Status of population, occupation and seasonal habitat displacement of alien bird species in West Java Tropical Forest, Indonesia

“Invasive Species” is defined as an alien species that is non-native (non-indigenous, foreign or exotic) to a particular ecosystem. Commonly, they are intentionally or unintentionally introduced into an ecosystem. It is suspected that the discovery of a population of Finch-billed Myna in the forest of West Java resulted from the indirect influence of the bird trade. This bird is one of the endemic birds in Indonesia. Commonly, the Finch-billed Myna is a resident bird in Sulawesi islands. However, we found them in Tangkuban Parahu Mount, West Java. The population of Finch-billed Myna in Tangkuban Parahu Mount is 17-24 individual of three group colonies. The occupation areas are Abria, Awi leuga and Manggu. The vegetation density is higher than Myna’s former habitat (0,055 ind/m2) and Myna’s recent habitat (0,028 ind/m2).Keyword: Alien species; Finch-billed Myna; population; habitat; resource

Cytotoxicity and antiviral activity of Annona muricata aqueous leaves extract against dengue virus type 2

In this study, Annona muricata aqueous leaves extract was tested against dengue virus type 2. Firstly, the cytotoxicity of A. muricata was evaluated using a cell viability assay. The cytotoxicity of A. muricata on Vero cells was tested and the value of cytotoxic concentration, CC50 was ~2.5 mg/ml and the 50% Effective Concentration, EC50 was ~ 0.20 mg/ml. Selectivity index of extract against DENV-2 was more than 10 indicating potential as antiviral agent. Cells were pre- and post-treated with the extract and the viral inhibitory effect was investigated by observing the morphological changes, which were further confirmed the cellular viability evaluated by MTT technique. The results revealed that the post-treatment was more effective in inhibiting viral replication compared to pre-treatment. The findings indicated that A. muricata has good potential for prospective nature-based antiviral drug.Keywords: DENV-2, Annona muricata; Vero cells; MTT technique; antiviral dru

Impact sedimentation to community structure macrozoobenthos in Segara Anakan Lagoon

Change of structure community of Macrozoobenthos due to sedimentation has apparently contributed to a reduction of the quality of the aquatic environment, particularly in Segara Anakan Lagoon. This study aims to determine the extent to which the effects of sedimentation and nutrients in the Segara Anakan Lagoon on macrozoobenthos community structure. The method used in this study surveys. Primary data collected are nutrients, macrozoobenthos, sedimentation rate and secondary data. The results showed that the rate of sedimentation in the dry and rainy season was 0.067 to 2 m/s and 1.61 to 2.00 m/s respectively. Balanus sp, Melanoides sp, Corbicula sp, Polychaeta sp., Thiara sp. were dominance in the dry season, while Corbicula sp, Melanoides sp, Thiara sp, Tarebra sp, Balanus sp, Polychaeta sp. and Barbatia sp. were dominance in the rainy season.Keywords: sedimentation; community structure Macrozoobenthos; Segara Anakan Lagoo

Controlling of green nanocellulose fiber properties produced by chemo-mechanical treatment process via SEM, TEM, AFM and image analyzer characterization

Nanocellulose fibers were extracted from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) fibers by a chemo-mechanical treatment process. The aim of this study is to observe and investigate the morphological structure and fiber dimension characteristic of each stage in the nanocellulose production. The fiber structure characterization of the raw, purified pulps, extracted cellulose and nanocellulose fibers were controlled by observation and investigation under Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Image Analyzer. The morphological observation illustrated that the isolation of nanocellulose fibers had greatly decreased from micron to nanoscale, up to 5-10 nm in diameter, and therefore suitable to be used as quality nano-reinforcement in the polymer matrix for a potential environmental green nanobiocomposites development.Keywords: nanocellulose fibers; morphological observation; fiber dimension; SEM; TE

Temporal change detection of land use/land cover using GIS and remote sensing techniques in South Ghor Regions, Al-Karak, Jordan

This study examines the spatial and temporal changes of land use and land cover in South Ghor, Jordan. Satellite images for the years 1972, 1989, 1999 and 2016 were used for LULC supervised classification techniques, four LULC classes were decided: built-up areas, pastures and bare land, agricultural land and water bodies. For the accuracy of assessment classifications, matrix error and KAPPA analysis have been used in this paper. The analysis detected by supervised classification techniques show that agricultural land and built-up land have increased, while barren land and water bodies have decreased. It is predicted that the study would significantly contribute to better policy making, sustainable development and developing useful change detection planes for the south ghor regions and similar regions of the country.Keywords: land use/land cover change; change detection; classification; remote sensing; GI

