ANTIOXIDANT AND CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF COMBINED EXTRACTS PREPARED USING FICUS RELIGIOSA AND FICUS BENGHALENSIS LEAVES AGAINST CERVICAL CANCER CELL LINE (HELA)

Objectives: Medicinal plants and herbs are used in combination in Ayurveda and folklore medicine as they exhibit good cytotoxic activity. In the present study, the antioxidant, phytochemical, and cell proliferation activity of the combined crude methanolic extract of Ficus religiosa and Ficus benghalensis leaves were investigated.Methods: Antioxidant activity was performed by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) and hydrogen peroxide methods, and the presence of the phytochemicals was screened using the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The extract was further evaluated for its cell proliferation activity against cancer cells using the mitochondrial reduction assay. Antioxidant property of the extracts was measured using the DPPH, hydrogen peroxide, and ferric-reducing antioxidant power assay, respectively, using the UV spectrophotometer.Results: The combined extract exhibited strong antioxidant potential in DPPH assay by increase in the percentage of inhibition with the increase in concentration. Similarly, the IC50 value of the methanol extract in peroxidase scavenging activity was 49.85 μg/mL comparatively lower than the ascorbic acid used as standard. The phytochemical analysis of the methanol extract showed the presence of nine phytoconstituents, which exhibit antioxidant and anticancer property. Mitochondrial reduction assay performed to evaluate the cell proliferation activity of the combined leave extract showed that increase in the concentration of the extract decreased the cell proliferation in the HeLa cell line.Conclusion: The results of present study show a possible synergistic activity of leaves against human cervical cancer

Antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of Tecoma stans against lung cancer cell line (A549)

Human have been constantly using plants and plant products to overcome many diseases. The antioxidant property of the plant sources is studied to obtain an efficacious drug against cancer. The objectives of the present study is to evaluate the antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of the Tecoma stans extracts against lung cancer cell line in comparison with vincristine drug. The antioxidant activity was studied using the standard DPPH assay and the cytotoxic activity using MTT assay. DPPH assay results show that methanolic extract of T. stans in higher concentration show better antioxidant potential than the standard L-ascorbic acid. They exhibited strong antioxidant potential at 20 µg/mL concentration. The absorbance at 517 nm showed that in the range of 0.201-0.0203 compared to that of absorbance of ascorbic acid at 0.023.Cytotoxic activity was studied using MTT assay which showed that the increase in concentration of extract increases the cell death. At 100µg/mL concentration there is an increased cytotoxic activity, i.e., 99% of cell inhibition. The results of antioxidant and anticancerous activity may be positively correlated

Fuel Cell Products for Sustainable Transportation and Stationary Power Generation: Review on Market Perspective

The present day energy supply scenario is unsustainable and the transition towards a more environmentally friendly energy supply system of the future is inevitable. Hydrogen is a potential fuel that is capable of assisting with this transition. Certain technological advancements and design challenges associated with hydrogen generation and fuel cell technologies are discussed in this review. The commercialization of hydrogen-based technologies is closely associated with the development of the fuel cell industry. The evolution of fuel cell electric vehicles and fuel cell-based stationary power generation products in the market are discussed. Furthermore, the opportunities and threats associated with the market diffusion of these products, certain policy implications, and roadmaps of major economies associated with this hydrogen transition are discussed in this review

The cryopreservation process induces alterations in proteins associated with bull sperm quality: The equilibration process could be a probable critical control point

The present study quantitatively characterized the proteomic changes in bull spermatozoa induced by the cryopreservation process. We performed high-throughput comparative global proteomic profiling of freshly ejaculated (before cryopreservation), equilibrated (refrigerated storage; during cryopreservation), and frozen (ultralow temperature; after cryopreservation) bull spermatozoa. Using the liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) technique, a total of 1,692, 1,415, and 1,286 proteins were identified in fresh, equilibrated, and cryopreserved spermatozoa, respectively. When the proteome of fresh spermatozoa was compared with equilibrated spermatozoa, we found that 166 proteins were differentially expressed. When equilibrated spermatozoa were compared with cryopreserved spermatozoa, we found that 147 proteins were differentially expressed between them. Similarly, we found that 156 proteins were differentially expressed between fresh and cryopreserved spermatozoa. Among these proteins, the abundance of 105 proteins was lowered during the equilibration process itself, while the abundance of 43 proteins was lowered during ultralow temperature preservation. Remarkably, the equilibration process lowered the abundance of sperm proteins involved in energy metabolism, structural integrity, and DNA repair and increased the abundance of proteins associated with proteolysis and protein degradation. The abundance of sperm proteins associated with metabolism, cGMP-PKG (cyclic guanosine 3′,5′-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase G) signaling, and regulation of the actin cytoskeleton was also altered during the equilibration process. Collectively, the present study showed that the equilibration step in the bull sperm cryopreservation process was the critical point for sperm proteome, during which a majority of proteomic alterations in sperm occurred. These findings are valuable for developing efficient protocols to minimize protein damage and to improve the quality and fertility of cryopreserved bull spermatozoa

