Mendorong Pertumbuhan USAha Mikro, Kecil, dan Menengah dengan Program – Program Berbasis Knowledge Management

UMKM(Small Medium Micro Business) plays a very important role in Indonesia, especially in creating the job opportunity that is considered as a safety closure in the process of national economic recovery. Based on the significant role of the UMKM, there are many efforts done by either the government or the bank to empower the UMKM, but the targeted result is not achieved yet. The government has maintained several targets in empowering UMKM, in order to realize them some guidance regulations have been made and clarified in the development programs as mentioned in the RPJMN 2004 – 2009. The general targets to be achieved in encouraging the development of the growth of UMKM above are clarified in the following programs: The program of choosing the personality with commitment, the program of forming LKM (Micro Financial Foundation) that supports UMKM as the source of investment for UMKM. The co-operation program with Colleges as the source of research, the program of partnership with the modern retailer in opening the access for the markets of UMKM, andmapping of the potential business

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Myocardium in Chronic Kidney Disease

Early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) are often underdiagnosed, while their deleterious effects on the cardiovascular (CV) system are already at work. Thus, the assessment of early CV damage is of crucial importance in preventing major CV events. Myocardial fibrosis is one of the major consequences of progressive CKD, as it may lead to reentry arrhythmias and long-term myocardial dysfunction predisposing to sudden death and/or congestive heart failure. Subclinical myocardial fibrosis, with a potential key role in the development of uraemic cardiac disease, can be measured and characterised by appropriate cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) techniques. Fibrosis detection was initially based on the contrast agent gadolinium, due to the superiority in sensitivity and accuracy of contrast-based methods in fibrosis assessment relative to native techniques. However, the severe consequences of gadolinium administration in uraemia (nephrogenic systemic fibrosis) have forced practitioners to re-evaluate the methodology. In the present overview, we review the possible contrast-based and contrast agent-free CMR techniques, including native T1 relaxation time, extracellular volume and global longitudinal strain measurement. The review also summarises their potential clinical relevance in CKD patients based on recently published studies

Capacity and kinetics of light-induced cytochrome oxidation in intact cells of photosynthetic bacteria

Light-induced oxidation of the reaction center dimer and periplasmic cytochromes was detected by fast kinetic difference absorption changes in intact cells of wild type and cytochrome mutants ( cycA , cytC4 and pufC ) of Rubrivivax gelatinosus and Rhodobacter sphaeroides . Constant illumination from a laser diode or trains of saturating flashes enabled the kinetic separation of acceptor and donor redox processes, and the electron contribution from the cyt bc 1 complex via periplasmic cytochromes. Under continuous excitation, concentrations of oxidized cytochromes increased in three phases where light intensity, electron transfer rate and the number of reduced cytochromes were the rate liming steps, respectively. By choosing suitable flash timing, gradual steps of cytochrome oxidation in whole cells were observed; each successive flash resulted in a smaller, damped oxidation. We attribute this damping to lowered availability of reduced cytochromes resulting from both exchange (unbinding/binding) of the cytochromes and electron transfer at the reaction center interface since a similar effect is observed upon deletion of genes encoding periplasmic cytochromes. In addition, we present a simple model to calculate the damping effect; application of this method may contribute to understanding the function of the diverse range of c-type cytochromes in the electron transport chains of anaerobic phototrophic bacteria

Carbon nanotubes adhesion and nanomechanical behavior from peeling force spectroscopy

Applications based on Single Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWNT) are good example of the great need to continuously develop metrology methods in the field of nanotechnology. Contact and interface properties are key parameters that determine the efficiency of SWNT functionalized nanomaterials and nanodevices. In this work we have taken advantage of a good control of the SWNT growth processes at an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip apex and the use of a low noise (1E-13 m/rtHz) AFM to investigate the mechanical behavior of a SWNT touching a surface. By simultaneously recording static and dynamic properties of SWNT, we show that the contact corresponds to a peeling geometry, and extract quantities such as adhesion energy per unit length, curvature and bending rigidity of the nanotube. A complete picture of the local shape of the SWNT and its mechanical behavior is provided

