Gadjah Mada University

About: Gadjah Mada University is a education organization based out in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Adsorption. The organization has 17307 authors who have published 21389 publications receiving 116561 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Gajah Mada & Universitas Gadjah Mada.

Sensory improvement of leprosy peripheral neuropathy in patients treated with perineural injection of platelet-rich plasma.

Abstract: Background Leprosy (Hansen's disease) is a chronic granulomatous infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae with peripheral neuropathy as cutaneous and neurological manifestations. Peripheral nerve regeneration may be stimulated by vascular endothelial growth factor and other growth factors (GFs) that have important roles in extracellular matrix regeneration. All of those GFs can be found in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) preparation. The effect of PRP injection in leprosy peripheral neuropathy has never been reported. Materials and methods A double-blind, randomized, control clinical trial was conducted among 60 patients with leprosy peripheral neuropathy. They were randomized to receive either a 1-ml injection of PRP as treatment or a 1-ml injection of platelet-poor plasma (PPP) as control. Skin sensibilities were measured by two-point discrimination test (TPDT) and visual analog scale (VAS), which were taken before and two weeks after treatment. Results Perineural injection of PRP was shown to be significantly more effective than PPP (P < 0.05) either in VAS or TPDT measurements. In both groups, the patients had a tingling sensation at the time of injection that disappeared shortly after. Conclusion This study shows that perineural PRP injection could promote improvement of peripheral neuropathy sensibility in patients with leprosy. More research is needed to better determine the effects of PRP in nerve regeneration.

Technological Review on Thermochemical Conversion of COVID-19-related Medical Wastes

Abstract: COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous environmental burden due to huge amount of medical wastes (about 54,000 t/d as of November 22, 2020), including face mask, gloves, clothes, goggles, and sanitizer/disinfectant containers. A proper waste management is urgently required to mitigate the spread of the disease, minimize the environmental impacts, and take their potential advantages for further utilization. This work provides a prospective review on the possible thermochemical treatments for those COVID-19 related medical wastes (CMW), as well as their possible conversion to fuels. The characteristics of each waste are initially analyzed and described, especially their potential as energy source. It is clear that most of CMWs are dominated by plastic polymers. Thermochemical processes, including incineration, torrefaction, pyrolysis, and gasification, are reviewed in terms of applicability for CMW. In addition, the mechanical treatment of CMW into sanitized refuse-derived fuel (SRDF) is also discussed as the preliminary stage before thermochemical conversion. In terms of material flexibility, incineration is practically applicable for all types of CMW, although it has the highest potential to emit the largest amount of CO2 and other harmful gasses. Furthermore, gasification and pyrolysis are considered promising in terms of energy conversion efficiency and environmental impacts. On the other hand, carbonization faces several technical problems following thermal degradation due to insufficient operating temperature.

Optical Properties of Silver Nanoparticles for Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)-Based Biosensor Applications

Abstract: It has been successfully carried out the synthesis of silver nanoparticles by chemical reduction method. Silver nitrate (AgNO3) is used as the metal precursor and trisodium citrate as the reducing agent as well as the use of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a stabilizer. The formation of silver nanoparticles was observed visually with discoloration (yellow). To excite surface plasmons, attenuated total reflection (ATR) method is used with Krestchmann configuration of the prism coupling. The maximum absorption band in the UV-Vis spectrometer shows a red shift of 429.43 nm wavelength for a colloidal solution of silver nanoparticles without PVA and 429.01 nm with PVA. The addition of PVA sharpened absorption spectrum curve and produce a broad absorption band which is indicative of a smaller particle size. TEM images showed that the morphology (crystallites) silver nanoparticles have nearly spherical geometry with dispersive particle distribution. Dispersibility of nanoparticles such as this could potentially be used as an active ingredient of SPR biosensor. The observation of the SPR phenomenon shows the SPR angle shift of 0.1° when a thin layer of silver as an active ingredient a biosensor coated with silver nanoparticles and 0.2° when silver nanoparticles with PVA. SPR angle shift and increase the reflectance values caused by changes in surface Plasmon, which can be a reference that the SPR phenomenon with the sensing surface modification using an additional layer of silver nanoparticles can increase sensitivity.

The role of osmotolerant rhizobacteria in rice growth under different drought conditions

Abstract: Osmotolerant rhizobacterial isolates were used as inoculants for rice under different drought conditions in a greenhouse. Rice was grown on a Regosol, under either sterile or non-sterile conditions, in which the water level was adjusted to 80% and 40% of field capacity. Rice seed was inoculated with osmotolerant rhizobacterial isolates (isolates Al-19, A82, and M7b) and grown until the plant reached maximum vegetative phase (86 days from seed sowing). Inocula used were: Al-19 plus A82, Al-19 plus M7b, A82 plus M7b, and a mixture of 3 isolates. Under sterile conditions, inoculation of rice with the different inocula resulted in an increase in shoot dry weight, root dry weight, and number of tillers of 0-45.72%, 0.62-79.67%, and 0- 61.11%, respectively. Under non-sterile condition, shoot dry weight, root dry weight, and number of tillers increased by 19.66-28.04%, 14.00-91.33%, and 14.29-157.14%, respectively. The study also demonstrated that the role of osmotolerant rhizobacteria was more pronounced at 40% field capacity than 80% field capacity.