Information on plant diversity and community structure are required to chalk out necessary actions for conservation management. The present study assessed the composition and diversity of tree species in Kamalachari Natural Forest of Chittagong South Forest Division, Bangladesh, during April 2010 to November 2011. A total of 107 tree species belonging to 72 genera and 37 families were recorded, where Moraceae family was represented by maximum (11) species. Density, Basal area and volume of tree species were 418±20.09 stem/ha, 21.10±2.62 m 2 /ha and 417.4±79.8 m 3 /ha respectively. Diameter and height class distribution of tree species revealed an almost reverse J-shaped curve. Both the number of species and percentage of tree individuals were maximum in the lower DBH and height ranges. Anthropogenic disturbances like illegal tree cutting, over extraction, settlement inside forest area etc. were noticed during the study, which are supposed to cause gradual decrease of both tree species and individuals in the higher DBH and height classes.However, Artocarpus chama was found dominant showing maximum IVI followed by Schima wallichii, Aporosa wallichii, and Lithocarpus acuminata. The quantitative structure of the tree species of Kamalachari natural forest is comparable to other tree species rich tropical natural forests. The findings of the study may help in monitoring future plant population changes of the identified species and adopting species specific conservation programs in Kamalachari natural forest.

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With the background of snowballing threat of skin wound to public health and economy, this study was undertaken utilizing xanthan gum (Xnt), citric acid (C), gelatin (Gel), glutaraldehyde (G) and HPLC-grade water to fabricate a series of composite hydrogels i.e. experimental rat skin wound model. Physicochemical characterization revealed that all the composite hydrogels contained more than 90% water. The hydrogels displayed swelling ability, biodegradability, good polymeric networks and porosity. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) studies confirmed the presence of bound water and free, intra and inter molecular bound hydrogen bonded OH and NH in the hydrogels. All the hydrogels showed significant wound healing potency in experimental deep second degree skin burns in rats compared to controls.