Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities: Chemical constituents of essential oils of Ocimum gratissimum, Eucalyptus citriodora and Cymbopogon giganteus inhibited lipoxygenase L-1 and cyclooxygenase of PGHS

The following studies report the inhibitory effect produced by chemical constituents of essential oils of three plants used in traditional medicine as anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs, in vitro, on soybean lipoxygenase L-1 and cyclooxygenase function of prostaglandin H synthase (PGHS), the two enzymes involved in the production of mediators of inflammation. The essential oils were extracted from plants of three families: O. gratissimum (Labiatae), C. giganteus (Poaceae), and E. citriodora (Myrtaceae). Their chemical composition was established by GC/MS analyses. Among the three essential oils, one showed evident inhibition of L-1 with IC50 value of 72 µg/mL for Eucalyptus citriodora. Only one essential oil that of O. gratissimum inhibited the two enzymes, cyclooxygenase function of PGHS and lipoxygenase L-1, with an IC50 values, respectively, of 125 µg/mL and 144 µg/mL, whereas that of C. giganteus and E. citriodora, two of them had no effect on cyclooxygenase. KEY WORDS: Essential oils, Soybean lipoxygenase (L-1), Cyclooxygenase function ofprostaglandine H synthase-1, PGHS, O. gratissimum (Labiatae), C. giganteus (Poaceae), E. citriodora (Myrtaceae), Enantia chlorantha, Inhibition  Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2003, 17(2), 191-197

Linking Social Protection Schemes: The Joint Effects of a Public Works and a Health Insurance Programme in Ethiopia

In developing countries and in particular in sub-Saharan Africa, social protection schemes tend to operate in silos. However, schemes targeting the same geographical areas may have synergies that have not yet been examined, and which are worth scrutinising. This paper contributes to this knowledge gap by examining the joint impacts of two social protection programmes in Ethiopia, that is, the Productive Safety Net Programme and a Community Based Health Insurance Scheme. Based on three rounds of individual level panel data and several rounds of qualitative interviews, we find that individuals covered by both programmes, as opposed to neither or only one of the two programmes, provide greater labour supply, have larger livestock holdings, and have a lower amount of outstanding loans. Furthermore, joint participation is associated with greater use of modern health care facilities as compared to participating only in the safety net programme. These results show that bundling of interventions enhances protection against multiple risks and that linking social protection schemes yields more than the sum of their individual effects

Does emotional talk vary with fears of cancer recurrence trajectory? A content analysis of interactions between women with breast cancer and their therapeutic radiographers

Funding: Breast Cancer Now (grant number 6873).Fears of cancer recurrence (FCR) in patients with breast cancer are hypothesised to develop over the period from diagnosis, through treatment and thereafter. A crucial point may be the contact that patients have with their therapeutic radiographer in review appointments. The study aimed to (1) describe and categorise the content of the identified emotional talk, and (2) consider the evidence for an association of content with FCR trajectory. Methods: A concurrent mixed methods approach was applied as part of a larger investigation (FORECAST) of breast cancer patients (n = 87). Patients completed a daily diary during their radiotherapy treatment. Audio recordings were collected of review appointments. The Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES) system was used to code patient emotional cues and concerns (CCs). Purposeful sampling of the daily diary ratings identified 12 patients (30 consultations) with an increasing (n=6) or decreasing (n=6) FCR trajectory. The emotional talk of these patients at their weekly reviews was content analysed. Results: Four themes were identified from 185 CCs: Physical Symptoms, Factors External to Hospital, Treatment, and Labelling Cancer. FCR decreasing trajectory group consultations were longer (p < 0.02), expressed twice as many CCs as the increasing trajectory group (p < 0.001), and were more likely to refer to cancer directly (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The emotional content expressed matched features outlined in the Lee-Jones et al (1997) FCR model, and showed evidence of avoidance in increasing FCR trajectory patients.PostprintPeer reviewe

Reasoning deficits among illicit drug users are associated with aspects of cannabis use

Background. Deficits in deductive reasoning have been observed among ecstasy/polydrug users. The present study seeks to investigate dose-related effects of specific drugs and whether these vary with the cognitive demands of the task. Methods. One hundred and five participants (mean age 21.33, S.D. 3.14; 77 females, 28 males) attempted to generate solutions for eight one-model syllogisms and one syllogism for which there was no valid conclusion (NVC). All of the one model syllogisms generated at least one valid conclusion and six generated two valid conclusions. In these six cases one of the conclusions was classified as common and the other as non-common. Results. The number of valid common inferences was negatively associated with aspects of short term cannabis use and with measures of IQ. The outcomes observed were more than simple post intoxication effects since cannabis use in the 10 days immediately before testing was unrelated to reasoning performance. Following adjustment for multiple comparisons, the number of non-common valid inferences was not significantly associated with any of the drug use measures. Conclusions. Recent cannabis use appears to impair the processes associated with generating valid common inferences while not affecting the production of non-common inferences. It is possible, therefore, that the two types of inference may recruit different executive resources which may differ in their susceptibility to cannabis-related effects

The Combechem MQTT LEGO microscope: a grid enabled scientific apparatus demonstrator

Grid computing impacts directly on the experimental scientific laboratory in the areas of monitoring and remote control of experiments, and the storage, processing and dissemination of the resulting data. We highlight some of the issues in extending the use of an MQ Telemetry Transport (MQTT) broker from facilitating the remote monitoring of an experiment and its environment to the remote control of an apparatus. To demonstrate these techniques, an Intel-Play QX3 microscope has been "grid-enabled" using a combination of software to control the microscope imaging, and sample handling hardware built from LEGO Mindstorms. The whole system is controlled remotely by passing messages using an IBM WebSphere Message Broker. <br/

Do Multinational enterprises push up wages of domestic firms in the Italian Manufacturing sector?

This paper analyzes the effects of foreign direct investment on wages paid by domestic firms in the Italian manufacturing sector over the period 2002–2007. In particular, the authors investigate the im-pact of multinational enterprises on wages paid by local firms which operate in the same industry, known and horizontal wage spillovers, or have linkages with multinational enterprises in both downstream and upstream industries, known as vertical wage spillovers. By using a large panel dataset, consisting of 551,000 observations, the authors find evidence of wage spillovers only at inter-industry level and, more specifically, for those firms who supply their goods to multinational enterprises, described as backward wage spillovers. Moreover, findings suggest that the wage spillover effect is strongly affected by the technological gap between local and foreign firms: only workers employed in domestic firms with a low-medium technological absorptive capacity seem to benefit from the presence of multinational enterprises in terms of higher wages

How can power discourses be changed? - Contrasting the ‘daughter deficit’ policy of the Delhi government with Gandhi and King’s transformational reframing

Social policy impact is partly determined by how policy is articulated and advocated, including which values are highlighted and how. In this paper, we examine the influence of policy framing and reframing on outcomes, with particular reference to the policies of the Delhi state government in India that target the practices of female feticide, infanticide and neglect that underlie the ‘daughter deficit’. Using Snow and Benford’s categories for understanding reframing processes, the paper outlines and applies a ‘model’ of reframing disputed issues derived from looking at two famous campaigns – Gandhi’s 1930 Salt March in the struggle for Indian freedom from British rule and the African-American civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. It argues that ‘carrot and stick’ policy measures, such as financial incentives and legal prohibitions, to counteract the ‘daughter deficit’ must be complemented by well crafted discursive interventions