Buddleja Asiatica Research Articles

The medicinal plant Buddleja asiatica and its relation to the welfare of local people in the Pan‐Himalayan region: Past, present, and future perspectives

Societal Impact StatementGlobalization and rapid shifts in culture and economy threaten indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) systems, and large intergenerational gaps in this knowledge already exist. Buddleja asiatica is a deciduous shrub or small tree with traditional medicinal applications but is currently largely overlooked as a medicinal resource. This study investigates the traditional uses of B. asiatica in indigenous communities in the Pan‐Himalayan region through ethnobotanical field surveys, with a view to preserving cultural heritage and strengthening economic resilience in these communities, as well as developing B. asiatica as a medicinal resource. Prioritizing the well‐being of mountain communities, this study aims to bridge community development with nature.SummaryBuddleja asiatica Lour. (Scrophulariaceae) is widely distributed across the Pan‐Himalayan region. It has traditional medicinal applications and cultural value, as well as ecological significance. We conducted an ethnobotanical study combining field surveys from Nepal and Xizang, China with a literature review using Web of Science (WoS) to review the ethnobotanical, phytochemical, and pharmacological aspects of this species. Our study highlights the cultural significance of B. asiatica within indigenous communities and, in particular, the use of the leaves to make a starter culture for the preparation of wine. However, an evident intergenerational gap in knowledge transfer exists. The phytochemical investigation revealed the presence of various chemical classes (carbohydrates, terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins, esters, steroids, glycosides, and fatty acids), of which 15 phytoconstituents were first reported from various parts of B. asiatica. The potential medicinal properties of these chemicals include anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, cytotoxic, antihepatotoxic, antimicrobial, and cholinesterase activities. We combine these lines of evidence to show the prospects for the livelihoods of local people across this region and propose future research directions.

Phytochemical Analysis and Biological Activities of Solvent Extracts of Two Traditionally Used Medicinal Plants

The plants Buddleja asiatica and Buddleja paniculata are two closely related species of which the former has widespread uses in traditional medicine while the latter remains relatively unexplored. The present study focused on the analysis of phytoconstituents and the estimation of different biological activities of extracts and semi-purified fractions. The ethyl acetate stem fraction and methanolic extract of the leaf of B. asiatica displayed the highest phenolic contents of 390.98 ± 5.32 and 383.72 ± 7.31 mg GAE/g. TFC content was measured as 207.33 ± 0.34 and 138.58 ± 0.53 mg QE/g for ethyl acetate leaf and stem fraction of B. asiatica. The highest antioxidant activity was displayed by crude stem extract of B. paniculata with IC50 35.65±0.61 µg/mL in DPPH assay followed by ethyl acetate stem fraction of B. asiatica with IC50 36.17±0.92 µg/mL. The DCM leaf fraction and stem fraction of B. asiatica were found active against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Both plants displayed mild to no toxicity against the brine shrimp nauplii. Median lethal concentration (LC50) ranged from 346.96 ± 25.39 in hexane fraction of leaf to 2719.32 ± 706.5 µg/mL in crude methanol extract of B. paniculata. The present study showed these medicinal plants are rich in an important class of organic compounds that play a significant role in the cure of bacterial infection which ultimately supports pharmaceutical research.

Isolation and Identification of Yeasts in Marcha, a Rice Wine Starter Culture From Nepal.

