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Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a microbiologically produced cellulose with high purity and excellent biocompatibility, allowing it to be used alone or in combination with other materials, including polymers and nanoparticles. This study was conducted to incorporate silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) into a BC matrix using simple and environmentally friendly methods in order to create a composite with superior industrial properties. The fabricated composites were characterized with Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), while the thermal stability was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. The antimicrobial activity of the composites was determined by observing the formation of an inhibition zone during the incubation of Staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (gram-negative). The SEM, EDX, and XRD analysis confirmed the presence of AgNPs. The composites also exhibit excellent thermal stability and significant antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and E. coli.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) produced from coconut water, commonly known as nata de coco, is a biopolymer with enormous properties. Compared to plant cellulose, BC has better mechanical strength and a greater degree of polymerization. BC’s high purity and high porosity make it a suitable candidate for the embedding and dispersion template for silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). This study investigated a facile and scalable method of making BC from coconut water and impregnated them with AgNO3 solution to produce AgNPs templated BC. The resulting materials were characterized by Fourier transform infra-Red (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The thermal stability was also investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The antibacterial activity of AgNPs templated BC was challenged in cultures of gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and showed an inhibition zone of growth in agar media. This study proves that the resulting AgNPs templated BC sheets are potential materials for antibacterial and industrial application that are low cost and easy to produce.

This study aimed to evaluate the development of Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae when reared on different feeding media, specifically using varying ratios of fermented laying hen manure and starter feed. The study employed a completely randomized design with five treatments and four replications. The treatments were as follows: T0: 100% fermented laying hen manure, T1: 75% fermented laying hen manure + 25% laying hen starter feed, T2: 50% fermented laying hen manure + 50% laying hen starter feed, T3: 25% fermented laying hen manure + 75% laying hen starter feed, and T4: 100% laying hen starter feed. Parameters measured in the study included larvae length and larvae width at 10 and 17 days. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance followed by the Duncan post-hoc test. The study demonstrated that BSF larvae were successfully reared on growing media comprising 100% fermented laying hen manure (T0). However, the development of larvae in T0 remained relatively low. Notably, the use of laying hen starter feed particularly at 75% (T3) and 100% (T4) significantly improved (P

This study aimed at measuring production characteristics of Red Napier grass grown on planting media comprising different combinations of soil and vermicompost. The experiment was executed in greenhouse following completely randomized design with 5 treatments i.e. T0: 100% soil (control), T1: 75% soil + 25% vermicompost, T2: 50% soil + 50% vermicompost, T3: 25% soil + 75% vermicompost and T4: 100% vermicompost. Each treatment was replicated 5 times. The soil and vermicompost proportion were from 20 kg total planting media filled in polybags on which the grass stem cuttings were planted. Harvest was done 90 days after planting. Collected data were subjected to analysis of variance and least significant difference test. The results showed that treatments did not significantly affect (P>0.05) plant height, but significantly affect (P

Cloud computing is a phenomenon that is currently a lot of attention from practitioners of information technology. Cloud computing can be composed of several types of services that are known to Saas, PaaS and IaaS, public and private cloud computing. Companies that do not invest themselves in the information technology infrastructure to use cloud computing services as a solution. By adopting and implementing a cloud computing services company can shift the cost of information technology infrastructure investments become operational costs by purchasing cloud computing services. Nevertheless, cloud computing, especially for the type of private cloud is still a bit of adopting it, whether it is caused by the absence of reference to the implementation or caused by something else. The purpose of this study was to analyze the adoption of cloud computing that suitable and beneficial for the company in its operational activities. The study was conducted by analysis of some of the literature related to cloud computing, benefits and barriers. According to the analysis of the literature can be explained some of the benefits associated with the adoption of cloud computing. Based on several studies that have been done, the benefits of implementing cloud computing is primarily financial savings and benefits of resource management that is the flexibility and scalability of the company's operations. However, some considerations still need to be done for a company that will implement cloud computing and those things are data security issues, legal issues and the implications for the company.

