A review on the pharmacology and phytochemistry of folklore medicinal plant Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit

Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit. (Bush mint) belongs to the family Lamiaceae and commonly known as ‘wilayati tulsi’ in India. It is an invasive weed famous for its insecticidal property. Traditionally it is used for the treatment of respiratory tract infections, infection of uterus and skin diseases. Phytochemicals like steroids, alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides and essential oil isolated from the plant has medicinal and pharmaceutical importance. Extensive literature survey was made to identify the established research works on this magnificent plant and compiled it in a nutshell. The present review article is mainly focused on pharmacological and other important aspects of H. suaveolens.Key-words: Hyptis suaveolens, essential oil, leaves, extract, phytochemical

Oil rents and economic growth in oil-abundant MENA countries: Governance is the trump card to escape the resource trap

The present paper aims, on the one hand, to test the impact of oil rents on economic growth and examine the main symptoms of the resource curse phenomenon in oil-abundant MENA countries, and on the other hand, to investigate the role of governance in avoiding the resource curse and turning oil rents into a tool for economic diversification in 11 MENA oil exporters (Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen) over the period 1996-2014, by using pooled OLS, fixed effects, random effects and generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators. The main findings indicate that MENA oil exporters’ growth is greatly and positively influenced by oil rents. Likewise, these economies have been diagnosed with resource curse. The results also show that governance is a key ingredient in the diversification recipe, while, oil rents frustrate economic diversification by encouraging rent-seeking activities. The multiplicative interaction term between governance index and oil rents indicates that the combined effect of these two variables is effective in promoting diversification. In a nutshell, the enhancement of MENA oil-exporters’ good governance capabilities is the way out of the resource curse because it can turn oil wealth into a boon and offer these oil-abundant countries more opportunities for economic diversification and thereby can enable them to generate robust and sustainable economic growth

Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Bubble Belly Massage Oil and their Crude Ingredients

Bubble Belly massage oil is popular among Malaysians since its commercialization in 2018. The massage oil contains lemon oil, vitamin E oil, aloe vera oil, eucalyptus oil, ginger oil, black pepper, fenugreek, Caesalpinia sappan, Usnea barbata, and Helicteres isora. The massage oil is believed to reduce weight, cellulite, menstrual pain, body ache, and scar appearances. The study evaluated oil and its crude ingredients for antioxidant activity using DPPH and ABTS assays, antibacterial activity was evaluated by using disc diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assays. The crude ingredients soaked in the massage oil were dried and underwent aqueous extraction. Phenols, tannins, and quinones were detected qualitatively in the samples. Highest DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging of 73.1% at 0.78% (v/v), and 98.2% at 12.5% (v/v), respectively were shown by the oil. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Enterococcus faecalis were susceptible to the oil at 100% (v/v) with a zone of inhibition of 15.0 mm, 14.0 mm, 12.0 mm, 9.0 mm, and 14.0 mm, respectively. All the tested bacteria were resistant to the crude ingredients. The MIC values against B. cereus, MRSA, K. pneumonia, and E. coli treated with oil were in the range of 0.39 to 0.78% (v/v). Both the crude ingredients and oil showed MBC values of 12.5 mg/mL and 0.39% against B. cereus and MRSA, respectively. In a nutshell, the massage oil showed significant inhibitory and radical scavenging activities and thus is potential as an antibacterial and antioxidant agent

Protecting Species or Hindering Energy Development? How the Endangered Species Act Impacts Energy Projects on Western Public Lands

Since it was enacted in 1973, the ESA has been one of the most celebrated environmental laws, but also one of the most reviled. Industry groups argue that the consultation process frequently delays and sometimes halts much needed energy, transportation, water supply, and other projects and often dramatically increases project costs. Environmentalists disagree with this view, contending that the process actually rarely stops anything and that the FWS lacks the backbone to impose meaningful conservation requirements that would be costly or inconvenient for the project developer. In 2015, the authors decided to delve deeply into ESA §7 to analyze how it actually works in practice and to assess the validity of various parties’ claims about the consultation process. They focused on the impact of §7 consultation on energy development on public land. This Comment is an overview of that study and key findings. In a nutshell, the authors learned that only a small fraction of energy projects developed on public land are reviewed at all under §7. When it applies, the consultation process appears to go quickly and smoothly for the vast majority of oil and gas projects, for a variety of reasons. On the other hand, consultation on solar energy and wind energy projects tends to be lengthy and complicated.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines

