EVALUATION OF IN VIVO ANTIDIABETIC AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF ARTOCARPUS HIRSUTUS SEEDS IN STREPTOZOTOCIN-INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

ABSTRACTObjective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the antihyperglycemic activity and in vivo antioxidant effect of Artocarpus hirsutus seeds in bothnormal and diabetic rats.Methods: Male Wistar rats weighing about 180-250 g were divided into six groups, of six rats each. Diabetes was induced by giving streptozotocin(30-50 mg/kg) intraperitoneally. Rats, which showed blood glucose levels ≥250 mg/dl, were selected for the study. Metformin (50 mg/kg) was used as a standard oral hypoglycemic agent. Oral glucose tolerance test was performed in all groups of rats. In the estimation of in vivo antioxidant activity,the levels of liver enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), lipid peroxidation, and CAT (catalase) were measured using standard methods.Results: The ethyl acetate seed extract of A. hirsutus at different doses was selected and administered orally. The blood glucose levels were estimatedby the glucose oxidase method, and insulin levels were measured by chemiluminescence assay method. Antihyperglycemic activity of the test drugin diabetic rats showed a significant reduction in blood glucose levels (p<0.001) at 2, 4, 6, and 8 hrs, respectively, as compared to diabetic groups.The antioxidant enzymes SOD and CAT levels were significantly raised, whereas malondialdehyde-thiobarbituric acid residue substances levels havedecreased (p<0.001).Conclusion: The results suggested that A. hirsutus seed extract showed a potential antidiabetic activity and antioxidant effect justifying the use of thedrug for the treatment of diabetes mellitus and its associated oxidative damage.Keywords: Antidiabetic, Antioxidant, Artocarpus hirsutus, Streptozotocin

PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF DRIED FLOWERS OF ADENIUM OBESUM

Objective: To estimate the antimicrobial activity of methanolic extract of Adenium obesum (family Apocyanaceae) in association with phytochemical analysis. Methods: The methanolic extract of the flowers of Adenium obesum was prepared and investigated for phytochemical constituents using standard methods. Antimicrobial activity of methanolic extract Adenium obesum has been carried out against one gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and one gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and the antifungal activity of the plant extract was evaluated on Candida albicans species. The testing was done by the disc diffusion method to visualize the zone of inhibition of methanolic extract was compared with that of standard drug i.e., Ciprofloxacin for antibacterial activity and Fluconazole for antifungal activity. The minimum inhibition concentration was determined by micro dilution method (cup-plate method). Results: The present investigation shows the phytochemical analysis confirmed the presence of alkaloids, saponin glycosides, flavonoids, phenols, proteins and amino acids, cardiac glycosides, steroids, tannin, and phenolic compounds. The anti-microbial activity of the methanolic extract of the plant showed significant results against all the three of the test organisms in compare to the standard drugs. Conclusion: The present study concluded that methanolic extract of the flowers of adenium obesum proved the existence of phytochemical constituents. The methanolic extract of the was found to possess promising antimicrobial activity when compared with the standards and it can be useful for the development of antibiotics

Study on seasonal variation on the content of Cucurbitacin of various vegetative parts of Trichosanthes cucumerina L. var. cucumerina

The total cucurbitacin content produced in the different parts of T. cucumerina L. var. cucumerina viz., fruit, stem and leaves with time and temperature was studied during the year 2007-08. The highest amount of cucurbitacins was produced in the month of February, i.e., 0.8, 1.7 and 3.7 w/w % and lowest was in the month of July 1.9, 0.5 and 0.17 w/w % in fruit, stem and leaves respectively. Present study reviles that, Production of cucurbitacin is temperature dependent as the temperature increases cucurbitacins production increased; decrease in the temperature production of cucurbitacins was found decrease. Due to high content of cucurbitacins, this plant may prove itself as a potent hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic agent, antifeedant and antimicrobial properties of the plants.The stems are involved in the transportation of cucurbitacins but only the fruits are associated with storage. Although the leaves contained a low concentration of cucurbitacins or the role cucurbitacins is still important as antifeedants. For example, the bitterness of cucurbitacin E is experienced at a low concentration of 10 ppb [9] a concentration that is not detectable by quantitative methods used [26] determined cucurbitacin content in the fruit 40 times greater than in the leaves of Ecballium elaterium.[27] determined 22 times greater than that of the leaves. In present study considering the fresh plant material, the cucurbitacin content in the fruit is about 15 times greater than that of the leaves is adequate to promote and conduct various pharmacological activities, as hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic agent, antifeedant and antimicrobial [28] properties of the plants. This study reveals that production of cucurbitacins is temperature dependent (Figure-2), increase in temperature increases cucurbitacins and cucurbitacin E production.peer-reviewe

Device uncertainty propagation in low-ductility RC frames retrofitted with BRBs for seismic risk mitigation

Passive control systems, such as buckling-restrained braces (BRBs), have emerged as efficient tools for seismic response control of new and existing structures by imparting strength and stiffness to buildings, while providing additional high and stable energy dissipation capacity. Systems equipped with BRBs have been widely investigated in literature; however, only a deterministic description of the BRBs’ properties is typically considered. These properties are provided by the manufacturer and are successively validated by qualification control tests according to code-based tolerance limits. Therefore, the device properties introduced within the structure could differ from their nominal design estimates, potentially leading to an undesired seismic performance. This study proposes a probabilistic assessment framework to evaluate the influence of BRBs’ uncertainty on the seismic response of a retrofitted RC frame. For the case study, a benchmark three-story RC moment-resisting frame is considered where BRBs’ uncertainty is defined compatible to the standardized tolerance limits of devices’ quality control tests. This uncertainty is implemented through a two-level factorial design strategy and Latin hypercube sampling technique. Cloud analysis and probabilistic seismic demand models are used to develop fragility functions for the bare and retrofitted frame for four damage states while also accounting for the uncertainty in the property of BRBs. Risk estimates are successively evaluated for three case study regions. The results show that, for the considered case study structure, these uncertainties could lead to an increase of fragility up to 21% and a variation in seismic risk estimates up to 56%

