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Alchemica

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Posts posted by Alchemica

  2. Posted

    Having a bit of trouble trying to translate an experimental section from a German journal using Babylon, wondering if anyone here might be able to assist (less than half a page, can sort out a trade of cactus for services if desired)?

    An understanding of chemistry would probably be very helpful (seems like it's the chemistry lingo that's making any online translations a bit difficult).

    Drop me a PM if you might be able to help out, any assistance is greatly appreciated.

  3. Posted · Edited by Alchemica

    A few more links that might be worth following:

    Ayahuasca Healing Center / School - 'Yacu Puma' www.yacupuma.com ( http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=232618545864 ) might be worth a look

    If you are on facebook, it might be worth getting in contact with someone like Meghan Shannon through http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503...55916866?ref=ts (or at http://www.infinitelightperu.com )(she's an ayahuasca shamanic apprentice) and see if you can do some online networking.

  5. Posted

    Here's a few field test reagents (excludes a few interesting alkaloids but it's a start): http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/183258.pdf

    OK for detecting the presence of some of the alkaloids but I'm not sure how easily you could distinguish the level of actives merely via colour intensity/development time when spotting on a TLC plate.

    You should be able to precipitate most alkaloids from extracted solutions as certain salts/complexes (tannates, picrates, phosphomolybdates, platinum complexes, potassium mercuric iodide complexes etc) and use the precipitates to get a total alkaloid percentage. Still, not overly field friendly or easy.

  7. Posted

    That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.

    What's the (current) legality of downloading text books etc. purely for educational purposes? Is it a serious infringement of copyright, or one that isn't generally prosecuted legally and hence continues to be generally accepted (and who is the culprit; the person who uploaded it, hosted it or downloaded it)?. Guess the days of trying a book before you decide it's something you need to own are over (if it ever was legal).

  8. Posted · Edited by Alchemica

    Overall, the evidence indicates there is little evidence of psychomotor impairment for patients in opioid maintenance programs, which is most likely a function of increased tolerance (see reviews by Fishbain et al., 2002/2003). Lenné et al. (2000) carried out a review of studies, which suggested that opioids, in particular methadone, have limited effects on driving-related skills. Overall, there were no significant effects on driving, and the authors concluded that opioids do not appear to have marked effects on performance. Moskowitz & Robinson (1985) looked at methadone patients maintained on daily doses of 60–110 mg, and compared them with ex-heroin users. In general there were no significant effects found on performance, except that methadone patients had slower rates of information processing. Similarly, Schindler et al. (2004) found that patients maintained on either methadone or buprenorphine (average dose of 45 mg and 10 mg respectively) did not differ significantly from healthy subjects on all but two of the driving-related tasks measured. Strain et al. (1992; 1995) looked at the effects of an acute intramuscular dose of buprenorphine (0.5–8 mg) on patients maintained on 30 mg of methadone. No significant impairments were found. In a later study, Strain et al. (1997) looked at the effects of an acute intramuscular dose of buprenorphine (4, 8 or 16 mg) on patients maintained on 8 mg of buprenorphine. Again, there were no adverse effects reported, and the authors concluded that the effects of buprenorphine were substantially reduced for patients on maintenance programs compared with opioid-naïve subjects.

    Chesher et al. (1989) looked at the effects of an acute dose of methadone on driving-related tasks using three groups: patients beginning methadone maintenance (average dose of 38 mg); patients receiving an increased dose of methadone (average dose of 67 mg) and patients stabilised for at least 6 months (average dose of 85 mg). These patients were compared with both ex-users and non-users. There was no evidence that methadone significantly affected performance in any of the groups, although there was a trend toward impairment among those starting on methadone maintenance and those increasing their dose.

    Studies of patients on maintenance programs for the treatment of opioid addiction

    It was recommended that patients who are not stabilised on maintenance programs be advised not to drive for the first 3–4 weeks, but that there was no evidence of impairment once patients were stabilised. This study also looked at the effects of combining methadone with alcohol and a therapeutic dose of diazepam. These drugs taken in combination with methadone produced significant impairments, even in the stabilised group. Poly-drug use has also been discussed by Staak et al. (1993) in a review of studies on the effects of methadone maintenance on drivingrelated tasks. The majority found no significant differences between methadone patients and nonusers, although it was concluded that patients should not drive if taking other central nervous system depressants, or if not stabilised.

    Benzodiazepines, opiods and driving: http://www.dasc.sa.gov.au/webdata/resource..._literature.pdf

    As for driving, I'd be equally worried about over-confident rev-heads, the unrested, less confident drivers, the unexperienced, people on benzodiazepines, early phase antipsychotic treatment, some antidepressants, pot... any drug (or driver) really (except maybe psychostimulants in non-aggressive drivers who are well rested).

