ABSTRACT
Pteridophytes are the primitive vascular plants, they are found scattered all over the globe and quite many of them occur in India. However, they are not found throught the country. Pteridophytes make as important contribution to the earth’s plant diversity. Being the second largest group of vascular plants, they form a significant and dominant component of many plant communities. All human activities disturb the vegetation by eliminating many species. So an up to date study is very important for knowing about flora, especially in the case of pteridophytes. The present effort was undertaken to enumerate the pteridophytic species present in Kilavarai freshwater river situated in Palni hills of southern Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India, the study was carried out from December 2014 to January 2016. The result of the present study revealed that 36 pteridophytic species belonging to 25 genera distributed among 19 families were noted from the study site. Among the families recorded, Adiantaceae (16.67%) was found to be dominant and largest family comprising 6 species. Polypodiaceae and Pteridaceae (each of 11.11%) shared the second largest family status; they were represented by 4 species each. The third largest family was Lycopodiaceae (8.33%); it was represented by 3 species. The families Cheilanthaceae, Nephrolepidaceae and Selaginellaceae were recorded with each of 2 species (5.56%) and 11 families were represented by single species (2.78%). Moreover, terrestrial species (27 species) were found to be more in number than epiphytic (5 species), 3 species  were found as both epiphytic and lithophytic species and 1 species was recorded as purely lithophytic.  

ABSTRACT
The study was aimed for the economical development by improving various formulations using whey liquid and molasses inoculated by plant growth promoting organisms; to reduce environmental pollution by whey water from dairy industries; to apply biofertilizers in the soil through drip irrigation tubes without making any blockage in dripper’s holes; to reduce the high cost of biofertilizers and save agriculture. Totally 102 PGPR bacterial and 22 PGPR fungal strains were isolated based on morphological techniques, biochemical studies and cultural characteristics from various rhizosphere soil samples of different crops in various locations of Gobichettipalayam, Erode.  From these isolates 35 bacterial and 7 fungal PGPR isolates were screened based on physical and nutritional parameters such as pH, temperature, glucose and NaCl and identified as Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma viride. The cell viability was observed qualitatively for Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma viride in whey liquid and molasses.  The optimum temperature and pH was checked for both P. fluorescens and T. viride. The gradual growth rate was observed for both P. fluorescens and T. viride in whey liquid and molasses media. The different combinations of liquid media using whey liquid (W) and molasses (M) - (W : M (ml) were prepared and inoculated by PGPR to find maximum growth rate of P. fluorescens and T. viride as individual and co-culture.  Finally the highest growth results were observed in 6:4, 10:0 (whey liquid) and 5:5 combinations (for pending patent, Patent App. No 201741023234) of whey liquid and molasses for P. fluorescens, T. viride and Co-culture of P. fluorescens and T. viride respectively.  From this part of the research work, the present findings suggest that the whey liquid can be used as a new liquid carrier material for the production of biofertilizers. 

ABSTRACT
Background: Malaria pathogenesis is known to induce acute damage to vital organs i.e., spleen, liver, kidney, brain and bone marrow. In the present investigation, Plasmodium berghei (ANKA) was found to be lethal to Swiss albino mice, when parasitized erythrocytes were inoculated. So the present study was aimed to study the changes in these vital organs in Plasmodium berghei infected mice treated  and treated mice with artemisinin-based combination drugs i.e.,  Artesunate + Amodiaquine (ASAQ), Artesunate + Artesunate + Lumefantrine (AL).  Methods: The P. berghei course of infection was studied in infected and treated mice by observation of blood smear for the presence of malaria parasite stages under light microscope. Then the histopathological changes of the vital organs were observed by staining the sections with haematoxylin and eosin.  Results: The histopathological changes were observed in liver, spleen, kidney, brain and bone marrow among the different experimental groups. Splenomegaly was observed in P. berghei infected group with the rise in infection. But in treated groups, the damage in the vital organs is recovered due to the antimalarial activity of the drugs. Conclusion: The present study established that there were no adverse effects on spleen, liver, kidney, brain and bone marrow in treated animals