Metal(loid) speciation and transformation by aerobic methanotrophs

Abstract: Manufacturing and resource industries are the key drivers for economic growth with a huge environmental cost (e.g. discharge of industrial effluents and post-mining substrates). Pollutants from waste streams, either organic or inorganic (e.g. heavy metals), are prone to interact with their physical environment that not only affects the ecosystem health but also the livelihood of local communities. Unlike organic pollutants, heavy metals or trace metals (e.g. chromium, mercury) are non-biodegradable, bioaccumulate through food-web interactions and are likely to have a long-term impact on ecosystem health. Microorganisms provide varied ecosystem services including climate regulation, purification of groundwater, rehabilitation of contaminated sites by detoxifying pollutants. Recent studies have highlighted the potential of methanotrophs, a group of bacteria that can use methane as a sole carbon and energy source, to transform toxic metal (loids) such as chromium, mercury and selenium. In this review, we synthesise recent advances in the role of essential metals (e.g. copper) for methanotroph activity, uptake mechanisms alongside their potential to transform toxic heavy metal (loids). Case studies are presented on chromium, selenium and mercury pollution from the tanneries, coal burning and artisanal gold mining, respectively, which are particular problems in the developing economy that we propose may be suitable for remediation by methanotrophs. 6g_ZKsLH11vt1AExshJzH4Video Abstrac

INDIAN RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE AQUACULTURE JOURNAL DURING 1972 – 2011: A SCIENTOMETRIC STUDY

The total number of publications contributed by the Indian authors in the Aquaculture journal was 374 during the study period 1972 – 2011. The highest numbers of papers were published during 2002 – 2006 with 103 contributions; especially in 2006 there were 47 contributions. The least number of papers was recorded during 1972 – 1976 with 9 contributions. The percentage of Indian contribution was 2.74. Overall, 1373 authors contributed 374 publications in the Aquaculture journal. Among these, two authored publications were 114 (30.48%), more than that of any other authorship pattern. The degree of collaborations was 0.98. A total of 1373 authors contributed 374 publications with an average of 3.67 authors per paper. 600 (43.70%) authors contributed one publication each. Among the Indian authors, A. S. Sahul Hameed scored first rank with 27 publications. Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR), Bhubaneswar, Odisha scored first rank with 40 publications among Indian Institutions. Tamil Nadu secured first position with 133 contributions. Original articles were predominant in the Aquaculture journal. The publication of I. Karunasagar et al. (1994) has highest citation both in SCOPUS database (240) and Google Scholar database (380). More research was carried out in the Penaeus monodon with 39 publications

Scientometric Analysis of Seaweed Research with reference to Web of Science

A total of 5814 publications were published in seaweed research globally during the study period 2005 – 2014. The highest number of publications was published in 2014 with 883 (15.19%). The highest Total Local Citation Scores (TLCS) and Total Global Citation Scores (TGCS) were recorded in 2008, 2460 (14.99%) and 9724 (15.50%) respectively. The mean relative growth of seaweed research is 0.1015 and the average doubling time is 8.532. The collaborative research is predominant in seaweed research globally. The degree of collaboration is 0.947. Jeon, Y. J secure first position with 51 contributions (0.90%). ChineseAcademyof Sciences, China contributed 172 publications and score first rank. Research articles were predominant than any other document types. Journal of Applied Phycology contributed 390 (6.71%) publications and score first position. USAcontributed 645 (11.10%) publications and place first position. English is most preferred language of seaweed research publications. DuBois, Michel, K. A. Gilles, J. K. Hamilton, P. A. Rebers, Fred. Smith. (1956). Colorimetric Method for Determination of Sugars and Related Substances. Anal. Chem., 28 (3), pp 350–356, DOI 10.1021/ac60111a017 was cited in 239 publications and score first position.ChineseAcademy of Sciences,China had 172 Publications with 29455 bibliographic coupling with other institutes

Mapping of Cyprinus carpio research: a global perspectives

Considering the importance of fish culture to meet out the needs of livelihood and nutrition, this study has been carried out to identify the highly productivity institutions, author, country, countries international collaboration and citation impact on Cyprinus carpio research. This study revealed that USA was the predominant country contributed more number of publications with low relative collaboration. Svobodova, Z from Czech Republic contributed more number of publications, whereas none from USA came under top 20 authors. Though Chinese Academy of Science, China was ranked 1st in total publication, the relative collaboration 14th position only. The Netherlands and Agricultural University of Wageningen had the highest relative citation impact. Aquaculture from Elsevier was ranked 1st among the journals