Ethnobotanical study on assessment of Practice on Traditional Plant Medicine Use among People of Wonchi District, central Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a country characterized by a wide range of climate and ecological condition which helped to have high diversity of medicinal plants and up to 80% of the population use traditional medicine for primary health care. Studies on the current practices of the communities in the area are vital to document the basic information in these regars. Therefore, this study was aimed in assessing the practices of traditional plant medicine use among communities of Wonchi District. Results: The most widely used route of administration in the study area was oral accounted for (56.67%) followed by dermal (29.63%) This is the reason that oral and dermal routes permit rapid physiological reaction of the prepared medicines with the pathogens and increase its curative power. The prepared traditional medicines were applied in a number of ways, among which drinking (37.57%), creaming (16.76%), and eating (10.40%) were mentioned frequently.

The physiological reaction in the local breed and introduced silkworm breeds on the difference in conditions of detention of the wintering eggs

The purpose of this study is the ascertainment of to the physiological responses to exogenous exposure to aqueous solutions of the drug “Violet-K” (C24H28N3Cl) in the phase of wintering eggs of the local and introduced silkworm species. Methods. The research was carried out according to the methodology developed by us for the content, selection and processing of material [9], [10]. Statistical analysis was performed according to G. F. Lakin [11]. Results. It was found that in the absence of sharp fluctuations of the temperature and air humidity, the effect of exposure to water and 0.01% and 0.001 % aqueous solutions of the “Violet-K” preparation on hibernating eggs causes a response of caterpillars at younger ages during molting, by the fifth age this effect diminishes. A strong response to the impact in terms of weight of caterpillars was revealed for the introduced silkworm species: against the background of minor fluctuations in the “Oragase” variant for caterpillars “Sverico-sari” the difference with the control by age is 16,4 % (III), 143,3 % (IV) and 27,3 % (V). The introduced species “Oragase” often differs from the “Sverico-sari” and the local breed “Veten” by the presence of negative responses: the weight of caterpillars after exposure compared to the control corresponds to + 43.7 % (III), + 65.0 % (IV), –36.2 % (V). It was found that the content of wintering grains in water and aqueous solutions of the “Violet-K” preparation leads to the weight increase of the silk shell: by 54.4–80.5 % (p < 0.05 and 0.001) in the local species, as well as by 11.4–16.1 % (0.001 %) and 2.7 % (0.01 % solution “Violet K”) p < 0.05 and 0.001. The species “Oragase” differs in this effect compared with the control, particularly, in the comparison with control, the impact promotes to a significant decrease in the weight of the silk shell by 33 % (–78.5 mg) and 22.5 % (–49.0 mg), p < 0.001. The impact is reflected in the date of departure of butterflies and the number of laid eggs, and only in introduced species: the positive effect compared to the control, on average on 1 female was 3.6–4.8 times higher (“Sverico-sari”) and 1.1 times (“Oragase”).

Temperature Induced Physiological Reaction Norms of the Coccolithophore Gephyrocapsa oceanica and Resulting Coccolith Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca Ratios

Coccolithophores are one of the major contributors to the pelagic production of calcium carbonate and their fossilized remains are a key component of the biogeochemical cycles of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and other divalent cations present in the intracellular precipitated calcitic structures (coccoliths). The geochemical signature of coccoliths (e.g., Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios) is used as paleoproxy to reconstruct past environmental conditions and to understand the underlying physiological precipitation kinetics. Here, we present the elemental fractionation of Sr and Mg in calcite of the coccolithophore Gephyrocapsa oceanica from controlled laboratory experiments applying an extended temperature gradient (12 to 27°C). The physiological reaction norm of G. oceanica, in terms of growth rate, exhibited optimum behavior while the partition coefficient of Sr (DSr) was linearly correlated with temperature and DMg indicated no specific trend. Our results indicate: (1) a presumably secondary physiological control of DSr, and (2) the importance of calibrating coccolithophore-based proxies using experiments that include the full physiological reaction norms (i.e., a possible non-linear response) to environmental drivers (e.g., temperature, salinity, and pH, etc.). The presented results contribute to an improved understanding of the underlying physiological kinetics involved in regulating coccolith elemental fractionation and give additional implications for designing future laboratory experiments to calibrate and apply coccolithophore based paleoproxies on the fossil sediment record.

The physiological reaction of Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus, Cricetidae) to chemical signals of perspective mating partners before and during courtship

ABSTRACT In this investigation we assessed the physiological reaction of hamsters in response to chemical signals from potential sexual partners, and also after a private meeting with them, which allowed us to ascertain the type of mating system for this species. The reception of olfactory signals led to an increase in peroxidase activity in the blood for both sexes, indicative of activity of a non-specific line of immune defense in recipients. The increase in blood cortisol level in response to the chemical signals of a partner was only observed in females. Males spent more time near samples of estrous females, with elevated levels of cortisol in the urine. In olfactory tests, an hour after grouping all the individuals in pairs there was a significant increase in blood peroxidase activity, which indicates the reaction of a non-specific link in the immune system of partners. This increase was greater in the pairs with a mutual preference. Females from these pairs demonstrated a substantial decrease in stress hormone levels in the plasma after an hour of mating in comparison to females prior to mating, and in non-preferred coupling.

Physiological, emotional and neural responses to visual stimuli in eating disorders: a review

Background Overconcern with food and shape/weight stimuli are central to eating disorder maintenance with attentional biases seen towards these images not present in healthy controls. These stimuli trigger changes in the physiological, emotional, and neural responses in people with eating disorders, and are regularly used in research and clinical practice. However, selection of stimuli for these treatments is frequently based on self-reported emotional ratings alone, and whether self-reports reflect objective responses is unknown. Main body This review assessed the associations across emotional self-report, physiological, and neural responses to both food and body-shape/weight stimuli in people with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED). For food stimuli, either an aversive or lack of physiological effect was generated in people with AN, together with a negative emotional response on neuroimaging, and high subjective anxiety ratings. People with BN showed a positive self-rating, an aversive physiological reaction, and a motivational neural response. In BED, an aversive physiological reaction was found in contrast to motivational/appetitive neural responses, with food images rated as pleasant. The results for shape/weight stimuli showed aversive responses in some physiological modalities, which was reflected in both the emotional and neural responses, but this aversive response was not consistent across physiological studies. Conclusions Shape/weight stimuli are more reliable for use in therapy or research than food stimuli as the impact of these images is more consistent across subjective and objective responses. Care should be taken when using food stimuli due to the disconnect reported in this review.