Journal articles on the topic 'Fungal leather'

Foot infections are difficult to eradicate, patients with diabetes mellitus among others are more susceptible to them, therefore preventive strategies and effective antimicrobial agents are needed. The antimicrobial properties of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are well known thus they are a trend for biomedical applications. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial and antifungal activity of leather coated with AgNPs against two bacteria species Pseudomonas mendocina and Pseudomonas syringae, and the fungi Trichophyton mentagrophytes responsible for foot infections. Porcine leather was cut off and sprinkled with solutions containing various concentrations of metallic AgNPs. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and texture analysis of the leather were performed to quantify the silver metallic concentration metallic silver and to test the effect of AgNPs on leather softness. Antimicrobial activity was measured by agar diffusion test for zone of inhibition (ZoI). The textural analysis of the coated leather showed that the application of AgNPs diminished its softness in a concentration dependency manner. The results from the antimicrobial activity revealed that leather coated with 0.05% of metallic AgNPs had the best antibacterial effect. A decrease in the growth of T. mentagrophytes was observed on the leather coated with 0.25% of metallic AgNPs; however, this concentration was not enough to abolish fungal growing. In conclusion, the application of AgNPs to porcine leather decreased its softness but added beneficial antibacterial properties to avoid bacterial foot infections. Leather coated with AgNPs could be used as a suitable material to prevent foot infections and it could provide added value for shoes manufacturing.

Keratinophilic fungi are present in soil as decomposers of keratinous substrates, while keratinolytic fungi have the capacity to decompose native keratin, the insoluble fibrous proteins from living organism. Keratin materials, especially by-products from food industry and animal husbandry must be harnessed through innovative, non-polluting and low-cost solutions. The nonpathogenic keratinolytic fungal species produce extracellular keratinases which have many and various applications, one being in leather industry where dehairing process of skin and hides require keratinolytic activity. The present study investigates the biodegradative potential of selected keratinolytic fungal microorganisms expressed towards different types of animal skins. The ability of Fusarium sp. 1 A strain to produce keratinase with a good activity towards animal skins was confirmed. These results suggest that after further studies, Fusarium sp.1A could play an important role in processing of animal wastes.

Seven fungicides, 2 seaweed extracts (Maxicrop and Seasol), tea tree oil (Multicrop), and fungal agents including yeasts and an isolate of a Trichoderma sp., were compared for the control of fruit rots in strawberries in 5 field trials in Victoria, Australia. The fungicides tested were thiram, iprodione, dichlofluanid, chlorothalonil, fluazinam, phosphorous acid and fosetyl-aluminium. All treatments were applied as foliar sprays (at recommended rates) at weekly intervals, except for one of the Trichoderma treatments in which Trichoderma was cultured on rice and applied around plants at 1 and 5 weeks after the start of the trial. Rots were assessed after harvest by incubating fruit for 3 days at room temperature (15–25˚C). Between 55 and 71% of fruit developed rot in the unsprayed plots and consisted mainly of grey mould (Botrytis cinerea), leak (Rhizopus and Mucor spp.), anthracnose (Colletotrichum acutatum), leather rot (Phytophthora cactorum), and stem end rot (Gnomonia comari). All fungicides except fosetyl-aluminium and phosphorous acid significantly (P<0.05) reduced the total incidence of fruit rots by 27–72%. Thiram, dichlofluanid and chlorothalonil reduced grey mould by 61–94%, anthracnose by 63–100% and leather rot by 65–100%; iprodione reduced grey mould by 60–94% and leak by 74–96%. In one experiment each, fluazinam reduced grey mould by 85% and leather rot by 100%, and phosphorous acid reduced leather rot by 100%. Thiram, iprodione and phosphorous acid also reduced stem end rot by 55–100%. Of the biocontrols, seaweed extracts and oil, only tea tree oil in 1 trial of 3 reduced the total incidence of fruit rots significantly (by 31%), and in 2 trials significantly reduced anthracnose, and leather rot by 60–88% and 71–72% respectively. In 2 out of 3 trials, Trichoderma sp. reduced (P<0.05) grey mould by 29–63%. In one trial each, seaweed extract 1, and a yeast treatment amended with malt extract, both reduced grey mould by 40 or 54% respectively. The addition of sucrose to the yeast treatments significantly increased the incidence of anthracnose infection. Chlorothalonil, dichlofluanid, thiram and iprodione sprays increased the yield (weight) of healthy fruit significantly (P<0.05) compared with that from untreated plants by 43–114%. By contrast, none of the biocontrol treatments, the seaweed extracts or tea tree oil increased fruit yields.

Background: Onychomycosis and tinea pedis (athlete’s foot) are infections of the nails and skin caused by pathogenic fungi collectively known as dermatophytes. These infections are difficult to treat, and patients often relapse; it is thought that a patient’s footwear becomes infected with these fungal organisms and, thus, is an important reservoir for reinfection. Therefore, it is important to find an effective means for killing the dermatophytes that may have colonized the inner surface of the shoes of patients with superficial fungal infections. In this study, we developed an in vitro model for culturing dermatophytes in footwear and used this model to evaluate the effectiveness of a commercial ultraviolet shoe sanitizer in eradicating the fungal elements residing in shoes. Methods: Leather and athletic shoes (24 pairs) were inoculated with either Trichophyton rubrum or Trichophyton mentagrophytes (107 colony-forming units/mL) strains and were placed at 35°C for 4 to 5 days. Next, we compared the ability of swabbing versus scraping to collect microorganisms from infected shoes. Following the optimized method, shoes were infected and were irradiated with one to three cycles of radiation. The inner surfaces of the shoes were swabbed or scraped, and the specimens were cultured for dermatophyte colony-forming units. Results: Leather and canvas shoes were infected to the same extent. Moreover, scraping with a scalpel was overall more effective than was swabbing with a cotton-tipped applicator in recovering viable fungal elements. Irradiation of shoes with one, two, or three cycles resulted in reduction of fungal colonization to the same extent. Conclusions: The developed infected shoe model is useful for assessing the effectiveness of ultraviolet shoe sanitizers. Also, ultraviolet treatment of shoes with a commercial ultraviolet C sanitizing device was effective in reducing the fungal burden in shoes. These findings have implications regarding breaking foot infection cycles. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 102(4): 309–313, 2012)

The aim of the present study was to assess the state of conservation of the fossilized skin fragment assigned to Mylodon listai preserved in a showcase of the Paleontology Hall of the Museum of La Plata. To this end, we conducted a volumetric aerobiological sampling both inside the showcase and in the hall to detect the presence of fungal load that could alter its preservation. We also determined the environmental parameters both inside and outside the showcase. The aerobiological sampling inside the showcase showed 3061.50 spores/m3 corresponding to 22 fungal types, while in the hall, 2283.20 spores/m3 corresponding to 14 fungal types where detected. Cladosporium was the most important type in all the sampling points. The temperatures recorded were lower than those recommended for the conservation of leather and the relative humidity values were acceptable in 70% of the record for this material

The aim of this research was to estimate fungal contamination at workplaces in composting plants, tanneries, libraries and archives. The influence of raw material processed or stored at these workplaces (compost, leather, cellulose) on the toxigenicity and cytotoxicity of fungi was also investigated. Qualitative and quantitative mycological analysis confirmed a high contamination in composting plants and tanneries, while materials in archives and libraries were less contaminated. Among the 74 fungal species present in the studied work environments, 15 species were identified as useful indicators of microbial contamination based on their presence at the workplace, frequency of occurrence and harmfulness to health. For nine Aspergillus and Penicillium isolates, identification was confirmed on the basis of molecular techniques, i.e. internal transcribed spacer region and β-tubulin gene sequencing, and the obtained nucleotide sequences were deposited into the NCBI GenBank Database. Five strains were cytotoxic to swine kidney cells. Strains of Aspergillus fumigatus originating from a composting plant produced large quantities of fumitremorgin C, fumiquinazoline F, fumagillin, fumigaclavine, helvolic acid, methylsulochrin, pyripyropene A, brevianamid F, verruculogen and others, as analysed by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In the case of Penicillium chrysogenum originating from a tannery, meleagrin, secalonic acid D, roquefortine C, emodin and other metabolites were detected. These findings confirmed the hypothesis that these species may be a health risk factor to workers. Interestingly, the presence of compost extract, leather or cellulose in the culture medium apparently affected the ability of the selected fungi to produce (cytotoxic) mycotoxins.

