, 2008). In South Asia, more than 80% of water and sediment discharges from the Indus River have been diverted by large reservoirs and flow diversion (Giosan et al., 2006). In the Red River basin, the HoaBinh

dam constructed in 1989 is estimated to be responsible for the 50% decline in annual sediment delivery to the delta (Dang et al., 2010). During the four years (2003–2006) after Three Gorges Dam impoundment, ∼60% of sediment entering the Three Gorges Reservoir was trapped. The Manwan Reservoir in the upper reaches trapped substantial amount Dabrafenib order of Mekong’s sediment since most of its sediment derives from its upper reaches. The sediment load at Gajiu station, located 2 km downstream from the reservoir, is only one-third of the pre-dam level (Wang et al., 2011). In comparison with other world’s large dams, the Xiaolangdi dam not only regulates river flow, but also manages the river’s sediment. The WSM through Xiaolangdi DAPT mouse dam has temporally mitigated the infilling

of sediment in reservoirs and scoured the riverbed. New problems, however, has arisen that the Xiaolangdi reservoir is losing its impoundment capacity at high rate and the riverbed scouring in the lower reaches has weakened since 2006. The managed WSM therefore may not be a long-term solution for sediment-laden rivers that are troubled by sediment-associated problems. The discharge regime of the Huanghe has deviated greatly from its natural condition due to the multiple dam effects. The dam-triggered changes in Huanghe water and sediment delivery to the sea have caused a series of environmental problems. These problems include a shrinking delta plain due to sediment-starvation, altered ecological environments ALOX15 and nutrient concentrations in coastal waters, and a transition in plume processes at the river mouth (Chu et al., 2006, Wang et al., 2010 and Yu et al., 2013). The Huanghe delta plain has been shrinking, in response to the curtailed sediment supply (Chu et al., 2006). Many deltas in the world are also shrinking due to dam-triggered sediment reduction

(Chu et al., 2006 and Nageswara Rao et al., 2012). The drowning of the Mississippi delta is ascribed primarily to insufficient sediment supply (Blum and Roberts, 2009), which is largely due to construction of dams in the Mississippi Basin. And the current sediment flux is incapable to sustain the delta plain, even if the diversion plan of the Mississippi River could be performed (Kim et al., 2009 and Allison and Meselhe, 2010). Dams on the Colorado and Nile River, together with extensive downstream irrigation systems, have resulted in almost total elimination of riverine sediment delivery to the coastal regions. As a result, the Colorado and Nile deltas are actively receding due to sediment deficit (Stanley, 1996 and Carriquiry et al., 2001). In the Yangtze basin, the construction of the Three Gorges Dam has been linked to erosion of the Yangtze’s subaqueous delta.

The physical template (climate and topography) is commonly considered a principal factor in affecting vegetation structure and dynamics (Stephenson, 1990 and Urban et al., 2000). Human influences play a major role, however, in shaping the structure of forest stands and landscapes even in remote mountain areas of the world. Environmental fragility and seasonality of human activities, such as tourism, make mountain areas in developing regions particularly vulnerable to human-induced impacts (e.g. soil and vegetation trampling, disturbance to native wildlife, waste dumping) (Brohman, 1996). Tourism in mountain areas has increased in the last decades (Price, 1992) and is becoming

a critical environmental issue in many developing countries (Geneletti and Dawa, 2009). This is particularly evident in Nepal, where increased pressures of tourism-related activities on AZD8055 forest resources and the biodiversity of alpine shrub Cobimetinib clinical trial vegetation have already been documented (Stevens, 2003). Sagarmatha National Park and its Buffer Zone (SNPBZ), a World Heritage Site inhabited by the Sherpa ethnic group and located in the Khumbu valley (Stevens, 2003), provides an example. The Himalayan region, which also includes the Sagarmatha (Mt.

Everest), has been identified as a globally important area for biodiversity (Olson et al., 2001) and is one of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots (Courchamp, 2013). Over the past 50 years, the Sagarmatha region has become a premier international mountaineering and trekking destination.

