EVALUATION OF ANTI-PYRETIC ACTION OF NELAMUCHCHALA (GYMNOSTACHYAM FEBRIFUGUM BENTH.)-AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Folklore medicine is an integral part of Ayurveda. Nelamuchchala (Gymnostachyam febrifugum Benth.) is one such drug which is traditionally used for fever, ulcers, cough, metrorrhagia and puerperal fever. The objective of the study is evaluation of the anti-pyretic actions in albino rats. The healthy albino rats are selected and grouped into 5. The control, standard, trial into three in different dosage forms i.e., normal dose (1ml), half dose (0.5ml). double dose (2ml) The decoction of Trial drug prepared and given in the different dosage forms. Pyrexia or Fever is induced by using Brewer's Yeast solution injected subcutaneously at thigh region and temperature rise after 1hr. Then hourly temperature recorded upto 14 hours. Result obtained from the study was statistically analysed that standard, trail group in normal (p<0.001) and double dose(p<0.001) are highly significant and no significant change was observed in control group (p>0.05) effect in albino rats. The present study has revealed that the decoction of Nelamuchchala (Gymnostachyam febrifugum Benth) efficacious to reduce pyrexia in albino rats. The observations could be considered to be the reference standards in future studies

ANTIFEEDANT EFFECTS OF VITEX NEGUNDO L. LEAF EXTRACTS ON THE STORED PRODUCT PEST, TRIBOLIUM CASTANEUM H. (COLEOPTERA: TENEBRIONIDAE)

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the nutritional and feeding deterrence indices of Tribolium castaneum adults caused by petroleum ether and methanol extracts of Vitex negundo.Methods: A modified method of flour disc bioassay was carried out to study the antifeedant activities of both the extracts on the stored product pest, T. castaneum. In this bioassay, the insects were allowed to feed on wheat flour treated with various concentrations (1.25%, 2.5% and 5%) of petroleum ether and methanol extracts of V. negundo (VPE and VME) for 24 h in ‘no choice' chambers. The effects of different concentrations of the extracts on relative growth rate and relative consumption rate of T. castaneum and the difference between the activities of two extracts were statistically analysed and compared by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Similarly, the comparison of the activities of VPE and VME, and their dose effects on the efficiency of conversion of ingested food and feeding deterrence indices of the insects were analysed by analysis of variance (ANOVA).Results: VPE and VME significantly affected growth, consumption and utilisation of food, and caused antifeedancy in T. castaneum. It was also found that both the extracts resulted in a slight reduction in growth rate of the insect, compared with that of the control. The reductions in relative growth rate (RGR) (P=0.37) and relative food consumption rate (RCR) (P<0.05) were more prominent for 2.5% and 5% of both the extracts. In nutritional studies, it was found that increase in the concentration (P<0.05) resulted in an increase in the efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) significantly with both the extracts. The RGR, RCR and ECI of the insects were found to be similar with both the extracts. The extracts showed dose-dependent feeding deterrence index (FDI) for this insect (P<0.001). The activity was found to be similar with both the extracts (P=0.07).Conclusion: The present study reveals that both VPE and VME show significant antifeedancy in T. castaneum and thus they can effectively be used for the protection of grains from insects

The state of peer-to-peer network simulators

Networking research often relies on simulation in order to test and evaluate new ideas. An important requirement of this process is that results must be reproducible so that other researchers can replicate, validate and extend existing work. We look at the landscape of simulators for research in peer-to-peer (P2P) networks by conducting a survey of a combined total of over 280 papers from before and after 2007 (the year of the last survey in this area), and comment on the large quantity of research using bespoke, closed-source simulators. We propose a set of criteria that P2P simulators should meet, and poll the P2P research community for their agreement. We aim to drive the community towards performing their experiments on simulators that allow for others to validate their results

Phytotoxic effect of bioactive compounds isolated from Myrcia tomentosa (Myrtaceae) leaves.

The aim of this study was to assess the phytotoxic potential of leaves of Myrcia tomentosa, as well as to isolate and identify the main bioactive compounds. The results for the coleoptile and phytotoxicity bioassays indicated the ethyl acetate extract for the phytochemistry study, owing to the high activity and the maintenance of the activity at lower concentrations. This extract was chromatographed and subjected to 1H NMR and 13C NMR. Two major active compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of leaves of M. tomentosa: avicularin and juglanin. The fractions where these compounds were isolated showed potent inhibition of coleoptile growth. This paper is the first report on the presence of the flavonoids avicularin and juglanin in species of Myrtaceae from Neotropical savanna and provides a basis for future studies on the bioprospecting of M. tomentosa

Traditional use of medicinal plants by the Jaintia tribes in North Cachar Hills district of Assam, northeast India

The study of ethnobotany relating to any tribe is in itself a very intricate or convoluted process. This paper documents the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants that are in use by the indigenous Jaintia tribes residing in few isolated pockets of northeast India. The present study was done through structured questionnaires in consultations with the tribal practitioners and has resulted in the documentation of 39 medicinal plant species belonging to 27 families and 35 genera. For curing diverse form of ailments, the use of aboveground plant parts was higher (76.59%) than the underground plant parts (23.41%). Of the aboveground plant parts, leaf was used in the majority of cases (23 species), followed by fruit (4). Different underground plant forms such as root, tuber, rhizome, bulb and pseudo-bulb were also found to be in use by the Jaintia tribe as a medicine. Altogether, 30 types of ailments have been reported to be cured by using these 39 medicinal plant species. The study thus underlines the potentials of the ethnobotanical research and the need for the documentation of traditional ecological knowledge pertaining to the medicinal plant utilization for the greater benefit of mankind