Nepal harbors a rich diversity of cultures and traditions, including the unique practice of creating an indigenous grain called Marcha by various ethnic groups such as Newar, Tamang, Sherpa, Rai, Limbu, Gurung, Magar, and Tharu people. In the eastern region of Nepal, Marcha producers utilize over 42 different plants, including Vernonia cinerea, Clematis grewiae, Polygala arillata, Buddleja asiatica, Inula sp., Scoparia, and more, which shows regional diversity. The primary objective of the study was to explore the diversity of yeast present in Marcha samples. The studied Marcha samples were collected from 10 different geographic regions of Nepal, which included altogether 27 samples. The isolates were grouped into Groups A, B, and C based on morphological and physiological characteristics. Notably, Group B yeast displayed high amylase production, an enzyme responsible for starch breakdown, and exhibited the ability to produce ethanol. To further investigate the potential of these isolates, stress exclusion tests were conducted, with 30 isolates (70%) showing positive responses. The yeast isolates demonstrated resilience to high glucose concentrations of up to 36% (w/v) at a pH above 3 and a temperature of 37°C, which is the ideal growth condition. The study observed a direct correlation between the yeast isolates' ethanol production capabilities and their tolerance to different ethanol concentrations. Considering that all tested Marcha samples contained yeast capable of starch degradation and ethanol production, it was expected that these yeast isolates would actively participate in the fermentation of starch-based alcohol.

Rehabilitation of Mormoschema (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae): generic status restituted and tribal placement revised

Tolumnia immaculata Distant, 1900 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomoidea: Pentatomidae: Pentatominae) is redescribed based on the study of primary types and additional specimens from India and Sri Lanka. This species is found to not be congeneric with the rest of Tolumnia Stål, 1868, including the type species. This verifies the original opinion of Breddin (1909), which was subsequently rejected by Distant (1918) but without argumentation. As a result, the monotypic genus Mormoschema Breddin, 1909, stat. restit., is removed from synonymy with Tolumnia, and the combination Mormoschema immaculatum (Distant, 1900) is restituted. The male and female genitalia of Mormoschema immaculatum are described in detail. The tribal placement of Mormoschema is discussed; the genus is excluded from Cappaeini and transferred to Eysarcorini. Buddleja asiatica and Scrophularia sp. (Scrophulariaceae) are recorded as feeding plants for M. immaculatum.

Assessment of air pollution tolerance index and anticipated performance index of roadside plants used for greenbelt development in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

The study emphasizes the significance of evaluating performance index of plants in urban vegetation. The performance of some common roadside plants like Ficus benjamina, Buddleja asiatica, Jacaranda mimosifolia, Cinnamomum camphora, and Callistemon viminalis were assessed for air pollution tolerance index (APTI) and anticipated performance index (API). The study was conducted in polluted site (Balkhu-Koteshwor road section) and control site (Godawari Botanical Garden) in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. The APTI values are 7.71–11.86 in the control site and 8.83–12.54 in the polluted site. Based on APTI, Ficus benjamina, Cinnamomum camphora and Jacaranda mimosifolia are intermediate tolerant, whereas Buddleja asiatica and Callistemon viminalis are sensitive to air pollution. The API values for Jacaranda mimosifolia and Cinnamomum camphora are better, indicating that they are good performers in terms of air pollution tolerance. In contrast, Buddleja asiatica is evaluated as poor performer among the selected plant species. Tolerant plant species hold the potential to serve as effective vegetative traffic barriers and contribute to urban green belts. Conversely, sensitive plants can be utilized as bio-indicators of air quality.

Women's wellness in the mountains: An exploration of medicinal plants among tibeto-burman groups in Thailand

Ethnopharmacological relevanceThis study offers valuable insight into the traditional healing practices of women's healthcare within four Tibeto-Burman groups. By focusing on women's wellness, the research sheds light on the often-neglected yet significant contributions made by women in the field of traditional medicine. Aims of the studyThe study seeks to address the gap of studies on the ethnobotany of women healthcare of the Tibeto-Burman groups in Thailand and to analyst the factors that could affect the diversity of ethnobotanical knowledge. Materials and methodsThe study compiled data from 15 group-informants residing in 12 different villages. The information gathering process involved a combination of free-listing, semi-structured interviews, group discussion, and the walk-to-the-wood method. To analyze the data, the researchers used various methods such as use-reports, Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Relative Importance Index (RI), and Cluster analysis. ResultsThis study identified 200 plant species used in traditional women's healthcare practices, with leaves being the most frequently used part. Drinking was the most common method for internal use, while bathing and steam were the most emphasized for external use. Blumea balsamifera and Buddleja asiatica had high RI and RFC. Cluster analysis revealed that group-informants were divided by ethnicity and geographical location. ConclusionThis study contributes to the understanding of traditional healthcare practices among Tibeto-Burman groups in Thailand, with a particular focus on women's wellness. The results provide insight into the ethnobotanical knowledge of these communities and highlight the important role played by women in traditional medicine. The study underscores the need for continued research in this field to preserve and utilize this valuable knowledge.

