HEPATOPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF PUNICA GRANATUM FRUIT AGAINST D-GALACTOSAMINE INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN RATS: IN VITRO AND IN VIVO STUDIES

Objective: Hepatoprotective activity of Punica granatum Linn. (Family: Punicaceae) was evaluated by in vitro and in vivo model. HepG2 cell lines were used for in vitro study and D-Galactosamine (D-GalN) induced hepatic damage model for in vivo evaluation.Methods: Hepatoprotective potential was assessed by measuring serum level of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin, and albumin. Enzymatic antioxidant parameters like TBARs (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances), GSH (glutathione), SOD (superoxide dismutase) and CAT (catalase) also evaluated in this study. Results: Rats treated with D-GalN showed a significant increase in serum levels of SGOT (serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase), SGPT (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase), ALP (alkaline phosphatase), bilirubin and TBARs, reflecting liver damage. The in vitro study indicates a beneficial effect of aqueous extract of P. granatum in comparison with methanolic extract, on D-GalN induced toxicity to HepG2 cells. On the basis of in vitro study, aqueous extract was selected for in vivo evaluation. The aqueous extract of P. granatum significantly reduced the elevated serum biomarkers, indicating the recovery of hepatocellular injury. It was also observed that D-GalN induced a significant decrease in GSH, SOD, CAT, protein, and albumin level were increased on the treatment of the rats with aqueous extract of P. granatum. The findings were also confirmed by histopathological studies. Periportal area and extensive hepatocyte damage and haemorrhage are seen in D-GalN treated group. The portal triad with less degree of inflammatory cell infiltration around the bile duct is seen in P. granatum (500 mg/kg)+(D-GalN) treated group.Conclusion: Results of this study revealed that P. granatum fruit could afford a significant protection for the alleviation of hepatic toxicity. Possible mechanism may involve its action against oxidative stress.Â

Agricultural adaptation and climate change policy for crop production in Africa

Africa is considered among the most highly vulnerable regions to climate change because of extremes of drought, flooding, inappropriate land tenure systems, overdependence on rainfed agriculture, and widespread poverty. The impact of climate change is moderated by several factors such as access to land, inputs, credit, and markets. Thus, there is a critical need for decision makers at different levels in Africa to develop matching response strategies and policies to reduce vulnerability and foster resilient livelihood systems on a sustainable basis. The smallholder farming communities are inherently the most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, and are always away from the advantage of any emerging opportunities due to resource constraints. About 65 % of national agricultural earnings in this continent is derived from the crop production of staple cereals, particularly maize. Due to shrinkage in cultivated area, production is also about 5–25 %, and the region’s need is more chronic for food and feed. The climate change challenge is aggravated by diminishing soil productivity and the decline in natural resources has affected the livelihood of rural and peri-urban communities. The communities have drawn on their indigenous knowledge systems with the support of local institutions and traditional social safety nets to adopt the various multiple stress factors related to climate change and variability. However, there is still limited empirical evidence on the robustness of these systems in support of social collaborations and resolving conflicts arising from the resource scarcity in the wake of climate change. Comprehensive policy frameworks are therefore required to expand the climate change adaptation horizons beyond the boundaries of current farming systems. For instance, the risk of crop-based enterprises has increased by deteriorating climatic conditions. There is much evidence of multiple stresses characterising the existing poverty traps for the predominantly rural communities, and challenges of chronic food insecurity, but no evidence on how current agriculture and climate change policy frameworks are able to address these multiple stress factors against the increasing risk and uncertainty of agriculture as a source of climate change adaptation. Currently, the majority of the farmers lives beyond the reach of markets, yet agricultural development policies are hinged on the principles of market participation. Transformation of these subsistence farms into commercially oriented and market-driven production systems will effectively call for structural and process changes in knowledge systems, technology development and delivery, institutions, and policies. The empirical research shows evidence of current and future impacts of climate change and variability on agricultural production systems, and their implications on the resilience of smallholder farming systems currently supporting the poorer and more vulnerable communities. Over the past decade, there has been a remarkable increase in awareness about climate change issues with diverse stakeholders, including policy makers. The lack of knowledge on the nature, magnitude, and direction of impacts at the indigenous community and national scales will likely continue to haunt decision-making processes regarding the development of robust strategies and policies to support adaptation. However, the regional agricultural sector has to undergo major transformation processes in order to meet emerging demands for adaptation. This may entail changes in the types and forms of information, knowledge, technologies, resource regimes, and institutions driving current production systems. There are still major knowledge gaps across disciplines on how local-level changes in climatic factors influence the socioecological processes that underpin agricultural production systems across spatial and temporal scales. Thus, it has been concluded that the policy making on climate change in Africa is not necessarily constrained by the lack of empirical evidence, but instead by the failure of policy makers to use available empirical evidence. The current failures in linking research to policy could be a major barrier to further research and development innovations for climate change adaptation. Evidence from limited climate change adaptation studies conducted with communities in the region revealed the importance of policy dialogue platforms as an integral part of research and development initiatives

