EVALUATION OF ANTIFUNGAL EFFICIENCY OF 3,7-DIHYDROXY 3′,4′ ORTHODIHYDROXY FLAVONE STUDIED IN RELATION TO SOME MORPHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS IN PISUM SATIVUM L. PLANTS

Objectives: 3,7-dihydroxy 3′,4′ orthodihydroxy flavone isolated and identified from 50% aqueous ethanolic extract [5] and tested positive in antifungalbioassay against Fusarium oxysporum ciceri [6] was taken up for further detailed analysis of the antifungal property for in vitro study in relation to Pisum sativum L. plants. The study incorporated a comparison of some morphological parameters such as root, shoot, internode, petiole length,leaf and leaflet length, leaf and leaflet number/leaf, the total number of flower/plant, pod/plant, and seeds/pod.Methods: Seeds of P. sativum L. plants were taken up as experimental material for in vitro studies. Six different sets were maintained by presoakingthe seeds with water, 3,7-dihydroxy 3′,4′ orthodihydroxy flavone, and fungicide for 3 hrs. The seeds were grown in pot cultures. At seedling stage,three sets, one from each treatment, were exposed to fungal inoculum following soil drenching method. At the 21st day, 42 day of age,the above-mentioned parameters were studied.Results: Results indicated increased growth of internode, petiole, and shoot length in the plants which were administered with the 3,7-dihydroxy3′,4′ orthodihydroxy flavone. The fungus infested plants exhibited reduced growth of internode, petiole, and shoot length. However, griseofulvin, apopularly used fungicide showed inhibition of growth of all the parameters in healthy as well as in the infected plants. Flowering time was delayed inthe infested plants. Remarkably again, administration of the plant extract quickened the flowering time as similarly as in the healthy plants. Finally, thenumber of seeds per pod in the plant also showed the same promising picture. The 3,7-dihydroxy 3′,4′ orthodihydroxy flavone treated plants showedhigher number of seeds a pod when administered to the healthy and infected plants.Keywords: Fungicide, Inhibition, Inoculums, Infestation

Between Text and Talk: Expertise, Normativity, and Scales of Belonging in the Montreal Tamil Diasporas.

In the global city-region of Montreal, Tamil-speaking residents are orienting themselves to multiple homelands, nations, and diasporas of different spatial and temporal scales. These scales of belonging are constituted by regimenting linguistic forms, practices, and speakers into a series of hierarchical relationships that are recursively modeled on the ideological distinctions between “text” and “talk”. Various language ideologies contribute to this politics of regimentation, including the globally dominant ethnolinguistic language ideology, the locally-specific language ideology of sociolinguistic compartmentalization, and the regionally-specific diglossia language ideology. Out of these mutually reinforcing ideologies and institutions have emerged two morally incommensurable Tamil sociolinguistic personas. In the Indian Tamil diaspora, the cultivation of talk-like expertise in Tamil is celebrated as an index of speakers’ globalizing and modernist moral sensibilities. In the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, the cultivation of text-like expertise in Tamil is celebrated as an index of speakers’ purist and primordialist moral sensibilities. There is a complementarity to this division of language labor, with Indian Tamils entrusted to modernize the prestige of the mother tongue and Sri Lankan Tamils entrusted to preserve the purity of the literary standard. The expansion of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, with its heritage language institutions and textual facades, and the increase in Indian Tamil linguistic entrepreneurs testifies to the profitability of this arrangement for both Montreal Tamil groups. Each Tamil diaspora also socializes its youth to endorse mutually-opposed ethnonational Tamil personas while cultivating similar linguistic repertoires. Thus, even though 2nd generation Indian Tamils are socialized to speak English and colloquial Tamil and Sri Lankan Tamils are socialized to speak French and literary-stylized Tamil, incentives to habitually code-switch between Tamil, English, and/or French have caused these linguistic repertoires to converge. Sometimes, such acts of code-switching/code-mixing are intended to shift the normative scale of the communicative encounter or the discursive frame. For Sri Lankan Tamil nationalists, the political uncertainties of the refugee experience will precipitate a shift in the inter-discursive frame between diaspora and homeland. For other Montreal Tamils, the racialization of “tamouls” as permanent “étrangers” will prompt attempts to shift the scales of communicative encounters between majority and minority interlocutors.Ph.D.AnthropologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61571/1/sndas_1.pd

