Exploring the role of phytochemicals as biopharmaceuticals targeting Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) virus: an Overview

ALI (Acute lung injury) and its more fatal form ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) together represent a broad spectrum of lung diseases, which are characterized by the abrupt onset of pulmonary inflammation with fluid filled alveoli resulting in hypoxia. With the advancement of several diagnostic tools, especially discovery of multiplex RT-PCR, increased the chance to investigate the involvement of different respiratory viruses in causing ARDS. There are several different viruses responsible for ARDS and among them few are capable of causing pandemic. Influenza viruses such as H5N1 and H1N1 causing pandemic in 2009. Also among different corona viruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and most recently a novel betacoronavirus strain, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been identified. Till date, the therapy against virus induced ARDS has not been optimized. Naturally existing phytochemicals and plant biotechnology could offer prospective solutions for the treatment against virus induced ARDS by developing inhibitors, low-cost vaccines and antibodies, which could not only be useful for treatment but could also be used for diagnosis. In this present COVID-19 pandemic, use of plant based therapeutic approach has already been adopted by several pharma companies to treat ARDS and there are several molecules currently under clinical trials with encouraging results. This review provides detailed outlook on ARDS pandemic causing viruses, pathophysiology of viruses and role of phytochemicals and plantibodies as anti-viral agent. Further, it summarizes list of phytochemicals and their mode of action in these pathogenic viruses

Growth physiology of Brassica rapa var. yellow sarson under integrated nutrient management and seed soaking approaches in eastern sub-Himalayan plains

The field experiment was conducted at Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India during rabi 2007-08 to 2008-09 to study the growth and productivity of yellow sarson under different nutrient managementi practices and pre-sowing seed soaking. The highest value of LAI (4.00), apart from the maximum plant height (129.97cm), dry matter accumulation (481.93g m-2) at 90 days, crop growth rate (12.29 g m-2 day-1) in between 45 to 60 days, root dry weight (1.645 g plant-1) with the highest average root diameter (0.932 mm) were observed in treatments receiving 75% recommended dose of chemical fertilizer with farm yard manure, Azotobacter and phosphate solubilizing bacteria as non-chemical source. Similarly at 45 days of crop age, significantly higher stomatal conductance (701.68 m mol m-2 s-1) and transpiration rate (4.55 m mol m-2 s-1) were reflected by the same treatment combination. These were attributed to the production of maximum seed yield (1374 kg ha-1), which was 39.91% higher than the recommended dose of chemical fertilizer application. On an average, seeds soaked with water before sowing reflected 9% lesser yield (1103 kg ha-1) against chemical soaking. Yellow sarson crop grown with integrated nutrient management practice consisting 75% of the recommended dose of chemical fertilizer along with farm yard manure (5t ha-1), Azotobacter (5kg ha-1) and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (5kg ha-1) coupled with seed soaking in 100ppm KH2PO4 confirms to be the best treatment combination from the treatment schedule considered during the study for the sub-Himalayan plains of West Bengal, India in terms of crop growth and productivity

Habit nail tic disorder: onychotillomania involving thumbs and toes responding to fluoxetine

Habit nail tic disorder is a type of nail dystrophy caused by repetitive trauma to the nail matrix. It is a body-focused repetitive behavior that is commonly reported among adults and may or may not be associated with obsessive-compulsive behavior. In this report, we present a case of a 12-year-old adolescent girl who had a central furrow with longitudinal ridges running parallel from the proximal to the distal end of both her thumbnails and toenails, giving them a "washboard" appearance and diagnosed as habit nail tic disorder, and treatment involved fluoxetine 20 mg and the application of permeable adhesive tape to protect the nails from external trauma. There was a positive response observed two months after the beginning of the treatment and the nail matrix resolved spontaneously

Pterocarpus angolensis: Botanical, Chemical and Pharmacological Review of an Endangered Medicinal Plant of India

