Search results

The purpose of this study was designed to investigate anise oil and geranium oil to amend body weight, serum bile acid and vitamin D, and liver histology in depressed rats.

Eighty male albino rats were divided into normal and depressed rats. Normal rats (40 rats) were divided into four equal groups: control, venlafaxine drug, anise oil and geranium oil groups. Depressed rats (40 rats) were divided into four equal groups: depressed rats, depressed rats + venlafaxine drug, depressed rats + anise oil and depressed rats + geranium oil groups. Body weight, food consumption and water intake were detected. Animal behavior, cerebral cortex and hippocampus neurotransmitters, serum bile acid and vitamin D and liver histology were also investigated in this study.

Body weight (117 ± 7.6 g), food consumption (5.6 ± 1.4 g/day) and water intake (8.7 ± 1.2 ml/day) were significantly decreased (p < 0.001) in depression compared to body weight (153 ± 7.6 g), food consumption (12.7 ± 1.6 g/day) and water intake (15.3 ± 1.6 ml/day) in control. Animal behavioral tests, e.g. sucrose preference (48.8 ± 1.5) test, distance traveled (70.0 ± 16.3), center square entries (0.20 ± 0.10), center square duration (52.18 ± 11.9), tail suspension (54.70 ± 2.9 s) test and forced swimming (134.4 ± 5.5 s) test were significantly decreased (p < 0.001) in depression compared to sucrose preference (89.2 ± 1.7) test, distance traveled (226 ± 90.1), center square entries (1.4 ± 1.8), center square duration (3.6 ± 2.0), tail suspension (19.3 ± 2.1 s) test and forced swimming (83.7 ± 3.6 s) test in control. Cerebral cortex and hippocampus areas neurotransmitters such as serotonin (7.4 ± 1.7 and 1.2 ± 0.54 pg/g tissue), dopamine (6.3 ± 1.5 and 0.86 ± 0.07 pg/g tissue), norepinephrine (8.1 ± 1.7 and 1.4 ± 0.41 pg/g tissue) and gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) (1.3 ± 0.41 and 0.08 ± 0.04 µmole/g tissue), serum bile acid (46.8 ± 3.5 µmole/L) and vitamin D (1.3 ± 0.37 ng/ml) were significantly decreased (p?0.001) in depression compared to cerebral cortex and hippocampus areas neurotransmitters such as serotonin (16.8 ± 2.1 and 4.0 ± 1.4 pg/g tissue), dopamine (15.7 ± 2.0 and 1.8 ± 0.49 pg/g tissue) norepinephrine (18.2 ± 2.3 and 3.8 ± 1.3 pg/g tissue) and GABA (2.7 ± 0.62 and 0.16 ± 0.06 µmole/g tissue), serum bile acid (90.5 ± 4.3 µmole/L) and vitamin D (2.7 ± 0.58 ng/ml) in control. Depression induced injury to hepatic tissues. Oral supplementation with anise oil and geranium oil ameliorated body weight, serum bile acid and vitamin D and liver histology in depressed rats.

Depression treatment persists for a long time, so the search for a new herbal treatment is of concern due to available sources, cheap and no side effects of herbal plants. Anise oil and geranium oil improved body weight, food consumption, water intake, animal behavioral tests, cerebral cortex and hippocampus areas neurotransmitters, serum bile acid and vitamin D and liver histology in depression.

The purpose of this paper is to give compiled information on previously applied cotton fabric surface modifications. The paper covered most of the modifications done on cotton fabric to improve its properties or to add some functional properties. The paper presented mostly studied research works that brought a significant surface improvement on cotton fabric.

Different previous works on surface modifications of cotton fabrics such as pilling, wrinkle and microbial resistance, hydrophobicity, cationization, flame retardancy and UV-protection characteristics were studied and their methods of modification including the main findings are well reported in this paper.

Several modification treatments on surface modification of cotton fabrics indicated an improvement in the desired properties in which the modification is needed. For instance, the pilling tendency, wrinkling, microbial degradation and UV degradation drawbacks of cotton fabric can be overcome through different modification techniques.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, there are no compressive documents that covered all the portions presented in this review. The author tried to cover the surface modifications done to improve the main properties of cotton fabric.