The influence of school climate on high school teachers’ job satisfaction in a conflict-affected country

School climate plays a vital role in a teacher’s job performance, satisfaction, and school effectiveness. There were abundant studies on school climate and effectiveness and its relationship with teachers’ job performance and job satisfaction for primary and secondary schools in developed and developing countries. Unfortunately, there were scarce studies on teachers’ satisfaction in underdeveloped countries with prolonged conflicts and government instability. This study investigated the influence of school climate on teachers’ job satisfaction in a conflict-affected country, Afghanistan. It employed a survey questionnaire to collect data from public high school teachers in the Takhar province of Afghanistan. The data were descriptively and inferentially analyzed with the aid of statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS). Despite prolonged conflicts and government instability, the study found a statistically positive correlation between school climate and high school teachers’ job satisfaction. It also revealed statistically significant differences in the satisfaction level of teachers by their demographic variables, i.e., gender, educational qualification, age, and working experience. The study suggests that education administrators, school leaders, and other stakeholders develop a policy advancing a peaceful and conducive learning environment to improve student’s learning outcomes, teachers’ job performance and satisfaction, and school effectiveness. Future studies may qualitatively examine schools in different parts of the country

Nitrate and nitrogen oxides: sources, health effects and their remediation

Increased use of nitrogenous (N) fertilizers in agriculture has significantly altered the global N-cycle because they release nitrogenous gases of environmental concerns. The emission of nitrous oxide (N2O) contributes to the global greenhouse gas accumulation and the stratospheric ozone depletion. In addition, it causes nitrate leaching problem deteriorating ground water quality. The nitrate toxicity has been reported in a number of studies showing the health hazards like methemoglobinemia in infants and is a potent cause of cancer. Despite these evident negative environmental as well as health impacts, consumption of N fertilizer cannot be reduced in view of the food security for the teeming growing world population. Various agronomic and genetic modifications have been practiced to tackle this problem. Some agronomic techniques adopted include split application of N, use of slow-release fertilizers, nitrification inhibitors and encouraging the use of organic manure over chemical fertilizers. As a matter of fact, the use of chemical means to remediate nitrate from the environment is very difficult and costly. Particularly, removal of nitrate from water is difficult task because it is chemically non-reactive in dilute aqueous solutions. Hence, the use of biological means for nitrate remediation offers a promising strategy to minimize the ill effects of nitrates and nitrites. One of the important goals to reduce N-fertilizer application can be effectively achieved by choosing N-efficient genotypes. This will ensure the optimum uptake of applied N in a balanced manner and exploring the molecular mechanisms for their uptake as well as metabolism in assimilatory pathways. The objectives of this paper are to evaluate the interrelations which exist in the terrestrial ecosystems between the plant type and characteristics of nutrient uptake and analyze the global consumption and demand for fertilizer nitrogen in relation to cereal production, evaluate the various methods used to determine nitrogen use efficincy (NUE), determine NUE for the major cereals grown across large agroclimatic regions, determine the key factors that control NUE, and finally analyze various strategies available to improve the use efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen

STUDIES ON THE SYNTHESIS OF SOME NEW 1,2,4- TRIAZOLES DERIVATIVES AND EVALUATION FOR THEIR ANTI-FUNGAL ACTIVITY PROFILES

The synthesis of new heterocyclic compounds has always drawn the attention of medicinal chemist over the years mainly because they possess diverse biological properties. The literature survey on 1,2,4-triazoles revealed that they are endowed with wide variety of biological activities .During the present investigation a series of new 1,2,4-triazole derivatives N-(3-(2-(3- hydrazinyl-3-oxoalkanoyl)hydrazinyl)-5-(phenoxymethyl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-yl)isonicotinamide(6a- 6e)were synthesized by reacting withN-(5-mercapto-3-(phenoxymethyl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-4- yl)isonicotinamide (5) and aliphatic dicarboxylic acid hydrazides (a-e). The structures of the newly All the compounds synthesised 6a to 6e were evaluated for antifungal activity against Candida albicans and Aspergillus Niger was carried out and MIC values were determined synthesized compounds were estblished by FT-IR, 1H-NMR and MASS spectral analysis. The compound 6a (n=0) was found to be the most potent antifungal agent. Keywords: 1,2,4-triazole derivatives, antifungal, Candida albicans, Aspergillus Nige

Sexual dimorphism of nasal index, nasal breadth and nasal height among young Kashmiri population