Scientific Evaluation of Buddleja asiatica, Camellia sinensis, and Polygala arillata of Nepal

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world. Medicinal plants remain to play an important role in the amelioration of diabetes and its complications. In this study, Buddleja asiatica, Camellia sinensis, and Polygala arillata were investigated for α-amylase inhibition, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities. Methanolic extracts of these three plants were investigated for their potential antioxidant activity using DPPH assay. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents of extracts were evaluated by the following standard methods. The α-amylase inhibition assay was also carried out by starch-iodine assay and DNS assay method. Methanolic extract of B. asiatica, C. sinensis, and P. arillata exhibits a total phenolic content of 116.47 ± 6.62, 157.17 ± 18.79, and 44.27 ± 2.97 mg GAE per gm in dry weight of extracts (p < 0.0001) and flavonoid levels 5.99 ± 1.00, 34.28 ± 2.63, and 37.07 ± 2.24 (p < 0.0001) mg QE per gm in dry weights of extracts respectively. The extract showed promising antioxidant activity against DPPH with the IC50 values of C. sinensis (19.15 ± 4.32 μg/mL), B. asiatica (26.86 ± 2.00 μg/mL), and the standard the quercetin (2.36 ± 0.13 μg/mL). The extract showed modest α-amylase inhibitory activity. Methanolic extract of B. asiatica and C. sinensis were found effective against Staphylococcus aureus with zone of inhibition of 12.5 mm and 17 mm respectively. Therefore, obtained results support the traditional uses of these plants and also showed α-amylase inhibition activities although there are no reports about it.

ASSESSING THE AIR POLLUTION TOLERANCE INDEX AND ANTICIPATED PERFORMANCE INDEX OF ROADSIDE PLANT SPECIES FOR BIOMONITORING ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Leaf surface of plants acts as a sink for the deposition of air pollutants in the urban environment andis considered an ecologically sustainable cost-effective strategy to mitigate the impact of air pollution.In this context, assessment of air pollution tolerance index (APTI) and anticipated performanceindex (API) was calculated to observe the tolerant potential of fifteen plant species along roadsideof Kathmandu valley. APTI was determined by combining the four biochemical and physiologicalparameters; Relative water content (RWC), Total chlorophyll content (TChl), Ascorbic acid content(AA) and Leaf extract pH using a pre-defined formula. Results suggested that, TChl and pH werelower, and RWC and AA were higher at heavily polluted area in comparison to the control site. TheAPTI for the species ranged between 7.57 and 11.51, ideal for sensitive species category (APTI < 16),and the plants are classified as bio indicators of air pollution. Highest mean ATPI (11.51) wasrecorded in Callistemon citrinus and lowest (7.57) was recorded in Buddleja asiatica. The API notonly takes APTI into consideration but also the biological and socio-economic aspect of the species.The API grade indicates. Ficus religiosa and N. arbor-tritis (API = 5) as good performers whileCallistemon citrinus (API=4), Nerium oleander (API=3), Bougainvillea glabra (API=3) and Buddlejaasiatica (API=3) are predicted to be moderate green belt performers. On the basis of APTI and APIassessment, the study suggest that out of fifteen species, only six plants species were identifiedas suitable green belt development. The overall results highlight the suitability of APTI and APIas simple, inexpensive, and convenient methods for recommending plant species for urban areaswith sound environmental pollution with dust load.