  11. Posted

    Hmm, sorry to change the topic too much but does it have a bitter almond taste (Caution!) when a few leaves are chewed? Meaning to try and get an ID for a Celastraceae(?) that looks a lot like a white narrow leaf khat. Are they known for containing amygdalin or something similar?

    Will have to get pics anyway but good luck with the ID.

  12. Posted · Edited by Alchemica

    Thanks for that link oface, easy to forget the simple stuff - tend to have to subscribe to news feeds myself, otherwise I end up chasing some complicated idea that I stuble across. Agree with faustus and the other recommendations, too. Few more ideas (Integrative psychiatry, unfortunately the preview lacks a few pages) at http://books.google.com.au/books?id=-JUcjU...kC&pg=PA623

    Understanding nutrition, depression and mental illnesses: http://www.indianjpsychiatry.org/article.a...=Sathyanarayana

    All the best with it mac.

    (Also mention for those in SA aged under 25, free acupuncture is offered through Child and Youth Health. Other states might offer similar treatments for the younger members.)

  13. Posted

    Thanks for the input everyone, cheers.

    C_T, links would be great, thanks for the offer. Will run it past my doctor anyway, surpising how they will continuously dish out scripts over three years and never ask about your diet. Guess that's all up to the consumer to persue these days.

    Definitely something that would take some time to get used to, never been a great meat eater but thanks for that link and suggestion of coconut oil ajna, looks like it could be a useful addition to bring the fats up a bit.

    Will look more into it all.

  14. Posted · Edited by Alchemica

    Seen a bit about using a ketogenic diet (high fat, adequate protein, low carbs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet ) for mood stabilising effects. Wondering if anyone here has used them for such (there's a bit on the net but some of the attitudes seem a bit unbalanced and I can't find any good answers about long term risks). Not so worried about weight loss, more just getting into ketosis for the mood stabilisation (at the moment I'm pretty much a mostly complex carb and fruit, moderate protein, low fat diet).

    Anyway, would be nice to get off valproate and the mood stabilisers - anyone (guess "The Bear" would...) recommend it? Sure it's easier/cheaper to keep popping pills but is a ketogenic diet potenitially a better option or is it better to just try high-dose Omega-3's first? The idea of smelling a bit fruity to prevent me going a bit fruity does sound good though.

  15. Posted · Edited by Alchemica

    More of the same sort of results, not sure if it has been posted yet:

    Minimal Relationship Between Cannabis And Schizophrenia Or Psychosis, Suggested By New Study

    ScienceDaily (Oct. 22, 2009) — Last year the UK government reclassified cannabis from a class C to a class B drug, partly out of concerns that cannabis, especially the more potent varieties, may increase the risk of schizophrenia in young people. But the evidence for the relationship between cannabis and schizophrenia or psychosis remains controversial. A new study has determined that it may be necessary to stop thousands of cannabis users in order to prevent a single case of schizophrenia.

    Scientists from Bristol, Cambridge and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine took the latest information on numbers of cannabis users, the risk of developing schizophrenia, and the risk that cannabis use causes schizophrenia to estimate how many cannabis users may need to be stopped to prevent one case of schizophrenia. The study found it would be necessary to stop 2800 heavy cannabis users in young men and over 5000 heavy cannabis users in young women to prevent a single case of schizophrenia. Among light cannabis users, those numbers rise to over 10,000 young men and nearly 30,000 young women to prevent one case of schizophrenia.

    That's just part of the story. Interventions to prevent cannabis use typically do not succeed for every person who is treated. Depending on how effective an intervention is at preventing cannabis use, it would be necessary to treat even higher numbers of users to achieve the thousands of successful results necessary to prevent a very few cases of schizophrenia.

    Matt Hickman, one of the authors of the report recently published in the journal Addiction, said that "preventing cannabis use is important for many reasons -- including reducing tobacco and drug dependence and improving school performance. But our evidence suggests that focusing on schizophrenia may have been misguided. Our research cannot resolve the question whether cannabis causes schizophrenia, but does show that many people need to give up cannabis in order to have an impact on the number of people with schizophrenia. The likely impact of re-classifying cannabis in the UK on schizophrenia or psychosis incidence is very uncertain."

