Particular Matter of Motor Vehicle Exposure and High-Fat Diet Effects on Kidney Histopathology, Creatinine, and Malondialdehyde (MDA) Levels in Wistar Rats

This study aims to analyze the effect of combination of motor vehicle particular matter exposure and high-fat diet in kidney histopathology, creatinine levels, and MDA levels in Wistar rats. This study used a posttest-only control group design. Eighteen healthy male Wistar rats were divided into three groups. The intervention groups received motor vehicle fume exposure for 100 s with normal diet (X1) or high-fat diet (X2), and the control group received no exposure (C). Data analysis was processed with a SPSS 25.0 computer program by using the one-way ANOVA test followed by post hoc LSD. The degree of kidney histopathological damage showed significant differences between the X1 and X2 groups when compared with the control group (p < 0.05). The results of the creatinine level examination found a significant difference between the X2 and C groups (p < 0.05) and the treatment groups X1 and X2 (p < 0.05). The results of kidney MDA level examination showed a significant difference between the treatment groups (X1 and X2) and the control group (p < 0.05). The combination of particular matter of motor vehicle fumes exposure and high-fat diet could induce kidney damage through histopathological change and increased creatinine levels and kidney MDA levels in Wistar rats.

Preliminary Results of Air Pollution Status in Selected Roadsides in Jalingo, Taraba State Nigeria

The rapid increase in vehicular activities in the past two centuries contributes vastly to air pollution levels. In as much as Social interactions and economic growth are well enhanced by vehicular transportation in many developing countries, it is unfortunate that exhausts from vehicles contribute immensely to ambient air quality especially in the urban areas. The concentrations of carbon monoxides (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in selected roadsides in Jalingo have been assessed. Four roads were used as sample locations where the concentration of CO2 and CO were measured using an air quality meter for four weeks. The mean concentration of CO2 and CO obtained were respectively as follows: 542.25 ppm and 7.49 ppm for the roadblock, 540.05 ppm and 5.55 ppm for Hammaruwa way, 598.81 ppm and 17.42 ppm for market road, and 463.80 ppm and 1.08 ppm for Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) road (control). Based on the acceptable limit of CO2 (600 ppm), the Roadblock road, Hammaruwa way, and the NLC/control road are safe. Only the market road had value that exceeded the acceptable limit, and it may be attributed to high vehicular activities on the roadsides. Therefore, more alternative roads should be constructed in other to minimize traffic congestion and also, the use of nose masks should be encouraged. For the CO, all the sites are safe because they fall within the acceptable level of CO (1-70 ppm).

Fragmentation Typology of Sumatran Tropical Lowland Forest, Labuhanbatu Selatan - Indonesia

Forest land cover experienced changes caused by various factors. Deforestation and forest degradation decreased forest structure and size that produce forest fragmentation. This study aimed to determine spatial distribution patterns and typology of forest fragmentation in the Labuhanbatu Selatan district. The study uses land cover image analysis, forest fragmentation analysis, correlation analysis, and typology analysis. Forest fragmentation is determined based on patch area (CA), patch density (PD), contiguity index (CONTIG), and proximity index (PROX). The study analyzes the correlation between variable factors and the degrees of forest fragmentation to develop a typology of fragmentation forest. The variables used to construct the typology of forest fragmentation are population density, productive age ratio, income, and slope. The classification of forest fragmentation has been completed to create a forest fragmentation typology. To determine the typology of forest fragmentation, the K-Means Cluster analysis method is used. Typology of forests fragmentation of Labuhanbatu Selatan district is three typologies. Typology 1 is the low forest fragmentation of Torgamba, Silangkitang, and Kota Pinang sub-district, typology 2 is moderate forest fragmentation are the Kampung Rakyat, and Typology 3 is high forest fragmentation of Sungai Kanan sub-district.

