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Showing posts from 2010

Wishing You A Very Good Year

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Happy new year everyone! Best wishes for successful and healthy year

Coriander Chicken

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This is recipe for coriander chicken, Indonesian with a slight touch of Western style food. (1) chicken breast 250 gr (2) red capsicum 250 gr (3) freshly ground coriander 2 table spoon (4) garlic 2 table spoon (5) salt 1 tea spoon (6) pepper 1 tea spoon (7) frying oil 3 table spoon (8) sweet thick soy sauce 2 table spoon Chicken was diced and fried on a pan with frying oil and coriander was added. Diced red capsicum and all other ingredients were mixed soon after. Cooking time was around 15 minutes. For topping, prepare tasty cheese and shreded shallot at convinience.

Barcelona? Hmm...

"A Versatile Microglia-neuron Co-culture System for the Identification of Anti-inflammatory Neuroprotectants - Application to Screening of Natural Compounds" with the abstract number: A-316-0002-00888 has been accepted for POSTER PRESENTATION at the 10th International Conference on AD/PD, which will take place in Barcelona, on March 9 - 13, 2011.

Aboriginal medicine pratice in Australia

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We were talking about Aboriginal Medicine in Australia. It is all started from curiosity during our morning coffee. That coffee time is not only a relaxing and interaction time, but it is also a very effective way to start and extend collaborative works. In collaboration with A/Prof Syed Ziaur Rahman (primary author) and Dr Paul Hysen (via correspondent communication), we exchanged information and composed general ideas of medicinal practice in Aborigines. Further, based on that information, an article was published by primary author in Newsletter of Ibn Sina Academy (NISA) vol 10 no 4 issue 39, Oct-Dec 2010. an example of published newsletter can be obtained here Highlights: (1) Based on a famous book of Ngangkari , a glossary of terminologies in Aboriginal healing practice is obtained. (2) Ngangkari is a healer in Aborigin community,possessing abilities to heal people and believing in the connection of illness and death with spirits. (3) From modern medicine point of view, it is h

Nature's beauty (2): Cockatoo

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I love animals living in an open area, not trapped in small cage. Sharing the beauty of animals in public domain is considered as an important education to our society. For example, during my morning tea (in fact I had a cuppa choc), they came and seemed asking me for giving them breakfast, or perhap just wanted to say good morning? Nature has its own beauty, and so far we are still living on the same planet. As we dont have other alternative, I thought sharing our joy and respect with them is essential. Just look at her face, isn't it smiling? To correlate the story with my current interest, by having them surrounding and occassionaly greet us, we have more cheerful environment to live with.

Nature's beauty (1): a little penstamon story

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Unprecedented beauty comes from unexpected subject. Little penstamon for example is a low bush flower, protruding from rock cavities. It has beautiful violet or pink, fading to white colours. Left image: a wikimedia image Looking closer to its buds, the immature pollens are usually yellowish white and become dark grey when mature. Penstamon attracts ants, therefore my guess the pollination is either by the help of wind or insects. During my free time, I tried to look closer on the buds and took the images, i.e. this image was taken with a macro lens. Interestingly, several species of penstamon have anti-inflammatory activity and its antioxidant capacity is linked to healing migraine !

Stress mematikan sel syaraf

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Secara live , akhirnya saya berhasil membuktikan bahwa stress oksidatif yang dipicu oleh infeksi dinding sel bakteri Gram negatif ( lipopolisakarida ) dan sitokin pro-inflamasi, diwakili oleh interferon-gamma , mampu membunuh sel syaraf dengan sangat signifikan (lihat gambar di bawah). (c) Anton Rahmadi dan tim, telah dipresentasikan di FENS dan ICAD Dalam kondisi stress dipicu oleh faktor eksternal, sel-sel imun akan memproduksi senyawa-senyawa sitokin pro-inflamasi (selain interferon-gamma) yang pada konsentrasi tertentu akan membunuh sel-sel syaraf. Konsentrasi sitokin ini akan semakin terakumulasi sehingga jumlah sel syaraf yang mati semakin banyak dari hari ke hari. Pada hari pengamatan ke-2, reduksi jumlah sel syaraf mencapai >60% yang dibuktikan dengan perhitungan komputer dengan algoritma tertentu (lihat gambar di bawah). (c) Anton Rahmadi dan tim, telah dipresentasikan di UWS Student Conference Stress oksidatif ini dapat pula dipicu oleh makanan yang banyak mengandung pro

Possible third paper

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As a co-author....

Trend in Microbiology – 2011

Microbiology, inconceivably, goes molecular. The development of scientific knowledge in food microbiology has long touched the molecular level. Analysis and mapping of functional DNA from microorganisms that are pathogenic or useful to the modern society have been widely available. Technology of identification and recombination of DNA, e.g. PCR, has also been developed and accepted as a standard. To date, to confirm a doubtful species or a sub-strain requires DNA analysis. These conditions are present. So, in what direction the development of microbiology will be next? The use of recombinant DNA allows certain DNA sequences, or markers, embedded in observed species. Plasmids with protein translational codes of green fluorescent (GFP), yellow (YFP) and red (RFP), accelerate the development of microbiology to understand more complicated physiological processes, such as successive fermentation. Additional benefit of employing this fluorescent protein is inexpensi

