What Science Doesn\u27t Need to Know: Scientific Realism, Anti-Realism and the Continuum of Knowledge

In this paper, I characterize and criticize a recently articulated anti-realist defense, P. Kyle Stanford’s new induction over the history of science. I demonstrate that his position relies on a strong epistemological distinction between common sense knowledge and scientific knowledge. I argue that no such strong distinction exists and thus his anti-realism either collapses into realism or global skepticism. I also explore implications of this collapse for the belief/acceptance distinction and conclude that it is untenable only to accept our theories

ISOLASI DAN ELUSIDASI STRUKTUR FLAVON DARI RIMPANG TEMU HITAM (Curcuma aeruginosa Roxb)

Isolasi dan elusidasi struktur flavon dari ekstrak rimpang temuhitam (Curcuma aeroginosa Roxb). Senyawa hasil pemurnian berupa padatan putih amorf yang memiliki titik terdekomposisi pada suhu 98-1000C yang memberikan noda tunggal terhadap beberapa eluen dengan berbagai perbandingan. Elusidasi struktur dilakukan dengan menggunakan spektroskopi UV, IR, NMR, sehingga senyawa hasil isolasi didapatkan flavon. Kata kunci: Flavon , Curcuma aeroginosa Roxb., 2-fenil-1,4-benzopiro

Dewatering of sludge for small scale and decentralized production of biochar

Sewage sludge dewatering and drying is one of the major challenges in the current wastewater treatment systems. The current dewatering methods in centralized wastewater treatment plants whether using frame or belt filter press or centrifuges are energy intensive and requires up to 50% of the cost of wastewater treatment. The moisture content of the sludge cake after dewatering is also a key factor in determining the efficiency of sludge handling and utilization including energy efficiency and pollutant emission. This is even more challenging for decentralized sludge management aiming at resource recovery and local resource utilization from the perspective of circular economy. To overcome these challenges, an experiment was designed to develop an alternative sludge dewatering and drying method for decentralized wastewater treatment systems and local production of sludge-based biochar. Raw sludge was collected from Frogn Renseanlegg, a wastewater treatment plant in Drøbak, in Viken county of Norway. The sludge was filtered in the laboratory using a solid-liquid separation system containing a 200µm and 100µm mesh integrated with sand filtration to remove free water through gravity to produce a sludge cake. The effect of different percentages of Wood pellets (WP), Spent Coffee Grounds (SCG) and different mixture of the two as bulking agents for deep-dewatering (removal of tightly bound water) was investigated without energy input. The percentages of Wood Pellets (WP) and Spent Coffee Grounds (SCG), varied from 0% (control) to 20% by weight of the raw sludge. The moisture content of the mixture was determined at an average temperature of 17°C after 1, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hr. In the experiment, sludge with addition of 5% SCG, 10% SCG and 20% SCG had an average moisture content of 71.1%, 66.0% and 46.0%, respectively, after 96 hours. For 5% WP, 10% WP and 20% WP, the average moisture content after 96 hours were 70.3%, 55.9% and 45.6%. Adding a small amount of superabsorbent facilitated reduction of the amounts of SCG and WP and achieved a moisture content reduction down to 9.0% after 72 hours. The removal of tightly bound sludge water and fast drying in sludge conditioned with WP and SCG may be mainly explained by absorption by the amendment and subsequently a better porosity and larger surface area for evaporation.M-MIN