Related activities have caused adverse impacts on regional forests and alpine vegetation (Bjønness, 1980 and Stevens, 2003), with over exploitation of alpine shrubs and woody vegetation, overgrazing, accelerated slope erosion, and uncontrolled lodge building (Byers, 2005). Large areas surrounding the main permanent settlements in the region are extensively deforested, with Pinus wallichiana plantations partly replacing natural forests ( Buffa et al., 1998). Despite the importance of the Sagarmatha region, few studies have examined sustainable management and environmental conservation of its fragile ecosystems, where ecological and socio-economic issues are strongly linked (Byers, 2005). The lack of knowledge about forest until structure and composition, as well as human impact on the ecosystems, has frequently limited the implementation of sustainable management plans (MFSC, 2007 and Rijal and Meilby, 2012). This study gathered quantitative data on forest resources and assessed the influences of human activities at Sagarmatha National Park (SNP) and its Buffer Zone (BZ). Using a multi-scale approach, we analyzed relationships among ecological, historical, topographic and anthropogenic variables to reveal the effects of human pressures on forest structure and composition.

As different data sources were combined for Pangor, the resolution of the source data might affect the landslide detection. Therefore, we defined the minimum detectable landslide for each data source: 25 m2

for aerial photographs and 16 m2 for satellite image. The smallest landslide that was detected on aerial photographs has a surface area of 48 m2, which is close to the size of the smallest landslide detected on the very high-resolution satellite image (32 m2). Only 6 landslides smaller than 48 m2 were detected on the very high-resolution satellite image of the Pangor catchment, suggesting that the landslide inventory based on the aerial photographs does not underrepresented small landslides. The landslide frequency–area distributions of the two different data types were then statistically compared (Wilcoxon rank sum test and Kolmogorov–Smirnov test) to detect any possible bias due to the combination of different remote sensing data. Landslide PARP inhibitor inventories provide evidence that the abundance of large landslides in a given area decreases with the increase of the size of the triggered landslide. Landslide frequency–area Proteasome inhibitor distributions allow quantitative comparisons of landslide distributions between landslide-prone regions and/or different time periods. Probability distributions model the number

of landslides occurring in different landslide area (Schlögel et al., 2011). Two landslide distributions were proposed in literature: the Double Pareto distribution (Stark and Hovius, 2001), characterised by a positive and a negative power scaling, and the Inverse Gamma distribution (Malamud et al., 2004), characterised by a power-law decay for medium and large landslides www.selleck.co.jp/products/cobimetinib-gdc-0973-rg7420.html and an exponential rollover for small landslides. To facilitate comparison of our results with the majority of

literature available, we decided to use the maximum-likelihood fit of the Inverse Gamma distribution (Eq. (1) – Malamud et al., 2004). equation(1) p(AL;ρ,a,s)=1aΓ(ρ)aAL−sρ+1exp−aAL−swhere AL is the area of landslide, and the parameters ρ, a and s control respectively the power-law decay for medium and large values, the location of maximum probability, and the exponential rollover for small values. Γ(ρ) is the gamma function of ρ. To analyse the potential impact of human disturbances on landslide distributions, the landslide inventory was split into two groups. The first group only contains landslides that are located in (semi-)natural environments, while the second group contains landslides located in anthropogenically disturbed environments. The landslide frequency–area distribution was fitted for each group, and the empirical functions were compared statistically using Wilcoxon and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests. The webtool developed by Rossi et al. (2012) was used here to estimate the Inverse Gamma distribution of the landslide areas directly from the landslide inventory maps.

The MTHFR rs1801133 (c.677C>T) is the most intensively investigated variant in the homocysteine/folate pathway [11, 14, 65]. However, results of the MTHFR rs1801133 association in different CL/P populations are inconsistent ( Fig. 2), indicating the challenges of researching gene-disease associations [14]. Both fetal and maternal genetic susceptibilities may affect the intrauterine environment during palatogenesis. We found no association between maternal, as well as

embryonic, MTHFR rs1801133, and MTHFD1 (gene encoding trifunctional enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1) rs2236225 (c.1958G>A) selleck and CL/P risk [24, 32]. Maternal RFC1 (reduced folate carrier 1) rs1051266 (c80A>G) and embryonic MTR rs1805087 (c.2756A>G), MTRR (methionine synthase reductase) rs1801394, CBS 844ins68, TCN2 (transporter transcobalamin II) rs1801198 were not correlated with CL/P