Students’ Perception towards Green Building Practices

Green building practice has been gaining its popularity nowadays due to its significant benefits in protecting environment from threat caused by construction activities. It appears that there is a poor perception among construction players about green building in Indonesia. The students also play an important role in the development of construction especially green building in the future. This study aims to analyze the students’ perceptions of civil engineering and architecture students of University of Sriwijaya towards green building practices. The questionnaires were used for data collection which covered the basic understandings, criteria, benefits, and challenges of green building. There were about 240 respondents consisting of 153 from civil engineering and 87 respondents from architecture. The validity and reliability tests were conducted. The results showed that there is a positive impact on the perceptions among students towards green building adoption. Based on the analysis, the major benefit perceived by students was to reduce construction waste with a mean value of 4.67. Therefore, the reduction of construction waste will minimize the environmental damage and conserve natural resources. It was also found that the lack of knowledge from project team members about green building became the most significant challenge towards green building practices based on students’ perception. This study could offer valuable information related to benefits and challenges towards green building implementation among university students so that university could improve teaching materials and methods by applying the current issues in the construction sector.

Impact of Agricultural Land Changes on Farmers’ Income in Cirasea Watershed, Bandung Regency, West Java

Changes from agricultural land to non-agricultural land are continuously occurring, especially in areas adjacent to cities. Land changes from agricultural to non-agricultural land will eliminate crops’ hydrological function, impacting rivers, including the Cirasea River. Besides, changes in agricultural land have an impact on the resulting agricultural productivity and income. This study’s main objective is to determine land area changes, productivity, and farmers’ income in 2011 - 2018 in the Cirasea watershed. A literature study was applied to this study. Secondary data were obtained from the Central Bureau of Statistics of Ciparay, Ibun, Kertasari, Majalaya, Pacet, and Paseh Districts, Bandung Regency in Cirasea River Upstream. The study results showed an increase in land area, productivity, and agricultural income for vegetables (75%, 50%, and 68%, respectively) and rice field (16%, 0.32%, and 0.32%). In addition, there was a decrease in land area followed by a decrease in agricultural productivity and income for fruit commodities (-88%, -35%, -33%) and plantations (-97%, -1%, -1%). For eight years, farmers have relied on their income from vegetable commodities in Cirasea Watershed.

Psychological Problems During The COVID-19 Pandemic Among Medical Students : A Cross-Sectional Study

The pandemic of COVID-19 gave a great impact on college students learning activity, especially medical students. Thus, they may become vulnerable to have psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, and stress. The study aimed to investigate anxiety, depression, and stress rates among medical students during the pandemic of COVID-19 and the affecting factors. This cross-sectional study used DASS questionnaire online survey. 312 medical students, a total sampling in Muhammadiyah Palembang University participated in this study. The univariate analysis was used to determine the level of psychological problems while the bivariate analysis was carried out to determine the affecting factors. The study findings showed that 50.6% of the students reportedly had anxiety (12.2 % mild, 17.3% moderate, 10.9% severe, 10.3% very severe), 33% of the students had depression (13.5% mild, 11.9% moderate, 3.8% severe, 3.8% very severe), and 22.4% of the students had stress (10.6% mild, 9.3% moderate, 5.1% severe, 1.3% very severe). There were no differences between gender for anxiety, depression and stress (p=0.335, p=0.261, p=0.134 respectively). Junior students were more anxious than senior students (p=0.015). More than half of medical students experienced anxiety with moderate anxiety mostly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and junior students were more likely to suffer anxiety.

The Use of BIM Technology in Analyzing Building Energy and EconomicFeasibility of Solar Panel

Buildings contribute more than 40% of world energy consumption, so it is feared that it will cause energy problems in thefuture, especially in the construction sector. One solution to reducing this problem is by analyzing energy use at the initialdesign stage and utilizing solar energy as one of the solar power plants (PLTS) in office buildings. To analyze the use ofenergy in buildings, Building Information Modeling (BIM) was used. The purpose of this research is to analyze the annualenergy level of office buildings in Palembang using BIM software, namely Autodesk Revit. The number of solar panels aswell as the amount of energy were also identified using web-based software (HelioScope) resulting the economic feasibilityas indicated by the installation of solar panels as a component of PV mini-grid. The results showed that the use of BIMtechnology in analyzing building energy can provide a detailed description of the building model at the design stage. Revitanalysis indicates that the building consumed electrical energy per year for about 3,647,713 kWh with a roof area of 1,657m2. In addition, based on the HelioScope analysis, the use of renewable energy from the installation of PLTS was 152,900kWh/year. Meanwhile, for economic feasibility analysis, the installation of PLTS in office buildings can provide a positive NetPresent Value (NPV), indicating a feasible project.