ABSTRACT
Yoghurt is one of the oldest fermented milk products, popular all over the world and it is a rich source of protein, calcium and vitamins. However very careful processing is required for the production of safe and high quality yoghurt. In fact, even a little contamination may deteriorate the quality of yoghurt and may have negative effects on consumer health. Evaluation of the microbial quality of yogurt become very important due to the high risk associated with consuming yogurt containing pathogenic organisms. This becomes clinically significant if a micro organisms isolated from an assessed sample is resistant to conventional antibiotics. Thus, it can confer antibiotic resistance to the affected host. Early detection of food contamination will contribute greatly to safety of foods and thus to an improvement of social health. The microbiological quality of dairy product is influenced by the initial flora of raw milk, the processing conditions, post-heat treatment contamination. This study was carried out to determine the bacteria contaminants in yogurts sold in Trivandrum city which pose danger to public health. The microbial quality of yoghurt indicates the quality and acceptability of the yoghurt. For this purpose some branded (industrial) and unbranded (locally produced) samples of yoghurt from Trivandrum city were collected and were assessed for their quality. Various biochemical tests carried out to identify the isolated organisms. The microbiological analysis of one of the branded yoghurt samples showed the presence of E.coli, indicating some type of mishandling even at the industry. In contrast, a higher quantity of microbes was observed in unbranded yoghurt samples showing the intensity of high mishandling. The higher count could be attributed to the unsanitary conditions prevailing at the time of manufacturing process. In addition, this may also reflect the post-process contamination. The average microbes count varied between 1.25x108 to 1.85 x 108cfu/ml in branded yoghurt samples. While in case of unbranded yoghurt samples it is 5.05 x 108cfu/ml.The bacteria isolates include: Bacillus sp, Staphylococcus sp, Streptococcus sp, E.coli, and Pseudomonas sp. High aerobic bacterial count in yoghurt samples were attributed to inadequate hygienic measures in production or inadequate processing recontamination.  

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The aim of this work is to study; Co-aggregation,and auto-aggregation of probiotic bacteria isolated  from  human breast milk.. Lactic acid bacteria are gram positive bacteria that are natural occupants of gastrointestinal tract of mammals including humans. Probiotics are made-up to those bacteria which have useful effects for the host . The isolated  lactic acid bacteria  were confirmed by  gram staining, catalase test and and selected on the basis of safety properties-Arginine hydrolysis, blood haemolysis and Gelatin hydrolysis.  Among the five isolates C2 strain shows potential probiotic properties. The probiotic properties of the isolated strain were confirmed by acid tolerance and bile tolerance test. The C2 strain showed acid tolerance and bile tolerance up to four hours. The auto-aggregation potential was studied and their co-aggregation potential was studied against nine different pathogenic bacteria. The percentage of absorption was calculated. The C2 strain showed 80% auto aggregation  ability at fifth hour  and showed maximum co aggregation ability with Shigella flexineri ,hence proved that the isolated  lactic acid bacteria  is an effective probiotic bacteria

ABSTRACT
This paper gives an over view on importance , maintenance and macrophytes vegetation and micro organisms in  constructed wet lands. Wetlands are transitional areas between land and water. A constructed wetland is a shallow basin filled with some sort of substrate, usually soil or gravel, and planted with vegetation tolerant of saturated conditions. Water is introduced at one end and flows over the surface or through the substrate, and is discharged at the other end through a weir or other structure which controls the depth of the water in the wetland.   Similarly to natural wetlands, constructed wetlands also  act as a biofilter and/or can remove a range of pollutants (such as organic matter, nutrients, pathogens, heavy metals) from the water. There are several types of constructed wetlands. surface flow wetlands, subsurface flow wetlands, and hybrid systems that incorporate surface and subsurface flow wetlands.  The microbial biomass is a major sink for organic carbon and many nutrients. Macrophytes play an important role in nutrient recycling,stabilizes the surface of beds, provides good conditions for physical filtration, provides huge surface area for attached microbial growth and habitat for wild life. They mediate transfer of oxygen to the rhizosphere by leakage from roots leads to aerobic degradation of organic mailer and nitrification. Constructed wetland systems should be designed and built to blend into the home’s landscaping. The best way to achieve this goal is to determine where the onsite wastewater treatment system will be located before the house is built. Effective planning before building the house simplifies the system.

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The present study deals with the isolation of fungi associated with rhizome rot of ginger and its management with rhizospheric fungal bioagents. The rhizospheric fungal bioagents included 3 isolates each of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger, 2 isolates each of Trichoderma koningii and Trichoderma psudokoningii,3 isolates each of Trichoderma virideand Trichoderma harzianum. On the basis of the characters in culture and morphology, the isolates of these fungi were named separately as strains T1 to T16.These isolates were evaluated against causal pathogen of ginger roti.e.,Fusarium sp., F. solaniand F. oxysporumf. sp.zingiberiby dual culture. T. harzianum(T16), T. viride(T13), T. pseudokoningii (T10), T. koningii (T8), A. niger (T6) and of A. flavus (T3) significantly proved to be most effective in inhibition of test pathogens.  

