Prarancangan Pabrik Mononitrotoluena Dari Toluena Dan Asam Campuran Dengan Proses Kontinyu Kapasitas 50.000 Ton/Tahun

Perancangan pabrik mononitrotoluena (MNT) dengan bahan baku toluena dan asam campuran dengan menggunakan asam sulfat sebagai katalisnya ini direncanakan beroperasi selama 330 hari/tahun dengan jumlah karyawan 103 orang. Pabrik dengan luas area sebesar 40.000 m2 ini direncanakan dibangun pada tahun 2020 di lokasi industri Cilacap, Provinsi Jawa Tengah yang berdekatan dengan Pertamina UP. IV dan PT Multi Nitrotama Kimia di Cikampek sebagai penyedia bahan baku. Pabrik ini beroperasi dengan kapasitas 50.000 ton/tahun, dengan pertimbangan dapat memenuhi kebutuhan dalam negeri dan mengurangi ketergantungan impor. Proses pembuatan MNT berlangsung pada fase cair dengan menggunakan reaktor CSTR (Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor) dengan kondisi tekanan pada 1 atm dan suhu 500C. Reaksi berlangsung secara eksotermis, searah, dan non adiabatis. Kebutuhan bahan baku pada pembuatan mononitrotoluena (MNT) ini yaitu toluena sebesar 4.352,89 kg/jam, asam nitrat sebesar 2.974,84 kg/jam, asam sulfat sebesar 5.456,53 kg/jam. Untuk menunjang proses produksi, maka didirikan unit pendukung yaitu unit penyediaan air sebesar 25.000 kg/jam, unit penyediaan steam dengan kebutuhan steam 6.112,32 kg/jam, kebutuhan listrik sebesar 451,27 kW diperoleh dari PLN dan dua buah generator set sebesar 1000 kW sebagai cadangan, kebutuhan bahan bakar sebanyak 111,11 m3/jam, penyediaan udara tekan sebesar 50 m3/jam. Dari analisa ekonomi yang dilakukan terhadap pabrik ini dengan modal tetap Rp. 358.101.411.906,94 dan modal kerja Rp. 115.718.268.954,47. Dari analisis ekonomi terhadap pabrik ini menunjukkan keuntungan sebelum pajak Rp. 107.147.468.828,61 pertahun, setelah dipotong pajak 30%, keuntungan mencapai Rp. 75.003.228.180,02 pertahun. Return On Investment (ROI) sebelum pajak 29,92% dan setelah pajak 20,94%. Pay Out Time (POT) sebelum pajak adalah 2,50 tahun dan setelah pajak 3,23 tahun. Break Even Point (BEP) sebesar 47,86% dan Shut Down Point (SDP) sebesar 25,23%. Dari data anlisis kelayakan diatas disimpulkan, Pabrik ini menguntungkan dan layak didirikan

Self-similarity in Laplacian Growth

We consider Laplacian Growth of self-similar domains in different geometries. Self-similarity determines the analytic structure of the Schwarz function of the moving boundary. The knowledge of this analytic structure allows us to derive the integral equation for the conformal map. It is shown that solutions to the integral equation obey also a second order differential equation which is the one dimensional Schroedinger equation with the sinh inverse square potential. The solutions, which are expressed through the Gauss hypergeometric function, characterize the geometry of self-similar patterns in a wedge. We also find the potential for the Coulomb gas representation of the self-similar Laplacian growth in a wedge and calculate the corresponding free energy.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure

A Reservoir of Drug-Resistant Pathogenic Bacteria in Asymptomatic Hosts

The population genetics of pathogenic bacteria has been intensively studied in order to understand the spread of disease and the evolution of virulence and drug resistance. However, much less attention has been paid to bacterial carriage populations, which inhabit hosts without producing disease. Since new virulent strains that cause disease can be recruited from the carriage population of bacteria, our understanding of infectious disease is seriously incomplete without knowledge on the population structure of pathogenic bacteria living in an asymptomatic host. We report the first extensive survey of the abundance and diversity of a human pathogen in asymptomatic animal hosts. We have found that asymptomatic swine from livestock productions frequently carry populations of Salmonella enterica with a broad range of drug-resistant strains and genetic diversity greatly exceeding that previously described. This study shows how agricultural practice and human intervention may lead and influence the evolution of a hidden reservoir of pathogens, with important implications for human health