Aid for basic education development in Ghana – the recipients’ experience

Development agencies have been sending educational aid to Ghana for more than three decades, their declared purpose being to support the country’s educational development. Despite the aid and development agencies’ own literature indicating the aid is promoting education development, there has been little research exploring the aid’s actual outcomes as experienced in country by recipients. This dissertation therefore sought to explore experiences of Ghanaian educational aid recipients: teachers, head teachers, district, and national education managers, focusing on whether and how educational aid has contributed to or hindered educational development. Using an interpretive approach, the participants’ perceptions of their experiences of aid were sought. The interviewing method was used to collect data as it gave the opportunity to hear from the recipients’ individually. 13 participants were interviewed from the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, two primary schools and a District Education Office. King’s (2007) template analysis strategy was used to identify important themes in the recipients’ accounts of experiences, and the themes interpreted to arrive at findings. Six major findings were identified, the most significant being that the outcomes of aid are mixed – having both positive and negative impacts. Positive impacts include increased funding and learning experiences, whilst the negatives include aid conditionality. The other findings are that aid may be funding non-priority items; an urgent need to improve the delivery of aid; measuring the outcomes of aid is a challenge; there are tensions around the appropriateness of aid; and, aid not being the first option for recipients to seek assistance. Implications of these findings for practice include recommendations to: decentralise needs assessment for aid processes from the national authorities to include a cross section of regional, district and school staff in consultations; development agencies to allow recipients to decide what and how funds are used to meet local educational needs; the recipient nation to develop a standardized evaluation framework that can generate necessary data to report aid results; the need for the national government to incrementally wean the country off aid by pursuing alternative sources of funding; and in the short term, the need for development agencies to provide sustainable aid if the need arises. The concluding observation is the urgent need to recognise that aid can be improved for the betterment of those who it is intended to benefit

PERAN PERCEIVED VALUE DALAM MEMEDIASI PENGARUH GREEN MARKETING TREHADAP GREEN PURCHASE INTENTION

Green marketing adalah sebuah konsep pemasaran yang bertujuan untuk mendorong pada kebiasaan peduli lingkungan dengan menggunakan produk ramah lingkungan. Penelitian kali ini merupakan penelitian bersifat kuantitatif. Dilakukan untuk mengetahui pengaruh green marketing terhadap green purchase intention dimediasi oleh perceived value. Pengambilan sampel dilakukan melalui metode purposive sampling dengan objek yang dipilih adalah konsumen produk Tupperware di kota Yogyakarta. Data dikumpulkan dengan menyebar kuesioner kepada 92 responden yang dipilih sesuai dengan kriteria yang telah ditentukan di dalam penelitian. Selanjutnya data yang telah dikumpulkan di analisis menggunakan aplikasi SPSS 23. Analisis yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini diantaranya analisis regresi, uji signifikansi parsial dan uji mediasi dengan metode strategy casual step (baron-kenny). Hasil dari uji yang dilakukan berdasarkan uji t 1) green marketing berpengaruh positif terhadap green purchase intention secara parsial dengan nilai sig. 0,000<0,05 2) green marketing berpengaruh positif secara parsial terhadap perceived value dengan nilai sig. 0,000<0,05 3) perceived value berpengaruh positif secara parsial terhadap green purchase intention dengan nilai sig. 0,000<0,05. Pada uji mediasi pengaruh green marketing terhadap green purchase intention dengan perceived value sebagai variabel mediasi disimpulkan bahwa perceived value mampu memediasi secara parsial setelah variabel mediasi dimasukan dalam persamaan awal regresi (sebelum dimasukan variabel mediasi) yang semula signifikan (0,000) menjadi tetap signifikan (0,040) setelah dimasukan variabel mediasi tetapi mengalami penurunan pada koefisien regresi dari yang sebelumnya 0,693 menjadi 0,264. Kata kunci: green marketing, green perceived value, green purchase intentio

Host Plant Use by Insect Herbivores Mediated by Microorganisms

Geographic isolation plays a major role in population divergence, but host-plants can also generate selective forces that drive genetic differentiation. Host-plant associations of insects can also be mediated by their associations with microorganisms, some of which are linked to pest status on crops. However, the ecological and evolutionary roles these microorganisms play in plant-insect interactions are not fully understood, neither are their implications for pest management. My dissertation applied an interdisciplinary approach to explore the potential role of microorganisms in plant-insect interactions. Two important agricultural pests, cotton fleahopper (CFH) (Pseudatomoscelis seriatus), a cotton pest, and sugarcane aphid (Melanaphis sacchari), an invasive pest of sorghum, were used as model organisms in my studies. Using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) I sampled CFH from 12 host-plants. I found that CFH genotypes are distinct on only 2 out of 12 uncultivated plant species. My results suggest that several uncultivated hosts likely constitute a source of CFH for cotton. To determine whether bacterial symbionts correlated with genetic variation in CFH host-association, I compared bacterial communities within CFH using 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. There was no correlation between the two. Although CFH is widely distributed across cotton-growing regions in the U.S., it is considered a major cotton pest only in certain regions while in others it is rarely a pest. I compared bacterial communities within CFH using 16S rRNA pyrosequencing to test the potential for bacterial symbionts to influence variation in CFH pest status. Results from this bacterial survey failed to find any correlation between variation in pest status of CFH and bacterial community composition. I also explored the roles of potentially beneficial symbiotic fungi (i.e., fungal endophytes) in improving plant development and providing resistance against herbivory. Soaking sorghum seeds in liquid suspensions of two fungal endophytes increased seedling height and fresh biomass. Additionally, I detected that endophyte treatment significantly affected the reproduction and behavior of sugarcane aphids, but performance was conditional on the identity of the endophyte and the part of the plant where aphids were located. Overall, findings from my studies improve our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary implications of plant-microbe-insect interactions

