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Abstract: Wrightia arborea (Br.) (Family-Apocynaceae), locally known as Sathkurchi, is a small deciduous tree with small branches and densely velvety leaves. This study was designed to investigate the antioxidant and anti tumor activities of leaves of W. arborea. Antioxidant potential was evaluated in vitro by DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging- and reducing power- assay method which was concentration dependent that was 25-200 µg/ml. The extract showed scavenging activity with IC50 value of 15.23 ± 4.10 µg/ml for DPPH and also showed reducing activity in dose dependent manner. In addition, total phenol and flavonoid content were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and were found to be 112.54 ± 9.74 mg/g plant extract (in GAE) and 247.14 ± 15.45 mg/g plant extract (in quercetin equivalent), respectively. The antioxidant capacity was evaluated by phosphomolybdenum method and was found to be 117.27 ± 12.36 mg/g plant extract (in ascorbic acid equivalents). The anti tumor effect of the methanol extractwas determined with doses of 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg b.wt against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) in mice with respect to the determination of tumor volume, tumor weight, % of cell growth inhibition, % increase in life span (%ILS), and hematological parameter (WBC, RBC and hemoglobin). The methanol extract of W. arborea decreased the tumor weight significantly compared to control group at all the mentioned doses and the highest was observed at the dose of 20 mg/kg b. wt. (1.28 ± 0.15 g). The % of cell growth inhibition increased in dose dependent manner like 36.43 ± 7.45, 58.76 ± 9.43 and 98.43 ± 12.45 at the doses of 5, 10, 20 mg/kg b.wt. respectively. The %ILS was also enhanced in all the doses where 20 mg/kg b.wt showed maximum effect (105.5 ± 3.57). Heamoglobin (Hb) content was significantly increased 8.12 ± 2.6, 10.23 ± 1.62 and 12.12 ± 2.09 g/dL at the doses of 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg b.wt. respectively, compared to EAC control mice (4.95 ± 1.80 g). There was a significant (p< 0.05, p< 0.01, p<0.001) decrease in RBC count and increase in WBC counts in extract treated animals when compared to EAC control animals. This is the first report of biological activities of leaves of W. arborea and it showed significant antioxidant as well as antitumor activity. Keywords: Antitumor,Ehrlich ascites carcinoma, free radical, phenol, flavonoid, Wrightia arborea.Download Full Article |
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Abstract: A simple, fast and economic reversed phase high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method has been successfully developed and validated for simultaneous determination of fluoroquinolone analogs namely levofloxacin and moxifloxacin in both pure form (as API) and in pharmaceutical dosage forms. The method was validated according to the guidelines of ICH, FDA and USP with respect to accuracy, precision and linearity. For method development a C-18 bonded silica column (250 x 4.6 mm, 5μ, Phenomenex, Inc) was used with a mobile phase comprising of 10% aqueous solution of acetic acid and acetonitrile in a ratio of 80:20 v/v. The flow rate was 0.5 mL/min and effluents were monitored at 300 nm and the retention times were found to be at 7.0±0.1 min and 10.59±0.1 min for levofloxacin and moxifloxacin, respectively. The recovery was found to be more than 99% for each spiked samples of levofloxacin and moxifloxacin, demonstrating the accuracy of the protocol. Intra-day and inter-day precisions of the new method were less than the maximum allowable limit (RSD% £ 2.0) according to FDA. The method showed linear response with correlation coefficient value of 0.9975 in both the cases. Therefore, the developed method was found to be simpler, accurate, reproducible, efficient and less time consuming and can be successfully applied for the simultaneous assay of levofloxacin and moxifloxacin formulations. Keywords: HPLC, method development, validation, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin.Download Full Article |
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Abstract: Details of investigation to evaluate the effects of the number of nodes (one, two or three) of Sarcocornia fruticosa explants on growth and multiplication rate of plantlets are presented in this paper. The responses of the 3-node explants to some supplementary sources of different aminoacids and growth regulators indol-3-acetic acid, 6-benzylaminopurine and gibberellins A3 were also analysed. Plantlets from 3-node explants showed a marked increase in growth and number of lateral shoots, indicating that Sarcocornia does not respond well when explants are very small. The addition of 100 mg l-1 casein hydrolysate plus 150 mg l-1 glutamine, and 100 mg l-1 casein hydrolysate plus vitamins showed to be good growth promoters in micropropagating Sarcocornia, giving longer plantlets and higher multiplication rates. Keywords: Explants, halophyte, in vitro propagation, marine biology, Sarcocornia.Download Full Article |
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Abstract: The incidence of water shortage events – including drought, forest fire, and desertification – is rapidly increasing due to global warming. This paper shows the principles and the practical application of a new artificial rain system that would help prevent these types of harmful water shortage events. The proposed artificial rain system is composed of solar-powered vapor generation equipment that floats on a large body of water. From this water, vapor is generated by means of solar energy. This vapor is transformed into clouds. These clouds are transported to an area experiencing water shortage, and these clouds provide rain to the target area. The proposed artificial rain system can be designed to provide a specific amount of rain, to be applied at a pre-determined time, to a specified area. This equipment is operated by solar power, so does not produce any CO2emissions. The detailed design example shown in this paper demonstrates that a vapor generation equipment group 1,080km square in area can make 1,200 kg of vapor per square meter per one year, and provide precipitation for an agricultural area 9,720 km square. The advantages and disadvantages of this system are considered. The estimated cost to produce one kilogramme of precipitation water by the proposed artificial rain system is about 0.002USD. Keywords: Water shortage, global warming, solar power, CO2emissions, Wind Generation Equipment.Download Full Article |
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Abstract: Structural properties of cephalopod muscle actins have not been characterized in detail to date. Sequences of these actins have been determined by cDNA cloning from the arm muscles of four cephalopod species, namely, Japanese common squid Todarodes pacificus, spear squid Loligo bleekeri, common cuttlefish Sepia esculenta, and common octopus Octopus vulgaris. The sequence identities of the deduced amino acid sequences among the cephalopod actins were around 98%, and the substitutions were mostly limited to Subdomains 1 and 3. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that cephalopod actins formed one cluster and were distinguishable from the bivalve counterparts. The modeled tertiary structure of squid actin was very similar to that of rabbit counterpart, but the structures of Subdomains 1 and 3 were slightly different. Keywords: Actin, cephalopod, muscle, structure, sequence.Download Full Article |