A REVIEW ON SOME POTENTIAL TRADITIONAL PHYTOMEDICINE WITH ANTIDIABETIC PROPERTIES

Diabetes is a chronic disorder of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism characterized by increased fasting and post prandial blood sugar levels. The global prevalence of diabetes is estimated to increase, from 4% in 1995 to 5.4% by the year 2025. WHO has predicted that the major burden will occur in developing countries? Since ancient times, plants have been an exemplary source of medicine. Ayurveda and other Indian literature mention the use of plants in treatment of various human ailments. India has about 45000 plant species and among them, several thousands have been claimed to possess medicinal properties. Research conducted in last few decades on plants mentioned in ancient literature or used traditionally for diabetes have shown anti-diabetic property. In the last few years there has been an exponential growth in the field of herbal medicine and these drugs are gaining popularity both in developing and developed countries because of their natural origin and less side effects. The present paper reviews some of  such plants and their products (active, natural principles and crude extracts) that have been mentioned/used in the Indian traditional system of medicine and have shown experimental or clinical anti-diabetic activity. We believe that the list of medicinally important families and plants  presented in this review is useful to researchers, as well as practitioners

A REVIEW ON SOME POTENTIAL TRADITIONAL PHYTOMEDICINE WITH ANTIDIABETIC PROPERTIES

Diabetes is a chronic disorder of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism characterized by increased fasting and post prandial blood sugar levels. The global prevalence of diabetes is estimated to increase, from 4% in 1995 to 5.4% by the year 2025. WHO has predicted that the major burden will occur in developing countries? Since ancient times, plants have been an exemplary source of medicine. Ayurveda and other Indian literature mention the use of plants in treatment of various human ailments. India has about 45000 plant species and among them, several thousands have been claimed to possess medicinal properties. Research conducted in last few decades on plants mentioned in ancient literature or used traditionally for diabetes have shown anti-diabetic property. In the last few years there has been an exponential growth in the field of herbal medicine and these drugs are gaining popularity both in developing and developed countries because of their natural origin and less side effects. The present paper reviews some of  such plants and their products (active, natural principles and crude extracts) that have been mentioned/used in the Indian traditional system of medicine and have shown experimental or clinical anti-diabetic activity. We believe that the list of medicinally important families and plants  presented in this review is useful to researchers, as well as practitioners

Carbon Dots from a Single Source Exhibiting Tunable Luminescent Colors through the Modification of Surface Functional Groups in ORMOSIL Films

A simple strategy to fabricate carbon dots (CDs) incorporated organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) films exhibiting tunable tricolor emission has been accomplished. First, the green-emitting CDs with excitation-independent nature and high quantum yield were prepared from o-phenylenediamine in ethanol by solvothermal method. These CDs after purification were dispersed in ORMOSIL sol, and their photoluminescence wavelengths were tuned to three intense luminescent colors (orange, yellow, and green) by adjusting the pH of the sol. It was observed that with pH tuning the functional groups residing on surface-passivated CDs are undergoing chemical modifications, and accordingly the PL emission of CDs in ORMOSIL sol systematically changes to orange, yellow, and green emissions, respectively. Interestingly, the structure of such surface-modified CDs can be well-preserved in the ORMOSIL film-matrix with substantial concentration to obtain the above tricolor luminescent films on glass. A systematic X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study revealed that the blue shifting in triluminous films (from 560 to 510 nm) with pH increment was originated due to the deprotonation of the surface groups (-CONH- -> -CO(N-)-; -NH3+ -> -NH2) associated with the CDs. The plausible mechanism behind the rationalization of pH-triggered engineering of surface-passivated CD-ORMOSIL sols and their confinement in films has been explored

Crystal structure tailoring of Au–Cu alloy NPs using the embedding film matrix as template

