Strand Displacement Activity of PrimPol

Human PrimPol is a unique enzyme possessing DNA/RNA primase and DNA polymerase activities. In this work, we demonstrated that PrimPol efficiently fills a 5-nt gap and possesses the conditional strand displacement activity stimulated by Mn2+ ions and accessory replicative proteins RPA and PolDIP2. The DNA displacement activity of PrimPol was found to be more efficient than the RNA displacement activity and FEN1 processed the 5′-DNA flaps generated by PrimPol in vitro.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 using non-commercial RT-LAMP regents and raw samples.

RT-LAMP detection of SARS-CoV-2 has been shown as a valuable approach to scale up COVID-19 diagnostics and thus contribute to limiting the spread of the disease. Here we present the optimization of highly cost-effective in-house produced enzymes, and we benchmark their performance against commercial alternatives. We explore the compatibility between multiple DNA polymerases with high strand-displacement activity and thermostable reverse transcriptases required for RT-LAMP. We optimize reaction conditions and demonstrate their applicability using both synthetic RNA and clinical patient samples. Finally, we validated the optimized RT-LAMP assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in raw nasopharyngeal samples from 184 patients. We anticipate that optimized and affordable reagents for RT-LAMP will facilitate the expansion of SARS-CoV-2 testing globally, especially in sites and settings with limited economic resources.

Penerapan Lean Manufacturing Untuk Meminimasi Waste Delay Pada Workstation Curing di PT Bridgestone Tire Indonesia

Lean Manufacturing is a method used to increased productivity and costs reduction by minimizing waste in the production process. This study describe the use of lean manufacturing with Single Minutes Exchange Of Dies tools on the PSR’s production floor in PT XYZ, which is engaged in automotive manufacture form making of car tires. Research stage begins by analyzing waste using mapping tool and identification causes of waste in workstation curing. The next stage is analyzing every step of machine setup that occurs are workpiece setup, mold setup, curing setup, and finishing setup. Based on observations, the amount of the initial state setup time is 194,05 minutes. The improvement begin by convert internal activities setup into external setup, reduction of operator displacement activity, elimination of adjusment, and apply a parallel operation by using two operators. So the total setup time can be reduced is equal to 127,41 minutes.Keyword : Lean manufacture, SMED, Setup time, Workstation curing Lean Manufacturing merupakan metode yang digunakan untuk meningkatkkan produktivitas dan pengurangan biaya dengan cara meminimasi pemborosan dalam proses produksi. Penelitian ini menjelaskan penggunaan Lean Manufacturing dengan tool Single Minutes Exchange Of Dies (SMED) pada lantai produksi PSR di PT XYZ, yang bergerak dalam bidang Automotive Manufacture berupa pembuatan ban mobil. Tahap penelitian diawali dengan melakukan analisis waste dengan Mapping tools dilanjutkan dengan mengidentifikasi penyebab pemborosan pada workstation curing. Tahap Selanjutnya adalah menganalisis tahapan proses setup mesin curing yang terdiri dari setup benda kerja, setup mold, setup curing, dan setup finishing. Berdasarkan hasil pengamatan, jumlah waktu setup keadaan awal adalah 194,05 menit. Perbaikan yang dilakukan adalah dengan mengkonversi aktivitas internal setup menjadi eksternal setup, pengurangan aktivitas perpindahan operator, eliminasi adjusment, dan menerapkan operasi paralel yaitu dengan menggunakan 2 operator. Sehingga total waktu setup yang dapat direduksi adalah 127,41 menit.Kata kunci: Lean manufacture, SMED, Waktu setup, Workstation curing

President Donald Trump as global health’s displacement activity

The United States presidential election of Donald Trump in 2016 was observed by global health commentators as posing dire consequences for the progress made in global health outcomes, governance, and financing. This article shares these concerns, however, we present a more nuanced picture of the global health governance progress narrative pre-Trump. We argue that Trump’s presidency is a displacement activity to which global health’s pre-existing inequalities and problems of global health security, financing, and reproductive health can be attributed. Unfettered access to sexual and reproductive rights, sustained financing of health system strengthening initiatives, affordable medicines and vaccines, and a human security-centred definition of global health security were already problematic shortfalls for global health governance. Trump no doubt exacerbates these concerns, however, to blame his presidency for failings in these areas ignores the issues that have been endemic to global health governance prior to his presidency. Instead of using Trump as a displacement activity, his presidency could be an opportunity to confront dependency on US financing model, the lack of a human-security centred definition of global health security, and the norm of restricting reproductive health. It is such engagement and confrontation with these issues that could see Trump’s presidency as being a catalyst for change rather than displacement as a means of preserving the uncomfortable status quo in global health. We make this argument by focusing on three specific areas of US-led global health governance: reproductive health and the ‘global gag rule’, health financing and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and pandemic preparedness and global health security.