Biodiversity Status, Distribution and Use Pattern of Some Ethno-Medicinal Plants

The erosion of plant biodiversity is a matter of global concern. Due to unawareness the building blocks of entire ecosystems are disappearing. Some medicinal plants like Taxus baccata Linn., Thymus serpyllum Linn., Coleus forskohli Will., Oroxylum indicum Linn., Valeriana hardwickii Wall., Malaxis acuminata D.Don, Habenaria edgeworthii Hook. f.ex.Collett., Costus speciosus (Koen.) Sm., Dioscorea deltodea Wall., Gloriosa superba Linn., Polygonatum cirrhifolium Wall. and Polygonatum verticillatum Linn., Thalictrum foliolosum DC., Berberis aristata DC., Baliospermum montanum Will., Bergenia ciliata (Haworth) Sternb., Clerodendrum serratum Linn., Valeriana jatamansii Jones, Celastrus paniculatus Will., Habenaria intermedeia D. Don, and Curculigo orchioides Gaerth are reached on the border of extinction. The 2008 IUCN Red List shows that the number of threatened plant species is increasing gradually (IUCN 2008). Therefore, there is an immediate need for conservation steps to be taken up along with promotion of conservation of medicinal plants

Effect of Phyllostachys parvifolia leaf extract on ionizing radiation-induced genetic damage: A preliminary in vitro cytogenetic study

AbstractThe ionizing radiation is a known carcinogen as well as cancer therapeutic agent however, the side effect on normal tissue is a limiting factor and inadequate doses necessitates search for an ideal radioprotective agent. Bamboo species are rich source of antioxidants hence have therapeutic value in many free radical mediated diseases. This is the first report regarding in vitro protective effect of bamboo leaf extract against radiation induced genetic damage in human peripheral blood lymphocytes by cytokinesis blocked micronuclei (CBMN) assay. Fresh whole blood was exposed to 5Gy of cobalt-6o gamma radiation with or without 30 min pre-treatment with 3 μl and 5 μl of hydro alcoholic leaf extract of Phyllostachys parvifolia. In addition to whole extract the effect of potential active compound orientin was also assessed. The frequency of radiation induced micronuclei decreased significantly in a dose dependent manner following treatment with whole extract as well as orientin. The extent of reduction in micronuclei frequency was higher with whole bamboo leaf extract as compared to orientin alone

Veterinary Ethnomedicinal Plants in Uttarakhand Himalayan Region, India

Drug research has enriched human life in many ways. The health care and resulting social and economic benefits of new drugs to society are most remarkable, are quite well recognized. Drug research has been the driving force for many basic scientific developments, such as that of many new synthetic methods, of the understanding of the physiology and pharmacology of biological systems and has contributed much too molecular recognition. The Uttarakhand Himalayas have a great wealth of medicinal plants and traditional medicinal knowledge. The medicinal plant that has been widely used as veterinary ethno-medicine in Uttarakhand region has been studied. These do not either occur elsewhere or have not so far been exploited commercially. Attempts have been made to explore the new possible species having medicinal importance especially for veterinary and to grow them in suitable areas so as to meet national industrial demands. The present paper deals with the traditional uses of 100 plant species employed in ethno-medicine and ethno-veterinary practice in Uttarakhand

Quantitative assessment and antibacterial activity of Origanum vulgare L.

Biodiversity, which twenty years ago was considered unimportant by most ecologists, has now been shown to impact significantly upon many aspects of ecosystem functioning. Diversity must now be added to the list of factors — including species composition, disturbance regime, soil type and climate — that influence ecosystem functioning. The recent knowledge of the importance of biodiversity highlights an under-appreciated truth — although society is dependent on natural and managed ecosystems for goods and services that are essential for human survival, we know all too little about how ecosystems work. Origanum vulgare L. is one of the important ethno medicinal plants, are found spread over to sub-temperate forest zone. They are of Ayurvedic importance and have trade value as well. Due to over exploitation and habitat degradation they are now turning into a rare species. Threat assessments of this species revealed that they are vulnerable in study area under reference. Their dominance too was found less as compare to other species. Their diversity profile in study areas also went down. Origanum vulgare L. has antimicrobial activities but Becillus subtillis, Pseudomonas aereuguinosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherchia coli bacteria were shown to be proactive. Due to fast growing urbanization of life, people are being attracted towards use of natural products and as such utility of such plants are gaining ground. Thus the need is to protect, promote and conserve such natural resources to have advantage of biodiversity conservation.Â

Virtual Reality Technology: Driving Innovation in Healthcare Education and Training

TIPS Education Centerhttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/edwk21/1015/thumbnail.jp

Computer extracted gland features from H&E predicts prostate cancer recurrence comparably to a genomic companion diagnostic test: a large multi-site study

Existing tools for post-radical prostatectomy (RP) prostate cancer biochemical recurrence (BCR) prognosis rely on human pathologist-derived parameters such as tumor grade, with the resulting inter-reviewer variability. Genomic companion diagnostic tests such as Decipher tend to be tissue destructive, expensive, and not routinely available in most centers. We present a tissue non-destructive method for automated BCR prognosis, termed "Histotyping", that employs computational image analysis of morphologic patterns of prostate tissue from a single, routinely acquired hematoxylin and eosin slide. Patients from two institutions (n = 214) were used to train Histotyping for identifying high-risk patients based on six features of glandular morphology extracted from RP specimens. Histotyping was validated for post-RP BCR prognosis on a separate set of n = 675 patients from five institutions and compared against Decipher on n = 167 patients. Histotyping was prognostic of BCR in the validation set (p < 0.001, univariable hazard ratio [HR] = 2.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.03-3.93, concordance index [c-index] = 0.68, median years-to-BCR: 1.7). Histotyping was also prognostic in clinically stratified subsets, such as patients with Gleason grade group 3 (HR = 4.09) and negative surgical margins (HR = 3.26). Histotyping was prognostic independent of grade group, margin status, pathological stage, and preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (multivariable p < 0.001, HR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.40-3.10, n = 648). The combination of Histotyping, grade group, and preoperative PSA outperformed Decipher (c-index = 0.75 vs. 0.70, n = 167). These results suggest that a prognostic classifier for prostate cancer based on digital images could serve as an alternative or complement to molecular-based companion diagnostic tests