BRBs uncertainty propagation in seismic retrofit of RC structures

Passive control systems, such as buckling restrained braces (BRBs), have emerged as an efficient tool for the seismic response control of new and existing structures by providing strength and stiffness to buildings, in addition to high and stable energy dissipation capacity. Systems equipped with BRBs have been widely investigated in literature, however, only deterministic description of the BRBs' properties is usually considered. These properties are provided by the manufacturer and are successively validated by qualification control tests. The acceptance criteria specified by codal standards allows for some variation in the response of a single BRB by introducing a tolerance limit. Therefore, the 'real' properties of these devices could differ from the design values. This difference can affect the seismic response and potentially lead to an undesired seismic performance at the global level. This paper provides some preliminary insights on the influence of the BRBs' uncertainty on the seismic response of a retrofitted RC frame. For the case-study, a benchmark two-dimensional RC frame is considered. A single retrofit condition is analyzed and the BRBs' uncertainty is defined according to the tolerance limits of devices' quality control tests. Cloud analysis and probabilistic seismic demand models are used to develop fragility functions for four different damage states. Fragility curves are defined for the bare and retrofitted frame while considering both the design and the 'real' values of the BRBs properties. The preliminary results show that the BRBs' uncertainty could lead to an increase of the vulnerability up to 26.80% for the considered case-study

Photographic Investigations of Jet Disintegration in Airblast Sprays

In this paper a comprehensive review of flow visualization techniques used for the analysis of spray characteristics is presented and an experimental demonstration of different lighting techniques has been made. Still photographs of sprays from an airblast atomizer and a swirl atomizer are taken under backlighting, slit lighting, incident lighting (front flash) and a new method of capturing scattered light image at 1200 to the incident light is introduced in the present work. Photographs taken by these methods are shown to be useful for deriving useful observations such as jet breakup phenomenon, the internal details and the external appearance of the spray. It is demonstrated that the information obtainable from each technique is different and that a combination of different techniques may be necessary for proper diagnosis. The article also includes a discussion on the jet breakup phenomenon as observed in the photographs and in addition a new concept of shear formation of smaller droplets from the surface of a liquid jet by the co-flowing air stream in an airblast atomizer has been proposed

Assessment of changes in brain metabolites in Indian patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy

BACKGROUND: The brain is a target for diabetic end-organ damage, though the pathophysiology of diabetic encephalopathy is still not well understood. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of diabetes on the metabolic profile of brain of patients having diabetes in comparison to healthy controls, using in-vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy to get an insight into the pathophysiology of cerebral damages caused due to diabetes. METHODS: Single voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) was performed at 1.5 T on right frontal, right parieto-temporal and right parieto-occipital white matter regions of the brain of 10 patients having type-2 diabetes along with 7 healthy controls. Absolute concentration of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (cho), myo-inositol (mI), glutamate (Glu) and glutamine (Gln), creatine (Cr) and glucose were determined using the LC-Model and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The concentration of N-acetylaspartate was significantly lower in the right frontal [4.35 ±0.69 vs. 5.23 ±0.74; p = 0.03] and right parieto-occipital region [5.44 ±0.52 vs.6.08 ±0.25; p = 0.02] of the brain of diabetics as compared to the control group. The concentrations of glutamate and glutamine were found to be significantly higher in the right frontal region of the brain [7.98 ±2.57 vs. 5.32 ±1.43; P = 0.01] in diabetics. Glucose levels were found significantly elevated in all the three regions of the brain in diabetics as compared to the control group. However, no significant changes in levels of choline, myo-inositol and creatine were observed in the three regions of the brain examined among the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: (1)H-MRS analysis indicates that type-2 diabetes mellitus may cause subtle changes in the metabolic profile of the brain. Decreased concentrations of NAA might be indicative of decreased neuronal viability in diabetics while elevated concentrations of Gln and Glu might be related to the fluid imbalance resulting from disruption of glucose homeostasis

BRBs uncertainty propagation in seismic retrofit of RC structures

Passive control systems, such as buckling restrained braces (BRBs), have emerged as an efficient tool for the seismic response control of new and existing structures by providing strength and stiffness to buildings, in addition to high and stable energy dissipation capacity. Systems equipped with BRBs have been widely investigated in literature, however, only deterministic description of the BRBs’ properties is usually considered. These properties are provided by the manufacturer and are successively validated by qualification control tests. The acceptance criteria specified by codal standards allows for some variation in the response of a single BRB by introducing a tolerance limit. Therefore, the ‘real’ properties of these devices could differ from the design values. This difference can affect the seismic response and potentially lead to an undesired seismic performance at the global level. This paper provides some preliminary insights on the influence of the BRBs’ uncertainty on the seismic response of a retrofitted RC frame. For the case-study, a benchmark two-dimensional RC frame is considered. A single retrofit condition is analyzed and the BRBs’ uncertainty is defined according to the tolerance limits of devices’ quality control tests. Cloud analysis and probabilistic seismic demand models are used to develop fragility functions for four different damage states. Fragility curves are defined for the bare and retrofitted frame while considering both the design and the ‘real’ values of the BRBs properties. The preliminary results show that the BRBs’ uncertainty could lead to an increase of the vulnerability up to 26.80% for the considered case-study