Textile Dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5) Bio-Sorption with Moving Bed BiofilmReactor and Activated Sludge

Reactive Black 5 (RB5) is one of the dyes used in textile industries in Indonesia. However, the high color content can interferewith the condition of water bodies if not treated. This waste treatment process is usually treated with biological treatmentprocesses. Biological processing often used is the MBBR unit and activated sludge. This study aims to determine the RB5dye’s bio-sorption efficiency using MBBR processing and activated sludge. MBBR processing and activated sludge consistof seeding, acclimatization, and running stages. This research was carried out using a real textile wastewater approach byadding 100 mg/L RB5 and adding 1000 mg/L starch solution. The processing results of the seeding stage indicate increasingin biomass. The acclimatization stage with 50% and 75% of wastewater indicates increased biomass and color removal.The RB5 color removal efficiency results in the MBBR unit and activated sludge show 41% and 84% values. The MBBRprocessing shows fluctuations each time where the desorption process occurs in the color removal. For this reason, the ozonepre-treatment process is conducted in the MBBR unit. The integrated pre-treatment with MBBR results show the samefluctuation as the previous processing with a color removal efficiency of 43% with a color removal efficiency of 43%.

Glyphosate Contamination at Several Concentrations And Its Impact onChanges in Goat (Capra hircus) Organ Tissue

Herbicides are generally used in the control of weeds in plants. The use of synthetic chemicals such as herbicides is known tohave a negative impact on the environment. This is because the chemicals in the herbicide can kill or poison the organismsthat eat plants that are exposed to these chemicals. Glyphosate is one of the active ingredients of herbicides which is systemic,so it may leave a residue on weeds such as grasses which are usually used as animal feed. The aim of this study is to analyzethe impact of glyphosate residues on changes in the organ tissue of goats (Capra hircus) fed with feed exposed to glyphosatecompounds. The study was conducted using an experimental method with four treatments of glyphosate concentrationincluding control. The treatment consists of four goats with age of 12 months. The results showed that glyphosate treatmentin feed influenced the development and tissue of the goats. The higher the concentration of the residue exposed to the feed,the higher the residual concentration of glyphosate in livestock blood, namely 0.2377 ppm (P1), 0.3118 ppm (P2), and 0.9377ppm (P3), respectively. The results of the observation on livestock organ tissue showed that there was severe damage to theliver and minor damage to the lung, gastric and kidney tissue. The higher the concentration of the residue exposed to thefeed, the higher the residual concentration of glyphosate in livestock blood and causing more damage

The Role of Housewives’s on Sanitation of Management in Slum Area,Palembang

Various environmental health diseases can arise as a result of slum settlements which indicate that environmental sanitation management inadequate and unhealthy, where housewives play an essential role in improving the health status of their families. This study aims to analyze the role of housewives in sanitation management in the slum areas of Palembang, which include the provision of clean water/drinking water, disposal of human waste (feces/latrines), garbage disposal, and wastewater disposal. Sampling method used Non-Probability Sampling with purposive sampling technique. The univariate data analysis technique was then carried out to determine the category level of the role of housewives, including active, participatory, and passive roles. The respondents consisted of 67 housewives from 37th neighbourhood (RT), RT 44, and RT 61 of the Lima Ulu Urban. The analysis of the role of housewives in environmental sanitation management shows a participatory role with a role achievement level of 57%. This role is considered not maximal enough in the management of basic sanitation in their area.