Optimalisasi Produksi Peralatan Gali-Muat dan Angkut pada Penambangan Batubara di PT. Alfa Riung Jaya Tanah Laut Kalimantan Selatan

PT. Alfa Riung Jaya merupakan perusahaan yang bergerak dibidang pertambangan batubara yang berlokasi di Desa Batalang, Kecamatan Djorong, Kabupaten Tanah Laut, Kalimantan Selatan. PT. Alfa Riung Jaya menetapkan target produksi batubara untuk jobsite Pit C sebesar 150.000 ton/bulan menggunakan kombinasi alat mekanis 2 unit excavator Caterpillar 340DL dan 7 unit dump truck Scania P380CB dengan jarak pengangkutan menuju stockpile 984 meter. Permasalahan yang dihadapi adalah belum tercapainya produksi dari alat muat dan alat angkut sehingga target produksi belum tercapai, terutama pada jobsite Pit C PT. Alfa Riung Jaya. Kemampuan produksi saat ini untuk alat muat sebesar 271.711,96 ton/bulan dan untuk alat angkut sebesar 126.410,76 ton/bulan. Upaya peningkatan produksi dapat dilakukan dengan cara menambah 1 kali pengisian bucket dump truck serta perbaikan di faktor – faktor yang menyebabkan tidak tercapainya target produksi. Setelah dilakukan perbaikan, kemampuan penangkutan batubara meningkat dari 271.711,96 ton/bulan menjadi 305.675,96 ton/bulan untuk alat muat dan 126.410,76 ton/bulan menjadi 179.884,96 ton/bulan untuk alat angkut

Gynecological laparoscopic surgeries: A 4‑year audit at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Background: In addition to a shorter hospital stay and better cosmetic results, laparoscopic surgery also offers patients fewer postoperative complications compared to conventional open gynecological surgeries. With expertise and better facilities, it has come to stay as an alternative surgical approach to gynecological diagnosis and treatment.Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the indications, intraoperative findings, and types of laparoscopic surgeries performed at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin.Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study of 150 patients who underwent laparoscopic procedures between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2015, at the Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) unit of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Nigeria.Results: Within the period of our review, there were 1,256 gynecological operations and 150 laparoscopies, thus giving a period prevalence of 11.2%. The patients were aged 20–59 years with a mean age of 32.1 ± 3.9 years. Of the 150 laparoscopies, 30 (20%) had diagnostic laparoscopies while 120 (80%) had therapeutic laparoscopies. Of the 30 patients who had diagnostic laparoscopies, 5 (16.7%) presented with primary infertility and 12 (40%) with secondary infertility. The commonest indication for therapeutic laparoscopy was clomiphene‑resistant polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and was found in 81 (67.5%). One (0.7%) was converted to open surgery due to technical difficulties. There was a case of iatrogenic sigmoid colon injury and no mortality recorded.Conclusion: Laparoscopic surgery offers patients a novel choice of intervention that affords establishing definitive diagnosis, shorter hospital stay, better cosmetics, and reduced morbidities/mortalities compared to open gynecological surgeries.Key words: Gynecological; Ilorin; laparoscopy; Nigeria

Microbiological quality of some brands of intravenous fluids produced in Nigeria

Microbiological quality of some brands of intravenous fluids produced by some pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria was investigated. Membrane filtration method was used for concentration of contaminating organisms in the intravenous fluids. Thioglycollate medium, Tryptone Soya broth,Brilliant Green Agar, Pseudomonas medium, Mannitol salt agar, MacConkey agar, and Nutrient agar and Saboraud dextrose agar were the media used for the isolation and differentiation of the microbialspecies. Rabbitory method was used for Pyrogen test. Out of 160 samples analyzed, 14 (8.25%) were contaminated and remaining 146 (91.75%) were found sterile. The result of pyrogen test showed that 58(36.25%) of the samples were pyrogenic. Dextrose (5%), peritoneal dialysis and Normal saline were free of detectable microbial species. Contaminating organisms in Dextrose Saline are Microsporum fulvumand Aspergillus sp. In Half strength Darrow’s Bacillus cereus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Aspergillus sp. were detected. In Half strength Darrow’s, Full strength Darrow’s and Ringer Lactate, the contaminating bacterial species include K. pneumoniae, M. fulvum, Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp

Insulinotropic Effect of the Non-Steroidal Compound STX in Pancreatic β-Cells

The non-steroidal compound STX modulates the hypothalamic control of core body temperature and energy homeostasis. The aim of this work was to study the potential effects of STX on pancreatic β-cell function. 1–10 nM STX produced an increase in glucose-induced insulin secretion in isolated islets from male mice, whereas it had no effect in islets from female mice. This insulinotropic effect of STX was abolished by the anti-estrogen ICI 182,780. STX increased intracellular calcium entry in both whole islets and isolated β-cells, and closed the KATP channel, suggesting a direct effect on β-cells. When intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test was performed, a single dose of 100 µg/kg body weight STX improved glucose sensitivity in males, yet it had a slight effect on females. In agreement with the effect on isolated islets, 100 µg/kg dose of STX enhanced the plasma insulin increase in response to a glucose load, while it did not in females. Long-term treatment (100 µg/kg, 6 days) of male mice with STX did not alter body weight, fasting glucose, glucose sensitivity or islet insulin content. Ovariectomized females were insensitive to STX (100 µg/kg), after either an acute administration or a 6-day treatment. This long-term treatment was also ineffective in a mouse model of mild diabetes. Therefore, STX appears to have a gender-specific effect on blood glucose homeostasis, which is only manifested after an acute administration. The insulinotropic effect of STX in pancreatic β-cells is mediated by the closure of the KATP channel and the increase in intracellular calcium concentration. The in vivo improvement in glucose tolerance appears to be mostly due to the enhancement of insulin secretion from β-cells

A Deep Insight into the Sialotranscriptome of the Gulf Coast Tick, Amblyomma maculatum

Background: Saliva of blood sucking arthropods contains compounds that antagonize their hosts ’ hemostasis, which include platelet aggregation, vasoconstriction and blood clotting; saliva of these organisms also has anti-inflammatory and immunomodullatory properties. Perhaps because hosts mount an active immune response against these compounds, the diversity of these compounds is large even among related blood sucking species. Because of these properties, saliva helps blood feeding as well as help the establishment of pathogens that can be transmitted during blood feeding. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have obtained 1,626,969 reads by pyrosequencing a salivary gland cDNA library from adult females Amblyomma maculatum ticks at different times of feeding. Assembly of this data produced 72,441 sequences larger than 149 nucleotides from which 15,914 coding sequences were extracted. Of these, 5,353 had.75 % coverage to their best match in the non-redundant database from the National Center for Biotechnology information, allowing for the deposition of 4,850 sequences to GenBank. The annotated data sets are available as hyperlinked spreadsheets. Putative secreted proteins were classified in 133 families, most of which have no known function. Conclusions/Significance: This data set of proteins constitutes a mining platform for novel pharmacologically activ