The present research was designed to investigate in vivo herbal contraceptive effects on the anatomy of the testis in male Swiss albino mice (Mus musculus) and to observe that whether the herbal extracts depart any baleful effects on the genitalia or not. Swiss albino mice at age of 30 days were divided into two groups: control and treated group. From day 60, the treated group was administered orally with an aqueous extract (4.4 mg/kg body weight) prepared from the herbal plants. At day 97 (after treatment for 6 weeks) both the control and treated mice were sacrificed. Testes were collected for anatomical (gross and histomorphological) studies. Hematoxylin and Eosin staining was performed for the histo-morphological studies. In the present study, the gross anatomy of the testis were significantly (p<0.05) reduced and pale in color in treated mice in comparison to the control group. Histologically, number of seminiferous tubules, sertoli & leydig cells and amount of spermatozoa within the lumen of seminiferous tubules were decreased. Derangement of the seminiferous tubules along with the presence of a thick fibrous layer and vacuoles were found within and between the seminiferous tubules in the treated group. The aforesaid changes with a good contraception rate (75%) and devoid of any baleful effects even on the female were found, where the contraceptive pills are known to have many side effects. Considering above all, the mixture of plants seems to be effectively worked on the male gonad (testis) suggesting that the herbal extracts might be future use-worthy.

The experiments were conducted for grading unknown agarwood, to analyze the total phenolics, total flavonoids, antioxidant status of agarwood and its crude oil and also to identify the existing bacteria that assist in the fermentation of agarwood during soaking period. Grades of unknown agarwoods were determined based on density metric method and cross checked for ether extract. Total phenolics of agar wood and oils were analyzed through Folin-Ciocalteu method and total flavonoid contents of agar oils were estimated using Aluminium chloride colorimetric method. For the determination of antioxidant status of agarwood oil, the inhibitory effects of oil extracts on DPPH radical was measured. To identify the bacterial genus, several biochemical tests were conducted. Results showed that insect infested agarwood was classified as Grade-1 agarwood (Calculated density was 0.641 g/cm3) and contained the highest amount ether extract of 18.90 ± 0.60%, total phenolic content of 3.5 ± 0.06 (mg GAE/g) and flavonoid content of 7.82 ± 0.23 (µg QE/ml). IC50 values obtained by DPPH activity for Aquillaria malaccensis oil extract was found to be 0.904 µg/ml. Bacillus spp. was recognized as the mostly prevalent bacteria responsible for fermentation of agarwood which exhibit special role in increasing the yield of agar oil. If agarwood and agar oil can be graded properly high market value will be obtained by exporting them.

High-resolution melting (HRM) is one of the widely used methods for mutation detection. Sometimes, mutations which are rare but clinically important may not be detected. Thus, increasing sensitivity of HRM based mutation detection method is essential. This study was particularly aimed to establish HRM based mutation detection method with improved sensitivity. However, we had taken an attempt to detect the mutations in transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene by HRM analysis but we experienced poor sensitivity in mutation detection. Hence, we tried to increase the sensitivity of HRM by adding formamide and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). We used the final concentration of formamide and DMSO at 0.2% and 7%, respectively and found that formamide had better efficacy in increasing HRM sensitivity than DMSO.

Paclitaxel is used in the treatment of cancer especially in breast, stomach and ovarian cancer. However, peripheral neuropathic pain (PNP) induction is the most common devastating side effect of paclitaxel treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the PNP related behavioral changes in rats following oral administration of a novel oral paclitaxel formulation DHP107 (Liporaxel) in comparison with another popular intravenous paclitaxel preparation (Taxol). The rats were equally divided in to three groups namely, NC group (normal control): was treated with saline in a matched volume, LPX group (Liporaxel were administered orally) and TAX group (Taxol was administered intravenously). Less pain like behaviors were observed in LPX group in comparison with TAX group evidenced by significant higher level of hot plate paw withdrawal threshold (PWT), von Frey filament PWT and mechanical PWT than TAX group. Reduced lipid peroxidation and elevated antioxidant activities in serum, dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and sciatic nerve (SN) in LPX group than TAX group. In addition, cell apoptosis and expression of pain and neuropathy related proteins activation in LPX group was found lowered and myelin sheath thickness was higher in DRG and SN but not significantly different from the TAX group. Therefore, oral DHP107 could be a promising chemotherapeutic agent due to inducing less PNP.

