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Dried Piper nigrum Linn. fruit, also known as black pepper, is an economically valuable medicinal plant that has diverse pharmacological activities. The current study was aimed to establish a research on P. nigrum fruits that can be used as a tool for quality control and standardisation of this plant in Malaysia. Black pepper specimens were collected from three different locations in Malaysia; namely Johor, Malacca and Sarawak. Various tests were conducted in the present work to obtain detailed pharmacognosy and chromatographic profiles of P. nigrum fruits, including plant morphology, taxonomy characteristics, phytochemical screening, physicochemical properties and chromatographic analysis. Using a validated high performance liquid chromatography method we quantified piperine in the samples and the highest content was obtained for the specimen from Malacca. It can be concluded that the proposed analytical methods could be applied for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of P. nigrum fruits to control the quality of Malaysian black pepper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Longus colli provides stability to cervical spine during movements. In clinical practice, the clinicians teach exercises to longus colli to manage neck pain. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in thickness or anterior-posterior dimension (APD), shape ratio and contraction ratio of longus colli between subjects with neck pain and healthy controls. Materials and methods: A total of 12 subjects (6 with neck pain and 6 healthy controls) were recruited by predefined selection criteria. Ultrasound imaging of bilateral longus colli was conducted at the level C5-C6. Anterior-posterior dimension (APD) and lateral dimension (LD) were measured using Ultrasonography. Shape ratio (LD/APD) and contraction ratio (APD during contraction/APD during rest) were calculated. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the thickness of longus colli between healthy and neck pain subjects. Results and discussion: The results showed that the subjects with neck pain had smaller APD (Mean Rank=4.83, n=6) than healthy subjects (Mean Rank=8.17, n=6), U=16.00, z=-1.601 (corrected for ties), p=0.109, two tailed. Also, shape ratio showed higher values in neck pain subjects (Mean Rank=7.17, n=6) than normal subjects (Mean Rank=5.83, n=6), U=14.00, z=-0.641(corrected for ties) p=0.522, two tailed. In addition, contraction ratio was smaller in neck pain subjects (Mean Rank=4.83, n=6) than those healthy subjects (Mean Rank=8.17, n=6), U=8.00, z=- 1.601(corrected for ties) p=0.109, two tailed. Conclusion: There is a trend of reduced size of longus colli with the median of APD and smaller contraction ratio among patients with neck pain when compared to healthy controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]