A large number of medicinal plants are used as herbal remedy for the treatment of helminthic diseases in the developing countries, however, far too little attention has been paid to assess the anthelmintic potentials of chemical compounds that are present in these plants. This study was carried out to assess the in vitro anthelmintic effects of biochanin A, ursolic acid, betulinic acid and betasitosterol which are the major phytochemicals of Trifolium repens, Houttuynia cordata and Lasia spinosa, the traditionally used anthelmintic plants of Northeast India. The in vitro anthelmintic testing of these phytochemicals was undertaken against Hymenolepis diminuta, a zoonotic tapeworm, and their efficacy was compared with a reference drug, praziquantel. The results revealed that except beta-sitosterol, which showed a very weak anthelmintic effect, remaining all other tested compounds possess highly significant (p B 0.001) and dose-dependent anthelmintic effects. Upon exposure to 0.25, 0.50 and 1 mg/ml concentrations of biochanin A, ursolic acid and betulinic acid, the test parasite H. diminuta, at first, showed a paralyzed state which later culminated into their mortality after short time periods. Of all the phytochemicals tested, betulinic acid (1 mg/ml) showed the best anthelmintic effect and caused the mortality of test parasites at 3.4 ± 0.66 h. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate for the first time that betulinic acid, biochanin A and ursolic acid possess significant in vitro anthelmintic effects against H. diminuta, a zoonotic tapeworm, and, therefore, these compounds may be exploited further for anthelmintic drug development.
Problem statement: The Malaysian oil palm industry is an important industry to the nation. In 2009 alone the total export earnings reached RM 49.6 billion. The industry is under constant attack of its performance from the perspective of the environment, especially with regard to its Green House Gas (GHG) Emissions. Being an export orientated industry; this issue has to be tackled head on to quantify the GHG emissions of the oil palm industry. Approach: About 12 palm oil mills were selected for this gate to gate case study. Inventory data which consisted of raw material, energy usage and gaseous emissions were collected from the selected palm oil mills over a period of 3 years. A comparative study was conducted to compare the GHG emissions of the production of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) with and without allocation and biogas capture. GHG emissions from all sources are summed up and changed into units of CO 2 equivalent (CO 2 eq) which is used to standardize GHG emissions. Results: The main parameter causing the highest contribution to the GHG emissions within this system boundary is the biogas from the anaerobic treatment of the POME. When biogas is captured, the total GHG emission drops significantly. This shows the urgency and need for the palm oil mills to capture their biogas and use it as renewable energy. Conclusion: Less than 10% of the palm oil mills capture their biogas because the palm oil mills have excess energy from their biomass itself and to invest in a large sum of money to harvest the biogas will mean that they will need the infrastructure to use or sell the harvested biogas. Currently, the industry is moving towards either harnessing biogas from POME or producing value-added products such as fertilizer from POME which avoids methane generation. This move is visible with the gradual annual increase in the number of palm oil mills capturing their biogas.
The palynostratigraphic data given here are based on the explored borecores (TRBD-2, TRBD-3 and TROD-1), by Geological Survey of India. The Permian strata worked-out is about 1174.00 m thick and comprises from base to top-Talchir, Barakar and Barren Measures formations. The palynological content enables delimitation of five palynological assemblages. (i) Scheuringipollenites barakarensis, (ii) Faunipollenites varius, (iii) Gondisporites raniganjensis, (iv) Densipollenites magnicorpus, and (v) Krempipollenites indicus in ascending order from the subsuface rock strata. The lithologically identified strata Talchir Formation in borecores TRBD-2 and TRBD-3 is palynologically dated late Early Permian in having the Scheuringipollenites barakarensis and the Faunipollenites varius palynozones. Subsequently, the part of Barakar strata in these borecores corroborates with Barakar Formation. In borecore TRBD-3, the Barren Measures rocks do not match with the palynological dates, and are affiliated with the palynoflora of the Raniganj Formation. In TROD-1, the strata identified as Barakar Formation is dated Late Permian in having Gondisporites ranigangensis Palynozone; while that of Barren Measures Formation is palynologically dated Early Triassic having Krempipollenites indicus Palynozone. The palynology has helped in the precise dating of the Lower Gondwana succession of Odari and Bartikhurd blocks in Tatapani-Ramkola Coalfield of South Rewa Gondwana Basin.
An attempt is made to delimit Permo-Triassic boundary in Raniganj Coalfield on the basis of selected palynofossils. Densipollenites invisus, D. indicus and D. densus decline while D. magnicorpus and Gondisporites raniganjensis disappear at the close of Raniganj Formation; Densoisporites contactus, Lundbladispora microconata, L. brevicula, Playfordiaspora cancellosa, Lunatisporites ovatus, L. diffusus and cf. L. pellucidus appear in Lower Panchet. Lithological and palynological changes at Raniganj/Panchet boundary help to draw the Permo-Triassic boundary at this level.
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