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PubMed2006

Local knowledge in community-based approaches to medicinal plant conservation: lessons from India.

BACKGROUND: Community-based approaches to conservation of natural resources, in particular medicinal plants, have attracted attention of governments, non governmental organizations and international funding agencies. This paper highlights the community-based approaches used by an Indian NGO, the Rural Communes Medicinal Plant Conservation Centre (RCMPCC). The RCMPCC recognized and legitimized the role of local medicinal knowledge along with other knowledge systems to a wider audience, i.e. higher levels of government. METHODS: Besides a review of relevant literature, the research used a variety of qualitative techniques, such as semi-structured, in-depth interviews and participant observations in one of the project sites of RCMPCC. RESULTS: The review of local medicinal plant knowledge systems reveals that even though medicinal plants and associated knowledge systems (particularly local knowledge) are gaining wider recognition at the global level, the efforts to recognize and promote the un-codified folk systems of medicinal knowledge are still inadequate. In country like India, such neglect is evident through the lack of legal recognition and supporting policies. On the other hand, community-based approaches like local healers' workshops or village biologist programs implemented by RCMPCC are useful in combining both local (folk and codified) and formal systems of medicine. CONCLUSION: Despite the high reliance on the local medicinal knowledge systems for health needs in India, the formal policies and national support structures are inadequate for traditional systems of medicine and almost absent for folk medicine. On the other hand, NGOs like the RCMPCC have demonstrated that community-based and local approaches such as local healer's workshops and village biologist program can synergistically forge linkages between local knowledge with the formal sciences (in this case botany and ecology) and generate positive impacts at various levels.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2002

Recent developments in laboratory automation using magnetic particles for genome analysis.

The majority of research for genome analysis has shifted from nucleic acid sequencing to the biological functional analysis of each gene. Based on past success, it may not be long before genome diagnostics becomes a widespread tool in human, veterinary and botany research fields. Genome analysis involves the processes of nucleic acid purification, amplification, labeling and signal detection (specific reaction, separation and signal counting). Except for the purification of nucleic acids, the other processes cannot be achieved without instruments, resulting in the advancement of automation processes. Since purification of nucleic acids can be done manually, automating this process has been delayed. However, because the purification of nucleic acids using magnetic particles is suitable for automation, its development has also been accelerated. The need for full automation for other processes is not as great because the majority of genome analysis is to identify the nucleic acid sequence and analyze genome expression. However, once useful diagnostic tools are generated, the desire for full automation will significantly increase. In order to develop realistic and practical automation, various technologies developed for each process in genome analysis have to be evaluated and only a few technologies, useful for automation, selected. The other key factor in automation is the development of methods to manage reagents and reaction mixtures precisely without any risks specifically related to genome handling, such as cross-contamination. Methods using magnetic particles, which have been used for the automation of nucleic acid purification and immunoassay, appear to be the most promising way to automate processes used in biological research.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cathedrals to sciences or temples of knowledge? The museums of natural sciences of Cordoba, Argentina, by the end of the 19th century].

The museums of Botany, Mineralogy and Zoology of the Facultad de Ciencias Físico-Matemáticas were created along with a world wide phenomenon, defined by some authors as the "museum movement," in a time the basics of this movement were being restructured. Thus, this work intends to go over the building stage of the natural history museums in a peripheral domain --- Cordoba by the end of the 19th century --- in order to partially understand this transition process. The strategy is to analyze the collections and find out how and why they were gathered. Two other aspects are also relevant: the human resources and the funds these institutions were granted.

Argentina↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[In the gap between science and art: a series of illustrations of triatomine bugs from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute].

The article analyzes a series of scientific drawings created and printed as part of a scientific work that has never been published out by the Oswaldo Cruz Institute. Deemed "incorrect" by scientists, these drawings lay abandoned for over seventy years. We have investigated their history in an effort to discover what might have led science to condemn the series. We also undertook a brief historical analysis of verisimilitude in scientific drawing. This case affords an interesting opportunity to explore some aspects of representation in artistic production, like issues involving vision, perception, the interpretation of images and visual communication through them, the functionality and objectivity of scientific illustration, as well as certain distinctions between the characteristics of illustration in zoology and in cartography and botany, and its ambiguous relationship with art.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

["Dedi clysterem purgantem" - Haller and the medicine of childhood (1731-1736)].

