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The purpose of the experiment was to find out the impact of various combinations of growth regulators 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP cytokinins family) and Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA auxin family) on growth and root induction of banana explants micro-propagated in vitro. Explants were obtained from young suckers of 8818-william, Pisang and Brazilian varieties. The explants were cultured in vitro containing MS media and different BAP and IAA combinations. The results showed banana varieties exhibited differences for the shoot and root development and also for the number of shoots and leaves. Wiallium-8818 hybrid gave more shoots (7.33) when the concentration of BAP and IAA was 2.5 and 1 mg L -1 , respectively. Alike, Wiallium-8818 hybrid produced the longest shoot (12.20 cm) with more leaves (6.23) at 1 mg L -1 of each BAP and IAA. But Pisang variety produced maximum fresh weight (15.45 g) with a greater number of roots at 5 + 1 mg L -1 of BAP + IAA, respectively.

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal belongs to the nightshade family Solanaceae and is commonly known as Ashwagandha. It is pharmacologically a significant medicinal plant of the Indian sub-continent, used in Ayurvedic and indigenous systems of medicine for more than 3,000 years. It is a rich reservoir of pharmaceutically bioactive constituents known as withanolides (a group of 300 naturally occurring C-28 steroidal lactones with an ergostane-based skeleton). Most of the biological activities of W. somnifera have been attributed to two key withanolides, namely, withaferin-A and withanolide-D. In addition, bioactive constituents such as withanosides, sitoindosides, steroidal lactones, and alkaloids are also present with a broad spectrum of therapeutic potential. Several research groups worldwide have discovered various molecular targets of W. somnifera, such as inhibiting the activation of nuclear factor kappa-B and promoting apoptosis of cancer cells. It also enhances dopaminergic D2 receptor activity (relief in Parkinson’s disease). The active principles such as sitoindosides VII-X and withaferin-A possess free radical properties. Withanolide-D increases the radio sensitivity of human cancer cells via inhibiting deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage to non-homologous end-joining repair (NHEJ) pathways. Withanolide-V may serve as a potential inhibitor against the main protease (Mpro) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to combat COVID. The molecular docking studies revealed that the withanolide-A inhibits acetyl-cholinesterase in the brain, which could be a potential drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Besides, withanolide-A reduces the expression of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, which is responsible for memory loss in epileptic rats. This review demonstrates that W. somnifera is a rich source of withanolides and other bioactive constituents, which can be used as a safe drug for various chronic diseases due to the minimal side effects in various pre-clinical studies. These results are interesting and signify that more clinical trials should be conducted to prove the efficacy and other potential therapeutic effects in human settings.

Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) is an effective and widely used technique to recover the heavy oil/bitumen. However, due to its complex nature, it has not been studied in detail experimentally. Most of the Canadian bitumen reservoirs have negligible steam injectivity, therefore to recover oil from such reservoirs, steam is injected at pressure higher than the overburden causing the pore pressure to increase and allow the disturbance in the sand, referred as sand dilation. This study aims to investigate changes in permeability and porosity of sand pack while varying net stresses occurring during CSS. New coreflooding equipment was designed, fabricated and commissioned aided with mechanical clamps to prevent leakages specially while reaching minimum net stress through providing strong grip between mandrels and rubber sleeve. To understand flow mechanism at the prevailing conditions, real time visualization study was carried out by using CT scanner. The images of in-situ fluid flow patterns with specific CT numbers were used to obtain a density map over the entire length of sand pack which was translated to porosity. Ottawa's sand with the highest concentration of 100-140 mesh was used for sand pack preparation by following the wet packing procedure. Methanol was used for this purpose. During the flooding test net stresses were increased and decreased in cycles by injecting steam and later hot water and at every phase scanning was done to apprehend the changes in the CT numbers and density. Permeability was also measured to understand the changes resulted due to varying net stresses. At minimum net stress the sand pack was fractured and the flow paths were confirmed from the CT images causing a radical change in permeability of 22.13% increase. This disturbance in sand during pore pressure variation was irreversible. However, not a considerable change in porosity was observed once the flow took place through the fractures. This research work has helped to understand the disturbance of sand by steam and hot water injection during CSS and identification of possible flow paths with help of CT images at real time. The changes reported in permeability are for the specific range of sand particle size, pressure and temperature conditions under which this study was conducted.