Antibiotic resistance against present antibiotics is rising at an alarming rate with need for discovery of advanced methods to treat infections caused by resistant pathogens. Silver nanoparticles are known to exhibit satisfactory antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against different pathogens. In the present study, the AgNPs were synthesized chemically and characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Antibacterial activity against MDR K. pneumoniae strains was evaluated by agar diffusion and broth microdilution assay. Cellular protein leakage was determined by the Bradford assay. The effect of AgNPs on production on extracellular polymeric substances was evaluated. Biofilm formation was assessed by tube method qualitatively and quantitatively by the microtiter plate assay. The cytotoxic potential of AgNPs on HeLa cell lines was also determined. AgNPs exhibited an MIC of 62.5 and 125 μg/ml, while their MBC is 250 and 500 μg/ml. The production of extracellular polymeric substance decreased after AgNP treatment while cellular protein leakage increased due to higher rates of cellular membrane disruption by AgNPs. The percentage biofilm inhibition was evaluated to be 64% for K. pneumoniae strain MF953600 and 86% for MF953599 at AgNP concentration of 100 μg/ml. AgNPs were evaluated to be minimally cytotoxic and safe at concentrations of 15-120 μg/ml. The data evaluated by this study provided evidence of AgNPs being safe antibacterial and antibiofilm compounds against MDR K. pneumoniae.

No abstract

The study was planned to determine the comparative efficacy of leaf extract of Azadirachta indica, Cichorium intybus and Moringa oleifera, on haematology, intestinal histomorphology and nutrient digestibility in broilers. Day old broiler chicks (n=180) purchased from a commercial hatchery were reared in a group for one week (adaptation period). At day 8, these birds were individually weighed and 120 birds of middle weight range were randomly selected and distributed into 12 replicates (10 chicks/replicate). These replicates were further allotted to four treatment groups designated as A, B, C and D. Group A was offered water without any supplementation and served as a control. Whereas, group B, C and D were offered water supplemented with leaf extract of Azadirachta indica (4%), Cichorium intybus (2%) and Moringa oleifera (6%), @ 50 ml/l, @ 10 ml/l and @ 30 ml/l, respectively. Results of the study revealed that supplementation of Azadirachta indica leaf extract showed better nutrient digestibility of crude protein and ether extract as compared to that of control. However, digestibility of crude fiber due to the treatments remained unaffected. Stabilization of blood metabolites resulted in improved intestinal histo-morphology. The birds using Azadirachta indica fetched the highest profit as compare to the other treatment groups. Therefore, use of Azadirachta indica leaf extracts in broiler is recommended as inexpensive and efficient growth promoting agent without residual effects like antibiotic growth promoter.

No abstract

No abstract

Stem taper functions are valuable tools for the study of stem profile and predict volume estimates. Such functions have long been analyzed for different birch species in the world. However, Asian white birch (Betula platyphylla Suk.) has not yet been investigated as an individual species in China or abroad. This study presents stem taper and volume equations for B. platyphylla in Northeast China. Eight commonly used taper functions were fit to the data of 615 destructively sampled trees from two regions of Northeast China. A second-order continuous autoregressive error structure was incorporated to address the autocorrelation in the data and to achieve the valid parameter estimation. The condition number was used to detect the multicollinearity in the models. The taper functions were compared in terms of overall evaluation statistics and by examining the box plots of diameter and volume residuals against relative heights and diameter classes. The equations of A. Kozak (2004, For. Chron. 80(4): 507–515; model 2), Z. Fang et al. (2000, For. Sci. 46(1): 1–12), and H. Bi (2000, For. Sci. 46(3): 397–409) were the leading models for diameter and volume estimates. Overall, the equation of Z. Fang et al. (2000, For. Sci. 46(1): 1–12) exhibited the best results for estimating diameter and total and merchantable volumes in terms of statistical performance and lower multicollinearity.

No abstract

Objective: To compare the efficacy of intra-dermal platelet rich plasma (PRP) versus 50% trichloracetic acid (TCA) using chemical reconstruction of skin scars (CROSS) technique in the treatment of atrophic acne scars. Study Design: Non-randomised controlled trial.