The Need for Guidance and Career Counselling at Secondary Schooling

A large number of students are going to colleges and universities without proper planning. They think of selecting a career after finishing their education. Consequently, round pegs are inserted in square holes and square pegs at round holes, resulting in wastage of human services. Due to this reason, it is, therefore, necessary to have well-organized guidance program to remove the defect. Society itself and its demand are continuously changing and becoming more and more complex and without any guidance program, it is not possible for a child to cope with the changing society. So, the program of guidance is needed for all the children in every aspect of their harmonious development

Teacher Education

The young today are facing a world in which communication and information revolution has led to changes in all spheres: scientific, technological, political, economic, social and cultural. To be able to prepare our young people face the future with confidence purpose and responsibility, the crucial role of teachers cannot be overemphasized. Given these multidimensional demands, Role of teachers also have to change. In the past, teachers used to be a major source of knowledge, the leader and educator of their students school life. The changes that took place in education have initiated to change the role of teachers. In this article we will examine how the role of teachers in the present society has to change

SCREENING AND IDENTIFICATION OF HEAVY METAL-TOLERANT ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI LASIODIPLODIA THEOBROMAE FROM BOSWELLIA OVALIFOLIOLATA AN ENDEMIC PLANT OF TIRUMALA HILLS

ABSTRACTAim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the heavy metal resistance potentiality of endophytic fungi isolated from the leaves of Boswellia ovalifoliolata,an endemic medicinal plant of Tirumala Hills.Methods: Initially, isolation of fungal endophytes was carried out. Isolated fungi were screened for the heavy metal resistance against Co, Cd, Cuand Zn using growth and evaluated their maximum tolerant capacity. Molecular identification of endophytic fungi was carried out by 18S rRNA geneamplification and Sanger's nucleotide sequencing. Phylogenetic tree was constructed using NCBI Clustal W.Results: Ten different endophytic fungi were isolated from the leaves of B. ovalifoliolata. Among the isolated endophytic fungi, five showed resistanceto Co, Cd, Cu, and Zn. The most resistant fungus was identified as Lasiodiplodia theobromae based on 18S rRNA gene sequencing.Conclusions: L. theobromae was isolated from B. ovalifoliolata and identified as one of the useful fungi involved in mycoremediation against heavymetal toxicity.Keywords: Heavy metals, Endophytic fungi, Endemic plant, Bioremediation

PHARMACOGNOSTIC STUDY OF CALLISTEMON CITRINUS L. BARK

Objective: Pharmacognostic study of Callistemon citrinus L. barkMethods: The bark of Callistemon citrinus L. was shade dried and powdered mechanically. The powdered material was used for further Pharmacognostic study. The study was conducted as per the guidelines of the World Health Organization which includes macroscopy, microscopy, physicochemical, Phytochemical and fluorescence studies.Results: The bark is greenish gray and exfoliating or striated with splintery and granular fracture. Microscopy showed the presence of rhytidoma with lignified sclerenchyma tissue, abundant lignified phloem fibers and uni to biseriate medullary rays. The total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash values was found to be 7.5%, 17%, 2% w/w respectively. Moisture content was not more than 1%, methanol extractive value was 12% w/w and foreign organic matter was 1.5% w/w. The preliminary phytochemical studies showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, triterpenoids and carbohydrates.Conclusions: The results of the study could be useful in setting quality parameters for the identification of crude drug and preparation of a monograph.Â

TRITERPENOID SAPONINS: A REVIEW ON BIOSYNTHESIS, APPLICATIONS AND MECHANISM OF THEIR ACTION

Saponins are the potential bioactive compounds secreted by plants, endophytic fungi and marine organisms. Saponins are the glycosides containing non sugar portion, aglycone (sapogenin) attached to sugar moiety by glycosidic linkage. Depending on the chemical nature of aglycone, saponins are of triterpenoid and steroid saponins. The present review gives an overview of the biosynthesis pathway of triterpenoid saponins and mechanism of the biosynthesis. The review discusses the biomedical and pharmaceutical importance of triterpenoid saponins as they possess different activities including antimicrobial, haemolytic, hypolipidemic, immunomodulating and cytotoxic activities. The review also focuses on the mechanism of their action towards various activities.Â

Changing Role of Teachers in the Present Society

The young today are facing the world in which communication and information revolution has led to changes in all spheres: scientific, technological, political, economic, social, and cultural. To be able to prepare our young people to face the future with confidence purpose and responsibility, the crucial role of teachers cannot be overemphasized. Given these multidimensional demands, Role of teachers also has to change. In the past, teachers used to be a major source of knowledge, the leader, and educator of their students school life. The changes that took place in education have initiated to change the role of teachers. In this article, we will examine how the role of teachers in the present society has to change

