Surveillance of Seaport Rodents and Its Flea-indices in Cilacap, Central Java and Panjang, Sumatera, Indonesia

Suatu survai terhadap tikus dan pinjal telah diselenggarakan di daerah pelabuhan Cilacap dan Panjang, pada November 1985 sampai Maret 1986. Dalam survai itu diidentifikasi empat spesies tikus, yaitu Rattus r. diardii, R. norregicus, Bandicota indica, dan Mus musculus, serta seekor insektivora, Suncus murinus. Kepadatan polusi binatang-binatang ini rendah di dalam pelabuhan dan sedang di perkampungan sekitarnya. R.r. diardii terbukti merupakan tikus yang terbanyak dijumpai baik di pelabuhan maupun di perkampungan sekitar. Kepadatan Xenopsylla cheopis ternyata rendah baik pada tikus-tikus maupun insektivora di kedua daerah pelabuhan. Indeks pinjal spesifik tertinggi didapatkan pada R.r. diardii. Tes kerentanan X. cheopis terhadap insektisida dengan menggunakan DDT 4%, melathion 0,5% dan fenit rothion 1% menunjukkan bahwa pinjal itu lebih sensitif terhadap melathion dan fenitrothion dibanding terhadap DDT, di kedua daerah pelabuhan

Fractal Geometry: An Attractive Choice for Miniaturized Planar Microwave Filter Design

Various fractal geometries are characterized by the self-similarity and space-filling properties. The space-filling feature has been successfully applied to design multiband antenna structures for a wide variety of multifunction wireless systems. On another hand, the second feature has proved its validity to produce miniaturized antennas and passive microwave circuits including the band-pass filters (BPF). This chapter demonstrates the design of miniaturized microstrip BPFs that are derived from fractal-based DGS resonators. Many microstrip BPFs based on the Minkowski fractal DGS resonators will be presented together with those based on Moore and Peano fractal geometries. Simulation results, of all of the presented BPFs, show that an extra-size reduction can be obtained as the iteration level becomes higher. Measured and simulated results agree well with each other. A comparison has been conducted with other filters based on Peano and Hilbert fractal geometries. The results reveal that the proposed BPF offers acceptable performance and a significant decrease of higher harmonics

Prediction of Drought Impact on Rice Paddies in West Java Using Analogue Downscaling Method

Indonesia consistently experiences dry climatic conditions and droughts during El Niño, with significant consequences for rice production. To mitigate the impacts of such droughts, robust, simple and timely rainfall forecast is critically important for predicting drought prior to planting time over rice growing areas in Indonesia. The main objective of this study was to predict drought in rice growing areas using ensemble seasonal prediction. The skill of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) seasonal prediction model Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) for predicting rice drought in West Java was investigated in a series of hindcast experiments in 1989-2010. The Constructed Analogue (CA) method was employed to produce downscaled local rainfall prediction with stream function (y) and velocity potential (c) at 850 hPa as predictors and observed rainfall as predictant. We used forty two rain gauges in northern part of West Java in Indramayu, Cirebon, Sumedang and Majalengka Districts. To be able to quantify the uncertainties, a multi-window scheme for predictors was applied to obtain ensemble rainfall prediction. Drought events in dry season planting were predicted by rainfall thresholds. The skill of downscaled rainfall prediction was assessed using Relative Operating Characteristics (ROC) method. Results of the study showed that the skills of the probabilistic seasonal prediction for early detection of rice area drought were found to range from 62% to 82% with an improved lead time of 2-4 months. The lead time of 2-4 months provided sufficient time for practical policy makers, extension workers and farmers to cope with drought by preparing suitable farming practices and equipments

Prediction of Drought Impact on Rice Paddies in West Java Using Analogue Downscaling Method