In this work we studied the effect of microscopic soil fungi on some lather samples. The species composition of micromycetes inhabiting the samples under study was revealed, and an assessment of the fungal resistance of the materials under study was given. In the process of work, species of microscopic soil fungi were isolated and identified from the soil. In order to determine the degree of resistance to fungi for the infection of samples, a water-spore suspension was obtained. The leather materials were partially destroyed by microscopic fungi, and mold resistance ranged from 2 to 3 on a 5-point scale.

Economic losses incurred during raspberry storage are primarily a result of fungal spoilage. This study aimed to characterise the micromycete phytopathogenic complex in stored raspberries. The fungal microbiome was assessed in six Russian raspberry cultivars (Cleopatra, Novost’ Kuzmina, Sulamiph, Fregat, Shakhrazada, Yarkaya) as well as three foreign varieties (Glen Lyon, Cascade Delight, Limonnaya). The economic and biological traits of the cultivars were studied within the “Programme and Protocol for Fruit, Berry and Nut Crops Varietal Testing”. Internal and surfacelevel contamination in infected fruit tissues was detected via the stimulation of microbial growth in a wet chamber. The micromycete species composition was assessed via commonly used methods. The following raspberry spoilage organisms were identified as being predominant. Rots: black (Alternaria alternata (Fr) Keissler), dry (Fusarium Link.), leather (Phytophthora cactorum (Leb. et Cohn) Schroet), grey (Botrytis cinerea Pers.); moulds: black (Cladosporium Link.), green-blue (Penicillium Link.), green-yellow (Aspergillus P. Micheliex Haller), grey capitate (Rhizopus nigricans Ehrenb.), capitate (Mucor spp.); drupe rot (Phragmidium rubi Wint.); bacterioses. Microbiotic profiles varied between cultivars in storage. The fungal genera Fusarium and Alternaria prevailed, with the former dominating in almost all samples. The phytopathogenic complex primarily consisted of the fungal genera Fusarium, Alternaria and Penicillium. Raspberry cultivars which had a weak (Sulamiph, Shakhrazada, Novost’ Kuzmina) or strong (Cleopatra) resistance to micromycetes in storage were identified.

The natural fungicide has been successfully extracted from neem (Azadirachta indica) leaves and mahagony (Swietenia Mahagoni) fruit bark by a solvent extraction method. The antifungal efficacy was evaluated by the application of extract to the fungal-killing on cultured-fungus in Petri-plate and shoes. The fungus was isolated from the shoe and cultured in Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) plate of 100 mm size petri dish. Different dosing of neem and mahagony extract was applied on the fungus culture and measured the area of fungus killing as an antifungal efficacy of the extracts by “Leaf Area Counter” software. The maximum fungus killing efficacy was optimized. The optimum dosing of neem leaves and mahagony bark extracts were found 0.6 gm/5ml and 0.8 gm/5ml, respectively. After that, the optimum doses of natural fungicide were mixed with commercial shoe shiner and cultured the fungus in SDA plate with and without fungicides. Fungicides containing shoe shiner was an inhibitor to grow the fungus, whereas fungus was grown in fungicides-free shoe shiner within three days. We observed the fungicides-containing shoe-shiner treated dish for a period of one month and found that there was no fungus growth at all. The present findings indicated the possible use of neem and mahagony fruits-bark extract as a natural antifungal agent against post-harvest fungal infestation of shoe commodities and prevented the fungus contamination. Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res.54(3), 257-262, 2019

Dye is extensively used in industries, such as textile, paper printing, food, and leather. Dye causes significant effects on living organisms and the environment. Current dye treatment methods are inefficient in decolourization as the dye is highly persistent. Efficiency in the decolourization of dye is a challenge for industries as well as for wastewater treatment systems. This paper focuses on the mycoremediation dye treatment method, a sustainable treatment method that leads to green technology. This study explores mycoremediation efficiency and processes for dye decolourization. The gap of study on fungal mixed culture shapes future study direction of dye decolourization. Synergistic or antagonistic effects of mixed culture towards dye decolourization should be further investigated.

The objective of this paper is to establish the significance of the mycoremediation of contaminants such as Cd2+ to achieve sustainable and eco-friendly remediation methods. Industries such as electroplating, paint, leather tanning, etc. release an enormous amount of Cd2+ in wastewater, which can drastically affect our flora and fauna. Herein, we report on the in vitro bioadsorption of Cd2+ ions using fungal isolates obtained from different contaminated industrial sites. The detailed studies revealed that two fungal species, i.e., Trichoderma fasciculatum and Trichoderma longibrachiatum, were found to be most effective against the removal of Cd2+ when screened for Cd2+ tolerance on potato dextrose agar (PDA) in different concentrations. Detailed adsorption studies were conducted by exploring various experimental factors such as incubation time, temperature, pH, inoculum size, and Cd2+ salt concentrations. Based on optimum experimental conditions, T. fasciculatum exhibited approximately 67.10% removal, while T. longibrachiatum shows 76.25% removal of Cd2+ ions at pH 5.0, 120 h incubation time, at 30°C. The inoculum sizes for T. fasciculatum and T. longibrachiatum were 2.5% and 2.0%, respectively. Finally, the morphological changes due to Cd2+ accumulation were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Further, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy reveals the presence of various functional groups (-CH, –C=O, NH and –OH), which seem to be responsible for the efficient binding of Cd2+ ions over the fungal surfaces.

