were not aware of Islamic banking products like Ijarah, Murabahah, etc. This conceptual paper brings out the challenges of marketing Islamic banking products in Malaysia and traces the roots of the problem to the lack of customer centricity

Guggulsterone Targets Smokeless Tobacco Induced PI3K/Akt Pathway in Head and Neck Cancer Cells

Epidemiological association of head and neck cancer with smokeless tobacco (ST) emphasizes the need to unravel the molecular mechanisms implicated in cancer development, and identify pharmacologically safe agents for early intervention and prevention of disease recurrence. Guggulsterone (GS), a biosafe nutraceutical, inhibits the PI3K/Akt pathway that plays a critical role in HNSCC development. However, the potential of GS to suppress ST and nicotine (major component of ST) induced HNSCC remains unexplored. We hypothesized GS can abrogate the effects of ST and nicotine on apoptosis in HNSCC cells, in part by activation of PI3K/Akt pathway and its downstream targets, Bax and Bad.Our results showed ST and nicotine treatment resulted in activation of PI3K, PDK1, Akt, and its downstream proteins--Raf, GSK3β and pS6 while GS induced a time dependent decrease in activation of PI3K/Akt pathway. ST and nicotine treatment also resulted in induction of Bad and Bax phosphorylation, increased the association of Bad with 14-3-3ζresulting in its sequestration in the cytoplasm of head and neck cancer cells, thus blocking its pro-apoptotic function. Notably, GS pre-treatment inhibited ST/nicotine induced activation of PI3K/Akt pathway, and inhibited the Akt mediated phosphorylation of Bax and Bad.In conclusion, GS treatment not only inhibited proliferation, but also induced apoptosis by abrogating the effects of ST/nicotine on PI3K/Akt pathway in head and neck cancer cells. These findings provide a rationale for designing future studies to evaluate the chemopreventive potential of GS in ST/nicotine associated head and neck cancer

Jaundice in adult patients above 50 years of age: a comparative study of liver function tests

Background: Diagnosis of jaundice involves a range of tests. The liver function tests are done in all to arrive at a diagnosis and then manage the case appropriately. With advancing age, the incidence of liver disease increases. Understanding these changes is important for the management of liver diseases in the elderly. We conducted this study to find the difference in mean levels of Liver enzymes in younger and older age group of patients suffering with jaundice.Methods: It was a prospective observational study. All patients admitted with jaundice in the medicine ward satisfying inclusion/exclusion criteria were enrolled. The results of liver function tests in younger age and older age participants were then compared.Results: Total 100 participants were enrolled during the study period. 53 were enrolled in group one and the rest in group two. Anorexia (90%) was the most common symptom followed by abdominal distension (54%). The total bilirubin (8.8±4.7) as well as conjugated bilirubin (3.4±2.8) were higher in group one though they were not significant statistically (p=0.10 and 0.25 respectively). Mean AST and ALT levels were much higher in group 1 and statistically significant (p values <0.004 and 0.002 respectively). Conversely the mean PT values were higher in group two (p=0.02).Conclusions: Although the symptom severity may be more in elderly, the LFTs are not deranged proportionately. So there is a need to devise separate cut offs and these have to be lower for the older age group patients with jaundice. More studies with larger sample size are required to confirm the results

Evolution of Drainage in Response to Brittle - Ductile Dynamics and Surface Processes in Kachchh Rift Basin, Western India

The eastern part of Kachchh Rift basin was reactivated after 2001 Bhuj earthquake of Mw 7.7 and continuous seismicity has been recorded since then. The northern part of Wagad upland also experienced moderate earthquakes Mw ≥ 5.7 in February 2006 and March 2007. These moderate to major Intraplate earthquakes provide a unique opportunity to study the effects and linkage between brittle-ductile dynamics, surface processes and drainage evolution. We presented a geomorphological analysis of the Wagad highland providing new constraints on the evolution of river network. The shallow to deeper nature of fault and their response to development of hydrological networks has been analyzed using seismic tomography. Based on surface drainage offset and seismic structures several E-W oriented faults controlling fluvial dynamics are identified. From seismic structures and drainage offset it is clear that the fluvial dynamics is controlled by shallower to deeper faults. The estimated attributes are well supported with seismic structures and focal mechanisms solutions. Based on fluvial offset and seismic structure analysis a new tectonic model has been proposed for WH. The tectonic model shows that the faults WH are well connected at deeper level and generated negative flower structures and significantly controlling surface fluvial dynamics