Albert Haller practiced medicine in Berne before being appointed Professor of Anatomy and Botany at the University of Göttingen. From 1731 to 1736, he kept a journal detailing the treatments he prescribed to his approximately 300 patients, 63 of whom were children and adolescents. The journal noted 580 pediatric consultations and detailed the ailments, their progression and applied therapies, allowing the reconstruction of case histories, some of which extended for several years. Through analysis of this data, we attempt to answer the questions such as: What diseases led parents to ask for medical interventions for their children? What were the age cohorts of the group of young patients? At one point did Haller perceive as serious their statements and symptoms/ How frequent were consultations? What were the prescribed therapies? Did he base his conclusions on the value of a child's life attributed by physicians and society of the period?

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Selection of students for admission to a medical school in Sri Lanka.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the extent to which selected entry point factors predicted success in a Sri Lankan medical school. METHODS: The study sample consisted of all students in two consecutive entry cohorts. Marks obtained at the national university entrance examination in physics, chemistry, botany and zoology; the aggregate marks of these four subjects (the only academic criterion used in selection); the district of entry (the other, non-academic criterion); and gender, were identified as entry point variables. Success in a medical school was measured in five ways, including whether a student had passed all examinations in the medical faculty at first attempt or not. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the extent to which the selected entry point factors could predict variability in outcome measures. RESULTS: Of 331 students, 6.6% were merit quota admissions, and 19.4% were from 'underprivileged' districts; 46.8% were women. Of the entry point factors, being female and obtaining an aggregate of > or =280 (of a possible 400) were the only independent predictors of success in all outcome measures. Obtaining at least grade B in zoology was also an independent predictor of passing all examinations at first attempt. The aggregate score alone accounted for only 2-5% of variance in a medical school performance. There was no association between admission from an underprivileged district and any of the outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: The one and only measure of academic performance used for selection of students admitted to our medical schools, is a very weak predictor of success in a medical school.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

The remarkable Dr. Abildgaard and countershock. The bicentennial of his electrical experiments on animals.

In 1775 Peter Christian Abildgaard, a Danish veterinarian and physician, conducted experiments on electrical countershock on animals. He succeeded in first rendering fowl lifeless by an electric shock and then reviving them by a countershock applied to the chest. Ventricular fibrillation and defibrillation were not known and could not be documented at that early date, but his report suggests he accomplished these changes long before other physiologists described them. Dr. Abildgaard's long and varied career included many significant contributions to veterinary and human medicine, biology, zoology, botany, physics, chemistry, and mineralogy. He also took an interest and was active in politics, economics, and community affairs. This short biography is intended as a fitting, though belated, tribute to his pioneer work on effects of electric shock.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Canny's compensating pressure theory fails a test.

Canny's compensating pressure theory for water transport (American Journal of Botany 85: 897-909) has evolved from the premise that cavitation pressures are only a few tenths of a megapascal negative (approximately -0.3 MPa). In contradiction, "vulnerability curves" indicate that xylem pressures can drop below -3 MPa in some species without causing a loss of hydraulic conductivity. Canny claims these curves do not measure the limits to negative pressure by cavitation, but rather the limits to the compensating tissue pressure that otherwise quickly refills cavitated conduits. Compensating pressure is derived from the turgor pressure of the living cells in the tissue. To test this claim, we compared vulnerability curves of Betula nigra stems given three treatments: (1) living control, (2) killed in a microwave oven, and (3) perfused with a -1.5 MPa (10% w/w) mannitol solution. According to Canny's theory, the microwaved and mannitol curves should show cavitation and loss of conductance beginning at approximately -0.3 MPa because in both cases, the turgor pressure would be eliminated or substantially reduced compared to controls. We also tested the refilling capability of nonstressed stems where compensating pressure would be in full operation and compared this with dead stems with no compensating pressure. According to Canny's interpretation of vulnerability curves, the living stems should refill within 5 min. Results failed to support the compensating tissue theory because (a) all vulnerability curves were identical, reaching a -1.5 MPa threshold before substantial loss of conductance occurred, and (b) killed or living stems had equally slow refilling rates showing no significant increase in conductivity after 30 min. In consequence, the cohesion theory remains the most parsimonious explanation of xylem sap ascent in plants.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Dieffenbachia species exposures: an evidence-based assessment of symptom presentation.