Fungal proteases had wide applications in textile, leather, food and Pharmaceutical industries. As proteases shows proteolytic activity they are helpful in proteinic stain removal hence also used in various commercial detergent industries. For fungal isolation soil samples were collected from different sites of Amalner tahsil. (Maharashtra) e.g. crop fields, near dairy areas, poultry farms etc. Those soil samples showing alkaline pH were selected for isolation of fungi on Potato Dextrose Agar plates. Then among 14 different isolates 2 were selected for their most proteolytic activity after screening on casein agar, skimmed milk agar and gelatine agar. For submerged fermentation, these selected isolates were inoculated in production media in shake flask. After 72 hrs, plate assay was performed by taking crude enzyme after filtration and centrifugation as well as by taking partially purified enzyme.(partial purification done by ammonium sulphate precipitation method). Protease activity assay was performed by agar well diffusion method, as well as blood clot lysis activity and blood stain removal ability of protease obtained from selected isolates was studied.Selected isolates were identified,among them Aspergillus niger gives more proteolytic activity than Trichoderma longibrachiatum. Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 5(3): 397-402

Skin diseases are a major occupational health issue in tannery workers because of work related exposure to various toxic chemicals used in tanning process. In the present study, prevalence of various skin diseases and predisposing factors in tannery workers were investigated.A cross sectional study including 114 tannery workers (male-89; female-25) employed at different tanneries of Southern India was carried out. Face to face interview with pre-designed questionnaire and health examination was conducted. Skin samples obtained from the participants were subjected to microscopic examination and microbial culture for diagnosis of skin diseases. The prevalence of occupational skin disorders were 39% among the study participants. Contact dermatitis (16%), skin infections (16%), eczematous lesions (7%) and nail discoloration (1.75%) wereidentified. Skin infections of fungal origin were identified among 11.4% of subjects. The skin infections of fungi; tenia corporis, tenia cruris, tenia unguium, tenia versicolor, tenia pedis and Pityriosis versicolor were identified. Bacterial skin infections identified were associated with contact dermatitis. Lack of PPE usage was reported among 30% of workers. Hazardous working environment, chemical exposure, humidity and lack of PPEusage were significantly associated with increased skin disease incidence(p<0.05), indicating the major predisposing factorsfor Occupation skin diseases.The findings of the study emphasize that,workers in the pre-tanning section and tanning sections are more vulnerable to occupational skin diseases.Compliance to use of PPEs, engineering controls to reduce exposure, education, frequent health surveillance and early identification & treatment could mitigate the occupational skindiseasesamongtannery workers.

Moulds are microorganisms which play the key role in biodeterioration of technical materials which results from their physiological features and metabolism. Technical materials constitute the source of carbon and energy (wood, paper, textiles, fuels, leather) or the surface for fungal growth (bricks, stone, metal, glass). Moulds characterized by a high biodeterioration activity – enzymatic and acidic, belong mainly to the following genera: Aspergillus, Penicillium, Trichoderma, Cladosporium, Paecilomyces and Chaetomium. Members of some taxa (besides the aforementioned also e.g. Stachybotrys, Alternaria, Epidermophyton, Microsporum, Scopulariopsis, Trichophyton) growing on technical substances and producing allergens and mycotoxins cause health hazards. Therefore, basing on the knowledge about conditions for mould development and biodeterioration mechanisms, we should appropriately preserve materials against mould growth. Looking for new disinfection methods safe for technical substances in order to inhibit mould growth is also important. Protective applications of biocides should be limited only to materials most sensitive to biodeterioration (paper, textiles, fuels, paints). On the one hand we should take into consideration environmental protection, on the other production of durable, biodegradable materials ensuring the product life cycle.

A new wood-inhabiting fungal species, Eichleriella xinpingensis, is described based on a combination of morphological features and molecular evidence. The species is characterized by an annual, resupinate basidiocarps with soft leathery to ceraceous hymenial surface covered by blunt-pointed spines, a dimitic hyphal system with clamp generative hyphae, two-celled, narrowly ovoid to obconical basidia and broadly cylindrical, hyaline, thin-walled, smooth, basidiospores measuring as 6.5–10 ×3.5–4.5 µm. Sequences of ITS and LSU nrDNA regions of the studied samples were generated, and phylogenetic analyses were performed with maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference methods. The phylogenetic analyses showed that E. xinpingensis belonged to the Auriculariaceae and was closely related to E. tenuicula.

The article is devoted to the analysis of burial 2 from the Chernyakhiv culture cemetery Komariv-1 (Kelmentsy district, Chernivtsi region). The northern burial, destroyed in ancient time, belonged to a woman. The text provides a description of the archaeological complex, the reconstruction of the original appearance and the gradual reconstruction of the destruction process. Based on the known data about the costume of the bearers of the Chernyakhiv culture, the peculiarities of the funeral rite, the peculiarities of the placement of the grave goods, it was possible to reconstruct the original appearance of the completely destroyed burial. Thanks to anthropological determinations of the position of individual human bones in the burial, it was possible to determine the sequence of destruction of the skeleton and grave goods. After entering the grave pit, the skull was separated. The skull was then placed face down in the center of the grave. After that, the chest was destroyed. The bones of the legs were inserted in a certain sequence (crossed bones, inverted bones, mirror-embedded bones). The last stage of the destruction of the burial was the destruction of the skeleton of the sheep (food-offering) and turning over and breaking the utensils in the burial. After the burial was destroyed, the burial pit remained open. According to the information received, the burial was destroyed after the decomposition of the soft tissues of the body, but before the decomposition of the leather elements of the suit. According to the results of the study, the following conclusions were made: • Even a completely destroyed burial can be reconstructed to its original appearance. • Different areas of the skeleton were subjected to different manipulations. The thorax is destroyed, the skull and bones of the legs are re-inserted in a certain (non-anatomical) order. • Part of the inventory (at least one silver fibula) was removed from the burial, but the main purpose was not looting but the destruction of the burial. • Burial occurred between the decomposition of the soft tissues of the body and the leather elements of the suit. Key words: Chernyakhiv culture, funeral rite, destroyed burials, reconstruction of funeral rite, post-funeral rite.

PurposeIn Nigeria, the mango fruits consumption rate is high during its peak period and this has always resulted in environmental sanitation problem because the mango seeds are thrown to the surroundings immediately the fruits are eaten. Finding more useful application of the kernel would be a way to reduce the environmental pollution. Mechanical decortication of the leathery mango stone remains the only viable option that can support any prospected commercial uses of the mango kernel.Design/methodology/approachThe decorticator consists of a hopper, a decorticating chamber, spiked shaft, screen shaker and discharge spout. The machine performance was evaluated in terms of decorticating efficiency, mechanical damage and sieve loss.FindingsResults of the evaluation show that the optimum performance of the decorticator was at a speed of 900rpm, feed rate of 250kg/h and power requirement of 2.50kW.Originality/valueMango stones are useful as substitute for maize in finishing broiler diets. The kernel is also used for medicinal purposes in moderation of anti‐bacterial and anti‐fungal activities. Therefore, the designed mango stone decorticator enhances the complete mechanization processes of mango products.

