In most species, early germline development occurs in the absence of transcription with germline determinants subject to complex translational and post-translational regulations. Here, we report for the first time that early germline development is influenced by dynamic regulation of the proteasome system, previously thought to be ubiquitously expressed and to serve 'housekeeping' roles in controlling protein homeostasis. We show that proteasomes are present in a gradient with the highest levels in the animal hemisphere and extending into the vegetal hemisphere of Xenopus oocytes. This distribution changes dramatically during the oocyte-to-embryo transition, with proteasomes becoming enriched in and restricted to the animal hemisphere and therefore separated from vegetally localized germline determinants. We identify Dead-end1 (Dnd1), a master regulator of vertebrate germline development, as a novel substrate of the ubiquitin-independent proteasomes. In the oocyte, ubiquitin-independent proteasomal degradation acts together with translational repression to prevent premature accumulation of Dnd1 protein. In the embryo, artificially increasing ubiquitin-independent proteasomal degradation in the vegetal pole interferes with germline development. Our work thus reveals novel inhibitory functions and spatial regulation of the ubiquitin-independent proteasome during vertebrate germline development.

The bark of Terminalia arjuna is known for its heart-health benefits in ayurvedic literature. This has been further supported by in vivo studies on animal and human volunteers. But there is no detailed study on identification of the active ingredients such as polyphenols. Polyphenols possesses antioxidant properties and are well-known health actives, it is important to characterise polyphenols in Terminalia arjuna. Aqueous extract of Terminalia arjuna bark was analysed for its composition and molecular weight distribution by dialysis. Compositional analysis revealed that it has 44% polyphenols and dialysis study showed that 70% of the polyphenols have molecular weight greater than 3.5 kDa. High performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of Terminalia arjuna, confirmed that it contains flavon-3-ols such as (+)-catechin, (+)-gallocatechin and (−)-epigallocatechin. Phenolic acids such as gallic acid, ellagic acid and its derivatives were also found in Terminalia arjuna extract. Ellagic acid derivatives were isolated and their spectral studies indicated that isolated compounds were 3-O-methyl-ellagic acid 4-O-β-D-xylopyranoside, ellagic acid and 3-O-methyl ellagic acid 3-O-rhamnoside. Hydrolysis and thiolysis studies of high molecular weight polyphenols indicated that they are proanthocyanidins. Given these results, it may be possible to attribute the heart-health effects of Terminalia arjuna to these polyphenols which may be responsible for the endothelial benefit functions like tea.

The goal of our study is to increase public awareness of natural contraceptives and their powerful advantages over surgical abortion in order to provide people with an alternative method of ending an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy rather than the dreaded surgical procedure. Since ancient times, traditional remedies have been used all across the world to control fertility. Still, the tribal community mostly relies on these herbs for contraception and to cause abortions. The belief in therapeutic approaches has not been diminished despite the tremendous advancement of allopathic treatment because of its negative side effects.  Plants and herbs have been used to induce abortions, although there is very little published information on the most regularly used ones. The grail of this paper is to detail the herbal products used to cause abortion.

The lifestyle of people has changed over the time. Before the revolution days, people suffered from various diseases and the availability of medicines were not available. Today’s life is busier. Healthcare system has improved a lot but at the same time the number of people getting affected by different sources is still on a rise. The number one cause of death worldwide is due to heart diseases. The death rates due to cardiovascular disease increased. In order to improve the health conditions, there is a continuous development of synthetic and herbal medicines. Recently, rise in the use of herbal medicines have due to its natural origins and less side effects. One of the emerging herbs is Nigella sativa described as the remedy of all diseases. The tropic activity of the extracted volatile oil from Nigella sativa is observed on the isolated frog’s heart. The heart was isolated from the frog and was treated with adrenaline and acetylcholine to study its activity respectively. The isolated heart was also treated with the volatile oil of Nigella sativa seeds which produced dose dependent bradycardia like situation followed by cardiac arrest.