Betelvine (Piper betle L.): A comprehensive insight into its ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacological, biomedical and therapeutic attributes

Piper betle L. (synonym: Piper betel Blanco), or betel vine, an economically and medicinally important cash crop, belongs to the family Piperaceae, often known as the green gold. The plant can be found all over the world and is cultivatedprimarily in South East Asian countries for its beautiful glossy heart-shaped leaves, which are chewed or consumed as betelquidand widely used in Chinese and Indian folk medicine, as carminative, stimulant,astringent, against parasitic worms, conjunctivitis, rheumatism, wound, etc., andis also used for religious purposes. Hydroxychavicol is the most important bioactive compound among the wide range of phytoconstituents found in essential oil and extracts. The pharmacological attributes of P. betle are antiproliferation, anticancer, neuropharmacological, analgesic, antioxidant, antiulcerogenic, hepatoprotective, antifertility, antibacterial, antifungal and many more. Immense attention has been paid to nanoformulations and their applications. The application of P. betle did not show cytotoxicity in preclinical experiments, suggesting that it could serve as a promising therapeutic candidate for different diseases. The present review comprehensively summarizes the botanical description, geographical distribution, economic value and cultivation, ethnobotanical uses, preclinical pharmacological properties with insights of toxicological, clinical efficacy, and safety of P. betle. The findings suggest that P. betle represents an orally active and safe natural agent that exhibits great therapeutic potential for managing various human medical conditions. However, further research is needed to elucidate its underlying molecular mechanisms of action, clinical aspects, structure–activity relationships, bioavailability and synergistic interactions with other drugs.This research was funded by projects APOGEO (Cooperation Program INTERREG-MAC 2014–2020, with European Funds for Regional Development-FEDER, ‘Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información (ACIISI) del Gobierno de Canarias’ (project ProID2020010134), and CajaCanarias (project 2019SP43).Peer reviewe

Factors Predicting and Reducing Mortality in Patients with Invasive Staphylococcus aureus Disease in a Developing Country

BACKGROUND: Invasive Staphylococcus aureus infection is increasingly recognised as an important cause of serious sepsis across the developing world, with mortality rates higher than those in the developed world. The factors determining mortality in developing countries have not been identified. METHODS: A prospective, observational study of invasive S. aureus disease was conducted at a provincial hospital in northeast Thailand over a 1-year period. All-cause and S. aureus-attributable mortality rates were determined, and the relationship was assessed between death and patient characteristics, clinical presentations, antibiotic therapy and resistance, drainage of pus and carriage of genes encoding Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A total of 270 patients with invasive S. aureus infection were recruited. The range of clinical manifestations was broad and comparable to that described in developed countries. All-cause and S. aureus-attributable mortality rates were 26% and 20%, respectively. Early antibiotic therapy and drainage of pus were associated with a survival advantage (both p<0.001) on univariate analysis. Patients infected by a PVL gene-positive isolate (122/248 tested, 49%) had a strong survival advantage compared with patients infected by a PVL gene-negative isolate (all-cause mortality 11% versus 39% respectively, p<0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis using all variables significant on univariate analysis revealed that age, underlying cardiac disease and respiratory infection were risk factors for all-cause and S. aureus-attributable mortality, while one or more abscesses as the presenting clinical feature and procedures for infectious source control were associated with survival. CONCLUSIONS: Drainage of pus and timely antibiotic therapy are key to the successful management of S. aureus infection in the developing world. Defining the presence of genes encoding PVL provides no practical bedside information and draws attention away from identifying verified clinical risk factors and those interventions that save lives

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL POTENTIALITY OF 50PERCENT AQUEOUS ETHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF CLITORIA TERNATEA L.