KB-Rank: efficient protein structure and functional annotation identification via text query

The KB-Rank tool was developed to help determine the functions of proteins. A user provides text query and protein structures are retrieved together with their functional annotation categories. Structures and annotation categories are ranked according to their estimated relevance to the queried text. The algorithm for ranking first retrieves matches between the query text and the text fields associated with the structures. The structures are next ordered by their relative content of annotations that are found to be prevalent across all the structures retrieved. An interactive web interface was implemented to navigate and interpret the relevance of the structures and annotation categories retrieved by a given search. The aim of the KB-Rank tool is to provide a means to quickly identify protein structures of interest and the annotations most relevant to the queries posed by a user. Informational and navigational searches regarding disease topics are described to illustrate the tool’s utilities. The tool is available at the URL http://protein.tcmedc.org/KB-Rank

Woodland Recovery after Suppression of Deer: Cascade effects for Small Mammals, Wood Mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) and Bank Voles (Myodes glareolus)

Over the past century, increases in both density and distribution of deer species in the Northern Hemisphere have resulted in major changes in ground flora and undergrowth vegetation of woodland habitats, and consequentially the animal communities that inhabit them. In this study, we tested whether recovery in the vegetative habitat of a woodland due to effective deer management (from a peak of 0.4–1.5 to <0.17 deer per ha) had translated to the small mammal community as an example of a higher order cascade effect. We compared deer-free exclosures with neighboring open woodland using capture-mark-recapture (CMR) methods to see if the significant difference in bank vole (Myodes glareolus) and wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) numbers between these environments from 2001–2003 persisted in 2010. Using the multi-state Robust Design method in program MARK we found survival and abundance of both voles and mice to be equivalent between the open woodland and the experimental exclosures with no differences in various metrics of population structure (age structure, sex composition, reproductive activity) and individual fitness (weight), although the vole population showed variation both locally and temporally. This suggests that the vegetative habitat - having passed some threshold of complexity due to lowered deer density - has allowed recovery of the small mammal community, although patch dynamics associated with vegetation complexity still remain. We conclude that the response of small mammal communities to environmental disturbance such as intense browsing pressure can be rapidly reversed once the disturbing agent has been removed and the vegetative habitat is allowed to increase in density and complexity, although we encourage caution, as a source/sink dynamic may emerge between old growth patches and the recently disturbed habitat under harsh conditions

Biological foundation for periodontitis as a potential risk factor for atherosclerosis

Links between periodontal diseases and systemic diseases have been well documented by epidemiological studies. Recently, research has shifted to elucidating the biologic mechanism for a causal relationship. One focus of interest is atherosclerosis, the underlying event of cardiovascular diseases due to its serious health impact. However, it is still not clear whether periodontopathic pathogens are truly etiologic agents or ubiquitous bystanders. This article reviews the current understanding about the molecular biological interactions between periodontal disease and atherosclerosis and the biological plausibility of periodontitis as a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Materials and methods:  The current literature regarding periodontal diseases and atherosclerosis and coronary vascular disease was searched using the Medline and PubMed databases. Results:  In vitro experiments and animal models are appropriate tools to investigate the biological interactions between periodontal disease and atherosclerosis at the cell molecular level. The concepts linking both pathologies refer to inflammatory response, immune responses, and hemostasis. In particular, Porphyromonas gingivalis appears to have unique, versatile pathogenic properties. Whether or not these findings from isolated cells or animal models are applicable in humans with genetic and environmental variations is yet to be determined. Likewise, the benefit from periodontal therapy on the development of atherosclerosis is unclear. Approaches targeting inflammatory and immune responses of periodontitis and atherosclerosis simultaneously are very intriguing. Conclusion:  An emerging concept suggests that a pathogenic burden from different sources might overcome an individual threshold culminating in clinical sequela. P. gingivalis contributes directly and indirectly to atherosclerosis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66109/1/j.1600-0765.2004.00771.x.pd

