Geometrical stability theory is a powerful set of model-theoretic tools that can lead to structural results on models of a simple first-order theory. Typical results offer a characterization of the groups definable in a model of the theory. The work is carried out in a universal domain of the theory (a saturated model) in which the Stone space topology on ultrafilters of definable relations is ...

There has been enormous progress over the past fifteen years or so in our understanding of the ways in which complex natural products are synthesized in living systems. In the field of alkaloids, as elsewhere, research during the initial phase1 pin-pointed those substances which are used as the common building blocks, examples being acetic acid, ornithine and lysine for the reduced systems, and...

Colchicum autumnale is commonly known as autumn crocus, and as 'gowri gedde' in the southern region of Karnataka State in South India. It contains an alkaloid called colchicine, which blocks the cell division by inhibiting mitosis. We present a sporadic case of suicidal plant poisoning wherein a 24-year-old man consumed 'gowri gedde' to end his life. Initially he presented with severe vomiting,...

A simple and rapid high performance thin layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method was developed for the assay of colchicine in bulk drug, pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids. The method has a linear range of 4 35 μg/ml. The limits of detection and quantification were 1 and 4 μg/ml respectively. The results obtained by the proposed method were compared statistically by means of Student...