Abstract Background: Neutropenic sepsisis a major cause of induction mortality in acute leukemia. The estimated incidence in various series ranges from 12% to 36% 1-2. Carbapenem resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) colonization of the gut can increase the incidence of neutropenic sepsis to 50%3-4. In the present study we report the prevalence of CRE gut colonization and its impact on outcomes of remission induction chemotherapy in patients with acute leukemias. Primary Outcome: To compare induction mortality in patients with acute leukaemia who have CRE colonization of the gut at admission with a cohort of Non-CRE colonizer patients of acute leukemia receiving induction chemotherapy at our centre. Secondary Outcomes: Compare the durations of febrile period, antibiotic use and chemotherapy interruptions in CRE colonizers vs. Non-CRE colonizers. Methods: This is a prospective observational study. Institute ethics clearance was taken. Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL) and mixed-phenotype acute leukemia(MPAL) who were admitted to our centre for remission induction chemotherapy from January 2017 to February 2018 were enrolled in our study. Perianal swab for diagnosing CRE colonization was taken at the time of admission. CRE were identified as per the Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) guidelines. On the basis of surveillance culture results patients were divided into cohorts of CRE-colonizers and Non-CRE-colonizers. These cohorts were followed up prospectively and parameters mentioned in primary and secondary outcome were recorded. Patients with probable and proven fungal infections as per EORTC criteria were excluded from our analysis. This was done in order to better dilineate the attributable cause of death to CRE infections. Results:A total of 136 patients with acute leukemia were enrolled in our study. Almost half of the patients (67) had acute myeloid leukemia (49%), sixty four (47%) patients had acute lymphoblastic leukemia and four (3%) patients had mixed-phenotype acute leukmeia. 61% of patients had CRE colonization of the gut at the time of admission. There was no significant difference with regards to median age at presentation, sex and the underlying disease (AML, ALL, MPAL) between the CRE colonizers and non-CRE colonizers. Escherichia coli (E.coli) was the most prevalent bacteria among CRE colonizers and non-CRE colonizers (63% vs. 71%, P=0.42). More patients in the CRE colonizer cohort did not receive remission induction chemotherapy due to life threatening sepsis at the time of presentation (15% vs. 5%, P=0.07). Chemotherapy interruptions due to life threatening sepsis were seen in a significantly higher numebr of CRE colonizers compared to non-CRE colonizers (32% vs. 18%, P=0.02). Induction deaths in CRE colonizers were almost double that seen in non-CRE colonizers (40% vs. 21%, P=0.01). There was no significant difference in duration of fever, duration of antibiotic use and blood culture positivity between the two cohorts. Conclusion:More than half of the patients with acute leukemia had CRE colonization of the gut at the time of presentation. Chemotherapy interruptions and deaths during induction were seen in a significantly higher number of patients colonized with CRE at the time of presentation. Patients with acute leukemia should be screened for CRE colonization of the gut prior to induction chemotherapy. This assumes importance is centres with high prevalence of CRE colonization as CRE colonisation of the gut is a predictor for induction mortality. References:J. de Naurois, I. Novitzky-Basso, M.J. Gill etal, Management of febrile neutropenia ESMO guidelines. Annals of Oncology, (2010) 21 (suppl_5): v252-v256Collin BA, Leather HL, Wingard JR etal, Evolution, incidence, and suspecitibility of bacterial blood stream isolates from 519 bone marrow transplant patients. Clin Ifect Dis. 2001:33(7):947-53Neil Gupta, Brandi M, Limbago et al, Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae: Epidemiology and Prevention, Healthcare Epidemiology, CID 2011:53 (1 July)Mathews, V., Srivastava, A., George, B., Korula, A., Perumalla, S., Abubacker, F. N., N, N. P., Devasia, A., Abraham, A., Balaji, V., & Lakshmi, K. M. (2016).Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms Are Common in Fecal Surveillance Cultures and Do Not Predict Bacteremia but Correlate with Poorer Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplants. Blood, 128(22), 3406 Disclosures Seth: Shire: Honoraria.

In 2017 and 2018, the Proyecto Djehuty has documented in a tomb of the early Middle Kingdom at Dra Abu el-Naga the burial of several individuals linked to the priesthood and the Domain of Amun of the Twenty-Second Dynasty. Among the artefacts found there, a group of textiles stands out. A first group includes the name and titles of the owner along with a year of reign. In another, unlike the previous one, only the titles and the identity of their owners are recorded. Thirdly, there are marks and signs of laundry or weaving in some of the pieces of the preceding types and others that only include a similar kind of notation. In addition, among the objects that formed part of the burial goods are two groups of artefacts: shrouds with a large figure of Osiris and texts referring to the deity and its owner and braces with leather ends where a king is offering before a deity. The analysis and preliminary contextualization of this evidence allow for a better understanding of the social profile and funeral practices of the individuals buried in Dra Abu el-Naga in the Third Intermediate Period.

The experience of carrying out a hypothetical reconstruction of women's clothing "tangalai" XVII-XVIII centuries is considered. It is reported that this sample of clothing was found during archaeological research in 2016 in the area of At-Byran, Khangalassky district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Earlier it was revealed that the tangalai was part of the bride’s costume, which means an indispensable element of the wedding ceremony. As a result of studies of the Yakut burials of the XVII-XVIII centuries, it was established that the tangalai was included in the complex of accompanying material during the funeral rite of a married woman. An analysis of ethnographic literature, the results of field scientific research, available visual sources was made, fragments of clothing stored in museums extracted from funerary monuments were studied. As the study showed, the tangalai from the At-Daban VI burial has similar features with samples of similar shoulder-clothes found and studied earlier: general principles of decor, color scheme, and peculiarities of the location of sewn jewelry. Distinctive features: a lowered waist line and narrow bibs were revealed. Based on a detailed study of the original source, masters of decorative and applied art carried out a hypothetical reconstruction of the tangalaya. Attention was paid to leather processing, seams, design features. Unsaved pieces of clothing were recreated using existing analogues.

This translation is based on the work “Notes Relating to the Manners and Customs of the Crim Tartars…” by the English traveler Mary Holderness. This work was published in London in 1821. It contains detailed information about the way of life of the Crimean Tatars, among whom Mary Holderness lived for four years in the village of Karagoz (Karagoss, at present the village of Pervomayskoye, Kirovsky district of the Crimea) since 1816 to 1820. The work is based on the author’s personal testimonies about the conduct of marriage, funeral and many other ceremonies of the Crimean Tatars: their customs, traditions, methods of housekeeping and education, especially intra-family relations. In her notes, Mary Holderness describes the development of women’s handicrafts and leather production. The author notes that all the Crimean footwear production was made in Bakhchisarai and Karasubazar, and subsequently sent to other Crimean cities. The author provides information on the development of sheep breeding among the Crimean Tatars. Lamb skins, after appropriate processing, were highly valued and exported to Moscow. Jewelry production was also well developed. Various jewelry decorations were made by them: jewelry made of silver, glass, brass, lead, as well as gold with colored stones. The significance of work lies in the fact that it provided the modern reader with the opportunity to get acquainted with the way of life and customs of the Crimean Tatars of the period described. An abundance of background information: food prices, Russian equivalents of British measures, indication of the distance between settlements make it possible to assess the standard of living of the Crimean Tatar people in the period under review.

SUMMARYFruit and vegetable farming generally involves high levels of chemical inputs despite the fact that consumers are increasingly concerned about the sanitary and organoleptic aspects of fruit quality. Pineapple is largely subject to these issues since it is dominated by conventional monocropping with high levels of agrochemical inputs due to nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) fertilisation, weed management, crop protection and flowering induction. However, low-input pineapple cropping systems are both rare and little documented. Our study aimed at replacing all or part of the chemical fertilisers used with local organic fertilisers. It was conducted on the cultivar ‘Queen Victoria’, without pesticides or herbicides, in Reunion Island. We compared the impacts of three fertilisation treatments on pineapple growth and yield, fruit quality traits, symptoms of two major fungal diseases in fruit and production costs and labour times: (i) conventional: NPK fertiliser at recommended doses (265.5 kg ha−1 N–10.53 kg ha−1 P–445.71 kg ha−1 K); (ii) integrated: Mucuna pruriens green manure (240.03 kg ha−1 N, 18.62 kg ha−1 P, 136.11 kg ha−1 K) incorporated into the soil and a half-dose of NPK fertiliser and (iii) organic: M. pruriens green manure incorporated into the soil and foliar applications of sugarcane vinasse from a local distillery, rich in K (14.44 g L−1). Our results showed that NPK fertilisation could be replaced by organic fertilisers as well as by integrated fertilisation. ‘D’-leaf analysis showed that vinasse supplies a largely sufficient K level for growing pineapples. With organic fertilisation, pineapple growth was slower, 199 days after planting vs. 149 days for integrated or conventional fertilisations, and fruit yield was lower, 47.25 t ha−1 vs. 52.51 and 61.24 t ha−1, probably because M. pruriens green manure provided an early increase in soil mineral N, whereas N requirements are much higher four months after planting. However, the fruit weight (709.94 ± 123.53 g) was still within the size range required for the export market (600–900 g). Interestingly, organic fertilisation significantly reduced Leathery Pocket disease and produced the best quality fruit with the highest total soluble solids contents (TSS) and the lowest titratable acidity (TTA). Fruit quality was also significantly improved with integrated fertilisation, with fruit weight similar to that of conventional fertilisation. To conclude, these findings have implications for the sustainability of pineapple production and could lead to low-input innovative cropping systems that reduce production costs and develop local organic inputs.

