2 research outputs found
Phytochemical Screening and in vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Lawsonia Inermis Barks
No full textPlants have been used as medicine since time immemorial (Ushimaru et al., 2007). Medicinal plants are essential sources of easily accessible remedies used by traditional healers. Henna leaves are used to cure jaundice, skin diseases, dysentery, arthritis (Sharma et al., 2018). Lawsonia inermis is widely used by Rwandan as cosmetic products and in treatment of different ailments. This study was aimed to investigate the phytochemical screening and in vitro antimicrobial activities of different extracts of L. inermis barks collected from Huye District in Southern Province of Rwanda. The dried and powdered barks were extracted with methanol and cyclohexane by maceration giving 1.627g (10.83%), 0.173.g (1.15%) respectively. The extracts were concentrated for further phytochemical tests and evaluated for antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus using disk diffusion method.The results from phytochemical screening revealed the presence of terpenoids, phenolic compounds, tannins, flavonoids, proteins and saponins. Lawsonia inermis barks displayed antimicrobial activity against both gram negative and gram positive bacterial strains used in the present study. The findings of antimicrobial assay showed that the methanol extract of lawsonia inermis barks with the concentration of 10-1 has an antibacterial activity against gram negative bacteria Escherichia coli with zone of inhibition of 10 mm which is same as, the positive control, penicillin inhibition zone (10 mm) with the same concentration. The antibacterial activity of cyclohexane extract against E. coli showed a smaller inhibition zone of 9 mm for diluted inoculum (10-1). For the same concentrations of extracts and inoculums, the methanol extract inhibited Staphylococcus aureus (gram positive) growth with zone of inhibition of 9 mm, while the antibacterial activity of cyclohexane extract against the same bacteria was 4 mm, which are smaller than penicillin inhibition zone (18 mm). Key words: lawsonia inermis, phytochemical screening, anti-microbial activity, E. coli, S. aureus
The Gulf of Guinea Piracy: Impact and Effectiveness of Control Measures
Get PDFMaritime piracy is an old concept, the history of which can be traced far way back since the time when the human being started using sea as a means of transport. Its criminality was firstly been considered by the customary international law even before codification of the same in 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas and later the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Somali piracy emerged in the 1990s, its narrative root causes, and impact brought by it and how it is combated have moved the author to write this paper. The International law perception of what constitutes acts of piracy lead the governments of Gulf of Guinea coastal states to be solely responsible for maritime security of their countries as well as eliminating piracy acts happening in their area. Different from piracy off the coast of Somalia, a stateless country, Gulf of Guinea countries have stable governments and thus the principle of sovereignty applies. The combat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is vested to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) with the aid from partner States.This paper focused on impact of Gulf of Guinea piracy to the maritime industry and to the countries, effectiveness of the control measures placed to combat piracy and challenges facing the combat of piracy in the area. Moreover, the definition of maritime piracy, narrative root causes of piracy off the coast of Gulf of Guinea, and lastly, conclusion and recommendations are the areas covered by this paper. Keywords: Piracy, Armed Robbery, Violence, Gulf of Guine
