REFLEKSI PRAKTIK BATIK WARNA ALAM DI INDUSTRI BATIK BERBASIS “PUTTING-OUT SYSTEM” DARI PERSPEKTIF PRODUKSI BERSIH (Studi Kasus Klaster Batik Klaten)

Pertumbuhan produksi batik berdampak pada masalah kerusakan lingkungan akibat pencemaran. Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup menegaskan bahwa UMKM batik menjadi salah satu kontributor bagi pencemaran sungai terburuk di Indonesia. Pada awalnya, pemerintah hanya memberi sedikit perhatian terhadap masalah ini karena produksi batik hanya merupakan usaha berskala mikro-kecil. Mengingat intensitas polusi meningkat pemerintah berupaya mengatasi masalah ini dengan membangun IPAL komunal. Namun demikian, volume air limbah tetap kelebihan beban, sehingga beberapa industri batik selalu membuang air limbah ke sungai. Selain itu setiap tahun, industri batik menghasilkan emisi CO2 tertinggi dibandingkan dengan UKM lainnya, akibat penggunaan BBM yang tertinggi, air dan listrik yang berlebihan. Banyak pekerja batik juga tidak memiliki peralatan yang memadai saat menangani zat berbahaya. Air limbah karsinogenik yang berasal dari penggunaan lilin dan zat pewarna sintetis dan pemutih sering dibuang ke sungai tanpa diolah terlebih dahulu. Praktik ini memperburuk masalah pencemaran sungai yang merugikan kesehatan dan mata pencaharian ribuan penduduk setempat. Masalah serius ini diperparah oleh proses produksi batik yang dipindahkan dari pabrik ke rumah pekerja batik rumahan dalam mode produksi “putting-out” system. Limbah produksi berdampak negatif pada anggota keluarga, terutama perempuan dan anak-anak, serta lingkungan rumah. Permasalahan tersebut mengakibatkan citra negatif pada batik akibat pola produksinya tidak ramah lingkungan. Salah satu solusi untuk permasalahan lingkungan tersebut adalah penerapan produksi bersih di industri batik. Produksi bersih adalah strategi pencegahan dampak lingkungan terpadu yang diterapkan terus menerus untuk proses, produk, dan layanan untuk meningkatkan efisiensi secara keseluruhan dan mengurangi risiko terhadap masyarakat dan lingkungan. Salah satu komunitas batik di klaster batik Klaten telah memproduksi batik warna alam. Namun demikian belum pernah ada penelitian yang mengeksplorasi praktik batik warna alam dari perspektif produksi bersih. Praktik batik warna alam perlu diteliti dengan perspektif produksi bersih untuk mengetahui apakah praktik tersebut telah menerapkan prinsip produksi bersih secara keseluruhan dalam semua rantai produksinya. Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk: 1) mendeskripsikan praktik batik warna alam yang dipraktikkan pembatik dan 2) mendeskripsikan refleksi dari praktik batik warna alam dari perspektif pembatik, dan 3) mendeskripsikan refleksi peneliti terhadap praktik batik warna alam dari perspektif produksi bersih. Signifikansi penelitian ini adalah sebagai masukan untuk mengembangkan pola produksi batik ramah lingkungan dari perspektif produksi bersih. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi kasus, dalam rangka menggambarkan usaha produksi batik ramah lingkungan yang diterapkan oleh klaster batik Klaten. Hasil penelitian menyimpulkan bahwa produsen batik tulis warna alam di klister batik Klaten sudah menerapkan sebagian prinsip-prinsip produksi bersih dalam praktik input bahan, proses produksi dan pengelolaan limbah namun belum optimal, terutama belum ada pengelolaan air limbah batik, di mana air limbah langsung dibuang ke selokan yang mengalir ke sawah tanpa diolah terlebih dahulu karena adanya anggapan dari subyek penelitian bahwa air limbah batik warna alam bersifat ramah lingkungan, sehingga meskipun tidak diolah air limbah batik warna alam tidak akan berpengaruh negatif terhadap lingkungan maupun kesehatan manusia. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian peneliti merekomendasi beberapa hal bagi pembatik, antara lain: a) mencoba menggunakan jenis kain alternatif lain, misalnya sutera untuk meningkatkan nilai ekonomi batik warna alam; b) membuat tempat penyimpanan khusus untuk menyimpan kain agar dapat disimpan dengan baik; c) berusaha menanam berbagai jenis pohon untuk menjamin keberlanjutan tanaman pewarna alami karena tanaman pewarna alami tidak tersedia di daerah setempat dan harus dibeli dari kota lain. Jika mereka menanam pewarna alami sendiri, mereka dapat meningkatkan nilai ekonomi sumber daya alam setempat.; d) menggunakan kompor listrik untuk memanaskan lilin dan kompor gas untuk merebus air untuk menghilangkan lilin (nglorod) aktivitas untuk mengurangi penggunaan energi tak terbarukan dan emisi CO2; dan e) mengolah air limbah batik dengan teknologi sederhana. Kata kunci: batik tulis, batik warna alam, “putting-out” system, produksi bersih, batik ramah lingkunga

