Search results for: marine collagen textiles and health

Authors: Pei-Hsiu Chiang, Ling Hong Huang, Hsin-I Chang

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In this research, we used UVA irradiation, which can penetrate into dermis and fibroblasts, the most abundant cells in dermis, to investigate the effect of UV light on dermis, such as inflammation, ECM degradation and elasticity loss. Moreover, this research is focused on the influence of hyaluronic acid (HA) on UVA treated dermal fibroblasts. We aim to establish whether HA can effectively relief ECM degradation, and restore the elasticity of UVA-damaged fibroblasts. Prolonged exposure to UVA radiation can damage fibroblasts and led variation in cell morphology and reduction in cell viability. Besides, UVA radiation can induce IL-1β expression on fibroblasts and then promote MMP-1 and MMP-3 expression, which can accelerate ECM degradation. On the other hand, prolonged exposure to UVA radiation reduced collagen and elastin synthesis on fibroblasts. Due to the acceleration of ECM degradation and the reduction of ECM synthesis, Atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to analyze the elasticity reduction on UVA-damaged fibroblasts. UVA irradiation causes photoaging on fibroblasts. UVA damaged fibroblasts with HA treatment can down-regulate the gene expression of MMP-1, MMP-3, and then slow down ECM degradation. On the other hand, HA may restore elastin and collagen synthesis in UV-damaged fibroblasts. Based on the slowdown of ECM degradation, UVA-damaged fibroblast elasticity can be effectively restored by HA treatment. In summary, HA can relief the photoaging conditions on fibroblasts, but may not be able to return fibroblasts to normal, healthy state. Although HA cannot fully recover UVA-damaged fibroblasts, HA is still potential for repairing photoaging skin.

Keywords: atomic force microscope, hyaluronic acid, UVA radiation, dermal fibroblasts

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Authors: Huyen T. Pham, Nhue P. Nguyen, Tien Q. Phi, Phuong T. Dang, Hy G. Le

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Since the marine environmental conditions are extremely different from the other ones, so that marine actinomycetes might produce novel bioactive compounds. Therefore, actinomycete strains were screened from marine water and sediment samples collected from the coastal areas of Northern Vietnam. Ninety-nine actinomycete strains were obtained on starch-casein agar media by dilution technique, only seven strains, named HP112, HP12, HP411, HPN11, HP 11, HPT13 and HPX12, showed significant antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria (Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Staphylococcus epidemidis ATCC 12228, Escherichia coli ATCC 11105). Further studies were carried out with the most active HP411strain against Candida albicans ATCC 10231. This strain could grow rapidly on starch casein agar and other media with high salt containing 7-10% NaCl at 28-30oC. Spore-chain of HP411 showed an elongated and circular shape with 10 to 30 spores/chain. Identification of the strain was carried out by employing the taxonomical studies including the 16S rRNA sequence. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence it is proposed that HP411 to be belongs to species Streptomyces variabilis. The potent of the crude extract of fermentation broth of HP411that are effective against wide range of pathogens: both gram-positive, gram-negative and fungi. Further studies revealed that the crude extract HP411 could obtain the anticancer activity for cancer cell lines: Hep-G2 (liver cancer cell line); RD (cardiac and skeletal muscle letters cell line); FL (membrane of the uterus cancer cell line). However, the actinomycetes from marine ecosystem will be useful for the discovery of new drugs in the furture.

Keywords: marine actinomycetes, antibacterial, anticancer, Streptomyces variabilis

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Authors: Wed Albalawi, Ebtihaj Jambi, Maha Albazi, Shareefa AlGhamdi

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Heavy metal pollution has become a hard threat to marine ecosystems alongside extremely industrialized and urban (urbanized) zones because of their toxicity, resolution, and non-biodegradable nature. Great interest has been given to a new technique -biosorption- which exploits the cell envelopes of organisms to remove metals from water solutions. The main objective of the present study is to explore the potential of marine algae from the Red Sea for the removal of heavy metals from an aqueous medium. The subsequent objective is to study the effect of pH and agitation time on the adsorption capacity of marine algae. Randomly chosen algae from the Red Sea (Jeddah) with known altitude and depth were collected. Analysis of heavy metal ion concentration was measured by ICP-OES (Inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometry) using air argon gas. A standard solution of heavy metal ions was prepared by diluting the original standard solution with ultrapure water. Types of seaweed were used to study the effect of pH on the biosorption of different heavy metals. The biosorption capacity of Cr is significantly lower in Padina Pavonica (P.P) compared to the biosorption capacity in Sargassum Muticum (S.M). The S.M exhibited significantly higher in Cr removal than the P.P at pH 2 and pH 7. However, the P.P exhibited significantly higher in Cr removal than the S.M at pH 3, pH 4, pH 5, pH 6, and pH 8. In conclusion, the dried cells of algae can be used as an effective tool for the removal of heavy metals.

Keywords: biosorption, heavy metal, pollution, pH value, brown algae

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Almalki M., Alajmi M., Qadrouh Y., Alzahrani E., Sulaiman A., Aleid M., Albaiji A., Alfaifi H., Alhadadi A., Almotairy H., Alrasheed R., Alhafedh Y.