The article considers the materials of the Urd Ulaan Uneet cave burial, investigated in 2015. This complex is located in the Tsagaanbulag Myangad Somon of Kobdo Aimak of Mongolia, at the altitude of 1327 m a.s.l. Pre-sented is the description of the circumstances of discovery of this important site, as well as the existing experi-ence of studying and publishing of the materials. The main objective of the study is the detailed analysis of the main categories of finds from the cave burial, the most informative of which include wooden saddle, iron bits with horn psalia, compound bow, arrowheads, leather quiver with iron hook, and wooden vessel. For the interpretation of these items, extensive archaeological sources of the Syanby-Rouran and medieval time, assembled during the excavations in various parts of the Central Asian region, were involved. Based on the results obtained, a number of conclusions have been made regarding the cultural and chronological interpretation of the site. It has been established that the Urd Ulaan Uneet complex is one of the rare objects of the Rouran time in Mongolia, and the only known cave burial of this chronological period. The monument can be confidently dated to the middle of the 4th –5th c. AD with the possible extension of the upper chronological boundary to the beginning of the 6th c. AD. This conclusion is generally supported by the results of radiocarbon analysis presented in the publications of Mongolian archaeologists. An indicative characteristic of the cave site, not revealed during the excavations of other objects of the Rouran period in Mongolia, is the accompanying burial of a horse. Obviously, this feature of the funeral rite is explained by contacts with the population of the Bulan-Koby Culture. The weighty argument in favor of the proposed possible interactions between the Altai cattle breeders and nomads of Western Mongolia in the Rouran period could be found among the investigated burials of the Bulan-Koby Culture in the Bayan-Ulgiy Aimag. The material complex found during the excavation of the Urd Ulaan Uneet cave burial reflects the very wide contacts of the population of Mongolia in various directions (Altai-Sayan Region, Trans-Baikal Region, Man-churia, East Turkestan, Central Asia) in the middle of the 1st mil. AD. In addition, the «western» relations are clearly distinguishable; these obviously demonstrate the complex migration processes of the Great Migration Period.

Neofusicoccum ribis (Slippers, Crous & M.J. Wingf.), previously known as Botryosphaeria ribis (Grossenb. & Duggar), is an aggressive fungal plant pathogen that is part of the N. ribis/N. parvum species complex that causes stem cankers on a variety of woody plant species (2). An isolate of N. ribis was obtained from decayed ‘Honeycrisp’ apple fruit from a commercial cold storage facility located in Pennsylvania in October of 2011. The decayed apple fruit sample had a brownish lesion that was soft, dry, and leathery on the surface while sporulation was not evident. To conduct Koch's postulates, three ‘Golden Delicious’ apple fruits were wound-inoculated with a 50-μl mycelial suspension, obtained from aseptically scraping a 7-day-old potato dextrose agar (PDA) culture of the fungus, and was repeated using ‘Fuji’ apple fruit. The inoculated fruit developed lesions, while water-inoculated fruit were symptomless after 5 days at 20°C. N. ribis was reisolated from infected tissue and was morphologically identical to the original isolate. Genomic DNA was isolated, a portion of the β-tubulin gene was amplified with the gene specific primers, and the amplicon was sequenced and analyzed using BLAST (1). The nucleotide sequence (GenBank Accession No. KC47853) had 99% identity with N. ribis SEGA8 isolate (JN607146.1). The N. ribis isolate produced a grayish-white mycelium with abundant aerial hyphae on PDA and had an olive-colored reverse. Microscopic investigation revealed septate mycelia with right angle branching and conidiomata were not evident on PDA, V8, oatmeal agar (OMA), or water agar (WA). Growth on WA was sparse and transparent, and aerial mycelial growth was not produced. Growth rate analyses were conducted on PDA, V8, and OMA and were 10.1 (±1.39), 20.4 (±1.15), and 17.6 (±0.70) mm/day at 20°C and the experiment was repeated. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) for the N. ribis isolate was carried out for three postharvest fungicides as described by Pianzzola et al. (3). Briefly, 96 well plates were filled with PDA alone (0 ppm) and PDA amended with 10 fungicide concentrations ranging from 1 to 1,200 ppm for thiabendazole (Mertect), and 1 to 1,000 ppm for fludioxonil (Scholar) and pyrimethanil (Penbotec). A mycelial suspension of the fungus was obtained from pure culture, 50 μl of the mycelial suspension was pipetted into each well, and allowed to grow for 72 h at 25°C. The experiment was conducted twice. The N. ribis isolate displayed MIC values of >1 ppm thiabendazole (Mertect), >1 ppm fludioxonil (Scholar), and 50 ppm pyrimethanil (Penbotec), which are all well below the labeled application rates for these postharvest fungicides. To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. ribis causing postharvest decay on apple fruit obtained from a commercial storage facility in Pennsylvania. References: (1) S. F. Altschul et al. J. Mol. Biol. 215:403, 1990. (2) D. Pavlic et al. Mycologia 101:636, 2009. (3) M. J. Pianzzola et al. Plant Dis. 88:23, 2004.

The carob tree belongs to the nutrient plants and it is known since antiquity as a native plant of Greece. Its scientific name Ceratonia siliqua, originates from the Greek word "keraton" which means "horn", and which indicates the shape of its fruit. The carob tree is an evergreen, long-lived, polygamous, monoecious or dioecious. It is easily cultivated and thrives in all types of soil, except the humid and non-affluent. The wood, the bark and the leaves of carob have different uses. The fruit of the carob tree, the carob, is a lobe and it is 10-30 cm long and 2-3 cm wide with a brown and leathery exocarp and a fleshy and juicy mesocarp, in which 8 to 16 oval, flattened, hard and shiny reddish seeds are enclosed. The collection of the fruits must be finished before the winter rains. The fruits fall from the tree by themselves or by caning. A 6 years old carob tree can produce 2.25 kg carobs, while a 12 years old tree can produce 45 kg or more. The annual Greek carob production for the year 2005 was 14,816 tons, while the average yield was 9.8 kg/tree. The world carob production is about 315,000 tons/year. The carobs have low total fat and crude protein content, but high sugar content. The carobs' characteristic odor is due to their isobutyric acid content (1.3%). Furthermore, they include an unusually large amount of tannins, 16-20% of which are polyphenols and 27-50% of which are bound with cellulose. The tannins are a complex group of secondary metabolites of plants and are separated from other polyphenol compounds due to their ability to create sediment with proteins. The presence of tannin in feed reduces the nutrients' digestibility and has a negative effect on body weight gain. However, tannins can also have positive effects depending on their biological potency, because they have the ability to prevent bacterial, fungal and yeast growth. Carobs and their by-products have a considerable fibre content (average 8%) and therefore they can be included in supplementary ruminant rations up to 20% - 30%. Experiments carried out by adding carobs in broiler feeds resulted in decreased body weight gain and increased feed conversion ratio, probably because of the high cellulose and tannin content of the carob. Nevertheless, if the broiler's ration is enriched with fats or oils and synthetic amino acids, these birds show normal weight gain, but with a high feed conversion ratio. The carobs can be included up to 10% - 20% in the ration of pigs. Also, since the carobs have high sugar content, they can increase the feed consumption of the piglets and they can replace other sugar feeds with high sugar content (dextrose, starch, milk powder) without adversely affecting the feed intake. Greece produces a considerable quantity of carobs every year, therefore a part of this production could be utilized as animal feed