Exogenous Application of Green Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) to Improve the Germination, Physiochemical, and Yield Parameters of Wheat Plants under Salinity Stress.

Agriculture is the backbone of every developing country. Among various crops, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) belongs to the family Poaceae and is the most important staple food crop of various countries. Different biotic (viruses, bacteria and fungi) and abiotic stresses (water logging, drought and salinity) adversely affect the qualitative and quantitative attributes of wheat. Among these stresses, salinity stress is a very important limiting factor affecting the morphological, physiological, biochemical attributes and grain yield of wheat. This research work was carried out to evaluate the influence of phytosynthesized TiO2 NPs on the germination, physiochemical, and yield attributes of wheat varieties in response to salinity. TiO2 NPs were synthesized using TiO2 salt and a Buddleja asiatica plant extract as a reducing and capping agent. Various concentrations of TiO2 nanoparticles (20, 40, 60 and 80 mg/L) and salt solutions (NaCl) (100 and 150 mM) were used. A total of 20 mg/L and 40 mg/L improve germination attributes, osmotic and water potential, carotenoid, total phenolic, and flavonoid content, soluble sugar and proteins, proline and amino acid content, superoxide dismutase activity, and reduce malondialdhehyde (MDA) content at both levels of salinity. These two concentrations also improved the yield attributes of wheat varieties at both salinity levels. The best results were observed at 40 mg/L of TiO2 NPs at both salinity levels. However, the highest concentrations (60 and 80 mg/L) of TiO2 NPs showed negative effects on germination, physiochemical and yield characteristics and causes stress in both wheat varieties under control irrigation conditions and salinity stress. Therefore, in conclusion, the findings of this research are that the foliar application of TiO2 NPs can help to improve tolerance against salinity stress in plants.

Distribution and transfer of antibiotic resistance genes in different soil-plant systems.

The extensive application of farm manure that is contaminated with pharmaceutical antibiotics not only causes substantial soil pollution but additionally leads to the input of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) into the soil. These ARGs would proliferate and affect human health via the food chain. The effects of cultivated crops and wild plants on ARGs in rhizosphere soil are unclear. Therefore, we chose potted plants of cultivated crops (pakchoi, lettuce, corn) and wild plants (barnyard grass, crabgrass, dog tail), and set up test groups, i.e., treatment group, antibiotic-contaminated soil; control group, no antibiotic-contaminated soil; and a blank group without plants. The aim was to explore differences in the distribution and transfer of ARGs in the soil-plant system between cultivated crops and wild plants and at the same time to explore the influence of bacterial community evolution on ARGs in the rhizosphere soil of cultivated crops and wild plants. We concluded that under the pressure of antibiotic selection, ARGs can be transferred to the root endophytes of plants through the soil and further to the phyllosphere of plants, and cultivated crops such as pakchoi and wild plants barnyard grass have a strong ability to transport ARGs. Regardless of cultivated crops or wild plants, the abundance of ARGs in rhizosphere soil can be substantially reduced by 66.53 ~ 85.35%. Redundancy analysis and network analysis indicated that bacterial community succession is the main mechanism affecting changes of ARGs in rhizosphere soil. The reduction of Firmicutes due to the plant was the main factor responsible for the reduction of the abundance of ARGs in rhizosphere soil. The tetA, tetG, tetX, sul2, and qnrS genes are highly related to some potential pathogens, and the health risks they bring are a red flag that deserves attention.