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High-resolution marine seismic survey is a well-established technique that commonly used to characterize near-surface sediments and geological structures at shallow water. We conduct single channel seismic survey to provide high quality seismic images for near-surface sediments upto 100m depth at Jubal costal area, Arabian Gulf. Eight hydrophones streamer has been used to collect stacked seismic traces alone 5km seismic line. To reach the required depth, we have used spark system that discharges energies above 5000 J with expected frequency output span the range from 200 to 2000 Hz. A suitable processing flow implemented to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of the seismic profile. We have found that shallow sedimentary layers at the study site have complex pattern of reflectivity, which decay significantly due to amount of source energy used as well as the multiples associated to seafloor. In fact, the results reveal that single channel marine seismic at shallow water is a cost-effective technique that can be easily repeated to observe any possibly changes in the wave physical properties at the near surface layers

Keywords: shallow marine single-channel data, high resolution, frequency filtering, shallow water

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Authors: Mohammad Zafar-ul Islam, Shaily Menon, Xingong Li, A. Townsend Peterson

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In addition to the mounting empirical data on direct implications of climate change for natural and human systems, evidence is increasing for other, indirect climate change phenomena such as sea-level rise. Rising sea levels and associated marine intrusion into terrestrial environments are predicted to be among the most serious eventual consequences of climate change. The many complex and interacting factors affecting sea levels create considerable uncertainty in sea-level rise projections: conservative estimates are on the order of 0.5-1.0 m globally, while other estimates are much higher, approaching 6 m. Marine intrusion associated with 1– 6 m sea-level rise will impact species and habitats in coastal ecosystems severely. Examining areas most vulnerable to such impacts may allow design of appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies. We present an overview of potential effects of 1 and 6 m sea level rise for coastal conservation areas in the Indian Subcontinent. In particular, we examine the projected magnitude of areal losses in relevant biogeographic zones, ecoregions, protected areas (PAs), and Important Bird Areas (IBAs). In addition, we provide a more detailed and quantitative analysis of likely effects of marine intrusion on 22 coastal PAs and IBAs that provide critical habitat for birds in the form of breeding areas, migratory stopover sites, and overwintering habitats. Several coastal PAs and IBAs are predicted to experience higher than 50% losses to marine intrusion. We explore consequences of such inundation levels on species and habitat in these areas.

Keywords: sea-level change, coastal inundation, marine intrusion, biogeographic zones, ecoregions, protected areas, important bird areas, adaptation, mitigation

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Authors: Girlly Marchlina Listyono, Abdurrokhim Abdurrokhim, Emi Sukiyah, Pulung Arya Pranantya

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Jakarta Area is composed by deposit which has various lithology characteristics. Based on its lithology types, colors, textures, mineral dan organic content from 22 wells scattered on Jakarta, lithofacies analysis and intra-wells data correlation can be done. From the analysis, it can be interpretated that Jakarta deposit deposited in marine, transition and terrestrial depositional environments. Terrestrial deposit characterized by domination of relatively coarse clastics and content of remaining roots, woods, plants, high content of quartz, lithic fragment, calcareous and oxidated appearace. The thickness of terrestrial deposit is thickening to south. Transitional deposit characterized by fine to medium clastics with dark color, high content of organic matter, various thickness in any ways. Marine deposit characterized by finer clastics, contain remain of shells, fosil, coral, limestone fragments, glauconites, calcareous. Marine deposit relatively thickening to north. Those lateral variety caused by tectonic, subsidence and stratigraphic condition. Deposition of Jakarta deposit from the data research was started on marine depositional environment which surrounded by the event of cycle of regression and transgression then ended with regression which ongoing until form shore line in north Jakarta nowadays.

Keywords: deposit, Indonesia, Jakarta, sediment, stratigraphy

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Authors: K. C. Bloom, Cynde McInnis

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The Covid-19 pandemic has caused immense changes in the way that we live, work and travel. The impact of these changes is readily apparent in tourism to Massachusetts and the region of New England. Whereas, in general, Massachusetts and New England are a hotspot for travelers from around the world, this form of travel has largely been shut down due to the pandemic. One such area where the impact has been felt is in marine-based wildlife tourism. Massachusetts is home to not only whales but also seals and great white sharks. Prior to the pandemic, whale watching had long been a popular activity while seal and shark tourism has been a developing one. Given that seeing a great white shark was rare in New England for many years, shark tourism has not played a role in the economies of the region until recently. While whales have steadily been found within the marine environments of Massachusetts and whale watching has been a popular attraction since the mid-1970s, the lack of great white sharks in New England was, in part, a response to a change in their environment in that a favorite food source, the gray seals, were culled by regional fishermen as the fishermen believed that seals were taking their catch. This retaliatory behavior ended when the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA) was passed. The MMPA prohibited the killing of seals and since then the seal population has increased to traditional numbers (Tech Times, 2014). Given the increase in the seal population in New England, and especially Cape Cod, Massachusetts, there has been a similar increase in the numbers of great white sharks. In fact, over the time between 2004 and 2014, the number of sightings increased from an average of two per year to more than 20 (NY Post, 7/21/14). This has increased even more over the last six years. As a result, residents and businesses in Massachusetts have begun to embrace the great whites as a potential tourism draw. Local business owners are considering opening up cage diving and shark viewing businesses while there has also been an increase in shark-related merchandise throughout the Cape Cod region. Combined with a large whale watching industry, marine-based wildlife tourism is big business to Massachusetts. With the Covid-19 pandemic shuttering international travel, this study aims to look at the impacts of the pandemic on this industry. Through interviews with marine-based wildlife tourism businesses as well as survey data collection from visitors, this study looks at the holistic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on an important part of the marine tourism industry in the state.

Keywords: marine tourism, ecotourism, Covid, wildlife

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Authors: A. Gulbiniene, V. Jankauskaite

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Textile laminates with breathable membranes are used extensively in protective footwear. Such polymeric membranes act as a barrier to liquid water and soil entry from the environment, but are sufficiently permeable to water vapour to allow significant amounts of sweat to evaporate and affect the comfort of the wearer. In this paper the influence of absorbed humidity amount on the electrical properties of textiles lining laminates with and without polymeric membrane is presented. It was shown that textile laminate structure and its layers have a great influence on the water vapour absorption. Laminates with polyurethane foam layers show lower ability to absorb water vapour. Semi-permeable membrane increases absorbed humidity amount. The increase of water vapour absorption ability decreases textile laminates' electrical resistance. However, the intensity of the decrease in electrical resistance depends on the textile laminate layers' nature. Laminates with polyamide layers show significantly lower electrical resistance values.

