Suksesi Makroozobentos di Hutan Mangrove Alami dan Rehabilitasi di Kabupaten Sinjai Sulawesi Selatan

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah menggambarkan struktur komunitas makrozoobentos, suksesi, dan faktor yang memengaruhi distribusi dinamika organik karbon dengan sedimen di hutan mangrove rehabilitasi Desa Tongke-tongke, Kabupaten Sinjai. Metode Penelitian secara purposive sampling, dimana populasi penelitian adalah komunitas vegetasi mangrove dan  komunitas makrozoobentos yang berasosiasi dengan mangrove. Selain itu, kualitas perairan, kandungan karbon organik dan nitrogen sedimen juga merupakan obyek penelitian. Hasil identifikasi epifauna dan infauna yang ditemukan pada kawasan non-vegetasi, hutan mangrove hasil rehabilitasi dan alami diperoleh sebanyak 47  jenis makrozoobentos yang berasal dari 30 famili dan 5 kelas. Gastropoda ditemukan sebanyak 22 jenis dan 11 famili, Bivalvia 13 jenis dan 8 famili, Crustacea 6 jenis dan 4 famili, Polychaeta 5 jenis dan 5 famili, serta Ophiuroidea 1 jenis yang berasal dari 1 famili. Kepadatan makrozoobentos di hutan mangrove hasil rehabilitasi Desa Tongke-tongke dan di hutan alami Kelurahan Samataring berkisar 85,60-266,10 ind m-2. Indeks keanekaragaman berkisar 2,28-4,00; indeks keseragaman berkisar 0,58-0,95; dan indeks dominansi berkisar 0,089-0,294. Suksesi makrozoobentos di hutan mangrove rehabilitasi Tongke-tongke berlangsung dengan meningkatnya jumlah jenis makrozoobentos dan keanekaragaman makrozoobentos seiring bertambahnya umur vegetasi mangrove

Critical success factors of the financial performance of commercial private banks: A study in a developing nation

This study’s objective is to examine the impact of employee innovativeness, readiness to change, employee creativity, and learning capability on the financial performance of private banks in Bangladesh. The study involved 334 bank employees from three prominent private banks in Bangladesh. Those banks were selected with better ratings by the central bank and have several branches across the country. First, branch managers were contacted about this study and collected employee emails from each branch information desk. Then, email invitations were sent to each employee of the selected bank branches. This study involved branch managers, senior officers, officers, and junior bank executives. Past studies also considered senior and junior bank officers as they directly contribute to a bank’s performance. The study utilized a methodical questionnaire to assess the three independent variables: employee innovativeness, readiness to change, and learning capability. The dependent variable in this study was financial performance, which was assessed through key financial indicators such as profitability and sales growth over three years. SPSS was utilized to conduct hypothesis testing by considering 95% confidence interval. Correlation results show that all three independent variables were significantly correlated with the bank’s financial performance. The study’s regression results suggest that bank employees’ readiness to change (β value = 0.393) significantly impacts the bank’s financial performance, followed by employee innovativeness (β value = 0.338). On the other hand, employees’ learning capability (β value = 0.202) has the least significant impact on financial performance. Moreover, three independent variables explain 42.9% variance in bank financial performance

The association between histamine 2 receptor antagonist use and Clostridium difficile infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a major health problem. Epidemiological evidence suggests that there is an association between acid suppression therapy and development of CDI. Purpose We sought to systematically review the literature that examined the association between histamine 2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) and CDI. Data source We searched Medline, Current Contents, Embase, ISI Web of Science and Elsevier Scopus from 1990 to 2012 for all analytical studies that examined the association between H2RAs and CDI. Study selection Two authors independently reviewed the studies for eligibility. Data extraction Data about studies characteristics, adjusted effect estimates and quality were extracted. Data synthesis Thirty-five observations from 33 eligible studies that included 201834 participants were analyzed. Studies were performed in 6 countries and nine of them were multicenter. Most studies did not specify the type or duration of H2RAs therapy. The pooled effect estimate was 1.44, 95% CI (1.22–1.7), I2 = 70.5%. This association was consistent across different subgroups (by study design and country) and there was no evidence of publication bias. The pooled effect estimate for high quality studies was 1.39 (1.15–1.68), I2 = 72.3%. Meta-regression analysis of 10 study-level variables did not identify sources of heterogeneity. In a speculative analysis, the number needed to harm (NNH) with H2RAs at 14 days after hospital admission in patients receiving antibiotics or not was 58, 95% CI (37, 115) and 425, 95% CI (267, 848), respectively. For the general population, the NNH at 1 year was 4549, 95% CI (2860, 9097). Conclusion In this rigorous systematic review and meta-analysis, we observed an association between H2RAs and CDI. The absolute risk of CDI associated with H2RAs is highest in hospitalized patients receiving antibiotics

