Screening for the Hypoglycaemic Potentials of the Extract of Vernonia amyggalina

This work evaluates the hypoglycemic effect of Vernonia amygdalina on alloxan induced diabetic rats. Different doses of the aqueous leaf extract of Vernonia amygdalina (50mg/kg, 100mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg) were administered to alloxan induced diabetic rats under experimental conditions. The mean fasting blood sugar levels of the groups of diabetic rats increased significantly as it rose from basal blood sugar levels (mg/dl) of 38.0, 39.2, 35.2 and 35.8 to fasting blood sugar levels (mg/dl) of 277.6, 284.8, 256.4 and 265.6. The findings showed that there is a dose dependent reduction in fasting blood sugar in alloxan induced diabetic rats after treatment to 167.5mg/dl, 140.8mg/dl, 104.2mg/dl and 80.4mg/ dl respectively

Foliar Epidermal Morphology and Anti-diabetic Property of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wall ex. Nees

The leaf epidermal features and anti diabetic property of Androgragphis paniculata were investigated. The epidermal cells are polygonal to irregular with curved to undulate anticlinal walls on both surfaces of the leaf. The leaf is hypostomatic with stomata restricted to the abaxial surface. Stomata type is axillocytic. The epidermal cells contain deposits of crystal oxalates while cystoliths are found in a few cells. The leaf extract was evaluated for hypoglycemic effects. There was significant hypoglycemic effect in alloxan induced diabetic rats following administration of the leaf aqueous extract. The result shows that the level of fasting blood sugar was dependent on the previous level of basal blood sugar in the four groups of rats used for this study. Treatment of the rats with A. paniculata showed a dose dependent relationship with the time it took for the blood of the rats to return to the basal blood sugar levels. The study supports the use of the plant in the management and treatment of diabetes

ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY AND PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN SOUTHWESTERN PART OF NIGERIA AS ANALGESICS

The gradual threat to plants and the inevitable disappearance of the aged Traditional Medical Practitioner are posing an impending time limit for people to learn, acquire, and document the rich medical cultural endowment.  This cultural endowment is essential for the benefit of all Africans and indeed the entire mankind. Hence, the urgent need for continual ethno-botanical survey of medicinal plants in Nigeria. Ethnobotanical survey was carried out using structured questionnaire to obtain information from trado-medical practitioners from Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and Lagos States.  Samples of eleven commonly used plants were collected and authenticated at the Forest Herbarium Ibadan, where voucher specimens were deposited. Extracts of each plant (leaf, root or seeds) were obtained by soxhlet extraction using methanol, diethyl ether and water, concentrated and screened for phytochemical constituents using standard procedures. Thirty-one plant species belonging to 24 families are being used as analgesics, of which Macrosphyra longistyla, Strophanthus hispidus, Buchholzia coriacea, Calliandra portoricensis, Secamone afzeli, Chasmanthera dependens, Spilanthes filicaulis, Moringa oleifera, Clerodendrum volubile, Petiveria alliacea, Carpolobia lutea were prevalent. Methanol and diethyl ether extracts of the plants contained alkaloids, saponins, tannins, phenols, anthraquinones and glycosides while, aqueous extracts contained alkaloids, saponins and glycosides. &nbsp

Foliar Epidermal Morphology and Anti-diabetic Property of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.)Wall ex. Nees

Abstract The leaf epidermal features and anti diabetic property of Androgragphis paniculata were investigated. The epidermal cells are polygonal to irregular with curved to undulate anticlinal walls on both surfaces of the leaf. The leaf is hypostomatic with stomata restricted to the abaxial surface. Stomata type is axillocytic. The epidermal cells contain deposits of crystal oxalates while cystoliths are found in a few cells. The leaf extract was evaluated for hypoglycemic effects. There was significant hypoglycemic effect in alloxan induced diabetic rats following administration of the leaf aqueous extract. The result shows that the level of fasting blood sugar was dependent on the previous level of basal blood sugar in the four groups of rats used for this study. Treatment of the rats with A. paniculata showed a dose dependent relationship with the time it took for the blood of the rats to return to the basal blood sugar levels. The study supports the use of the plant in the management and treatment of diabetes

Neuronal Alterations and Antioxidant Status of Lipopolysaccharide Induced Neuronal damage in Mice: Eff icacy of Three Medicinal Plants

