The root of the Rauwolfia serpentina Benth (N. 0. Apocyanaciae) has been in use in India for hundreds of years for a host of unrelated ailments. Since 1949, after the English publication of a clinical report by the author on Rauwolfia serpentina therapy in fifty cases of essential hyperten-sion, the plant has gained universal acclamation as a useful therapeutic weapon in high blood pressure sta...

Aldose Reductase (AR) is implicated in the development of secondary complications of diabetes, providing an interesting target for therapeutic intervention. Extracts of Rauvolfia serpentina, a medicinal plant endemic to the Himalayan mountain range, have been known to be effective in alleviating diabetes and its complications. In this study, we aim to prospect for novel plant-derived inhibitors...

Three groups of hatchling snapping turtles, totaling 20, were fed either meat, fish, or worms. When they were tested for preference after 12 daily feedings, each preferred the diet to which it was accustomed. After 12 more days of eating a different food, each still preferred its original diet. A form of imprinting may be operative in the feeding behavior of this species.

Members of the Apocynaceae plant family produce a large number of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) with different substitution patterns that are responsible for their various biological activities. A novel N-methyltransferase involved in the vindoline pathway in Catharanthus roseus showing distinct similarity to γ-tocopherol C-methyltransferases was used in a bioinformatic screen of transc...

Ponds are common in many agricultural landscapes and provide aquatic habitat for wildlife. Most studies of semi-aquatic turtle assemblages have been conducted in lotic environments or large lentic habitats (e.g., lakes, reservoirs), but few studies have described pond communities. We used Frame nets and basking traps to sample turtle assemblages within eight ponds located in east-central Kansas...

The magnitude of quantitative genetic variation for primary sex ratio was measured in families extracted from a natural population of the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina), which possesses temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). Eggs were incubated at three temperatures that produced mixed sex ratios. This experimental design provided estimates of the heritability of sex ratio...

Anastrepha serpentina (Wiedemann) is recorded for the first time in citrus (Rutaceae) in Brazil. Specimens were obtained from sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) sampled in the municipalities of Belém and Capitão Poço, and from mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) from Tomé-Açu, state of Pará, Brazil.

The affect of acute changes in temperature on heart rates was investigated for the first time in a developing reptile. Heart rates were determined early and late in incubation in snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) eggs. Late in incubation heart rates at any given temperature were lower than those observed early in incubation. The results of temperature switching experiments late in incubatio...