Keywords: electrical resistance, humid atmosphere, textiles laminate, water vapour absorption

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Authors: P. Charipoor, M. Khani, H. Mahmoudi, E. Ghasemi, P. Akbartehrani, B. Shokri

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Cold air plasma could have a variety of effects on cells and living organisms and also shows good results in medical and cosmetic cases. Herein, plasma floating electrode dielectric barrier discharge (FEDBD) plasma was designed for mouse skin rejuvenation purposes. It is safe and easy to use in clinics, laboratories, and homes. The effects of this device were investigated on mouse skin. Vitamin C ointment in combination with plasma was also used as a new method to improve FEDBD results. In this study, 20 Wistar rats were evaluated in four groups. The first group received high-dose plasma, the second group received moderate-dose plasma (with vitamin C cream), the third group received low-dose plasma (with vitamin C cream) for 6 minutes, and the fourth group received only vitamin C cream. This process was done 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Skin temperature was monitored to evaluate the thermal effect of plasma. The presence of reactive species was also demonstrated using optical spectroscopy. Mechanical assays were performed to evaluate the effect of plasma and vitamin C on the mechanical strength of the tissue, which showed a positive effect of plasma on the treated tissue compared to the control group. Using pathological and biometric skin tests, an increase in collagen levels, epidermal thickness, and an increase in fibroblasts was observed in rat skin, as well as increased skin elasticity. This study showed the positive effect of using the FEDBD plasma device on the effective parameters in skin rejuvenation.

Keywords: plasma, skin rejuvenation, collagen, epidermal thickness

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Authors: Shobrina Silmi Qori Tarlita, Fariz Kukuh Harwinda

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Indonesia has 81.000 kilometers coastal line and 70% water surface which is known as the country who has a huge potential in fisheries sector and also which is able to support more than 50 % of Gross Domestic Product. But according to Department of Marine and Fisheries data, fisheries sector supported only 20% of Total GDP in 1998. Not only that, the highest decline in fisheries sector income occured in 2009. Those conditions occur, because of some factors contributed to the lack of integrated working platform for the fisheries and marine management in some areas which have a high productivity to increase the economical profit every year for the country, especially Indonesia, besides the labor requirement for every company, whether a big company or smaller one, depends on the natural condition that makes a lot of people become unemployed if the weather condition or any other conditions dealing with the natural condition is bad for creating fisheries and marine management, especially in aquaculture and fish – captured operation. Not only those, a lot of fishermen, especially in Indonesia, mostly make their job profession as an additional job or side job to fulfill their own needs, although they are averagely poor. Another major problem are the lack of the sustainable developmental program to stabilize the productivity of fisheries and marine natural source, like protecting the environment for fish nursery ground and migration channel, that makes the low productivity of fisheries and marine natural resource, even though the growth of the society in Indonesia has increased for years and needs more food resource to comply the high demand nutrition for living. The development of Minapolitan Area is one of the alternative solution to build a better place for aqua-culturist as well as the fishermen which focusing on systemic and business effort for fisheries and marine management. Minapolitan is kind of integration area which gathers and integrates the ones who is focusing their effort and business in fisheries sector, so that Minapolitan is capable of triggering the fishery activity on the area which using Minapolitan management intensively. From those things, finally, Minapolitan is expected to reinforce the sustainable development through increasing the productivity of fish – capturing operation as well as aquaculture, and it is also expected that Minapolitan will be able to increase GDP, the earning for a lot of people and also will be able to bring prosperity around the world. From those backgrounds, this paper will explain more about the Minapolitan Area and the design of reinforcing the Minapolitan Area by zonation in the Fishery and Marine exploitation area with high productivity as well as low productivity. Hopefully, this solution will be able to answer the economical and social issue for declining food resource, especially fishery and marine resource.

Keywords: Minapolitan, fisheries, economy, Indonesia

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Authors: Patrick Cummings, Laura Cassani, Deirdre Kelliher

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In this paper we present findings from a research effort to apply a hybrid collaborative-context approach for a system focused on Marine Corps civil affairs data collection, aggregation, and analysis called the Marine Civil Information Management System (MARCIMS). The goal of this effort is to provide operators with information to make sense of the interconnectedness of entities and relationships in their area of operation and discover existing data to support civil military operations. Our approach to build a recommendation engine was designed to overcome several technical challenges, including 1) ensuring models were robust to the relatively small amount of data collected by the Marine Corps civil affairs community; 2) finding methods to recommend novel data for which there are no interactions captured; and 3) overcoming confirmation bias by ensuring content was recommended that was relevant for the mission despite being obscure or less well known. We solve this by implementing a combination of collective matrix factorization (CMF) and graph-based random walks to provide recommendations to civil military operations users. We also present a method to resolve the challenge of computation complexity inherent from highly connected nodes through a precomputed process.

Keywords: Recommendation engine, collaborative filtering, context based recommendation, graph analysis, coverage, civil affairs operations, Marine Corps

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Authors: Siran Offman, Hermes Pacule, Teofilo Nhamuhuco

