India has a great wealth of various naturally occurring plant drugs which have great potential pharmacological activities. Datura stramonium (D. stramonium) is one of the widely well known folklore medicinal herbs. The troublesome weed, D. stramonium is a plant with both poisonous and medicinal properties and has been proven to have great pharmacological potential with a great utility and usage in folklore medicine. D. stromonium has been scientifically proven to contain alkaloids, tannins, carbohydrates and proteins. This plant has contributed various pharmacological actions in the scientific field of Indian systems of medicines like analgesic and antiasthmatic activities. The present paper presents an exclusive review work on the ethnomedical, phytochemical, pharmacological activities of this plant.

BackgroundProvidencia are gram negative motile rods and is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family. It consists of five species, namely Providencia alcalifaciens, Providencia rustigianii, Providencia stuartii, Providencia rettgeri and Providencia heimbachae. These are opportunistic pathogens and leads to infections in immunocompromised host. Providencia rettgeri has been associated with the nosocomial infections of the urinary tract and infections of wounds, burns and blood. Providencia rettgeri is very rare cause of neonatal sepsis and we report first case of neonatal late onset sepsis secondary to it.Case presentationA term male infant presented on day 4 of post-natal life with the complaint of decreased appetite, fast respiration and lethargy. The clinical examination showed features of sepsis and shock with chest radiogram showing pneumonia. The infant was started on invasive ventilation, intravenous fluids, antibiotic and inotropes. The blood culture was suggestive of multi-drug resistant P. rettgeri. The antibiotics were changed according to organism antibiotic susceptibility pattern and infant gradually improved and was discharged successfully.Conclusion Providencia rettgeri is a very rare organism to cause neonatal sepsis. The management involves early diagnosis, treatment with appropriate antibiotics and finding the source of infection.

Synaptic plasticity, especially structural plasticity, is thought to be a basis for long-lasting memory. We previously reported that, in rat hippocampus slice cultures, repeated induction of long-term depression (LTD) by application of a metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonist led to slowly developing, long-lasting synaptic suppression coupled with synapse elimination. We referred to this phenomenon as LOSS (LTD-repetition-operated synaptic suppression) to discriminate it from conventional single LTD and proposed it as a model for analyzing structural plasticity. Recently, proneurotrophin-activated p75(NTR) signaling has been gaining attention as a possible pathway for the regulation of both neuronal apoptosis and synaptic plasticity. In this study, we examined whether this signaling has a role in the establishment of LOSS. The application of anisomycin indicated that, for LOSS to occur, novel protein synthesis is needed within 6 hr after the induction of mGluR-dependent LTD, which demonstrates that LOSS is an active process and therefore is not due to withering in response to a shortage of trophic factors. Furthermore, we found that pro-BDNF (a species of proneurotrophins) is newly synthesized within 6 hr after the induction of LTD. We therefore exogenously applied a cleavage-resistant form of pro-BDNF, finding synaptic suppression similar to LOSS. LOSS could be abolished by the application of an antibody that binds to and neutralizes p75(NTR) following repeated LTD induction. These results suggest involvement of the p75(NTR) signaling pathway in the long-lasting decremental form of synaptic plasticity.

Plants synthesize compounds with biological activity, namely antioxidant, as secondary products, which are mainly phenolic compounds serving in plant defense mechanisms to counteract reactive oxygen species (ROS) in order to avoid oxidative damage [1]. Many epidemiological studies have shown that the consumption of phenolics-rich foods is associated with the prevention of chronic diseases [2]. In addition to their antioxidant properties, these compounds have been reported to be potential candidates in lowering cardiovascular diseases [3] , anticarcinogenic [4,5] , antiallergenic, antiarthrogenic, antiinflammatory, antimicrobial and antithrombotic effects [6]. Plant phenolics, in particular phenolic acids, tannins and flavonoids are known to be antioxidants and occur in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, roots and barks [7]. Fertility regulation with plant or plant preparation has been revealed in indigenous system of medicines of many countries. It is difficult to establish quality control parameters of plant-based drug due to complex nature and variability of chemical constituents [8]. So, modern analytical techniques should be implicated to overcome this problem. The aim of the present study was to evaluate few antifertility herbs qualitatively and quantitatively for estimation of phytoconstituents. Ficus racemosa commonly known as Gular, Udambara belongs to the family Moraceae grows in evergreen forests, moist localities and bank of streams, deciduous forests, to the elevation of 1800 m above sea level. Well drained medium to heavy soil for successful cultivation. Propagation is done by stem and root suckers. It grows up to 18 m high [9] .

