Inhibitory activity of Indian spice plant Cinnamomum zeylanicum extracts against Alternaria solani and Curvularia lunata, the pathogenic dematiaceous moulds

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dematiaceous moulds are pathogenic microorganisms and act as etiological agents of mycoses with different degrees of severity in humans and animals. These moulds also cause loss of food crops and storage food products. The information regarding antimicrobial efficacy of the plant preparations on these moulds is scanty. The present study reveals phytochemical characterization and the effect of bark and leaf extracts of Indian spice plant, <it>Cinnamomum zeylanicum </it>(Cz), against the growth of two species of dematiaceous moulds, <it>Alternaria solani </it>and <it>Curvularia lunata</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cz bark and leaf samples were sequentially extracted in different solvents using Soxhlet apparatus. Phytochemical analyses of extracts were done as per standard protocols. The antifungal bioassay of extracts was done by hanging drop technique. The inhibition of fungal spore germination was monitored under influence of three different concentrations of extracts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The lowest test concentration (50 μg/ml) of extracts of Cz bark prepared into acetone and that of Cz leaf into petroleum ether and ethanol exhibited complete inhibition (100%) of spore germination in both the moulds. At 100 μg/ml concentration all the extracts showed about 50 to 100% inhibition. However, the treatment of the spores of the two fungal species with highest concentration (500 μg/ml) of bark and leaf extracts in all the solvents showed 100% fungicidal activity as it completely arrested the germination of spores. Relatively lower activity of aqueous extracts at 50 and 100 μg/ml concentrations suggests that the antifungal ingredients present in Cz bark and leaf are more soluble in organic solvents than water.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results demonstrated that the Cz bark and leaves contain certain fungicidal constituents exhibiting potential antimould activity against <it>A. solani </it>and <it>C. lunata</it>.</p

Visual Segmentation of Simple Objects for Robots

Abstract—The ability to automatically segment a “simple” object of any size from its background is important for an active agent (e.g. a robot) to interact effectively in the real world. Recently, we proposed an algorithm [12] to segment a “simple” object in a scale invariant manner, given a point anywhere inside that object. However, in [12], a strategy to select the point inside a “simple ” object was not provided. In this paper, we propose a new system that automatically selects the points inside different “simple ” objects in the scene, carries out the segmentation process for the selected points, and outputs only the regions corresponding to the “simple ” objects in the scene. The proposed attention mechanism for the segmentation problem utilizes, for the first time, the concept of border ownership [17]. I

Effect of Kasni seed preparations on serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase levels in newly diagnosed patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Kasni (Cichorium intybus L.) reported to play an important role in the effective management of serum liver enzymes SGPT & SGOT in various animal models and this study is extension to newly diagnosed patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus.Methods: Newly diagnosed 90 patients of Type2 DM, age 35-65years, of either sex were divided into 3 groups. In group I only Metformin sustained release once a day and in group II/III 6 grams crude seed powder or 50 ml decoction of crude seed powder was given twice a day for 90 days in combination with Metformin sustained release orally once in a day. Serum liver enzyme levels of SGPT & SGOT were measured at zero, 30th, 60th and 90th day.Results: All the three groups showed a significant reduction in SGPT & SGOT across the four time periods. Post hoc Tukey HSD test shown that there was a significant difference between group I & II (p=0.011) and group I & III (p=0.000) for SGPT and group I & II (p=0.012) and group I & III (p=0.000) for SGOT.Conclusions: The add on  therapy with Kasni seed preparations is more effective for the management of altered SGPT and SGOT levels in Type2 diabetes mellitus patients than only oral hypoglycaemic agent in decreasing SGPT & SGOT of selected patients. Among Kasni seed preparation treated groups, decoction was found more effective than crude seed powder.

Synthesis and characterization of molecularly imprinted polymers for the remediation of PCBs and dioxins in aqueous environments

This paper, reports on the approach devised to remediate water sources contaminated with PCBs and dioxins. The approach reported is based on the synthesis of highly selective molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). The paper elaborates the materials, procedures and protocols devised and followed for the synthesis of MIPs..

Studies on Some New Ru(III) Complexes Using aryl-azo Pentane- 2,4-dione and 2,6-bis (2'-Benzimidazolyl) Pyridine as Ligands: Synthesis, Spectroscopic, Luminescent, Electrochemical and Biological Activities

Some ruthenium(III) complexes with aryl-azo 2,4-pentanedione as co-ligands (L1H - L3H2) have been synthesized and characterized spectroscopically IR, 1H NMR, UV/Vis, ESR, conductimetric) along with elemental analysis and FAB-mass data. Their luminescent and redox properties have been studied. The antibacterial, anti-HIV and antitmnour activities have also been reported

Inclusion of carbohydrate antigen 242 in addition to carbohydrate antigen 19.9 in serological workup of carcinoma gall bladder: a case series analysis

Background: Common antigenic pool is seen because of shared embryonic origins of gall bladder cancer (GBC) and pancreas. Hence, we analyzed the role of serum carbohydrate antigen 242 (CA242) which has been studied in pancreatic cancer, in GBC. The objectives were to identify whether serum CA242 provides added advantage in diagnosis of GBC when compared to controls and to determine its cut-off value. Methods: Serum CA 19-9 level was determined by chemiluminescent micro particle assay and CA242 by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of age matched cases and controls. Results: Total enrolled patients were 83 including 10 (11.7%) healthy volunteers, 22 (25.9%) chronic cholecystitis cases, and 53 (62.4%) patients with histological evidence of carcinoma. Mean age of presentation of GBC was 51.64 SD10.88 years with F: M ratio of 5.6:1. Pain (90.6%, 48/53) accompanied with jaundice was significantly associated with GBC well reflected by significantly raised serum total bilirubin (p=0.011), direct bilirubin (p=0.008) along with alkaline phosphatase levels (p=0.001). Significantly higher median value of CA 19-9 and CA242 was observed in GBC when compared to CC and healthy volunteers (p&lt;0.001) with a significant correlation between tumor size (&gt;2.5 cm) and serum levels of CA242. The best cut-off limit for CA242 was 45.25 IU/ml. The specificity for carcinoma diagnosis increased to 100% when CA242 was included along with CA 19.9 in serological estimation. Conclusions: We recommend that CA antigen 19-9 may be complimented with CA242 for serological identification of malignancy in the gall bladder