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/...1022101538.htm#

    Hickman et al. If cannabis caused schizophrenia-how many cannabis users may need to be prevented in order to prevent one case of schizophrenia? England and Wales calculations. Addiction, 2009; 104 (11): 1856 DOI: http://10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02736.x

    In the meantime, get your antidepressant fix legally prescribed: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/...91022114359.htm

  17. Posted · Edited by Alchemica

    Plants with possible anxiolytic action indicated by three Brazilian cultures (Indians, Afro-descendants and river-dwellers). In: Atta-ur-Rahman (Ed.) Studies in Natural Product Chemistry. Elsevier Science B.V., vol. 35: 549-595, 2008.

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/so_cap_12.pdf

    Plants with possible action on the central nervous system used by a quilombola group in Brazil. Phytotherapy Research 18: 748-753, 2004.

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/negros_ptr.pdf

    Ritual use of plants with possible action on the central Nervous System by the Krahô Indians, Brazil. Phytotherapy Research 19(2): 129-135, 2005.

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/indios_ptr.pdf

    Treatment of drug dependence with Brazilian herbal medicines. Jornal Brasileiro de Farmacognosia 16(Supl.): 690-5, 2006.

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/dependencia_rfbgnosia.pdf

    Use of South American plants for treatment of Neuropsychiatric disorders. International Psychiatry 3(3): 19-21, 2006.

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/southamerican_plants.pdf

    Plants with possible psychoactive actions used by the Krahô Indians, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria 28(4): 277-82, 2006.

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/kraho_psicoativas_rpb.pdf

    Plants indicated by Brazilian Indians to Central Nervous System disturbances: A chemical approach. Current Medicinal Chemistry – Central Nervous System Agents 6: 211-244, 2006.

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/revisao_indios_cnsa.pdf

    Ethnopharmacology in the Jaú National Park (JNP), state of Amazonas, Brazil. Phytotherapy Research 20(5): 378-391, 2006

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/caboclos_ptr.pdf

    Brazilian plants with possible action on the Central Nervous System – a study of historical sources from the 16th – 19th century. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 109: 338-47, 2007.

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/literatura_antiga_jep.pdf

    Plants of restricted use indicated by three cultures in Brazil (caboclo-river dweller, Indian and Quilombola). Journal of Ethnopharmacology 111: 295-302, 2007.

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/restricoes_de_uso_jep.pdf

    Preliminary investigation of the central nervous system effects of 'Tira-capeta' (Removing the Devil), a cigarette used by some Quilombolas living in Pantanal Wetlands of Brazil. Phytotherapy Research 22(9): 1248-1255, 2008.

    http://www.cee.unifesp.br/2008_rodrigues_phyto.pdf

    (3rd Link edited)

  18. Posted · Edited by Alchemica

    Just an update for interstate members regarding the new "Garden of Health" to be developed. Here's the page from the Foundation News:

    post-5043-1255950477_thumb.jpg

    Ended up going along to the "An Evening with Peter Cundall and Sophie Thomson". Unfortunately there wasn't anything mentioned about the Garden of Health... just Peter Cundall raving on about nothing of particular relevance.

    Completion in approx. 12-18 months IIRC. Hoping to get updates and keen to know if there will be any public input and when more detailed plans are to be released.

    Tax deductible donations can be made to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Foundation, if anyone is looking to part with money.

    EDIT: Sign up for GreenMail to receive Foundation news and correspondence via email, including notification of the website launch. http://www.abgf.org/

    post-5043-1255950477_thumb.jpg

    post-5043-1255950477_thumb.jpg

  19. Posted · Edited by Alchemica

    Electric's original thread has some interesting additions http://www.entheogen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25078

    Electric, did you end up running a pet ether/supercritical butane extract on the seeds? http://newjournal.kcsnet.or.kr/main/j_sear...tm?code=B090836 has a method for extraction, but it's complicated. No yields either.

    More googling found a slightly simpler method still have to run a large diameter column though. They obtained 4.96% bakuchiol based on the weight of Psoraleae fructusi:

    "Three hundred grams of Psoraleae fructus powder was extracted by 2.4 L of acetone, and the mixture was separated into solid and liquid phases. The extraction and solid/liquid separation were repeated three times. The filtrates were combined, and the solvent was removed by evaporation to obtain 72.11 g of an oily extract. Twenty two grams of said oily extract was separated by a silica gel column (9.6×25 cm) packed with 300 g of silica gel (Merck Co., Silica gel 60, mesh 70˜230). A mixture of n-hexane/ethyl acetate (9:1), acetone, and methanol were sequentially used as an eluent to elute the column. Twenty five bottles of eluate of n-hexane/ethyl acetate (9:1) were first collected from the column. Furthermore, 10 bottles (Bottle Nos. 26-35) of eluate of acetone were collected from column, followed by 10 bottles (Bottle Nos. 36-45) of eluate of methanol were collected from the column. Every 300 ml of the eluate was collected separately, i.e. 300 ml per bottle. The eluate was identified by a silica gel thin layer chromatography (TLC) developed by a mixed solution of n-hexane/ethyl acetate (9:1) using an UV lamp or an iodine vapor. The bottles of the eluate containing same ingredients analyzed by TLC were combined.

