Effect of Common Vegetables on Thyroid Function in Rats-A Preliminary Study

Goitrogenic potency of some vegetables of Delhi were studied in rats. Adult male rats were fed separately on thiouracil, thiocyanate and extracts of carrot, cabbage and turnip procured from Delhi market for 26 days. Cabbage and turnip showed high thiocyanate contents while carrot did not show any measurable amount. Appreciable increase in thyroid weight to body weight ratio, plasma thiocyanate, plasma/sup 131/1 contents and protein bound/sup 131/ 1 or plasma were observed in all groups of experimental, rats, except carrot. Results indicated goitrogenic nature of cabbage and turnip in rats

Medicinal and economic uses of some introduced plant species and their conservation in the Botanic Garden of Indian Republic, Noida

Plants are an important part of human communities and their conservation should be done on priority basis. These plant species have been used for medicinal and economic purposes by the tribal human communities for many centuries. In the 21st century, many such plant species are under threat due to loss of habitats, over-exploitation, alien/invasive species and several other anthropogenic reasons. Thus, these plant species need to be conserved for the future generations before their permanent extinction from the planet earth. The Botanic Gardens have a very important role in their conservation. In the present study, an attempt has been made to conserve such medicinally and economically important plants at the Botanic Garden of Indian Republic (BGIR), Noida. Many plant species from all over India have been introduced in this garden for conservation since 2002. Out of them, a total of 51 species were selected and their medicinal and economic uses were studied and evaluated during the study along with other details like Hindi names, areas of distribution in India, and flowering and fruiting period at the BGIR. More details like the type of diseases treated from these plant species and particular plant parts used for the treatment have also been discussed. This paper will provide a comprehensive study of the uses of plant species conserved in the Botanic Garden from different phytogeographical regions of India

Medicinal and economic uses of some introduced plant species and their conservation in the Botanic Garden of Indian Republic, Noida

795-803Plants are an important part of human communities and their conservation should be done on priority basis. These plant species have been used for medicinal and economic purposes by the tribal human communities for many centuries. In the 21st century, many such plant species are under threat due to loss of habitats, over-exploitation, alien/invasive species and several other anthropogenic reasons. Thus, these plant species need to be conserved for the future generations before their permanent extinction from the planet earth. The Botanic Gardens have a very important role in their conservation. In the present study, an attempt has been made to conserve such medicinally and economically important plants at the Botanic Garden of Indian Republic (BGIR), Noida. Many plant species from all over India have been introduced in this garden for conservation since 2002. Out of them, a total of 51 species were selected and their medicinal and economic uses were studied and evaluated during the study along with other details like Hindi names, areas of distribution in India, and flowering and fruiting period at the BGIR. More details like the type of diseases treated from these plant species and particular plant parts used for the treatment have also been discussed. This paper will provide a comprehensive study of the uses of plant species conserved in the Botanic Garden from different phytogeographical regions of India

Taboos: Traditional beliefs and customs for resource management in the western Himalaya

575-581People residing in interior areas of the Himalaya are highly dependent on natural resources and thus have evolved their own beliefs and customs, the taboos, for conserving resources. Taboos form an important component of tribal lifestyle and guide sustainable utilization and management of natural resources. The present study was carried out in the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh that are known for their rich bio-cultural diversity. The study aimed at documenting and classifying taboos prevalent in the area. For this, field surveys were carried out and interactions were held with the local people (n=210) using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The results revealed a prevalence of 22 taboos that were mainly related to forest, water, farmland, and food resources. Of the total taboos, the maximum belonged to the segment and method category taboos (32% each) while the minimum (5%) were species-specific taboos. Adherence to taboos is high and breaking them is believed to bring the wrath of God. They, thus, are important for resource management. Studies targeting the history of taboos and their policy implications are much desired

Taking a leaf from Jantri for traditional medicament- an ancient manuscript in Tankri

451-458The present paper highlights the importance vis-à-vis plight of a traditional script Tankri of Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. Through surveys in 70 villages that involved interviews with 550 residents, only one respondent was found to be versed in it. He uses an ancient manuscript named Jantri, scripted in Tankri, for prescribing medicines. Interactions and literature review revealed that Tankri was once a princely script of Chamba that now has no takers. Tankri originated from the Brahmic family of scripts and the Jantri holds information on uses of natural resources for curing human and animal related ailments. A total of 32 resources that include 24 of plant origin, 3 of animal origin, and 5 minerals were used for making formulations to cure a total of 13 diseases. Writing amulets in Tankri on tree bark using traditional ink was found to be a characteristic of the region. Unfortunately, the script is fast disappearing and so is the knowledge associated with it. Its disappearance would be a great loss to mankind. It is high time that conservation and decoding of such scripts is prioritized. Developing a database of knowledge holders and digitizing the information recorded in Tankri may be the starting point of this

Ultrasonic study of polyvinyl butyral

44-47The Ultrasonic behavior of polyvinyl butyral has been studied in the solvent acetic acid at different temperatures in the range 35-45 °C. Acoustical and other related parameters like ultrasonic velocity, adiabatic compressibility, acoustic impedance, relaxation time etc., have been computed from the experimentally measured density and viscosity data. The results of these parameters are attributed to intermolecular interactions between solute and solvent

A Comparative Study of Three Different Types of Stem Cells for Treatment of Rat Spinal Cord Injury

Three different sources of human stem cells-bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs), neural progenitors (NPs) derived from immortalized spinal fetal cell line (SPC-01), and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-were compared in the treatment of a balloon-induced spinal cord compression lesion in rats. One week after lesioning, the rats received either BM-MSCs (intrathecally) or NPs (SPC-01 cells or iPSC-NPs, both intraspinally), or saline. The rats were assessed for their locomotor skills (BBB, flat beam test, and rotarod). Morphometric analyses of spared white and gray matter, axonal sprouting, and glial scar formation, as well as qPCR and Luminex assay, were conducted to detect endogenous gene expression, while inflammatory cytokine levels were performed to evaluate the host tissue response to stem cell therapy. The highest locomotor recovery was observed in iPSC-NP-grafted animals, which also displayed the highest amount of preserved white and gray matter. Grafted iPSC-NPs and SPC-01 cells significantly increased the number of growth-associated protein 43 (GAP43+) axons, reduced astrogliosis, downregulated Casp3 expression, and increased IL-6 and IL-12 levels. hMSCs transiently decreased levels of inflammatory IL-2 and TNF-alpha. These findings correlate with the short survival of hMSCs, while NPs survived for 2 months and matured slowly into glia- and tissue-specific neuronal precursors. SPC-01 cells differentiated more in astroglial phenotypes with a dense structure of the implant, whereas iPSC-NPs displayed a more neuronal phenotype with a loose structure of the graft. We concluded that the BBB scores of iPSC-NP- and hMSC-injected rats were superior to the SPC-01-treated group. The iPSC-NP treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI) provided the highest recovery of locomotor function due to robust graft survival and its effect on tissue sparing, reduction of glial scarring, and increased axonal sprouting