TINGKAT KONSUMSI KAYU BAKAR MASYARAKAT DESA SEKITAR HUTAN ( STUDI KASUS PADA DESA TUATAUM, KECAMATAN TOIANAS – KABUPATEN TIMOR TENGAH SELATAN )

This research aims to know the volume, location, type, potential, way and factors that influence the firewood consumption of the villagers. Data collection is conducted by observation, interview and literature study. The factors that influence firewood consumption (numbers of family member, income, outcome, duration and distance) are analyzed with multiple linear aggression. The hypothesis assessment is conducted with analysis of variance (ANOVA) and software used is SPSS16. The research shows thatannual firewood consumption of the villagers is approximately 38.520 SM/capita/year, equally 107,856 million m3 per year. The wood types that often used by respondents to cook are Lamtoro (Leucaena Leucocephala), Teak (Tectona grandis), Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), Schleichera (Schleichera oleosa), Tamarind (Tamarindus Indica L), Banyan, Gamal (Gliricidia sepium), Candlenut (Dipterocarpus sp), Mango (Magnifera indica). The firewood is partly taken from garden and house yard by picking up the fallen braches that have been dried up. The regression analysis model and factors that influence firewood consumption follow the equation of Y= -0.089 + 0.440X1 -0,00000008629X2–0,0000000211X3 + 0.272X4+ 0.000 X5. The variable that clearly influences is variable X1 (the number of family member), however, all X factors influence one another ifsimultaneously assessed. The determination co-efficiency (R2) is 0,546 or 54.6 % which means influence of independent variable towards dependent variable in this research is 54.6% while the rest 45.4% is influenced by other factors outside the variable of this researc

In vitro Effects of Antimicrobial Agents on Planktonic and Biofilm Forms of Staphylococcus saprophyticus Isolated From Patients With Urinary Tract Infections

Bacterial biofilms play an important role in urinary tract infections (UTIs), being responsible for persistent infections that lead to recurrences and relapses. Staphylococcus saprophyticus is one of the main etiological agents of UTIs, however, little is known about biofilm production in this species and especially about its response to the antimicrobial agents used to treat UTIs when a biofilm is present. For this reason, the aim of this work was to evaluate the response of S. saprophyticus biofilms to five antimicrobial agents. Staphylococcus saprophyticus was evaluated for antimicrobial susceptibility in its planktonic form by means of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and in biofilms by means of minimum inhibitory concentration in biofilm (MICB) against the following antimicrobial agents by the microdilution technique: vancomycin, oxacillin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, and norfloxacin. Of the 169 S. saprophyticus studied, 119 produced a biofilm as demonstrated by the polystyrene plate adherence method. Biofilm cells of S. saprophyticus exhibited a considerable increase in MICB when compared to the planktonic forms, with an increase of more than 32 times in the MICB of some drugs. Some isolates switched from the category of susceptible in the planktonic condition to resistant in the biofilm state. Statistical analysis of the results showed a significant increase in MICB (p < 0.0001) for all five drugs tested in the biofilm state compared to the planktonic form. Regarding determination of the minimum bactericidal concentration in biofilm (MBCB), there were isolates for which the minimum bactericidal concentration of all drugs was equal to or higher than the highest concentration tested

CCR2-64I and CCR5Δ32 Polymorphisms in Korean Patients with Myasthenia Gravis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Chemokines participate in the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses by interacting with their receptors, which are primarily expressed on immune and inflammatory cells such as B- and T-lymphocytes and antigen-presenting cells. Chemokines and their receptors are therefore considered to mediate inflammation and tissue damage in autoimmune disorders. Chemokine receptor (CCR) genotypes were recently identified, and the importance of their genetic polymorphisms in some autoimmune and infectious disorders has been demonstrated. To define the roles of the polymorphism of the CCR2 gene at codon 64 (CCR2-64I) and the 32-bp deletion in the coding region of CCR5 (CCR5Delta32) in Korean patients with myasthenia gravis (MG), we compared these genotypes in MG cases and healthy controls and investigated the clinical features associated with these genotypes. METHODS: One hundred and fifteen healthy controls (51 men and 64 women) and 109 MG patients (44 men and 65 women) from three University hospitals were included. We examined each patient for clinical features using electrophysiology tests, laboratory tests, and thymic pathology. The CCR2-64I and CCR5Delta32 polymorphisms were determined by the PCR-RFLP method. RESULTS: We detected no difference in the frequencies of CCR2-64I polymorphism between MG patients and healthy controls. All of the MG patients and the healthy controls were homozygous for the wild-type CCR5 genotype. The results of electrophysiological tests and thymic pathologies were not influenced by the type of CCR2-64I polymorphism. However, the anti-acetylcholine-receptor (AChR) antibody titer was higher in the CCR2 G/G genotype (13.34+/-12.71 nmol/L) than in the CCR2 A/A genotype (5.83+/-2.56 nmol/L). CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence of an increased risk for MG associated with the CCR2-64I and CCR5Delta32 polymorphisms. However, the increased anti-AChR antibody titer in the patients with the CCR2 G/G genotype suggests that the CCR2 gene play a role in the pathophysiology of MG.ope

Constraining the Jurassic extent of Greater India: Tectonic evolution of the West Australian margin

