سائنس اور روحانیت کی تمثیل: ایک تحقیقی جائزہ

Spirituality is usually understood as a way of being that flows from a certain profound experience of reality, which is known as ‘mystical’, ‘religious’, or ‘spiritual’ experience. There are numerous descriptions of this experience in the literature of the world’s religions, which tend to agree that it is a direct, non-intellectual experience of reality with some fundamental characteristics that are independent of cultural and historical contexts. Spiritual and scientific quests are two complementary inquiries into reality. Any feeling of antagonism between them is a product of a narrow vision. Science deals with what is measurable; religion is the quest for discovering and understanding the immeasurable. A scientist is not intelligent if he denies the existence of the immeasurable. There is nothing that is anti-science but there is a lot that is beyond science. The two quests have to go hand in hand. We not only need to have an understanding of the laws that govern the phenomena occurring in the external world around us but also we need to discover order and harmony in our consciousness. Human understanding is incomplete unless it covers both aspects of reality: matter as well as consciousness. Indeed the division between the scientific and spiritual quests is itself the creation of the human mind. Reality is one undivided whole which includes both matter and consciousness. Our thoughts, being limited by our experience, divide the external world from the inner world of our consciousness, in much the same way as our mind divides time from space though they are both two aspects of a single continuum۔

Bioevaluation of Cabbage Based Designer Food to Modulate Oxidative Stress Markers

Nowadays, plants bioactive moieties are gaining attention amongst the masses to mitigate lifestyle related dysfunctions owing to their safe nature and functional properties. Considering phytochemistry and cost-effectiveness of cabbage, the current project was designed to probe the antioxidant capacity of locally grown green and red cabbage with special emphasis on modulation of oxidative stress biomarkers in response to hypercholesterolemic diet. Purposely, green and red cabbage samples were analyzed for compositional analyses that depicted high proportion of potassium and vitamin C in both samples. The red cabbage showed higher amount of total polyphenols & flavonoids (224.37±6.96 & 219.15±10.30 mg/100g F.W.) than green cabbage (58.41±3.01 & 34.04±1.06 mg/100g F.W.) along with the existence of anthocyanins (69.86±4.12 mg/100g F.W.) in red cabbage only. Comparative HPLC analysis regarding antioxidant moieties showed significant proportion of kempferol (171.10±5.99 mg/100g F.W.) and vitamin C (139.07±2.23 mg/100g F.W.) in red cabbage however, vitamin C (121.46±3.28 mg/100g F.W.) was found as the major antioxidant in green cabbage. The red cabbage depicted higher free radical quenching and reducing ability in contrast to green cabbage using DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2- picrylhydrazyl), ABTS [2, 2''-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)], FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) and PFRAP (potassium ferricyanide reducing antioxidant power) reagents. The corresponding assays were ranged from 31.22±1.65 to 87.79±3.69%, 1.51±0.07 to 6.04±0.21 μM Trolox/g F.W., 0.95±0.04 to 1.16±0.04 μM Fe2+/g F.W., 41.16±2.10 to 59.32±2.14% and 48.03±1.68 to 63.45±3.05%. In the product development phase, four types of croquettes based on green and red cabbage leaves & their respective aqueous extracts along with control were stored under frozen conditions and analyzed at three different intervals; 0, 15 & 30 days, employing two types of cooking procedures; baking and frying. The resultant prototypes were assessed for physicochemical analyses (caloric count, color, texture, water activity & antioxidant assays) as well as sensory response. The current study portrayed that designer croquettes remained freezer friendly for one month without employing any preservative. Comparative assessment of cooking methods inferred higher antioxidant potential and taste scores for fried prototypes. Based on antioxidant assays and overall acceptability, red cabbage and its respective aqueous extract were screened for biological evaluation. In animal study (12 weeks), male white New Zealand rabbits were divided into six groups; three groups under normal dietary pattern; normal diet, normal diet+cabbage leaves & normal diet+cabbage extract and next three under hypercholesterolemic dietary regimen; hypercholesterolemic diet, hypercholesterolemic diet+cabbage leaves & high calorie+aqueous cabbage extract. At termination, overnight fasted rabbits were sacrificed to assess serum lipid profile. The percent reduction in serum cholesterol and LDL by red cabbage & its extract was reported up to 10.79 & 15.19 and 12.24 & 18.09 in hypercholesterolemic rabbits, respectively. Furthermore, serum specific and tissues (liver, heart & kidney) oxidative stress biomarkers alongside, their somatic index and histopathology were studied. The red cabbage supplementation suppressed the leakage of liver functioning enzymes in sera up to 15.63% (ALT), 13.88% (ALP), 12.96% (ɤ-GT) and 10.77% (total bilirubin) besides reduction in hepatic lipid peroxidation up to 29.60% thus improved endogenous antioxidant enzymes. Likewise, red cabbage showed protection against cardiac oxidative stress. Additionally, the red cabbage extract lowered renal MDA (lipid peroxidation) up to 24.07% in oxidative stressed rabbits that ultimately restored renal SOD (11.38%) and CAT (16.72%), accordingly. The hepatosomatic index (HSI) and nephrosomatic index (NSI) expounded significant impact of treatments on hypercholesterolemic diet fed rabbits except cardiosomatic index (CSI). In hypercholesterolemic rabbits, mild degree of fibrotic and necrotic changes in hepatic parenchyma were rectified by red cabbage supplementation, whereas red cabbage extract based diet showed slower rate of amelioration. Likewise, mild degree of necrotic changes and congestion in cardiac fenestrations were modulated by red cabbage feeding. Moreover, severe necrotic & pyknotic alterations in renal parenchyma along with mild to moderate degree of congestion in hypercholesterolemic rabbits were effectively reversed via extract supplemented group in contrast to cabbage fed group. In the nutshell, dietary inclusions based on red cabbage has proven restorative against hepatic and cardiac compromised conditions, whereas altered renal fenestrations were also effectively restored by red cabbage extract enriched diet.