Toxicological Evaluation of Ethanol Extract of Adenium obesum Stem Bark in African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus

The toxicity of ethanol extract of Adenium obesum stem bark as a tool foraquaculture pond management prior to the stocking of desired fish species was evaluated in Clarias gariepinus over a 96-h exposure. The fish were exposed to 6.25 mgL-1, 7.50 mgL-1, 8.20 mgL-1, 8.80 mgL-1 and 10.00 mgL-1 of the extract and a control in an acute static toxicity bioassay after performing a range finding test to determine the median lethal concentration (LC50) of the extract. Exposed fish showed signs of changed behaviours with adaptive responses, respiratory distress and nervous compromise, including mortality in some of the exposed fish. The appearance and intensities of the observed signs were concentration and exposure period-dependent. An LC50 value of 7.35 mgL-1 was establishedfor the extract in the exposed fish where mean mortality was significantly (p<0.05) concentration and exposure period-dependent. The toxic nature of the extract in the exposed hardy fish can be exploited for effective aquaculture pond management against some unwanted predatory and weed aquatic organisms. However, the indiscriminate use of higher extract concentrations could seriously jeopardise the biodiversity of any aquaticenvironment

PENGARUH HARGA DAN KUALITAS PRODUK TERHADAP KEPUTUSAN PEMBELIAN KONSUMEN HISANA FRIED CHICKEN (Survey Pada Konsumen Hisana Cabang Sarirasa Bandung)

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui seberapa besar pengaruh harga dan kualitas produk terhadap keputusan pembelian konsumen baik secara simultan maupun parsial. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif dan verifikatif. Jumlah populasi dalam penelitian ini sebanyak 16.166 konsumen Hisana Fried Chicken. Dengan menggunakan rumus slovin pada tingkat kesalahan 10%, maka didapat sample sebanyak 100 responden. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah wawancara, kuesioner, dan studi kepustakaan. Metode analisis data yang digunakan adalah uji validitas dan reliabilitas, analisis regresi linier berganda, analisis korelasi ganda dan analisis koefisien determinasi. Pengujian hipotesis ini melalui uji F untuk simultan dan uji t untuk parsial dengan menggunakan program SPSS 23.0 for winndows. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa secara simultan harga dan kualitas produk berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap keputusan pembelian. Secara parsial kualitas produk memberikan pengaruh yang lebih besar terhadap keputusan pembelian dibandingkan dengan variabel harga. Kata kunci : Pengaruh Harga dan Kualitas Produk terhadap Keputusan Pembelia

Obesity is associated with more sick leave and lower quality of life among Malay male security officers

Obesity is a risk factor for chronic diseases which can affect work productivity and physical function of employees particularly among those in security sector. The study aimed to determine the association between obesity with total days of sick leave and health related quality of life (HRQoL) among Malay male security officers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among Malay male security officers working in a Malaysian higher learning institution. Subjects were evaluated using anthropometric measurements, quality of life and number of sick leave taken within two months prior to the study. A total of 194 subjects (mean age 40.12 ± 11.41 years) were recruited. A total of 30.4% were obese, 39.7% were pre-obese and only 29.9% had normal body weight or underweight. Central obesity was observed in 57.7% of them and 87.1% shown excessive body fat percentage. Number of sick leave days was positively correlated with Body Mass Index (BMI) (r = 0.162, p = 0.024) and waist circumference (r = 0.181, p = 0.012). Score of the general health component was negatively correlated with BMI (r = -0.161, p = 0.025), waist circumference (r = -0.194, p = 0.007) and body fat percentage (r = -0.191, p = 0.008). Physical functioning score was lowest in obese subjects than normal and pre-obese subjects (p = 0.046). Score of the bodily pain component was positively correlated with waist circumference (r = 0.156, p = 0.030). Obesity is associated with number of sick leave days and quality of life in the studied group. Hence, body weight of the security staff should be monitored and appropriate intervention should be conducted to improve their work attendance and quality of life