Teacher education

The young today are facing a world in which communication and information revolution has led to changes in all spheres: scientific, technological, political, economic, social and cultural. To be able to prepare our young people face the future with confidence purpose and responsibility, the crucial role of teachers cannot be overemphasized. Given these multidimensional demands, Role of teachers also have to change. In the past, teachers used to be a major source of knowledge, the leader and educator of their students school life. The changes that took place in education have initiated to change the role of teachers. In this article we will examine how the role of teachers in the present society has to change

RAPID SYNTHESIS OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING AQUEOUS LEAF EXTRACT OF ACHYRANTHES ASPERA AND STUDY OF THEIR ANTIMICROBIAL AND FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING ACTIVITIES

Objective: To study the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the aqueous leaf extract of Achyranthes aspera and check the antimicrobial and free radical scavenging activity of the biosynthesized AgNPsMethods: 20 ml of aqueous leaf extract of A. aspera was added to 80 ml of 2 mM silver nitrate and the reaction solution was heated at 55-60 °C for 20 min and incubated. Biosynthesized AgNPs were characterized by different spectroscopic measurements including UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Dynamic light scattering (DLS). Antimicrobial activity of AgNPs was checked against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis (Gram+ve bacteria), Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram-ve bacteria), Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Candida nonalbicans (Human pathogenic fungi) by employing disc diffusion method. The free radical scavenging activity of AgNPs was checked against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) radicals. Results: After 1 h of incubation, the light yellow color of the reaction solution was turned to dark brown. UV-Vis spectra showed the absorption peak at 445 nm and confirmed the synthesis of AgNPs. FTIR spectra revealed the functional groups plausibly involved in the biosynthesis and stabilization of AgNPs. XRD pattern revealed that the synthesized AgNPs were crystalline in nature with face-centered cubic (FCC) phase. TEM revealed that the synthesized AgNPs were spherical in shape with 20-40 nm in size. DLS analysis revealed that the average size of AgNPs was 24.5 nm. Biosynthesized AgNPs were highly stable due to their high negative zeta potential value of-28.1 mV. AgNPs showed effective antimicrobial activity against S. aureus (16.4 mm), B. subtilis (14.5 mm), K. pneumonia (13.2 mm), P. aeruginosa (12.4 mm), A. niger (12.2 mm), C. albicans (11.5 mm) and C. nonalbicans (11.8 mm). AgNPs showed effective free radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 77.73 and 90.53 µg/ml respectively against DPPH and H2O2 radicals.Conclusion: Successful and rapid synthesis of AgNPs was achieved using aqueous leaf extract of A. aspera. Biosynthesized AgNPs were proved to be excellent antimicrobial agents and free radical scavengers.Keywords: Achyranthes aspera, Silver nanoparticles, TEM, DLS, Antimicrobial and Radical scavenging activit

BIOFABRICATION OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING AQUEOUS LEAF EXTRACT OF MELIA DUBIA, CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY

Objective: To investigate the bio-fabrication of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using aqueous leaf extract of Melia dubia (ALM) and test the antifungal activity of AgNPs against pathogenic fungi Aspergillus niger and Candida tropicalis. Methods: 10 ml of aqueous leaf extract of Melia dubia was added to 90 ml of 1 mM silver nitrate and incubated for 8h at room temperature. After incubation, the color change was observed from light yellow to dark brown. The synthesized AgNPs were characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infra red spectroscopy (FTIR), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and Candida tropicalis was carried out by employing the disc diffusion method. Results: UV-Vis spectra confirmed the synthesis of AgNPs by showing characteristic peak between 380-450 nm*. FTIR spectra showed the functional groups possibly involved in the synthesis of AgNPs. EDX confirms the presence of elemental silver at 3 Kev. SEM and AFM showed the synthesized AgNPs were spherical in shape with size ranging between 20-40 nm*. XRD analysis revealed the crystalline nature of AgNPs with face centred cubic (FCC) lattice. AgNPs was found to be very effective against the tested pathogenic fungi A. niger and C. tropicalis and formed the inhibition zones 13.0 and 14.5 mm respectively. Conclusion: It is concluded that the bio-fabrication of AgNPs using aqueous leaf extract of Melia dubia was robust and rapid. The AgNPs were stable and proved to be excellent antifungal agents