Enzalutamide cell line susceptibility in the Polish population [23, 31]. Genetic processes that alter gene function without structural DNA alternation have become one of the chief focus areas of developmental medicine. Recently, there has been increased interest in epistasis and its influence on congenital anomalies in general. The nonparametric and genetic model-free Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction (MDR) analysis revealed a significant interactive effect of investigated SNPs in embryonic genes encoding enzymes involved in one carbon metabolism on clefting susceptibility (i.e. MTHFR rs1801133, MTR rs1805087, and PEMT/phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase/rs4646406 – a testing balance accuracy of 0.62 and a cross-validation consistency of 6/10, p=0.02) [31]. Even in the absence of an independent effect on CL/P risk in the Polish population,

the presence of the MTHFR rs1801133 may result in an increased CL/P risk. Studies using a variety of approaches have produced conflicting or inconclusive results on the MTHFR rs1801133 in clefting susceptibility, possibly because of the diversity of the investigated populations or the inadequate power of the studies. It is especially noteworthy that Polish mothers homozygous (GG) or heterozygous (AG) for PFKL the top-SNP of MTR, rs1805087, displayed a twofold increased risk of having a child with CL/P (ORAG+GGvsAA=2.19, 95%CI=1.19–4.05, p=0.01) [23]. Interestingly, maternal genotypes that include the G allele have also been associated with an increased risk of neural tube defects and conotruncal heart defects [66, 67]. Methionine synthase, encoded by MTR, is a vitamin B12-dependent enzyme that functions within the transmethylation cycle by catalyzing the 5-methyltetrahydrofolate-dependent remethylation of homocysteine to methionine.

Professeur sans chaire en 1967, il put créer et développer en 1971 son propre service de chirurgie générale qu’il orienta rapidement vers la chirurgie vasculaire. Avec ses collaborateurs,

Erismodegib solubility dmso Jean-Luc Gouzi, puis André Barret, il mit au point la chirurgie restauratrice des gros vaisseaux abdominaux, des vaisseaux des membres ainsi que celle des troncs supra-aortiques, des artères carotides et vertébrales. Chirurgien particulièrement précis et méticuleux, son service était prisé par les internes en chirurgie toulousaine et il acquit rapidement une renommée considérable, rayonnant sur tout le Sud-Ouest. C’est à l’occasion d’une réunion en Allemagne que j’appris qu’il avait fait une préparation olympique d’athlétisme et qu’il faisait partie du Comité international olympique. Après sa retraite en 1985, il assistait

régulièrement aux différents congrès de notre discipline learn more et sa dernière apparition publique se fit au congrès de la Société de chirurgie vasculaire de langue française qui se tint à Toulouse en 2003. “
” Alain Larcan, né dans une famille médicale nancéenne avec une orientation obstétricale, marquée par les noms d’Adolphe Pinard et Albert Fruhinsholz, eut à neuf ans le grand malheur de perdre son père, brillant polytechnicien tué au combat le 17 juin 1940, la veille de l’armistice. Il n’en poursuivit pas moins de très brillantes études qui l’amenèrent à être major de l’internat de Nancy à 21 ans et agrégé à 28. Après une chefferie de service en tant qu’interniste, il devient réanimateur et comme il le dit lui-même, il ne se sent concerné qu’indirectement par l’angiologie, même s’il était confronté à différentes urgences vasculaires, à la thrombolyse rapide et à la maladie

thromboembolique. Mais il privilégiait dans ses recherches cliniques les fonctions cardio-circulatoires de façon globale, sans études trop cloisonnées du cœur, des gros vaisseaux, veines et lymphatiques. Mais il ne s’arrêta Selleck Ponatinib pas là et s’intéressa très tôt à la microcirculation où s’établissent les échanges et où se trouve l’origine des œdèmes, de la décompensation et du choc. Suivant en cela le chemin indiqué en France par Jean-François Merlen, grâce aux nouvelles techniques de microscopie vitale, il put ainsi étudier directement les premières phases de processus généraux comme le saignement et la thrombose. Grâce à l’aide d’un ingénieur des mines, devenu professeur d’hématologie, Jean-François Stoltz, il fut un des premiers en France à se pencher sur les recherches rhéologiques initiées par Poiseuille qui, faute de techniques appropriées, n’était guère sorti de la notion populaire de « sang épais ».