Indonesia consistently experiences dry climatic conditions and droughts during El Niño, with significant consequences for rice production. To mitigate the impacts of such droughts, robust, simple and timely rainfall forecast is critically important for predicting drought prior to planting time over rice growing areas in Indonesia. The main objective of this study was to predict drought in rice growing areas using ensemble seasonal prediction. The skill of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) seasonal prediction model Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) for predicting rice drought in West Java was investigated in a series of hindcast experiments in 1989-2010. The Constructed Analogue (CA) method was employed to produce downscaled local rainfall prediction with stream function (y) and velocity potential (c) at 850 hPa as predictors and observed rainfall as predictant. We used forty two rain gauges in northern part of West Java in Indramayu, Cirebon, Sumedang and Majalengka Districts. To be able to quantify the uncertainties, a multi-window scheme for predictors was applied to obtain ensemble rainfall prediction. Drought events in dry season planting were predicted by rainfall thresholds. The skill of downscaled rainfall prediction was assessed using Relative Operating Characteristics (ROC) method. Results of the study showed that the skills of the probabilistic seasonal prediction for early detection of rice area drought were found to range from 62% to 82% with an improved lead time of 2-4 months. The lead time of 2-4 months provided sufficient time for practical policy makers, extension workers and farmers to cope with drought by preparing suitable farming practices and equipments

Structural, elastic, and electronic properties of newly discovered Li2PtSi3 superconductor: Effect of transition metals

First-principles calculations within the density functional theory (DFT) with GGA-PBE exchange-correlation scheme have been employed to predict the structural, the elastic and the electronic properties of newly discovered lithium silicide superconductor, Li2PtSi3, for the first time. All the theoretical results are compared with those calculated recently for isostructural Li2IrSi3. The present study sheds light on the effect of replacement of transition metal element Ir with Pt on different mechanical, electronic, and superconducting properties. The effect of spin-orbit coupling on electronic band structure was found to be insignificant for Li2PtSi3. The difference in superconducting transition temperatures of Li2PtSi3 and Li2IrSi3 arises primarily due to the difference in electronic energy density of states at the Fermi level. Somewhat reduced Debye temperature in Li2PtSi3 plays a minor role. We have discussed the implications of the theoretical results in details in this study.Comment: Submitted for publicatio

The Impacts of Public Libraries in Promoting Knowledge Society among Civil Servants in Nigeria

Public libraries serve as gateways to knowledge and culture by playing a fundamental role in society. The aim of this study is to examine the impacts of public libraries on the promotion of knowledge societies among civil servants in Oyo State, Nigeria. The total population was 570, and the sample size was 235 using a simple random sampling technique. The research design adopted was a descriptive survey. A questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection, and a descriptive data analysis technique of frequency and the simple percentage was used. Findings revealed, firstly, that public libraries promote knowledge societies among civil servants through their collections, resources, and internet facilities to enhance the civil service culture. Secondly, public libraries have contributed significantly to improving and promoting knowledge societies as the civil servants make judicious use of the library facility to promote knowledge societies. Thirdly, public libraries have limitation that hindered the promotion of knowledge societies among civil servants; which are inadequate library materials, poor reading culture, inaccessibility to information resources, poor dissemination of information, and inadequate professional staff have. The recommendations of this study are the public libraries should provide more collections, adequate information resources tailored toward the promotion of knowledge societies, recruit professional staff and conduct regular training to improve their discharge of duties to meet the information needs of civil servants for the promotion of knowledge societies

Workshop Publish Or Perish untuk Guru di SMP Negeri 20 Kota Serang

Fokus kegiatan pengabdian ini berupa workshop dengan tema publish or perish (publikasikan atau tersisihkan) dalam rangka meningkatkan kemampuan guru dalam kegiatan menyusun dan mempublikasikan karya tulis ilmiah. Metode pendekatan yang digunakan yaitu pelatihan dengan Participatory Learning Method (PLM) yang diimplementasikan pada 17 guru di SMP Negeri 20 Kota Serang. Materi yang diberikan berupa isu yang berkembang dalam dunia pendidikan, inovasi dalam metode dan media pembelajaran, serta metode penelitian pendidikan tindakan kelas. Para guru juga mendapatkan pendampingan penyusunan penulisan karya tulis ilmiah. Hasil kegiatan ini berupa tiga artikel yang telah melalui penyeleksian dipublikasikan di Jurnal GAUSS: Jurnal Pendidikan Matematika Universitas Serang Raya. Kegiatan ini memberikan indikasi positif bahwa kegiatan pengabdian ini memberikan dampak yang baik sebagai permulaan untuk membangun motivasi dalam menulis dan mempublikasikan karya tulis ilmiah. Hasil kegiatan ini menjadi bahan refleksi dan pertimbangan tim pengabdian Universitas Serang Raya dan pihak sekolah untuk bekerjasama menyelenggarakan kegiatan lanjutan dan berkesinambungan