Sites of infrastructure,apprenticeship and possibilities for self: Locating Indonesia's missing women in representative politics

Women are under-represented in Indonesian legislatures, and those women who are elected are disproportionately from ‘elite’ backgrounds. This research sought to understand the conditions for women to succeed in politics in conditions of patriarchy and clientelist politics. Research in North Sumatera, Indonesia, revealed that many women did not make the conscious decision not to enter politics, but rather found that they had not established the required preconditions earlier enough in life. Patriarchal social norms and a transactional political culture frustrate women's ability to acquire these conditions, yet they are also subject to change. Interviews with women elected representatives and women who had never contested an election revealed three sites that are critical to women either acquiring the preconditions to contest elections, or frustrating that pathway: the household, the ‘community’ and religious/ethnic associations. We demonstrate how women's actions in these sites transform the conditions to make them more conducive to women's political participation.     

Marine Microbial-Derived Resource Exploration: Uncovering the Hidden Potential of Marine Carotenoids

Microbes in marine ecosystems are known to produce secondary metabolites. One of which are carotenoids, which have numerous industrial applications, hence their demand will continue to grow. This review highlights the recent research on natural carotenoids produced by marine microorganisms. We discuss the most recent screening approaches for discovering carotenoids, using in vitro methods such as culture-dependent and culture-independent screening, as well as in silico methods, using secondary metabolite Biosynthetic Gene Clusters (smBGCs), which involves the use of various rule-based and machine-learning-based bioinformatics tools. Following that, various carotenoids are addressed, along with their biological activities and metabolic processes involved in carotenoids biosynthesis. Finally, we cover the application of carotenoids in health and pharmaceutical industries, current carotenoids production system, and potential use of synthetic biology in carotenoids production.     

Who are the future farmers? Media representations of youth in agriculture,food security and ‘modern’ farming in Indonesia

In Indonesia, state and non-state actors frame youth attrition from agriculture as a food security concern and propose policy solutions focused on ‘modern’ farming techniques. Using a critical framing analysis of five national Indonesian news media sources from 2010 to 2020, we examine how government, development and private sector actors portray youth in agriculture, and the underlying assumptions that inform related policy and development agendas. Our analysis reveals contrasting portrayals of youth in agriculture. Youth are often depicted as averse to farming, while also being innovative adopters of modern farming techniques, equipment, and digital technologies. We argue that media frames reflect and reinforce the dominant discourses of state and non-state actors, which have a productivist orientation, proposing technical, capital-intensive agricultural solutions to food insecurity and related issues. News media pays comparatively less attention to structural barriers to youth entry and success in agriculture, such as limited access to land and finance and unfavourable terms of trade.     

Effect of ethanol extract from Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium leaves on Ki-67 proliferation and dysplasia severity in a rat model of oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background:Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a malignant tumor that can rapidly infiltrate the oral epithelial tissue and cause high mortality worldwide because the available therapies are less effective. Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium leaf contains secondary metabolites as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, and antimutagenic. Aims:The study aimed to analyze the ethanolic extract of C. cinerariifolium leaf in reducing proliferation (Ki-67) and the degree of dysplasia in OSCC rats. Methods:This study used male Sprague Dawley induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) 0.5% and divided into five treatment groups, namely positive control/C+ (sick), negative control/C- (healthy), and treatment group induced with DMBA and given extract C. cinerariifolium leaf with successive doses of T1, T2, and T3 (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg bw). The oral epithelium was stained with hematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemically stained with a Ki-67 monoclonal antibody. The statistical analysis utilizes the one-way analysis of variance test. Results:The results showed that T1 at a dose of 200 mg/kg bw could significantly reduce Ki-67 expression and the degree of oral epithelial dysplasia (OED; p < 0.05) close to healthy controls. Conclusion:The conclusion shows that C. cinerariifolium leaf extract can be a therapy against OSCC by decreasing cell proliferation and the degree of OED.     

Impact of transgenic sugarcane overexpressing SoSPS1 gene on bacterial diversity,enzyme activity and minerals content in soil rhizosphere

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - The transgenic sugarcane overexpressing SoSPS1 gene increased sugar content which may alter the root exudation that interact with soil rhizosphere...     

Growth and health performance of African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822) juvenile fed with graded levels of biofloc meal

The objective of the study was to evaluate the utilization of biofloc meal as a feed ingredient in enhancing the growth and health status of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) juvenile. The study consisted of two experiments, that is digestibility and growth experiments. The digestibility of two biofloc meals produced with two different carbon sources, that is tapioca and molasses, were assessed in the digestibility experiment. Whereas the effect of four dietary treatments with different levels of biofloc meal, that is 0%, 5%, 10% and 20%, on the fish growth performance, feed utilization, immuno‐haematological response, antioxidant status and robustness against environmental stress were evaluated in the growth experiment. The results showed that the digestibility of dry matter, protein, lipid and phosphorus of biofloc grown using molasses as the carbon source were remarkably higher than that grown using tapioca (p < 0.05). The inclusion of biofloc meal in the diets at 10% and 20% resulted in higher feed intake, fish growth and final biomass and protein efficiency ratio, and lower feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the red blood cells counts, phagocytic, lysozyme activities and antioxidative capacity were significantly enhanced in the fish provided with diet containing 20% biofloc meal (p < 0.05).The fish survival following salinity stress test was higher in the treatments with biofloc meal at 10% and 20% inclusion levels. In conclusion, dietary inclusion of biofloc meal could improve the growth performance and health status of African catfish juvenile and an inclusion level of 20% could be recommended.     

Productivity assessment of an intensive whiteleg shrimp Penaeus vannamei farm based on Powersim-simulated growth rates

The main objective of intensive whiteleg shrimp Penaeus vannamei cultivation is to obtain high productivity to meet market needs. One of the efforts to boost production is to provide optimal feeding to increase the shrimp growth rate. This study analyzes the productivity of an intensive shrimp farm using Powersim simulations based on specific growth rates (SGR) and average daily growth (ADG) to determine the resulting production criteria. The cultivation lasted for 90 days by stocking 16 grow-out ponds with post-larvae (PL10) at a density of 80 PL per m². Shrimp samples were weighed every 10 days after day-30 of culture until harvest. The average productivity obtained from this study was 8.86 t/ha/crop. According to our criteria, this productivity level was low, presumably, due to the low growth rate that may have resulted from low-quality larvae, sublethal nitrite concentrations, low survival rate, and high feed conversion ratio. The SGR-based and ADG-based simulations using Powersim Studio 10 Express confirm the low production, which does not meet the criteria for intensive farming. However, ADG-based simulation shows that the prolonged culture to 126 days results in higher shrimp production and productivity that fall into the lower level of the intensive system. This study also proposes production criteria and productivity ranges for whiteleg shrimp farming.