The rapid growth of biodiesel industries has also increased the production of glycerol as side product. Without proper treatment, glycerol may cause serious problem for the environment. Glycerol can be reacted with acetone to produce solketal as a fuel additive. The aim of this research was to study the glycerol ketalization with acetone using Amberlyst-15 as catalyst. Experiments were undertaken in a batch reactor. A set of experiment was conducted at varying temperature (35 to 60oC), initial mole ratio of acetone to glycerol (2 – 6) and catalyst loading (1,3,5 and 7% w/w). Sample was analyzed every 30 minutes. The results showed that optimal condition was achieved at temperature of 60 °C, initial mole ratio of acetone to glycerol of 3, and the catalyst load of 3%. The highest glycerol conversion achieved was 87.41 % at 60oC for 3 hours reaction. The Pseudo Steady State Hypothesis (PSSH) has been developed as rnet =k4.CG.CAC/1+k5.CG. Parameter estimation of k4 and k5 were evaluated from experimental data at various temperatures. It appears that the model predicted the experimental data well at high conversion (above 80 min) and showed relatively poor prediction below 80 min.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are one of the pillars of Indonesian economy since they contribute to the national Gross Domestic Product in a large number. This study discusses some of the articles to determine the factors that influence the implementation of enterprise applications systems, business intelligence (BI) and cloud computing. SCM, ERP, CRM are applications that provide the benefits of efficiency and effectiveness to the organization that uses and implements them. SCM, ERP, CRM and Business Intelligence needs to be implemented to SMEs in order to improve their performance to compete efficiently and competitively. In addition, SMEs can try cloud computing services by implementing and integrating those applications, although obstacles may be considerable.

The fact that a small number of lecturers who are able to meet or pass the requirements for obtaining or enhancing the academic hierarchy (JJA/Jenjang Jabatan Akademis) is the reason of the study. An analysis was performed on the historical data of the university faculty members. Analysis of historical data was done by making use of a data warehouse and data mining applications to describe and map lecturer’s JJA care, as well as with the data mining tool WEKA version 3.6.6. to know some of the variables that affect the maintenance of the JJA at Bina Nusantara University. Results of this study are most between the ages of 30 and 45 years old, and for analysis based on a paper having an excellent outcome is the level of lecturer (Lektor) and Associate Professor. Based on these results, it needs special attention especially those aged between 30 and 45 and who have JJA Associate Professor and Lecturer (Lektor).

Data warehouse and data mining is used to extract useful information and has a specific meaning and to develop a real relationship between some variables stored in the data/data warehouse. A data warehouse is appropriately designed and added a requirement to provide appropriate data and is useful in making better decisions. Hardware and software facilitate adequate access to such data, analyze and display the results interactively. Data mining software is a highly effective tool that can be used to interrogate the data contained in the data warehouse in order to find a relationship (Neary 1999). This study conducts some literature studies applies some models and case studies in a higher education institution, in terms of the benefits, functions and development. The case study conducted is objected to see the trend and prediction of the number of students who drop out (DO).

Generally in an administrative system there are also report features for beside data entry features. One of the benefits from this report is that users do not need to know where the data is obtained by the database either directly from online transaction processing (OLTP) or historical data. Nevertheless, the report features are designed by the developer in accordance with user needs. Commonly, the application developers use additional softwares integrated to the application. This study describes an alternative report system called Reporting Services which is a software from Microsoft that can be found from SQL 2000 to the latest version. With Reporting Services creating reports can be more easy and interactive to the users, and the results can be direct accessed via the web.