Severity of Infectious Mononucleosis (IM) Correlates with the Frequency of Crossreactive Influenza A Virus (IAV)-M1 and Epstein Barr Virus (EBV)-BMLF-1-specific CD8 T Cells

During EBV-associated IM IAV-specific crossreactive memory T cells are activated and play a role in disease severity. In HLA-A2+ IM patients, influenza M158 (IAV-M1)-specific CD8 memory T cell responses crossreacted with two different EBV lytic epitopes, BMLF1280 (17/29) and BRLF1190 (19/20). Furthermore, 11/22 IM patients demonstrated some intra-viral crossreactivity between EBV-BRLF1 and -BMLF1 responses. Disease severity of IM directly correlated with significantly increased frequencies of crossreactive IAV-M1/EBV-BMLF1, IAV-M1, and EBV-BMLF1 specific CD8 cells, and with mean viral load over the first 5 weeks of infection. Disease severity did not correlate with BRLF1 or M1/BRLF1 crossreactive responses. When severity of IM was scored and patients were assigned to either mild or severe groups, disease severity correlated with specific TCR Vb usage in IAV-M1 population suggesting that TcR selection is driving disease outcome. Consistent with IAV-M1 and EBV-BMLF1 responses driving increased immunopathology was the observation that patients with severe disease had significantly more IAV-M1 and EBV-BMLF1 cells producing IFNg/MIP1-b in response to antigen as compared to patients with mild disease. These results suggest that T cell crossreactivity impacts T cell selection and function and ultimately disease outcome. Insights on these issues are important for the intelligent design of vaccines and to develop therapeutic interventions for virally induced disease (NIHAI49320)

Bortezomib a Safe Treatment for Patients with Multiple Myeloma and Cystic Fibrosis

Introduction: Bortezomib is a proteasome inhibitor that targets myeloma cell and its bone marrow micro-environment. Intravenous Bortezomib (1.3 mg/m2 administered on days 1,4,8 and 11 of a 21 day cycle), with or without dexamethasone, is effective and well tolerated in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM). Methods:  We treated a MM patient with Cystic Fibrosis with Bortezomib alone to avoid the use of corticosteroid and consequently the risk of lung infection reactivations, first of all due to the patient Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization. Bortezomib was administrated at 1.3 mg/m2 on days 1,4,8 and 11 with a 10 day rest period  and four 21-day cycles were administered. We evaluate the treatment response and toxicity. Results: After four cycles of therapy the patient achieved a  very good partial response (VGPR) according to the IMWG response criteria, without clinically significant side effects. Conclusions: Bortezomib can be successfully utilized for the management of this difficult disease situatio

The geography of air passengers and employment patterns by US core urban area following the Great Recession: 2009---2012

It has been suggested that successful economies and convenient access to air transportation are correlated and that centrality in the high-tech business network is a precursor to a robust economy. It is hypothesized in this thesis that a significant positive relationship exists between air passenger enplanements by core urban area and selected labor markets with particular attention focused on Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (PST)(NAICS 54) and Management Services (NAICS 55). The data for this analysis was collected from the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for years 2009 and 2012. It was determined that the most accurate predictors of the geography of air passenger enplanements included PST employment, airline hubs and management service total wages. This thesis also found that these trends do not extend to service-providing industries in the aggregate, suggesting that high-tech and management workers more likely than other service workers to fly and contribute to their regional economy in times of economic growth and recession