BackgroundRalstonia genus are gram negative bacillus and includes four bacteria namely Ralstonia picketti, Ralstonia Solanacearum, Ralstonia insidiosa and Ralstonia mannitolilytica. These are opportunistic pathogens and cause infections in immunocompromised host. The sources of infection are usually contaminated solutions and water. The majority of the reported cases are caused by R. picketti. It is very rare cause of neonatal sepsis with less than twenty cases reported in literature till date.Case presentationA late preterm male infant, Indian race was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit for respiratory distress developing soon after birth. The infant was managed with respiratory support and gradually infant improved and diagnosis of transient tachypnea of newborn was made. At age of 84 h of postnatal life, the infant developed features of neonatal sepsis and investigations were suggestive of sepsis. The infant was started on intravenous antibiotic, multiple vasopressors and steroids. The blood culture showed growth of multi-drug resistant R. picketti. The antibiotics were changed as per sensitivity pattern and infant was discharged in good condition and was accepting breast feeding at the time of discharge. There was also no other case of R. picketti in the nursery during the same time period.Conclusion Ralstonia picketti is an uncommon cause of neonatal sepsis and usually source of infection are contaminated solutions and medical products. The management involves early detection, treatment with appropriate antibiotics and doing surveillance culture to identify the possible source of infection.

Empedobacter brevis is gram-negative bacilli that belongs to Flavobacteriaceae family. It was previously known with name of Flavobacterium breve. The reservoir of these bacteria is soil, plants, water, food, hospital water sources, including incubators, sinks, faucets, tap water, hemodialysis systems, saline solutions, and other pharmaceutical solutions. We report a case of term female newborn, admitted with complaint of respiratory distress developing soon after birth and developed clinical features of sepsis at age of 92 hours of postnatal life. The sepsis screen was positive and blood culture and cerebrospinal fluid showed growth of Empedobacter brevis that was resistant to multiple antibiotics. The neonate was treated with appropriate antibiotics and was discharged successfully. The novelty of the case report is that this is the first case report of neonatal sepsis caused by Empedobacter brevis.

Water stress is one of the most critical abiotic stresses that restricts growth, development, and alters physiological and biochemical mechanisms of plant. The effects of long‐term water shortage‐induced oxidative stress on morphophysiological parameters, proline metabolic genes, and artemisinin content were studied in Artemisia annua L. under greenhouse conditions. Plant growth, biomass accumulation, relative water content, and chlorophyll content were reduced under drought. Leaf water potential ranged from −0.3248 MPa to −1.22 MPa in stress conditions. Increased levels of proline accumulation, protein concentration, and lipid peroxidation were detected in water‐stressed plants. Stage‐dependent increases in activity of antioxidants including superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, monodehydroascorbate reductase, and dehydroascorbate reductase were observed. The expression of proline biosynthetic genes including pyrroline‐5‐carboxylase synthase1, 1‐pyrroline‐5‐carboxylase synthase2, and 1‐pyrroline‐5‐carboxylase reductase was induced, while the ornithine aminotransferase transcript showed a variable response and the expression of proline catabolic genes including proline dehydrogenase1, proline dehydrogenase1, and proline 5‐carboxylate dehydrogenase was reduced by water stress. Our results indicate that the glutamine pathway is predominant under drought stress in A. annua and a reduction of catabolic gene expression is adopted as a defense strategy in adverse conditions. Higher expression of biosynthetic genes and lower expression of catabolic genes at the preflowering stage confirmed the important role of proline in flower development. Artemisinin content decreased owing to water stress, but the slightly higher amounts were detected in leaves of severely stressed plants compared with moderately stressed plants. The artemisinin content of A. annua might be regulated by controlling irrigation regimes.

Bambusa arundinacea family Graminae, is one of the precious plant resources of the earth. It has played a significant role in human civilization since ancient times. It is tall sized tree growing throughout India, moist parts of India. It also occurs in Sri Lanka, Malaya, Peru and Myanmar. The different parts of this plant contain silica, cholin, betain, cynogenetic glycosides, albuminoids, oxalic acid, reducing sugar, resins, waxes, benzoic acid, arginine, cysteine, histidine, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, protein, gluteline, contains lysine, methionine, betain, cholin, proteolytic enzyme, nuclease, urease. Various parts of this plant such as leaf, root, shoot and seed possess anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anthelmintic, antifertility, antibacterial, insectisidal, antiarthritic, vessele protection etc. This review mainly focuses on the traditional, phytochemical and pharmacological information of Bambusa arundinacea.