The present work aims to prepare biocomposites blend based on linear low density polyethylene/ starch without using harmful chemicals to improve the adhesion between two phases. Also, the efficiency of essential oils as green plasticizers and natural antimicrobial agents were evaluated.

Barrier properties and biodegradation behavior of linear low density polyethylene/starch (LLDPE/starch) blends plasticized with different essential oils including moringa oleifera and castor oils wereassessed as a comparison with traditional plasticizer such as glycerol. Biodegradation behavior forLLDPE/starch blends was monitored by soil burial test. The composted samples were recovered then washed followed by drying, and weighting samples after 30, 60, and 90 days to assess the change in weight loss. Also, mechanical properties including retention values of tensile strength and elongation at break were measured before and after composting. Furthermore, scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to evaluate the change in the morphology of the polymeric blends. In addition to, the antimicrobial activity of plasticized LLDPE/starch blends films was evaluated using a standard plate counting technique.

The results illustrate that the water vapor transition rate increases from 2.5 g m⁻² 24 h⁻¹ for LLDPE/5starch to 4.21 g m⁻² 24 h⁻¹ and 4.43 g m⁻² 24 h⁻¹ for castor and moringa oleifera respectively. Also, the retained tensile strength values of all blends decrease gradually with increasing composting period. Unplasticized LLDPE/5starch showed highest tensile strength retention of 91.6% compared to the other blends that were 89.61, 88.49 and 86.91 for the plasticized LLDPE/5starch with glycerol, castor and M. oleifera oils respectively. As well as, the presence of essential oils in LLDPE/ starch blends increase the inhibition growth of escherichia coli, candida albicans and staphylococcus aureus.

The objective of this work is to develop cost-effective and environmentally-friendly methods for preparing biodegradable polymers suitable for packaging applications.

This paper aims to assess the efficiency of emulsified essential oils in glycerol as eco-friendly antimicrobial and plasticized agents added to the biopolymer of gelatin for lining historical oil paintings on canvases.

Cedar oil, cinnamon oil and their mixtures were emulsified in glycerol and incorporated into gelatin adhesive as green biocides and plasticizers. Physical, biological, chemical and mechanical tests were conducted on experimental mock-ups to assess the gelatin-based adhesive formulations for the reinforcement of canvas supports. Scanning electron microscope, colorimetric measurements, antimicrobial activity test, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, tensile strength and elongation tests were carried out on the mock-ups before and after the artificial aging.

The formulations of gelatin-based adhesive with cinnamon and cinnamon-cedar mixture emulsified in glycerol proved their efficiency on the antimicrobial activity test, chemically delaying the decomposition of gelatin and accordingly providing compatible mechanical properties. Gelatin-based adhesive with emulsified cinnamon oil showed a slight yellowing that was quite improved with the mixture of the cinnamon-cedar-based adhesive formulation.

This study promotes a green approach to lining historical oil paintings by developing green formulations from bio-based origins that minimize the shrinkage and microbial infection of gelatin for lining paintings.

The study tests risk-taking and risk-aversion capabilities while distinguishing between business group firms and stand-alone firms and considering oil price volatility. Second, this attempt to study the linkage between risk-taking during market down movements and when the firms have established themselves as product market leaders. Third, this study analyses the “sentiment” state, where it explores the reaction of corporations when the market is in the negative direction, and lastly, it explores the linkage between product market competition and risk-aversion.

This study uses financial information for 1,273 non-financial companies and other required data from various sources. The study employs panel data and utilizes different empirical methodologies, including the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator, to test the stated hypotheses.

We find that the business group firms have more risk-taking proficiencies compared with the stand-alone firms. Moreover, this study discovers that the corporates avoid taking risks when the market is not performing well. Also, when the market is down and crude prices are high, the management expects high earnings in the future, willingly takes risks and shows that product market leaders do not follow the risk-aversion strategy.

The empirical results indicate that oil price movement can restrict management’s behaviour when choosing a risky investment project. Management should develop a robust policy that follows the group of firms. In the policy, the management should describe the level of risk that may be taken by the firm and implement it when required.