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The present paper deals with a new Ptychobothridean tapeworm from the intestine of freshwater fish, Mastacembelus armatus Lacepede, 1800 from Moreh, a border- town of Manipur, India, collected during September - November 2016. The present form differs from all known species of the genus Circumoncobothrium in many characters, as in shape of scolex, shape and size of bothridia, number and size of testes, size and position of ovary and arrangement of vitellaria. Detailed are described under with figures

ABSTRACT
Cell culture is the process by which prokaryotic, eukaryotic or plant cells are grown under controlled conditions. But in practice it refers to the culturing of cells derived from animal cells. Cell culture was first successfully undertaken by Ross Harrison in 1907. Roux in 1885 for the first time maintained embryonic chick cells in a cell culture. The cells may be removed from the tissue directly and disaggregated by enzymatic or mechanical means before cultivation, or they may be derived from a cell line or cell strain that has already been already established. A wide range of cells have been cultured on micro carriers. For instance, cells from invertebrates, from fish, birds and cells of mammalian origin have been cultivated on micro carriers. Transformed and normal cell lines, fibroblastic and epithelial cells and even genetically engineered cells have been cultivated on micro carriers for various biological such as for the production of immunological like interferon’s, interleukins, growth factors etc. Cells cultured on micro carriers also serve as hosts for a variety of viruses that are used as vaccines like foot and mouth disease or rabies.  

ABSTRACT
Introduction: Glutathione S- transferase is an antioxidant enzyme which helps in regulating oxidative stress, and variation in GSTM1 genotype is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD)Aim: The present study was aimed to study the role of GSTM1 polymorphism in coronary artery disease in Indian Punjabi Population.Material and Methods:  In this study we recruited 100 CAD patients and genotyped for GSTM1 null and GSTM1 active gene by taking albumin as internal control. 80 healthy individuals were taken as controls. All these subjects were studied for their Fasting Lipid profile, Lipid peroxidation  levels (MDA), Glutathione S – transferase (GST), Reduced Glutathione (GSH) and Serum Total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Data was analyzed by adopting student’s unpaired t- test. A p-value less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results: It has been observed that 62 out of 100 CAD patients (62%) had GSTM1 null genotype and 38 out of 100 CAD patients (38%) had GSTM1 active genotype. Serum Triglyceride levels (p=0.01) and VLDL Cholesterol levels (p=0.05) were significantly raised in GSTM1null as compared to GSTM1 active CAD patients. Serum MDA levels(p=0.004) and GST(p=0.005) activity was found to be significantly raised  in CAD patients with GSTM1 null genotype as compared to GSTM1 active genotype , where as Total antioxidant capacity was found to be low (p=0.02) in GSTM1 null genotype CAD patients. Difference in plasma GSH levels in CAD patients with null and active GSTM1 genotype was insignificant (p=0.10).Conclusion: Genetic absence of GSTM1 is form of the enzyme GST increases the susceptibility to coronary artery disease.  

ABSTRACT
An attempt was made to study the antimicrobial activity of foliose lichen Cladonia rangiferina under invitro conditions. The antimicrobial activities of Methanol, Ethanol, Ethyl Acetate and Acetone extracts of Cladonia rangiferina  were assayed against nine pathogenic microorganisms using standard well diffusion method. The Ethyl acetate extract was found most effective antibacterial as well as antifungal against most of organisms. The maximum inhibition zone was recorded in E.coli , Staphylococcus aureus and Agrobacterium tumefaciens with inhibition zone 22 mm. Fungal pathogens showed their inhibition zones in varying levels as 20 mm in Candida albicans and Fusarium oxysporium. The present study reveals that extracts obtained from C. rangiferina have potential compounds that can lead to control human pathogenic microorganisms in future.  

ABSTRACT
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used in this study to identify and determine the spectral features of Padina pavonia powder on Pongamia pinnata L. FT-IR analysis by KBr - pellet method was used for identification of functional groups present in the bioactive compounds of the wood samples of treated and control and their spectra were recorded in the range of 400 to 4000 cm-1. Seaweed powder treatment was found to stimulate the chemical compound alkanes wavenumber 2934.59 cm-1 which were not found in control. Though some differences were observed in both treated and control, some chemical compounds were found common with variations in wavenumber.  From this result, it is concluded that FT-IR analysis used the functional variations between control and treated wood of Pongamia pinnata L. This result may be supportive to find out ash and moisture content of them for future studies.  