The aim of this research was to investigate the gasification of a South Kalimantan lignite coal char in the temperature range of 873-1073 ºK and steam condition to evaluate the reactions rates and the product gas compositions. Prior to the gasification experiments the raw char was pyrolysed under nitrogen atmosphere and at a temperature of 673 ºK. The gasification experiments were conducted in a fixed bed reactor, at atmospheric pressure, isothermal conditions, equipped with cooling system, gas reservoir, and temperature control. Char from coal pyrolysis weighed then gasified at variations of temperature. Gas sampling is done every 15 minutes intervals for 90 minutes. The reactivity study was conducted in the kinetically controlled by the heterogeneous reaction between solid carbon from the char and a gas phase reagent. Two theoretical models were tested to fit the experimental data and the kinetic parameters were determined. It was found that an increase in temperature enhances the reaction rate and also the formation of H2, CO, CH4, and CO2. The results show that higher temperature contributes to more hydrogen production The gasification kinetics was suitably described by the Random Pore Model. Activation energy determination of char gasification reactions by using Arrhenius graph.

Corncobs are potentially processed into bio-oil through thermochemical liquefaction processes. It is difficult to construct kinetics models based on the compounds involved in the reaction. It would be made four kinetic models based on four reaction products, i.e., solids, bio-oil, gas and volatile products. The purposes of the study were to seek kinetics model of thermochemical liquefaction of corncobs in ethanol-water solution and to study the effect of ethanol concentration. The experiment of liquefaction processes of corncobs in ethanol-water solution using sodium carbonate catalyst was performed in the 150 ml autoclave equipped with a magnetic stirrer in the temperature up to 280°C. Four kinetic models were applied to predict the yield of four reaction product lumps. The calculation results were compared to the experimental data. Compared to the others, model 4 was the most realistic and closely matching to the experimental data. In model 4 the reaction mechanism was assumed that biomass (corncobs) first decomposed into bio-oil, followed by decomposition of bio-oil into volatile products reversibly and, finally, volatile products decomposed into gaseous products. The yield of bio-oil increased from 42.05% to 54.93% by increasing to ethanol concentration of 0% to 40%.

Introduction: Bezold's abscess is a rare complication of chronic suppurative otitis media since the advent of antibiotics. Otitis media can also result from uncommon infections such as tuberculosis, with a diagnosis often delayed due to clinical symptoms that closely resemble other chronic middle ear conditions., Case Report: We present a case of Bezold's abscess as a complication of primary tuberculous otitis media in a 21-year-old male who reported right-sided neck swelling for four days, accompanied by fever, difficulty opening his mouth, and a history of persistent purulent discharge in both ears for six months that did not respond to topical antibiotics., Discussion: This case underscores the diagnostic challenges of tuberculous otitis media, an unusual form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis that can closely mimic other types of chronic otitis media. The atypical presentation and low incidence of TOM contribute to frequent delays in diagnosis, highlighting the need for increased clinical vigilance, particularly in cases of persistent otorrhea unresponsive to standard antimicrobial therapy. Prompt recognition and initiation of appropriate antituberculous treatment, along with surgical intervention when indicated, are essential to prevent severe complications. This case illustrates the importance of considering TOM in the differential diagnosis of chronic ear infections and the value of advanced diagnostic modalities in facilitating early and accurate identification., Conclusion: Tuberculous otitis media should be considered when optimal treatment regimens fail to achieve expected outcomes. Prompt diagnosis is essential in avoiding delays in treatment, which can lead to severe complications such as Bezold's abscess., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement All authors disclose any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: The molecular mechanisms underlying nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) progression remain poorly understood. In particular, the roles of circulating mRNAs encoding key regulatory proteins have yet to be explored. This study aimed to identify NPC-associated expression signatures of circulating VEGF, PTEN, and SOCS1 mRNAs and their potential as biomarkers., Methods: A case-control study was conducted comprising 160 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients and 80 controls, from whom peripheral blood samples. Total RNA was extracted and the levels of VEGF, PTEN, and SOCS1 mRNAs were quantified using reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Relative expression was calculated using the 2-ΔΔCt method. Bioinformatic analyses, including GeneMANIA, Gene Ontology (GO), and KEGG pathway analysis, were performed to predict the functional roles and interactions of these mRNAs., Results: We identified significantly increased circulating VEGF mRNA in lymph node metastases (1.66-fold, p<0.05) and elevated SOCS1 mRNA in late-stage NPC (20-fold, p<0.05). PTEN mRNA was reduced 4.26-fold in NPC patients. These data suggest that circulating VEGF, PTEN, and SOCS1 mRNAs represent signatures of NPC progression and can potentially be biomarkers. Network analyses implicate these mRNAs in mechanisms enabling NPC pathogenesis., Conclusions: Our study reveals NPC-associated expression changes of circulating VEGF, PTEN, and SOCS1 mRNAs. These molecular signatures may serve as biomarkers during NPC progression and provide insights into underlying mechanisms. Further validation of their utility as prognostic indicators of NPC is warranted.

