IN VITRO ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF METHANOL EXTRACT OF ERANTHEMUM CAPENSE

Objective: The present study was aimed to rationalize the scientific basis in traditional use of Eranthemum capense as an antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory agent. Methods: Agar well diffusion method is widely used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the E. capense aerial part of methanolic and ethyl acetate plant extracts. The same amount (15–20 mL) of Mueller-Hinton agar was poured on glass Petri plates of same size and allowed to solidify. E. capense aerial part of methanolic and ethyl acetate extracts was evaluated in vitro for their anti-inflammatory activities using the bovine serum albumin protein denaturation assay. Results: The result of the study shows that methanolic exract (T3) of the plant, E. capense shows 16 mm zone of inhibition against Pseudomonas fluorescens, while the ethyl acetate extract of the same plant shows 14 mm zone of inhibition against P. fluorescens and E. coli. Hence the methanolic extract of T3 sample shows the antibacterial activity against gram negative bacteria, where as the ethyl acetate extract of T3 shows antibacterial activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The experimental report revealed that, the methanolic and ethyl acetate extract of the same plant produces zero percentage zone of inhibition against Aspergillus niger and Mucor, hence it does not show any antifungal activity. Conclusion: It is observed that the EA and methanolic extract of E. capense can be used in the treatment of inflammation due to the significant percentage of inhibition of protein denaturation as well as its prove the good antimicrobial agent

A Broad Search for Counterrotating Gas and Stars: Evidence for Mergers and Accretion

We measure the frequency of bulk gas-stellar counterrotation in a sample of 67 galaxies drawn from the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey, a broadly representative survey of the local galaxy population down to M_B-15. We detect 4 counterrotators among 17 E/S0's with extended gas emission (24% +8 -6). In contrast, we find no clear examples of bulk counterrotation among 38 Sa-Sbc spirals, although one Sa does show peculiar gas kinematics. This result implies that, at 95% confidence, no more than 8% of Sa-Sbc spirals are bulk counterrotators. Among types Sc and later, we identify only one possible counterrotator, a Magellanic irregular. We use these results together with the physical properties of the counterrotators to constrain possible origins for this phenomenon.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, AJ, accepte

Dynamical effects of interactions and the Tully-Fisher relation for Hickson compact groups

We investigate the properties of the B-band Tully-Fisher (T-F) relation for 25 compact group galaxies, using Vmax derived from 2-D velocity maps. Our main result is that the majority of the Hickson Compact Group galaxies lie on the T-F relation. However, about 20% of the galaxies, including the lowest-mass systems, have higher B luminosities for a given mass, or alternatively, a mass which is too low for their luminosities. We favour a scenario in which outliers have been brightened due to either enhanced star formation or merging. Alternatively, the T-F outliers may have undergone truncation of their dark halo due to interactions. It is possible that in some cases, both effects contribute. The fact that the B-band T-F relation is similar for compact group and field galaxies tells us that these galaxies show common mass-to-size relations and that the halos of compact group galaxies have not been significantly stripped inside R25. We find that 75% of the compact group galaxies studied (22 out of 29) have highly peculiar velocity fields. Nevertheless, a careful choice of inclination, position angle and center, obtained from the velocity field, and an average of the velocities over a large sector of the galaxy enabled the determination of fairly well-behaved rotation curves for the galaxies. However, two of the compact group galaxies which are the most massive members in M51--like pairs, HCG 91a and HCG 96a, have very asymmetric rotation curves, with one arm rising and the other one falling, indicating, most probably, a recent perturbation by the small close companions.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

On generalizations of the Pompeiu functional equation

In this paper, we determine the general solution of the functional equations f(x+y+xy)=p(x)+q(y)+g(x)h(y),     (∀x,y∈ℜ*) and f(ax+by+cxy)=f(x)+f(y)+f(x)f(y),     (∀x,y∈ℜ) which are generalizations of a functional equation studied by Pompeiu. We present a method which is simple and direct to determine the general solutions of the above equations without any regularity assumptions

Inhibition of oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis by Terminalia arjuna against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar albino rats

