BACKGROUND Pycnocycla spinosa Decne. ex Boiss is an aromatic plant which showed relaxant effects on isolated ileum contractions and antidiarrheal activity. Thirty four components have been extracted from P. spinosa essential oil, of which several major constituents were found to show seasonal variation. OBJECTIVES The aim of this work is to evaluate the diurnal variation of its oil constituen...

The Isatis species has antibacterial, anticancer and antiviral properties and these important endemic plants grow widely in various parts of Anatolian-Turkey. In the present study, the antioxidant activities of Isatis floribunda Boiss. ex Bornm. flower and root extracts were determined with total antioxidant activity, free radical scavenging activity, ferric ion reducing power, and cupric ion r...

BACKGROUND Independent replications of preclinical investigations of homeopathic potencies are rare. However, they are a necessary tool to determine the relevant factors modulating the effects of homeopathic potencies in preclinical systems. OBJECTIVE The goal of the present study was to reproduce a trial published in 1997. An Italian group of researchers investigated the effect of Arsenicum ...

The natural lignan podophyllotoxin, a dimerized product of two phenylpropanoid moieties which occurs in a few plant species, is a pharmacologically important compound for its anticancer activities. Optimization of the in vitro cultures might lead to a renewable source of lignans for medicinal uses. In order to maximize efficiency of podophyllotoxin accumulation via in vitro cultures, the effect...

BACKGROUND The hydrophobic triterpenes, oleanolic and betulinic acid as well as the hydrophilic mistletoe lectins and viscotoxins possess anticancer properties. They do all occur in combination in European mistletoe (Viscum album L.). Commercial Viscum album L. extracts are aqueous, excluding the insoluble triterpenes. We have previously shown that mistletoe lectins and triterpene acids are eff...

Received: June 30, 2009 Revised: November 04, 2009 Accepted: November 21, 2009

The mid-Pleistocene Transition from 40 ky to ∼100 ky glacial cycles is generally characterized as a singular transition attributable to scouring of continental regolith or a long-term decrease in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Here an alternative hypothesis is suggested, that Pleistocene glacial variability is chaotic and that transitions from 40 ky to ∼100 ky modes of variability occur sponta...

Astragalus L. is a perennial herbaceous genus belonging to the family Fabaceae. Chromosome morphology was defined for the first time in four species of Astragalus namely; A. antalyensis A.Duran & Podlech, A. nezaketae A.Duran & Aytaç, A. cariensis Boiss. & A. schizopterus Boiss. All species contained diploid chromosome numbers of 2n = 16. However, polyploid cells (4x = 32) were also observed in...

To reevaluate two dictyostelid species, namely, Polysphondylium pallidum and P. album, 92 isolates of the P. pallidum complex from their type localities were examined based on mating relationships and morphological characteristics. In the mating tests three heterothallic mating groups were found among the isolates. They also were different morphologically from each other. These results suggeste...