Phytochemical analysis, biological activities, and GC profiling of extracts of some medicinal plant growing in Nepal

The present study was aimed to determine the antioxidant, α amylase inhibition, and antibacterial activities on ten traditionally used medicinal plant extracts, namely Cyperus rotundus, Citrus medica, Gaultheria fragrantissima, Jasminum humile, Osyris wightiana, Buddleja asiatica, Berberis aristata, Robus ellipticus, Schima wallichii, and Smilax ovalifolia growing in Nepal. The bioactive fraction of J. humile was subjected for GC analysis. The free radical scavenging properties of plant extracts were assessed using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and antibacterial activity was performed by the well diffusion method. The antidiabetic activity was assessed α amylase inhibition assay. The chemical compounds were isolated from the active plant fraction by silica column chromatography, and the collected fractions were analyzed by GC and FTIR. The phytochemical analysis showed that plant extracts were rich sources of secondary metabolites. The in vitro antioxidant activity showed IC50 ranging from 30.57±0.02 to 155.65±0.10 µg/mL. The promising antioxidant activity was demonstrated by S. wallichii of IC50 30.57±0.02 µg/mL and J. humile 35.28±0.54 µg/mL, respectively whereas, the S. ovalifolia, exhibited the moderate antioxidant activity of IC50 155.65±0.10 µg/mL. The J. humile showed significant antidiabetic activity of IC50 59.4±23.47 µg/mL. The antidiabetic activities exhibited ranged from IC50 of 77.29±2.05 (S. wallichii to 608.28±71.50 µg/mL (C. rotundus). The R. ellipticus showed maximum ZOI (22 mm) against the Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), whereas J. humile (20 mm), O. wightiana (18 mm), and G. fragrantissima (16 mm) showed moderate antibacterial activity against the S. aureus. The C. rotundus, J. humile, S. ovalifolia, O. wightiana, and B. asiatica showed promising antibacterial activity against E. coli (ATCC 25922) with ZOI 15, 17, 14, 17, and 18 mm respectively. These findings provide partial scientific support for traditional uses of these medicinal plants against diabetes and infectious diseases. Therefore, the J. humile could be a promising source of natural antidiabetic and antioxidant compounds that may be drug candidates for future drug development. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first attempt to perform all these biological activities and phytochemical analyses growing in the particular region of Nepal.

Left-Right Asymmetry and Attractor-Like Dynamics of Dog's Tail Wagging During Dog–Human Interactions

Left-Right Asymmetry and Attractor-Like Dynamics of Dog's Tail Wagging During Dog–Human Interactions

NeuroCartography: Scalable Automatic Visual Summarization of Concepts in Deep Neural Networks.

Existing research on making sense of deep neural networks often focuses on neuron-level interpretation, which may not adequately capture the bigger picture of how concepts are collectively encoded by multiple neurons. We present Neurocartography, an interactive system that scalably summarizes and visualizes concepts learned by neural networks. It automatically discovers and groups neurons that detect the same concepts, and describes how such neuron groups interact to form higher-level concepts and the subsequent predictions. Neurocartography introduces two scalable summarization techniques: (1) neuron clustering groups neurons based on the semantic similarity of the concepts detected by neurons (e.g., neurons detecting "dog faces" of different breeds are grouped); and (2) neuron embedding encodes the associations between related concepts based on how often they co-occur (e.g., neurons detecting "dog face" and "dog tail" are placed closer in the embedding space). Key to our scalable techniques is the ability to efficiently compute all neuron pairs' relationships, in time linear to the number of neurons instead of quadratic time. Neurocartography scales to large data, such as the ImageNet dataset with 1.2M images. The system's tightly coordinated views integrate the scalable techniques to visualize the concepts and their relationships, projecting the concept associations to a 2D space in Neuron Projection View, and summarizing neuron clusters and their relationships in Graph View. Through a large-scale human evaluation, we demonstrate that our technique discovers neuron groups that represent coherent, human-meaningful concepts. And through usage scenarios, we describe how our approaches enable interesting and surprising discoveries, such as concept cascades of related and isolated concepts. The Neurocartography visualization runs in modern browsers and is open-sourced.

Phytochemical and pharmacognostic studies of Buddleja asiatica leaves.