Adaptive Evolution of the Myo6 Gene in Old World Fruit Bats (Family: Pteropodidae)

PMCID: PMC3631194This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

The prevention of contrast induced nephropathy by sarpogrelate in patients with chronic kidney disease: a study protocol for a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a serious clinical problem associated with increased morbidity and mortality, particularly in patients with chronic renal insufficiency. Although some agents including hydration with saline are being prescribed to prevent renal deterioration in these high risk patients, their efficacy is not clearly defined and debatable. Therefore additional prophylactic pretreatments are needed.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The present study aims to investigate differences in occurrence of CIN after sarpogrelate premedication in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). 268 participants, aged 20-85 years with a clinical diagnosis of CKD will be recruited. They will be randomly allocated to one of two conditions: (i) routine treatment without sarpogrelate, and (ii) routine treatment with sarpogrelate (a fixed-flexible dose of 300 mg/day). The primary outcome is the occurrence of CIN during 4 weeks after receiving contrast agent.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>As of May 2010, there were no registered trials evaluating the therapeutic potentials of sarpogrelate in preventing for CIN. If sarpogrelate decreases the worsening of renal function and occurrence of CIN, it will provide a safe, easy and inexpensive treatment option.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>NCT01165567</p

Queueing Theory Based Vehicular Traffic Management System Through Jackson Network Model and Optimization

Traffic congestion is increasing in over populated urban areas, our traditional traffic management system can no longer solve this problem. However, this problem can be solved by converting our road networks into queueing networks. This paper proposes, the use of an open Jackson Queueing Model which can be equated with our existing road network to calculate the waiting time of vehicles in the network, which can be further processed to put the network into an optimized state. In this model, the waiting time depends on both arrival rate and service rate. Our implementation designates a set of service rates from a range of possible service rates for each road within the network and these designated service rates are used to calculate waiting time. As these various combinations of service rates of different roads produce multiple waiting times, we select the combination set of service rates which has the lowest set of waiting times. This set of service rates is also compared with quadratic optimization problem of the same road network to evaluate implementation's accuracy

Synthesis and Characterization of Tin Disulfide (SnS2) Nanowires

The ordered tin disulfide (SnS2) nanowire arrays were first fabricated by sulfurizing the Sn nanowires, which are embedded in the nanochannels of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template. SnS2nanowire arrays are highly ordered and highly dense. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and corresponding selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns demonstrate the SnS2nanowire is hexagonal polycrystalline. The study of UV/Visible/NIR absorption shows the SnS2nanowire is a wide-band semiconductor with three band gap energies (3.3, 4.4, and 5.8 eV)

Surgical treatment of tricuspid regurgitation after mitral valve surgery: a retrospective study in China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) occurs in patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease even after mitral valve surgery. The aim of this study was to analyze surgical results of TR after previous successful mitral valve surgery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From September 1996 to September 2008, 45 patients with TR after previous mitral valve replacement underwent second operation for TR. In those, 43 patients (95.6%) had right heart failure symptoms (edema of lower extremities, ascites, hepatic congestion, etc.) and 40 patients (88.9%) had atrial fibrillation. Twenty-six patients (57.8%) were in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III, and 19 (42.2%) in class IV. Previous operations included: 41 for mechanical mitral valve replacement (91.1%), 4 for bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement (8.9%), and 7 for tricuspid annuloplasty (15.6%).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The tricuspid valves were repaired with Kay's (7 cases, 15.6%) or De Vega technique (4 cases, 8.9%). Tricuspid valve replacement was performed in 34 cases (75.6%). One patient (2.2%) died. Postoperative low cardiac output (LCO) occurred in 5 patients and treated successfully. Postoperative echocardiography showed obvious reduction of right atrium and ventricle. The anterioposterior diameter of the right ventricle decreased to 25.5 ± 7.1 mm from 33.7 ± 6.2 mm preoperatively (P < 0. 05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>TR after mitral valve replacement in rheumatic heart disease is a serious clinical problem. If it occurs or progresses late after mitral valve surgery, tricuspid valve annuloplasty or replacement may be performed with satisfactory results. Due to the serious consequence of untreated TR, aggressive treatment of existing TR during mitral valve surgery is recommended.</p

The Main Belt Comets and ice in the Solar System

We review the evidence for buried ice in the asteroid belt; specifically the questions around the so-called Main Belt Comets (MBCs). We summarise the evidence for water throughout the Solar System, and describe the various methods for detecting it, including remote sensing from ultraviolet to radio wavelengths. We review progress in the first decade of study of MBCs, including observations, modelling of ice survival, and discussion on their origins. We then look at which methods will likely be most effective for further progress, including the key challenge of direct detection of (escaping) water in these bodies