Evaluation of anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects of methanol extract of Mazus pumilus (Burm. f.) Steenis (Mazaceae) herb

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate the anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective activities of the methanol extract of Mazus pumilus (Mazaceae) herb. Methods: Anti-nociceptive activity was determined using hot plate, tail flick and acetic acid-induced writing methods. Carrageenan-induced rat paw edema (0.1 mL of 1 %) model was used for the assessment of anti-inflammatory activity. The methanol extract was administered orally at three different doses (150, 300 and 600 mg/kg) to three separate groups in all the experiments. Diclofenac sodium (50 mg/kg) was used as standard drug while control group received DMSO (1 %, 10 mL/kg). The hepatocurative effect of methanol extract of M. pumilus (400 mg/kg) was determined in isoniazid (50 mg/kg) and rifampicin (100 mg/kg) induced liver injury. Silymarin (100 mg/kg) was used as standard drug for comparison. The control group received distilled water (10 mL/kg). Preliminary phytochemical screening was also carried out. Results: The methanol extract of M. pumilus significantly (p < 0.05) augmented latency time and reduced the number of writhes in the pain models at all doses used for the assessment of antinociceptive actions. The anti-inflammatory activity of different doses of extract was evaluated by measuring the reduction in the size of the paw. A significant (p < 0.05) hepatocurative effect was observed when administered after anti-tuberculosis drugs. Histopathological analysis of the liver tissues also revealed restored hepatocellular architecture. Conclusion: The results demonstrate the anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects of the methanol extract of M. pumilus, thus substantiating the ethnomedical claims associated with the herb

Antibacterial activity of phyto-mediated silver nanoparticles developed from Melia azedarach

BACKGROUNDː Nanoparticles formed by plant extracts present a good alternative of existing antibiotics to compete with the resistant strains of bacteria. Antioxidants present in plants synthesize the nanoparticles from metal salt and also cap them.METHODSː In the present study, Melia azedarach fresh leaves were extracted with water. These extracts were reduced by adding silver nitrate (AgNO3) solution separately. Plant extract in different concentration was used to develop nanoparticles with constant strength of salt solution. Color change of extracts represented the development of silver nanoparticles due to reduction of silver ions to form silver nanoparticles. Absorbance of reaction mixtures were determined by UV Vis spectrophotometry. Further antimicrobial activity of these nanoparticles was tested against Borditella pertussis and Xanthomonas axonopodis by agar well diffusion method.RESULTSː Maximum absorbance was noticed between 400-500 nm. EDX analysis proved the presence of silver ions and SEM analysis showed size and shape of nanoparticles (105 nm). Silver nanoparticles developed from water extract of M. azedarach exhibited maximum inhibition zones (25.4±0.36) and (47.2±0.25) against Borditella pertussis and Xanthomonas axonopodis respectively.CONCLUSIONSː The conclusion was established that silver nanoparticles from M. azedarach revealed enhanced antibacterial activity with comparison to pure plant extract and silver nitrate solution and can be used in different antibacterial products.</p

Fatty acid profiling and physiochemical characterization of Chlorella sorokiniana potentially used for biofuel production

Rising oil prices and climate change have resulted in more emphasis on research into renewable biofuels. In this study, different water samples were collected from local vicinities for the isolation of local isolates of microalgae to check their potential towards the production of biofuel by the addition of different chemical substrates. Five different concentrations of ascorbic acid and iron (III) chloride (0, 1, 2.5, 5 & 10 µM) are used as substrates. Microscopic analysis evaluated that samples belong to genus Chlorella and further molecular identification showed that the samples are C. sorokiniana. Among all the concentrations of ascorbic acid 2.5 µM is most effective against the C. sorokiniana strain 1 (Safari Wildlife Park, Lahore) and C. sorokiniana strain 2 (Bahria Town, Lahore) while C. sorokiniana Strain 3 (SukhChane Society, Lahore) responded at 2.5 & 5 µM in term of biomass production. FeCl3 (2.5 µM) is effective against C. sorokiniana strain 1 while the growth of C. sorokiniana strain 2 and C. sorokiniana Strain 3 is inhibited. Lipid content analysis showed that only the C. sorokiniana strain 1 shows effective results at 1 & 2.5 µM of ascorbic acid and FeCl3 , respectively. Those concentrations which give the significant results of lipid production were preceded for fatty acid profiling. Results indicate that the C. sorokiniana strain 1 can be considered as a source of alpha-linolenic acid; the basic constituent of biofuel production. In this study, it is concluded that C. sorokiniana strain 1 is useful for the production of environment friendly biofuel

SGCD Homozygous Nonsense Mutation (p.Arg97∗) Causing Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Type 2F (LGMD2F) in a Consanguineous Family, a Case Report

Background: Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) is an increasingly heterogeneous category of inherited muscle diseases, mainly affecting the muscles of shoulder areas and the hip, segregating in both autosomal recessive and dominant manner. To-date, thirty-one loci have been identified for LGMD including seven autosomal dominant (LGMD type 1) and twenty four autosomal recessive (LGMD type 2) inherited loci.Methodology/Laboratory Examination: The present report describes a consanguineous family segregating LGMD2F in an autosomal recessive pattern. The affected individual is an 11-year-old boy having two brothers and a sister. Direct targeted next generation sequencing was performed for the single affected individual (VI-1) followed by Sanger sequencing.Results: Targeted next generation sequencing revealed a novel homozygous nonsense mutation (c.289C&gt;T; p.Arg97∗) in the exon 3 of the delta-sarcoglycan (SGCD) gene, that introduces a premature stop codon (TCA), resulting in a nonsense mediated decay or a truncated protein product.Discussion and Conclusion: This is the first report of LGMD2F caused by an SGCD variant in a Pakistani population. The mutation identified in the present investigation extends the body of evidence implicating the gene SGCD in causing LGMD2F and might help in genetic counseling, which is more important to deliver the risk of carrier or affected in the future pregnancies

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Search for heavy resonances decaying to two Higgs bosons in final states containing four b quarks

A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances X decaying into pairs of Higgs bosons (H) in proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at root s = 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The search considers HH resonances with masses between 1 and 3 TeV, having final states of two b quark pairs. Each Higgs boson is produced with large momentum, and the hadronization products of the pair of b quarks can usually be reconstructed as single large jets. The background from multijet and t (t) over bar events is significantly reduced by applying requirements related to the flavor of the jet, its mass, and its substructure. The signal would be identified as a peak on top of the dijet invariant mass spectrum of the remaining background events. No evidence is observed for such a signal. Upper limits obtained at 95 confidence level for the product of the production cross section and branching fraction sigma(gg -> X) B(X -> HH -> b (b) over barb (b) over bar) range from 10 to 1.5 fb for the mass of X from 1.15 to 2.0 TeV, significantly extending previous searches. For a warped extra dimension theory with amass scale Lambda(R) = 1 TeV, the data exclude radion scalar masses between 1.15 and 1.55 TeV

Search for supersymmetry in events with one lepton and multiple jets in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

Measurement of the top quark mass using charged particles in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

Peer reviewe