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This study aims to conserve the underwater cannonball before storing it in a museum. Removing the protective crust of iron artifacts without the correct and proper method can cause rapid corrosion. To prevent damage, artifacts must be conserved in the right solution. Conservation was conducted in four stages during this research project. The first stage is the identification of weathering, and the second stage is the analysis and characterization of the corroded surface using a microscope, XRD (X-ray diffraction), XRF (X-ray fluorescence), and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). The third stage is the passivation/deactivation process, achieved using sodium hydroxide, soapy water and kaffir lime water. The fourth stage is stabilizing/coating the iron cannonball underwater heritage materials as soon as possible using microcrystalline wax to prevent further corrosion. This stage should solve the conservation problems associated with the object so that the object can last for a long time. Dry and wet-activated corrosion was characterized by applying XRD to the obtained mineral akageneite. The akageneite minerals were actively corroded and contained high concentrations of Cl atoms revealing dry and wet activated corrosion of 66.60% and 64.96%, respectively. After being conserved with several steps and NaOH, soapy water and kaffir lime water, inactive corrosion was observed. Based on the results of the analysis performed with XRF, the cannonball does not contain Cl, and the Fe content is 98.99%. The conservation method used in this research is excellent and appropriate for conserving cultural heritage materials, including underwater iron cannonballs.

Lemongrass essential oil (Cymbopogon citratus L.) is used directly to kill lichens and has many disadvantages such as being less effective, volatile, and inefficient. Lichens are a type of microbe that grows in rocks and cause biodeteriorations of rock material because they are highly erosive. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the direct synthesis of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus L.) essential oil-silver nanoparticles (EO-AgNPs) as biopesticides and application for lichens inhibition on stones. This was carried out in order to improve the performance and effectiveness of biopesticides which is excellent in killing lichens on stone surfaces. However, it has several disadvantages, such as not being economical, slow performance, and high volatility. The EO-AgNPs nanoparticles were produced by adding AgNO3 powder directly to lemongrass essential oil. They were then observed to know the effect of variations in storage time on material stability and AgNO3 concentration. The synthesized material was characterized by UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, FTIR, particle size analyzer (PSA), and SEM-EDX before being tested for its effectiveness in killing lichens directly on stones and inhibition activity. The results showed that the EO-AgNPs had been successfully synthesized as indicated by the color of the clear dark brown solution in the wavelength range of 430 nm. Furthermore, after it was analyzed using PSA and SEM-EDX, EO-AgNPs had a particle size of 332 nm and were spherical with Ag, C, O content of 27.28, 57.98, and 14.74%, respectively. The antifungal activity for killing lichens based on the diameter of inhibition zone (DIZ) using EO and EO-AgNO3 was 14.7 mm and 20.3 mm, respectively. This shows that EO-AgNPs nanoparticles are capable of killing lichens on rock surfaces and also have a better inhibition activity than EO.

A study to improve the performance of andesite mortar and rock consolidated with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) sol and a solvent of ethanol in the presence of titanium tetraisopropoxyde (TTIP) and silica particles has been conducted. The improvements include minimizing the shrinkage using silica particles from rice husk ash, rheological property suitability of the consolidant, and mechanical properties of the consolidated mortar and rock. The effect of TTIP concentration, ethanol volume, and addition of the silica particles on rheological properties of TEOS-based consolidant, and also mechanical properties of the consolidated mortar and rock were evaluated. The results showed that the increase of TTIP content in the consolidant shortens the gelling time, and the weight percentage ratio of TTIP:TEOS:ethanol of 5%:55%:40% was the optimum composition for the consolidation. Consolidation of andesite block using that composition significantly increased the compressive strength up to 57.61% (0.58 kgf/mm2). The addition of 2% of silica particles into the consolidant decreased the gel shrinkage and increased the Young modulus of the mortar. The presence of water in the andesite matrix reduced the consolidation performance, and 0.5% was the maximum percentage of water content acceptable for the consolidation.

A research to know influence of mixing concentration of coconut water and sucrose concentration to coconut milk skim as nata de coco substrate has been conducted. The variation was taken from mixing coconut water (0%, 25%, 35% and 50% and 100% as control) and the sucrose concentration (0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2%). Coconut milk skim boiled before used as substrat, yielded a coconut protein (blondo). The result of research showed that coconut milk skim can be used as nata de coco substrate with mixing coconut water and sucrose addition, mixing 50 % concentration coconut water representing optimum concentration. The content of crude fibre nata was yielded by higher concentration of sucrose, while mixing concentration coconut water do not influence crude fibre content. Keyword: Coconut milk skim, substrate, nata de coco