Buddleja asiatica commonly known as "Booi" is a large deciduous shrub belongs to family Scrophulariaceae, traditionally used as antipyretic, analgesic, hypotensive, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antifungal agent recorded from essential oil obtained from leaves. The literature revealed that the plant has been widely used for many other purposes. The said plant has been analyzed through pharmacognostic techniques such as morphological, microscopic, and physio-chemical evaluations to keep the originality of the plant and to avoid adulteration. Morphologically, the plant is evergreen shrub, while organoleptic studies showed that the leaf has glabrous upper surface and tomentose lower surface, with slightly bitter taste and aromatic odor. Anatomically, the leaf showed typical dicot histological differentiation with hypostomatic nature having highest frequency (90%) of actinocytic stomata. The average stomatal number and stomatal index were 336 ± 39.5 and 30.01 ± 2.34, respectively. The palisade cell ratio, vein termination, and vein islet number were 9.2 ± 0.72, 10.2 ± 3.1, and 10.3 ± 3.3, respectively. Various tissue fragments have been observed during powdered drug analysis of the leaf. Preliminary phytochemical screening confirmed the presence of proteins, phenols, alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, tannins, and glycosides. Fluorescence analysis in ordinary day light and under UV light along with extractive values was also analyzed. The above-mentioned studies that have been reported, for the first time, for the said plant may be significant to establish the pharmacognostic and phytochemical standards of the said species.

Foliar applications of plant-based titanium dioxide nanoparticles to improve agronomic and physiological attributes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants under salinity stress

Abstract The present study was carried out to investigate the beneficial and toxicological effect of plant-based titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) on the morphophysiological attributes of wheat plants under salinity stress. The biogenesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles was accomplished by using the extract of Buddleja asiatica L. leaves followed by characterization through UV visible spectroscopy, SEM, FTIR, and EDX. NaCl salt was applied in two different concentrations after 21 days of germination followed by foliar applications of various concentrations of TiO2 NPs (20, 40, 60, 80 mg/L) to salinity-tolerant (Faisalabad-08) and salinity-susceptible (NARC-11) wheat varieties after 10–15 days of application of salt stress. Salinity stress showed remarkable decrease in morphophysiological attributes of selected wheat varieties. Magnificent improvement in plant height, dry and fresh weight of plants, shoot and root length, root and shoot fresh and dry weight, number of leaves per plant, RWC, MSI, chlorophyll a and b, and total chlorophyll contents has been observed when 40 mg/L of TiO2 NPs was used. However, the plant morphophysiological parameters decreased gradually at higher concentrations (60 and 80 mg/L) in both selected wheat varieties. Therefore, 40 mg/L concentration of TiO2 NPs was found most preferable to increase the growth agronomic and physiological attributes of selected wheat varieties under salinity.

Plant Species Diversity and Degree of Homogeneity after the 2010 Eruption of Mount Merapi, Indonesia

The eruption in 2010 of Merapi Mount changed the diversity of plant species. The objective of this research was to investigate the diversity of plant species on Mount Merapi National Park (MMNP). The sampling area was divided into three different levels of damage (heavy, medium, and mirror). The research was conducted by using line-transect and quadrat method. We were conducted using line-transect and quadrat method. The research showed that Acacia decurrens has the highest Important Value Index (IVI) at the heavy damage area of Cangkringan Resort (CR) and Kemalang Resort (KR) as well as in mirror damage area of Selo Resort (SR). The most important species at medium damage area of Dukun Resort (DR) were Albizia lopantha and Pinus merkusii. The pioneer species at Non-Cover Area (NCA) among others were Trema cannabina, Pityrogramma calomelanos, Imperata cylindrical, Buddleja asiatica, Anaphalis javanica. Eupatorium riparium were the most important species of herb in all four locations based on SIMPER, but it was not dominant in NCA. The homogeneity of plant in Cangkringan Resort and Selo Resort (C < D < E) were normally distributed, whereas NCA, DR, and KR (E ≥ D) were homogeneous. Analysis of non-metric multidimensional scaling and value of ANOSIM (RANOSIM =0.69; p = 0.0001) demonstrated that all site locations have significance differences. This research was not only focusing on survey of vegetation diversity, but also frequency class distribution. Through this study of frequency of species provides a database for conservation biodiversity and restoration program.

