Biocompatibility of bio based calcium carbonate nanocrystals aragonite polymorph on NIH 3T3 fibroblast cell line

Background: Currently, there has been extensive research interest for inorganic nanocrystals such as calcium phosphate, iron oxide, silicone,carbon nanotube and layered double hydroxide as a drug delivery system especially in cancer therapy. However, toxicological screening of suchparticles is paramount importance before use as delivery carrier. In this study we examine the biocompatibility of CaCO3 nanocrystal on NIH 3T3cell line.Material and Methods: Transmission and field emission scanning electron microscopy (TEM and FESEM) were used for the characterisation ofCaCO3 nanocrystals. Cytotoxicity and genotoxic effect of calcium carbonate nanocrystals in cultured mouse embryonic fibroblast NIH 3T3 cellline using various bioassays including MTT, and Neutral red/Trypan blue double-staining assays. LDH, BrdU and reactive oxygen species wereused for toxicity analysis. Cellular morphology was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal fluorescence microscope.Results: The outcome of the analyses revealed a clear rod-shaped aragonite polymorph of calcium carbonate nanocrystal. The analysed cytotoxic and genotoxicity of CaCO3 nanocrystal on NIH 3T3 cells using different bioassays revealed no significance differences as compared to control. A slight decrease in cell viability was noticed when the cells were exposed to higher concentrations of 200 to 400 ìg/ml, while increase in ROS generation and LDH released at 200 and 400 ìg/ml was observed.Conclusions: The study has shown that CaCO3 nanocrystal is biocompatible and non toxic to NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells. The analysed results offer a promising potential of CaCO3 nanocrystal for the development of  intracellular drugs, genes and other macromolecule delivery systems.Keywords: Biocompatibility; Calcium carbonate; nanocrystals; drugs and Cockle shells

Petani Kopi Arabika di Desa Benteng Alla Utara Kecamatan Baroko Kabupaten Enrekang (1970-2016).

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui latar belakang keberadaan pertanian kopi, perkembangan pertanian kopi hingga dampak pertanian Kopi Arabika di Desa Benteng Alla Utara Kecamatan Baroko. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif. Penelitian ini dilakukan melalui wawancara dan kajian pustaka dengan menggunakan metode sejarah melalui beberapa tahapan: heuristik (pengumpulan sumber), kritik sumber, interpretasi, dan historiografi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa keberadaan pertanian Kopi Arabika di Desa Benteng Alla Utara berawal pada tahun 1750 setelah Belanda berhasil menjajah Desa Benteng Alla Utara. Perkembangan perkebunan kopi mulai digencarkan kembali ketika kedatangan Ir. Sugiyo yang berasal dari Kabupaten Jember, Jawa Timur. Ir. Sugiyo adalah pegawai pertanian dari Jawa. Ir. Sugiyo memperkenalkan jenis Kopi Arabika yang memiliki kualitas yang baik. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian tersebut, maka dapat disimpulkan bahwa Pertanian Kopi Arabika memberikan dampak bagi perekonomian masyarakat di Desa Benteng Alla Utara yaitu penyediaan lapangan pekerjaan seperti adanya buruh musim dan buruh harian, adanya kepemilikan properti bagi petani Kopi Arabika, dan memberikan dampak bagi pendapatan daerah

Growth response of eight tropical turfgrass species to salinity

Irrigation seawater of different salinity levels (0, 24, 48 and 72 dSm-1) were applied to experimental plants grown in a plastic pots filled with a mixture of sand and peat (9:1). The results were analyzedusing SAS and treatment means were compared using LSD Test. The results indicated that Paspalum vaginatum (seashore paspalum) (SP), Zoysia matrella (manilagrass) (MG), Pasplaum vaginatum local(SPL), Cynodon dactylon (common bermuda) (CB), Cynodon dactylon (bermuda greenless park) (GLP), Eremochloa ophiuroides (centipede) (CP), Axonopus compressus (cow grass) (CG) and Axonopusaffinis (narrowleaf carpet grass) (NCG) experienced a 50% shoot growth reduction at the EC of 39.8, 36.5, 26.1, 25.9, 21.7, 22.4, 17.0 and 18.3 dSm-1, respectively, and a 50% root growth reduction at the ECof 49.4, 42.1, 29.9, 29.7, 26.0 24.8, 18.8 and 20.0 dSm-1, respectively. The ranking for salinity tolerance of selected grasses was  SP>MG>SPL>CB>GLP>CP>NCG>CG. The results indicate the importance of the selection of turfgrass varieties according to the soil salinity and seawater salinity levels to be used for irrigation