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Marine invertebrates are very important for the livelihood of coastal communities, particularly in Pemba City. The study was conducted From June 2011 to March 2012. The aim of this study is to determine the socioeconomic impact of collecting marine invertebrates in communities and Chuiba Maringanha. Data were collected biweekly during the spring tide ebb in the intertidal zone, and through structured surveys, the confrontation of data was done through direct observation in the neighborhoods. In total 40 collectors was surveyed and it was found that activity of collecting marine invertebrates is practiced by women 57.2% and men 42.5%. Their ages ranged from 9 to 45 years, and the range was 25-32 dominant with 30.5% and collection practice 5-7 times per week they spend about 4-6 hours a day. The collection methods are direct harvesting by hand aided by knives, sharp irons, and transport use pots, buckets, basins, shawls. Were identified in total 8 marketable species namely: Octopus vulgaris 8.6 Kg, Cyprea Tigers 7 units, Cypraea annulus 48 kg, 40 kg holuturias, Cyprea bully, Atrina vexilium 10 kg, Modiulus philiphinarum and lambis lambis. The species with the greatest economic value are sea cucumber (3 Usd/ kg) and Octopus vulgaris ( 2.5 Usd/ kg) more commercialized. The socio-economic impacts on communities of collectors the average income of collectors varies from 0.5 to 5 Usd/ day and the money are intended to purchase food and agricultural instruments. The other socioeconomics impacts are illiteracy with 36% dropout, and 28% have never studied 87% of unemployed collectors, a high number of family members, weak economic power, poor housing made the basis of local materials and relies on community wells to access water, and most do not have electric power.

Keywords: socio-economic, impacts, collecting marine invertebrates, communities

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Authors: Peter John, Zainab Ali, Attya Bhatti

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Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune inflammatory disease that primarily affects the joints. RA is caused in many cases by the interaction between genes and environmental factors, including tobacco, that primarily involves synovial joints. It typically starts in small peripheral joints, is usually symmetric, and progresses to involve proximal joints if left untreated. The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis varies substantially around the globe, ranging from 0·25% to 1%.3. Rheumatoid arthritis can affect individuals of any age, with an increased incidence in people older than 40 years. Women are affected two to three times more frequently than men. The present work involved evaluating the toxicity and therapeutic potential of Dodonaea viscosa in a collagen-induced arthritic mouse model. Chemical analysis exhibited that Dodonaea viscosa has high levels of beneficial compounds, including phenols, flavonoids, and other phytochemicals. The Dodonaea viscosa showed significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-arthritic potential without toxic effects. Arthritic mice treated with Dodonaea viscosa showed reduced levels of rheumatoid factor and paw edema, while no significant effects on spleen indices and radiological examination of paws were found compared to control untreated arthritic mice. In summary, the Dodonaea viscosa treatment results in improvement in Arthritic Mice Model for which further studies are required.

Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis, dodonaea viscisa, anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic

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Authors: Thomas Folegot, Arnaud Levaufre, Léna Bourven, Nicolas Kermagoret, Alexis Caillard, Roger Gallou

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Concern for negative impacts of anthropogenic noise on the ocean’s ecosystems has increased over the recent decades. This concern leads to a similar increased willingness to regulate noise-generating activities, of which shipping is one of the most significant. Dealing with ship noise requires not only knowledge about the noise from individual ships, but also how the ship noise is distributed in time and space within the habitats of concern. Marine mammals, but also fish, sea turtles, larvae and invertebrates are mostly dependent on the sounds they use to hunt, feed, avoid predators, during reproduction to socialize and communicate, or to defend a territory. In the marine environment, sight is only useful up to a few tens of meters, whereas sound can propagate over hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 17, 2008 called the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) require the Member States of the European Union to take the necessary measures to reduce the impacts of maritime activities to achieve and maintain a good environmental status of the marine environment. The Ocean-Planner is a web-based platform that provides to regulators, managers of protected or sensitive areas, etc. with a decision support tool that enable to anticipate and quantify the effectiveness of management measures in terms of reduction or modification the distribution of underwater noise, in response to Descriptor 11 of the MSFD and to the Marine Spatial Planning Directive. Based on the operational sound modelling tool Quonops Online Service, Ocean-Planner allows the user via an intuitive geographical interface to define management measures at local (Marine Protected Area, Natura 2000 sites, Harbors, etc.) or global (Particularly Sensitive Sea Area) scales, seasonal (regulation over a period of time) or permanent, partial (focused to some maritime activities) or complete (all maritime activities), etc. Speed limit, exclusion area, traffic separation scheme (TSS), and vessel sound level limitation are among the measures supported be the tool. Ocean Planner help to decide on the most effective measure to apply to maintain or restore the biodiversity and the functioning of the ecosystems of the coastal seabed, maintain a good state of conservation of sensitive areas and maintain or restore the populations of marine species.

Keywords: underwater noise, marine biodiversity, marine spatial planning, mitigation measures, prediction

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Authors: Amy L. Irvine, Gabriel Reygondeau, Derek P. Tittensor

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Marine protected areas (MPAs) within Canada’s exclusive economic zone help ensure the conservation and sustainability of marine ecosystems and the continued provision of ecosystem services to society (e.g., food, carbon sequestration). With ongoing and accelerating climate change, however, MPAs may become undermined in terms of their effectiveness at fulfilling these outcomes. Many populations of species, especially those at their thermal range limits, may shift to cooler waters or become extirpated due to climate change, resulting in new species compositions and ecological interactions within static MPA boundaries. While Canadian MPA management follows international guidelines for marine conservation, no consistent approach exists for adapting MPA networks to climate change and the resulting altered ecosystem conditions. To fill this gap, projected climate-driven shifts in species distributions on Canada’s east coast were analyzed to identify when native species emigrate and novel species immigrate within the network and how high mitigation and carbon emission scenarios influence these timelines. Indicators of the ecological changes caused by these species' shifts in the biological community were also developed. Overall, our research provides projections of climate change impacts and helps to guide adaptive management responses within the Canadian east coast MPA network.

