ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF OCIMUM SANCTUM (LINN) IN FORMALIN INDUCED ACUTE MODELS OF ALBINO RATS

The inflammatory process is the response to an injurious stimulus. It can be evoked by a wide variety of noxious agents (e.g., infections, antibodies, physical injuries). Many nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin, phenylbutazone, indomethacin etc. are in clinical use but all these are not completely devoid of adverse effects. In this study, the anti-inflammatory activity of O. sanctum alone and in combination with indomethacin was studied using formalin-induced rat paw edema. Aqueous extract of O. sanctum (200mg/kg, 300mg/kg  or 400mg/kg) was administered alone and in combination with indomethacin (25mg/kg) to separate group of rats and paw volume was measured by plethysmometer and compared with control group. All the test groups showed significant (P<0.05) anti-inflammatory effect in formalin-induced rat paw edema. The reduction of edema by O. sanctum was better than that of the standard anti-inflammatory drug, indomethacin and on co-administration marginally improved the anti-inflammatory profile of indomethacin. O.sanctum possesses significant anti-inflammatory activity probably due to inhibition of both cyclooxygenase and lipooxygenase pathways of arachidonic acid metabolism (dual inhibitory property). KEYWORDS: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); Indomethacin; Plethysmometer

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF OCIMUM SANCTUM (LINN) IN FORMALIN INDUCED ACUTE MODELS OF ALBINO RATS

The inflammatory process is the response to an injurious stimulus. It can be evoked by a wide variety of noxious agents (e.g., infections, antibodies, physical injuries). Many nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin, phenylbutazone, indomethacin etc. are in clinical use but all these are not completely devoid of adverse effects. In this study, the anti-inflammatory activity of O. sanctum alone and in combination with indomethacin was studied using formalin-induced rat paw edema. Aqueous extract of O. sanctum (200mg/kg, 300mg/kg  or 400mg/kg) was administered alone and in combination with indomethacin (25mg/kg) to separate group of rats and paw volume was measured by plethysmometer and compared with control group. All the test groups showed significant (P<0.05) anti-inflammatory effect in formalin-induced rat paw edema. The reduction of edema by O. sanctum was better than that of the standard anti-inflammatory drug, indomethacin and on co-administration marginally improved the anti-inflammatory profile of indomethacin. O.sanctum possesses significant anti-inflammatory activity probably due to inhibition of both cyclooxygenase and lipooxygenase pathways of arachidonic acid metabolism (dual inhibitory property). KEYWORDS: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); Indomethacin; Plethysmometer

Can I copy this? awareness about plagiarism among research scholars of Karnataka State Akkamahadevi Women’s University, Vijayapura : a study

The present study carried out to know the awareness of plagiarism among research scholars of Karnataka State Akkamahadevi Women’s University, Vijayapura (India). A structured questionnaire was designed and distributed among research scholars to collect their opinion on the topic. This study found that the majority of the scholars 68 (100%) are aware of various kinds of plagiarism and many 44 (64.71%) of them learnt about plagiarism through fellow scholars. This study also investigates that most of the scholars are 47 (69.12%) aware of Urkund, a plagiarism detection software, and 31 (45.59%) of them know about APA (American Psychological Association) reference style. A 48 (70.59%) are copying other works as they felt that hard to find original ideas/thoughts and because of laziness and 47 (69.12%) of them are giving proper citations to avoid the plagiaris

Role of Panchakarma in the management of Hypothyroidism

We are in technical era where there is more of sedentary life style and stress along with this urbanization is affecting our quality of food and health. This is leading to many lifestyle disorders and hormonal imbalances in our body. Hypothyroidism one among the endocrinal disorder. Thyroid is an endocrinal gland secrets T3 and T4 hormones regulated by TSH which is secreted by Pituitary gland. These hormones have two major effects on the body, 1) To increase the overall metabolic rate in the body 2) To stimulate growth in children. Hypothyroidism is common health issue in India. The highest prevalence of hypothyroidism (13.1%) is noted in people aged 46-54yrs old. With people aged 18-35 yrs being less affected (7.5%). To prevent these hazards Panchakarma is beneficiary to maintain metabolic rate. Here an attempt is made to diagnose hypothyroidism in the light of Ayurveda and management guidelines through Panchakarma