The literature often ascribes significant morbidity to Dieffenbachia exposures. However, poison center experience suggests a discordant view from that presented in the literature. This project determined if the symptoms described in the literature were consistent with clinical practice. To profile the symptoms reported in the literature, an extensive literature search using Medline and Webspirs (http:/(/)infoshare.library.pitt.edu/webspirs /webspirs.htm) was conducted to identify publications that described Dieffenbachia toxicity. Standard toxicology references and medical botany texts found in poison centers were used to profile symptoms in the tertiary literature; and an Internet search using the Savvy Search program (http:/(/)www.guaraldi.cs.colostate.edu:20 00) to search simultaneously all other search engines. The symptom information was compared to AAPCC TESS (1993-1996) symptom data reported on Dieffenbachia exposure reports. Twenty-three reference sources profiled the literature perspective on Dieffenbachia exposures. AAPCC TESS contained 10,796 Dieffenbachia exposures, and 34.7% of the reports documented symptoms. Oral irritation was reported in 18.2% of the reports and 92.6% of the queried literature listed this symptom (18.2%/92.6%). Additionally dermal pain = 8.7%/63.0%; vomiting = 2.6%/18.5%; erythema = 2.5%/5.3%; throat irritation = 2.3%/22.2%; dermal edema = 2.2%/3.7%; pruritus = 2.1%/7.4%; ocular irritation = 1.7%/44.4%; rash = 1.2%/29.6%; cough/choke = 1.1%/3.7%; loss of speech = 0%/29.6%; salivation = 0%/29.6%; respiratory obstruction = 0%/48.1%; death = 0%/11.18%. When multiple symptoms occurred the most common toxidrome was oral and throat irritation that occurred in 2.9% of the AAPCC TESS reports. There is similarity between the literature and the clinical experience with regard to the irritant properties of Dieffenbachia species, but there is also significant disparity because the literature fails to put the symptoms into a clinical frequency perspective. In general, the literature portrays Dieffenbachia exposures associated with more morbidity and mortality than what was reported in the AAPCC TESS clinical practice data.

Data Collection↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Seed proteins as markers in resolving the problems of genetic plant resources, selection and seed production].

The article discusses the main directions and prospects of usage of protein and DNA markers in decision applied and theoretical problems of plant genetic resources (gene banks), plant breeding, seed production and seed testing. The examples of usage of protein and DNA markers for solving important problems of applied botany, genetics and plant breeding were considered.

Crops, Agricultural↗
PubMed2000

Pollination by flies, bees, and beetles of Nuphar ozarkana and N. advena (Nymphaeaceae).

Nuphar comprises 13 species of aquatic perennials distributed in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The European species N. lutea and N. pumila in Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany are pollinated by bees and flies, including apparent Nuphar specialists. This contrasts with reports of predominant beetle pollination in American N. advena and N. polysepala. We studied pollination in N. ozarkana in Missouri and N. advena in Texas to assess whether (1) there is evidence of pollinator shifts associated with floral-morphological differences between Old World and New World species as hypothesized by Padgett, Les, and Crow (American Journal of Botany 86: 1316-1324. 1999) and (2) whether beetle pollination characterizes American species of Nuphar. Ninety-seven and 67% of flower visits in the two species were by sweat bees, especially Lasioglossum (Evylaeus) nelumbonis. Syrphid fly species visiting both species were Paragus sp., Chalcosyrphus metallicus, and Toxomerus geminatus. The long-horned leaf beetle Donacia piscatrix was common on leaves and stems of N. ozarkana but rarely visited flowers. Fifteen percent of visits to N. advena flowers were by D. piscatrix and D. texana. The beetles' role as pollinators was investigated experimentally by placing floating mesh cages that excluded flies and bees over N. advena buds about to open and adding beetles. Beetles visited 40% of the flowers in cages, and flowers that received visits had 69% seed set, likely due to beetle-mediated geitonogamy of 1st-d flowers. Experimentally outcrossed 1st-d flowers had 62% seed set, and open-pollinated flowers 76%; 2nd-d selfed or outcrossed flowers had low seed sets (9 and 12%, respectively). Flowers are strongly protogynous and do not self spontaneously. Flowers shielded from pollinators set no seeds. A comparison of pollinator spectra in the two Old World and three New World Nuphar species studied so far suggests that the relative contribution of flies, bees, and beetles to pollen transfer in any one population depends more on these insects' relative abundances (and in the case of Donacia, presence) and alternative food sources than on stamen length differences between Old World and New World pond-lilies.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Genomics. Proteomics. Bioinformatics. What else?].