ABSTRACT
Abstract Multidrug resistant β-lactamase producing bacteria are a great threat in the clinical practice as they pose a hindrance in treating various infections. The two isolates studied here cause many deadly diseases and in order to provide a solution to this problem; the antibiotic profiling is important which can present an idea on the proper use of antibiotics in treating the infections. A total of 50 clinical isolates of Klebsiella (38 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 12 Klebsiella oxytoca) were subjected to phenotypic confirmatory test for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production. The ESBL test revealed that 90 % (45/50) of the isolates were resistant to at least one of the 3rd generation cephalosporins. Out of those isolates, 64% (28/45) were Klebsiella pneumoniae and 36% (16/45) were Klebsiella oxytoca. Susceptibility testing revealed that most of the isolates showed multi-drug resistance. Biofilm formation was carried out using congo red agar medium and the positive biofilm producers were observed as dark colonies with crystalline constancy. Non-biofilm producers were observed as pink colonies with infrequent dark spots. Molecular studies on the detection of blaSHV and AmpC genes, by conventional Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), revealed that out of 73.0% (33/45) of phenotypically ESBL positive strains, 54.5% (18/33) were positive for AmpC and 60.6 % (20/33) for blaSHV genes.This study presents a simple and accurate method to easily carry out the laboratory tests for ESBL detection and an early detection of infections by ESBL positive organisms allows rapid initiation of therapeutic methods to treat those infections and reduce the use of antibiotics.  

ABSTRACT
Abstract: Objective: The current study investigated that defensive effect of ethanolic extract of Rosmarinus officinalis roots on learning and memory functions in scopolamine induced memory deficits rats including the effects on various body organs. Methods: In scopolamine (SCO) induced cognitive deficit rat model Wistar albino rats weighing 150-200 g were divided into 7 groups (6 animals per group). After seven days of treatment animals were at once scarified, the estimation of markers of oxidative stress in the brain was measured. The protective and cognitive enhancing effects of ROE on cognitive shortfall rats induced by scopolamine were investigated by assessing the elevated plus maze, the passive avoidance test and the Morris water maze test. In order to prove the underlying mechanisms of memory enhancing effects of ROE, activities of AChE, oxidative stress markers such as GSH and MDA were measured.  Hematological (WBC, RBC, HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC, PLT, LYM and NEUT) and biochemical parameters (AST, ALT, ALP, ALBN, TB, TP, TG, BUN, creatinine and glucose) revealed either no or less alteration in the treated group for the observed the effects of body organs.Results: ROE at a dose 200 mg/kg may be useful for the cognitive improvement via regulation of cholinergic marker enzyme activities and the antioxidant defense system in SCO induced cognitive deficit rats. ROE at a dose 200 mg/kg may be protective for the brain via antioxidant defense system in rats. In acute toxicity study oral dose of 2000 mg/kg of the ethanolic extract did not produce mortality or changes in the general behavior and gross appearance of internal organs of mice and rats. In sub acute toxicity study, ethanolic extract and methanolic extract was evaluated at 250, 500 or 1000 mg/kg/day, orally for 30 days in rats. Conclusion: These conclusions suggest the possible neuroprotective role for Rosmarinus officinalis, therefore it seems that Rosmarinus officinalismay show to be an anti Alzheimer mediator in view of its memory enhancing property observed in the present study.  

ABSTRACT
Abstract: Background:Ranula is a mucocele which occurs on the floor of the mouth caused by mucus extravasation of the sublingual gland.The term ranula is derived from a latin word ‘rana’ meaningfrog.The most common clinical presentation is swelling under the tongue. Due to involvement of the floor of the mouth, ranulas always poses a challenging situation surgically, Case Presentation: The objective of this article is to report a case of a ranula in five-year-old female child complaining of a painless reddish swelling below the tongue on the left side for the past one week. The patient undergone surgical excision under general anaesthesia, Conclusion:Management of ranula by surgical excision had no recurrence at 6 months and it proved to be an effective treatment method.  

ABSTRACT
Abstract: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a bacterial parasite microbe that infects approximately 33% of the world's population. This work is aimed at identify potential Mycobacterium tuberculosis inhibitors from the ethylacetate/methanol fraction of Icacinatrichantha tuber through GC-MS analysis, in vitro antimycobacterial assay, and in silico studies. Extraction, column chromatograpgy and GC-MS analysis of Icacinatrichantha tubers were performed. The antimycobacterial activity of the plant extracts was studied using the Mycobacterium TB strains H37Rv, ATCC 27294, and multi-drug resistance strains. The MicroplateAlamar Blue Assay (MABA) test was used to assess the fraction. Nine compounds were identified from the GC-MS spectrum. The fraction's MIC against M. tuberculosis MDR-TB and H37RV strain were found to be 3.13±0.00 μg/mL. In terms of efficacy against MDR M. tuberculosis strains and H37Rv, the fraction was very potent. Molecular docking revealed that all the compounds have good binding energies with M. tuberculosis protein. All the compounds met Lipinski's Rule of Five requirements (RO5).  From RO5 results, the compounds will have reduced rates of attrition in clinical trials and hence a better probability of getting launched. The findings suggest that the compounds found in the ethylacetate/methanol fractionof I. trichantha (Oliv) may be developed as a potential tuberculosis drug.