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The freshwater mussel (Lamellidens marginalis) was employed with a 28-day aquarium rearing of stinging catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis) exposed to a sublethal concentration (0.75 mg/l) of Pb(NO3)2 to evaluate the growth, Pb bioaccumulation, and associated liver histopathology in fish. Three treatments (T2, T3, and T4) and a control (T1) were assigned with 20 fish and 5, 20, 40, and 0 numbers of mussel each. The specific growth rate, percentage of weight, and length gain showed a larger increase of Pb in T3 and T4 than in the control and T2. After 28 days, the highest amount of muscular and hepatic Pb was recorded as 2.43 ± 0.01 mg/L and 7.79 ± 0.8 mg/L respectively in the control group (T1); the lowest amount was recorded in T4 as 0.46 ± 0.07 mg/L and 4.41 ± 0.58 mg/L respectively. Liver histopathology exhibited vacuolization, raptured hepatocytes, blood congestion, necrosis, and fat droplets accumulation in different intensities. The control group manifested severe pathology; the T4 treatment exhibited comparatively low signs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment on brood rearing and induced breeding of the near threatened fish species Raikor, Cirrhinus reba using the pituitary gland (PG), was conducted from March to August 2020 at the Floodplain Sub-station of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, Santahar, Bogura. Broods were collected and reared in the ponds of the hatchery complex. The total length (cm), body weight (g), gonad weight (g), and gonado-somatic index (%) of this species were measured during the rearing period. To standardize the breeding technique, a total of 90 brood fish of C. reba were treated with different doses of PG, specifically, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 mg/kg body weight for females and 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 mg/kg body weight for males in different treatments, namely T1, T2, and T3 respectively. A significant difference (p<0.05) was observed in fecundity, ovulation (%), and the fertilization rate (%) among the treatments. Based on the results, T2 (4.0 mg/kg body weight for females, 2.0 mg/kg body weight for males) produced the most favorable results. The current observations could be applied to C. reba stimulated breeding for the advancement of hatchery formation. More research on the nursing, nurturing, and culture of the near-threatened C. reba at varied densities and feedings is necessary for their conservation and restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different ethnic communities traditionally use herbal medicines to treat different curable and incurable diseases. The main purpose of this research was to assess the antibacterial and cytotoxic potential of different polarities extracts of unripe bananas collected from Omani farmers. The antibacterial and cytotoxic potential of the prepared extracts were assessed against the gram + and - antibacterial strains and brine shrimp lethality (BSL) bioassays. All prepared extracts at dissimilar concentrations exhibited acceptable antibacterial potential against two Gram-positive and two Gramnegative bacteria strains with a diameter of inhibition range of 0- 11.5 mm. The maximum antibacterial activity among the plant extracts was obtained from hexane extract against E. coli. The cytotoxic results exposed that all polarities unripe banana extracts at each concentrations lethaled the shrimp larvae at all applied concentrations. Among the six polarities extracts of unripe banana from Sohar and Dhofar, the butanol and hexane extracts exhibited significant cytotoxic potential with an LC50 value of 20.12±0.10; 26.19±0.57 and 22.39±0.11; 27.88±0.17 µg/ml. The lesser potential found in ethyl acetate extract among the six extracts with an LC50 value of 36.68±0.22 and 49.32±0.16 µg/ml. The results displayed that non-polar unripe banana extract has substantial antibacterial and cytotoxic potential. Therefore, the significant extract from the unripe banana can be used further for isolation of biologically active ingredients against a number of ailments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease that creates high blood sugar level. Therefore, diabetes awareness is necessary to prevent diabetes by reducing sugar intake and using low-calorie alternative sweeteners instead. Stevia rebaudiana is a medicinal plant species belonging to the Compositae family. It is a sweet herb that contains diterpene glycosides, which are directly responsible for the sweet taste, but they have no caloric value. Since ancient times, there have been several reports on the use of S. rebaudiana as an alternative sweetener and extended research has been conducted on its phytochemicals and biological activities. The plant contains a good number of phytochemicals with significant biological activities, namely polyphenolic derivatives, diterpenes glycosides, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, chlorophylls, carotenoids, etc. For industrial use, those phytochemicals could be extracted from the selected plant and used for the preparation of nutraceuticals and food additives. S. rebaudiana is a natural herb; therefore, it has fewer or minimal adverse effects on human health. The selected plant in various forms is used for the treatment of diabetes, colon cancer, obesity, cavities, and others. However, the literature review shows that the information on this plant and its uses is not systematic. The purpose of the present review is to explore the status of phytochemicals and biological activities of the selected plant for young researchers. Therefore, the updated data will help them to develop new nutraceuticals and food additives that