In his Science of the COSMOS, science of the soul, William Chittick attempts to find relevance between views of the ancient Muslim thinkers and those of today. In other words, he seeks to prove that the thinkers of the early Muslim world can offer ways for solving difficulties and vexing problems of contemporary modernity-stricken societies. The book has been written in a totally Islamic monotheistic tone, attributing the decline in thought of today's Muslim communities to their distancing themselves from the traditional rationality of the past. The root-cause of this intellectual decline, according to Chittick lies in the fact that the contemporary Muslims have abandoned their traditional way of thinking, which used to be monotheistically oriented, and moved towards instrumental rationality of ultra modernism. Chittick concludes that man's endeavor to attain science cannot and should not get far away from Divine way; otherwise, there will be all ignorance, vexation and chaos.

William Chittick, currently Professor of Religious Studies at the State University of New York (Stony Brook), is an internationally renowned expert on Islamic thought. His contributions to the fields of Sufism and Islamic philosophy have helped paint a clearer picture of the intellectual and spiritual landscape of Islamic civilization from the 7th/13th century onwards. Yet Chittick is not simply concerned with discussions in Islamic thought as artifacts of premodern intellectual history. His vast knowledge of the Islamic intellectual tradition serves as the platform from which he seeks to address a broad range of contemporary issues. In this short essay, I will outline Chittick’s writings on the self within the context of his treatment of cosmology. Rather than being outdated ways of looking at the universe and our relationship to it, Chittick argues that traditional Islamic cosmological teachings are just as pertinent to the question of the self today as they were yesterday.

Background: COSMOS bipinnatus is an important medicinal plant with antioxidative, antigenotoxic, anti-infl ammatory, and antiproliferative eff ects on several cancer cell lines. It has great potential for development as a promising cancer chemo-preventive agent. Hairy root-based culture technology is a new sustainable production platform for producing specifi c pharmaceutical secondary metabolites. Objectives: The current study developed and introduced a reliable transformation system for C. bipinnatus by optimization of aspects important in transformation frequency using Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Methods: Five bacterial strains, including ATCC 15834, ATCC 31798, A7, MAFF-02-10266, and MSU440, 2 explant types (leaf and stem), and 2 co-cultivation media (full MS and ½ MS) were examined. Genomic DNA was extracted using a modifi ed CTAB protocol from putative transgenic root lines and the control root. Transgenic hairy root lines were approved by means of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using specifi c rolB gene primers. Results: The highest ratio of genetically transformed root induction was found from leaf explants using A. rhisogenes strains ATCC15834 and MSU440 (72% to 73%). When ½ MS medium was used as a co-cultivation medium, a signifi cant increase in transformation frequency (84%) was observed. Conclusions: The MSU440 Agrobacterium strain and ½ MS co-cultivation medium could signifi cantly improve genetic transformation effi ciency for establishment of hairy root-based cultures for C. bipinnatus.

In this paper, we investigate four views about the COSMOS that belong to the time of the mythical beliefs, the formation period of philosophy in ancient Greece, the persistent Ptolemaic system of middle ages, and the emergence of the new science from the findings of Nicolas of Cusa, Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo and explain their mythical implications in six aspects: God-COSMOS relation, the livingness of humanity and universe, the man familiarity with COSMOS and his wondering about it, the dialogues of man with COSMOS, the length and breadth of the universe, and finally the relation between science and lived experience. We insist on the certainty of the metaphysical and mythical influences on all scientific theories and show that these influences doesn’t follow the volition or worldview of the theorist.

COSMOS caudatus is widely used as a traditional medicine in Southeast Asia. C. caudatus has been reported as a rich source of bioactive compounds such as ascorbic acid, quercetin, and chlorogenic acid. Studies have shown that C. caudatus exhibits high anti-oxidant capacity and various medicinal properties, including anti-diabetic activity, anti-hypertensive properties, anti-inflammatory responses, bone-protective effect, and anti-microbial activity. This review aims to present the potential medicinal benefits of C. caudatus from the available scientific literature. We searched PubMed and ScienceDirect database for articles published from 1995 to January 2015. Overall, 15 articles related to C. caudatus and its medicinal benefits are reviewed. All these studies demonstrated that C. caudatus is effective, having demonstrated its anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, bone-protective, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal activity in both in vitro and animal studies. None of the studies showed any negative effect of C. caudatus related to medicinal use. Currently available evidence suggests that C. caudatus has beneficial effects such as reducing blood glucose, reducing blood pressure, promoting healthy bone formation, and demonstrating anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. However, human clinical trial is warranted.