Aquatic insect larvae as an indicator of ecological integrity of Panasen Upstream, Tondano Watershed, north Sulawesi

The upstream ecological integrity facing anthropogenic pressures has been assessed linked to the community of aquatic insect larvae inhabiting. This paper evaluate the ecological integrity of the Panasen Stream by determining the distribution and environmental parameters affecting the community of aquatic insect’s larvae in the Tondano Watershed. Physical and chemical parameters such as temperature, velocity, pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, Turbidity, Hardness, Total Suspended Solids, Ammonia and Total Phosphate Water were collected. PCA analysis showed that current velocity, depth and width of the stream greatly affected the distribution and abundance of aquatic insect larvae, precipitation and substrate. Land use and active volcanic results in unsustainable anthropogenic activities have contributed to lowering the water quality, low species richness and weak ecological integrity of the Panasen Stream.Keywords: aquatic insect larvae; ecological integrity; panasen strea

Spatial variation of Melaleuca cajuputi powell essential oils

Cajuputi essential oil in Indonesia and Malaysia is extracted from the leaves of Melaleuca cajuputi Powell. This study identify the variation of Melaleuca cajuputi essential oil fingerprinting based on the essential oil. The leaves were collected from 10 different sites in Terengganu undergoes hydro distillation and detailed analysis by FTIR spectroscopy. ATR-FTIR result of Melaleuca cajuputi shows that functional group of Gelam are variable between different sites and also gave different fingerprinting characters due to the compound variation in relation to their adaptation to the changing environment. Result shows high correlation between several sites (0.97, 0.98 and 0.976) and also significant difference between different sampling stations (p-value < 0.01). The present study proved a significant spatial variation of Melaleuca cajuputi fingerprint in Terengganu from the essential oil collected.Keywords: essential oils; Melaleuca cajuputi Powell; spatial variation; FTIR spectroscop

Mathematical model for dissolved oxygen prediction in Cirata Reservoir, West Java by using artificial neural network

Cirata reservoir is one of the reservoirs which suffer eutrophication with an indication of rapid growth of water hyacinth and mass fish deaths as a result of lack of oxygen. This paper presents  the  implementation and  performance  of  mathematical  model to  predict  theconcentration of dissolved oxygen in Cirata Reservoir, West Java by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The simulation program was created using Visual Studio 2012 C# software with ANN model implemented in it. Prediction process was carried out by training process followed by a testing process using weights that have been obtained from training process. ANN model for predicting dissolved oxygen in Cirata reservoir shows the best performance with correlation coefficient value of 77.44%, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) = 0.12 and Willmott’s Index of Agreement (WIA) = 0.72.Keywords: reservoir eutrophication; artificial neural network; mathematical model; simulation; validatio

Assessment of AHP for optical observatory and new moon sighting sites in peninsular of Malaysia

The aim of this study is to select the best location for astronomical observations sites using Multi Criteria Decision Analysis integrated with Geographical Information System (GIS). To solve these problems, four factors were determined which are elevation or slope, road network, population density and land used. These factors were divided into two categories namely geographical  and anthropogenic criteria. The  factors were evaluated using Analytical Hierarchy Process  technique and the weights  of  variables  were  determined. The study matched the layer on the optical observatory and moon sighting sites. As the result, this study showed the most suitable areas were located extensively in eastern and southern part of Peninsular Malaysia. However, the final decision of this study, site testing measurement will be required in these preliminarily selected areas.Keywords:  astronomy; geographical information system; analytical observatory and moon sighting site

Improving unprecedented restlessness as the new strong indicator of rice crisis at national level

Rice crisis that can happen sooner or later will give accurate and very important information about the predicted time of crisis in Indonesia. This paper was performed to improve and develop a new rice crisis indicator. The tested hypothesis i.e. unprecedented restlessness (UR) is the strong indicator of rice crisis. UR is tested massively in nineteen countries. This research has successfully identified that UR is a strong indicator for rice crisis at Asia level. Despite in the previous research, UR has passed two statistic tests namely rg and Q. However, both tests need to fulfill the success of probability (SP) and constraint probability (CP) in order to provide strong indicator properties. Thus, it is critical to assess the extent to which UR meets the above two criteria. This paper recommends UR can be used to assess the effectiveness of an agricultural plan in order to avoid rice crisis. Keywords: success probability; constraint probability; uncontrollable riot; validity; MI-CHAR