Role of iron and ferritin in TNFα-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells

AbstractWe found that tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα)-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells was accompanied by a ∼2-fold increase in H- and L-ferritin and a decrease in transferrin receptor, two indices of increased iron availability. Iron supplementation and overexpression of H-ferritin or its mutant with an inactivated ferroxidase center reduced by about ∼50% the number of apoptotic cells after TNFα-treatment, while overexpression of L-ferritin was ineffective. The data indicate that H-ferritin has an anti-apoptotic activity unrelated to its ferroxidase activity and to its capacity to modify cellular iron metabolism

Mechanism of ferritin iron uptake: activity of the H-chain and deletion mapping of the ferro-oxidase site. A study of iron uptake and ferro-oxidase activity of human liver, recombinant H-chain ferritins, and of two H-chain deletion mutants.

To study the functional differences between human ferritin H- and L-chains and the role of the protein shell in the formation and growth of the ferritin iron core, we have compared the kinetics of iron oxidation and uptake of ferritin purified from human liver (90% L) and of the H-chain homopolymer overproduced in Escherichia coli (100% H). As a control for iron autocatalytic activity, we analyzed the effect of Fe(III) on the iron uptake reaction. The results show that the H-chain homopolymer has faster rates of iron uptake and iron oxidation than liver ferritin in all the conditions analyzed and that the difference is reduced in the conditions in which iron autocatalysis in high: i.e. at pH 7 and in presence of iron core. We have also analyzed the properties of two engineered H-chains, one lacking the last 22 amino acids at the carboxyl terminus and the other missing the first 13 residues at the amino terminus. These mutant proteins assemble in ferritin-like proteins and maintain the ability to catalyze iron oxidation. The deletion at the carboxyl terminus, however, prevents the formation of a stable iron core. It is concluded that the ferritin H-chain has an iron oxidation site which is separated from the sites of iron transfer and hydrolysis and that either the integrity of the molecule or the presence of the amino acid sequences forming the hydrophobic channel is necessary for iron core formation

Long-path quantum cascade laser–based sensor for methane measurements

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2016. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 33 (2016): 2373-2384, doi:10.1175/JTECH-D-16-0024.1.A long-path methane (CH4) sensor was developed and field deployed using an 8-μm quantum cascade laser. The high optical power (40 mW) of the laser allowed for path-integrated measurements of ambient CH4 at total pathlengths from 100 to 1200 m with the use of a retroreflector. Wavelength modulation spectroscopy was used to make high-precision measurements of atmospheric pressure–broadened CH4 absorption over these long distances. An in-line reference cell with higher harmonic detection provided metrics of system stability in rapidly changing and harsh environments. The system consumed less than 100 W of power and required no consumables. The measurements intercompared favorably (typically less than 5% difference) with a commercial in situ methane sensor when accounting for the different spatiotemporal scales of the measurements. The sensor was field deployed for 2 weeks at an arctic lake to examine the robustness of the approach in harsh field environments. Short-term precision over a 458-m pathlength was 10 ppbv at 1 Hz, equivalent to a signal from a methane enhancement above background of 5 ppmv in a 1-m length. The sensor performed well in a range of harsh environmental conditions, including snow, rain, wind, and changing temperatures. These field measurements demonstrate the capabilities of the approach for use in detecting large but highly variable emissions in arctic environments.The authors gratefully acknowledge funding for this work by MIRTHE through NSF-ERC Grant EEC-0540832. D. J. Miller acknowledges support by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant DGE-0646086. K. Sun acknowledges support by the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship IIP-1263579.2017-05-0

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-lytic Cross-reactive Influenza-A (IAV) Memory CD8 T-cells in EBV Sero-negative Middle-aged Adults