The three major lignocellulose components can be transformed into various biomass-derived platform fuels, chemicals, and materials upon pretreatment and chemical upgrading. Lignocellulose pretreatment is an important step to obtain an eco-friendly, economical, and effective biomass utilization process. The combination of microwave heating and hydrotropic pretreatment is considered as a green method of lignocellulose pretreatment. Experimental data and two mechanistic kinetic models of microwave-assisted pretreatment of rice straw are presented. Here, the use of urea solution as the hydrotropic agent was examined to facilitate the degradation of three major lignocellulose components. The first kinetic model assumes that the soluble lignin does not undergo condensation, while the second one assumes that part of the soluble lignin condenses to a solid product. The mechanistic models were validated with a series of experimental data obtained from microwave-assisted hydrotropic pretreatment of rice straw. The results show that both models could generally describe the experimental data well. However, based on the evaluation of the results of the kinetic models, it turned out that the rate of lignin condensation was relatively slow compared to the rate of lignin degradation to soluble lignin (the value of k c is relatively small compared to the value of k l1 ). Hence, the kinetic model with exclusion of lignin condensation is suggested more since it is mathematically simpler. The proposed mechanistic model can also predict the cellulose and hemicellulose dissolution and thereby can be used as a process optimization tool. The microwave-assisted urea-based hydrotropic pretreatment conducted at a solid-liquid ratio of 1:35, a urea concentration of 36.8%, a reaction temperature of 90 °C, and a pretreatment duration of 73.6 min is predicted to give a solid residue with low lignin content and high cellulose content which resulted in a cellulose to lignin ratio of 5.53. Cellulosic biomass characterization revealed that microwave-assisted hydrotropic pretreatment was able to produce higher crystallinity and thermally stable cellulosic biomass., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Transfusion in the treatment of thalassemia gives rise to iron deposits in many organs. Since there are many obstacles in the use of deferoxamin (DFO) as an iron chelating agent, it is important to find another alternative therapy that can act as iron chelation. The study aims to compare the histopathological pictures of the heart and spleen in iron-induced rats after administration of DFO and nanoparticles of green tea extract. The research used experimental research design with a post-test only control group. Experimental nano green teas were divided into four treatment groups; no diet, DFO supplementation, nano green tea supplementation, and a combination of both DFO and green tea. Ferritin and glutathione peroxides were used as biochemical parameters, and histopathological pictures of the heart and spleen were recorded. The study showed that there was significant improvement in the rats receiving DFO and nanoparticles of green tea compared with the rats in the no diet group. The study also reported that nano green tea has an effect comparable to DFO.

This study focuses on kinetics of rice husk hydrolysis using sulfuric acid catalyst to produce sugars. The experiments were conducted at various catalyst concentrations. It turned out that during hydrolysis, degradation of sugars was encountered. The kinetics was expressed with both homogeneous and heterogeneous models. At catalyst concentration of higher than 0.44 N, heterogeneous model works better than homogeneous model, while at the lower, both models work well. In the heterogeneous model, it is observed that the mass transfer of sulfuric acid in the particles and the hydrolysis reaction control the rate of hydrolysis. The mass transfer can be described by Fick's law with the effective diffusivity of 1.4×10(-11) cm2/s, while the hydrolysis and sugar degradation rate constants follow Arrhenius equations. In addition, it was experimentally observed that the sugars produced can be converted to ethanol by fermentation using yeast., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)