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Butea monosperma is a deciduous tree, widely distributed throughout India, Burma, and Ceylon. The present study was intended to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of Butea monosperma on the induced inflammatory model by evaluating pro-inflammatory biomarkers and their computational analysis. The anti-inflammatory activity may be attributed to the phyto-constituents for inhibitory effects on the two pro-inflammatory mediators (IL-8 and TNF-α). For this purpose, rats (n = 48) were equally divided in each group, i.e., 8 each in the negative and positive control and 32 in the experimental group with 8 rats for each dose, i.e., 50, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg. TNF-α and IL-8 were tested by serum enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The ELISA results showed 400 mg/kg dose as the potent anti-inflammatory. The binding sites of target proteins (TNF-α and IL-8) were docked with the active compounds (butrin and butein) of Butea monosperma. The butrin (target: TNF-α) and butein (target: IL-8) showed −8.4 and −6.0 kcal/mol binding energies, respectively, compared to the (diclofenac) standard drug with −6.8 kcal/mol binding energy. Hence, we concluded that Butea monosperma can be subjected to as a useful anti-inflammatory drug.

In the 21st century, researchers have been exploring different designs, performance characteristics, charging–discharging regions, and regenerative braking aspects of electric vehicles. However, there has been a major gap in the multimodal analysis of the accelerating pedal drive for electric vehicles; therefore, herein, a novel analytical model of a mimicked foot pedaling control of an electric vehicle is developed by cascading five sub-models (i.e., foot pedal, resistive potentiometer, 555 timer, buck converter, and the permanent magnet DC motor) to synthesize the overall third-order transfer function of the system. MATLAB is utilized to comprehensively analyze the transient and steady-state characteristics of the developed model by considering the pedaling force, four different materials (i.e., aluminum, brass, carbon fiber, and polyamide 6), the potentiometer's resistance, and the mechanical and electrical attributes of the motor. The results highlight that the linear pedaling drive is possible by considering the polyamide 6 material's pedaling properties of 0.25 kg mass and 2.679 Ns/m damping coefficient. Furthermore, at a lesser potentiometer track length (around 10 cm) and equivalent inertia of 5 Kgm2, the motor generates the regulated angular velocity, thereby minimizing the transient characteristics of the accelerating pedal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary focus of this study is to elucidate the adverse effect of dried leaf extract of spearmint (SE) on histomorphometry of ovaries and uterus of pregnant albino rats along with weight and crown-rump length (CRL) of their fetuses. Albino rats (n=30) were split into three groups, viz; Group A (Placebo), Group B (0.3g/kg SE) and Group C (0.6g/kg SE). The SE was administered for 30 days through gastric intubation. On 31st day of experiment, a male was introduced for 5-days in each group to make the female rats pregnant. SE was administered till the parturition of the neonates. At parturition, the maternal uteri and ovaries and neonates’ renal and hepatic tissues were histological analyzed along with the blood for progesterone level. Results means were compared by Mann-Whitney test. The body-weights of experimental groups decreased significantly while counter-part of ovaries followed reverse trend. The ovaries showed atrophied antral, graafian-follicle and corpora lutea. The layer thickness of uteri was also decreased. The degenerative changes in the renal and hepatic tissues were observed with decreased weight and crown-rump-length of neonates. In the light of these results, further research work should be carried out to evaluate its other toxic effects on different organs of the body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Among the blood-borne parasitic infections of dogs, trypanosomosis and babesiosis are highly prevalent in the Indian subcontinent and highly pathogenic. Methods: A six-month-old dog was presented with complaint of lethargy, anorexia and loss of body weight over the previous 15 days on October 11, 2021. A full clinical and targeted haematologic and parasitological examination was undertaken. Results: Wet smears were positive for the motile trypanosomes while stained thin blood smears showed large number of extracellular trypanosomes and intra-erythrocytic ring-like inclusion bodies of Babesia spp. A high burden of Toxocara canis was identified on coprological examination. Conclusion: This report describes the clinical manifestation of concurrent infection of haemoparasites and gastrointestinal nematodes in Pakistani dogs, and highlights the importance of prompt veterinary intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present study nephroprotective and antioxidant effects of Moringa oleifera were investigated in paracetamol induced nephrotoxic albino rabbits. Thirty-six healthy adult albino rabbits randomly divided into six equal groups were provided with normal routine feed and drinking water. Except untreated control group-1, the rest of the groups administered orally with 500 mg/kg paracetamol as nephrotoxic drug for 0-15 days. Group-II served as untreated control on paracetamol only and group- III as treated control on synthetic nephroprotective drug, silymarin 150 mg/kg orally. M. oleifera seed powder was given orally to treated groups-IV, V and VI at dose rate of 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg body weight, respectively. Blood samples were collected at 0 and 15 days. At the termination of experiment, rabbits were slaughtered and kidney tissues were excised for histopathological examination. Data were compared statistically by Duncan's DMR test at 5% level of significance. The results suggested that paracetamol induced renal damage significantly (P<0.05) increased the levels of serum creatinine (Cr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), total oxidant status (TOS) and malondialdehyde (MDA). However, catalase (CAT) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were significantly (P<0.05) decreased along with histopathological necrotic damage of renal tissues in nephrotoxic rabbits. M. oleifera seed powder, at the dose rate of 600 mg/kg, exhibited nephroprotective and antioxidant effects through biochemical and histological protections against paracetamol induced renal damage in albino rabbits. This indicates that M. oleifera seed powder at the dose rate of 600 mg/kg is as efficacious as silymarin in exerting nephroprotective and antioxidant effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report describes the lower urinary tract disease (LUTD) in four male cats with two different etiologies. All animals were under three years of age and on commercial dry diet. Treatment guidelines prescribed for obstructive and nonobstructive cases were followed. This appears to be the first clinical report on feline LUTD in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), which is still the leading cause of mortality from a single infectious disease worldwide. The development of novel anti-TB drugs and vaccines is severely hampered by the complicated and time-consuming genetic manipulation techniques for M. tuberculosis. Here, we harnessed an endogenous type III-A CRISPR/Cas10 system of M. tuberculosis for efficient gene editing and RNA interference (RNAi). This simple and easy method only needs to transform a single mini-CRISPR array plasmid, thus avoiding the introduction of exogenous protein and minimizing proteotoxicity. We demonstrated that M. tuberculosis genes can be efficiently and specifically knocked in/out by this system as confirmed by DNA high-throughput sequencing. This system was further applied to single- and multiple-gene RNAi. Moreover, we successfully performed genome-wide RNAi screening to identify M. tuberculosis genes regulating in vitro and intracellular growth. This system can be extensively used for exploring the functional genomics of M. tuberculosis and facilitate the development of novel anti-TB drugs and vaccines., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)