Mechanochemical Reactions of Lithium Niobate Induced by High-Energy Ball-Milling

Lithium niobate (LiNbO3, LN) nanocrystals were prepared by ball-milling of the crucible residue of a Czochralski grown congruent single crystal, using a Spex 8000 Mixer Mill with different types of vials (stainless steel, alumina, tungsten carbide) and various milling parameters. Dynamic light scattering and powder X-ray diffraction were used to determine the achieved particle and grain sizes, respectively. Possible contamination from the vials was checked by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy measurements. Milling resulted in sample darkening due to mechanochemical reduction of Nb (V) via polaron and bipolaron formation, oxygen release and Li2O segregation, while subsequent oxidizing heat-treatments recovered the white color with the evaporation of Li2O and crystallization of a LiNb3O8 phase instead. The phase transformations occurring during both the grinding and the post-grinding heat treatments were studied by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and optical reflection measurement, while the Li2O content of the as-ground samples was quantitatively measured by coulometric titration

The Effect of Extra Virgin Olive Oil on LOX-1 and COX-2 in High Fat Diet Rats

Background: High fat diet is a diet containing large amounts of fat consistently, the increase dietary fat and cholesterol which have a key role in growing health problems. Extra virgin olive oil associated with prevention of LDL oxidation, beneficial changes in lipid ratios and low risk for CHD.Objective: to determine the anti-inflammatory effect of extra virgin olive oil extract to levels of COX-2 and LOX-1 in the blood in rats induced by high fat dietMethods: This research is an experimental study that used randomized posttest only control group design. 30 Wistar rats which were divided into five groups: group of control (-) which received normal diet and group of control (+) which received high fat diet without EVOO treatment and three high fat diet groups treated by EVOO 1 mL/kg/day, 2 mL/kg/day and 3 mL/kg/day orally for 2 months. The blood was collected from eyes rats and serum separation by centrifuge. COX-2, LOX-1 concentration was measured by the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results: The result of this study showed higher COX-2 concentrations in groups treated with EVOO than control group. COX-2 serum levels of negative control where significantly lower than those of rats treated with 2 ml/kg/day (p = 0.047) and 3 ml/kg/day EVOO (p = 0.014). The COX-2 serum levels of group received 1 ml/kg/day were significantly lower than those of rats received 3 ml/kg/day EVOO (p = 0.027). And showed not significantly deferent among all groups (p = 0.570).Conclusions: The conclusion of this study has showed that extra virgin olive oil extract might have minor anti inflammatory and antioxidant effect in rats

Biosurfactant synthesis in the oil eater rhodococcus erythropolis MK1 strain

Oil pollution is a very serious problem in the world. There were numerous oil spills in the last three decades and had great impact on the environment. They caused damages in wildlife as well as in economy by cutting down the agriculture, fishing, and tourism. Surfactants are useful weapons in the war against oil pollution. They are suitable to clean oil tanks and pipes and they are useful to solublize animal fats in food industrial wastewater. Many bacteria can produce substantial amount of biosurfactants which can emulsify hydrophobic hydrocarbons, so that the native microflora can utilize the pollutants. An additional advantage of the biosurfactants over the synthetic surface active molecules is that these compounds are easily biodegradable. A special biosurfactant group is composed of mycolic acids which are basically a-alkyl, (3-hydroxy fatty acids. Mycolic acids are the most characteristic components of the cell wall of the so called mycolata bacterial group. This group belongs to the Actinomycetales and contains the genera Mycobacterium, Corynebacterium, Nocardia, Rhodococcus and others. We aimed to map the mycolic acid biosynthesis pathway in Rhodococcus erythropolis MK1 strain isolated by us from polluted soil. In first step, we sequenced the genome of our strain by SOLID™ next generation DNA sequencer. The reads were mapped on the R. erythropolis PR4 genome in the NCBI database. We searched for rhodococcal homologs of the known mycobacterial and corynebacterial genes involved in mycolic acid biosynthesis. We found conserved regions in the genome which are likely responsible for the biosynthesis of mycolic acids. The ongoing comparative whole genome transcript analysis will reveal the genes really necessary for the anabolism of mycolic acids