Au–Cu alloy nanoparticles (NPs) were grown in three different dielectric film matrices by the sol–gel method in order to see the influence of the embedding matrices on the crystal structure of the alloy NPs. The chosen film matrices were TiO2 (anatase; tetragonal), ZrO2 (cubic) and SiO2 (amorphous). Au and Cu salts (1 : 1 molar ratio) doped MO2 (M = Ti, Zr and Si) sols were prepared keeping the total metal concentration same (M : MO2 = 1 : 9) in all the three cases, and used them for coating deposition on silica glass substrates. Heat-treatment of the films in air at 500 °C resulted in removal of organics, formation of metallic Au NPs and matrix crystallization (tetragonal and cubic in cases of TiO2 and ZrO2, respectively; SiO2 remained amorphous). Further heat-treatment in reducing atmosphere (10% H2–90% Ar/500 °C) induced the reduction of Cu ions with simultaneous formation of Au–Cu alloy NPs. In cases of TiO2 and ZrO2 films, formation of equiatomic Au1Cu1 alloy NPs were completed whereas Au3Cu1 alloy NPs was found to be formed in SiO2 under the similar experimental conditions. Structural analyses confirmed the formation of ordered face centred tetragonal (fct) and disordered face centred cubic (fcc) Au–Cu NPs in cases of TiO2 and ZrO2 matrices, respectively. Thus tetragonal (anatase TiO2) and cubic (ZrO2) structures of the embedding film matrices acted as templates to nucleate and subsequent growth of the Au–Cu order (fct) and disorder (fcc) alloy nanocrystals, respectively. Cubic Au3Cu1 alloy NPs was also formed in amorphous SiO2; however, without any structural influence of the matrix alloy formation could not be completed at such a low temperature

Factors affecting Osseointegration: A Literature Review

The purpose of this literature review is to collect the published data concerning factors affecting osseointegration. Popularity and large demand of dental implant makes this study essential because success of dental implant is directly related to the principle of osseointegration, a process of implant-bone interaction that finally leads to bone-implant anchorage.To identify relevant literature an electronic search was performed using term osseointegration and dental implant on PubMed central. Titles and abstracts were screened andarticles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected for full text reading. Review of selected articles enabled us to enlist various factors which have significant effects on osseointegration either by enhancing or inhibiting it. Based on the review literature, it is concluded that there are factors which when considered may increase osseointegrationwhich in turn will increase success of dental implant and some factors play an inhibiting role for bone-implant contact

Carbon nanodot–ORMOSIL fluorescent paint and films

Controlled carbonisation of P123 block-co-polymer in ethanol yielded micelle-protected carbon nanodots (CNDs) at room temperature. A purified and concentrated CND solution (quantum yield 10%) was incorporated into the organically-modified SiO2 (ORMOSIL) sol for the fabrication of transparent fluorescent coatings of thickness [similar]3 μm on glass. These films are scratch resistant with a surface hardness value of 8H. The sol can also be useful as a fluorescent ink/paint. The films retained the pristine photophysical properties of CNDs

Durable superhydrophobic ZnO-SiO2 films: a new approach to enhance the abrasion resistant property of trimethylsilyl functionalized SiO2 nanoparticles on glass

Although trimethylsilyl functionalized SiO2 derived films show excellent superhydrophobicity, their adhesion and abrasion resistant properties are extremely poor. In this study, a new approach has been shown to improve the adhesion and abrasion properties of such films. A neutral and relatively hydrophobic Zn(CH3OO)(2)(H2O)(2)] complex solution has been used to interact with the superhydrophobic silica gel nanoparticle dispersion. After dip-coating, the composite sol yielded films of a zinc acetate/superhydrophobic silica composite network while the hydrophilic part (bonded water) associated with Zn helps in binding the hydroxyl groups (silanols) present on the glass surface. The composite films were heat-treated at 300-400 degrees C in a nitrogen atmosphere in order to obtain transparent and superhydrophobic ZnO-SiO2 nanocomposite films. The decomposition of zinc acetate formed ZnO nanocrystallites and remained attached with the hybrid silica matrix. These films showed excellent water repellency (water contact angle, CA approximate to 158 +/- 7 degrees; hysteresis approximate to 4 degrees) with good adhesion and abrasion resistant properties. XRD, Raman and TEM studies confirm the existence of ZnO nanocrystallites in the composite films. Owing to the stability of hydrophobic methyl groups attached with silicon at relatively high temperature in a nitrogen atmosphere, these ZnO-SiO2 nanocomposite films remain superhydrophobic even after a heat-treatment at 400 degrees C