This study is aimed at identification of biocide tolerant/resistant fungal strains afflicting the leather industry. Fungal infestation occurs sometimes despite biocide treatment during leather processing. This persistent growth can be due to the development of biocide resistance which can lead to health hazards and economic loss. As no study has so far been reported to either confirm this or to identify such fungal strains, a systematic approach has been made in this study to address these aspects. Fungal strains were collected from infested leathers from tanneries to identify biocide resistant fungal strains afflicting leather industry. Phenotypic characterization revealed Aspergillus as the most dominant with 58% occurrence. Ten isolates were subjected to 18s rRNA sequencing and four strains were identified as Aspergillus niger. An in-vitro susceptibility to four leather fungicides was assessed to identify the biocide tolerant strains. S-6 A. niger strain was found to be the most tolerant as evidenced by high MIC (7.81µg ml-1) against the most effective biocide, 2-(thiocyanomethylthio) benzothiazole. In-vivo studies on chrome-tanned leathers also confirmed this finding. SEM studies revealed considerable morphological changes in S-6 compared to wild strain providing further evidence that it may have developed biocide resistance.

The main objective of this study was to isolate, characterize, and determine chromium (VI) tolerance capacities of fungal strains from tannery effluent of the Kolkata Leather Complex area. Chromium (VI) is a heavy metal that is known to be toxic as well as carcinogenic. It is an important heavy metal widely used in various industries of which the tanning industry deserves special mention. The majority of Cr (VI) waste is discharged into the environment annually as a consequence of industrial and manufacturing activities. Kolkata Leather Complex is an industrial complex intended to serve as a central leather-tanning complex for Kolkata located at Bantala, near East Kolkata, India. Samples (tannery effluent) were collected in sterile capped tubes from Kolkata Leather Complex Area and brought to the laboratory for analysis. The samples were serially diluted and were plated on Czapekdox agar plates and incubated at 300C. After a few days, a number of morphologically different colonies were selected and sequentially subcultured for pure colony isolation on the same medium. They were preserved in the refrigerator at 40 C. Lactophenol cotton blue staining was done to observe and record the fungal morphological characteristics. They were further assessed for their hexavalent chromium tolerance capacities and subsequently the metal tolerance index was derived for each strain respectively. All 16 fungal strains isolated from the Kolkata Leather Complex tannery area were found to be chromium (VI) tolerant starting at 0.1mg/ml Cr (VI) concentration. Maximum chromium (VI) tolerance was displayed by sample S12 (2mg/ml) which was later identified as having 99.82% similarity with Aspergillus nomius strain.Keywords: effluent, fungi, heavy metal, isolation, hexavalent chromium, tannery, tolerance.

The specific growth rates of Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus eryngii and Ganoderma lucidum were determined on different culture media. Based on the data obtained, the optimal substrates were selected for the further production of artificial leather and construction biomaterials using fungal mycelium.

Abstract Background The circular economy closes loops in industrial manufacturing processes and minimizes waste. A bio-based economy aims to replace fossil-based resources and processes by sustainable alternatives which exploits renewable biomass for the generation of products used in our daily live. A current trend in fungal biotechnology—the production of fungal-based biomaterials—will contribute to both. Results This study gives an overview of various trends and development applications in which fungal mycelium is used as new and sustainable biomaterial. A patent survey covering the last decade (2009–2018) yielded 47 patents and patent applications claiming fungal biomass or fungal composite materials for new applications in the packaging, textile, leather and automotive industries. Furthermore, fungal-based materials are envisaged for thermal insulation and as fire protection materials. Most patents and patent applications describe the use of different lignin- and cellulose-containing waste biomass as substrate for fungal cultivations, covering 27 different fungal species in total. Our search uncovered that most patent activities are on-going in the United States and in China. Conclusion Current patent developments in the field suggest that fungal bio-based materials will considerable shape the future of material sciences and material applications. Fungal materials can be considered as an excellent renewable and degradable material alternative with a high innovation potential and have the potential to replace current petroleum-based materials.

