Status of population, occupation and seasonal habitat displacement of alien bird species in West Java Tropical Forest, Indonesia

“Invasive Species” is defined as an alien species that is non-native (non-indigenous, foreign or exotic) to a particular ecosystem. Commonly, they are intentionally or unintentionally introduced into an ecosystem. It is suspected that the discovery of a population of Finch-billed Myna in the forest of West Java resulted from the indirect influence of the bird trade. This bird is one of the endemic birds in Indonesia. Commonly, the Finch-billed Myna is a resident bird in Sulawesi islands. However, we found them in Tangkuban Parahu Mount, West Java. The population of Finch-billed Myna in Tangkuban Parahu Mount is 17-24 individual of three group colonies. The occupation areas are Abria, Awi leuga and Manggu. The vegetation density is higher than Myna’s former habitat (0,055 ind/m2) and Myna’s recent habitat (0,028 ind/m2).Keyword: Alien species; Finch-billed Myna; population; habitat; resource

Controlling of green nanocellulose fiber properties produced by chemo-mechanical treatment process via SEM, TEM, AFM and image analyzer characterization

Nanocellulose fibers were extracted from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) fibers by a chemo-mechanical treatment process. The aim of this study is to observe and investigate the morphological structure and fiber dimension characteristic of each stage in the nanocellulose production. The fiber structure characterization of the raw, purified pulps, extracted cellulose and nanocellulose fibers were controlled by observation and investigation under Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Image Analyzer. The morphological observation illustrated that the isolation of nanocellulose fibers had greatly decreased from micron to nanoscale, up to 5-10 nm in diameter, and therefore suitable to be used as quality nano-reinforcement in the polymer matrix for a potential environmental green nanobiocomposites development.Keywords: nanocellulose fibers; morphological observation; fiber dimension; SEM; TE

Climate changes impacts towards sedimentation rate at Terengganu River, Terengganu, Malaysia

The climate changes caused by rainfall and stream flow are not the major contribution the changing of water level. This study was carried out at Terengganu River Basin in wet and dry season to assess the sedimentation problem and  its relationship with   hydrological characteristic. Three parameters analyzed based on in-situ and ex-situ analysis according to the correlation matrix and linear regression methods. The TSS (mg/L), Turbidity (NTU) and SSC  (mg/L)  were higher  during  dry  season  compared  wet  season  caused  by  El  Nino  phenomenon (January 2016). There are higher positive correlation between SSC and TSS, R²= 0.924 (wet season) and R² = 0.841 (dry season), the correlation between the observation (Q) and the TSS is no significant R² = 0.057 (wet season) and R² = 0.001 (dry season). The main contributors of sedimentation problems in Terengganu River caused by the climate changes phenomenon.Keywords: sedimentation; Terengganu River basin; hydrological characteristic; El Nino; communitie

Urban coral reefs: Degradation and resilience of hard coral assemblages in coastal cities of East and Southeast Asia

© 2018 The Author(s) Given predicted increases in urbanization in tropical and subtropical regions, understanding the processes shaping urban coral reefs may be essential for anticipating future conservation challenges. We used a case study approach to identify unifying patterns of urban coral reefs and clarify the effects of urbanization on hard coral assemblages. Data were compiled from 11 cities throughout East and Southeast Asia, with particular focus on Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Naha (Okinawa). Our review highlights several key characteristics of urban coral reefs, including “reef compression” (a decline in bathymetric range with increasing turbidity and decreasing water clarity over time and relative to shore), dominance by domed coral growth forms and low reef complexity, variable city-specific inshore-offshore gradients, early declines in coral cover with recent fluctuating periods of acute impacts and rapid recovery, and colonization of urban infrastructure by hard corals. We present hypotheses for urban reef community dynamics and discuss potential of ecological engineering for corals in urban areas

Variation of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in the Sulu and Celebes Seas of Malaysian waters during PMSE 09’ expedition using analytical and chemometric techniques