Antibiotic Impact of Certain Hosts on A Polyphagous Pest, Helicoverpa Armigera Hübner Under Ambient Rearing

The present study has been designed with the aim to explore the impact of certain established host plants on the biology of polyphagous pest, Helicoverpa armigera Hübner under the ambient rearing. The hosts namely, Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L), Maize (Zea mays L.), Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan L.), Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.), and Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) have been used. The test insect, Helicoverpa armigera has been reared under ambient on the mentioned hosts to know the host suitability and further has been evaluated for the bioattributes like feeding index, approximate digestibility (%), pupal weight, growth index and survival index. During investigation, Gram, Cicer arietinum L. [Feeding Index 0.27 {±0.25}, Approximate Digestibility per cent 61.40 {±2.14}, Pupal Weight (mg) 321.25 {±3.97}, Growth Index 0.87 {±0.20} and Survival Index 1.41 {±0.57}] followed by Maize, Zea mays L. [Feeding Index 0.21 {±0.3}, Approximate Digestibility per cent 57.07 {±3.17}, Pupal Weight (mg) 311.34 {±4.31}, Growth Index 0.79 {±0.22} and Survival Index 1.37 {±0.54}] and Pigeon Pea, Cajanus cajan L. [Feeding Index 0.13 {±0.47}, Approximate Digestibility per cent 54.54 {±3.17}, Pupal Weight (mg) 297.67 {±2.41}, Growth Index 0.61 {±0.31} and Survival Index 1.34 {±0.48}] have been found to be the most suitable on the basis of evaluated bioattributes for the development of the test insect, Helicoverpa armigera. It has been recorded that the rest host crops also showed variable performance on different bioattributes of the test insect, Helicoverpa armigera

Fabrication of Cd0.5Zn0.5S:Cu QDs incorporated organically modified SiO2 films showing entire visible colour emission with high quantum yield

Multicoloured fluorescent nanocomposite films containing homogeneously dispersed Cu ion-doped Cd0.5Zn0.5S alloy QDs capped by P123 and organically modified SiO2 have been fabricated. The concentration of QDs in the film is as high as 40 mol% with respect to the equivalent SiO2. The cured transparent films showed strong photoluminescence covering the entire visible window with very high quantum yield ensuring applications

Functionalized C@TiO2 hollow spherical architecture for multifunctional applications

Hierarchical anatase titania (TiO2) with a hollow spherical architecture decorated with functionalized carbon dots (CF@THS) was synthesized by a solvothermal decomposition of titanium(IV) isopropoxide (TTIP) in the presence of a solution mixture containing thiourea and citric acid. Interestingly, the concomitant presence of thiourea and citric acid has been found to be essential to obtain such hierarchical hollow architecture because individual constituents produced non-hollow spheres when hydrothermally treated with TTIP. The co-existence of these two constituents also accelerates the growth of hollow spheres. BET surface area study of CF@THS revealed the existence of a slit like mesoporosity with a surface area value of 81 m2 g−1. Time dependent FESEM and TEM studies confirmed the formation of nanoflake like structures in the intermediate stages followed by the growth of a hollow spherical architecture. We proposed that these nanoflakes get accumulated on the bubble surface to form such hollow spherical morphology. The PL spectral study and Raman shift of the as prepared CF@THS confirmed the presence of functionalized graphitic C dots on the surface. A thorough XPS analysis was conducted to explore the nature and relative atomic concentration of the functional groups (–COOH, –CONH2, –NH2). This CF@THS sample showed very fast and selective dye (methylene blue and methyl violet) adsorption ability (even from a mixture of two different dye solutions) due to these δ-site containing functional groups on the surface. As CF@THS showed only two times reusability for adsorption, the dye adsorbed CF@THS was calcined at 450 °C in air to yield organic free anatase TiO2 hollow spheres (THS) with a retention of the original structure. THS was recycled as an efficient and a reusable photocatalyst (k = 9.36 × 10−2 min−1) as well as a photoanode in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) having Jsc value of 19.58 mA cm−2 with overall efficiency of 6.48%