Explosive oil prices

The author is grateful for the hospitality of the University of California, Berkeley as well as Resources for the Future, Washington, DC, while working on the paper. Financial support by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation for these research visits is gratefully acknowledged. An earlier version of this paper appeared as CESifo Working Paper No 4376.Peer reviewedPostprin

Performance Evaluation of Two Palm Kernel Nut Cracker Machines

In this study performance evaluation of centrifugal impact approach and vertical palm kernel nut cracker machine was carried out. The results of the study show that the vertical centrifugal palm kernel cracker is more efficient than the centrifugal impact approach palm kernel cracker. The efficiency of Vertical centrifugal palm kernel cracker is 71.3% and that of centrifugal impact approach is 50.38%. Apart from this, the vertical centrifugal machine though has low speed but it produces clean and neat nut cracked output

Marine radiocarbon reservoir effects for the Mesolithic and Medieval Periods in the Western Isles of Scotland

This article presents new values for the Scottish marine radiocarbon reservoir effect (MRE) during the Mesolithic at 4540–4240 BC (6490–6190 BP) and the Medieval period at AD 1460–1630 (490–320 BP). The results give a ΔR of –126±39 14C yr for the Mesolithic and of –130±36 14C yr for the Medieval. We recalculate previously published MRE values for the earlier Holocene in this region, at 6480–6290 BC (8430–8180 BP). Here, MRE values are slightly elevated, with a ΔR of 64±41 14C yr, possibly relating to the 8.2ka BP cold event. New values for the Mesolithic and Medieval indicate lower MRE values, broadly consistent with an existing data set of 37 mid- to late Holocene assessments for Scottish waters, indicating stable ocean conditions. We compare the intercept and probability density function (PDF) methods for assessing ΔR. The ΔR values are indistinguishable, but confidence intervals are slightly larger with the PDF method. We therefore apply this more conservative method to calculate ΔR. The MRE values presented fill important gaps in understanding Scottish marine 14C dynamics, providing confidence when calibrating material from critical periods in Scotland’s prehistory, particularly the Mesolithic, when the use of marine resources by coastal populations was high

OPTIMIZATION OF BACOSIDE A LOADED SNEDDS USING D-OPTIMAL MIXTURE DESIGN FOR ENHANCEMENT INSOLUBILITY AND BIOAVAILABILITY

Objective: The objective of present study is to enhance solubility and bioavailability of poorly soluble bacoside A present in Bacopa monnieri extract using self nano emulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.Methods: Solubility of the drug was assessed in various oils (edible as well as synthetic oil), surfactant and co-surfactant by saturation solubility study. Pseudo-ternary phase diagram was used to obtain appropriate concentration ranges of components include oil, surfactant and co-surfactant.Results: From the result of saturated solubility study and phase diagram, oleic acid, tween 20 and ethanol was selected as oil, surfactant and co-surfactant. The D-Optimal mixture design was used to optimize the formulation on the basis of solubility of drug and dilution potential. In vitro dissolution, study showed 89% of drug release from optimized SNEDDS formulation compared to untreated drug extract with 24% of drug release in 60 min. Ex vivo diffusion study showed more than 90% of drug diffused from optimized SNEDDS formulation compared to pure extract.Conclusion: In a nutshell, the developed SNEDDS formulation using the design of experimentation approach held great potential as a possible alternative to traditional oral formulations of poorly soluble Bacoside A to improve solubility and bioavailability

Divided over Iraq, United over Iran. A Rational Choice Explanation to European Irrationalities

The War on Iraq in has split the continent into ‘Old Europe’ and ‘New Europe’. On Iran, by contrast, the EU jointly acts in the context of a coordinated European foreign policy. The paper argues that both conflicts resemble an assurance game among the Europeans, in which the entailed trust dilemma prevented involved players from cooperating. It identifies the European ‘Dialogues’ with Iran as a regime that reduced information deficits in the case of Iran. In the case of Iraq, however, European players were unable to mutually judge whether there was a hidden agenda or not – and thus opted for defection instead of cooperation.European foreign policy, nuclear conflict, WMD, Iran, Iraq, assurance game, regime theory