Ethnobotanical plants used for gastrointestinal ailments by the inhabitants of Kishtwar plateau in Northwestern Himalaya, India

288-298Gastrointestinal (GI) tract in human body is the most important and vulnerable organ for the diverse type of diseases such as diarrhea, reflux, constipation and parasitic infections. To treat such ailments, inhabitants of Kishtwar plateau in Jammu and Kashmir (India) use the wild medicinal herbs growing in the valleys and on the hill-top of their region. Most of these medicinal plants are common in occurrence but not reported earlier for the GI disorders. The aim of this communication is to narrow down the list of the medicinal plant species on the basis of oral traditional knowledge (OTK) for treating GI disorders at Kishtwar plateau. This documentation and quantitative analysis will help the natural plant chemists to get the pure and efficacious molecules for the treatment of GI ailments. For this a semi-structured questionnaire study was used to document the OTK on use of different medicinal plants to treat GI ailments by the local people of Kishtwar plateau in Northwestern Himalaya. The information gathered during the questionnaire study has been quantified by calculating use value, family use value, factor informant consensus (Fic) and fidelity level. A total of 40 plant species representing 27 families are reported to treat various GI ailments, where in Mentha longifolia has shown the maximum use value (UV)=0.87 and Carpesium abrotanoides has shown the minimum UV=0.03. Maximum Fic (0.88) has been calculated for worm infection and constipations category, however, minimum Fic=0.75 is calculated for dyspepsia. Maximum family use value has been calculated for Plantaginaceae (FUV=0.75) and minimum for Geraniaceae and Juglandaceae (FUV=0.08). Artemisia maritima (FL=20.25%) and Elwendia persica (FL=18.18%) accounts the maximum fidelity level, therefore, considered important for the treatment of diarrhea and stomachache. From calculated use value, it has been concluded that the use of M. longifolia for treating GI ailments is relatively higher than other investigated species. Further analysis revealed that uniformity in OTK homogeneity is prevailing in the area, which indicates that OTK has not been diluted over the period of time

Ethnobotanical plants used for gastrointestinal ailments by the inhabitants of Kishtwar plateau in Northwestern Himalaya, India

Gastrointestinal (GI) tract in human body is the most important and vulnerable organ for the diverse type of diseases such as diarrhea, reflux, constipation and parasitic infections. To treat such ailments, inhabitants of Kishtwar plateau in Jammu and Kashmir (India) use the wild medicinal herbs growing in the valleys and on the hill-top of their region. Most of these medicinal plants are common in occurrence but not reported earlier for the GI disorders. The aim of thiscommunication is to narrow down the list of the medicinal plant species on the basis of oral traditional knowledge (OTK) for treating GI disorders at Kishtwar plateau. This documentation and quantitative analysis will help the natural plant chemists to get the pure and efficacious molecules for the treatment of GI ailments. For this a semi-structured questionnaire study was used to document the OTK on use of different medicinal plants to treat GI ailments by the local people ofKishtwar plateau in Northwestern Himalaya. The information gathered during the questionnaire study has been quantified by calculating use value, family use value, factor informant consensus (Fic) and fidelity level. A total of 40 plant species representing 27 families are reported to treat various GI ailments, where in Mentha longifolia has shown the maximum use value (UV)=0.87 and Carpesium abrotanoides has shown the minimum UV=0.03. Maximum Fic (0.88) has been calculated for worm infection and constipations category, however, minimum Fic=0.75 is calculated for dyspepsia. Maximum family use value has been calculated for Plantaginaceae (FUV=0.75) and minimum for Geraniaceae and Juglandaceae (FUV=0.08). Artemisia maritima (FL=20.25%) and Elwendia persica (FL=18.18%) accounts the maximum fidelity level, therefore, considered important for the treatment of diarrhea and stomachache. From calculated use value, it has been concluded that the use of M. longifolia for treating GI ailments is relatively higher than other investigated species. Further analysis revealed that uniformity in OTK homogeneity is prevailing in the area, which indicates that OTK has not been diluted over the period of time

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

New distribution record of the Bhutan Takin Budorcas taxicolor whitei Hodgson, 1850 (Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae) in Bhutan

A camera trapping survey in eastern Bhutan in 2015 has yielded a picture of the Bhutan Takin in the uplands of Kurichu River watersheds in east of Wangchuck Centennial National Park, and is the easternmost documented  distribution of the species in Bhutan. The photograph was taken on 30th June 2015 at 9:24 AM in the site located on 27056’03.8’’E &amp; 91004’53.7”N at 3,898m. The habitat is dominated by Fir and Rhododendron.</p