4 ± 0.2 μM vs 1.1 ± 0.2 μM, N = 5, in the absence and presence of 27.4 μM (20 μg/mL) VdTX-1, respectively, Fig. 5A]. Repeated curves without the toxin did not showed signs of tissue fatigation, that is, no decrease in contracture response. Membrane resting potential GSK J4 in vitro measurements were performed in the mouse phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparations, which showed to be less sensitive to VdTX-1 than the avian tissue. In this model, the toxin alone (109.6 μM, 80 μg/mL) had no effect on the membrane potential but completely blocked carbachol-induced depolarization, indicating a post-synaptic action for the toxin ( Fig. 5B). Theraphosid spider venoms have

been shown to interfere with neurotransmission in vertebrate nerve-muscle preparations in vitro ( Zhou et al., 1997; Fontana et al., 2002; Herzig and Hodgson, 2009). The rapid neuromuscular blockade seen in these studies suggests the presence of nicotinic Doramapimod price antagonists although the only substance to be characterized in detail is the 33-amino acid peptide huwentoxin-I (HWTX-I) from venom of the Chinese bird spider Selenocosmia (Ornithoctonus) huwena ( Liang et al., 1993; Zhou et al., 1997; Liang, 2004).

As shown here, V. dubius venom caused neuromuscular blockade and marked muscle contracture in chick biventer cervicis preparations; the blockade was reversible by washing whereas the contracture was not. Filtration of the venom to obtain LM and HM fractions followed by testing in biventer cervicis preparations showed that the HM fraction caused blockade and muscle contracture similar to the venom while the LM fraction produced only blockade that was spontaneously reversible. The muscle contracture seen with venom and HM fraction suggested interference

with muscle contractile mechanisms, probably through disruption of intracellular calcium homeostasis. In agreement with this, the venom and HM fraction attenuated the contractures induced by KCl, a possible indication of a myotoxic action ( Harvey et al., 1994). The inability of the LM fraction to interfere with the responses to KCl indicated that there was selleckchem little effect on the contractile machinery. In view of the simpler neuromuscular response seen with the LM fraction, i.e., simple, spontaneous reversible blockade without the accompanying muscle contracture associated with the HM fraction, we sought to identify the LM component responsible for this activity. By using a combination of filtration through Amicon® filters with a nominal cut-off of 5 kDa followed by cation exchange HPLC and RP-HPLC we purified a 728 Da component (VdTX-1) that interacted with the nicotinic receptor without affecting the responses to KCl. VdTX-1 alone had no effect on the membrane resting potential but abolished the depolarization caused by carbachol, indicating interaction with the cholinergic nicotinic receptor as the main site of interaction.

The CT scanner table height was set to the center of the greater trochanter. Patient data were evaluated with QCT-Pro software v4.1.3 with the QCT-Pro Bone Investigational Toolkit v2.0 (BIT) (Mindways Software,Austin,USA)

and also with Real Intage Cyclopamine mouse visualization software (KGT,Tokyo,Japan) based on 3D DICOM data to provide fusion functions and several geometrical measurements. All measurements were analyzed by a radiologist (M. Ito) blinded to treatment group assignment. The exact 3D rotation of the femur and the threshold setting for defining the bone contours appeared to be the two most critical steps for achieving accuracy and reproducibility in the automated procedures performed by QCT-Pro. The outer cortical BMD thresholds had to be adapted individually for each scan. The femoral neck axis was identified visually and also automatically with the “Optimize FN Axis” algorithm. QCT-Pro

BIT processing was then performed with a fixed bone threshold for cortical separation set to 350 mg/cm3 for all patients and visits. This application was used to measure hip axis length (HAL), femoral neck angle (FNA), and neck width. vBMD, cross-sectional area (CSA), and cross-sectional bone mass of the femoral neck (total, cortical, and trabecular region), as well as cortical thickness and cortical perimeter were also measured. Trabecular parameters in each subject were calculated based on the total and cortical parameters. Biomechanical properties were also derived from the cross-sectional parameters of the femoral neck. This comprehensive image data visualization software based on 3D DICOM data R428 in vivo provides fusion functions and several geometrical measurements. For bone analysis of the femoral shaft, this software was used for fusion of 3D images from baseline and images at 144 weeks to define the same regions of interest. The software was then used to measure the

outer perimeter, inner perimeter, bone area, cortical bone density, and cross-sectional moment of inertia (CSMI) of the femoral shaft. The cross-sectional femoral neck data were derived on the basis of the geometrical axis to calculate volumetric total BMD (total vBMD; mg/cm3), cortical Y-27632 2HCl BMD (cortical vBMD; mg/cm3), trabecular BMD (trabecular vBMD; mg/cm3), total CSA (cm2), cortical CSA (cm2), trabecular CSA (cm2), total bone mass (g), cortical bone mass (g), and trabecular bone mass (g). Cortical thickness (mm) and cortical perimeter (mm) were also derived. These parameters were all calculated with QCT-Pro. Because biomechanical parameters were determined on the principal axis, the cross-sectional moment of inertia (CSMI; mm4), the section modulus (SM; mm3), and buckling ratio (BR) were calculated from bone density and geometrical data. The CSMI is defined by the integration of products of incremental cross-sectional area and the square of their distance from the center of mass (centroid).