In my article, "A New Sound; a New Sensation: A Cultural and Literary Reconsideration of the Motorcar in Modernity" (Ryder), I propose that "a range of semiotic engines" may be mobilised "to argue that, in the first quarter of the twentieth century, the motorcar is received as relatum profundis of freedom". In that 2019 article I further argue that, as Roland Barthes has indirectly proposed, the automobile fits into a "highway code" and into a broader "car system" in which its attributes—including its architectural details—are received as signs of liberation (Barthes Elements, 10, 29). While extending that argument, with near exclusive focus on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925) and with special reference to the hero’s Rolls Royce, I argue here that the automobile is offered as a sign of both conquest and destruction; as both dream machine and vehicle of nightmare. This is not to suggest that the motorcar was, prior to 1925, seen in absolutely idealistic terms. Nor is it to suggest that by the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century the automobile had been unequivocally condemned. As observed in my 2019 article for the Southern Semiotic Review, while The Wind in the Willows (1908) is the first novel written in English to deal with the deleterious effects of the motorcar, "it is [nonetheless] impossible to find a literary text from the early part of the twentieth century that flatly condemns the machine". So, from Gatsby’s emblematic "circus wagon" to narrator Nick Carraway’s equally symbolic "Dodge", I argue that the motorcar is represented by Fitzgerald as an emblem of both dreams and wreckage.The first motorcar noted in The Great Gatsby is the "old Dodge" belonging to Nick Carraway—the novel’s narrator and greatest dodger (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 17). Dreaming of success, and having declared himself restless, Nick claims to have come East to try his luck in the bond business (16). But, reflecting a propensity to dishonesty, the unreliable narrator (Abrams, 168) eventually reveals that at least one of the reasons for his migration East is to escape his emotional responsibilities to a girl "out West" (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 30); a girl to whom he continues to write letters signed "Love, Nick" (61). While these notions of being dodgy and dodging—and their connection to Carraway’s car—seem to have escaped the attention of commentators, several have nonetheless observed that the make suits its owner for another reason: a work-a-day mass-produced machine, the vehicle is surely a sign of the narrator’s conservatism. Tad Burness, for instance, notes that in the early twentieth century the Dodge was a make that particularly appealed to conservative and careful drivers (91). Certainly, the Dodge brothers’ advertising of the nineteen-twenties, which steadfastly emphasised staunchness and stability, reinforces this conclusion. The make, therefore, is entirely appropriate to Nick: a man who evades the vicissitudes of romance; who shuns excitement, who aligns himself with mainstream Midwestern values, who identifies more with the mechanical than with the human, and who, until the very end, fails to commit to the extraordinary. Apropos, in reviewing the manuscript of Gatsby, Keath Fraser records an exchange between Jordan Baker and Nick Carraway that was finally, and perhaps unfortunately, excised: "You appeal to me,” she said suddenly as we strolled away.“You’re sort of slow and steady ... you’ve got everything adjusted just right.” (Qtd. in Bloom, 67)To have been included at the end of the third chapter, Jordan’s assessment of Nick suggests that the narrator has over-tuned the cognitive machinery necessary to navigation through a social milieu to which he does not belong. While Fitzgerald may have felt this to be too blunt a narrative tool, the ‘slow and steady’ approach to life attributed to Nick in the finished novel clearly suggests that the narrator lives life by the manual.It may be argued, then, that while ostensibly facilitating a new start and an associated desire for upward social mobility, Nick’s old Dodge symbolises a perfunctory approach to the business of living, a shabby escape from a "tangle back home", and an escape from self (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 61). Certainly, it represents no "on the road" conquest. Indeed, Nick’s clinical and mechanical approach to life comes close to ruining him. Short of his identification with Gatsby at the end—and the subsequent telling of a tragic tale—Nick is an archetypal loser. While claiming to identify with the "racy, adventurous" feel of New York (59), his instinct is to fall back on "interior rules that act as brakes on [his] desires" (61). He therefore fails to connect with Jordan Baker—his racy and attractive would-be lover, herself named after the Jordan Playboy automobile: the "first car to be marketed on emotional appeal alone" (Heimann and Patton, 14). So, it turns out that Nick is one of life’s "rotten drivers" (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 60)—an accusation he ironically levels at Jordan Baker who eventually tackles him on this point:"You said a bad driver was only safe until she met another bad driver? Well, I met another bad driver, didn’t I? I mean it was careless of me to make such a wrong guess. I thought you were rather an honest, straightforward person." (154)As Fraser has pointed out, the mechanical and shifty Nick is far from honest (Bloom, 68). Rather than achieving any sort of emotional consummation, his already muted desires idle, misfire, or stall. Declaring himself to be "one of the few honest people that [he has] ever known" (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 154), Nick’s self-deception is, from the outset, complete. Left without the stimulus of the hero, one wonders if perhaps Nick might become a George B. Wilson.Despite his dream of pecuniary success (something shared with Nick Carraway), garage proprietor George B. Wilson is impoverished by the automobile. A dissolute dealer in second-hand machines, this once-handsome but "spiritless man" (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 33) has worked for years on scant margins. James Flink notes that dealers in used automobiles had a particularly hard time in the mid to late 1920s when profits on sales were very slight (144). The fact that Wilson is a second-hand car dealer also reinforces that everything else in his life is second-hand: built on the enterprise of others, his dream is second hand; his premises are second-hand; even his wife is second-hand. And, of course, he himself is used. Fitzgerald, then, is at pains to highlight the cultural meaning of the common or inferior car. Indeed, in the dark recesses of Wilson’s garage—which itself rests precariously on the edge of a wasteland under the faded and failed eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg—sits a "dust-covered wreck of a Ford" (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 33). Emblematic of the garage proprietor’s broken dreams, Wilson’s psychic paralysis is variously foregrounded—principally by the broken car. Here we have nothing less than Heidegger’s das Gestell: the mechanised consciousness as discussed in his essay "The Question Concerning Technology" (in Krell, 227). Significantly, only automobiles elicit a spark of interest from Wilson—but the irony, as suggested above, is that these are signs of the technical spirit to which he has so utterly acquiesced.It is often, if not always, the case in Gatsby that automobiles signpost derailed agency and, therefore, broken dreams. After all, Gatsby’s own death and funeral are foreshadowed through the automobile. In the first chapter, for example, Nick tells his cousin Daisy that "all the cars in Chicago have the left rear wheel painted black as a mourning wreath" for her (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 22). More portentously, during Nick and Gatsby’s drive to Astoria, "a dead man" passes the hero’s Rolls-Royce "in a hearse heaped with blooms" (68). While Myrtle’s death and Gatsby’s murder are contemporaneously suggested, in this emblematic tableau Gatsby’s Rolls-Royce is also overtaken by a limousine—and so the final chapter’s depressing "procession of three cars" is subtly anticipated (153). A "horribly black and wet" motor hearse bears Gatsby’s corpse to the cemetery while the narrator arrives with Gatsby’s father and the minister in a limousine. Then come the servants and the postman in Gatsby’s yellow station wagon. That the yellow and black cars are so incongruously and so tragically juxtaposed is a structurally and semantically significant feature of the text. The yellow car that once bore cheerful guests to Gatsby’s parties now follows the black hearse—the novel’s ultimate and, arguably, most awful death car. Thus, Fitzgerald presents us with one last reminder that, corrupted by our materialistic drives, our dreams wither and die; that there is, in the end, no magic.As Robert Long points out, however, the manuscript of Gatsby confirms that Fitzgerald had originally intended such foreshadowing to be much more obvious. For instance, in the manuscript, when Gatsby drives Nick to New York he declares his car to be "the handsomest in New York" and that he "wouldn’t want to ride around in a big hearse like some of those fellas do" (Long, 193). Further confirmation of Fitzgerald’s determination to mute the novel’s funereal symbolism is provided in chapter two when, along with the word "sepulchrally", the phrase "reeks of death" is crossed out (Long, 194). As published, then, the automobile travels much more subtly in The Great Gatsby. While a ghostly machine turns up to the hero’s house shortly after the funeral, the end of the road for Nick is suggested when he sells his plain old Dodge to a plain old grocer (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 157-158).The counterpoint to Nick’s old Dodge is, of course, Gatsby’s magnificent Rolls Royce: literature’s ultimate dream car. C.S. Rolls knew very well that his automobile was the new haute couture of the privileged. In his famous article on motorcars in the 1911 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica, he declares the upmarket machine to be "the private