Buddleja asiatica Lour. Derived Phytochemicals against Staphylococcus aureus Causing Skin Diseases

Phytochemicals from Buddleja asiatica plant extract are traditionally used to cure skin diseases. It is caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Molecular docking method applied using “Biovia Discovery Studio”. “High positive values of -CDOCKER energy and -CDOCKER interaction energy” suggested that lignoceric acid can effectively deactivate the L-lactate dehydrogenase enzyme thereby interrupting the life cycle of the organism.

Buddleja asiatica Derived Phytochemicals against Diarrhea

Plants produce nonnutritive compounds that are often extracted to make herbal medicines. It has been reported that extracts of Buddleja asiatica are effective to treat diarrhea. One of the causes of Diarrhea is an infection by Campylobacter jejuni. The objective of the study is to identify the phytochemical of Buddleja asiatica capable of curing Diarrhea. ATP-phosphoribosyl transferase enzyme plays an important role in Purine Metabolism. Molecular docking method applied using “Biovia Discovery Studio”. “High positive values of -CDOCKER energy and -CDOCKER interaction energy” suggested that Lignoceric acid can effectively deactivate the transferase enzyme thereby interrupting the life cycle of the organism.

Phytochemical Screening, Free Radical Scavenging and α-Amylase Inhibitory Activities of Selected Medicinal Plants from Western Nepal.

Background: More than 700 plants are reported to be used for medicinal purposes in Nepal; however, many of them are not studied for their scientific evidences. The aims of the present study were the estimation of the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, and the evaluation of the free radical scavenging and α-amylase inhibitory activities of five selected medicinal plants from western Nepal: Aeschynanthus parviflorus Wall. (Gesneriaceae), Buddleja asiatica Lour. (Loganiaceae), Carica papaya L. (Caricaceae), Drepanostachyum falcatum (Nees) Keng f. (Gramineae) and Spondias pinnata (L. f.) Kurz (Anacardiaceae). Methods: The total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were measured using Folin-Ciocalteu’s phenol reagent and aluminium chloride methods, respectively. A 1,1–diphenyl–2–picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay was used to evaluate the free radical scavenging activity and an α-amylase inhibitory assay was carried out to determine the in vitro antidiabetic activity. Results: The phytochemical screening of five hydroalcoholic plant extracts revealed the presence of various secondary metabolites, including alkaloids, flavonoids, reducing sugars, saponins, terpenoids and tannins. The amounts of total phenolics and flavonoids were found to be the highest in B. asiatica leaf extract, which also showed the most potent free radical scavenging activity. Extract of C. papaya fruits showed the highest α-amylase inhibitory activity, whereas the extracts of B. asiatica leaves and S. pinnata leaves exhibited moderate activity. Conclusions: Some of the medicinal plants selected in this study showed high TPC and TFC values and potent bioactivities. These results may provide the scientific evidences of the traditional uses of these plants. However, further detailed studies on bioactive compounds isolation and identification and evaluation of in vivo pharmacological activities should be performed in future.

"Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails": Boys and Behaviour in the USA.

In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain introduced two of the most iconic boys in American literature. Tom and Huck become heroic figures, despite their penchant for bad behaviour. Indeed, it is their propensity to be impulsive, break rules and defy authority that win them the day. Today, however, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn have become the posterboys for a psychiatric disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. I trace how and why attitudes about pathological boys' behaviour reversed during the twentieth century, from a focus on shy, introverted, and physically passive boys to the very opposite - boys like Tom and Huck. I argue that, rather than imposing limits on childhood behaviour, we should be more accepting and encouraging of all types of children.