Experiment of Industrial Waste Absorption Using Activated Carbon From Coal of Tanjung Tabalong, South Kalimantan

DOI: 10.17014/ijog.v6i4.130Activated carbon made from Tanjung Tabalong coal was investigated its absorption capability to organic and inorganic elements in industrial waste. Coal was carbonized at low temperature of 600C to produce semicoke, and then was activated at temperature of 700C with activation time of 120 minutes with water steam flow. The absorption capability of activated carbon to chemical oxygen demand (COD) was performed using 2.5 and 9.0 g activated carbon for 250 ml and 300 ml COD waste respectively. The agitation time of each experiment were 30, 60, and 90 minutes. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) was used to analyze the COD waste. The result shows that 2.5 g activated carbon could absorb COD waste ranging from 6.9-67.5 %, while the utilization of 9 g could absorb COD waste ranging from 88.9 - 100 %. The more activated carbon and the longer time of agitation used in this experiment, the more the absorption of COD waste

Study of Transaminases in Heroin Addicts

A recent increase in the number of drug users particularly of heroin has been noted in the community. A cross-sectional study on the level of transaminases as a representation of liver damage in drug users was done in privated hospital in Jakarta. Exclusion criteria were fever, serious illness or the multiple use of addictive drugs based on a urinary test. The hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was examined using reverse passive hemaglutination assay (RPHA) and the antibody of hepatitis C virus core-protein (anti- HCV) with dipstick anti-HCV. AST and ALT levels were determined using an automatic chemical analyzer. Of 132 patients who fulfill the criteria, 83.5 % were injection drug users (IDU). Means AST and ALT were significantly higher in IDU. Anti-HCV positive patients with increased AST and ALT were significantly higher compared to anti-HCV negative. The increase of transaminase was also consistent in injection drug users although no viral marker could be detected. In conclusion, the examination of transaminases in drug users especially IDU is important besides tests for hepatitis viral markers because there is often an increase with or without viral infection and this can be associated with hepatocellular damage

Neurofeedback training in children with ADHD: 6-month follow-up of a randomised controlled trial

Neurofeedback (NF) could help to improve attentional and self-management capabilities in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In a randomised controlled trial, NF training was found to be superior to a computerised attention skills training (AST) (Gevensleben et al. in J Child Psychol Psychiatry 50(7):780–789, 2009). In the present paper, treatment effects at 6-month follow-up were studied. 94 children with ADHD, aged 8–12 years, completed either 36 sessions of NF training (n = 59) or a computerised AST (n = 35). Pre-training, post-training and follow-up assessment encompassed several behaviour rating scales (e.g., the German ADHD rating scale, FBB-HKS) completed by parents. Follow-up information was analysed in 61 children (ca. 65%) on a per-protocol basis. 17 children (of 33 dropouts) had started a medication after the end of the training or early in the follow-up period. Improvements in the NF group (n = 38) at follow-up were superior to those of the control group (n = 23) and comparable to the effects at the end of the training. For the FBB-HKS total score (primary outcome measure), a medium effect size of 0.71 was obtained at follow-up. A reduction of at least 25% in the primary outcome measure (responder criterion) was observed in 50% of the children in the NF group. In conclusion, behavioural improvements induced by NF training in children with ADHD were maintained at a 6-month follow-up. Though treatment effects appear to be limited, the results confirm the notion that NF is a clinically efficacious module in the treatment of children with ADHD

The Role of Mobile Phones in Governance-Driven Technology Exports in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study assesses how the mobile phone influences governance to improve information and communication technology (ICT) exports in Sub-Saharan Africa with data from 2000-2012. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments and three main governance concepts are used, namely: (i) institutional (comprising the rule of law and corruption-control); (ii) political (involving political stability/no violence and voice & accountability) and (iii) economic (including regulation quality and government effectiveness) governance. The following findings are established. First, there are positive net effects on ICT goods exports from independent interactions between mobile phones and ‘political stability’ ‘voice and accountability’ and corruption-control. Second, significant net effects are not apparent from independent interactions between mobile phones and government effectiveness, regulation quality and the rule of law. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Foreign aid, instability and governance in Africa

This study contributes to the attendant literature by bundling governance dynamics and focusing on foreign aid instability instead of foreign aid. We assess the role of foreign aid instability on governance dynamics in fifty three African countries for the period 1996-2010. An autoregressive endogeneity-robust Generalized Method of Moments is employed. Instabilities are measured in terms of variance of the errors and standard deviations. Three main aid indicators are used, namely: total aid, aid from multilateral donors and bilateral aid. Principal Component Analysis is used to bundle governance indicators, namely: political governance (voice & accountability and political stability/no violence), economic governance (regulation quality and government effectiveness), institutional governance (rule of law and corruption-control) and general governance (political, economic and institutional governance). Our findings show that foreign aid instability increases governance standards, especially political and general governance. Policy implications are discussed