Keywords: climate change, ecosystem modeling, marine protected areas, management

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Authors: K. J. Sannapapamma, H. Malligawad Lokanath, Sakeena Naikwadi

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Eco-friendly textiles are gaining importance among the consumers and textile manufacturers in the healthcare sector due to increased environmental pollution which leads to several health and environmental hazards. Hence, the research was designed to cultivate and develop the organic cotton knit, to prepare and characterize the Vetiver oil microcapsules for textile finishing and to access the wash durability of finished knits. The cotton SAHANA variety grown under organic production systems was processed and spun into 30 single yarn dyed with four natural colorants (Arecanut slurry, Eucalyptus leaves, Pomegranate rind and Indigo) and eco dyed yarn was further used for development of single jersy knitted fabric. Vetiveria zizanioides is an aromatic grass which is being traditionally used in medicine and perfumery. Vetiver essential oil was used for preparation of microcapsules by interfacial polymerization technique subjected to Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermo Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) for characterization of microcapsules. The knitted fabric was finished with vetiver oil microcapsules by exhaust and pad dry cure methods. The finished organic knit was assessed for laundering on antimicrobial efficiency and aroma intensity. GCMS spectral analysis showed that, diethyl phthalate (28%) was the major compound found in vetiver oil followed by isoaromadendrene epoxide (7.72%), beta-vetivenene (6.92%), solavetivone (5.58%), aromadenderene, azulene and khusimol. Bioassay explained that, the vetiver oil and diluted vetiver oil possessed greater zone of inhibition against S. aureus and E. coli than the coconut oil. FTRI spectra of vetiver oil and microcapsules possessed similar peaks viz., C-H, C=C & C꞊O stretching and additionally oil microcapsules possessed the peak of 3331.24 cm^-1 at 91.14 transmittance was attributed to N-H stretches. TGA of oil microcapsules revealed that, there was a minimum weight loss (5.835%) recorded at 467.09°C compared to vetiver oil i.e., -3.026% at the temperature of 396.24°C. The shape of the microcapsules was regular and round, some were spherical in shape and few were rounded by small aggregates. Irrespective of methods of application, organic cotton knits finished with microcapsules by pad dry cure method showed maximum zone of inhibition compared to knits finished by exhaust method against S. aureus and E. coli. The antimicrobial activity of the finished samples was subjected to multiple washing which indicated that knits finished with pad dry cure method showed a zone of inhibition even after 20^th wash and better aroma retention compared to knits finished with the exhaust method of application. Further, the group of respondents rated that the 5^th washed samples had the greater aroma intensity in both the methods than the other samples. Thus, the vetiver microencapsulated organic cotton knits are free from hazardous chemicals and have multi-functional properties that can be suitable for medical and healthcare textiles.

Keywords: exhaust and pad dry cure finishing, interfacial polymerization, organic cotton knits, vetiver oil microcapsules

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Authors: Doaa H. Elgohary, Tamer F. Khalifa, Mona M. Salem, M. A. Saad, Ehab Haider Sherazy

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Textiles have conquered new areas over the past three decades, including agriculture, transportation, filtration, military, and medicine. The use of textiles in the medical field has increased significantly in recent years and covers almost everything. Medical textiles represent a huge market as they are widely used not only in hospitals, hygiene, and healthcare but also in hotels and other environments where hygiene is required. However, not all fibers are suitable for the manufacture of medical textile products. Some special properties are required for the manufactured materials, e.g. Strength, elasticity, spinnability, etc. In addition to the usual properties of medical fibers, non-toxicity, sterilizability, biocompatibility, biodegradability, good absorbability, softness, and freedom from additives, etc., desirable properties include impurities. Stitching is one of the most common practices in the medical field. as it is a biomaterial device, either natural or synthetic, used to connect blood vessels and connect tissues. In addition to being very strong, suture material should easily dissolve in bodily fluids and lose strength as the tissue gains strength. In this work, a study to select the most used materials for sutures, it was found that silk, VICRYL and polypropylene were the most used materials in varying numbers. The research involved the analysis of 36 samples from three different materials (mostly commonly used), the tests were carried out on 36 imported samples for four different companies. Each company supplied three different materials (silk, VICRYL and polypropylene) with three different gauges (4, 3.5 and 3 metric). The results of the study were tabulated, presented, and discussed. Practical statistical science serves to support the practical analysis of experimental work products and the various relationships between variables to achieve the best sampling performance with the functional purpose generated for it. Analysis of the imported sutures shows that VICRYL sutures had the highest tensile strength, toughness, knot tensile strength and knot toughness, followed by polypropylene and silk. As yarn counts, weight and diameter increase, its tensile strength and toughness increase while its elongation and knot tension decrease. The multifilament yarn construction (silk and VICRYL) scores higher compared to the monofilament construction (polypropylene), resulting in increases in tenacity, toughness, knot tensile strength and knot toughness.

Keywords: biodegradable yarns, braided sutures, irritation, knot tying, medical textiles, surgical sutures, wound healing

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Authors: Shahid-ul-Islam, Faqeer Mohammad

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The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of annatto, teak and flame of the forest natural dyes on color, fastness, and antimicrobial property of protein based textile substrate. The color strength (K/S) of wool samples at various concentrations of dyes were analysed using a Reflective Spectrophotometer. The antimicrobial activity of natural dyes before and after application on wool was tested against common human pathogens Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans, by using micro-broth dilution method, disc diffusion assay and growth curve studies. The structural morphology of natural protein fibre (wool) was investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Annatto and teak natural dyes proved very effective in inhibiting the microbial growth in solution phase and after application on wool and resulted in a broad beautiful spectrum of colors with exceptional fastness properties. The results encourage the search and exploitation of new plant species as source of dyes to replace toxic synthetic antimicrobial agents currently used in textile industry.