carriage of the wealthier classes to be used on all occasions" (223). To set it apart from competitors, the Rolls Royce not only offered an extraordinarily robust and responsive chassis, but boasted bodywork hand-crafted by a range of highly skilled artisans. W.A. Robotham writes that "one of the more fascinating aspects of Rolls-Royce car production in the twenties was the manufacture of the body at the many coachbuilding establishments that existed in London, the provinces, and Paris" (14). Once an order for a chassis was placed, an appointed carrossier would prescribe and detail coachwork and agonise over every internal appointment. With its "interior of glittering plate glass and rich morocco", the unnamed machine that so hopelessly besots the Toad in the third chapter of The Wind in the Willows is undoubtedly the result of such a special order—and seems likely to have goaded Fitzgerald into a fit of imitation (Grahame, 30). Apposite to a novel that contrasts dream and reality and pertinent to the near nonchalant agency of its wraithlike, almost ethereal, hero, Gatsby’s car is a cream-yellow Rolls Royce: a Silver Ghost. When C.S. Rolls conceived the model, he wrote: "the motion of the car must be absolutely silent. The car must be free from the objectionable rattling and buzzing and inconvenience of chains. ... The engine must be smokeless and odourless" (Robson, 27). Reflecting its whisper-quiet locomotion and its extensive use of silver, nickel, and aluminium plating, Rolls’s partner Claude Johnson gave the model its perfect name. Manufactured between 1906 and 1925, the Silver Ghost was the automobile of choice for F. Scott Fitzgerald himself. In 1922, the year in which Gatsby is set, Scott and his wife Zelda owned a second-hand Silver Ghost which they drove, with much joy, between Great Neck and New York. Here, then, lies one of those rare and fortuitous connections between one’s personal drives and one’s work; really, the hero of Fitzgerald’s third novel could have no other motorcar.Like the machine he drives, and in keeping with Roland Barthes’ idea that automobiles are somehow "magical" (Mythologies, 88), Gatsby would appear to have arrived from the heavens. Ghost-like, he glides in and out of the narrative and is, moreover, ineluctably associated with silver. He has pursued silver for much of his life and is, on numerous occasions, specifically identified with this powerful symbol of privilege and betrayal. While Nick finds him "regarding the silver pepper of the stars" (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 31), later the "pale", wraithlike hero wears a "silver shirt" (80). So much the object of Gatsby’s yearnings, along with Jordan Baker, Daisy Buchanan is likened to a "silver idol" (105), has a "voice full of money", and wears a hat of "metallic cloth" (109). A trophy held in hopeless memory, Daisy may be said to be one of an extensive collection of enchanted objects beheld and worshipped by an all-too-flawed hero—but while Fitzgerald’s numerous references to silver undoubtedly highlight a double-edged significance, it is nonetheless suggestions of glamour that first strike us. Early in the novel, then, aside from the portentous foreshadowing of disasters to come, Gatsby’s car emerges as a powerful archetype: an image coupled with enormous emotive significance (Jung, 87); a sign of uncompromised and near-miraculous opulence. Terraced with windshields and sporting a green leather interior, his magnificent cream-yellow Rolls Royce is "bright with nickel" (a very expensive plating used for Rolls Royce radiators) and is "swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper boxes and tool boxes" (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 64). Fitzgerald’s parataxis here seems to encourage breathless awe at the near obscene luxury of the vehicle, yet the depiction is historically accurate.In an Autocar article of 1921 there appears a closely-annotated plan of a two-seater Rolls Royce. Numerous fittings are noted: food lockers, tool cupboards, hot-and-cold water-locker, wash-basin compartment, spares cupboard, kodak photography compartment, cooking utensil compartment, suit and dressing cases, spare accumulator compartment, and recess for spare petroleum tins (Garnier and Allport, 50). Like Toad’s, Gatsby’s chimerical car is undoubtedly the creation of a carrossier. Its standard of appointment, moreover, suggests royal status. Since the Rolls-Royce is an English car, its presence in America, where it was manufactured under licence for a time, also points to a desire to recapture something left behind. This, as all readers of Fitzgerald will know, is a major thematic thread in Gatsby. To be explored in a forthcoming article, the relationship between this theme of "backing up" (that is, recapturing the past) and representations of the motorcar in the novel is profound, but for the moment I focus on the Silver Ghost as a sign of Gatsby’s outrageous aristocratic pretensions. Perhaps an expression of Fitzgerald’s own fantasy that he wasn’t the son of his parents at all, but the child of a world-ruling king, Gatsby claims to have lived "like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe" (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 65). If not actually a Rolls-Royce-loving rajah, Gatsby certainly lives like a king and even signs himself "in a majestic hand" (47). Indeed, in these senses and more, the hero is "circus master" and performer par excellence.As a letter from Fitzgerald to Maxwell Perkins tells us, Petronius’s Satyrica furnished one of several alternative titles for Gatsby (Fitzgerald Letters, 169). Pointing to a delight in comedic hedonism, "Trimalchio in West Egg" was one of several titular options entertained by Fitzgerald (Gatsby is actually referred to as Trimalchio at the start of the novel’s seventh chapter) and so it is fitting that Brian Way declares Gatsby’s Rolls Royce to be "not so much a means of transport as a theatrical gesture"—one commensurate with the hero’s "non-stop theatrical performance" (Way in Bloom, 102). Similarly, in their 2019 article "Comfortably Cocooned: Onboard Media and Sydney’s Ongoing Gridlock", Richardson and Ryder argue that the automobile is far greater than the sum of its collective parts. In a similar vein, Leo Marx writes that Gatsby has about him a "gratifying sense of a dream about to be consummated" and argues that the hero’s dream car is one of many objects in the novel that speak to Gatsby’s attempt to locate, in the real world, the stuff of unutterable visions (Marx, 77). As "circus wagon" (Fitzgerald Great Gatsby, 109), the machine also makes a substantial contribution to Fitzgerald’s comedy of the excess: cars driven by clowns at circuses stereotypically seem to operate according to a set of physical laws distinct from those governing the real world. However, with its "fenders spread like wings" (67), the hero’s car seems destined to fly. But, like Daisy’s white roadster, a machine that ironically bespeaks innocence and purity while sitting portentously "under … dripping bare lilac-trees" (81), Gatsby’s machine—one of the most heavenly automobiles in literature—is also literature’s most famous death car. While, in the end, the make of the killing machine is not spelled out for us, we may nonetheless be sure that it is Gatsby’s ever-so-aptly owned Silver Ghost. After the dreadful accident in the seventh chapter, the fender of the hero’s carefully hidden open car is in need of repair. That the death car is an open one is highlighted for us before the accident, when Gatsby feels the pleated leather seats of the machine that will mow Myrtle down. The point is reinforced in chapter eight, after the accident, when Gatsby orders that his open car not be taken out. Moreover, while automobile upholstery specification varied in the nineteen-twenties, open cars generally had pleated leather seat cushions while mohair or broadcloth featured in closed tourers. This, too, narrows down the options confronting readers. Finally, the focus on the Rolls Royce’s great fenders (these are referred to at least three times before Myrtle is killed) also establishes a clear connection between the calamity and Gatsby’s "winged" Rolls. And, finally, there is the crucial matter of the ambiguous paintwork.Nick tells us that Gatsby’s Rolls-Royce is a "rich cream colour" (64) while Mavro Michaelis claims that the death car is "light green" (123). Another witness to the accident claims that the vehicle involved is "a yellow car"; "a big yellow car" (125). In fact, they are all right. Like Gatsby himself, his motorcar suggests one thing at one time and another at another. From about the mid-nineteen-tens, Rolls-Royce painted a good many Silver Ghosts a rather uncertain cream-yellow and, in fading light, the lacquer betrays a greenish hue. We remember that the party drives "towards death through the cooling twilight" (122); that Myrtle runs out "into the dusk"; and that the death car comes "out of gathering darkness" (123). While an earlier 1914 model, there is an excellent example of this ambiguous colour used on a Silver Ghost in Turin’s Museo dell’automobile. Finally, of course, the many references to ‘ghosts’ and to ‘silver’ connected with both the hero and Daisy Buchanan cannot be considered accidental. In one of modern literature’s greatest novels, then, behind the dream of the automobile falls the depressingly foul dust of betrayal and death.ReferencesAbrams, Meyer H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1957/1993.Barthes, Roland. Elements of Semiology. Trans. A. Lavers. NY: Hill and Wang, 1964/1977.———. Mythologies. Trans. A. Lavers. NY: Hill & Wang, 1957/1974.Bloom, Harold, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: Modern Critical Interpretations. NY: Chelsea House, 1986.Burness, Tad. Cars of the Early Twenties. NY: Galahad, 1968.Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. London: The Folio Society, 1926/1968.———. The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. A. Turnbull. London: The Bodley Head, 1964.Flink, James. The Car Culture. Mass.: MIT Press, 1975.Garnier, Peter, and Warren Allport. Rolls Royce: From the Archives of Autocar. London: Hamlyn, 1978.Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. 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