The investigation was conducted with methanolic fruit extract of Averrhoa carambola for its antibacterial and cytotoxic activities. Antibacterial activity of the extract was evaluated against various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria using disk diffusion technique. For cytotoxic activity, brine shrimp lethality bioassay was performed to estimate LC50 values. In our preliminary screening,...

Bond, E. J., Butler, W. H., de Matteis, F., and Barnes, J. M. (1968). Brit. J. industr. Med., 26, 335-337. Effects of carbon disulphide on the liver of rats. Normal rats surviving a single oral dose of carbon disulphide (CS2) show liver enlargement and depression of drug-metabolizing enzymes but no liver necrosis. If the drug-metabolizing enzymes are stimulated by phenobarbitone before exposure...

Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the efficacy of sugarcane bagasse-based lignin against four stored grain insect pests viz., Tribolium castaneum, Tribolium confusum, Sitophilus oryzae and Callosobruchus maculatus. Mortality was assessed after 24, 48 and 72 h of treatment and LD50 values were calculated at the respective time intervals. It was observed that T. castaneum is ...

In pesticide risk assessment, effect concentrations and dynamics of long-term community-level effects caused by pulse exposures remain to be investigated. This is because long-term experiments are exceptionally rare, and most of the previously investigated communities had low proportions of sensitive long-living species. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a single pul...

The 96 hrs LC50 values for malathion and glyphosate was determined to be 9.1 ppm and 5.5 ppb, respectively on the fairy shrimp, Streptocephalus dichotomus preadults. The 1/5 of 96 hrs LC50 of malathion (2.0 ppm) and glyphosate (1.1 ppb) respectively was chosen. The sub lethal toxic effect of each of these pesticides on the acetylcholinesterase activity (AchE) of S. dichotomus was assayed on day...

1 Another influenza pandemic is inevitable, and new measures to combat this and seasonal 2 influenza are urgently needed. Here we describe a new concept in antivirals based on a 3 defined, naturally occurring defective influenza RNA that has the potential to protect against 4 any influenza A virus in any animal host. This protecting RNA (244 RNA) is incorporated 5 into virions which although no...

The efficacy of doxycycline and ciprofloxacin against an experimental plague infection was assessed by comparing the median lethal dose (MLD) of Yersinia pestis in antibiotic-treated and untreated mice. The MLD of Y. pestis GB strain in untreated mice by the intra-peritoneal route was 23 cfu. If ciprofloxacin dosage (20 or 40 mg/kg twice daily) was initiated 48 h before infection, it afforded c...

Background: There are several plant extractions which are being used for mosquito control. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Olea vera, Linum usitatissimum and Piper nigera against Anopheles stephensi and Aedes aegypti under laboratory conditions. Methods: These tests were carried out using WHO recommended bioassay method for adult mosquitoes. Results: The extracts from blac...

Larvicidal effect of neem (Azadirachta indica) and karanja (Pongamia glabra) oil cakes (individuals and combination) was studied against mosquito species. Both the oil cakes showed larvicidal activity against the mosquito species tested. The combination of neem and karanja oil cakes in equal proportion proved to have better effect than the individual treatments. The combination of the two oil c...

The acute toxicity of Nigeria Bonny light crude oil against hermit crab, Cliabanarius africanus of a tidal creek, Eastern Obolo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria was investigated in the laboratory under static bioassay. The test crude oil was found to be poorly toxic to the test organism, resulting in delayed mortality and consequent extension of the bioassay to 8 days. Based on the LC50, the toxicity ...