Herbal products for primary health care are gaining huge interests of the people and the various healthcare professionals. This is mainly because of the local availability and cost-effectiveness of plant remedies over expensive modern treatments. Pterocarpus angolensis, a deciduous plant belonging to the family of Fabaceae is mainly found in the tropical regions of Africa. This tree is rich in medicinal properties which are immensely used by the locals in Africa for the treatment of ringworm infections, ulcers, urinary schistosomiasis, skin injury, etc. The extracts of   P. angolensis are treasured in Africa for their effectiveness against many diseases like gonorrhea, mouth diseases, diarrhea, etc. It is reported to have inhibitory activity against various pathogens like Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhimurium because of the high concentration of bioactive compounds like flavonoids, tannins, and other phenolic compounds in the bark and leaves of the tree. Various research papers demonstrated the polar and nonpolar constituents of this plant showing antimicrobial, anti-plasmodial activities against Streptococcus agalactiae, Candida krusei, etc. In India, very few of these plants have been reported to be alive in the Darjeeling district, West Bengal. But, lack of proper documentation or research paper led to negligence related to the importance of this species and it has already been listed in the IUCN Red List of threatened species. The main objective of this review is to spread awareness about the conservation of the plant possessing such remarkable properties. Secondly, to provide an overview of the phytochemical screening of various important medicinal constituents that this plant possesses and this might lead to change in the field of modern medicine

Leaching behaviour of pendimethalin causes toxicity towards different cultivars of Brassica juncea and Brassica campestris in sandy loam soil

An experiment was conducted at the farm of Zonal Adaptive Research Station, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidhyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal to evaluate the effect of pendimethalin on the yield, weed density and phytotoxicity in different varieties of rai (Brassica juncea) and yellow sarson (B. campestris var. yellow sarson) under higher soil moisture regime in Terai region of West Bengal. Pre-emergence application of pendimethalin at higher dose i.e. 1.0 kg/ha recorded higher plant mortality (30.92%) due to the presence of higher concentration of pendimethalin residue (0.292 µg/g) till the tenth day of crop age and consequently had the reduced yield (12.59 q/ha) than the dose of 0.7 kg/ha (13.33 q/ha) where plant mortality was only 12.62% due to comparatively lower level of pendimethalin residue (0.192 µg/g). Although the application of pendimethalin at the rate of 1.0 kg/ha was able to control weed more efficiently (18.96/m2) than the dose of 0.7 kg/ha (30.41/m2) and subsequent lower doses. The herbicide leached down to the root zone resulting in phytotoxicity towards crop. Yellow sarson group (Brassica campestris) showed more susceptibility than rai (Brassica juncea) group against pendimethalin application at higher doses

Neutrino masses in R-parity violating supersymmetric models

We study neutrino masses and mixing in R-parity violating supersymmetric models with generic soft supersymmetry breaking terms. Neutrinos acquire masses from various sources: Tree level neutrino--neutralino mixing and loop effects proportional to bilinear and/or trilinear R-parity violating parameters. Each of these contributions is controlled by different parameters and have different suppression or enhancement factors which we identified. Within an Abelian horizontal symmetry framework these factors are related and specific predictions can be made. We found that the main contributions to the neutrino masses are from the tree level and the bilinear loops and that the observed neutrino data can be accommodated once mild fine-tuning is allowed.Comment: 18 pages; minor typos corrected. To be published in Physical Review

Molecular Taxonomy: An Approach Based on Molecular Markers

Molecular markers developed during the last decade of molecular biology research and successfully utilized for various applications in the field of plant molecular taxonomy, are reviewed. It is always desirable to perform detailed genetic analyses, in addition to morphological studies, to segregate taxonomically different individuals particularly at or below the species level. It enables understanding of the evolutionary processes and reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships in groups of plants that are significant from multifaceted standpoints

Effect of bor

Unavailability of essential micronutrients is a major constrain for cowpea growth, nodulation and pod yield under acid soil condition. In this context a two year field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of boron, molybdenum and biofertilizers on growth, nodulation and pod yield of vegetable cowpea in acid soil of eastern Himalayan region. Treatments consisted of four levels of seed treatment with molybdenum and biofertilizers (Rhizobium + PSB) and four levels of foliar spray of boron, laid out in split plot design. The result revealed that combined use of seed treatment with molybdenum (0.5 g/kg seed) and biofertilizers along with foliar spray of boron at 4 weeks of planting significantly enhanced the growth and yield attributes of cowpea and registered 42% and 54% improvement in number of pod and pod yield/plant respectively over control, whereas seed treatment with molybdenum (0.5 g/kg seed) and biofertilizers alone recorded 76% and foliar spray of boron at 4 weeks of planting alone produced 39% higher pod yield/plant over control