Mariani Abdul Hamid

Ficus deltoidea (Mas cotek) extract exerted anti-melanogenic activity by preventing tyrosinase activity in vitro and by suppressing tyrosinase gene expression in B16F1 melanoma cells

Ficus deltoidea (Mas cotek) water extract has been widely used for woman health in Malaysia. Our investigation focused to identify anti-melanogenic efficacy of F. deltoidea since it has been known to have strong anti-oxidant activities. Anti-melanogenic effect of F. deltoidea extract was analyzed using cultured B16F1 melanoma cells. Cytotoxicity of the extract was measured using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and determined the highest concentration of the extract that did not affect cell viability as 0.1% (w/v). α-MSH-induced melanin synthesis was significantly inhibited with dose-dependent manner by treatment of F. deltoidea leave extract, which was comparable to that of kojic acid. The extract directly inhibited mushroom tyrosinase activity and intracellular tyrosinase activity of B16F1 as well. The inhibition of intracellular tyrosinase activity was found to be exerted at the protein expression level when analyzed by immunoblot and tyrosinase zymography. The expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) was also reduced by the F. deltoidea extract. In conclusion, F. deltoidea extract has strong anti-melanogenic activity that is exerted by direct inhibition of tyrosinase enzyme activity and by down-regulation of the expression of genes involved in the melanogenesis pathways. Collectively, data shown in this study strongly suggest that F. deltoidea extract has potential to be used as a novel depigmenting agent for cosmetics.

Additional Gas Resource for Coal Bed Methane by Applying Underground Coal Gasification and Enhanced Coal Bed Methane

Methane gas obtained from coal sources can be classified into two categories i.e Coal Bed Methane (CBM) and Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) gases. The Industry today often neglects the importance of capturing the UCG as important source of methane potential besides the surface gasification potential. This research will evaluate on the new resource estimation of methane as reserves with application of new technological advances in exploitation. As an analysis, the UCG energy return is significantly higher than that of CBM. Both CBM and UCG output gas can be liquefied, or used as a direct feedstock to local power stations. The CO2 generated from UCG process may be used for Enhanced Coal Bed Methane (ECBM) process because of more adsorption capacity than methane, may lead to additional methane potential. Deeper coal seams may be targeted for CBM, followed by UCG for additional resources in the form of coal gas. A depleted CBM area may be targeted for UCG with some modification on the well profile. Developing an integrated and centrally controlled approach to exploit the coal resources in which, the appropriate extraction methodology should be identified for each particular target coal-seam or groups of coal seam. It is important to strategize the sequencing of energy extraction methods to provide an optimal balance between the energy delivery for sustainable future and its true socio-economic value. As from this analysis, with 245.6 acres of coal, estimated gas can be produced is 3.25 TSCF which is 101 BSCF is coming from CBM, 3.14 TSCF from UCG and another 14.45 BSCF is from ECBM.