Antimicrobial activity and phytochemicals of Solanum trilobatum Linn.

In this study, aqueous methanol and n-butanol extracts of aerial parts of Solanum trilobatum L. (Solanaceae) were tested for antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion method. From the results, it was found that extracts from leaves, flowers, stem and fruits revealed antimicrobial activity against Gram (+) and Gram (-) bacteria. Maximal antibacterial activity was seen against Klebsiella with aqueous extract whereas methanol extract of stem showed maximal activity against Staphylococcus aureus. TheMinimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) exhibited by S. trilobatum aqueous extracts against tested organisms ranged between 0.06-0.5 mg/ml. Presence of tannins, saponins, flavanoides, phenoliccompounds, cardiac glycosides and carbohydrates indicates S. trilobatum, is one of the potential medicinal plant for therapeutic use

Antioxidant activity in some selected Indian medicinal plants

The study was carried out to determine the antioxidant activity of selected medicinal plants namely Albizia amara, Achyranthes aspera, Cassia fistula, Cassia auriculata and Datura stramonium by inhibition of lipid peroxidation technique. The highest inhibition of lipid peroxidation activity wasobserved in A. amara (96%) followed by C. fistula (89%) and C.auriculata (89%). The potency of  protective effect of A. amara was about 4 times greater than the synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT). The total alkaloid content varied from 24.6 ± 0.18 to 72.6 ± 2 mg g-1 in the extracts. Flavanoid contents were between 23.15 ± 0.2 and 63.3 ± 0.6 mg g-1 in the methanolic extracts of these plants. Our study indicates that the antioxidant activity of A. amara could be harnessed as a drugformulation

Impaired Structural Connectivity of Socio-Emotional Circuits in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

Abnormal white matter development may disrupt integration within neural circuits, causing particular impairments in higher-order behaviours. In autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), white matter alterations may contribute to characteristic deficits in complex socio-emotional and communication domains. Here, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and tract based spatial statistics (TBSS) to evaluate white matter microstructure in ASD.DTI scans were acquired for 19 children and adolescents with ASD (∼8-18 years; mean 12.4±3.1) and 16 age and IQ matched controls (∼8-18 years; mean 12.3±3.6) on a 3T MRI system. DTI values for fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, radial diffusivity and axial diffusivity, were measured. Age by group interactions for global and voxel-wise white matter indices were examined. Voxel-wise analyses comparing ASD with controls in: (i) the full cohort (ii), children only (≤12 yrs.), and (iii) adolescents only (>12 yrs.) were performed, followed by tract-specific comparisons. Significant age-by-group interactions on global DTI indices were found for all three diffusivity measures, but not for fractional anisotropy. Voxel-wise analyses revealed prominent diffusion measure differences in ASD children but not adolescents, when compared to healthy controls. Widespread increases in mean and radial diffusivity in ASD children were prominent in frontal white matter voxels. Follow-up tract-specific analyses highlighted disruption to pathways integrating frontal, temporal, and occipital structures involved in socio-emotional processing.Our findings highlight disruption of neural circuitry in ASD, particularly in those white matter tracts that integrate the complex socio-emotional processing that is impaired in this disorder

Antioxidant studies on the ethanolic extract of Commiphora spp.

This investigation elucidated the presence of phytochemical constituents and in vitro free radicals scavenging activity for nitric oxide, total reducing power, superoxide, lipid peroxidation and DPPH in the ethanolic leaves extract of Commiphora species; Commiphora caudata (CC) and Commiphora var pubescens (CP). The IC50 values of both the species were comparable to standard drugs, Quercitin (nitric oxide), vitamin C (superoxide), vitamin E (lipid peroxidation), vitamin C (DPPH). The results were analyzed statistically by regression analysis. In all the in vitro assays, the ethanolic extracts of the leaves showed its ability to scavenge free radicals in a dose dependent manner. However our study revealed that CC has potent antioxidant activity better than CP. Further investigation on the isolation, identification of antioxidant components in these plants may lead to chemical entities with the potential for clinical use and evalution of in vivo antioxidant activity

State-of-the-art on geotechnical engineering perspective on bio-mediated processes

Geotechnical engineering has primarily focused on the mechanical and physical aspects of geomaterials (both naturally occurring and anthropogenic) by, to a certain extent, ignoring the effect of various bio-activities (by plants and microorganisms) impinging on them. However, in recent years, researchers have investigated 'bio-mediated soil improvement techniques' such as biocementation, bio-clogging, bio-remediation and phytoremediation. Further, the studies from geo-microbiology and hydrometallurgy perspectives demonstrate that microbial activities in geoenvironment might result in its degradation, mineral deposition and mineralogical alteration, and hence influence of these activities on geomaterials should be understood, and investigated, in detail. With this in view, a review of the processes induced/influenced by various biological activities that might impact the geomaterials and their performance, from the geotechnical engineering point of view, has been reported in this manuscript. Furthermore, a need for revamping the conventional geotechnical engineering practices by assimilating the concepts of bio-activities occurring in geomaterials has been discussed, and the challenges and a way forward to incorporate them have also been presented

Morphology of Nutrient Foramina in Human Metatarsals and Their Clinical Importance

Mercu tanda anatomi foramen nutrien penting dalam prosedur pembinaan semula kaki yang melibatkan penggunaan tulang metatarsal. Objektif kajian ialah untuk mengkaji morfologi foramina nutrien di tulang metatarsal dan mendapatkan indeks foramina. Kajian ini melibatkan 271 metatarsal manusia yang bukan berpasangan. Umur dan jantina metatarsal tidak diketahui. Foramina nutrien setiap tulang diperiksa untuk menentukan topografi dan nombor. Pengindeksan foramina dilakukan menggunakan formula Hughes. Morphometri kajian ini telah dijalankan dengan penggunaan ‘Vernier caliper’ digital. Hasil pemerhatian mendapati 79.3% daripada metatarsal mempunyai foramen nutrien tunggal, 9.2% mempunyai dua foramen, 1.1% mempunyai tiga foramen dan 10.4% metatarsal tidak ada foramen. Min indeks foramina daripada metatarsal pertama, metatarsal kedua, metatarsal ketiga, metatarsal keempat dan metatarsal kelima ialah 65.3, 43.6, 44.4, 45.3 dan 47.5 masing-masing mengikut turutan. Dapat diperhatikan bahawa kebanyakan metatarsal mempunyai foramen nutrien tunggal. Lokasi foramen nutrien berubah dari metatarsal 1 hingga 5. Foramina metatarsal 1 dan metatarsal 5 diperhatikan di sebelah sisi mereka dan pada metatarsal yang lain; ia lazim diperhatikan di permukaan medial. Pengagihan morfologi tentang foramina nutrien adalah amat diperlukan dalam sesetengah pembedahan seperti penggunaan tulang metatarsal dalam pembinaan semula kaki. Data morfologi juga amat penting dalam pembedahan plastik seperti kes operasi mikrovaskular tisu tulang