4. The combined discharge rates

are shown in Fig. 5. An accumulation-balancing rate of 107 Gt/yr is given by Rignot et al. (2008). The effect of increased snow accumulation on Antarctica during the immediate future (as indicated by observations Church et al., 2013) would mean a larger potential value for D. Measurements from Rignot and Kanagaratnam, 2006 and Rignot et al., 2008 are shown as well in Fig. 5. More recent overviews ( Shepherd and Wingham, 2007 and Shepherd et al., 2012) show considerable variation in the Greenland and Antarctic mass balance measurements. Because the sampling was performed during different periods and does not include all ice sheets, we have left these from further consideration. The progression of D   in Fig. 4 shows the collapse of the West-Antarctic

ice sheet. The discharge rate EX 527 mw increases dramatically with this event. With the ice sheet gone, calved icebergs drift more easily. We expect basal melt to decrease then. On the other DNA Synthesis inhibitor hand, more land ice is in contact with the ocean, which should increase the absolute amount of melt taking place. Without any way of quantifying either effect, we suggest that after a collapse event the basal melt amount returns to pre-collapse levels. The expression becomes equation(14) Nsi(t)=μi·Dsi(t)t⩽30μi·Dsi(30)t>30Gt/yrfor the WAIS (region i), where μW=0.30μW=0.30. Similar considerations to those above lead us to keep the amount of basal melt steady at the 2030 levels for the other two regions, which then give the exact same form as Eq. (14) with the appropriate μμ values ( Table 2). Far deposition is allocated to all mass loss not already claimed by basal melt. The expression for Antarctic

F   is then simply equation(15) Fs(t)=(1-μs)·Ds(t)t⩽30Ds(t)-μs·Ds(30)t>30Gt/yr.for all three regions with μsμs replaced by the appropriate basal melt fraction and rsrs the corresponding discharge rate. Table 4 gives a summary of the melt scenario features on which our projections are based. In Table 5 a break-down of mass loss expressed as sea-level equivalent is given. We can compare with some other severe scenarios, see Fig. 6. The most recent scenarios are by Pfeffer et al., 2008 and Katsman et al., 2011. A projection close to Cyclooxygenase (COX) the values given by Pfeffer et al. (2008) as upper bounds would tax the rate of retreat of the tidewater glacier to nonphysical limits. The lower bound from Fettweis et al. (2013) only takes meltwater into account. The projections for ice discharge dominate this by an order of magnitude. To illustrate the effect of the freshwater protocol outlined above, we ran a RCP8.5 experiment with the CCM EC-Earth (Hazeleger et al., 2010). One simulation was run without the extra freshwater forcing applied (control) and one with additional freshwater forcing included (forced) to allow for a sensitivity experiment. The control run is part of the CMIP5 archive and both runs use the RCP8.

The slope of the first regression line was fitted to the study data. The second slope was varied in such a way AZD5363 solubility dmso that the test statistics just reached statistical significance (p < 0.05). The difference between both slopes, expressed as percent, was taken as MDD. For an estimate of the lung tumor size, the number of consecutive cross sections showing the same individual lung tumor or precancerous lesion was multiplied with the 300 μm distance of consecutive step serial sections. The proportion between adenomas and carcinomas within the different exposure groups was calculated by the quotient of carcinomas and

the sum of adenomas and carcinomas on an individual animal basis. Animals were included in this type of evaluation, if at least one lung adenoma or carcinoma compound screening assay was present. These data were compared statistically by ANOVA followed by pairwise comparison using the Tukey test (Zar, 1984). All tests were considered statistically significant at p ≤ 0.05. No correction for multiple testing was performed. All test atmospheres were reproducibly generated throughout the 18-month inhalation period at the MS target concentrations of 75, 150, and 300 mg TPM/m3 (Table 1). This resulted in proportional concentrations of other aerosol constituents such as carbon

