KAJIAN BUDIDAYA RUMPUT LAUT (Eucheuma cotonii) DENGAN SISTEM DAN MUSIM TANAM YANG BERBEDA DI KABUPATEN BANGKEP SULAWESI TENGAH

The assessment was conducted in Apal Village, Bangkep Regency since March to November 2002. It aimedat determine seaweed growing practice and planting season suitable with the local waters, applicable, and enable toimprove fisheries’ income. In addition, it was intended to create employment and to explore coastal resourcesoptimally. The assessment was carried out using a randomized split block design with three treatments, namelycontrol (T0), usual planting rows (T1), and three furrow planting rows (T2), and each of five replications. Plantingwas carried out in four planting seasons representing those of west to east (BT), east (T), east to west (TB), and west(W) and were subsequently on April, June, August, and October 2002. Average weight of seaweed of T2 treatmentduring 50 days of growing showed highest yields. In the same planting season, T0 and T2 were not differentsignificantly. Among the planting seasons, the highest average weights were found for planting on October-November2002 for all treatments. The highest productions the seaweed planted on October 2002, namely 55.09, 52.99, and55.09 kilograms for T0, T1, and T2, respectively. The yields attained were 2.20, 2.12, and 2.20 kg/m2 for T0, T1, andT2, respectively. Highest daily growth rates were achieved during October-November 2002 planting season, namelyT0 (4.4%), T1 (4.7%), and T2 (4.7%). Return to costs ratios of each treatment were 2.3 (T2), 2.2 (T0), and T1.Key words: growing practice, planting season, Eucheuma cotonii.Pengkajian dilaksanakan di Desa Apal Kabupaten Bangkep dari bulan Maret-November 2002, bertujuanuntuk mendapatkan informasi sistem dan waktu tanam rumput laut yang sesuai dengan perairan setempat, mudahdilakukan dan dapat meningkatkan pendapatan petani-nelayan. Di samping itu membuka peluang kesempatan kerjadan berusaha yang kondusif serta dapat memanfaatkan sumberdaya pesisir secara optimal. Rancangan penelitian yangdigunakan adalah Rancangan Acak Lengkap Faktorial dengan tiga perlakuan, yaitu kontrol (T0), jalur tanam biasa(T1), dan jalur tanam legowo tiga (T2) dengan masing-masing lima ulangan. Penanaman dilakukan empat kali musimtanam yang masing-masing mewakili peralihan musim barat ke musim timur (BT), musim timur (T), peralihan darimusim timur ke musim barat (TB), dan musim barat (B) yang secara berurutan jatuh pada bulan April, Juni, Agustus,dan Oktober tahun 2002. Hasil pengamatan rata-rata bobot akhir rumput laut selama 50 hari pemeliharaanmenunjukkan bahwa sistem legowo tiga pada hampir semua musim tanam masih memberikan hasil terbaik. Untukwaktu tanam, sistem tanam tali rentang dan legowo tiga tidak berpengaruh terhadap waktu tanam yang sama.Sedangkan untuk masing-masing waktu tanam, bobot akhir rata-rata tertinggi diperoleh pada periode penanamanOktober - November untuk setiap perlakuan. Untuk semua sistem tanam, produksi terbesar diperoleh pada musimtanam Oktober, masing-masing 55,09 kg pada sistem tanam tali rentang maupun legowo tiga, dan 52,99 kg pada jalurbiasa. Sedangkan untuk produktivas, masing-masing 2,20 kg/m2 untuk sistem tali rentang maupun sistem legowotiga, dan 2,12 kg/m2 untuk sistem jalur biasa. Pada laju pertumbuhan harian, periode penamanan Oktober - Novembermemperlihatkan hasil yang terbaik pada masing-masing teknologi yaitu 4,4 persen pada sistem tali rentang, 4,7 persenpada sistem tanam biasa, dan 4,7 persen pada sistem tanam legowo tiga. Untuk analisis usahatani, pendapatan bersihtertinggi diperoleh pada perlakuan sistem tanam jalur legowo tiga dengan R/C ratio 2,3, diikuti dengan tali rentangR/C ratio 2,2 dan sistem jalur biasa R/C ratio 1,6.Kata kunci : sistem tanam, waktu tanam, rumput lau

Mechanical and Thermal Evaluation of Carrageenan/Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose Biocomposite Incorporated with Modified Starch Corroborated by Molecular Interaction Recognition