Background: Several factors including neuroinflammation and oxidative stress formation contribute to the progression and development of cognitive impairment. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection has been used as non - transgenic mouse models for Alzheimer’s diseases (AD). Plant medicine has been proposed to be the prospect in treatment/ management of neurodegenerative disease. Aim: The present study sought to evaluate the effect of three medicinal plants ( Bacopa floribunda (R.Br)Wettst , Scoparia dulcis L and Cordia millenii Bak . ) locally used for memory enhancement on neuronal histology and antioxidant status against L ipopolysaccharide induced neuronal damage in mice . Methods: Forty - nine (49) BALB/c male mice were randomly grouped into seven (7) groups of 7 mice each. All animals except in group I control (vehicle), were injected intraperitoneally (I.P.) with LPS (250 μg/kg) once, after oral pre - treatment with plant extracts an d control drugs for 7 days. Group II (untreated) received LPS only (250 μg/kg) , group III received LPS + Sulindac Sulfide (SS, 4 mg/kg), group IV received LPS + Donepezil (DPZ, 1 mg/kg) group V, VI, and VII received LPS + 200 mg/kg of plant extracts [ Sco paria dulcis (SD), Bacopa floribunda (BF), and Cordia millenii (CM)] respectively. After the experiment, histological analysis of the hippocampus from the whole brain was carried out while the other brain tissue s comprising frontal cortex and cerebellum we re used for determination of biomarkers of antioxidant status such as catalase (CAT); superoxide dismutase (SOD); malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH). Results: Oral administration of LPS induced neuronal damage through cell death as eviden ced by the histological analysis and altered brain antioxidant status in mice. However, the plant extracts were able to prevent such neuronal alterations and restored the antioxidant status when compared to the LPS induced neuronal damage in mice. Conclusi on: LPS induced neuroinflammation was prevented by the extracts of; B. floribunda, S. dulcis and C. millenni. Neural damage was also prevented by the extracts. This activity could be attributed to their antioxidant potential as evidenced from their inhibit ory effect on MDA and increased CAT activity and GSH. Nevertheless, other possible mechanisms of action against neuronal damage need to be assessed to further justify their use traditionally in the treatment/management of neurodegenerative disease

Characterisation and testing of CHEC-M—A camera prototype for the small-sized telescopes of the Cherenkov telescope array

The Compact High Energy Camera (CHEC) is a camera design for the Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs; 4 m diameter mirror) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The SSTs are focused on very-high-energy -ray detection via atmospheric Cherenkov light detection over a very large area. This implies many individual units and hence cost-effective implementation, as well as shower detection at large impact distance, and hence large field of view (FoV), and efficient image capture in the presence of large time gradients in the shower image detected by the camera. CHEC relies on dual-mirror optics to reduce the plate-scale and make use of 6 6 mm pixels, leading to a low-cost (150 k€), compact (0.5 m 0.5 m), and light (45 kg) camera with 2048 pixels providing a camera FoV of 9 degrees. The CHEC electronics are based on custom TARGET (TeV array readout with GSa/s sampling and event trigger) application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) sampling incoming signals at a gigasample per second, with flexible camera-level triggering within a single backplane FPGA. CHEC is designed to observe in the -ray energy range of 1–300 TeV, and at impact distances up to 500 m. To accommodate this and provide full flexibility for later data analysis, full waveforms with 96 samples for all 2048 pixels can be read out at rates up to 900 Hz. The first prototype, CHEC-M, based on multi-anode photomultipliers (MAPMs) as photosensors, was commissioned and characterised in the laboratory and during two measurement campaigns on a telescope structure at the Paris Observatory in Meudon. In this paper, the results and conclusions from the laboratory and on-site testing of CHEC-M are presented. They have provided essential input on the system design and on operational and data analysis procedures for a camera of this type. A second full-camera prototype based on Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), addressing the drawbacks of CHEC-M identified during the first prototype phase, has already been built and is currently being commissioned and tested in the laboratory.J. Zorn ... A. Malouf ... G. Rowell ... et al

Robots in education and care of children with developmental disabilities : a study on acceptance by experienced and future professionals

Research in the area of robotics has made available numerous possibilities for further innovation in the education of children, especially in the rehabilitation of those with learning difficulties and/or intellectual disabilities. Despite the scientific evidence, there is still a strong scepticism against the use of robots in the fields of education and care of people. Here we present a study on the acceptance of robots by experienced practitioners (specialized in the treatment of intellectual disabilities) and university students in psychology and education sciences (as future professionals). The aim is to examine the factors, through the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, that may influence the decision to use a robot as an instrument in the practice. The overall results confirm the applicability of the model in the context of education and care of children, and suggest a positive attitude towards the use of the robot. The comparison highlights some scepticism among the practitioners, who perceive the robot as an expensive and limited tool, while students show a positive perception and a significantly higher willingness to use the robot. From this experience, we formulate the hypothesis that robots may be accepted if more integrated with standard rehabilitation protocols in a way that benefits can outweigh the costs