Aesthetics as a discipline has been in the center of studies and researches of different groups of thinkers. One of the problems in this relation is the domain of beauty. Does beauty extend to all existent things or it is limited to some and the others will be regarded as ugly.The answer to this question depends on our view in ontology from one side and aesthetics from another side. One of the approaches to this problem is that of Islamic Mysticism. Based on the revealed scriptures, Muslim mystics have represented cognitive answers to this question.Since among Muslim mystics Ibn Arabi has been the most influential one, we have focused our discussion on his ideas in this paper. We will study his views on the "domain of beauty in the COSMOS". We will approach his views from ontological and aesthetic dimensions. We will show that from his point of view, beauty is identical to existence and there is no ugliness in the world.

Radiotherapy (RT) is a cornerstone of cancer treatment, typically delivered over several weeks in daily fractions. While much attention has been paid to its effects on tumor cells and host tissues. . .

Background: Flavonoid-derived components have been studied for their therapeutic properties. Objectives: Apigenin has shown remarkable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory features, so we should have a reliable source of apigenin. Methods: In this study, we used high-performance liquid chromatography method to compare the amount of apigenin in flower, root, leaf, and stem of three varieties of osmos bipinnatus, i. e., ‘, Dazzler, ’,‘, Xanthos, ’,‘, Sensation Pinkie’, , and in transgenic root culture of C. bipinnatus ‘, Dazzler’, . Besides, the antioxidant activity of C. bipinnatus ‘, Dazzler’,transgenic root culture was evaluated using Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assay. Results: Dazzler variety flowers showed the highest recovery of apigenin with 0. 799 mg/100 mg Dry Weight (DW). However, the Sensation pinkie variety leafs had the lowest recovery with 0. 089 mg/100mg. Apigenin content in transformed roots (0. 797 mg/100 mg DW) of C. bipinnatus ‘, Dazzler’,was significantly higher than non-transformed roots (0. 42 mg/100 mg DW). The ethanolic extract of hairy root showed the FRAP value of 668. 1 μ, M Fe2+/mg that was comparatively more than the wild root FRAP value (426. 2 μ, M Fe2+/mg). Conclusion: In conclusion, the presence of apigenin in high amounts in hairy root cultures of C. bipinnatus ‘, Dazzler’,indicates its great potential for the future pharmaceutical industry.

The chemical composition of essential oils isolated from the leaves of COSMOS bipinnatus and its antibacterial activity were analyzed by GC-MS and microbroth dilution assay respectively. The essential oil extracted from this plant was predominantly composed of monoterpenes (69.62%) and sesquiterpenes (22.73%). The antibacterial assay showed that the oil had significant inhibitory effects against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria isolates. The MIC of Gram-positive strains ranged between 0.16 and 0.31 mg/mL while those of Gram-negative bacteria ranged between 0.31 and 0.63 mg/mL. The Gram-positive bacteria were more susceptible to the essential oil than the Gram-negative bacteria. Most of the major components of this oil in other plants have been reported for antimicrobial activities. The antibacterial activity can be attributed to effects of the combination of several components of the oil. The results indicate that the C. bipinnatus might be exploited as natural antibacterial agent and have application in the treatment of several infectious diseases caused by these bacteria. Since this species is endemic to the eastern Free State, the plant could be collected during its bloom and used efficiently in the management of bacterial infections in South Africa.

Among the different kinds of prayers, petitionary prayer faces most philosophical challenges. One of them is about the efficacy of this sort of prayer in a world having inclusive laws. The problem has two presumptions. First, the divine answer to petitionary prayer is granted, and secondly, there is no violation in natural laws. To consider this problem, we have examined two philosophers’ views, Mortaza Mutahhari and Eleonore Stump. Although Mutahhari does not address the problem explicitly, we can find the bases for coping with it in his works. Stump, however, considers the problem explicitly. First, she proves the possibility of prayer in such a world. Secondly, by appealing to some notions in modern physics, she offers an explanation of how this possibility can be actualized. On the other hand, Mutahhari's answers are focused on the compatibility of prayers with the other laws of nature. So, he believes that the petitionary prayer is a law among the other laws in the COSMOS.