No abstract

Regeneration in the injured spinal cord is limited by physical and chemical barriers. Acute implantation of a multichannel poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG) bridge mechanically stabilizes the injury, modulates inflammation, and provides a permissive environment for rapid cellularization and robust axonal regrowth through this otherwise inhibitory milieu. However, without additional intervention, regenerated axons remain largely unmyelinated (<10%), limiting functional repair. While transplanted human neural stem cells (hNSC) myelinate axons after spinal cord injury (SCI), hNSC fate is highly influenced by the SCI inflammatory microenvironment, also limiting functional repair. Accordingly, we investigated the combination of PLG scaffold bridges with hNSC to improve histological and functional outcome after SCI. In vitro, hNSC culture on a PLG scaffold increased oligodendroglial lineage selection after inflammatory challenge. In vivo, acute PLG bridge implantation followed by chronic hNSC transplantation demonstrated a robust capacity of donor human cells to migrate into PLG bridge channels along regenerating axons and integrate into the host spinal cord as myelinating oligodendrocytes and synaptically integrated neurons. Axons that regenerated through the PLG bridge formed synaptic circuits that connected ipsilateral forelimb muscle to contralateral motor cortex. hNSC transplantation significantly enhanced the total number of regenerating and myelinated axons identified within the PLG bridge. Finally, the combination of acute bridge implantation and hNSC transplantation exhibited robust improvement in locomotor recovery vs. control and hNSC transplant alone. These data identify a successful novel strategy to enhance neurorepair through a temporally layered approach using acute bridge implantation and chronic cell transplantation to spare tissue, promote regeneration, and maximize the function of new axonal connections.

Hybanthus enneaspermus is commonly used plant in traditional medicine for the various condition such as urinary calculi, cardio protectivity, anti- arrhythmic, urinary tract infection, diarrhoea, dysuria, etc.,In the present study are analgesic and anti allergic activity of petroleum ether and ethanolic extract of aerial part of the plant Hybanthus enneaspermus. The analgesic activity was screened by using hot plate method, tail immersion method, tail flick method. The anti allergic activity was screened by milk induced eosinophilia and leukocytes methods. The ethnaolic extract have more significant activity of analgesic and anti allergic property than the petroleum ether extract Hybanthus enneaspermus. The extract possesses analgesic and anti-allergic activity which may be due to the presence of phytochemical constituents mainly flavonoids and polar constituents

Invasive papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus (Williams Granara de Willink) invaded Tamil Nadu, India in 2008 has attained the status of a serious pest on a wide range of host plants. An extensive survey conducted during 2009 - 2011 revealed the presence of this mealybug on 133 plant species belonging to 48 families including pulses, oilseeds, fibre crops, narcotics, green manures, vegetables, fruit trees, tuber crops, flower plants, ornamentals, plantation crops, medicinal and aromatic plants, biofuel crops, tree species and weeds. Plants from Malvaceae, Solanaceae, Asteraceae and Euphorbiaceae were generally found as preferred hosts of this mealybug species. High host preference was noticed on 33 hosts followed by medium damage in 31 hosts. Pest intensity and damage was found to be low in 56 host plants while there was incidental damage for shorter durations in 13 hosts.

Research work was undertaken at Agro Climate Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Coimbatore, with the objective of developing agromet advisories for rice crop for 54 independent selected weather windows (SWW) covering eight rice growing seasons/systems of Tamil Nadu. This was done to provide weather-based agromet advisory to the farming community. Weather sensitive rice agromet advisories were developed for its nine stages through group discussions based on rice crop sensitiveness to SWW. The available literature on interaction between rice crop and weather elements at their different threshold levels was also properly considered during this exercise. Proto-type were run for one block of Tamil Nadu and thus problems identified for seeking solutions.