Review on antibacterial activity of Himalayan medicinal plants traditionally used to treat pneumonia and tuberculosis

Abstract Objectives The main objective of this review was to collect scattered literature on ethnomedicinal plants used to treat pneumonia and tuberculosis in the Himalayan region and their in-vitro validation against bacterial pathogens. Key findings Current review contains information on ethnomedicines of total 137 plants from Himalaya region. Out of these, 59 plants have been studied in vitro against bacteria while seven plants extracts have been checked for their toxicological effects. The most commonly used plant families for pneumonia and tuberculosis therapy in the study region were Asteraceae, Bignoniaceae and Fabaceae (seven plants in each); of these, Curcuma longa L., Punica granatum L. and Justicia adhatoda L. carried the most inhibiting potential against Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae while that of Acalypha indica L. against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Different compounds such as ascorbic acid, curcumin, vasicine, piperine, quercetin, myricetin and gallic acid being reportedly isolated from these plants possess antibacterial potential. Summary Himalayan region has variety of ethnomedicinal plants used against pneumonia and tuberculosis; however, studies on in-vivo activity, toxicology and mechanism of action are very limited. Hence, detailed investigation on these aspects needs to be carried out for the development of novel antibacterial drugs from the studied plant species. </jats:sec

Capacitance modeling in dual field-plate power GaN HEMT for accurate switching behavior

In this paper, a surface-potential-based compact model is proposed for the capacitance of an AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT) dual field-plate (FP) structure, i.e., with gate and source FPs. FP incorporation in a HEMT gives an improvement in terms of enhanced breakdown voltage, reduced gate leakage, and so on, but it affects the capacitive nature of the device, particularly by bringing into existence in a subthreshold region of operation, a feedback miller capacitance between the gate and the drain, and also a capacitance between the drain and the source, therefore, affecting switching characteristics. Here, we model the bias dependence of the terminal capacitances, wherein the expressions developed for intrinsic charges required for capacitance derivation are analytical and physics-based in nature and valid for all regions of device operation. The proposed model, implemented in Verilog-A, is in excellent agreement with the measured data for different temperatures.8 page(s

Prevalence of Piriformis Tightness in Sciatic Patients

Piriformis muscle is supplied by sciatic nerve and its origin is from sacrum through first to fourth sacral foramina, from the edge of greater sciatic foramen and from pelvic surface of the sacrotuberous ligament. Objective: To calculate the prevalence of piriformis muscle tightness in sciatic patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Gujranwala and physical examination of piriformis tightness in sciatic patients involved piriformis stretch test. Demographic data, Semi-structured questionnaire, and consent form were used to collect data. All data was analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Sample size for this study was 251. T-test was used for quantitative data and Chi square for qualitative data. P ≤ 0.05 was considered as significant value. All the results were calculated at 95% confidence level. Results: Prevalence of piriformis muscle tightness in sciatic patients is high. Results shows that total 251 sample size, 181(72.1%) patients tested positive for Piriformis stretch test while 70(27.9%) tested negative for piriformis stretch test. Conclusion: Piriformis stretch test was statistically significant and resulted positive in most of the cases</jats:p

EFFECT OF AGRO-MET CONDITIONS ON THE PROGRESSION OF BROWN LEAF SPOT DISEASE IN BASMATI-370 RICE

Basmati-370 rice variety was used for the present investigation that has a distinct flavor and aroma, along with fine quality and moderately resistant to brown leaf spots. The primary emphasis of the research had been on the impact of climatic variables on brown leaf spot disease progression. The infection was initially identified in the late vegetative stage of each cropping season, viz., 2019 and 2020, and reached its peak during the maturity phase. In Kharif, 2018 the maximum infection rate (r) was observed during43rdMSW, whereas, in 2019 maximum infection rate (r) was observed during 39th MSW. The relation betweenweather factors and disease severity during 2018 designated a significantly negative correlation of -0.928and -0.903 with maximum and minimum temperature, respectively. Relative humidity (morning) had asignificant positive correlation (0.640), but relative humidity (evening), rainfall, and sunlight hours exhibitednon-significant negative correlations of -0.505, -0.418, and -0.362, respectively. In 2019, a substantial negativeassociation was found between illness severity and meteorological conditions. A significantly negativecorrelation of -0.917 and -0.937 with maximum and minimum temperature respectively, was observed.During the kharif, 2019 until the end of agricultural seasons, correlation study of disease progression withrelative humidity (morning), relative humidity (evening), sunlight (hr), and rainfall revealed non-significantand negative correlations.</jats:p