    Eluate in the bottle Nos. 1-7 shows no UV absorption spot on the TLC plate, indicating that the eluate contains lipids. The eluate in bottles of No. 1-7 was combined and concentrated to obtain 6.116 g of oily substances. Eluate in the bottle of No. 8-20 show only one UV absorption spot on the TLC plate (R f =0.29). The eluate in the bottles of No. 8-20 was combined and concentrated to obtain 4.543 g of the oily bakuchiol. The eluate in bottles of No.21-45 containing no bakuchiol was combined and concentrated to obtain 11.04 g of substances. The above-mentioned data indicate that: a total of 240.36 g of extract can be obtained per kg of Psoralea corilifoli, i.e. an extraction ratio of 24.04%. The 240.36 g of extract contains 66.82 g of lipids (6.68%, based on the weight of Psoraleae fructus), 49.64 g of bakuchiol (4.96%, based on the weight of Psoraleae fructusi), and 123.9 g of other Psoraleae fructus ingredients (extraction ratio of 12.4%, based on the weight of Psoraleae corilifoli )."

    http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2005/0256208.html

    Should be able to follow the Δ3,2-hydroxybakuchiol via TLC to obtain that fraction, or skip the column totally and just play around with the crude extracts if you get super desperate and want to subject your body to such a coctail.

    Maybe the mixed pharmacological profile for bakuchiol/analogues would make them unlikely candidates for a particularly useful DAT/NE stim. I'd rather stick with bupropion or something a bit more selective.

  20. Posted

    Thanks for sharing, nice finds.

    Any idea if it was psoralen and isopsoralen that showed the DAT//NET inhibition? Interesting if the actives are indeed coumarins.

    "The dried seeds of P. corylifolia were ground to powder (about 30 mesh). The powder (1000 g) was marinated with 2000mL of 50% ethanol for 24 h and then filled in a glass column and eluted with 8000mL of 50% ethanol for 8 days at room temperature. The extract was evaporated under reduced pressure to about 3500 mL, and the concentrate was stored in a refrigerator (4 ◦C) for 24 h. The deposition (500 g) generated in the solution was extracted with 400mL of light petroleum (boiling range 60–90 ◦C) at 85 ◦C for 2 h. The extraction was repeated five times. Then the light petroleum extracts were combined and evaporated under reduced pressure. 10.3 g of crude extract powder was obtained. It was stored in a refrigerator (4 ◦C)"

    100mg of crude extract yielded 39.6 mg of psoralen and 50.8 mg of isopsoralen.

    http://www.tautobiotech.com/download/%E6%9...82%E7%B4%A0.pdf

  22. Posted

    Why do secularists dump their anti-Gd propaganda on everybody?

    If they are so sure that Gd doesn't exist, why are they perpetually trying to prove so?

    Then, how was the universe created?

    And why do we use Entheogenesis (Gd within) and behave like political correctoids,

    too cowardly to mention the "G" word, unless in argument to refute Gd?

    A little schizophrenic don't you think?

    I like to sit on the fence with regard to God... Science has more answers for me. As for the universe being created, how was God created?

    God does however make a perfect (theoretical) argument for legalising things that should be legal under "religious freedom", whether or not you believe in a higher power. Everyone should have the right to believe, or not believe IMO. Who's to say the whole concept of God is not just merely a human evolutionary concept, wired into the brain over thousands of years?

    "Those who assume hypothesis as first principles of their speculations... may indeed form an ingenious romance, but a romance it will still be."-Roger Cotes

    (preface to Sir Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica)

  24. Posted · Edited by Alchemica

    With the oxalic acid levels, remember that figure could be for the fresh plant material.

    I have read via Google that kanna increases BP.

    I disagree, can someone please purchase BP monitor from chemist and do research?

    Original: 132/75 mm/Hg then took 1.5g of kanna as a tea (continuing the same activity as before and not having had any caffeine for probably 2hrs)

    +1hr: 123/67 mm/Hg

    +1hr 30min: 127/69 mm/Hg

    Really not much change but this is just me and I don't always react typically.

  25. Posted · Edited by Alchemica

    Should be fine. Where legal, maybe just grind it, extract with hot acetone several times (sit a Pyrex jug with the acetone/plant material in a bath of hot water from the kettle or something), leave it to (mostly) evaporate and put the extract onto a Tally-Ho.

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