51-57Overuse of therapeutic drugs such as acetaminophen often affects liver, and may lead to inflammatory mediated liver cell death. Here, we studied the effect of Terminalia arjuna (TA) bark against acetaminophen (APAP) induced liver cell death/injury by testing the antioxidant levels, oxidative stress, and inflammation and apoptosis markers. Wistar albino male rats weighing 180-280 mg/kg were made into 5 groups of 6 animals each and were treated as follows: Gr. I, control; Gr. II, acetaminophen (APAP); GR. III, N-acetylcysteine (NAC); Gr. IV & V, Terminalia arjuna (TA) 250 and mg/kg. The antioxidant glutathione (GSH), lipid peroxidation (MDA), interleukin 1β (IL-1β) levels, caspase-9 levels, and Protein kinase B (P-AKT) gene expression levels were assessed. The rGr. V animals pre-treated with Terminalia arjuna high dose bark showed increased glutathione (GSH) levels, but decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels; inhibited IL-1β and caspase-9 levels; and also elevated gene expression level of P-AKT to regulate the cell signaling pathway. Apparently, the results demonstrated that a high dose of TA 500 mg/kg ameliorated acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity

The HI Content of Local Late-Type Galaxies

We present a solid relationship between the neutral hydrogen (HI) disk mass and the stellar disk mass of late-type galaxies in the local universe. This relationship is derived by comparing the stellar disk mass function from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the HI mass function from the HI Parkes All Sky Survey (HIPASS). We find that the HI mass in late-type galaxies tightly correlates with the stellar mass over three orders of magnitude in stellar disk mass. We cross-check our result with that obtained from a sample of HIPASS objects for which the stellar mass has been obtained by inner kinematics. In addition, we derive the HI versus halo mass relationship and the dependence of all the baryonic components in spirals on the host halo mass. These relationships bear the imprint of the processes ruling galaxy formation, and highlight the inefficiency of galaxies both in forming stars and in retaining their pristine HI gas.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Match to the published version. References update

Co-infection of Yellowtip Halfbeak Fish (Hemiramphus marginatus) with Isopod and Copepod Parasites from the Coromandal Coast, India

Parasitic fish diseases constitute one of the most important problems in fisheries sector. Among fish parasites, cymothoids are obligatory parasites, infesting mostly commercially important fishes. They are protandric hermaphrodites and blood suckers, living on the skin, gill filaments, or in the mouth of the fishes. These parasites retard growth and cause emaciation followed by death. Pathological conditions resulting from parasitic diseases assume high magnitude of epidemics under crowded and other unnatural conditions among fish.Isopod parasite of the family Cymothoidae under order Beloniformes have been reported from about 350 fish species and over 80% of these occurrence are from tropical and subtropical seas, majority being from the Indo-Malaysian archipelago (Lester, 1995)

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A THREE-PHASE EMULSION OF JATROPHA BIODIESEL PRODUCED BY PEROXIDATION. 48 1 2 3 4

Abstract Keywords: Indiscriminate extraction and lavish consumption of fossil fuels have led to reduction in underground based carbon resources. The search for an alternative fuel, which promises a harmonious correlation with sustainable development, energy conservation, management, efficiency and environmental preservation, has become highly pronounced from the refined edible vegetable oil such as Jatropha seed oil by alkaline catalyzed transesterification process. In the study reported herein, Jatropha oil was used as raw oil to produce biodiesel by transesterification reaction accompanied by peroxidation to further improve the fuel properties of the biodiesel. By means of high-speed mechanical homogenizer, the biodiesel product was then emulisified with distilled water and emulsifying surfactant to produce a three phase oil droplets in-water-droplets-in-oil(ie.O/W/O) biodiesel emulsion and an O/W/O emulsion that contained aqeous ammonia, which is a NO inhibitor agent. The prepared x biodiesel was then subjected to performance and emission tests in order to evaluate its actual performance, when used as a diesel engine fuel. A single cylinder direct injection diesel engine was used for this work to investigate the engine performance and emission characteristics of the biodiesel, the O/W/O biodiesel emulsion, the O/W/O biodiesel emulsion that contained aqeous ammonia. The brake specifc fuel consumption (BSFC) and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) were calculated from the recorded data. Moreover, the existence of aqeous ammonia in the O/W/O biodiesel emulsion curtails NO formation, thus X resulting in the lowest NO emissions among the four tested fuels in burning the O/W/O biodiesel emulsion that contained X aqeous ammonia