Prototype Robot Penunjuk Lokasi Bidang Buku Berbasis Line Follower Perpustakaan Tangerang

Perpustakaan merupakan gudang ilmu pengetahuan sekaligus menjadi tempat rekreasi yang bermanfaat bagi semua kalangan. Di dalam perpustakaan terdapat banyak koleksi buku yang dapat digunakan untuk menambah wawasan dan ilmu pengetahuan. Seperti hal nya perpustakaan lain, perpustakaan Kota Tangerang memiliki koleksi buku yang cukup lengkap. Perkembangan sistem komputer secara signifikan telah menjadi kebutuhan dalam meningkatkan mutu pelayanan dan fasilitas yang diberikan kepada pengunjung. Penerapan dari perkembangan sistem komputer berupa robot yang akan mengantarkan pengunjung ke lokasi buku diharapkan akan meningkatkan mutu pelayanan pada Perpustakaan Kota Tangerang. Robot bekerja berdasarkan prinsip line follower yang menggunakan 4 buah sensor garis yang akan diproses oleh sebuah mikrokontroler arduino uno. Selain itu robot dilengkapi dengan sensor ultrasonik agar dalam proses berjalan robot tidak menabrak objek yang menghalanginya. Dengan adanya robot ini akan mempermudah pengunjung dalam mencari lokasi buku, serta membantu meningkatkan mutu pelayanan akan fasilitas yang diberikan pada pengunjung.   Kata Kunci: Perpustakaan, Mikrokontroler, Arduino Uno

Eco-efficiency assessment and food security potential of home gardening: a case study in Padua, Italy

In the expanding urban agriculture phenomenon in Europe, home gardens are a traditional form that have kept agriculture within cities, even becoming crucial in certain historical periods (e.g., war periods). However, horticultural practices in home gardens can also have negative consequences. The goal of this paper is to assess the eco-efficiency of home gardens as a type of urban agriculture. To do so, a case study in Padua (Italy) was evaluated following life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods. A home garden of 30.6 m(2) and 21 crop cycles were evaluated. The functional unit of the assessment was 1 kg of harvested fresh vegetable at the consumption point, and the ReCiPe method was employed for impact assessment. Environmental assessment indicated that organic fertilization, use of tap water, mineral fertilization and pesticides were the most contributing elements of the entire life cycle. Furthermore, the relevance of garden design and crop selection was a determinant in the eco-efficiency results. The assessed home garden could satisfy the food requirements of between 1 and 2 members of the household. Crop management and design recommendations are provided to improve eco-efficiency and food security potential of home gardens

Correlation Between Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha and Proteinuria in Type-2 Diabetic Patients

Introduction: Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) is the single most common cause of end stage renal disease (ESRD) in many countries. Inflammation is a potential factor in the development and progression of DN and recent data indicate that diabetes includes an inflammatory component which may contribute to diabetic complications. Methods: This study was conducted at Ain Shams University Hospital on 95 patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus complicated with retinopathy and fifteen age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Diabetic patients were divided into 4 groups according to the degree of proteinuria. Serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), urine TNF-α and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured in all subjects. Correlations between these inflammatory parameters and degree of proteinuria, duration of diabetes and degree of glycemic control were examined. Results: Levels of the three inflammatory parameters were significantly higher in diabetic patients when compared to control subjects, and they were positively correlated to urinary protein excretion. There was significant positive correlation between serum and urine TNF-α and duration of diabetes, as well as between serum TNF-α and glycemic control. Serum and urine TNF-α remained as independent predictors of urine protein excretion in diabetic patients with overt proteinuria after forward stepwise multiple regression analysis. Conclusion: Serum and urine TNF-α and CRP levels are significantly elevated in this group of diabetic patients, and correlate positively with severity of proteinuria. This suggests a significant role for TNF-α in the pathogenesis and progression of renal injury in diabetes mellitus. Keywards: Diabetic nephropathy; Proteinuria; Tumor necrosis factor-

IL-22 gene transfer in collagen-induced arthritis

International audienceBackground and ObjectiveNovel cytokines have been identified by structural homology to IL-10. Among them, IL-22 showed a 25% amino acid identity with IL-10 and shared a common receptor β-subunit. The expression profile suggested involvement in the immune response in vivo. The present work evaluates the role of IL-22 in arthritis, examining the effects of systemic murine IL-22 adenoviral-mediated overexpression (Ad-mIL-22) in the collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) DBA1 mouse model.MethodHuman rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial fibroblast (SF) were infected in vitro with increasing doses of Ad-mIL-22 (0–25 MOI). Cytokine secretion was assessed in supernatant using a specific ELISA. Therapeutic efficiency of mIL-22 overexpression achieved by intravenous injection of Ad-mIL22 (5 × 109 pfu) after the onset of CIA was assessed. A group injected with a nonrelevant adenoviral vector (Ad-LacZ) was used as a control. Radiological and histological analyses were performed at day 47. Systemic expression of mIL-22 was assessed by ELISA.ResultsAfter confirmation that human RA-SF infected with increasing doses of Ad-mIL-22 expressed high levels of mIL-22 transgene, we demonstrated that the intravenous injection of Ad-mIL-22 in DBA1 mice significantly reduced clinical, radiological and histological scores. By the end of the experiment, the number of arthritic paws was decreased by 70% in the Ad-mIL-22-treated group as compared with controls (P < 0,0001). Ad-mIL-22 resulted in the complete protection as compared with control vector up to 20 days after treatment. Maximal paw widths reached during the course of the disease were, respectively, 1.95 × 0.08 versus 2.76 × 0.60 mm (P = 0.024). Both radiological and histological scores were found to correlate well with clinical observations. Systemic levels of mIL-22 reached 14.2 ± 9.5 ng/ml 4 days after gene transfer, then decreased to 2.4 ± 0.9 ng/ml by day 8 and remained stable until day 21

Differential trends in the rising incidence of endometrial cancer by type: data from a UK population-based registry from 1994 to 2006

BACKGROUND: Endometrial cancer is the most common gynaecological cancer in the western world, the incidence increasing in the United Kingdom by over 40 % since 1993. Two types of endometrial cancer exist – oestrogen-dependent type 1 with good prognosis and non-oestrogen-dependent type 2 with poor prognosis. The histopathological distribution of the increase in endometrial cancer is unknown. This study investigates the observed incidence trends of the two types, the age, stage, and socioeconomic distribution of this increase and survival outcome. METHODS: Data were analysed from 6867 women with endometrial cancer registered between 1994 and 2006, at a UK population-based cancer registry. RESULTS: Increased endometrial cancer incidence is confined to type 1 cancers with a significant increase in age standardised incidenc