Ecotourism development in Bangka Islands: an exploratory study on participation and expectations of local stakeholders

Participation and expectations in the discourse of local ecotourism development are important and strategic aspects that need to be seriously addressed and managed. Both have close relation in the succession of local ecotourism. Bangka Belitung Islands in recent years has continued to make various efforts to optimize various local ecotourism development and development spaces, particularly in the context of preparing post-tin economy. Of course there are so many challenges and issues related to the process of local socio-economic transformation on the island of Bangka, especially the transition from the era of extractivism to tourism. In the midst of stretching the local government that continues to initiate and optimize various destinations and attractions that are quite potential and varied on Bangka Island, it is necessary to design policies that also address from various views, criticisms, aspirations and constructive input, both from the public, the government, local ecotourism actors and stakeholders. Based from this context, this study seeks to explore in depth related to the reality of participation and expectations that have surfaced at the local ecotourism level so far. This study in turn also aims to examine critically related various input, ideas, and narrative-constructive notes in the flow of local ecotourism management. Through a qualitative analysis method with an in-depth and structured interview approach, and strengthened by in-depth observations in the field, this study concludes that the context of participation and coordination among stakeholders has begun to develop, but it still seems to be not optimal because it tends to 'run' individually. This research also concludes that at least an important problem that arises is the unequal context of inter-regional ecotourism development in accordance with the varied potential of each region. In addition, there are weaknesses in terms of infrastructure and ecotourism infrastructure and access to transportation that is still limited or not sufficient enough for high tourist mobility. Furthermore, there are still some weaknesses related to governance and optimizing the potential for local ecotourism, both physical and non-physical aspects, which in fact require serious attention and cooperation through integrative commitments and interwoven strategic alliances, both by local governments, ecotourism actors, mass media, and all tourism stakeholders on Bangka Island

Ecotourism among dilemma voluntarism and ecological commitment (a review of the challenges of community-based environmental tourism development in Bangka Island)

Bangka is well known as a region which is rich of natural resources, mainly in tin commodity. Tin mining has been done for hundreds of years and has left massive environmental damage in this region. As the growth of community’s collective awareness towards the threat in the future, the desire to improve the environment while taking economic benefit from the process which appears at several points. Ecotourism has developed in several regions on this island. Interestingly, some of the ecotourism’s are community based. However, there are still various challenges arise along with the emergence of new obstacles. The study used in this paper was qualitative study which used three data collection techniques, namely observation, interview, and documentation. This study was chosen with the consideration that it could explore in more detail and depth about the ecotourism management. The chosen locations are new and popular tourist areas with environmental nuances which are connected with the mining area and around the mining area as the main object. The dilemma between voluntarism which was based on volunteering and economic interest oriented on the income became a big challenge. Second, the ecological rescue commitment is in fact more dominant as the consideration than the economic impact. This study proved that community-based environmental could still develop well. Third, the government always comes later to accompany the initiation of the community

Importance performance analysis (ipa) visitors’ satisfaction of ecotourism in Bangka Belitung, Indonesia: tracking the messages to stakeholders

The satisfaction of visitors is an important part of developing tourism. Knowing satisfactory of the visitor and the dimension will be advantage and weakness of a tourism visit, stakeholders are able to figure out what must be done. This study used the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) method to find out the satisfactory of visitors. There are some interesting findings in this study, such as the fact that Bangka Belitung visitors’ satisfactory is quite high, but the disparity of visitors’ satisfaction is quite high and put Belitung on the good quadrant. However, Bangka needs more concern. This study also found that supporting facilities and transportation still become a serious problem. On the other side, the value of eco-tourism has not met the standard, such as education, environment protection, and voluntarism value. The local Stakeholders need to put extra concern on supporting facilities and maintain that has been considered as good, such as the natural beauty and the locals’ hospitality