he experiment was conducted to develop a suitable protocol for high frequency plant regeneration of wild eggplant (Solanum sisymbriifolium) in order to produce a large number of rootstocks for tomato grafting for the management of wilt disease. To obtain in vitro seedlings of S. sisymbriifolium, seeds were treated with various concentrations of GA3 (Gibberellic acid) prior to place them in germination media (½ strength Murashige and Skoog) and 750 mg/L GA3 was found as a suitable concentration resulting the highest (76.67%) germination rate. Various factors namely combination of plant growth regulators, explant types and explant age were investigated for development of an efficient plant regeneration system of S. sisymbriifolium. Cotyledon and hypocotyl explants of S. sisymbriifolium were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with various concentrations of BA (6-Benzylaminopurine), NAA (a-Naphthalene acetic acid) and 2,4-D (2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid), to determine suitable medium for callus and shoot initiation. Fourteen days old cotyledon explants were found more responsive than that of hypocotyl, both in callus and shoot induction. The highest callus initiation (100%) and shoot regeneration (73.33%) were observed in MS media supplemented with 0.5 mg/L NAA + 1.0 mg/L BA and 0.2 mg/L NAA + 3.0 mg/L BA, respectively. MS medium supplemented with 0.1 mg/L NAA showed the highest frequency (86.67%) of rooting. The regenerated plantlets were acclimatized in pot soil and eventually used as rootstock for tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. BARI hybrid 4) grafting. The grafted plants showed no wilt disease in field condition until maturity.

Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) regulates blood pressure. ACE converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II which binds with its receptors and through a cascade of reactions constrict blood vesels, consequently results in increased blood pressure, called hypertension. Inhibition of ACE activity is considered as an useful therapeutic target that reduce hypertension. Moringa oleifera leaves have traditionally been used in Ayurvedic medicine for their antihypertensive activity and antihypertensive effect of Moringa leaves was reported on spontaneously hypertensive rats. So, we hypothesize that Moringa oleifera leaves methanolic extract (MOLME) might inhibit ACE activity. Inhibition of ACE activity by MOLME was estimated in vitro. In this study, inhibition of ACE by MOLME was evaluated by spectrophotometric method. MOLME inhibited ACE activity in the substrate hippuryl-L-histidyl-L-leucine (HHL) with an IC50 value of 226.37 µg/ml with a reference compound, captropril (CP), a potent ACE inhibitor with an IC50 value of 0.0289 µM. The mode of ACE inhibition in HHL with or without MOLME revealed that the Vmax (0.0857 and 0.0541 OD/30 min, respectively) was changed and the Km values were 4.671 and 4.41. The results indicate that MOLME acts as a non-competitive inhibitor for ACE. CP was found a competitive inhibitor of ACE. MOLME might be a potential natural inhibitor of ACE which reduces hypertension.

Diarrhea is one of the major determinants of childhood mortality in the world. This study was aimed to provide a demographically representative description on the influence of socio-demographic factors e.g. caretakers’ education, occupation, family income and living standard on the diarrheal disease management approaches taken by the slum dwellers and middle class families of Bangladesh. We have visited 90 middle class families and 120 slum dwellers to obtain information. Children of slum dwellers are more likely to be affected by diarrhea. In both classes, significantly more females were affected by diarrhea than males. This scenario is even more prominent among slum dwellers, where 1.5 times more females were affected by diarrhea than their male counterparts. As a primary approach to manage diarrhea, 63.8% caretakers chose Oral rehydration solution (ORS) whereas 31.5% preferred the salt-molasses fluid. All caretakers knew the use of ORS and antibiotics as a preventive measure against diarrhea. However, this scenario dramatically turned when the caretakers were asked whether they know how to prepare ORS. All the caretakers (100%) in middle class families knew how to prepare ORS in contrast to only 25% caretakers among the slum dwellers. Private sectors specially pharmacies were often the first line of health care in both of these classes during diarrhea. But this is most prevalent among the middle class families (50%), compared to the slum dwellers (35%). Finally, it is apparent that the education, family income, living standard and good food help the middle class families to fight diarrhea more efficiently and scientifically than the slum dwellers.

Poultry sector is presently emerged as a great profitable sector in worldwide. The sector’s role in the immense development of the people related this sector. Eggs and hens of layer farms are a major protein source for the people in Bangladesh. Different types of zoonotic diseases prevent the development of the sector. Among the major anxiety related to the development are health issues that scolding not only animal production, but also the community using the food resulting from these animals. One of the most frequently and widely occurring disease is Salmonella. Small-scale commercial farms are predominating here as in Bangladesh where stocks range from several hundreds to thousands and kept in a semi-confined system with a minimum of bio security. In such a system, the birds might be more vulnerable to become exposed to Salmonella. Rainy season is the most suitable for salmonella infection then summer or winter. Prevalence of Salmonella spp. was significantly higher in egg shell compared to egg contents are associated with human illnesses during consumption of contaminated poultry eggs. Different survey notified that, salmonella occurrence in Bangladesh ranges from 20% to above 90% in different locations and seasons. Animals are recognized to be the major reservoir for salmonellae; modern methods of animal husbandry, food production and food handling may encourage the transmission of these organisms from animal products to man. Efforts including critical control point programs in food manufacture are needed to reduce the incidence of Salmonella in food. Consumers-awareness efforts would protect public health from foodborne Salmonellosis.