Judul: Produksi Plastik Komposit dari Pencampuran Tapioka dan Onggok Termoplastis dengan HDPE.
Abstrak: Plastic is one of synthetic polymer which globally applicated because of its advantages. However, many problems emerged when plastic was discarded which cause serious environmental pollution because it can not be degraded, while its utilization increases year to year. Development of starch-based biodegradable plastic can be one alternative to solve this problem and expected to increase the added value of local agricultural products. This research aims are to study the production of composite biodegradable plastic using blending method of natural (tapioca and cassava bagasse) and synthetic (HDPE) polymers; and to analyze mechanical, thermal, and biodegradability characteristics of the composite plastic. The research was preceed with preparation and characterization of tapioca and cassava bagasse as composite plastic materials. It was followed with preparation of thermoplastic starch by adding plasticizers. Water is added up to 25% concentration of material total mass, while glycerol is added in 15% and 20% concentration. Compatibilized HDPE was made by adding 0,1% of dicumyl peroxyde and 1% of maleic anhydride in HDPE resin. The last step is processing composite plastic using blending method of thermoplastics starch and compt.HDPE in 20% and 80% ratio. Composite plastic then evaluated for its mechanical, thermal, and biodegradability characteristics. Based on quality requirement, tapioca has good quality appropriate with SNI 01-3451-1994. Result of characterization showed that cassava bagasse has high fiber content up to 33,80%. Based on the results of mechanical properties testing, it is known that compt.HDPE-tapioca with the addition of 15% glycerol has a tensile strength close to HDPE resins, as well as the elongations value. Thermal properties testing showed that the addition of 20% natural polymers in blending process gave insignificant influence. The results of biodegradability examination showed that composite plastics are capable to be degraded by microorganism. In qualitative examination, it can be seen from the growth of the fungi in some parts of the sample surface. In quantitative examination using enzymes, percentation of compt.HDPE-cassava bagasse weight loss was larger than compt.HDPE-tapioca. This is influenced by the use of α-amylase and cellulase in compt.HDPE-cassava bagasse so that the total glucose results higher, which means more degradable.
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Judul: Produksi Plastik Komposit Dari Tepung Ubi Kayu dan Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE)
Abstrak: The mixing of cassava flour with linear low density polyethylene is one solution to reducing the environmental problem caused by plastics waste. The objectives of this study was to produce plastic composite from cassava flour and LLDPE resins. Composite plastic was made with addition of glycerol as plasticizer and stearic acid as compatibilizer. Thermoplastic cassava flour was made by mixing glycerol by 30 and 40%. Plastic composites was made with plasticised cassava flour and LLDPE resins ratio at 20:80 and 30:70 with the addition of stearic acid by 5 and 7%. The analysis showed that stearic acid at 5 and 7%, respectively had melt flow index of 4.13 and 4.69 g/10 min. Composite pellets with plasticised cassava flour and LLDPE resins ratio at 20:80 and 30:70 each has a specific gravity of 0.916 and 0.941 g/cm3. The best mechanical properties obtained from the formulation with cassava flour and resins at 20:80 with a glycerol concentration of 40% and 5% stearic acid. Plastics from this formulation have md tensile strength of 5.62 MPa and md elongation at 594.27%. Plastic film composite with 40% glycerol has more opaque colors than plastic film composite with 30% glycerol.
Keyword: cassava flour, composite plastic, stearic acid

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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