Investigation of air injection to enhanced oil recovery from medium oil reservoir of Upper Indus basin of Pakistan

Previously, air injection is exclusively used in light oil reservoirs; however, laboratory research has shown that air injection can also be very efficient for medium and heavy oil recovery. Due to the low cost of air injection and its indefinite availability, it has an economic advantage over other Enhanced Oil Recovery methods. This study is carried out in an experiment conducted on air injection into medium oil reservoirs. To better understand the air injection procedure for enhancing oil recovery from the X field\u27s medium oil (26.12 °API) of Pakistan reservoir, 14 runs were performed. The effects of air flux, porous media, temperature, and pressure on oxidation reaction rates were explored and measured. The consumption of oxygen at a rate of 90% was determined. At a moderate pressure of 7300 kPa, a significant oil recovery of around 81% of the original oil in place was observed. Increased air flux and low permeability can have a more significant effect on medium oil recovery. The technique produced flue gases that were exceptionally low in carbon oxides, with a typical gas composition of 12% CO2, 6% CO, and unreacted oxygen. This research will contribute to a better knowledge of the air injection method and allow for the optimum performance for a specified reservoir. In the Enhanced oil recovery, a less costly process using this method will be inspiring due to recovering oil in this region

Antimicrobial Activity of Plant Extracts against Bacillus Subtilis, Staphylococcus Aureus and Escherichia Coli

Abstract: Local herbs have many potential that may be active with antimicrobial activity. A screening was conducted with 11 species of herbs collected in UiTM Pahang Forest Reserve. Epipremnum sp., Zingiber sp. Tetracera indica, Tectaria crenata, Piper stylosum, Homalomena propinque, Goniothalamus sp., Elephantopus scaber, Mapania patiolale, Melastoma sp., Stemona tuberosa, Phullagathis rotundifolia, Thotea grandifolia and Smilax sp. were extracted with methanol to obtain their crude. The agar diffusion method using blank disc of 6 mm diameter were loaded with 1000 μg/mL of methanol crude and applied to the inoculate plate was used to assess the antimicrobial activity against two gram positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aeureus) and one gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli). The results evaluated as the diameter of the inhibition zone of microbial growth, showed that all the extracts were active against gram-positive bacteria and gramnegative bacteria. The extract of Stemona tuberosa was found to be the most active against the E. coli and S. aeureus while Piper stylosum active against B. subtilis

ANTIDEPRESSANT-LIKE ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF WITHANIA QARAITICA IN MICE

Objective: The goal of the present study was to assess the antidepressant-like action of Withania qaraitica in two behavioral animal models, the forced-swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) in mice. Methods: Witania qaraitica methanolic extract was prepared by the maceration. The antidepressant activity was measured by the forced-swimming test (FST) using C57BL/6 mice and the tail suspension test (TST) using BALB/c mice. Mice were divided into three groups: control (DMSO), standard (citalopram and desipramine), and Withania qaraitica methanolic extract (n = 6 per group). Drugs were injected (1 ml/100 g) intraperitoneally (i.p.). Data were evaluated using analysis of variance, followed by LSD post-hoc tests, where * p < 0.001 was considered significantly different from the vehicle control. The data are expressed as mean±SEM. Results: In both the FST and the TST, antidepressant positive controls citalopram and desipramine significantly reduced the time of immobility compared to vehicle control (p<0.001). The methanolic extract of Withania qaraitica at the dose of 40 mg/kg significantly reduced the immobility times with respect to vehicle control as well as lower doses of the same extract (10 and 20 mg/kg) in FST (p<0.001). In a similar fashion, the methanolic extract of Withania qaraitica at the dose of 40 mg/kg significantly decreased the duration of immobility in TST (p<0.005). Conclusion: The current results show the antidepressant-like activity of Withania qaraitica in mice. This observation warrants additional studies to identify the underlining mechanism by which Withania qaraitica  produces antidepressant-like effects

A Novel Substituted Piperazine, CM156, Attenuates the Stimulant and Toxic Effects of Cocaine in Mice

Cocaine is a highly abused drug without effective pharmacotherapies to treat it. It interacts with sigma (σ) receptors, providing logical targets for the development of medications to counteract its actions. Cocaine causes toxic and stimulant effects that can be categorized as acute effects such as convulsions and locomotor hyperactivity and subchronic effects including sensitization and place conditioning. In the present study, 3-(4-(4-cyclohexylpiperazin-1-yl)butyl)benzo[d]thiazole-2(3H)-thione (CM156), a novel compound, was developed and tested for interactions with σ receptors using radioligand binding studies. It was also evaluated against cocaine-induced effects in behavioral studies. The results showed that CM156 has nanomolar affinities for each of the σ receptor subtypes in the brain and much weaker affinities for non-σ binding sites. Pretreatment of male Swiss-Webster mice with CM156, before administering either a convulsive or locomotor stimulant dose of cocaine, led to a significant attenuation of these acute effects. CM156 also significantly reduced the expression of behavioral sensitization and place conditioning evoked by subchronic exposure to cocaine. The protective effects of CM156 are consistent with σ receptor-mediated actions. Together with previously reported findings, the data from CM156 and related σ compounds indicate that σ receptors can be targeted to alleviate deleterious actions of cocaine

Conversion of a highly selective sigma-1 receptor-ligand to sigma-2 receptor preferring ligands with anticocaine activity

Cocaine's toxicity can be mitigated by blocking its interaction with sigma-1 receptors. The involvement of sigma-2 receptors remains unclear. To investigate their potential role, we have designed compounds through a convergent synthesis utilizing a highly selective sigma-1 ligand and elements of a selective sigma-2 ligand. Among the synthesized compounds was produced a subnanomolar sigma-2 ligand with an 11-fold preference over sigma-1 receptors. These compounds may be useful in developing effective pharmacotherapies for cocaine toxicity