Streptomyces noboritoensis isolated from rhizosphere soil and its use in controlling banana-tissue culture contaminants

In this study, the role of Streptomyces noboritoensis (14) isolated from the rhizosphere of banana plant and having antagonistic activity against the bacterial- and fungal-tissue culture contaminants was determined in vitro. Results show that the filtrate was more effective against the fungal-tissue culture contaminants than the bacterial-tissue culture contaminants. This was indicated when jars were fungifree and bacteria-free after one month and 21 days from incubation, respectively. Results of in vitro application show that the filtrate of S. noboritoensis (14) as a bio-control agent could be used for controlling the contaminants in banana. Data showed that treatment F (sterilized shoots treated with Streptomyces filtrate and cultivated on Streptomyces-inoculated medium) was the most effective followed by treatment E (sterilized shoots untreated with Streptomyces filtrate and cultivated on Streptomyces-inoculated medium). Therefore, the study suggests conducting further studies towards the use of streptomycetes in the biological control in a large scale production.Keywords: Streptomyces, tissue culture contaminants, antagonistic activities, bio-controlAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(20), pp. 2908-291

Taxonomy of Streptomyces strains isolated from rhizospheres of various plant species grown in Taif region, KSA, having antagonistic activities against some microbial tissue culture contaminants

This work was designed to identify and taxonomically classify Streptomyces strains isolated from the rhizospheres of various plant species; banana, rose, pomegranate and grape plants, having antagonistic activity against some microbial (bacteria and fungi) tissue culture contaminants. Streptomyces strains with the most potent antagonistic traits were identified using sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons generated by PCR of DNA and blasting the sequences into GenBank. The Streptomyces isolates had antagonism against five identified fungi (Aspergillus fumigates, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus nidulans (1), Aspergillus nidulans (2), Cladosporium herbarum) and against five out of the 11 Gram positive bacilli bacterial contaminants. The three selected Streptomyces isolates (14, 15 and 17) were identified as strains of Streptomyces noboritoensis, Streptomyces albolongus and Streptomyces griseorubiginosus, respectively. Isolate 14 for which 1443 nucleotides were obtained was compared with eight universal Streptomyces strains and was classified as a new species of gray Streptomyces, to be named Streptomyces noboritoensis SSMA2-KSA strain. This study recommends conducting further studies on the use of streptomycetes in the biological control in a large scale production.Keywords: Taxonomy, Streptomyces, microbial tissue culture contaminants, antagonistic activities, 16S rRNAAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(14), pp. 1657-166

Effect of salt stress on germination and early seedling growth of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The response of twelve rice varieties against six salinity levels (0, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 dS m-1) were studied at germination and early seedling stages. Data were analyzed using SAS and means were separated by LSD for final germination percentage (FGP), speed of germination (SG), germinationenergy percentage (GE%), plumule and radical length and plumule and radical dry weight. Based on dry matter yield reduction, rice varieties were classified as tolerant (T), moderately tolerant (MT), moderately susceptible (MS) or susceptible (S). Germination was completely arrested at 20 dS m-1 salt concentration. Salinity decreased FGP, SG, GE % and led to reduction in shoot and root length and dry weight in all varieties and the magnitude of reduction increased with increasing salinity stress. Ricevarieties MR211, IR20, BR40 and MR232 showed greater salt tolerance during germination (germinated at 12 dS m-1 salinity). However, MR211, MR232 and IR20 performed better based on dry matter yield reduction. The result suggested that MR211, MR232 and IR20 might be used for further study of salinity effect on growth processes and physiological consequences at advanced stage of growth, since salt tolerance of a crop at germination and early seedling stage may not correspond to that at advanced stage

