NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF SARGASSUM WIGHTII ON HALOPERIDOL INDUCED CATALEPSY AND TARDIVE DYSKINESIA IN ALBINO RATS

Objective: The present study was designed to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of methanolic extract of Sargassum wightii on haloperidol-induced catalepsy and tardive dyskinesia in Wistar albino rats. Methods: In this study, thirty Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into six groups. Gr-I served as control. Haloperidol (1 mg/kg intraperitoneally) was administered to rats of Gr-II to Gr-V for twenty-one consecutive days to induce catalepsy and tardive dyskinesia. Animals of Gr-II to Gr-V were orally administered with vehicle, levodopa carbidopa combination (30 mg/kg), Sargassum extract 200 and 400 mg/kg respectively. All the drugs and vehicles were given orally one hour before haloperidol injection for twenty one consecutive days. The cataleptic scores were recorded using standard bar test. Tardive dyskinesia was assessed in terms of vacuous chewing movement (VCM) and tongue protrusion (TP) scores. After behavioural testing, all animals were sacrificed on twenty-second day and various biochemical parameters like MDA, SOD and GSH were estimated in brain tissue. Results: Chronic administration of haloperidol significantly increased cataleptic scores, VCM and TP scores. (p<0.001) Sargassum wightii extract (400 mg/kg) significantly inhibited haloperidol-induced catalepsy, VCM and TP (p<0.001) Haloperidol increased MDA and decreased SOD and GSH in brain tissue to a highly significant extent (p<0.001) Sargassum extract at 400 mg/kg also significantly reversed the haloperidol-induced alteration in brain oxidative stress markers. Conclusion: Sargassum wightii inhibits haloperidol-induced catalepsy and tardive dyskinesia. Thus it may be used as a unique therapeutic adjunct for the prevention of neuroleptic-induced extrapyramidal symptoms, however, it has to be explored more

Rotational Bands and Electromagnetic Transitions of some even-even Neodymium Nuclei in J-Projected Hartree-Fock Model

Rotational structures of even-even $^{148-160}$Nd nuclei are studied with the self-consistent deformed Hartree-Fock (HF) and angular momentum (J) projection model. Spectra of ground band, recently observed $K=4^{-}$, $K=5^{-}$ and a few more excited, positive and negative parity bands have been studied upto high spin values. Apart from these detailed electromagnetic properties (like E2, M1 matrix elements) of all the bands have been obtained. There is substantial agreement between our model calculations and available experimental data. Predictions are made about the band structures and electromagnetic properties of these nuclei. Some 4-qasiparticle K-isomeric bands and their electromagnetic properties are predicted.Comment: 20 page

Parametrization of dark energy equation of state Revisited

A comparative study of various parametrizations of the dark energy equation of state is made. Astrophysical constraints from LSS, CMB and BBN are laid down to test the physical viability and cosmological compatibility of these parametrizations. A critical evaluation of the 4-index parametrizations reveals that Hannestad-M\"{o}rtsell as well as Lee parametrizations are simple and transparent in probing the evolution of the dark energy during the expansion history of the universe and they satisfy the LSS, CMB and BBN constraints on the dark energy density parameter for the best fit values.Comment: 11 page

Designing Process for Concentration of a Low Grade Copper Ore

The paper deals with the results of chracterisation and flotation studies carried out on a low grade and complex copper ore sample with a view to design process for its concentration. Flotation studies were carried out under varying conditions of process parameters. Effects of gran-ulametry of the feed, dosage of sodium iso-propyl xanthate as collector, pH and gangue depressant dispersant were studied. Sulphidization technique and use of potassium octyl hydroxamate as auxiliary collector for flotation of oxidised minerals was observed to enhance copper recovery. Use of sodium silicate as depressant/dispersant for sili-ceous gangues helped in improving grade of copper conce-ntrate. Rougher followed by multi-stage cleaning were found necessary to produce a high grade copper concentrate. Based on the studies undertaken the process was designed for concentration of the low grade copper ore sample

Measurement of the Positive Muon Lifetime and Determination of the Fermi Constant to Part-per-Million Precision

We report a measurement of the positive muon lifetime to a precision of 1.0 parts per million (ppm); it is the most precise particle lifetime ever measured. The experiment used a time-structured, low-energy muon beam and a segmented plastic scintillator array to record more than 2 x 10^{12} decays. Two different stopping target configurations were employed in independent data-taking periods. The combined results give tau_{mu^+}(MuLan) = 2196980.3(2.2) ps, more than 15 times as precise as any previous experiment. The muon lifetime gives the most precise value for the Fermi constant: G_F(MuLan) = 1.1663788 (7) x 10^-5 GeV^-2 (0.6 ppm). It is also used to extract the mu^-p singlet capture rate, which determines the proton's weak induced pseudoscalar coupling g_P.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Toward a Consistent Description of the PNC Experiments in A=18-21 Nuclei

The experimental PNC results in $^{18}$F, $^{19}$F, $^{21}$Ne and the current theoretical analysis show a discrepancy . If one interprets the small limit of the experimentally extracted PNC matrix element for $^{21}$Ne as a destructive interference between the isoscalar and the isovector contribution, then it is difficult to understand why the isovector contribution in $^{18}$F is so small while the isoscalar + isovector contribution in $^{19}$F is relatively large. In order to understand the origin of this discrepancy a comparison of the calculated PNC matrix elements was performed. It is shown that the $^{18}$F and $^{21}$Ne matrix elements contain important contributions from 3$\hbar \omega$ and 4$\hbar \omega$ configuration and that the (0+1)$\hbar \omega$ calculations give distorted results.Comment: REVTEX, 16 pages, 1 postscriptum figure uuencoded and appende