Keywords: annatto, antimicrobial agents, natural dyes, green textiles

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Authors: Brian Chi Yan Cheng, Hui Guo, Tao Su, Xiu‐qiong Fu, Ting Li, Zhi‐ling Yu

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects around 1% of the globe population. Yet, there is still no cure for RA. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signalling has been found to be involved in the pathogenesis of RA, making it a potential therapeutic target for RA treatment. A herbal formula (RL) consisting of fruits of Rosa Multiflora (Eijitsu rose) and flowers of Lonicera Japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) has been used in treating various inflammatory disorders for more than a thousand year. Both of them are rich sources of nutrients and bioactive phytochemicals, which can be used in producing different food products and supplements. In this study, we would evaluate the anti-arthritic effect of RL on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in rats and investigate the involvement of TLR4 signaling in the mode of action of RL. Anti-arthritic efficacy was evaluated using CIA rats induced by bovine type II collagen. The treatment groups were treated with RL (82.5, 165, and 330 mg/kg bw per day, p.o.) or positive control indomethacin (0.25 mg/kg bw per day, p.o.) for 35 days. Clinical signs (hind paw volume and arthritis severity scores), changes in serum inflammatory mediators, pro-/antioxidant status, histological and radiographic changes of joints were investigated. Spleens and peritoneal macrophages were used to determine the effects of RL on innate and adaptive immune responses in CIA rats. The involvement of TLR4 signalling pathways in the anti-arthritic effect of RL was examined in cartilage tissue of CIA rats, murine RAW264.7 macrophages and human THP-1 monocytic cells. The severity of arthritis in the CIA rats was significantly attenuated by RL. Antioxidant status, histological score and radiographic score were efficiently improved by RL. RL could also dose-dependently inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokines in serum of CIA rats. RL significantly inhibited the production of various pro-inflammatory mediators, the expression and/or activity of the components of TLR4 signalling pathways in animal tissue and cell lines. RL possesses anti-arthritic effect on collagen-induced arthritis in rats. The therapeutic effect of RL may be related to its inhibition on pro-inflammatory cytokines in serum. The inhibition of the TAK1/NF-κB and TAK1/MAPK pathways participate in the anti-arthritic effects of RL. This provides a pharmacological justification for the dietary use of RL in the control of various arthritic diseases. Further investigation should be done to develop RL into a anti-arthritic food products and/or supplements.

Keywords: japanese honeysuckle, rheumatoid arthritis, rosa multiflora, rosehip

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Authors: Pramod Kumar, A. V. N. Swamy, C. V. Sowjanya, C. V. Ramachandra Murthy

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Biosorption is one of the effective methods for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions. Results are presented showing the sorption of Pb(II) from solutions by biomass of commonly available marine algae Chlorella sp. The ability of marine algae Chlorella pyrenoidosa to remove heavy metal ion (Pb(II)) from aqueous solutions has been studied in this work. The biosorption properties of the biosorbent like equilibrium agitation time, optimum pH, temperature and initial solute concentration were investigated on metal uptake by showing respective profiles. The maximum metal uptake was found to be 10.27 mg/g. To achieve this metal uptake, the optimum conditions were found to be 30 min as equilibrium agitation time, 4.6 as optimum pH, 60 ppm of initial solute concentration. Lead concentration is determined by atomic absorption spectrometer. The process was found to be well fitted for pseudo-second order kinetics.

Keywords: biosorption, heavy metal ions, agitation time, metal uptake, aqueous solution

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Authors: M. P. S. Tomar, Himanshu R. Joshi, P. Jagapathi Ramayya, Rakhi Vaish, A. B. Shrivastav

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The morphology of an organ system varies according to the feeding habit, habitat and nature of their life-style. This phenomenon is called adaptation. During evolution these morphological changes make the system species specific so the study on the differential characteristics of them makes the understanding regarding the morpho-physiological adaptation easier. Hence the present study was conducted on esophagus of pariah kite, median egret, goshawk, dove and duck. Esophagus in all birds was comprised of four layers viz. Tunica mucosa, Tunica submucosa, Tunica muscularis and Tunica adventitia. The mucosa of esophagus showed longitudinal folds thus the lumen was irregular. The epithelium was stratified squamous in all birds but in Median egret the cells were large and vacuolated. Among these species very thick epithelium was observed in goshawk and duck but keratinization was highest in dove. The stratum spongiosum was 7-8 layers thick in both Pariah kite and Goshawk. In all birds, the glands were alveolar mucous secreting type. In Median egret and Pariah kite, these were round or oval in shape and with or without lumen depending upon the functional status whereas in Goshawk the shape of the glands varied from spherical / oval to triangular with openings towards the lumen according to the functional activity and in dove these glands were oval in shape. The glands were numerous in number in egret while one or two in each fold in goshawk and less numerous in other three species. The core of the mucosal folds was occupied by the lamina propria and showed large number of collagen fibers and cellular infiltration in pariah kite, egret and dove where as in goshawk and duck, collagen and reticular fibers were fewer and cellular infiltration was lesser. Lamina muscularis was very thick in all species and it was comprised of longitudinally arranged smooth muscle fibers. In Median egret, it was in wavy pattern. Tunica submucosa was very thin in all species. Tunica muscularis was mostly comprised of circular smooth muscle bundles in all species but the longitudinal bundles were very few in number and not continuous. The tunica adventitia was comprised of loose connective tissue fibers containing collagen and elastic fibers with numerous small blood vessels in all species. Further, it was observed that the structure of esophagus in birds varies according to their feeding habits.