Vegetarian hard capsule has attracted surging demand as an alternative to gelatin; however, only few have been commercialized. Carrageenan extracted from seaweed has the potential to be utilized as a hard capsule material. Improving the mechanical and thermal properties of carrageenan biocomposite is therefore of great importance for future use in the drug delivery system. Hence, carboxymethyl sago starch (CMSS) was incorporated to strengthen the carrageenan biocomposite in a concentration range from 0 to 1.0% w/v. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding formed between carrageenan and CMSS was revealed via density functional theory (DFT) calculations and substantiated by 1H NMR and FTIR spectra. The result showed that the hydrogen bond is established between hydroxyl (carrageenan)–carbonyl (CMSS) groups at a distance of 1.87 Å. The bond formation subsequently increased the tensile strength of the biocomposite film and the loop strength of the hard capsule by 20.6 and 7.7%, respectively. The glass transition temperature of the film was increased from 37.8 to 47.8 °C, increasing the thermal stability. The activation energy upon decomposition of the film is 74.4 kJ·mol–1, representing a 26.2% increase over the control carrageenan. These findings demonstrate that incorporation of CMSS increases the properties of carrageenan biocomposite and provides a promising alternative to animal-based hard capsules

Bragg gratings in defect-free germanium-doped optical fibers.

Bragg gratings have been written in germanium-doped optical fibers that have been treated to remove the UV absorption bands associated with oxygen-deficient defects. When one is using high-intensity 193-nm light from an ArF excimer laser to fabricate the gratings, the refractive index increases and the grating transmission spectra are similar to those obtained in standard (untreated) fiber

Identification of multiple risk loci and regulatory mechanisms influencing susceptibility to multiple myeloma

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have transformed our understanding of susceptibility to multiple myeloma (MM), but much of the heritability remains unexplained. We report a new GWAS, a meta-analysis with previous GWAS and a replication series, totalling 9974 MM cases and 247,556 controls of European ancestry. Collectively, these data provide evidence for six new MM risk loci, bringing the total number to 23. Integration of information from gene expression, epigenetic profiling and in situ Hi-C data for the 23 risk loci implicate disruption of developmental transcriptional regulators as a basis of MM susceptibility, compatible with altered B-cell differentiation as a key mechanism. Dysregulation of autophagy/apoptosis and cell cycle signalling feature as recurrently perturbed pathways. Our findings provide further insight

The Cholecystectomy As A Day Case (CAAD) Score: A Validated Score of Preoperative Predictors of Successful Day-Case Cholecystectomy Using the CholeS Data Set

Background Day-case surgery is associated with significant patient and cost benefits. However, only 43% of cholecystectomy patients are discharged home the same day. One hypothesis is day-case cholecystectomy rates, defined as patients discharged the same day as their operation, may be improved by better assessment of patients using standard preoperative variables. Methods Data were extracted from a prospectively collected data set of cholecystectomy patients from 166 UK and Irish hospitals (CholeS). Cholecystectomies performed as elective procedures were divided into main (75%) and validation (25%) data sets. Preoperative predictors were identified, and a risk score of failed day case was devised using multivariate logistic regression. Receiver operating curve analysis was used to validate the score in the validation data set. Results Of the 7426 elective cholecystectomies performed, 49% of these were discharged home the same day. Same-day discharge following cholecystectomy was less likely with older patients (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), higher ASA scores (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), complicated cholelithiasis (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.48), male gender (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58–0.74), previous acute gallstone-related admissions (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.48–0.60) and preoperative endoscopic intervention (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.34–0.47). The CAAD score was developed using these variables. When applied to the validation subgroup, a CAAD score of ≤5 was associated with 80.8% successful day-case cholecystectomy compared with 19.2% associated with a CAAD score >5 (p < 0.001). Conclusions The CAAD score which utilises data readily available from clinic letters and electronic sources can predict same-day discharges following cholecystectomy

Prospective development in diffusion barrier layers for copper metallization in LSI

The most recent development together with some challenging opportunities on barrier layers for copper metallization has been reviewed. This review study mainly focuses on the technology trends in interconnect metallization, with emphasis on barrier layer materials, mechanism that dominates diffusion in barrier layer materials, and promising candidate barrier layers for copper metallization in LSIs. The applicability of different materials as diffusion barriers in copper-based interconnects has also been assessed for practical usage. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Catalysts screening for catalytic conversion of glycerol to olefins

Biodiesel is produced by trans esterification, in which the fats/oils react with methanol to form biodiesel methyl esters and glycerol, the latter being sold as byproduct. As biodiesel is rapidly produced, glycerol has become abundantly available and cheaper. The unique feature of glycerol and the cost advantage attracts researchers to seek for ways to utilized and transform glycerol to useful products. Among important chemicals that can be produced from glycerol is olefin. Olefin can be produced via catalytic reaction of glycerol with zeolite ZSM-5 based catalysts at high temperature. The zeolite catalysts were prepared by impregnation with several metals including chromium, calcium, copper, nickel and aluminium. From the experiment, CuZSM-5 has given the highest conversion and olefins yield with 17.72 and 3.55%, respectively