Ethnomedicinal study of medicinal plants used to cure dental diseases by the indigenous population of district Buner, Pakistan

This is the first study of its own kind conducted with the aim to document and conserve the ethnomedicinal knowledge of plants used to cure dental diseases in Buner, Pakistan and to provide starting point for future pharmacological studies about new herbal drugs used for dental disorders. Several field trips were conducted in 2018-19 to collect indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants. A semi-structured questionnaire was used as tool for data collection in individual and group interviews and informants were selected by snowball sampling. In this study 935 men and 323 women were interviewed, yielding 55 plant species belonging to 34 families. Lamiaceae and Solanaceae were the dominant plant families used and the main life forms used were herbs (28 species). Leaves were the most used part (19 species). The local population was found to be sensitive and careful about oral hygiene and had rich ethnomedicinal knowledge

Medicinal plants used for veterinary diseases by the local inhabitants of the Teshil Tangi, District Charsadda, Pakistan

Therapeutic plants ethnically utilized for the cure of various aliments of animals have an important part in the rural veterinary healthcare system because allopathic medicines remain inaccessible, particularly in the third world countries. This work was carried out in Teshil Tangi District Charsadda, Pakistan, in 2016-18, aiming for conserving the ethnic medicinal plants knowledge about veterinary illnesses. Information was collected from older people, herbalists and pansaris (herbal sellers) via semi-structured questionnaire and open ended interviews. Quantification of the result was done by Relative Frequency Citation (RFC) and Use Value (UV).The result of current study comprises of the 118 therapeutic plant species’ collection which belong to forty-six families by interviewing 233 native informants. Among the 46 botanical families, Leguminosae with 14 species was the leading family. The most dominant growth habit was herbs constituted (68%). Leaves (42%) were the main morphological parts used for ethnoveterinary medicine. The highest UV was obtained for 0.52 for Silybum marianum (L.) and RFC (0.33) for Silybum marianum (L.). Most of the therapeutic plants have been utilized for curing digestive illnesses, followed by promote lactation and wounds healing. Due to the dense and diverse vegetation, the study area is rich in ethnobotanical knowledge and the people still use medicinal plants to cure animal diseases

Synthesis of cephradine metal complexes and its anti-bacterial evaluation

Cephradine belongs to the first generation cephalosporin having a broad range of anti-bacterial activities. In the present work, Cephradine wasreacted with different metal salts. These metal salts were Iron, Copper, Cobalt and Nickel salts. All the complexes of Cephradine metals were synthesized at room temperature using a mechanical vibrator. The reactions yielded the coordinated complexes within 5-10 min with improved product yield. The synthesized complexes were analyzed for their antibacterial power using disc diffused assay. All the Cephradine complexes showed powerful antibacterial activity. The Co, Cu, Ni and Sn complexes showed good antibacterial activities 18.5 mm by Cu complexes against S. typhi, 17 mm against B. subtillus 16.5 mm against S. aureus, 16 mm against S. coccus. Similarly Sn complexes exhibited 17 mm zone of inhibition against S. coccus and 15.5 mm against B. subtillus. Cobalt and Ni complexes also shed significant inhibition activities against bacterial pathogenic bacterial strains. The study is of particular importance and new, using mechanical vibrator for the first time. The product yield is also comparatively good with short reaction time

Combining internal and external robot models for improved model parameter estimation

status: publishe

Experimental identification of robot dynamics for control

This paper discusses the experimental identification of dynamic robot models for their application in model based robot control, e.g. computed torque control. The accuracy of these controllers relies highly on the ability of the robot model to accurately predict the required actuator torques. The paper shows how this application reflects on the choices that have to be made in the different steps of the identification procedure, and consequently on the accuracy of the obtained model parameters and actuator torque prediction.status: publishe

Novel Dehalogenase Mechanism for 2,3-Dichloro-1-Propanol Utilization in Pseudomonas putida Strain MC4