Keywords: dove, duck, egret, esophagus, goshawk, kite

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Authors: Arzu Karahan, Loriano Ballarin, Baruch Rinkevich

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Marine invertebrates, the highly diverse phyla of multicellular organisms, represent phenomena that are either not found or highly restricted in the vertebrates. These include phenomena like budding, fission, a fusion of ramets, and high regeneration power, such as the ability to create whole new organisms from either tiny parental fragment, many of which are controlled by totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent stem cells. Thus, there is very much that can be learned from these organisms on the practical and evolutionary levels, further resembling Darwin's words, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”. The ‘stem cell’ notion highlights a cell that has the ability to continuously divide and differentiate into various progenitors and daughter cells. In vertebrates, adult stem cells are rare cells defined as lineage-restricted (multipotent at best) with tissue or organ-specific activities that are located in defined niches and further regulate the machinery of homeostasis, repair, and regeneration. They are usually categorized by their morphology, tissue of origin, plasticity, and potency. The above description not always holds when comparing the vertebrates with marine invertebrates’ stem cells that display wider ranges of plasticity and diversity at the taxonomic and the cellular levels. While marine/aquatic invertebrates stem cells (MISC) have recently raised more scientific interest, the know-how is still behind the attraction they deserve. MISC, not only are highly potent but, in many cases, are abundant (e.g., 1/3 of the entire animal cells), do not locate in permanent niches, participates in delayed-aging and whole-body regeneration phenomena, the knowledge of which can be clinically relevant. Moreover, they have massive hidden potential for the discovery of new bioactive molecules that can be used for human health (antitumor, antimicrobial) and biotechnology. The MARISTEM COST action (Stem Cells of Marine/Aquatic Invertebrates: From Basic Research to Innovative Applications) aims to connect the European fragmented MISC community. Under this scientific umbrella, the action conceptualizes the idea for adult stem cells that do not share many properties with the vertebrates’ stem cells, organizes meetings, summer schools, and workshops, stimulating young researchers, supplying technical and adviser support via short-term scientific studies, making new bridges between the MISC community and biomedical disciplines.

Keywords: aquatic/marine invertebrates, adult stem cell, regeneration, cell cultures, bioactive molecules

Procedia PDF Downloads 169

Authors: Shivankar Agrawal, Sunil Kumar Deshmukh, Colin Barrow, Alok Adholeya

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A variety of genetic and environmental factors cause various cosmetics and dermatological problems. There are already claimed drugs available in market for treating these problems. However, the challenge remains in finding more potent, environmental friendly, causing minimal side effects and economical cosmeceuticals. This leads to an increased demand for natural cosmeceutical products in the last few decades. Plant derived ingredients are limited because plants either contain toxic metabolites, grow too slow or seasonal harvesting is a problem. To identify new bioactive cosmetics ingredients of marine microbial bioresource, we screened 35 marine fungi isolated from marine samples collected from Andaman Island and west coast of India. Fungal crude extracts were investigated for their antityrosinase, antioxidant and antibacterial activities for the purpose of identifying anti-aging, skin-whitening and anti-acne biomolecule with the potential in cosmetics. In the tyrosinase inhibition and 2, 2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assays, two fungal extracts, including “P2”, Talaromyces stipitatus and “D4”, Aspergillus terreus showed high inhibitory activity at 1mg/mL for tyrosinase inhibition and 0.5mg/mL for DPPH scavenging. The in vitro antimicrobial activity was investigated by the agar well diffusion method. In the tyrosinase inhibition assay, 8 extracts showed significant antibacterial activity against bacteria causing skin and wound infection in humans. In the course of systematic screening program for bioactive marine fungi, strain “D5” was found to be most potent strain with MIC value of 1mg/mL, which was morphologically identified as Simplicillium lamellicola. The effects of the most active crude extracts against their susceptible test microorganisms were also investigated by SEM analysis. Further investigations will focus on purification and characterization major active components responsible for these activities.

Keywords: antioxidant, antimicrobial activity, tyrosinase, cosmeceuticals, marine fungi

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Elizabeth Farquhar, Erich Ritter

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Studying shark's interaction with humans and their behavioral responses will have enormous implications for other fields of marine biology and oceanography. The health of sharks has direct impacts on the stability of human society with a reported 3.5 billion people depending on the ocean for food and/or livelihood. Discovering how sharks behave and interact with people, will have enormous implications for future studies, along with the development of more effective ways to reduce negative shark/human interactions. This specific study investigates the effects of contrasting ponchos worn by divers on the approach distances of Carcharhinus perezi. Data was collected over a two week period at a test site off the shore of Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, with a depth of approximately 55 feet during mid-August. Sixty-minute dive trials were conducted and videoed from above with 5-meter radius markers on the ocean floor surrounding the two divers, kneeling back-to-back. Five poncho colors were worn by the two divers (black, navy blue, dark green, yellow and orange), rotating the color permutations randomly to test the distance a shark will approach each color. Results indicate significantly closer approach patterns when divers were wearing orange ponchos, and the combination of orange with black and blue ponchos were found to be statistically significant. These results are relevant to understanding how sharks perceive contrast and dive equipment in the marine environment, which could have the potential to prevent negative shark/human interactions.

Keywords: shark behavior, animal behavior, marine biology, conservation

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Mingbao Chen

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The blue economy is a new comprehensive marine economy integrated with resources, industries, and regions, and is an upgraded version of the marine economy. The blue economy attaches great importance to the coordinated development of the ecological environment and the economy, which is an emerging economic form advocated by all countries in the world. This paper constructs the model including four variables：natural capital, economic capital, intellectual capital, cultural capital. Theoretically, this paper deduces the function mechanism of variables on economic growth, and empirically calculates the driving force and influence of the blue economy on the national economy by using data of China's 2006-2015 year. The results show that natural capital and economic capital remain the main factors of blue growth in the blue economy. And with the development of economic society and technological progress, the role of intellectual capital and cultural capital is bigger and bigger. Therefore, promoting the development of marine science and technology and culture is the focus of the future blue economic development.

Keywords: blue growth, natural capital, intellectual capital, cultural capital

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Awei Bainivalu, Joachim Larsen, Logesh Panneerselvan, Toby Mills, Brett Neilan, Megharaj Mallavarapu

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World War II (WWII) shipwrecks harbour up to 20 million tonnes of oil. More than 3000 wrecks are in the Pacific Ocean; 300 are oil tankers. Compared to other oil removal methods, bioremediation is environmentally friendly and cost-effective. Oil's microbial community and hydrocarbon properties from the Pacific WWII wrecks were identified. Dominant phyla are Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes. Native marine bacteria oil-degraders were isolated for bioremediation. Petroleum degradation data from the bacterial consortium will be analyzed over the next three months.