INTERRRELATION OF URIC SYSTEM PATOLOGY AND DIGESTIVE APPARATUS IN CHILDREN

According to the research possible interrelation of uric system deceases and gastrointestinal tract organs in children is showed. During the research, we determined, the structure of combined, pathology of uric system, and gastrointestinal tract organs in children. 79 % of examined, patients had. combined, pathology of kidneys and. digestive organs. In clinical finding dyspepsic and. abdominal syndromes were marked. Clinical manifestations were absent in 18 % of cases. Patients with metabolic urolithiasis have prevailing functional pathology of digestive organs and. children with dysmetabolic tubulointerstitial nephritis have inflammatory diseases of gastrointestinal tract

HUBUNGAN ASUPAN SERAT DAN NATRIUM DENGAN RISIKO KEJADIAN OBESITAS PADA ANAK SEKOLAH DASAR DI WILAYAH KERJA PUSKESMAS ANDALAS KOTA PADANG TAHUN 2017

Tujuan Penelitian Obesitas disebabkan oleh beberapa faktor. Asupan makanan yang tinggi serta pola makan yang kurang sehat merupakan salah satu faktor utama terjadinya obesitas. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan asupan serat dan natrium dengan risiko kejadian obesitas pada anak sekolah dasar di wilayah kerja Puskesmas Andalas Kota Padang tahun 2017 Metode Penelitian ini menggunakan desain case control dengan matching jenis kelamin dan umur. Tempat penelitian di SDN 30 dan SD Kartika 1-10 Tahun 2017. Jumlah responden penelitian ini adalah 114 orang yang terdiri dari 57 kasus dan 57 kontrol. Asupan serat dan natrium dihitung dengan food frequency questionaire (FFQ) semi kuantitatif, data sekunder didapatkan dari pihak sekolah. Pengolahan data dengan cara analisis univariat, bivariat dan multivariat. Hasil Hasil analisis menunjukkan tidak ada hubungan yang bermakna antara asupan serat dengan risiko kejadian obesitas (p=0,677) dan ada hubungan yang bermakna antara asupan natrium dengan risiko kejadian obesitas (p=0,007). Asupan serat (OR 1,19 ; 95% CI 0,52 – 2,69) dan asupan natrium (OR 2,96 ; 95% CI 1,338 – 6,573) merupakan faktor risiko kejadian obesitas. Hasil uji multivariat didapatkan bahwa asupan lemak merupakan faktor confunding antara hubungan asupan serat dan natrium dengan kejadian obesitas. Kesimpulan Asupan serat tidak berhubungan secara signifikan dengan kejadian obesitas. Asupan natrium berhubungan secara signifikan dengan kejadian obesitas. Asupan serat yang rendah meningkatkan risiko 1,19 kali dan asupan natrium yang lebih meningkatkan risiko 2,29 kali kejadian obesitas pada anak sekolah dasar. Pihak sekolah sebaiknya lebih memperhatikan jajanan yang dijual oleh pihak kantin. Daftar Pustaka : 50 (2000-2016) Kata Kunci : serat, natrium, obesita

FORTIFIED DADIH (FERMENTED BUFFALO MILK) WITH VITAMIN D3 IMPROVES INTERLEUKIN-6 AND CAECUM SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACIDS ON DIET-INDUCED OBESE RAT