Sarcoidosis is a chronic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology which principally affects the lower respiratory tract & lungs. Sarcoidosis in the head & neck region is infrequent. Isolated sino nasal sarcoidosis without pulmonary involvement is rare. Case: An 18 years old male patient presented with the complaints of nasal blockage, purulent nasal discharge which was occasionally blood stained for 6 months, deformity of nose, swelling of face & lips for 4 months & watering of eyes for same duration. Endoscopy of nose revealed intra nasal mucosal thickening which was friable & bleeds on touch. The diagnosis of sino nasal sarcoidosis was made by histopathological examination of nasal biopsy specimen. Conclusion: Sino nasal sarcoidosis is a disease of diagnostic challenge to the clinician as its mimicking clinical features may be misleading & cause delay in definitive diagnosis. In the current case report, we presented a case of sino nasal sarcoidosis presenting as chronic rhino sinusitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Live cell imaging of recombinant malarial parasites encoding fluorescent probes provides critical insights into parasite-host interactions and life cycle progression. In this study, we generated a red fluorescent line of the murine malarial parasite Plasmodium berghei. To allow constitutive and abundant expression of the mCherry protein we profiled expression of all members of the P. berghei heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) family. We identified PbHSP70/1, an invariant ortholog of Plasmodium falciparum HSP70-1, as the protein with the highest expression levels during Plasmodium blood, mosquito, and liver infection. Stable allelic insertion of a mCherry expression cassette into the PbHsp70/1 locus created constitutive red fluorescent P. berghei lines, termed Pbred. We show that these parasites can be used for live imaging of infected host cells and organs, including hepatocytes, erythrocytes, and whole Anopheles mosquitoes. Quantification of the fluorescence intensity of several Pbred parasite stages revealed significantly enhanced signal intensities in comparison to GFP expressed under the control of the constitutive EF1alpha promoter. We propose that systematic transcript profiling permits generation of reporter parasites, such as the Pbred lines described herein.

Rhomboid-like proteases cleave membrane-anchored proteins within their transmembrane domains. In apicomplexan parasites substrates include molecules that function in parasite motility and host cell invasion. While two Plasmodium rhomboids, ROM1 and ROM4, have been examined, the roles of the remaining six rhomboids during the malaria parasite's life cycle are unknown. We present systematic gene deletion analyses of all eight Plasmodium rhomboid-like proteins as a means to discover stage-specific phenotypes and potential functions in the rodent malaria model, P. berghei. Four rhomboids (ROM4, 6, 7 and 8) are refractory to gene deletion, suggesting an essential role during asexual blood stage development. In contrast ROM1, 3, 9 and 10 were dispensable for blood stage development and exhibited no, subtle or severe defects in mosquito or liver development. Parasites lacking ROM9 and ROM10 showed no major phenotypic defects. Parasites lacking ROM1 presented a delay in blood stage patency following liver infection, but in contrast to a previous study blood stage parasites had similar growth and virulence characteristics as wild type parasites. Parasites lacking ROM3 in mosquitoes readily established oocysts but failed to produce sporozoites. ROM3 is the first apicomplexan rhomboid identified to play a vital role in sporogony., (© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

The importance of pathogen-induced host cell remodelling has been well established for red blood cell infection by the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Exported parasite-encoded proteins, which often possess a signature motif, termed Plasmodium export element (PEXEL) or host-targeting (HT) signal, are critical for the extensive red blood cell modifications. To what extent remodelling of erythrocyte membranes also occurs in non-primate hosts and whether it is in fact a hallmark of all mammalian Plasmodium parasites remains elusive. Here we characterize a novel Plasmodium berghei PEXEL/HT-containing protein, which we term IBIS1. Temporal expression and spatial localization determined by fluorescent tagging revealed the presence of IBIS1 at the parasite/host interface during both liver and blood stages of infection. Targeted deletion of the IBIS1 protein revealed a mild impairment of intra-erythrocytic growth indicating a role for these structures in the rapid expansion of the parasite population in the blood in vivo. In red blood cells, the protein localizes to dynamic, punctate structures external to the parasite. Biochemical and microscopic data revealed that these intra-erythrocytic P. berghei-induced structures (IBIS) are membranous indicating that P. berghei, like P. falciparum, creates an intracellular membranous network in infected red blood cells., (© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

Male gametogenesis occurs directly after uptake of malaria parasites by the mosquito vector and leads to the release of eight nucleated flagellar gametes. Here, we report that one of the two parasite actin isoforms, named actin II, is essential for this process. Disruption of actin II in Plasmodium berghei resulted in viable asexual blood stages, but male gametogenesis was specifically inhibited. Upon activation, male gametocyte DNA was replicated normally and axonemes assembled, but egress from the host cell was inhibited, and axoneme motility abolished. The major actin isoform, actin I, displayed dual localization to the cytoplasm and the nucleus in male gametocytes. After activation actin I was found to be restricted to the cytoplasm. In actII(-) mutant parasites, this re-localization was abolished and actin I remained in both cellular compartments. These findings reveal vital and pleiotropic functions for the actin II isoform in male gametogenesis of the malaria parasite., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)