A Pseudomonas putida strain (MC4) that can utilize 2,3-dichloro-1-propanol (DCP) and several aliphatic haloacids and haloalcohols as sole carbon and energy source for growth was isolated from contaminated soil. Degradation of DCP was found to start with oxidation and concomitant dehalogenation catalyzed by a 72-kDa monomeric protein (DppA) that was isolated from cell lysate. The dppA gene was cloned from a cosmid library and appeared to encode a protein equipped with a signal peptide and that possessed high similarity to quinohemoprotein alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs), particularly ADH IIB and ADH IIG from Pseudomonas putida HK. This novel dehalogenating dehydrogenase has a broad substrate range, encompassing a number of nonhalogenated alcohols and haloalcohols. With DCP, DppA exhibited a kcat of 17 s-1. 1H nuclear magnetic resonance experiments indicated that DCP oxidation by DppA in the presence of 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP) and potassium ferricyanide [K3Fe(CN)6] yielded 2-chloroacrolein, which was oxidized to 2-chloroacrylic acid.

Medicinal plants used for veterinary diseases by the local inhabitants of the Teshil Tangi, District Charsadda, Pakistan

990-1001Therapeutic plants ethnically utilized for the cure of various aliments of animals have an important part in the rural veterinary healthcare system because allopathic medicines remain inaccessible, particularly in the third world countries. This work was carried out in Teshil Tangi District Charsadda, Pakistan, in 2016-18, aiming for conserving the ethnic medicinal plants knowledge about veterinary illnesses. Information was collected from older people, herbalists and pansaris (herbal sellers) via semi-structured questionnaire and open ended interviews. Quantification of the result was done by Relative Frequency Citation (RFC) and Use Value (UV).The result of current study comprises of the 118 therapeutic plant species’ collection which belong to forty-six families by interviewing 233 native informants. Among the 46 botanical families, Leguminosae with 14 species was the leading family. The most dominant growth habit was herbs constituted (68%). Leaves (42%) were the main morphological parts used for ethnoveterinary medicine. The highest UV was obtained for 0.52 for Silybum marianum (L.) and RFC (0.33) for Silybum marianum (L.). Most of the therapeutic plants have been utilized for curing digestive illnesses, followed by promote lactation and wounds healing. Due to the dense and diverse vegetation, the study area is rich in ethnobotanical knowledge and the people still use medicinal plants to cure animal diseases

Gibberellins Producing Endophytic Fungus Porostereum spadiceum AGH786 Rescues Growth of Salt Affected Soybean

In the pursuit of sustainable agriculture through environment and human health friendly practices, we evaluated the potential of a novel gibberellins (GAs) producing basidiomycetous endophytic fungus Porostereum spadiceum AGH786, for alleviating salt stress and promoting health benefits of soybean. Soybean seedlings exposed to different levels of NaCl stress (70 and 140 mM) under greenhouse conditions, were inoculated with the AGH786 strain. Levels of phytohormones including GAs, JA and ABA, and isoflavones were compared in control and the inoculated seedlings to understand the mechanism through which the stress is alleviated. Gibberellins producing endophytic fungi have been vital for promoting plant growth under normal and stress conditions. We report P. spadiceum AGH786 as the ever first GAs producing basidiomycetous fungus capable of producing six types of GAs. In comparison to the so for most efficient GAs producing Gibberella fujikuroi, AGH786 produced significantly higher amount of the bioactive GA3. Salt-stressed phenotype of soybean seedlings was characterized by low content of GAs and high amount of ABA and JA with reduced shoot length, biomass, leaf area, chlorophyll contents, and rate of photosynthesis. Mitigation of salt stress by AGH786 was always accompanied by high GAs, and low ABA and JA, suggesting that this endophytic fungus reduces the effect of salinity by modulating endogenous phytohormones of the seedlings. Additionally, this strain also enhanced the endogenous level of two isoflavones including daidzen and genistein in soybean seedlings under normal as well as salt stress conditions as compared to their respective controls. P. spadiceum AGH786 boosted the NaCl stress tolerance and growth in soybean, by modulating seedlings endogenous phytohormones and isoflavones suggesting a valuable contribution of this potent fungal biofertilizer in sustainable agriculture in salt affected soils