Archives-December  

To investigate the antihepatotoxic ability of aqueous leaf extract of Cassia auriculata on antituberculosis drug, rifampicin induced hepatotoxicity. In the present study, the aqueous leaf extract of Cassia auriculata (150, 300 and 600 mg/kg body weight) was examined for its antihepatotoxic ability against rifampicin induced liver injury. Fourty two healthy male albino wistar rats (150-180 g weight) were chosen and divided in to seven groups. Rifampicin and aqueous leaf extract were given 28 days according to the experimental design. After 28 days of treatment, hepatic serum marker enzymes, antioxidant enzymes, lipid peroxidation and liver histology were analyzed. Rifampicin induced liver damage showed significantly elevated activities of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), cholesterol and bilirubin whereas protein level was decreased in serum. Moreover hepatic antioxidants like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and reduced glutathione (GSH) activities were decreased whereas lipid peroxidation level was increased and also necrosis, vacuolization, space formation and loss of cell boundries were observed in liver when compared with control group. Administration of aqueous leaf extract of Cassia auriculata or silymarin could significantly restored to near normal by decrease the activities of serum hepatic marker enzymes and lipid peroxidation level where as enhance the activities of antioxidant enzymes, serum protein and improving towards the normal liver hsitoarchitecture when compared with rifampicin alone treated rats. These present findings suggested that the aqueous leaf extract of Cassia auriculata exhibited antihepatotoxic ability against rifampicin induced hepatotoxicity compared to standard drug silymarin.

Earnings management is a kind of management which uses accounting techniques to meet the executives needs for earnings; it is a widely debated topic, hence it is worth looking at. Experts and professionals in this area found many approaches to detect the earnings management; within these approaches are the accrual-based models which include the modified Jones model, which currently is a favourite model to many researchers. The issue of earnings management has always been an anxiety for the reliability of published accounting reports. In emerging markets, like India due to their relatively weak legal enforcement capabilities, earnings management issue is more universally practiced. The objective of this study is to investigate whether Indian companies adopting international standards (i.e., International Financial Reporting Standards or IFRS) have higher earnings quality compared to non-adopting companies and are less likely to smooth earnings and engage in earnings management with an improvement of reporting quality. Our results clearly indicate that the firms adopting IFRS are unable to control the earnings management and thereby improve Earnings Quality in emerging market of India.

The implications arising from the suddenness of emergence and rapid onset of the COVID-19 on business have been remarkable in disruptions to traditional employment, with the extreme virulence and fear of mortality of the disease. The aim of this qualitative, case study was to explore the strategies by the management of the Middle East (MEA) organizations and discern encountered by company management managers in the proactive adaptations necessary for complying with the healthcare mandates on safe distancing with business sustainability. The target population involved interviews of 5 managers in the MEA, who have provided insight into the strategies in addressing the challenges imposed by the pandemic. The key themes of this study were a) focus on maintaining business sustainability during the tough and debilitating period; b) pay more attention to employees' morale, motivation, and empathy; c) ensure training for employees to cope with innovation and to show prowess. The findings from this study may contribute to emerging knowledge of business adaptations in negotiating the difficult terrain of achieving business sustainability while protecting employees and by default, the community.

External auditory canal cholesteatoma is a very rare entity, representing 0.1 to 0.5% of the otological pathology, carrying the same characteristics as that the middle ear cholesteatoma. Its location may be associated to other affections due to the large variety of differential diagnosis, benign or malignant cases which are far more frequent than the cholesteatoma. The diagnosis is mainly clinical, the therapeutic management consists on a surgical procedure which depends on the stage of the disease. Known for its slow evolution, and the risk of recurrence, the external auditory canal cholesteatoma requires a clinical and radiological surveillance that can extend over several years. Our work focuses on the study of diagnostic modalities and therapeutic management through two hospitalized cases treated in the ENT and CCF department of Rabat Specialty Hospital.

