Lampung University

About: Lampung University is a education organization based out in Bandar Lampung, Indonesia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Reading comprehension. The organization has 4123 authors who have published 3703 publications receiving 10423 citations.

Corona virus diseases (Covid-19): Sebuah tinjauan literatur

Abstract: Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19). In 2020, a new type of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was spread, called a disease called Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This virus was discovered in Wuhan, China for the first time and has infected 90,308 people as of March 2, 2020. The number of deaths reached 3,087 people or 6%, the number of patients recovering 45,726 people. This type of single positive RNA strain infects the human respiratory tract and is sensitive to heat and can effectively be activated by chlorine-containing disinfectants. The source of the host is thought to come from animals, especially bats, and other vectors such as bamboo rats, camels and ferrets. Common symptoms include fever, cough and difficulty breathing. Clinical syndrome is divided into uncomplicated, mild pneumonia and severe pneumonia. Specimen examination is taken from the throat swab (nasopharynx and oropharynx) and lower airway (sputum, bronchial rinse, endotracheal aspirate). Isolation was carried out on patients proven to be infected with Covid-19 to prevent wider spread. Abstrak: Penyakit Virus Corona (Covid-19) tahun 2020 merebak virus baru coronavirus jenis baru (SARS-CoV-2) yang penyakitnya disebut Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Virus ini ditemukan di Wuhan, China pertama kali dan sudah menginfeksi 90.308 orang per tanggal 2 Maret 2020. Jumlah kematian mencapai 3.087 orang atau 6%, jumlah pasien yang sembuh 45.726 orang. Virus jenis RNA strain tunggal positif ini menginfeksi saluran pernapasan manusia dan bersifat sensitif terhadap panas dan secara efektif dapat diinaktifkan oleh desinfektan mengandung klorin. Sumber host diduga berasal dari hewan terutama kelelawar, dan vektor lain seperti tikus bambu, unta dan musang. Gejala umum berupa demam, batuk dan sulit bernapas. Sindrom klinik terbagi menjadi tanpa komplikasi, pneumonia ringan dan pneumonia berat. Pemeriksaan spesimen diambil dari swab tenggorok (nasofaring dan orofaring) dan saluran napas bawah (sputum, bilasan bronkus, aspirat endotrakeal). Isolasi dilakukan pada pasien terbukti terinfeksi Covid-19 untuk mencegah penyebaran lebih luas.

Cortistatins A, B, C, and D, Anti-angiogenic Steroidal Alkaloids, from the Marine Sponge Corticium simplex

Abstract: Four novel steroidal alkaloids named cortistatins A (1), B (2), C (3), and D (4) consisting of a 9(10−19)-abeo-androstane and isoquinoline skeleton have been isolated from the marine sponge Corticium simplex. The absolute stereostructures of 1−4 were elucidated by detailed 2D NMR, CD, and X-ray crystallographic analyses. Cortistatins A−D inhibited proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with high selectivity. Among the four substances, cortistatin A (1) showed the strongest anti-proliferative activity (IC50 = 0.0018 μM) against HUVECs, in which the selective index was more than 3000-fold in comparison with that of normal fibroblast or several tumor cell lines.

Termite assemblage collapse along a land-use intensification gradient in lowland central Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract: Summary 1. Termites are major decomposers in tropical regions and play an important role in soil processes. This study measured the impact of land-use intensification on the termite assemblage of lowland rain forest in Jambi Province, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Termite composition was assessed in seven land-use types along a disturbance gradient, from primary forest, through different silvicultural systems, to grassland and cultivated land without trees. A range of environmental variables was also measured. 2. Termite species richness and relative abundance declined as follows: primary forest > selectively logged forest > mature ‘jungle rubber’ (a diverse agro-forest dominated by rubber trees) > mature rubber plantation > young Paraserianthes falcataria plantation (a softwood tree) > Imperata cylindrica grassland > cassava garden. Termite richness fell from 34 species in the primary forest to one species in the cassava garden. The relative abundance of soil-feeding termites showed a significantly greater decline along the gradient than did wood-feeding termites. 3. Of the environmental variables, woody plant basal area was most strongly correlated with termite species richness ( r = 0·973) and relative abundance ( r = 0·980). This reflects the response of forest-adapted termites to progressive simplification of the physical structure of the habitat, resulting in the reduction of canopy cover and alteration in microclimate, and the loss of feeding and nesting sites. 4. Synthesis and applications . Comparisons with other studies show that the decline in termite species richness and relative abundance seen at Jambi is a general trend that occurs elsewhere when forests are converted to other land uses. To help mitigate the loss of termites when forests are disturbed, we recommend the following management practices: the use of reduced-impact logging techniques, maximizing forest patch size and connectivity, minimizing length of forest edges, and leaving dead wood to decay in situ .

Implementation of Dynamic Evolution Control of Bidirectional DC–DC Converter for Interfacing Ultracapacitor Energy Storage to Fuel-Cell System

Abstract: An electric vehicle powered by fuel cells (FCs) gives far more promising performance. An FC is a clean energy source and has a high energy-storage capability. However, an FC has a slow dynamic response. A secondary power source is needed during start-up and transient conditions. An ultracapacitor can be used as a secondary power source to improve the performance and efficiency of the overall system. Several methods have been devised to connect an energy-storage device to an FC. This paper presents a converter system for connecting an ultracapacitor as secondary energy storage to an FC electric-vehicle system. A bidirectional dc-dc converter is used for interfacing ultracapacitor energy storage to an FC system. The controller of the converter system was designed and implemented based on dynamic evolution control. The performance of the proposed dynamic evolution control is tested through simulation and experiment. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed techniques are suitable for controlling bidirectional dc-dc converters.

plantiSMASH: automated identification, annotation and expression analysis of plant biosynthetic gene clusters

Abstract: Plant specialized metabolites are chemically highly diverse, play key roles in host-microbe interactions, have important nutritional value in crops and are frequently applied as medicines. It has recently become clear that plant biosynthetic pathway-encoding genes are sometimes densely clustered in specific genomic loci: biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). Here, we introduce plantiSMASH, a versatile online analysis platform that automates the identification of candidate plant BGCs. Moreover, it allows integration of transcriptomic data to prioritize candidate BGCs based on the coexpression patterns of predicted biosynthetic enzyme-coding genes, and facilitates comparative genomic analysis to study the evolutionary conservation of each cluster. Applied on 48 high-quality plant genomes, plantiSMASH identifies a rich diversity of candidate plant BGCs. These results will guide further experimental exploration of the nature and dynamics of gene clustering in plant metabolism. Moreover, spurred by the continuing decrease in costs of plant genome sequencing, they will allow genome mining technologies to be applied to plant natural product discovery. The plantiSMASH web server, precalculated results and source code are freely available from http://plantismash.secondarymetabolites.org.