Computing with bacterial constituents, cells and populations: from bioputing to bactoputing

The relevance of biological materials and processes to computing—aliasbioputing—has been explored for decades. These materials include DNA, RNA and proteins, while the processes include transcription, translation, signal transduction and regulation. Recently, the use of bacteria themselves as living computers has been explored but this use generally falls within the classical paradigm of computing. Computer scientists, however, have a variety of problems to which they seek solutions, while microbiologists are having new insights into the problems bacteria are solving and how they are solving them. Here, we envisage that bacteria might be used for new sorts of computing. These could be based on the capacity of bacteria to grow, move and adapt to a myriad different fickle environments both as individuals and as populations of bacteria plus bacteriophage. New principles might be based on the way that bacteria explore phenotype space via hyperstructure dynamics and the fundamental nature of the cell cycle. This computing might even extend to developing a high level language appropriate to using populations of bacteria and bacteriophage. Here, we offer a speculative tour of what we term bactoputing, namely the use of the natural behaviour of bacteria for calculating

Spatio-Temporal Progression of Grey and White Matter Damage Following Contusion Injury in Rat Spinal Cord

Cellular mechanisms of secondary damage progression following spinal cord injury remain unclear. We have studied the extent of tissue damage from 15 min to 10 weeks after injury using morphological and biochemical estimates of lesion volume and surviving grey and white matter. This has been achieved by semi-quantitative immunocytochemical methods for a range of cellular markers, quantitative counts of white matter axonal profiles in semi-thin sections and semi-quantitative Western blot analysis, together with behavioural tests (BBB scores, ledged beam, random rung horizontal ladder and DigiGait™ analysis). We have developed a new computer-controlled electronic impactor based on a linear motor that allows specification of the precise nature, extent and timing of the impact. Initial (15 min) lesion volumes showed very low variance (1.92±0.23 mm3, mean±SD, n = 5). Although substantial tissue clearance continued for weeks after injury, loss of grey matter was rapid and complete by 24 hours, whereas loss of white matter extended up to one week. No change was found between one and 10 weeks after injury for almost all morphological and biochemical estimates of lesion size or behavioural methods. These results suggest that previously reported apparent ongoing injury progression is likely to be due, to a large extent, to clearance of tissue damaged by the primary impact rather than continuing cell death. The low variance of the impactor and the comprehensive assessment methods described in this paper provide an improved basis on which the effects of potential treatment regimes for spinal cord injury can be assessed

Modified f(R) gravity from scalar-tensor theory and inhomogeneous EoS dark energy

The reconstruction of f(R)-gravity is showed by using an auxiliary scalar field in the context of cosmological evolution, this development provide a way of reconstruct the form of the function f (R) for a given evolution of the Hubble parameter. In analogy, f(R)-gravity may be expressed by a perfect fluid with an inhomogeneous equation of state that depends on the Hubble parameter and its derivatives. This mathematical equivalence that may confuse about the origin of the mechanism that produces the current acceleration, and possibly the whole evolution of the Hubble parameter, is shown here.Comment: 8 page

Gut Microbiota, Probiotics and Diabetes

Diabetes is a condition of multifactorial origin, involving several molecular mechanisms related to the intestinal microbiota for its development. In type 2 diabetes, receptor activation and recognition by microorganisms from the intestinal lumen may trigger inflammatory responses, inducing the phosphorylation of serine residues in insulin receptor substrate-1, reducing insulin sensitivity. In type 1 diabetes, the lowered expression of adhesion proteins within the intestinal epithelium favours a greater immune response that may result in destruction of pancreatic β cells by CD8+ T-lymphocytes, and increased expression of interleukin-17, related to autoimmunity. Research in animal models and humans has hypothesized whether the administration of probiotics may improve the prognosis of diabetes through modulation of gut microbiota. We have shown in this review that a large body of evidence suggests probiotics reduce the inflammatory response and oxidative stress, as well as increase the expression of adhesion proteins within the intestinal epithelium, reducing intestinal permeability. Such effects increase insulin sensitivity and reduce autoimmune response. However, further investigations are required to clarify whether the administration of probiotics can be efficiently used for the prevention and management of diabetes