Potensi Penurunan Produksi Padi Akibat Variabilitas Curah Hujan di Kabupaten Subang Jawa Barat

Research on hazard, vulnerability, and risks of the decline in rice production due to climate change has been implemented in Subang West Java. This study aims to assess the level of hazard, vulnerability, and risks of the decline in rice production and identify areas that very high level of the decline in rice production. Materials of this study is data of climate, agroclimate, rice production, and socio-economic. Methods of this study is descriptive explanatory that using risk assessment concept where risk is a function of hazard and vulnerability. The results was showed in spatial map using GIS. The results indicate that in Subang area has experienced climate change shown by the changing patterns (trend) of rainfall, rain day, and the distribution of annual rainfall. Decreased rice harvested area above 5.2% per year occurred in Cisalak, Dawuan, Pabuaran, Patokbesi, Pagaden, and Pusakanagara. Decreased rice production over 11.2% per yeas occurred in Cisalak, Dawuan, Pabuaran, and Pusakanagara.The very high vulnerability occurred in Pabuaran.The high risks of decline in harvested area and production of rice respectively found in Patokbesi and Pabuaran. The high risk reduction in harvested area and production of rice in the region due to the disruption of water supply, growth, development, and production plants due to climate change

Does dietary tocopherol level affect fatty acid metabolism in fish?

Fish are a rich source of the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), particularly the highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA), eicosapentaenoic (EPA; 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic (DHA; 22:6n-3) acids, which are vital constituents for cell membrane structure and function, but which are also highly susceptible to attack by oxygen and other organic radicals. Resultant damage to PUFA in membrane phospholipids can have serious consequences for cell membrane structure and function, with potential pathological effects on cells and tissues. Physiological antioxidant protection involves both endogenous components, such as free radical scavenging enzymes, and exogenous dietary micronutrients including tocopherols and tocotrienols, the vitamin E-type compounds, widely regarded as the primary lipid soluble antioxidants. The antioxidant activities of tocopherols are imparted by their ability to donate their phenolic hydrogen atoms to lipid (fatty acid) free radicals resulting in the stabilisation of the latter and the termination of the lipid peroxidation chain reaction. However, tocopherols can also prevent PUFA peroxidation by acting as quenchers of singlet oxygen. Recent studies on marine fish have shown correlations between dietary and tissue PUFA/tocopherol ratios and incidence of lipid peroxidation as indicated by the levels of TBARS and isoprostanes. These studies also showed that feeding diets containing oxidised oil significantly affected the activities of liver antioxidant defence enzymes and that dietary tocopherol partially attenuated these effects. However, there is evidence that dietary tocopherols can affect fatty acid metabolism in other ways. An increase in membrane PUFA was observed in rats deficient in vitamin E. This was suggested to be due to over production of PUFA arising from increased activity of the desaturation/elongation mechanisms responsible for the synthesis of PUFA. Consistent with this, increased desaturation of 18:3n-3 and 20:5n-3 in hepatocytes from salmon fed diets deficient in tocopherol and/or astaxanthin has been observed. Although the mechanism is unclear, tocopherols may influence biosynthesis of n-3PUFA through alteration of cellular oxidation potential or “peroxide tone”

COOH-terminal substitutions in the serpin C1 inhibitor that cause loop overinsertion and subsequent multimerization

