Traditional Medicines for Mental Health
Abhai Kumar, Debasis Bagchi in Antioxidants and Functional Foods for Neurodegenerative Disorders, 2021
The major areas of mental illness include depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, idiopathic developmental intellectual disability (IDID), conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorders, eating disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Parkinson, dementia, and other mental disorders (GBD, Lancet, 2020). The Indian System of Medicine “Ayurveda” has been the most common and developed therapies in treating brain illness among different traditional medicines. The common plants and its combinations utilized for treatment are summarized in Table 23.1. India has 15 agro-climatic zones, 47,000 plant species, and 15,000 medicinal plants, including approximately 7,000 plants used in Ayurveda (Balkrishna, 2017). These plants are herbs, shrubs (either wild or cultivated), and forest trees. Further details of these plants and their action are described according to the mental illness.
Characterising Invasive Species
Kezia Barker, Robert A. Francis in Routledge Handbook of Biosecurity and Invasive Species, 2021
In the next few sections, we present the state of the art of understanding on functional traits and invasiveness, with a particular emphasis on plants. We first focus on how invasive species, and their invasiveness, have been defined and quantified across the literature. We then move to how these definitions set limits on and impact the inferences made from trait-based comparative studies of invasiveness. After that, we review the current knowledge of links between commonly used plant functional traits and plant ability to become invasive before acknowledging that there are some context-specific factors that play an important role in shaping the outcome of biological invasions. Next, we reflect on some biosecurity tools currently in place and their success incorporating trait information within their risk assessment criteria. This section presents examples mostly from, but not restricted to, terrestrial plants. We finish the chapter with a brief summary on the prospect and future research needs for trait-based invasion studies.
Wild Plants as a Treasure of Natural Healers
Mahendra Rai, Shandesh Bhattarai, Chistiane M. Feitosa in Wild Plants, 2020
Plants are primarily multicellular, mostly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae which are distributed worldwide. The evolution of plants has resulted from the earliest algal mats, through bryophytes, lycopods, ferns to gymnosperms, and angiosperms (www.encyclopedia.com). Plants in all of these groups continue to flourish in the environments in which they evolved and have some of the largest genomes among all organisms (Todd and Scott 2013). The largest plant genome (in terms of gene number) is that of Triticum asestivum, estimated to encode ≈ 94, 000 genes (Brenchley et al. 2012), and thus nearly five times as many as the human genome. The first plant genome sequenced was that of Arabidopsis thaliana, which encodes about 25, 500 genes (Arabidopsis Genome Initiative 2000). In terms of sheer DNA sequence, the smallest published genome is that of the Utricularia gibba at 82 Mb (28, 500 genes) (Enrique et al. 2013), while the largest, from the Picea abies, extends over 19, 600 Mb (encodes about 28, 300 genes) (Nystedt et al. 2013).
Main radiation pathways in the landscape of Armenia
Published in International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2023
V. B. Arakelyan, G. E. Khachatryan, A. G. Nalbandyan-Schwarz, C. E. Mothersill, C. B. Seymour, V. L. Korogodina
Table 3 shows the sources and places of accumulation of radionuclides, their impact on human and non-human biotas. Radiation effects include not only a direct effect on cells and organisms, but also cause their regulatory changes (Mothersill and Seymour 2022). In the soil, radiation exposure is chronic and leads either to extinction or to an increase in radioresistance and to reproduction. Outside the soil, radiation exposure can vary and induce variability in cells and organisms (Korogodina et al. 2016). Cosmic radiation, climate changes can give rise to a variety of species in mountain landscape due to stress effects. Mines, rocks, fossil ores, stones are a permanent source of radiation and constantly affect human and non-human biotas. The consequences of nuclear weapons tests, accidents at nuclear power plants are of a prolonged nature and can lead to cancer. Dust and emissions from industries lead to diseases and accumulate in plants.
Queering the Common Core (and the NGSS): Challenging Normativity and Embracing Possibility
Published in Journal of Homosexuality, 2022
Allison Mattheis, Joel Lovos, Carly Humphrey, Lindsey Eichenberger, Christina Restrepo Nazar
Teachers can be careful to avoid anthropormophizing non-human organisms—although male seahorses carry offspring, this does not make them “dads,” for example. Teaching sexual reproduction in plants offers another opportunity to detach assumptions of gender from anatomy. Queering this discussion involves the understanding of sex categories in plants as a distinction between two structures with functions for reproduction. There are no value judgments on these categories other than their function, a concept that can inform the understanding of sex categories in humans. When we detach understandings of gender from processes of sexual reproduction, we understand that organisms have functional parts that do not define social identity. Educators can teach and uphold this concept in their classrooms as a practice of inclusivity, especially for students who do not rely on their assigned sex categories to identify their personhood. These findings directly respond to other research that showcases the dominance of heteronormative reproductive curriculum in schools and challenges that dominance (Gunckel, 2019).
Himalayan poisonous plants for traditional healings and protection from viral attack: a comprehensive review
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2022
Shriya Pathania, Diksha Pathania, Priyanka Chauhan, Mamta Sharma
Edible vaccines are also one of the important topics for plants for the treatment of ailments. Here, the edible vaccine is created by the introduction of desired genes into a selected plant to produce encoded proteins. Edible vaccines are used to cure numerous diseases which include measles, cholera, hepatitis B, C, and E, foot and mouth diseases (Gidding et al., 2000). Plants that are used for the production of edible vaccines are known as "Candidate plants". The most used candidate plants are Tobacco, potato, rice/maize, and tomato. This is a cheaper way to traditional vaccines. Salicylic acid, an active ingredient of aspirin is found in several plants which include Salix. Taxus brevifolia, contains toxic ingredients which can be used at the cellular level to inhibit the growth of cancers. Small doses of Opium, mandrake, henbane, hemlock is used to relieve the pain of surgery (Takouri 2010). Figure S3 shows the toxicological effects of plant toxins.
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