Objective: This study aims to determine the effect of fortified dadih with vitamin D3 on IL-6 expression level and the concentration of caecum SCFA in obese rats. Methods: A total of 30 male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five equal groups: healthy-control-(K-), obese-control-(K+), obese-intervention-(X1, X2, and X3). K(+), X1, X2, and X3 were in obesity conditions, which was induced by a high-fat sucrose diet (HFSD) and K(-) as a healthy-control-group. Furthermore, vitamin D3-fortified dadih at doses of 4 g/200 g-body-weight/d, dadih only at doses of 4 g/200 g-body-weight/d, and vitamin D3 only at 36 IU/200 g-body-weight/d was administered to X1, X2, and X3 groups, respectively. Results: Treatment using fortified dadih with vitamin D3 showed significantly reduce weight gain (p&lt;0.05) compare to K(+) and X2. In addition, X1 showed a decreased level of Interleukin-6 expression (p&lt;0.05) than K(+), X2, and X3 groups but higher than K(-). Also, it showed the highest total SCFA, acetate, and propionate concentration (p&lt;0.05). However, a moderately negative correlation was discovered between the pair of total SCFA and Interleukin-6 expression, acetate and Interleukin-6 expression, SCFA and body weight, propionate and body weight, butyrate and body weight. On the contrary, a strong positive correlation was observed between the pair of Interleukin-6 expression levels and body weight. Conclusion: This study shows that fortified dadih with vitamin D3 from fermented foods improve the expression level of Interleukin-6 and increase the production of SCFA. Also, they improve intestinal homeostasis because of the increased SCFA production

Pendampingan inisiasi kampung hijau melalui pemanfaatan tanaman pangan pada rumah tangga kelurahan Plaju Ulu Palembang

Abstrak Konsumsi sayur dan buah diperlukan tubuh sebagai sumber vitamin, mineral, serat dan antioksidan sehingga dapat mengurangi terjadinya penyakit tidak menular seperti obesitas, kanker, kardiovaskular dan diabetes. Pemanfaatan tanaman pangan pada rumah tangga merupakan sayah satu upaya meningkatkan konsumsi sayur dan buah. Pengabdian masyarakat ini bertujuan untuk memberdayakan ibu rumah tangga melalui pemanfaatan tanaman pangan pada rumah tangga Kelurahan Plaju Ulu Palembang. Kegiatan yang dilakukan adalah bimbingan teknis cara penaman hidroponik, penyuluhan tentang manfaat sayur dan buah, Emo-Demo (Emotion-Demonstration) porsi sayur, dan demo masak pengolahan sayur. Ada perbedaan yang signifikan skor ibu sebelum dengan setelah diberikan edukasi dengan p value 0,000 dan tanaman hidroponik tumbuh subur. Pelatihan dan penyediaan alat dan bahan media tanam hidroponik mampu memberikan sumbangsih kepada masyarakat dalam penyediaan bahan pangan yang sehat bagi anak dan keluarga serta adanya peningkatan pengetahuan ibu terkait manfaat sayur dan buah setelah diberikan edukasi. Kata kunci: hidroponik; sayur; buah; emo-demo Abstract Vegetables and fruits are needed as source of vitamins, minerals, fibers, and antioxidants. These reduce the incidence of non-communicable disease such as obesity, cancer, cardiovascular, and diabetes. Utilizing food crops in the household is one effort to increase vegetable and fruit consumption. This community service aims to Empowering housewives through utilization of food crops in households in Plaju Ulu sub-district, Palembang. The activities carried out were technical guidance on how to grow hydroponics, counseling about the benefits of vegetables and fruits, Emo-Demo (Emotional-Demonstration) on vegetable portions, and a cooking demonstration on processing vegetables. There was a significant difference in the mother's scores before and after being given education with p value 0,000  and the hydroponic plants grew well. Training and providing tools and materials for hydroponic planting media could contribute to the community. These activities has provided healthy food for children and families as well as increasing mothers' knowledge regarding the benefits of vegetables and fruit after being given education. Keywords: hydroponic; vegetables; fruits; emo-dem