Ethnobotanical Documentation of a Few Medicinal Plants in the Agasthiayamalai Region of Tirunelveli District, India

An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in Agasthiayamalai region of Tirunelveli district was done by collecting information from the experienced medicinal practitioners of Kani tribes. Ten plants were collected, authenticated and information on their medicinal uses along with the parts used and mode of administration is enumerated. The phytochemical constituents present in their extracted materials were identified. Antibacterial activity of the extracts was analysed and zone of inhibition for different bacterial strains is reported

Anti-Diabetic Activity Of Aqueous Extract Of Pithecellobium Dulce Benth Fruit Peel On Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Rats

The decoction of the Pithecellobium dulce fruit peel has been used for the control of diabetes mellitus in the traditional method adopted by the local people of northwest region of Tamil Nadu, India. The present study was carried out to investigate the anti-diabetic potential of aqueous extract of Pithecellobium dulce fruit peel by its oral administration (200 mg/kg) to streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The levels of blood glucose, urine sugar, glycosylated hemoglobin, glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, total cholesterol, triglycerides, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase and reduced  glutathione were increased significantly whereas the levels of plasma insulin, hexokinase, protein, liver glycogen, reduced glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase were decreased in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and it was normalized after treatment of aqueous extract. Glibenclamide was used as the standard drug. These outcomes suggest that the aqueous extract possesses anti-diabetic activity and supports the traditional use of the Pithecellobium dulce fruit peel decoction as hypoglycemic agent

Gadanki radar observations of daytime E region echoes and structures extending down to 87 km

Observations of daytime E region echoes extending to altitudes as low as 87 km made using the Gadanki MST radar are presented. The echoing regions display descending layer resembling the characteristics of tidal winds and show structures with periods 2–4 min having both positive and negative slopes. At the center of the layer where strongest SNR is observed, the velocity is maximum and spectral width is minimum. At altitudes slightly above and below, where SNR is relatively low, velocity is low but spectral width is maximum. Daytime observations of echoes extending to such a low altitude and associated structures akin to nighttime quasi-periodic echoes throughout the observational period are the most significant results, not reported earlier from Gadanki and other locations. Other notable results are large SNR (as high as 15 dB) and spectral width (as high as 70 m/s) at the bottommost altitudes, where collisional damping of the plasma waves is significan

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANT IN TRADITIONAL TREATMENT OF WOUND INFECTION IN SOUTHEAST INDIA

Objective: The wound healing potential of fruit peel of Pithecellobium dulce Benth, a plant traditionally used for wound treatment against wound- infecting bacteria, was assessed using disc diffusion and microtitre plate methods. Methods: P. dulce fruit peel was extracted using ethyl acetate, methanol and water and tested for their antimicrobial activities against bacterial isolates from wound infection using disc diffusion and microtitre plate methods. Results: All the three extracts had antimicrobial activities, among which methanol extract had higher activities against all the tested organisms compared to the ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts. The most susceptible organism to all the extracts was K. pneumonia and S. aureus while the most resistant were P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris. Conclusion: The potential antibacterial activity of P. dulce plant against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria justifies the use of the plant as the wound healing agent. The isolation of active principle of this plant may serve as source and lead for the synthesis of drugs in pharmaceutical industries

Genetic diversity within and among populations of the Indian short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx assessed through RAPD analysis

Genetic diversity was studied among 40 different zone samples in the Indian short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx. Samples were collected from 127 locations in different districts of southern Tamil Nadu, India. Polymorphism at molecular level was studied by random amplified polymorphic DNA marker technique. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with 30 arbitrary decamer oligonucleotide primers was applied to the 40 zone samples. Out of 30 random primers screened, 22 gave reproducible polymorphic bands. PCR product of bat genome revealed a total of 234 bands, out of which 171 were found to be polymorphic. The dendrogram displaying the relative genetic similarities between the zones ranged from 0.42 to 0.92. Principal coordinates analysis revealed that the first two components accounted for 51.4% of the total variation. The results show that considerable genetic diversity was observed in this species from different zonal populations, possibly due to complete dispersal of juveniles of both sexes from their natal groups and gene flow between the zones. The results obtained from this study suggest not only a predictive framework for future studies, but also the use of genetic data in the management and meaningful conservation of this species

Characterization of VHF radar observations associated with equatorial Spread F by narrow-band optical measurements

