Judul: Pembuatan dan Karakterisasi Film Biodegradabel dari Kitosan/PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) dengan Pemlastis Polietilen Glikol (PEG)
Abstrak: Plastic has many advantages such as good mechanical and barrier characteristics, cheap, easy to form, and flexible in application, so it becomes the most used material as food packaging. Unfortunately, plastic waste is difficult to be degraded in nature, therefore polluting the environment. Moreover, global warming issue has driven to create an eco-friendly packaging such as biodegradable plastics made from renewable resources. The objective of this research was to develop biodegradable plastic made from chitosan and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with the addition of poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) as plasticizer. The main goal of these blends is to improve the water vapor barrier of chitosan by blending with PLA and to improve the elasticity of chitosan/PLA blended films. The obtained films were characterized in terms of physicochemical and mechanical properties including water activity (aw), thickness, tensile strength, elongation at break, and water vapour permeability (WVP). Moreover, Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) were used to confirm the miscibility of PLA and chitosan. Films of chitosan/PLA blends had aw values range from 0.71 until 0.76. Generally, the blend films prepared with lactic acid as chitosan solvent were thicker than those prepared with acetic acid as chitosan solvent. The same phenomenon was observed in addition of PEG, where films containing PEG as plasticizer were thicker than those without PEG. The tensile strength and elongation at break of the obtained films decreased with the addition of PLA and PEG. It appeared that the obtained films produced with lactic acid as solvent and with the addition of PEG were more elastic than those produced with acetic acid as chitosan solvent and without the addition of PEG. In term of barrier properties, the WVP value of film chitosan/PLA ranged from 111.8 to 208.9 gr/m2/day for films prepared with lactic acid as chitosan solvent and from 233.3 to 358.15 gr/m2/day for films prepared with acetic acid as solvent. Furthermore, the observation on microstructure of the chitosan/PLA composite films, conducted with SEM, has revealed that PLA particles have been well distributed in chitosan matrix. However, the average diametre of PLA particles was in the range of 2 – 3 m, therefore this blending was categorized as microcomposites.
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Judul: Characterization and Biodegradation of Polyblend (Styrofoam-Starch) with Polylactid acid (PLA) as Biocompatizer.
Abstrak: Styrofoam is a kind of polystyrene which can not be naturally decomposed. The increasing amount of using styrofoam causes environment pollution. In facing this problem, modification of recyclable styrofoam is needed to produce degradable plastic. Starch can be a solution because it is a polymer that can be biologically decomposed. The mixture of starch to the styrofoam composite creates biodegradable plastic. Unfortunately, various polarity of styrofoam and starch is difficult to mixed homogenously, so we need polylactic acid (PLA) as the biocompatizer. Styrofoam and starch of four different concentrations of PLA, 5, 10, 15, and 20%. Film with the highest homogeneity was given by 80:20 concentration of styrofoam and starch combination with 20 % of PLA addition. The more PLA, the more homogenous of film we got. Film with the highest homogeneity produced substantial weight reduction which about 10%. The film that has been produced was amorphous since it had wide melting point, 155 °C to 185 °C. Infrared spectrum film showed the existence of C-O ester on 1184 cm-1 region. Ester functional group indicated that the film could be biodegraded. The infrared spectrum of the film did not show new functional groups, so we concluded that the film was a product of physical mixture between styrofoam and starch.
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Judul: Babesiosis pada kuda
Abstrak: Babesiosis pada kuda adalah penyakit menular yang di- sebabkan oleh Babesia caballi dan Babesia equi, yaitu pa- rasit protozoa perusak sel darah yang termasuk dalam genus Babesia. B. equi diduga oleh beberapa ahli termasuk dalam genus Theileria. Karena itu klasifikasi genus Babesia di- bicarakan dan siklus hidup B. caballi dan B. equi diulas. Kuda pada semua umur dapat terserang oleh dua parasite tersebut di atas. Tetapi kuda-kuda yang sudah dewasa (tua) lebih rentan jika dibandingkan dengan kuda-kuda yang masih muda. Kasus-kasus yang paling sering dijumpai adalah kasus-kasus yang bersifat akut walaupun kasus-kasus yang bersifat perakut, subakut dan kronik kadang-kadang terlihat. Serangan oleh parasit Babesia biasanya menyebabkan kerusаkan sel darah merah yang hebat sehingga kuda-kuda yang terserang menderita anemia hebat yang dapat menyebabkan kematian bila tidak segera diobati. Untuk mengatasi hal tersebut perlu dilakukan diagnosis yang tepat dan sedini mungkin. Diagnosis dapat dilakukan dengan cara memeriksa gejala-gejala klinik, preparat ulas darah, inokulasi hewan lain dan dengan mengadakan pemeriksaan secara serologik. Gejala-gejala klinik babesiosis pada kuda yang bersifat akut yang paling sering terlihat, ialah : nafsu makan menurun/hilang, lesu, bulu suram dan tidak mau bergerak. Kuda yang dilepaskan di padang rumput akan mengasingkan diri dan jalan sempoyongan. Faeces yang keluar berwarna cok- lat gelap, diselaputi lendir yang berwarna kekuningan dan urimenya berwarna merah tua. Temperatur tubuh meningkat menjadi 39.5 - 41°C dan pulsus meningkat. Terlihat dispnoe, perdarahan petechi pada mukosa membrana nictitans dan conjunctiva yang lebih pucat dari normal dan juga icteris. Kasus-kasus yang bersifat subakut gejala-gejalanya lebih ringan, tetapi bila tidak segera diobati maka gejala- gejala tersebut secara cepat menjadi hebat. Persendian lutut dan persendian gelang puyuh membengkak dan padanya ter- lihat oedema. Pada abdomen, dada dan kepala juga dapat di- temukan oedema. Gejala-gejala klinik yang terlihat pada kasus kronik adalah penurunan kondisi tubuh kuda secara progresif walaupun diberi makan yang banyak. Perubahan temperatur tidak jelas, nafsu makan berubah-ubah, icterus tidak jelas dan anemia mungkin hanya dapat dideteksi dengan menghitung sel darah merah dan kadar hematocrit…dst
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