Authentication of herbal drug Tukhm‐e‐balango (Lallemantia royleana Benth.) using microscopic,pharmacognostic, and phytochemical characterization

The study is aimed to provide a comprehensive account on authentication of herbal drug named as Tukhm‐e‐balango (Lallemantia royleana Benth.) from the seeds of Ocimum basilicum by using microscopic, pharmacognostic, and phytochemical characterization. The crude medicinal plants and their parts are often adulterated or substituted in market due to improper identification by the consumers while among herbal plant sellers, taxonomic confusion is caused due to morphological similarities of the plant parts and lack of a standard identification system.In microscopy, both herbarium and fresh specimens were studied using qualitative and quantitative morphological characteristics of leaves, seeds, and pollen. For pharmacognosy, solubility, fluorescence, and physicochemical characterizers were analyzed whereas a total phenolic and flavonoids contents was determined in addition to DPPH radical scavenging activity. In current study, microscopic, pharmacognostic, and phytochemical characterization clearly differentiated L. royleana from O. basilicum. The major problem in herbal drug industry is caused due to confusion and controversy of certain synonyms used for more than one or two drugs. Sometimes, under the same common or local name, entirely different taxa are being sold in herbal markets. It is concluded that correct and proper identification of medicinal plants is very crucial to ensure the safety and efficacy of herbal medicines, as many medicinal plants are intentionally or unintentionally adulterated with similar species or varieties. In herbal market, the seeds of L. royleana are adulterated with seeds of O. basilicum due to their similar morphology.     

Evaluation of heat seal quality of aseptic food containers by ultrasonic and optical microscopic imaging

A rapid and simple method for determination of mono- and diglycerides in milk and milk products is described. The emulsifiers were extracted from the samples with organic solvents. Soxhlet extraction and supercritical fluid extraction were compared. To avoid interference of the co-extracted triglycerides with mono- and diglycerides during the GC run, triglycerides were separated by solid phase extraction. Then the emulsifiers were silylated and determined by GC-FID. Optimising GC parameters, the contents of mono- and diglycerides could be determined in the same run within 20 min. Mono- and diglycerides were gathered in two separate groups and quantified with betulin as internal standard. Commercial samples were analysed for the presence of mono- and diglycerides. The recovery rates of monoglycerides were about 98% for skim milk and 99% for dessert. Spiked diglycerides were found with 101% in skim milk and 94% in dessert. The limit of determination was 0.001% for mono- and 0.006% for diglycerides.     

Revelation effect: Effort or priming does not create the sense of familiarity.

The revelation effect is the tendency to give higher proportions of positive responses to recognition test items that are distorted. Two plausible explanations of this response bias were tested. The 1st 3 experiments showed that the sense of familiarity leading to the revelation effect is not created because of the extra time or effort spent on the distorted items. The magnitude of the effect was neither correlated with the time taken to reveal the distorted items nor influenced by the Ss' efforts in revealing such items. The next 4 experiments showed that the sense of familiarity is not created because of priming of target words during the act of revealing. High-frequency words (presumed to be more highly associated to other words) and categorically or orthographically similar words did not elicit greater revelation effects than those elicited with low-frequency words and categorically or orthographically dissimilar words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tracking iridium atoms with electron microscopy: first steps of metal nanocluster formation in one-dimensional zeolite channels

Using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), we imaged iridium atoms in isolated iridium complexes in the one-dimensional nonintersecting 14-ring channels of zeolite SSZ-53. STEM allows tracking of the movement of atoms in the channels, demonstrating the interaction of iridium with the zeolite framework (channel confinement) and providing a direct visualization of the initial steps of metal nanocluster formation. The results demonstrate how STEM can be used to help design improved catalysts by identifying the catalytic sites and observing how they change in reactive atmospheres.     

Executive functions, information sampling, and decision making in narcolepsy with cataplexy.

Objective: Narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC) affects neurotransmitter systems regulating emotions and cognitive functions. This study aimed to assess executive functions, information sampling, reward processing, and decision making in NC. Method: Twenty-one NC patients and 58 healthy participants performed an extensive neuropsychological test battery. Results: NC patients scored as controls in executive function tasks assessing set shifting, reversal learning, working memory, and planning. Group differences appeared in a task measuring information sampling and reward sensitivity. NC patients gathered less information, tolerated a higher level of uncertainty, and were less influenced by reward contingencies than controls. NC patients also showed reduced learning in decision making and had significantly lower scores than controls in the fifth block of the IOWA gambling task. No correlations were found with measures of sleepiness. Conclusions: NC patients may achieve high performance in several neuropsychological domains, including executive functions. Specific differences between NC patients and controls highlight the importance of the hypocretin system in reward processing and decision making and are in line with previous neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regio‐Selective Chemical‐Enzymatic Synthesis of Pyrimidine Nucleotides Facilitates RNA Structure and Dynamics Studies

Isotope labeling has revolutionized NMR studies of small nucleic acids, but to extend this technology to larger RNAs, site‐specific labeling tools to expedite NMR structural and dynamics studies are required. Using enzymes from the pentose phosphate pathway, we coupled chemically synthesized uracil nucleobase with specifically ¹³C‐labeled ribose to synthesize both UTP and CTP in nearly quantitative yields. This chemoenzymatic method affords a cost‐effective preparation of labels that are unattainable by current methods. The methodology generates versatile ¹³C and ¹⁵N labeling patterns which, when employed with relaxation‐optimized NMR spectroscopy, effectively mitigate problems of rapid relaxation that result in low resolution and sensitivity. The methodology is demonstrated with RNAs of various sizes, complexity, and function: the exon splicing silencer 3 (27 nt), iron responsive element (29 nt), Pro‐tRNA (76 nt), and HIV‐1 core encapsidation signal (155 nt).     

Equilibrium studies for trimethoprim adsorption on montmorillonite KSF

In this study, the adsorption of trimethoprim (TMP) on montmorillonite KSF was studied under different conditions (pH, ionic strength, temperature). The results indicate that a pH value of 5.04 is optimum value for the adsorption of TMP on KSF. The adsorption kinetics was interpreted using pseudo-first-order kinetic model, pseudo-second-order kinetic model and intraparticle diffusion model. The pseudo-second-order model provides the best correlation with the experimental data of KSF adsorption. The adsorption data could be fitted with Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich equation to find the characteristic parameters of each model. It was found that linear form of Langmuir isotherm seems to produce a better model than linear form of Freundlich equation. From the Langmuir and Freundlich equation, the adsorption capacity values raised as the solution temperature decreased. From DR isotherm, it was also determined that the type of adsorption can be considered as ion-exchange mechanism. Determination of the thermodynamic parameters DeltaH(0), DeltaS(0) and DeltaG(0) showed that adsorption was spontaneous and exothermic in nature. It was also added that adsorption of TMP by KSF may involve physical adsorption.