monoxide, nicotine, acetaldehyde and acrolein. An exception for this linear dilution was seen for formaldehyde. The concentrations in the current study (Study 2) corresponded well to those previously observed in the Study 1 (Stinn et al., 2012). Inhalation exposure to MS was monitored by determining carboxyhemoglobin proportions, which were 0.3 ± 0.1, 10.7 ± 0.5, 19.3 ± 0.7, and 36.5 ± 1.1% for males and 0.3 ± 0.1, 10.3 ± 0.3, 19.8 ± 0.5, and 37.0 ± 1.3% for females in the sham, MS-75, MS-150, and MS-300 groups, respectively (mean ± SE; N = 8 per group at two time points during the study). The carboxyhemoglobin proportions correlated MycoClean Mycoplasma Removal Kit with the carbon monoxide concentrations in the test atmospheres and were similar to those reported in Study 1. In the groups scheduled for 18 months of inhalation,

mortality rates of 58, 48, 34, and 45% for males and of 39, 39, 28, and 20% for females were observed in sham, MS-75, MS-150, and MS-300 groups, respectively. The trend to higher mortality in the sham-exposed compared to MS-exposed mice was also observed in Study 1. However, the overall mortality in Study 2 was higher than in Study 1. This may have been at least partly due to a dilated cardiomyopathy which occurred mainly during the first months of the study and was more pronounced in male than in female mice. In affected mice, the hearts were enlarged and displayed a grey-white discoloration. Microscopically, an infiltration of neutrophilic granulocytes and lymphocytes was observed as well as a calcification and necrosis of heart muscle cells.

Figure 2A, 2B and 2C clearly indicate alterations and protection of the antioxidant enzyme activities in piroxicam treatment and pre-treatment of graded

doses of aqueous curry leaf extract in piroxicam-fed animals respectively. Figure 2D and 2E showing increased activities of xanthine oxidase and xanthine dehydrogenase in piroxicam fed group indicate increased free superoxide anion radical generation in vivo on piroxicam feeding. Aqueous curry leaf extract at 200 mg/kg body weight dose maximally prevented such free radical generation by keeping the activities of the enzymes near control. Repeating dose response studies thrice, it was concluded that 200 mg/kg body weight dose of the aqueous curry leaf extract administration Selleck Rapamycin one hour before piroxicam treatment can provide maximum protection and yield satisfactory results in piroxicam induced oxidative stress mediated toxicity and ulcerative damages. In the subsequent sections, results obtained with this selected 200 mg/kg BW (Cu LE) dose have been elaborated. Figure Selleck GDC-0199 3A and 3B show the haemorrhagic ulcers of the stomach mucosa and ulcer index determined respectively to ascertain the anti-ulcerative

action of the selected dose of Cu LE. Macroscopic study clearly shows that there are no ulcer spots and the ulcer index has been reduced to a minimum of 1.67 ± 0.69 (**P≤ 0.001 vs piroxicam fed group) in 200 mg/kg body weight Cu LE pre-administered piroxicam-fed group. Microscopic changes were studied using haematoxylin and eosin (H & E) staining, PAS staining and alcian blue dye staining and photomicrographs are represented in Figure 3C. H& E stained gastric tissue sections of control group

rats and only Cu LE treated group showed no prominent blood vessels in the mucosa and submucosa. Treatment of rats with oral administration before of piroxicam with a dose of 30 mg/kg body weight resulted in marked changes in gastric tissue morphology. The mucosa of the gastro-oesophageal junction had few eosinophilic infiltration but submucosa showed to have both neutrophilic and eosiphilic infiltration in piroxicam treated animal group. Gastric tissue sections stained with H & E of Cu LE pre-treated animals showed no vascular congestion or specific cellular infiltration, thereby indicating protective effect of the extract against piroxicam induced ulcerative damage in rats. PAS stained gastric tissue sections of the control and only Cu LE treated animals showed a uniformly pink stained gastric mucosa. Tissue sections of piroxicam treated animals were discontinuously stained pink along the mucosal border due to degeneration and sloughing of mucosal cells. The uniformity in mucosal border staining of gastric tissue sections of Cu LE pre-treated animal group indicate a protective effect of the extract against piroxicam induced tissue damage. Alcian Blue (ACB) dye preferentially binds acidic mucin.