Since we do not find any studies in this context, then there is a major and essential gap in the literature that this study should fill.

Electrical characteristics of transformer oil (TO) have been studied during normal and thermal aging conditions. In this paper, breakdown voltage (BDV), partial discharge (PD), heat transfer results and the physical mechanisms considering the impact of varying the diameter of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (NPs) have been investigated. Different quantities of the two sizes of Al₂O₃ were added to the oil using a two-step method to determine the positive effect of NPs on the electrical and thermal properties of TO. Finally, the physical mechanisms related to the obtained experimental results have been performed.

The implementation of nanoparticles in this paper was provided by US Research Nanomaterials, Inc., USA. The provided Al₂O₃ NPs have an average particle size of 20–80 nm and a specific surface area of 138 and 58 m²/g, respectively, which have a purity of over 99%. Thermal aging has been done. The IEC 60156 standard has been implemented to calculate the BDV, and a 500-mL volume test cell (Apar TO 1020) has been used. PD test is performed according to Standard IEC 60343, and a JDEVS-PDMA 300 device was used for this test.

BDV tests indicate that 20 nm Al₂O₃ is more effective at improving BDV than 80 nm Al₂O₃, with an improvement of 113% compared to 99% for the latter. The analysis of Weibull probability at BDV indicates that 20 nm Al₂O₃ performs better, with improvements of 141%, 125% and 112% at probabilities of 1, 10 and 50%, respectively. The results of the PD tests using the PDPR pattern also show that 20 nm Al₂O₃ is superior. For the heat transfer test, 0.05 g/L of both diameters were used to ensure fair conditions, and again, the advantage was with 20 nm Al₂O₃ (23% vs 18%).

The effect of Al₂O₃ NP diameter (20 and 80 nm) on various properties of virgin and aged TO has been investigated experimentally in this paper to examine the effect of proposed NP on electrical improvement of TO.

This study aims to revisit the empirical debate about the asymmetric relationship between oil prices, energy consumption, CO₂ emissions and economic growth in a panel of 184 countries from 1981 to 2020.

A relatively new research method, the PVAR system GMM, is applied.

The outcome of the PVAR system GMM model at the group level in the study suggests that oil prices exert a positive but statistically insignificant effect on economic growth. Energy consumption is inversely related to economic growth but statistically significant, and the correlation between CO₂ emissions and economic growth is negative but statistically insignificant. The Granger causality test indicates that oil prices, CO₂ emissions, oil rents, energy consumption and savings jointly Granger-cause economic growth. A unidirectional causality runs from energy consumption, savings and economic growth to oil prices. At countries’ income grouping levels, oil prices, oil rent, CO₂ emissions, energy consumption and savings jointly Granger-cause economic growth for the high-income and upper-middle-income countries groups only, while those variables did not jointly Granger-cause economic growth for the low-income and lower-middle-income countries groups. The modulus emanating from the eigenvalue stability condition with the roots of the companion matrix indicates that the model is stable. The results support the asymmetric impacts of oil prices on economic growth and aid policy formulation, particularly the cross-country disparities regarding the nexus between oil prices and growth.

From a methodological perspective, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the study is the first attempt to use the PVAR system GMM and such a large sample group of 184 economies in the post-COVID-19 era to examine the impacts of oil prices on countries’ growth while controlling for other crucial variables, which is noteworthy. Two, using the World Bank categorisation of countries according to income groups, the study adds another layer of contribution to the literature by decomposing the 184 sample economies into four income groups: high-income, low-income, upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income groups to investigate the potential for asymmetric effects of oil prices on growth, the first of its kind in the post-COVID-19 period.

This study aims to find out how pomposia fruit powder (Syzygium cumini L.) mixed with roasted coffee (RCO) affected antioxidants, phytochemicals, lipid peroxidation inhibition and sensory attributes.