EBV is a common human pathogen, which infects ~90% of people and establishes a life-long chronic infection. The clinical outcomes of acute infection can range from asymptomatic to severe immunopathology such as infectious mononucleosis (IM). However, for unknown reasons 5-10% of middle-aged adults (\u3e35 years) remain EBV-seronegative (EBV-SN) when the virus infects the vast majority of people, and is actively shed at high titers during chronic infection. Here we show that EBV-SN (ASN) HLA-A2+ middle-aged adults possess a unique IAV-M1-GIL58-66 memory CD8 T-cell response that cross-reacts with EBV lytic epitopes that differs from teenage EBV-SN (TSN) (18-19 years) and EBV-seropositive (EBV-SP) adult donors. The five tested HLA-A2+ EBV-SN middle-aged adults had a significantly increased IAV-M158-66-GIL tetramer+ CD8 frequency compared to EBV-SP donors. Upon exposure to EBV antigens in vitro both IAV-M158-66GIL/EBV-BMLF1280-288-GLC and IAV-M158-66-GIL/EBV-BRLF1109-117-YVL, functionally cross-reactive CD8+ responses could be detected in the peripheral blood of middle-aged EBV-SN donors, while only IAV-M1/EBV-YVL cross-reactive responses were detected in some teenage EBV-SN or EBV-seropositive people . Surprisingly, these IAV-M1-GIL-specific CD8 T-cells in middle-aged EBV-SN adults expanded dramatically to EBV lytic antigens and produced cytokines at high functional avidity. They lysed EBV-infected targets and showed potential (by CD103 expression) to enter mucosal epithelial tissue where infection initiates. Additionally, these cross-reactive cells had an oligo-clonal T-cell receptor repertoire different than EBV-SP donors. Taken together these data suggest that an altered cross-reactive T cell repertoire could mediate protective immunity against viral infection. Our results imply that sero-negative adults might have the ability to resist viral infection via heterologous immunity. (NIH-AI49320)

Sleep disturbance as a moderator of the association between physical activity and later pain onset among American adults aged 50 and over : evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

Funding DW is supported by a Foundation Fellowship Versus Arthritis (Award Number: 21742). Contributors DW, HG, LMS, TJB, AK and GLD were involved in study conception and design, and advised on the statistical analysis plan and interpretation of the data. HG compiled the dataset and DW performed the statistical analysis. DW drafted the manuscript. HG, LMS, TJB, AK and GLD reviewed the manuscript, provided amendments and approved the final version. DW, HG and GLD had full access to study data and take responsibility for its accuracy and the integrity of the analysis. Data availability statement Data are available in a public, open access repository. The dataset used for this study was generated from data products publicly released by the Health and Retirement Study (HRS): https://hrs.isr.umich.edu. The HRS is sponsored by the National Institute on Ageing (grant number NIA U01AG009740).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Human Mitochondrial Ferritin Expressed in HeLa Cells Incorporates Iron and Affects Cellular Iron Metabolism

Mitochondrial ferritin (MtF) is a newly identified ferritin encoded by an intronless gene on chromosome 5q23.1. The mature recombinant MtF has a ferroxidase center and binds iron in vitro similarly to H-ferritin. To explore the structural and functional aspects of MtF, we expressed the following forms in HeLa cells: the MtF precursor (approximately 28 kDa), a mutant MtF precursor with a mutated ferroxidase center, a truncated MtF lacking the approximately 6-kDa mitochondrial leader sequence, and a chimeric H-ferritin with this leader sequence. The experiments show that all constructs with the leader sequence were processed into approximately 22-kDa subunits that assembled into multimeric shells electrophoretically distinct from the cytosolic ferritins. Mature MtF was found in the matrix of mitochondria, where it is a homopolymer. The wild type MtF and the mitochondrially targeted H-ferritin both incorporated the (55)Fe label in vivo. The mutant MtF with an inactivated ferroxidase center did not take up iron, nor did the truncated MtF expressed transiently in cytoplasm. Increased levels of MtF both in transient and in stable transfectants resulted in a greater retention of iron as MtF in mitochondria, a decrease in the levels of cytosolic ferritins, and up-regulation of transferrin receptor. Neither effect occurred with the mutant MtF with the inactivated ferroxidase center. Our results indicate that exogenous iron is as available to mitochondrial ferritin as it is to cytosolic ferritins and that the level of MtF expression may have profound consequences for cellular iron homeostasis