This paper presents the mechanical function and characterization of an artificial lightweight geopolymer aggregate (ALGA) using LUSI (Sidoarjo mud) and alkaline activator as source materials. LUSI stands for LU-Lumpur and SI-Sidoarjo, meaning mud from Sidoarjo which erupted near the Banjarpanji-1 exploration well in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia on 27 May 2006. The effect of NaOH molarity, LUS...

Associated microbiota play crucial roles in health and disease of higher organisms. For macroalgae, some associated bacteria exert beneficial effects on nutrition, morphogenesis and growth. However, current knowledge on macroalgae-microbiota interactions is mostly based on studies on green and red seaweeds. In this study, we report that when cultured under axenic conditions, the filamentous bro...

Spirulina platensis, is a photosynthetic, filamentous, spiral-shaped, multicellular and bluegreen micro alga. As it contains chlorophyll a, like higher plants, botanists classify it as a micro alga belonging to Cyanophyceae class; but according to bacteriologists it is a bacterium due to its prokaryotic structure. Mexicans (Aztecs) started using this microorganism as human food. Its chemical co...

The Stepanov equation, relating the intensity of emission, f(e)(v), at a given frequency, and that of absorption, k(v), at the same frequency, is applied, in its modified form (see equation 3 in text) to suspensions of Chlorella, Porphyridium, and Anacystis and to chlorophyll solutions. This application can reveal whether the yield of fluorescence, Phi(v), is constant, or changes with frequency...

Aqueous and ethanolic extracts obtained from nine Chilean marine macro-algae collected at different seasons were examined in vitro and in vivo for properties that reduce the growth of plant pathogens or decrease the injury severity of plant foliar tissues following pathogen infection. Particular crude aqueous or organic extracts showed effects on the growth of pathogenic bacteria whereas others...

Lichens result from symbioses between a fungus and either a green alga or a cyanobacterium. They are known to exhibit extreme desiccation tolerance. We investigated the mechanism that makes photobionts biologically active under severe desiccation using green algal lichens (chlorolichens), cyanobacterial lichens (cyanolichens), a cephalodia-possessing lichen composed of green algal and cyanobact...

The influence of organic-hexavalent-uranium [U(VI)] complexation on U(VI) reduction by a sulfate-reducing bacterium (Desulfovibrio desulfuricans) and an iron-reducing bacterium (Shewanella alga) was evaluated. Four aliphatic ligands (acetate, malonate, oxalate, and citrate) and an aromatic ligand (tiron [4,5-dihydroxy-1,3-benzene disulfonic acid]) were used to study complexed-uranium bioavailab...

The oxygenated derivatives of fatty acids, known as oxylipins, are pivotal signaling molecules in animals and terrestrial plants. In animal systems, eicosanoids regulate cell differentiation, immune responses, and homeostasis. In contrast, terrestrial plants use derivatives of C18 and C16 fatty acids as developmental or defense hormones. Marine algae have emerged early in the evolution of eukar...