Alternative reconstructions of the Jurassic northern extent of Greater India differ by up to several thousand kilometers. We present a new model that is constrained by revised seafloor spreading anomalies, fracture zones and crustal ages based on drillsites/dredges from all the abyssal plains along the West Australian margin and the Wharton Basin, where an unexpected sliver of Jurassic seafloor (153 Ma) has been found embedded in Cretaceous (95 My old) seafloor. Based on fracture zone trajectories, this NeoTethyan sliver must have originally formed along a western extension of the spreading center that formed the Argo Abyssal Plain, separating a western extension of West Argoland/West Burma from Greater India as a ribbon terrane. The NeoTethyan sliver, Zenith and Wallaby plateaus moved as part of Greater India until westward ridge jumps isolated them. Following another spreading reorganization, the Jurassic crust resumed migrating with Greater India until it was re-attached to the Australian plate ∼95 Ma. The new Wharton Basin data and kinematic model place strong constraints on the disputed northern Jurassic extent of Greater India. Late Jurassic seafloor spreading must have reached south to the Cuvier Abyssal Plain on the West Australian margin, connected to a spreading ridge wrapping around northern Greater India, but this Jurassic crust is no longer preserved there, having been entirely transferred to the conjugate plate by ridge propagations. This discovery constrains the major portion of Greater India to have been located south of the large-offset Wallaby-Zenith Fracture Zone, excluding much larger previously proposed shapes of Greater India

Emergence and Persistence of High-Risk Clones Among MDR and XDR A. baumannii at a Brazilian Teaching Hospital

Dissemination of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii is currently one of the priority themes discussed around the world, including in Brazil, where this pathogen is considered endemic. A total of 107 carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) isolates were collected from patients with bacteraemia attended at a teaching hospital in Brazil from 2008 to 2014. From these samples, 104 (97.2%) carried blaOXA−23−like, all of them associated with ISAba1 The blaOXA−231 (1.9%) and blaOXA−72 (0.9%) genes were also detected in low frequencies. All isolates were susceptible to minocycline, and 38.3% of isolates presented intermediate susceptibility to tigecycline (MIC = 4 μg/ml). Molecular typing assessed by multi-locus sequence typing demonstrated that the strains were mainly associated with clonal complexes CC79 (47.4%), followed by CC1 (16.9%), and CC317 (18.6%), belonging to different pulsotypes and in different prevalences over the years. Changes in the clones' prevalence reinforce the need of identifying and controlling CRAB in hospital settings to preserve the already scarce therapeutic options available

Makwaya musical compositions by the Nemamwa people of South-Eastern Zimbabwe: an afro-centric musicological approach

PhD (Arts and Social Sciences)Department of Arts and Social SciencesThe purpose of the study was to analyse the origins, compositional techniques, transformations, as well as the play motifs of a Zimbabwean indigenous choral music called makwaya in an effort to bust the myth that Africans had no musical culture to share with the rest of the world. Thus, the study is a restoration of an African choral music tradition of the Karanga culture bearers in the community of Nemamwa in Masvingo District in South- Eastern Zimbabwe. The study is guided by the African Critical Theory (ACT), which provides insights on how the once colonised communities can redeem themselves from the shackles of colonialism through a critical African mind. Alongside the African Critical Theory, the study also employs Gonye and Moyo's (2018) AfriCrit as an extension of the Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a critical lens that facilitates an understanding of lived oppression — the struggle to make a way out of no way which propelled me to problematise dominant ideologies in which knowledge is constructed. Thirdly, I employ Shelemay’s Cultural Theory, which focuses on how traditions undergo change as they get transmitted from one generation to the next and the role of cultural activists in preserving legacies that are affected by the ever-changing (kaleidoscopic) musical terrain. The study was an ethnography. Data were collected qualitatively through the use of semi-structured interviews and participant observation. Interviews were preferred because I wanted to get the perceptions and feelings of the Africans regarding makwaya musical genre. The participants were purposively sampled. The data-gathering instruments were augmented by some perusal of literature such as textbooks, journal articles, newspapers, monographs and other archival materials. Research findings revealed that the genre of makwaya was purely an African musical culture which was then expropriated by the Euro-American missionaries for liturgical purposes. It also emerged that the influence of technological advancement and Christianity led to the weakening of the African indigenous musical culture. In light of the research findings, it is recommended that the practising musicians in the community of Nemamwa put their resources together to erect infrastructure that they can use to develop music, as a way of reviving and preserving the musical heritage as a community identity.NR

Challenges in the implementation of the Zimbabwe Junior School Visual & Performing Arts Syllabus in Mwenezi District, Masvingo Province

The purpose of the study was to find out the challenges encountered by primary school teachers in implementing the Zimbabwe Junior Visual and Performing Arts Syllabus in Mwenezi District, Masvingo Province. Primarily, the aim was to determine the primary school teachers' lived experiences and views on critical challenges of implementing the country's updated syllabus. It was a descriptive survey design in which focus group interviews and an observation checklist were used to collect data, which were then thematically analysed. The sample comprised thirty participants (14 females, 16 males) from ten schools of Mwenezi district. The study targeted teachers only because they were the key implementers of the syllabus. Research findings revealed that the main challenges were lack of infrastructure, instructional resources, training, as well as poor timing of the programme. The most itching challenge was negative attitude by teachers, towards the syllabus. Those issues inevitably resulted in dismal implementation of the Visual and Performing Arts Syllabus in schools. In view of the results which emerged, the study recommends that the government could avail resources to schools, to enable teachers effectively implement the syllabus

Environmental Chamber

Volume: 7Start Page: 76End Page: 7