Background: Nose contributes as a very important and prominent part of the face; and occupies the most visible position on normafrontalis. There is an anthropometric harmony between different structures of face including nose, lips, eyes, forehead, chin and cheek. Our study was aimed to determine sexual and ethnic differences in external nose measurements of young adult Kashmiri population and to provide baseline data for reconstructive cosmetic surgeons and forensic experts.Methods: This study was conducted among 300 healthy participants (150 males and 150 females) belonging to Kashmiri population. Nasal height, length and breadth were measured using a vernier caliper. Then, the nasal index was determined for each subject. The obtained data was subjected to statistical analysis.Results: In case of males, mean nasal index was 83.31±12.31 mm, mean nasal length was 57.28±4.51 mm, mean nasal breadth was 48.41 mm and mean nasal height was 36.17±20.9 mm, while in case of females mean nasal index was 226.83±46.41 mm, mean nasal length was 50.16±3.54 mm, mean nasal height was 13.97±2.01 mm and mean nasal breadth was 31.02 mm.Conclusions: Nasal type among the Kashmiri male population is predominantly mesorrhine while in females it is hyperplatyrrine or very wide nose

Plant and necrotrophic fungal pathogen interaction: mechanism and mode of action

Necrotrophic fungal pathogens cause major losses to fruit, vegetable, and cereal crops annually and the economic impact is more than that of diseases caused by biotrophic pathogens. These pathogens are devastating because they kill as they colonize through production of cell wall-degrading enzymes and phytotoxins, obtaining nutrients for growth and reproduction from the dead plant cells. They explore a wide variety of virulence strategies and based on these the pathogens are classified into host-specific and broad host-range necrotrophs. Plants are equipped with an immune system as a defense mechanism while the necrotrophic fungal pathogenic arsenal suppresses the immune responses for disease manifestation. Plant defense response involves the interplay of signaling molecules which include various phytohormones like jasmonic acid, ethylene, salicylic and abscisic acid which also serve as regulators of the immune response. Coordination at the transcriptional level of genes for the production of defense molecules including antimicrobial phytoalexins and pathogenesis-related proteins by transcription factors such as WRKY33 and ERF which are responsive to the signaling molecules has been observed. The roles for several important transcription factors already unveiled through studies of mutants in the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana and some of the information translatable to crop plants. The present chapter shows the interconnection between cell wall integrity and the action of signaling molecules in the expression of defense-related genes. Moreover, the epigenetic mechanism through DNA and histone modification is also discussed

Environmental scanning practices of 5-Star hotels in Malaysia

This study explores the environmental scanning practices among 5-star hotels in Malaysia. The purpose of the research is to understand on how this activity is conducted, what were the processes involved, who is responsible for conducting, when it is conducted, why the processes are conducted and what types of information were collected. This research used a qualitative approach where data were collected through face to face interviews using semi-structured interview. The results provide a better understanding of the environmental scanning activities in hotels with a particular emphasis on the extent of comprehensiveness of Strategic Environmental Scanning Information system, structure and processes. This finding also describes the level of depth and breadth of the information collected for the general environment, task environment and specific environment, as part of the initial steps such as identifying information needed and the information source for the strategic environmental scanning information system activities

Insect pest resistance: an alternative approach for crop protection

From experience with insect resistance caused by synthetic chemical insecticides, it is clear that no single management tactic can provide lasting solutions to the insect pest problem. Biological control is a component of integrated pest management strategies that minimize insecticide spray applications and move towards ecofriendly systems of pest management. Successful utilization of host plant resistance, phytochemical products, pheromones, biological control agents such as predators, parasitoids, entomopathogenic bacteria, virus, nematodes, and fungi can help to control many destructive pests to achieve sustainable crop protection

Integrated Network Pharmacology and In-Silico Molecular Docking Studies to Unveil Mechanism of Action of Polyphenolic Compounds of Psidium Guajava for The Management of Thrombocytopenia

Despite considerable studies, thrombocytopenia is still affecting millions of people with an increasing rate of morbidity and mortality around the globe. Therefore, we aimed to identify pharmacologically active polyphenolic compounds such as quercetin, apigenin and kaempferol in Psidium guajava for the management of thrombocytopenia using network pharmacology and in-silico molecular docking. The results of ADME/Tox screening revealed that all the polyphenolic compounds possess the drug-likeness activity and were found safe. Moreover, network pharmacology revealed that polyphenolic compounds of Psidium guajava may combat diabetes by acting on key targets, such as MAPK, TP53 and TNF-α which were strongly involved in oxidative stress, inflammatory responses and blood-related parameters involved in thrombocytopenia. Further, a mechanistic approach through molecular docking also supports the strong binding sites of quercetin, apigenin and kaempferol. Conclusively, in-silico ADME, molecular docking and network pharmacology study revealed that identified compounds are safe and pharmacologically effective. These identified compounds could be a great source for the development of new anti-thrombocytopenic drugs in the future