Migration of fishermen is common in the Kenyan waters of Lake Victoria. It affects the way people use and manage this natural resource. But little attempt has been made to relate migratory behavior of fishermen and the impacts of migration on fisheries conservation and management. This paper observes that fisheries related migration has some triggers. The paper therefore analyses the causes as well as demographic characteristics of fishermen using neoclassical economic theory and Logit model. Results show that fishermen have fishing as a primary source of income and are likely to be less literate. It is also shown that migration among fishermen is male dominated and has a clear gender-labour division. Further investigation revealed that migration reduces the positive attitude towards management of the common property. It is always assumed that population is the main driving force behind migration. But this paper further reveals that age, income and educational level, experience and family size are the main determining factors towards long/ permanent fisheries related migration. In relation to educational level, it is noted that those who have been for long and still in fishing is because they are illiterate and have been involved in fishing from their childhood and therefore lack other skills. It is concluded that there is a significant relationship between migration variables of fishermen and the reduced efforts towards conservation in Lake Victoria fishery. It is thus recommended that, since there is no clear sign to halt fishermen’s migration in Lake Victoria, there is therefore a need to create public awareness to improve knowledge of the dangers of migration to fisheries conservation and management.

Elderly become more vulnerable to malnutrition and ill health as they grow older. This study was done to assess the functional and nutritional status of institutionalized elderly. The study was conducted in 100 (65 females) elderly aged 78.6 ± 6.9 years. Males had higher height, weight, fluid intake and better functional status (p<0.05). Females had higher fasting blood sugar, HDL cholesterol and proteins (p<0.05). In Mini Nutritional assessment (MNA), females were found more malnourished (p<0.05). Institutionalized Males have better functional and nutritional status as compared to females.

Development of molecular markers for various desirable traits related to disease resistance, drought tolerance, compact canopy, higher yield, etc hold great potential for crop improvement of Casuarina equisetifolia L. This work focuses on the analysis of genetic relationship between 24 first generation colones of C. equisetifolia. Total genomic DNA was isolated by CTAB method and amplified with random oligonucleotide primers (Ten arbitrary 10-mer primers from Oberon Technologies Primer, USA) using PCR. The polymorphic bands were detected on agarose gels. Each random primer used in this study produced distinct bands. These were used for the final analysis. Six primers (OPM-05, OPM-13, OPB-18, OPE-06, OPE-07 and OPE-08) yielded 39 scorable bands. These bands were then constructed using the RAPD distance v1.04 package. Following this, SHAN method in NTSYSpc v2.02 was used to generate a pair wise distance matrix between various clones of C. equisetifolia. The highest genetic similarity co-efficient value (0.91) was observed between clones APSKLM-25 and APVSP-14 while the lowest co-efficient value (0.04) was seen between clones APKKD-11 and APKKD-9. The RAPD study was helpful to establish clonal identify.

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using Diospyros chloroxylon Roxb. ripened fruit pulp of extract was investigated and the effect of broth concentration in reduction mechanism and particle size is reported. The rapid reduction of silver (Ag+) ions was monitored using UV-visible spectrophotometer and showed formation of silver nanoparticles within 20 minutes. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the synthesized silver nanoparticles are varied from 10-25 nm and have the varying in shapes like spherical, round uneven. Further the XRD analysis confirms the nano-crystalline phase of silver with FCC crystal structure. FTIR examinations confirms the Silver particles. The present study, it was found that the increasing broth concentration increases the rate of reduction and decreases the particle size.

Single crystals of pure Zinc Tris-thiourea Chloride (ZTC) and L-alanine- doped ZTC were grown from aqueous solutions by slow evaporation technique. The grown crystals have been subjected to single crystal x-ray diffraction to determine the unit cell dimensions. The Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra has been recorded in the range 400-4500 cm-1. Morphological alterations have been observed when L-alanine was doped into ZTC crystals. UV-Visible spectrum shows that the grown crystals have wide optical transparency in the entire visible region. The grown crystals were also subjected to other characterizations such as micro hardness, thermal and NLO studies.

An equestrian sport is one of the interesting outdoor activities. This sport is one of the expensive co-curricular activities but the benefits are undeniable either to normal people or disable. The purpose of this study is to enlighten on the advantages that we get from participating in this sports, in terms of health, personal skills and even horses were used as a medium to help people with disabilities. This co-curricular activities also can help us to improve our skills either generic skills or technical skills.