Keywords: oil bioremediation, marine bacteria, WWII shipwrecks, pacific

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: K. Drabczyk, Z. Starowicz, S. Maleczek, P. Zieba

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The army, police and fire brigade commonly use dedicated equipment based on special textile materials. The properties of these textiles should ensure human life and health protection. Equally important is the ability to use electronic equipment and this requires access to the source of electricity. Photovoltaic cells integrated with such textiles can be solution for this problem in the most of outdoor circumstances. One idea may be to laminate the cells to textile without changing their properties. The main goal of this work was analyzed lamination quality of special designed semi-flexible solar module with special textile materials as a backsheet. In the first step of investigation, the quality of lamination was determined using device equipped with dynamometer. In this work, the crystalline silicon solar cells 50 x 50 mm and thin chemical tempered glass - 62 x 62 mm and 0.8 mm thick - were used. The obtained results showed the correlation between breaking force and type of textile weave and fiber. The breaking force was in the ranges: 4.5-5.5 N, 15-20 N and 30-33 N depending on the type of wave and fiber type. To verify these observations the microscopic and FTIR analysis of fibers was performed. The studies showed the special textile can be used as a backsheet of semi-flexible solar modules. This work presents a new composition of solar module with special textile layer which, to our best knowledge, has not been published so far. Moreover, the work presents original investigations on adhesion of EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) polymer to textile with respect to fiber structure of laminated substrate. This work is realized for the GEKON project (No. GEKON2/O4/268473/23/2016) sponsored by The National Centre for Research and Development and The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.

Keywords: flexible solar modules, lamination process, solar cells, textile for photovoltaics

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: A. M. Malagon Escandon, J. A. Arenas Alatorre, C. P. Chaires Rosas, N. A. Vazquez Torres, B. Hernandez Tellez, G. Pinon Zarate, M. Herrera Enriquez, A. E. Castell Rodriguez

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The current approach to the treatment of bone defects involves the use of scaffolds that provide a biological and mechanically stable niche to favor tissue repair. Despite the significant progress in the field of bone tissue engineering, several main problems associated are attributed to giving a low biodegradation degree, does not promote osseointegration and regeneration, if the bone is not healing as well as expected or fails to heal, will not be given a proper ossification or new bone formation. The actual approaches of bone tissue regeneration are directed to the use of decellularized native extracellular matrices, which are able of retain their own architecture, mechanic properties, biodegradability and promote new bone formation because they are capable of conserving proteins and other factors that are founded in physiological concentrations. Therefore, we propose an extracellular matrix-based bioscaffolds derived from bovine cancellous bone, which is processed by decellularization, demineralization, and hydrolysis of the collagen protein, these protocols have been successfully carried out in other organs and tissues; the effectiveness of its biosafety has also been previously evaluated in vivo and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved. In the specific case of bone, a more complex treatment is needed in comparison with other organs and tissues because is necessary demineralization and collagen denaturalization. The present work was made in order to obtain a temporal scaffold that succeed in degradation in an inversely proportional way to the synthesis of extracellular matrix and the maturation of the bone by the cells of the host.

Keywords: bioactive, biodegradable, bone, extracellular matrix-based bioscaffolds, stem cells, tissue engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: S. Jaramillo, Y. Montoya, W. Agudelo, J. Bustamante

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Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are related to affectations of the heart and blood vessels, within these are pathologies such as coronary or peripheral heart disease, caused by the narrowing of the vessel wall (atherosclerosis), which is related to the accumulation of Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL) in the arterial walls that leads to a progressive reduction of the lumen of the vessel and alterations in blood perfusion. Currently, the main therapeutic strategy for this type of alteration is drug treatment with statins, which inhibit the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), responsible for modulating the rate of cholesterol production and other isoprenoids in the mevalonate pathway. This enzyme induces the expression of LDL receptors in the liver, increasing their number on the surface of liver cells, reducing the plasma concentration of cholesterol. On the other hand, when the blood vessel presents stenosis, a surgical procedure with vascular implants is indicated, which are used to restore circulation in the arterial or venous bed. Among the materials used for the development of vascular implants are Dacron® and Teflon®, which perform the function of re-waterproofing the circulatory circuit, but due to their low biocompatibility, they do not have the ability to promote remodeling and tissue regeneration processes. Based on this, the present research proposes the development of a hydrolyzed collagen and polyethylene oxide electrospun membrane reinforced with medium and high-intensity statins, so that in future research it can favor tissue remodeling processes from its microarchitecture.

Keywords: atherosclerosis, medium and high-intensity statins, microarchitecture, electrospun membrane

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Muna Al-Tarshi

Abstract:

The distribution and accumulation dynamics of anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) and microplastic particles in mangrove habitats in the region are poorly understood. The abundance, sorting, and diversity aspects of AMD and microplastics were investigated in three types of mangroves creeks ( Natural mangrove, afforested mangrove, and non-planted). Abundance, concentration, and particles form of microplastics have been illustrated in three substrate in mangrove habitats e.g. sediment, water, and aquatic organisms. Density separation method by using highly saturated solution was implemented to extract the plastic particles from the sediment samples. The average size of particles in each transect was done using image software, and the polymer type was determined via FTIR. There was variability in abundance of microplastics and marine debris between the habitats and within the substrates in the habitats.Biomonitoring program was developed to detect the pollution of microplastics in mangrove habitats in Sultanate of Oman. Sediment dwelling species were the best choice. Testing whether the zooplankton (Artemia) eating the microplastics via FlowCam technique have been studied. The zooplanktons (Artemia) were eating the microplastics as mistaken food.

Keywords: microplastics, marine debris, flowcam, FTIR, polymer, artemia

Procedia PDF Downloads 112