Pomposia fruits (Syzygium cumini L.) powder (PFP) was integrated with RCO at levels of 0.0%, 5.0%, 10.0%, 15.0% and 20.0%. RCO, PFP and binary mixtures containing RCO: PFP were evaluated for their total phenolics (TP), total flavonoids (TF), anthocyanin content (AC), antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds fractionation. The oxidative indices of coffee oil samples were measured throughout different storage intervals. Additionally, sensory characteristics of RCO enriched with different PFP doses were evaluated.

PFP samples exhibited the greatest TP content (1910 mg/100 g), whereas RCO samples had the lowest concentration (1090 mg/100 g). As more PFP was added, the corresponding coffee blends’ concentrations of TP, TF and AC were improved significantly. PFP possesses a radical-scavenging activity that is about 1.20 times more than RCO’s. DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical-scavenging activity jumped significantly from 74.13% in control (untreated) samples to 77.64%, 78.39% and 80.15% for samples enriched with 10.0%, 15.0% and 20% PFP, respectively. Significant increases in gallic acid, hesperidine, benzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, hispertin, catechol, quercetin, pyrogallol and rutin were detected when RCO was mixed with different quantities of PFP. At the end of storage trial, the coffee oil treated with 20% PFP had AV, PV and TBA values that were about 1.70, 1.95 and 1.66 times lower, respectively, than those of the control sample that had not had PFP addition. The RCO with 5.0% PFP achieved the greatest over acceptability grades.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study was the first study to evaluate the effect of incorporating various level of pomposia fruit powder into RCO. The findings shows that adding different concentrations of pomposia fruit powder into RCO can indeed enhance the radical-scavenging activity of the coffee and potentially extend its shelf life.

This study investigates the impact of US dollar volatility and oil rents on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, with an emphasis on understanding how these factors influence SME financing constraints in economies with fixed currency regimes.

Employing a random effects panel regression analysis, this research considers US dollar volatility and oil rents as independent variables, with SME performance, measured through the financing gap, as the dependent variable. Controls such as trade balance, inflation deltas and gross domestic product (GDP) growth are included to isolate their effects on SME financing constraints.

The study reveals a significant positive relationship between dollar volatility and the financing gap, suggesting that increased volatility can exacerbate SME financing constraints. Conversely, oil rents did not show a significant direct influence on SME performance. The trade balance and inflation deltas were found to have significant effects, highlighting the multifaceted nature of economic variables affecting SMEs.

The study acknowledges potential biases due to omitted variables and the limitations inherent in the use of secondary data.

Findings offer pertinent guidance for SMEs and policymakers in the GCC region seeking to develop strategies that mitigate the impact of currency volatility and support SME financing.

The research provides new insights into the dynamics of SME performance within fixed currency regimes, which significantly contributes to the limited literature in this area. The paper further underscores the complex connections between global economic factors and SME financial health.

This study examines the value implications of oil price uncertainty for investors in diversified firms using a sample of 922 USA firms from 2001 to 2019.

Our study employs a panel dataset to examine the value implications of oil price uncertainty for diversified firm investors. We consider several alternative specifications to account for unobserved factors and measurement errors that could potentially bias our results. In particular, we use alternative measures of the excess value of diversified firms and oil price uncertainty, additional control variables, fixed-effects models, the Oster test, impact threshold for confounding variable (ITCV) analysis, two-stage least square instrumental variable (2SLS-IV) analysis and the system-GMM model.

We find that the excess value of diversified firms, relative to a benchmark portfolio of single-segment firms, increases with high oil price uncertainty. The impact of oil price uncertainty is asymmetric, as corporate diversification is value-increasing for diversified firm investors only when the volatility is due to positive oil price changes and amidst supply-driven oil price shocks. The excess value increases irrespective of diversified firms’ financial constraints and oil usage. Diversified firms become conservative in their internal capital allocations with high oil price uncertainty. Such conservatism is value-increasing for diversified firm investors, as it supports higher performance in response to oil price uncertainty.

Our study has three important implications: first, they are relevant to investors in understanding the portfolio value implications of oil price uncertainty. Second, they are helpful for firm managers while comprehending the value-relevant implications of internal capital allocations. Finally, our findings are policy relevant in the context of the future of diversified firms in developed markets.