Objectives: To study the antimicrobial property of 50percent aqueous ethanolic leaf extract of Clitoria ternatea L. against few micro organisms.Method: The leaves of Clitoria were sequentially soaked in petroleum ether (60 to 80 degree C), chloroform, benzene and 50percent aqueous ethanol, extracts were collected, filtered and concentrated. Antimicrobial potentiality of the extracts were tested against few micro organisms.Result: Clitoria ternatea L. exhibited antifungal effect against Fusarium oxysporum ciceri and antibacterial activity against Serratia marcescens and Arthrobactor chlorophenolicus.Conclusion: Hence the plant leaf extract can be used as antimicrobial agent against the micro organisms.Key words: phytochemical products. antimicrobial property, bioassay

EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL POTENTIALITY OF 50 PERCENT AQUEOUS ETHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF Acacia nilotica Willd.

Objectives: To study the antimicrobial property of 50percent aqueous ethanolic leaf extract of Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. against few micro organisms.Method: The leaves of Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. were sequentially soaked in petroleum  ether (60-800 C), chloroform, benzene and 50percent aqueous ethanol, extracts were collected, filtered and concentrated. Antimicrobial potentiality of the extracts were tested against few micro-organisms.Result: Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. exhibited antifungal effect against Rhizoctonia solani.Conclusion: The plant leaf extract can be used as antimicrobial agent against Rhizoctonia solani Key words: phytochemical products, antimicrobial property, bioassay

EVALUATION OF BRINE SHRIMP CYTOTOXICITY OF 50percent AQUEOUS ETHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF CLITORIA TERNATEA L

Objectives: To study the anticancerous property of leaves of Clitoria ternatea L. Methods: The leaves were soaked in 50percent aqueous ethanol, extract was filtered and concentrated. Cytotoxicity of the extract was tested by brine shrimp lethality assay. Result: The experimental results revealed that 0.28-0.38percent concentration of 50 percent aqueous ethanolic leaf extract possessed cytotoxic potentiality against brine shrimp. Conclusion: Hence the plant may be identified as a source of bioactive principle having  antitumour activity. Key words: cytotoxicity, lethal conc., mortality, LC50, brine shrimp, phytochemical products

Pulse cyclophospamide in severe lupus nephritis: Southern Indian experience

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the monthly pulse IV cyclophosphamide (IVC) therapy in patients with severe lupus nephritis, we studied 39 patients of lupus nephritis on IVC therapy between 1998 to 2002. Single monthly cyclophosphamide (0.75-1 g/m²) was infused intravenously with oral prednisolone (0.5 mg/kg per day) and appropriate hydration. Of the 39 pa-tients 25 (86.2%) patients were females and 4 (13.8%) were males. Six (2%) cases had irregular follow-up and 3 patients had expired during the initial cycles and were excluded from the study. The mean age was 25.6 + 6.72 years (range 10-40 years). The mean duration of the disease from the onset to renal biopsy was 24.2 + 18.5 months. The clinical presentations included nephrotic syndrome (34.5%), acute glomerulonephritis (31.0%), Pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO) (10.3%), and rapidly progressive renal failure (6.7%). Renal insufficiency was present in 47.2% cases. Twenty-two (75.9%) patients had diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis (class IV), 6 (20.7%) focal proliferative glomerulonephritis (class III), and one (3.4%) class Vd. After a mean follow-up of 15.8 months, out of 29 patients, 13 (44.8%) had achieved complete remission, 7 (24.1%) partial remission and 9 (31.0%) cases did not respond to the therapy. Side effects of the therapy included vomiting and nausea (100%) and hair loss during the first few doses of IVC. In addition, one case had dysfunctional uterine bleeding and two patients had avascular necrosis of femoral head. We conclude that our data indicate that IVC in severe lupus nephritis is effective in Indian patients though longer follow-up is required