The region COOH-terminal to the reactive center loop is highly conserved in the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) family. We have studied the structural consequences of three substitutions (Val451-->Met, Phe455-->Ser, and Pro476-->Ser) found in this region of C1 inhibitor in patients suffering from hereditary angioedema. Equivalent substitutions have been described in alpha 1-antitrypsin and antithrombin III. The mutant C1 inhibitor proteins were only partially secreted upon transient transfection into COS-7 cells and were found to be dysfunctional. Immunoprecipitation of conditioned media demonstrated that in the intact, uncleaved form they all bind to a monoclonal antibody which recognizes specifically the protease-complexed or reactive center-cleaved normal C1 inhibitor. A second indication for an intrinsic conformational change was the increased thermostability compared to the normal protein. Furthermore, gel filtration studies showed that the Val451-->Met and Pro476-->Ser mutant proteins, and to a lesser extent Phe455-->Ser, were prone to spontaneous multimerization. Finally, a reduced susceptibility to reactive center cleavage by trypsin was observed for all three mutants, and the cleaved Val451-->Met and Pro476-->Ser mutants failed to adopt the conformation recognized by a cleavage-specific monoclonal antibody. Investigation of plasmas of patients with the Val451-->Met or Pro476-->Ser substitutions showed that these dysfunctional proteins circulate at low levels and are recognized by the complex-specific antibody. These results strongly indicate a conformational change as a result of these carboxylterminal substitutions, such that anchoring of the reactive center loop at the COOH-terminal side is not achieved properly. We propose that this results in overinsertion of the loop into beta-sheet A, which subsequently leads to multimerizatio

Memahami Makna dan Motif Masyarakat dalam Mendukung Pariaman Smart City

Pemerintah Kota Pariaman melakukan berbagai upaya untuk menjadikan kotanya berbudaya dan berkualitas melalui penerapan konsep smart city. Keberhasilan implementasi Pariaman Smart City tersebut tentunya juga dipengaruhi oleh peran dan pemahaman masyarakat tentang konsep smart city. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memahami makna yang dimiliki masyarakat Kota Pariaman tentang smart city dan motif masyarakat Kota Pariaman dalam mendukung Pariaman Smart City. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan fenomenologi. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui wawancara mendalam dan observasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa masyarakat Kota Pariaman memaknai smart city sebagai penggunaan teknologi informasi, efektivitas birokrasi, pengelolaan kota yang lebih baik dan pemanfaatan internet dalam pelaksanaan pekerjaan. Dukungan masyarakat terhadap penerapan smart city berasal dari dua motif. Pertama adalah motif karena, yang menyatakan bahwa alasan masyarakat mendukung program smart city adalah karena keberhasilan daerah-daerah lain yang telah menerapkan konsep smart city terlebih dahulu. Kedua adalah motif tujuan, yakni keinginan menjadikan Kota Pariaman lebih maju dan untuk mendapatkan keuntungan ekonomi

Wastewater treatment at AVR Rozenburg

Document(en) uit de collectie Chemische ProcestechnologieDelftChemTechApplied Science

Production, purification and characterisation of recombinant Fahsin, a novel antistasin-type proteinase inhibitor

Serine proteinases from inflammatory cells, including polymorphonuclear neutrophils, are involved in various inflammatory disorders, like pulmonary emphysema and rheumatoid arthritis. Inhibitors of these serine proteinases are potential drug candidates for the treatment of these disorders, since they prevent the unrestricted proteolysis. This study describes a novel specific antistasin-type inhibitor of neutrophil serine proteinases, we called Fahsin. This inhibitor was purified from the Nile leech Limnatis nilotica, sequenced and heterologously expressed using a synthetic gene in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris, yielding 0.5 g(-l) of the protein in the culture medium. Recombinant Fahsin was purified to homogeneity and characterised by N-terminal amino acid sequencing and mass spectrometry. Inhibition-kinetic analysis showed that recombinant Fahsin is a fast, tight-binding inhibitor of human neutrophil elastase with inhibition constant in the nanomolar range. Furthermore, recombinant Fahsin was, in contrast to various other neutrophil elastase inhibitors, insensitive to chemical oxidation and biological oxidation via myeloperoxidase-generated free oxygen radicals. Thus, Fahsin constitutes a novel member of a still expanding family of naturally occurring inhibitors of serine proteinases with potential therapeutic use for treatment of human disease

Voluntary feed intake, nitrogen and phosphorus losses in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fed increasing dietary levels of soy protein concentrate

International audienc