Natural biomaterials such as collagen, silk fibroin, and chitosan, and synthetic biopolymers such as polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, polyglycolic acid, and their copolymers are being used as scaffold for tissue engineering applications. In the present work, a fibrous mat was electrospun from eri silk fibroin (ESF). A composite of hydroxyapatite (Hap) and the ESF scaffold was prepared by soaking the ESF scaffold in a solution of calcium chloride and then in sodium diammonium phosphate. The average tensile stress of the pure ESF and hydroxyapatite-coated ESF scaffold (ESF-Hap) was found to be 1.84 and 0.378 MPa, respectively. Pure ESF and ESF-Hap scaffolds were evaluated for their characteristics by a themogravimetric analyzer and Fourier transform infrared spectroscope. The crystallinity and thermal stability of the ESF-Hap scaffold were found to be more than that of uncoated eri silk nanofiber scaffold. The water uptake of the pure ESF and ESF-Hap scaffolds was found to be 69% and 340%, respectively, in distilled water as well as phosphate buffer saline. The hemolysis percentage of both scaffolds was less than 5%, which indicate their good blood compatibility. The cytocompatibility studied by 3- (4, 5-dimethyl) thiazol-2-yl-2, 5-dimethyl tetrazolium bromide assay showed that the scaffold is biocompatible. To assess cell attachment and growth on the scaffold, human mesenchymal stem cells were cultured on the scaffolds.The results from scanning electron microscopy and fluorescent microscopy showed a notable cellular growth and favorable morphological features. Hence, the ESF-Hap scaffold is better suited for cell growth than the pure ESF scaffold.

The cultivated silk, mulberry, is being used as biomaterial in different forms. Eri, tasar and muga are some of the known wild silk varieties. The studies on biomedical applications of electrospun mats produced from these wild silks are limited though few studies on eri silk are available. In this work, comparison was made between eri and tasar silk fibroin scaffolds for biomedical application. The scaffolds were produced from eri silk fibroin (ESF) and tasar silk fibroin (TSF) by electrospinning method and they were treated with ethanol to improve dimensional stability. Ethanol treatment increased the crystallinity % of both ESF and TSF scaffolds. The crystallinity percentage of the ESF and TSF scaffolds was found to be 46.7 and 42.8% respectively. Thermal stability was higher for ESF than that of TSF scaffold. The hemolytic % of ESF and TSF scaffolds was found to be 1.3 and 7.7% respectively. The platelet adhesion on the surface of ESF scaffold was lower than that found on TSF scaffold. Better fibroblast cell attachment, binding and spreading was found on the ESF scaffold. The cell viability on ESF scaffold was 83.78% and in TSF was 78.01% for 48 h. The results showed that ESF electrospun scaffold can be considered as a better biomaterial for biomedical applications compared to that of TSF scaffold.

Sesbania grandiflora leaves are extensively used locally since ancient time as in traditional systems. Based on mainly folkloric use, we investigated to know the potential of Sesbania grandiflora leaves extracts through biological works in vivo and in vitro. The ethanolic extract of S. grandiflora leaves was partitioned into ethyl acetate soluble fraction (ESF), petroleum ether soluble fraction (PSF), carbon tetrachloride soluble fraction (CTSF), chloroform soluble fraction (CSF), and aqueous soluble fraction (AQSF). The extracts were evaluated for their thrombolytic, membrane stabilizing, antimicrobial and antidiarrhoeal activities and the results were compared with standard drugs; streptokinase for thrombolytic, acetyl salicylic acid for anti-inflammatory, kanamycin for antimicrobial activities and loperamide against diarrhoea. In thrombolytic investigation, among all partitionates, the ESF showed highest % of clot lysis (59. 57%) as compared to (69. 23%) and (3. 07%) exhibited by the standard streptokinase and water. In case of membrane stabilizing study, ESF also significantly inhibited the haemolysis of human erythrocyte membrane both induced by hypotonic solution (64. 30 ± 0. 64%) and by heat (57. 21 ± 0. 69%), respectively as compared to (70. 12 ± 26%) and (73. 90 ± 0. 29%) demonstrated by acetyl salicylic acid. In the antidiarrhoeal assay, the ethanolic extract (EE) inhibited the mean number of defecation by 24. 97% and 41. 05% at 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg body weight, respectively. In antibacterial activity, it was exhibited by the extracts being comparatively more prominent on the gram negative bacteria than the gram positive bacteria. Our study revealed that satisfactory amount of flavonoid and tannin presence showed a significant and positive correlation between total phenolic compound contents with pharmacological activities of S. grandiflora

Social conflict in projects is an uncompromising representation of differences in interests. Each project receives different claims from stakeholders based on their conditions. Project interest depends on the target level and goals to be achieved. Subsequently, the local community surrounding the project transforms their interests based on economic, social, cultural, and environmental expectations. This study aims to reveal factors of interests between project and local community on the occurrence of social conflict in projects. Soft System Methodology and CATWOE were used to identify root cause and factors of interests in the social conflict. Through library research and previous relevant researches, it was revealed that there are eight factors of interests which cause social conflict in projects. It is recommended that future researches should use factors in Formal System Methodology (FSM) to model the prediction of social conflict in projects based on different interests between project and local community. The results are useful to compose the standard environment and social framework (ESF) as a “middle way interests” concept to reduce social conflict in projects. By using the correct ESF, interests and conflicts can be managed well so that the benefits can be enjoyed by the community and project itself. Finally, the results of this study can be used to formulate indices of social conflicts in construction projects.