This study provides a dataset of rare earth elements (REEs) in the seawater of Sulu and Celebes Seas of Malaysian waters during the PMSE 09’ expedition, which was conducted to define the pattern of REEs in both seas. Samples were collected, filtered and pre-concentrated on-board ship then analyzed by using ICP-MS. Generally, the spatial distribution pointed out a high concentration of REEs in vicinities with high number of local settlements and Borneo Island riverine flush-outs. The chemometric analysis has showed the competition of binding sites between REEs and salt ions. The REEs normalized against NPDW evidence the influence of South China Sea waters lessen with the increase in water depth. Additionally, the studied area shows that both seas are affected by local river drainage from Borneo Island, Indonesia and Philippine archipelagos.Keywords: dissolved REEs; particulate REEs; Sulu Sea; Celebes Sea; environmetric analysi

Development of patient safety incident reporting system application web-based “ASOKA” at Sanjiwani Hospital, Gianyar, Indonesia

This study aimed to develop a Web-based patient safety incident reporting system and evaluate its satisfaction and benefits. Methods: pre-experimental one-group pre-posttest design and simple random sampling were used. The total respondents were 59 subjects. The research instrument used a questionnaire with a statistical test using a paired T-Test. Results and analysis: As seen from the evaluation results before and after the intervention, respondents' satisfaction with ASOKA Web-based has increased. The Mean value before the intervention was 34.73 and increased after the intervention to 51.49. The maximum before (61) and after (80) the intervention experienced has a significant increase. ASOKA Web-based evaluation has a significant effect (p<0.001) with an effect size value of d = 0.75, which indicates that respondents' satisfaction is in the Moderate Effect range. Conclusion: The testing and evaluation of the ASOKA Web-based at the Sanjiwani Hospital provide satisfaction and benefits for the respondents. The ASOKA Web-based reporting system at the Sanjiwani Hospital is very appropriate to be applied

Mathematical model for dissolved oxygen prediction in Cirata Reservoir, West Java by using artificial neural network

Cirata reservoir is one of the reservoirs which suffer eutrophication with an indication of rapid growth of water hyacinth and mass fish deaths as a result of lack of oxygen. This paper presents  the  implementation and  performance  of  mathematical  model to  predict  theconcentration of dissolved oxygen in Cirata Reservoir, West Java by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The simulation program was created using Visual Studio 2012 C# software with ANN model implemented in it. Prediction process was carried out by training process followed by a testing process using weights that have been obtained from training process. ANN model for predicting dissolved oxygen in Cirata reservoir shows the best performance with correlation coefficient value of 77.44%, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) = 0.12 and Willmott’s Index of Agreement (WIA) = 0.72.Keywords: reservoir eutrophication; artificial neural network; mathematical model; simulation; validatio

Spatial variation of Melaleuca cajuputi powell essential oils

Cajuputi essential oil in Indonesia and Malaysia is extracted from the leaves of Melaleuca cajuputi Powell. This study identify the variation of Melaleuca cajuputi essential oil fingerprinting based on the essential oil. The leaves were collected from 10 different sites in Terengganu undergoes hydro distillation and detailed analysis by FTIR spectroscopy. ATR-FTIR result of Melaleuca cajuputi shows that functional group of Gelam are variable between different sites and also gave different fingerprinting characters due to the compound variation in relation to their adaptation to the changing environment. Result shows high correlation between several sites (0.97, 0.98 and 0.976) and also significant difference between different sampling stations (p-value < 0.01). The present study proved a significant spatial variation of Melaleuca cajuputi fingerprint in Terengganu from the essential oil collected.Keywords: essential oils; Melaleuca cajuputi Powell; spatial variation; FTIR spectroscop

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of 4′,5,7-trihydroxy-3′- prenylflavanone

4′,5,7-Trihydroxy-3′-prenylflavanone was synthesized and tested for antibacterial effects against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The synthesized compounds were characterized using UV, IR, MS and 1H and 13C NMR data. The antibacterial screening of the synthesized compounds were performed in vitro by the filter paper disc diffusion method