International audienceThe VHF radars have been extensively used to investigate the structures and dynamics of equatorial Spread F (ESF) irregularities. However, unambiguous identification of the nature of the structures in terms of plasma depletion or enhancement requires another technique, as the return echo measured by VHF radar is proportional to the square of the electron density fluctuations. In order to address this issue, co-ordinated radar backscatter and thermospheric airglow intensity measurements were carried out during March 2003 from the MST radar site at Gadanki. Temporal variations of 630.0-nm and 777.4-nm emission intensities reveal small-scale ("micro") and large-scale ("macro") variations during the period of observation. The micro variations are absent on non-ESF nights while the macro variations are present on both ESF and non-ESF nights. In addition to the well-known anti-correlation between the base height of the F-region and the nocturnal variation of thermospheric airglow intensities, the variation of the base height of the F-layer, on occasion, is found to manifest as a bottomside wave-like structure, as seen by VHF radar on an ESF night. The micro variations in the airglow intensities are associated with large-scale irregular plasma structures and found to be in correspondence with the "plume" structures obtained by VHF radar. In addition to the commonly observed depletions with upward movement, the observation unequivocally reveals the presence of plasma enhancements which move downwards. The observation of enhancement in 777.4-nm airglow intensity, which is characterized as plasma enhancement, provides an experimental verification of the earlier prediction based on numerical modeling studies

Direct correlation between the circadian sleep-wakefulness rhythm and time estimation in humans under social and temporal isolation

Several bodily functions in humans vary on a 24 h pattern and most of these variations persist with a circadian period of ca 25 h when subjects are studied under conditions of social and temporal isolation. We report in this paper that the estimates of short time intervals (TE) of 2 h are strongly coupled to the circadian rhythm in sleepwakefulness. There is a linear correlation between the number of hours humans stay awake (α) and their estimation of 2 h intervals. The coupling of TE to α appears to obtain only under conditions of physical well-being

Simultaneous observations of ESF irregularities over Indian region using radar and GPS

In this paper, we present simultaneous observations of temporal and spatial variability of total electron content (TEC) and GPS amplitude scintillations on L1 frequency (1.575 GHz) during the time of equatorial spread F (ESF) while the MST radar (53 MHz) located at Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E, Dip latitude 6.3° N), a low latitude station, made simultaneous observations. In particular, the latitudinal and longitudinal extent of TEC and L-band scintillations was studied in the Indian region for different types of ESF structures observed using the MST radar during the low solar activity period of 2004 and 2005. Simultaneous radar and GPS observations during severe ESF events in the pre-midnight hour reveal that significant GPS L band scintillations, depletions in TEC, and the double derivative of the TEC index (DROTI), which is a measure of fluctuations in TEC, obtained at low latitudes coincide with the appearance of radar echoes at Gadanki. As expected, when the irregularities reach higher altitudes as seen in the radar map during pre-midnight periods, strong scintillations on an L-band signal are observed at higher latitudes. Conversely, when radar echoes are confined to only lower altitudes, weak scintillations are found and their latitudinal extent is small. During magnetically quiet periods, we have recorded plume type radar echoes during a post-midnight period that is devoid of L-band scintillations. Using spectral slopes and cross-correlation index of the VHF scintillation observations, we suggest that these irregularities could be "dead" or "fossil" bubbles which are just drifting in from west. This scenario is consistent with the observations where suppression of pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) in the eastward electric field is indicated by ionosonde observations of the height of equatorial F layer and also occurrence of low spectral width in the radar observations relative to pre-midnight period. However, absence of L-band scintillations during post-midnight event, when radar observed plume like structures and scintillations were recorded on VHF band, raises questions about the process of evolution of the irregularities. A possible explanation is that whereas small scale (∼3 m) irregularities are generated through secondary waves that grow on the walls of km scale size irregularities, in this case evolution of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability itself did not extend to irregularities of scale sizes of a few hundred meters that produce scintillation on a L-band signal

DOCKING STUDIES IN TARGET PROTEINS INVOLVED IN ANTIBACTERIAL ACTION MECHANISMS: ALKALOIDS ISOLATED FROM SCUTELLARIA GENUS

Objective: In the present work, docking study was performed for 22 selected alkaloids isolated from the genus Scutellaria to evaluate their affinity to bacterial proteins that are known targets for many antibiotics with a different mechanism of action: Inhibitors of cell wall synthesis, inhibitors of nucleic acids synthesis and antimetabolites.Methods: Molecular docking study was carried out using AutoDock 4.2 version and the visualization result using Chimera 1.10 and DiscoveryStudio 4.5.Result: Among the 22 alkaloids studied, with the DNA gyrase protein 1KZN and a dihydropteroate synthase enzyme 3TYE, the compound scutebarbatine E showed a docking score of −8.5 and −8.7 Kcal/mol, respectively, involving with hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions. With respect to MurD ligase involved in cell wall synthesis 1UAG and 2X5O, the compound 6,7,nicotinyl scutebarbatine G fared well with a docking score of −10.1 and −10.2 Kcal/mol, respectively. Scutebarbatine G performed well with respect to 3UDI with binding scores of −9.3 K cal/mol.Conclusion: Overall, it seems that for the selected alkaloids from the genus Scutellaria, the main mechanism of the action is the inhibition of cell wallsynthesis.Keywords: Scutebarbatine, Alkaloids, Molecular docking, Antimicrobial studies