Tragia plukenetii Radcl.-Sm. (Euphorbiaceae): An Addition to Flora of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh

Tragia plukenetii Radcl.-Sm.  is reported  as a new addition to the Flora of Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh. A detailed description, up to date nomenclature and photographs are provided here to facilitate its easy and correct identification in the field

Epidermoid Cysts of Face: Clinicopathological Presentation and a report of four cases.

ABSTRACT: Epidermoid cysts represent the most common cutaneous cysts. While these may occur anywhere on the body, they occur most frequently on the face, scalp, neck and trunk. A report of four cases and their clinicopathological features are described in this article

Mucuna pruriens Reduces Stress and Improves the Quality of Semen in Infertile Men

The present investigation was undertaken to assess the role of Mucuna pruriens in infertile men who were under psychological stress. Study included 60 subjects who were undergoing infertility screening and were found to be suffering from psychological stress, assessed on the basis of a questionnaire and elevated serum cortisol levels. Age-matched 60 healthy men having normal semen parameters and who had previously initiated at least one pregnancy were included as controls. Infertile subjects were administered with M. pruriens seed powder (5 g day−1) orally. For carrying out morphological and biochemical analysis, semen samples were collected twice, first before starting treatment and second after 3 months of treatment. The results demonstrated decreased sperm count and motility in subjects who were under psychological stress. Moreover, serum cortisol and seminal plasma lipid peroxide levels were also found elevated along with decreased seminal plasma glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid contents and reduced superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activity. Treatment with M. pruriens significantly ameliorated psychological stress and seminal plasma lipid peroxide levels along with improved sperm count and motility. Treatment also restored the levels of SOD, catalase, GSH and ascorbic acid in seminal plasma of infertile men. On the basis of results of the present study, it may be concluded that M. pruriens not only reactivates the anti-oxidant defense system of infertile men but it also helps in the management of stress and improves semen quality

Withania somnifera Improves Semen Quality in Stress-Related Male Fertility

Stress has been reported to be a causative factor for male infertility. Withania somnifera has been documented in Ayurveda and Unani medicine system for its stress-combating properties. However, limited scientific literature is available on this aspect of W. somnifera. We undertook the present study to understand the role of stress in male infertility, and to test the ability of W. somnifera to combat stress and treat male infertility. We selected normozoospermic but infertile individuals (N = 60), further categorized in three groups: normozoospermic heavy smokers (N = 20), normozoospermics under psychological stress (N = 20) and normozoospermics with infertility of unknown etiology (N = 20). Normozoospermic fertile men (N = 60) were recruited as controls. The subjects were given root powder of W. somnifera at a rate of 5 g/day for 3 months. Measuring various biochemical and stress parameters before and after treatment, suggested a definite role of stress in male infertility and the ability of W. somnifera to treat stress-related infertility. Treatment resulted in a decrease in stress, improved the level of anti-oxidants and improved overall semen quality in a significant number of individuals. The treatment resulted in pregnancy in the partners of 14% of the patients

Bibliometric Analysis of Papers Published During 2016-2020 in ‘Tulsi Prajna’ Research Journal

Purpose: This study aims to present a bibliometric analysis of the research journal titled “Tulsi Prajna” to provide a summary of research activity in the journal and to characterize its most important aspects. Methodology: The present study is based on the bibliometrics analysis of the papers published in Tulsi Prajna for the period 2016–2020. The analysis was done in two parts viz analysis of articles and analysis of citations. The analysis mainly covers the year-wise distribution, category-wise classification, authorship patterns, degree of collaboration, geographical distribution of articles and the citation analysis. Findings: The present analysis displays a trend of growth in contributions published in Tulsi Prajna during the period 2016 to 2020. The analysis showed that 121 papers were published in journal during the period of study. The maximum number of publications were recorded in 2019 (49 articles, 40.5%) while the minimum was in the year 2017 (12 articles, 9.9%). A total of 121 articles published with the annual average growth rate of 24.5%. It has been revealed that the maximum number of papers published as under the category of article i.e. 112 (92.6%), whereas 09 (7.4%) papers published under the editorial material category. The highest proportion of papers were by single authors (79.3%), followed by papers with 2 authors (20.7%). The degree of collaboration in quantitative terms is 0.21. It shows that during the study period, the most authors contributed their papers single. Acarya Mahaprajna topped the list of most prolific authors with 7.44% of total number of publications. The findings of year-wise distribution of citations showed that a good number of citations was in 2019 (1195 citations) followed by 2020 with (589 citations). Originality: The journals are the indicators of literature growth in respective field of knowledge. The journals are the main channel to disseminate the knowledge. Therefore, the librarians and statisticians are forced for conducting the bibliometric studies

Developing listening and reading skills of grade seven students at Mount Pearl Central High School

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a planned, regularly scheduled, taped listening program upon the listening and reading achievement of seventh grade students. -- The subjects included in the study were 67 seventh grade pupils enrolled in two classrooms. The experimental group was made up of 34 students; 33 students were in the control group. Each of two teachers taught one experimental group and one control group. Both the experimental group and the control group were exposed to the same language arts curriculum, with the exception that control group students were engaged in a free reading period while the experimental group participated in the program of listening skill development. -- A portion of the LISTEN AND THINK series was used as the listening program. It consisted of thirty taped lessons which were administered for 40 minutes each school day during a six week period. -- The Durrell Listening-Reading Series, Form DE, was used as a pretest; Form EF was used as a posttest. Pretest scores were used to equate the experimental and control groups. Means scores were used to compare posttest performance of the experimental and control groups. -- Analyses of the data revealed the following: -- There was a significant difference in the listening achievement of students who participated in the listening program. Test data for control group students reflected no appreciable gain. -- There was a significant difference in the reading achievement of students who participated in a planned listening program. Test data for control group students reflected no appreciable gain. -- The following recommendations are suggested: -- 1) additional research to explore the nature and development of listening ability or abilities and to apply these findings to the language arts curriculum is needed; -- 2) further experimentation with teaching methods and materials incorporating these materials in classroom listening situations should be conducted; -- 3) the problem of interrelationships among listening abilities and speech, reading, and other verbal skills warrants continuing research; -- 4) there should be conducted a listening skills study incorporating listening materials that are constructed to parallel whatever basal reading or other language arts materials are being used in the particular school