Studies on the thoracic stretch receptor organ of Manduca sexta and effects of octopamine and demethylchlordimeform on the activity of the stretch receptor

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 J86Master of ScienceBiolog

Effect of tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF) on muscles reinnervation after sciatic nerve crush injury in rats

Introduction: Muscle denervation is a process where muscles lose nerve supply due to neural damage and this may lead to paralysis in human. Muscle denervation is mainly caused by peripheral nerve injuries especially in the lower extremities that resulted in devastating effect on human daily functions and routines. Tocotrienol Rich Fraction (TRF) consist of 75% of tocotrienols have shown potential neuroprotective properties. The objective of this study is to observe motor coordination and histological characteristics on muscles that underwent sciatic nerve crush injury and supplemented with TRF. Methods: A total of 104 Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups; normal group (n=8) with no sciatic nerve crush injury, negative control (n=32) with sciatic nerve crush injury at hindlimb without treatment, positive control (n=32) sciatic nerve crush injury treated with 500 μg/kg/day of methylcobalamin, and experimental group (n=32) of rats that underwent sciatic nerve crush injury and treated with 200 mg/kg/day of TRF. Result: Skeletal muscles which located at hind limb; Soleus Muscle and Extenstor Digitorum Longus Muscle (EDL) muscle have shown an increasing in weight when it is supplemented with TRF 200 mg/kg/day and improved myelin layer of nerve. Conclusion: This study showed that TRF has the potency to improve reinnervation rate and neuron supply in hind muscle

The Effect of Camellia sinensis on Wound Healing Potential in an Animal Model

Camellia sinensis (tea) is reported to have health benefits, including the building of healthy skin. This study evaluated the effects of topical application of Camellia sinensis extract on the rate of wound closure and the histology of wound area. A uniform area of 2.00 cm in diameter was excised from the neck of adult male Sprague Dawley rats. The animals were topically treated with 0.2 mL of vehicle (CMC), Intrasite gel (positive control), or 200 and 400 mg/mL of extract. Wounds dressed with the extract and Intrasite gel healed significantly earlier than those with vehicle. Histological analysis of the wound area after 10 days showed that wounds dressed with the extract had less scar width when compared to the control. The tissue contained less inflammatory cells and more collagen and angiogenesis, compared to wounds dressed with vehicle. In this study, Camellia sinensis showed high potential in wound healing activity

Ultrastructural comparison of three stingless bees species of Borneo

Three species of stingless bees were collected from Borneo. The species were Geniotrigona lacteifasciata (4 samples), Tetragonula melanocephala (2 samples) and Tetragonula sirindhornae (4 samples). Several features such as the morphology of mandible, the shape and size of corbiculae, and the hamuli number on both left and right wings were compared. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed all three species have the same structures of mandibles with two pointed tooth and one large blade, which could be considered as mildly aggressive. G. lacteifasciata showed a wider corbiculae compared to T. melanocephala and T. sirindhornae. The larger corbiculae is assumed to collect and carry heavier pollen load. SEM observation showed clear hamuli on both wings but with asymmetrical number for some. G. lactefasciata showed either 9 hamuli on both wings, or 9 hamuli on the left and 8 on the right wings, or 9 hamuli on the left and 10 hamuli on the right wings. T. melanocephala exhibited a similar number of hamuli, which was 5 hamuli on both wings. T. sirindhornae showed either 4 or 5 hamuli on both side of wings. It could be assumed that the stingless bees with more hamuli will fly further for foraging