The biology of the past century was, undoubtedly, reductionist. Its general trend was expressed in the appearance and burst of scientific disciplines, such as biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, molecular genetics, virology, cell biology, and bioorganic chemistry. All these disciplines are united by an aspiration to explain the phenomena of life through the description of the properties of molecules, first of all, biopolymers, which constitute the living organisms. In current science, all these directions are often united under the general heading "physicochemical biology", while classical biological disciplines, such as zoology, botany, embryology, etc., are referred to as "general biology".

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Alternative medicine--old wine in a new bottle.

Alternative medicine encompasses ancient medical practices of Ayurveda, Unani, Tibbi, chiropractice, acupuncture and others alike. This part of medicine ignores mechanisms of drug action and relies on antique methods and natural remedies. It has no study of pathology, rather depends on philosophy. One must take note of ethno-botany in the evolution of ancient medicines. Ethnobotany reflects the use of drugs available in natural places. Use of natural plants as medicine by the animals is very interesting to observe. Some religious practices like namaz and yoga constitute body exercises and are encouraged in alternative medicine. Chiropractice is a manual mode of treating in painful conditions of back, ankle and knee. Acupuncture is an age old process and practised mainly in China for various ailments.

Complementary Therapies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Digitalic therapy. Historical outline].

The action of medical drugs obtained from many vegetables aroused a great interest of naturalists and physicians in all time. Moreover, it was always required that those persons destined to medical practice have a good knowledge of botany. Among the medicinal plants utilized by ancient peoples of the Anahuac, yoloxochitl or heart flower (Talauma mexicana) is mentioned, which seems to have a digitalis-like action. Research in our century demonstrated a positive inotropic and bradycardic effect of the leavels of Magnolia grandiflora or Talauma mexicana extract. Since the end of the XVIII century, digitalis was employed. It was considered initially as a diuretic and later as a cardiotonic agent. The action of digitalic glycosides upon the cardiac tissues was studied experimentally in Mexico. At the present-time there are positive inotropic agents derived from pyridine, as is the case of Milrinone, which have a beneficial action on the failing human myocardium. However, following the opinion of distinguished pharmacologists, "in the case of heart failure associated to atrial fibrillation, digitalis cannot be substituted".

Cardiotonic Agents↗
PubMed2000

Ethnobotany and the future of conservation.

Ethnobotany is an interdisciplinary science, where botany meets anthropology in the study of traditional uses of native plants. Indigenous peoples know and use a great deal of the plant material around them, though this age-old body of information is now in danger of being lost. How can traditional knowledge and practices help modern conservation and ecology, and how can the possessors of this knowledge retain their rights?

Brazil↗
PubMed2000

In vitro cultures of higher plants and fungi as a potential source of bioactive metabolites.

The review presents the results of investigations conducted at the Chair of Pharmaceutical Botany, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, which demonstrated a prospects to obtain biologically active metabolites representative of many chemical groups (furanocoumarins, polysaccharides and lectins, indole compounds, carotenoids) in in vitro cultures of both higher plants and higher fungi (Macromycetes) (mycelial cultures). These cultures can be a potential, rich, new source of metabolites.

Fungi↗
PubMed2000

Hypericum perforatum: nature's mood stabilizer.

Hypericum perforatum (HP), better known as St. John's Wort, has been used clinically for centuries. Modern usage is still quite diverse and includes kidney and lung ailments, insomnia and depression. Standardised extracts of HP are widely used in the treatment of psychovegetative disorders and especially for mild forms of depression. Several bioactive constituents of this plant may play important role in its well-known antidepressant activity, which are discussed in the present article. Furthermore, emphasis is also given on its botany, chemistry, pharmacology and clinical efficacy.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1991

German CELSS research with emphasis on the C.E.B.A.S.-project.

In general the German CELSS research program covers both animal and plant systems. In the field of botany a higher plant growth unit is disposed. The construction of a continuous culture device for unicellular algae in long-term multi-generation experiments will start in 1990. In zoology an experimental system for multi-generation experiments, the AQUARACK is already under construction and a running laboratory prototype is surrounded by a wide-spread ground research program. The combination of the algae system with AQUARACK will result in a combined animal-plant system, the "Closed Equilibrated Biological Aquatic System", C.E.B.A.S. which may be the origin for further interdisciplinary research leading to an aquatic plant-animal-CELSS. This research field is closely associated with cybernetical science because the development of the combined systems need simulation processes and highly sophisticated electronical control. A further point in the CELSS program is the study of biological waste management.

Animals↗