Controlled cavity collapse: scaling laws of drop formation

The formation of transient cavities at liquid interfaces occurs in an immense variety of natural processes, among which the bursting of surface bubbles and the impact of a drop on a liquid pool are salient. The collapse of a surface liquid cavity is a well documented natural process that leads to the ejection of a thin and fast jet. Droplets generated through this process can be one order of magnitude smaller than the cavity's aperture, and they are consequently of interest in drop on demand inkjet applications. In this work, the controlled formation and collapse of a liquid cavity is analyzed, and the conditions for minimizing the resulting size and number of ejected drops are determined. The experimental and numerical models are simple and consist of a liquid reservoir, a nozzle plate with the discharge orifice, and a moving piston actuated by single half-sine-shaped pull-mode pulses. The size of the jetted droplet is described by a physical model resulting in a scaling law that is numerically and experimentally validated

Sunda Wiwitan: The Belief System of Baduy Indigenous Community, Banten, Indonesia

The purpose of this study is to determine the construction of the meaning of Sunda Wiwitan religion in Sundanese Baduy indigenous people. The research uses interpretive paradigms with qualitative methods, and symbolic interaction study approaches as a tool of analysis. Data gathered through participatory observation and in-depth interviews. Sunda Wiwitan religion is the main symbol in the Baduy indigenous people, and is a dimension that reaches every side of life, and is a collective representation of the belief system of the Baduy indigenous community. This symbol serves as a reference for the collective paradigm, and as a reference for interpreting natural phenomena and determining the behavior of the Baduy indigenous people. The symbol of traditional institutions and traditional ceremonies represent three essential issues, namely: (1) Understanding and appreciation of religion (belief) of the Baduy indigenous people as Sunda Wiwitan descendants; (2) Observance and practice of the daily life of the Baduy indigenous people as members of the traditional Sundanese or Sunda Buhun social groups; and (3) Symbolization of the existence and recognition of the existence of government and power outside the Baduy Customary institution

Breakup length of electrified liquid jets: Scaling laws and applications

The growth rate of infinitesimal perturbations in electrified jets at the viscid and inviscid limits exhibit different behavior. Using Saville’s approach to estimate the growth rate for perturbations in the long wavelength limit and by neglecting the effects of gravity, we derived two scaling laws for the jet breakup length in two regimes of the Taylor cone mode. Our experimental measurements show clear dependency of the jet length on the flow rate; however changing the applied voltage has appeared to affect only the cone angle, but not to the jet itself. The experimental data has an excellent collapse with our theoretical model in both cases. The transition between viscid and inviscid limits appears to occur at an electric Reynolds number, based upon jet diameter of Re≃5. Finally, we showed how to enhance the quality and the resolution in Electrostatic Inkjet Printing applications by setting the printing distance lower than the jet length and predicting the line width as a function of the operational parameters.This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (United Kingdom) under Grant No. EP/N509917/1 and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant No. 646296

A novel capsule-based smell test fabricated via coaxial dripping

In this paper, we demonstrate that aromatic oil capsules, produced by dripping droplets, can offer a simple, yet effective, testing tool to aid in the diagnosis of various diseases, in which the loss of smell is a key symptom. These include chronic neurological conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, and acute respiratory infections such as that caused by COVID-19. The capsules were fabricated by concentrically dripping oil/alginate droplets, from a coaxial nozzle, into an oppositely charged ionic liquid. This fabrication technique enables full control over the capsule size, the shell thickness and the volume of the encapsulated oil. After formation, liquid capsules were left to dry and form a solid crust surrounding the oil. The prototype test consists of placing a standardized number of capsules between adhesive strips that users crush and pull apart to release the smell. In addition to the fabrication method, a simple mathematical model was developed to predict the volume of encapsulated oil within the capsule in terms of the flow rate ratio and the nozzle size. Tensile tests show that capsule strength is inversely proportional to its size owing to an increase in the shell thickness. By increasing the alginate concentration, the load required to rupture the capsule increases, to the point where capsules are too stiff to be broken by a fingertip grip. Results from a preliminary screening test, within a group of patients with Parkinson's disease, found that smells were detectable using a ‘forced choice’ paradigm