THEORETICAL STUDIES OF BILIPROTEIN CHROMOPHORES AND RELATED BILE PIGMENTS BY MOLECULAR ORBITAL AND RAMACHANDRAN TYPE CALCULATIONS

Ramachandran calculations have been used to gain insight into steric hindrance in bile pigments related to biliprotein chromophores. The high optical activity of denatured phycocyanin, as compared to phycoerythrin, has been related to the asymmetric substitution at ring A, which shifts the equilibrium towards the P-helical form of the chromophore. Geometric effects on the electronic structures and transitions have then been studied by molecular orbital calculations for several conjugation systems including the chromophores of phycocyanin. phytochrome P,, cations, cation radicals and tautomeric forms. For these different chromophores some general trends can be deduced. For instance, for a given change in the gross shape (e.g. either unfolding of the molecule from a cyclic-helical to a fully extended geometry, or upon out-of-plane twists of the pyrrole ring A) of the molecules under study, the predicted absorption spectra all change in a simikar way. Nonetheless, there are characteristic distinctions between the different n-systems, both in the transition energies and the charge distribution, which can be related to their known differences in spectroscopic properties and their reactivity

Nanofiber fabrication in a temperature and humidity controlled environment for improved fibre consistency

To fabricate nanofibers with reproducible characteristics, an important demand for many applications, the effect of controlled atmospheric conditions on resulting electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers was evaluated for temperature ranging 17.5 - 35°C and relative humidity ranging 20% - 70%. With the potential application of nanofibers in many industries, especially membrane and filter fabrication, their reproducible production must be established to ensure commercially viability.
Cellulose acetate (CA) solution (0.2 g/ml) in a solvent mixture of acetone/DMF/ethanol (2:2:1) was electrospun into nonwoven fibre mesh with the fibre diameter ranging from 150nm to 1µm.
The resulting nanofibers were observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), showing a correlation of reducing average fibre diameter with increasing atmospheric temperature. A less pronounced correlation was seen with changes in relative humidity regarding fibre diameter, though it was shown that increased humidity reduced the effect of fibre beading yielding a more consistent, and therefore better quality of fibre fabrication.
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies observed lower melt enthalpies for finer CA nanofibers in the first heating cycle confirming the results gained from SEM analysis. From the conditions that were explored in this study the temperature and humidity that gave the most suitable fibre mats for a membrane purpose were 25.0°C and 50%RH due to the highest level of fibre diameter uniformity, the lowest level of beading while maintaining a low fibre diameter for increased surface area and increased pore size homogeneity. This study has highlighted the requirement to control the atmospheric conditions during the electrospinning process in order to fabricate reproducible fibre mats

Nanoinformatics knowledge infrastructures: bringing efficient information management to nanomedical research

Nanotechnology represents an area of particular promise and significant opportunity across multiple scientific disciplines. Ongoing nanotechnology research ranges from the characterization of nanoparticles and nanomaterials to the analysis and processing of experimental data seeking correlations between nanoparticles and their functionalities and side effects. Due to their special properties, nanoparticles are suitable for cellular-level diagnostics and therapy, offering numerous applications in medicine, e.g. development of biomedical devices, tissue repair, drug delivery systems and biosensors. In nanomedicine, recent studies are producing large amounts of structural and property data, highlighting the role for computational approaches in information management. While in vitro and in vivo assays are expensive, the cost of computing is falling. Furthermore, improvements in the accuracy of computational methods (e.g. data mining, knowledge discovery, modeling and simulation) have enabled effective tools to automate the extraction, management and storage of these vast data volumes. Since this information is widely distributed, one major issue is how to locate and access data where it resides (which also poses data-sharing limitations). The novel discipline of nanoinformatics addresses the information challenges related to nanotechnology research. In this paper, we summarize the needs and challenges in the field and present an overview of extant initiatives and efforts