could help in the production of pharmaceuticals to treat different ailments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, the main target of scientists is to examine new medicinally beneficial plants for the preparation of herbal drugs as well as to explore possible uses in the food industry. In this regard, the target of our current study is to evaluate the antibacterial activity and biochemical analyses of the leaf extracts of Omani Mentha piperita L (M. piperita). The selected plant leaves coarse powder samples were extracted by using the Soxhlet extraction process with methanol at 65oC for a period of 72 hours. The evaporation of methanol was done by a rotary evaporator under reduced pressure and temperature. The hydro alcoholic extract was fractionated with the various polarities of solvents with an increasing pattern. The biochemical evaluation and pharmacological activity of the prepared local plant extracts were completed by using established methods. The different polarities of leaves extracts showed positive biochemical tests of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, steroids, tannins and triterpenoids. The microbial activity of the fractioned plant extracts was tested with improved agar gel method. The different polarity extracts at different concentrations did not display any activity against the tested Gram (+) Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Gram (- ) Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Pseudomonus aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) bacterial strains. Based on the biochemical and pharmacological evaluation results, the selected whole plant and its potential extracts might be used traditionally as natural antibiotics to treat infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the old times, seeds producing plants have played a vital role in the progress of human culture to treat diseases. Medicinal plants are used traditionally by the local communities to treat diseases. Recently, a report has shown that more than 250,000 flowering plant species are available globally. Scientists are continuously working on higher plants to help and understand plant poisonousness and to defend humans and animals from natural toxins. A plant's toxicity and its medical use are dependent on the plant's volatile phytochemicals. Thymus vulgaris L is a common aromatic plant used widely as a folk medicine to treat various diseases by different ethnic communities around the globe including the Sultanate of Oman. Previous studies in Oman showed that the selected plant species contains several groups of phytochemicals such as essential oils and secondary metabolic compounds they can enhance their biological and toxicological activities. Therefore, the aim of the present review is to explore the volatile phytochemicals, biological and toxicological features of Thymus vulgaris grown in Oman. The results can be helpful for discovering new drugs to treat asthma, cough, chronic bronchitis and other infectious diseases. In conclusion, this review provides information on the volatile phytochemicals, pharmacological and toxicological aspects of the selected plant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this brief report, we state current mirror (CM) circuit employed by coplanar amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide (a‐IGZO) thin‐film transistors (TFTs) with dual‐gate structure. The 2‐TFT conventional structure with different mirroring ratios and 4‐TFT cascode type are investigated. We compared the CM circuit performances made of the dual‐gate (DG) and single‐gate (SG) TFTs. At higher mirror gain, the percentage of error increases due to the issues such as TFT performance uniformity and threshold voltage shift. It is found that the DG‐based CM circuit shows excellent mirror gain even at 10× with only 2% error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Oman is a diverse habitat for various rare medicinal plants. Hyoscyamus gallagheri (H. gallagheri), locally known as Zgaf, is one of those rare plants. It is traditionally used for different ailments. This study aims to evaluate the antibacterial, antioxidant, antiulcer and antidiabetic potential of the leaves extracts of H. gallagheri. Methods: Five extracts (hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water) were prepared and investigated for: their antibacterial potential against isolated gram (+ and -) bacteria, total antioxidant activity against DPPH (2,2 Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and enzymatic inhibition of α-glucosidase and urease enzymes. Based on their biological potential, the chloroform and butanol extracts were fractionated by column chromatography using different polarities and proportions of organic solvents. This yielded a total of 9 chloroform and butanol fractions; their antibacterial and antioxidant potentials were investigated using the same methods. Results: The results showed that all extracts exhibited excellent antibacterial potential against all tested bacterial strains as well as antioxidant potential, at different concentrations. The butanol extract showed the highest antibacterial, antioxidant and enzymatic activities, while the hexane and water extracts showed the least. The chloroform extract did not show any potential against urease and α-glucosidase enzymes. The butanol extract showed weak inhibitory action against α-glucosidase (IC50 = 585.76 ± 47.5 μg/ml) but the action against the urease enzyme was very good with an (IC50 = 90.3 ± 1.259 μg/ml). Conclusions: Based on the obtained results, the active extract of H. gallagheri could be a valuable source of antioxidants, antibacterial, and urease inhibitory compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]