Publication in PPIA Bulletin

Cocoa Bean: Trade Standards, Postharvest Processing, Re-Emerging Spoilage Microorganism, and Quality Controls Anton Rahmadi December edition preview A complex process is carried out before the bean traded and converted into consumable goods. Harvesting, fermentation, drying, storage and distribution are the common unit operations of cocoa bean. Inappropriate measurement of time, temperature and other environmental conditions can increase probability for mycotoxigenic fungi to grow. Cocoa bean is actually seed of Theobroma cacao L trees and is covered in mucilaginous pulp inside cocoa pods. During harvesting, seed and the associated pulp are removed from the pods, mainly by hand or simple tools, followed by spreading into heap, boxes, or trays for fermentation. The bean is allowed to ferment for various durations, depending on the farmer practises, but it mainly occurs for 6-12 days. The fermentation is a traditional (natural) process that is conducted by growth of indigenous microflor

School of Medicine Student Conference

Satu lagi poster yang akan tampil di bulan Desember 2010 ini: Up-regulation of NO Production Induced by Maillard Product Derivatives and Activities of Natural Extracts Compounds Inhibiting NO Production in Murine Neuronal Cells Knowledge related to advanced glycation ends (AGE) has been growing quite rapidly in recent years, especially with regard to its important role in diabetes, Alzheimer, and other aging-related diseases (Gasser and Forbes 2008). Protein glycation naturally occurred in vivo during normal metabolism and had been particularly observed in platelet cells and neurons. Glycation in a strict terminology (Zhang et al. 2008) is a non-enzymatic reaction that undergoes Schiff-base dan Amadori product re-arrangements and latter on adducts with protein, amino acids, or fragmented peptides. Apart formed inside cells, AGE was also obtained from food as a form of Maillard reaction derivatives (Deo et al. 2009). AGE concentration is proportional to the length of time and tempera

Otak dan Kegemukan: SBS Interview 2010

My interview with SBS Australia in Indonesian language Anton Rahmadi, Brain and Obesity (c) SBS Australia

Against Advanced Glycation End-products

Searching, Utilizing, and Conserving of Tropical Forest Derived Drugs Ameliorating Degenerative Disorders in collaboration with: Muhammad Zahid Penguji di Balai Besar Pengujian Mutu dan Sertifikasi Obat Hewan dan Peneliti di University of New South Wales, Australia. Abstract Advanced glycation end-products (PAGP) emerge as a relatively new research discipline, giving its importance in inducing degenerative disorders namely aging, diabetes, renal failure, and Alzheimer. This group of vast chemical substances is natively produced in-vivo or can also be obtained from foods. Less information and research of PAGP observed in Indonesia in recent day. Hence, this article is aimed to give a new horizon of the significance of PAGP in our health. On the other hand, Indonesian rain forests are a house of potential plant extracts that can cure and ease PAGP-induced diseases. This review would also elaborate potentially curative and preventive substances from Indonesian rain forest plant extracts.

Kalkulasi Gadai Emas

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Apakah gadai emas menguntungkan sebagaimana yang digembar-gemborkan? Penasaran juga sih. Sebagai orang yang mencoba melakukannya (jadi saya TIDAK hanya sekedar omdo), saya mencoba membuat hitungan serealistis mungkin. Catatan-catatan: 1. Keuntungan bersih Bank pada saat gadai ditandatangani adalah minimal Rp. 20,000.00 per gram emas yang digadai. 2. Keuntungan berlipat Bank setiap bulan emas itu digadai adalah minimal Rp. 5,000.00 per gram emas yang digadai (atau Rp. 4,000.00 per gram apabila emas yang digadai di atas 300g). 3. Bulan pertama, emas yang Anda gadai akan terdepresiasi nilainya sebanyak sekitar 6,35% (asumsi Anda gadai emas tapi tidak bisa melanjutkan setelah satu bulan), atau Anda rugi Rp. 2,500,000.00 per 100g emas. 4. Apabila gadainya bukan di Bank... siap-siap aja dech menelan kerugian... Kondisi yang menguntungkan untuk gadai emas: 1. Apabila apresiasi nilai emas >32.5% bila emas yang Anda gadai kurang dari 300g, atau apresiasi nilai emas >30% bila emas gadai l

Obesity, overeating and hormones

What is obesity? Obesity is a condition in which a person has Body Mass Index > 30. BMI is calculated as weight (in Kg) divided by height square (in meter). There are differences in categorizing overweight, whereas in Asia, BMI > 25 is already categorized as overweight, while in US and Europe, the value is BMI > 30. But all agreed that obese is BMI > 35. However, after BMI > 20, risk of having degenerative diseases is said to be increased arithmetically. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Type 2 diabetes are among the top problems for obese people. In a simple word, obese is a mother of all diseases. Primary cause of obesity: overeating Overeating is predominantly accepted as source of obesity. In a simpler way, obesity can occur while a person having more energy intake than he needs to. The surplus of energy, primarily from food we eat, is stored beneath our skin as lipid. Obesity and gene The theory of genetic factor in obesity is developed owing to the finding of l

Education at Remote Areas from Teacher’s Perspectives

*Anton Rahmadi, Irma Istiqomah, Mohamad Adriyanto Article was presented in KIPI 2010, and was selected for KIPI publication. Introduction Education is a key to increase national prosperity and a part of human development index (HDI) and millennium development goals (MDGs) calculation (UNDP, 2009). Above all, education is also a basic right that governments should provide to their people. In Indonesian constitution, every individual has a right to access same quality of education, in which it also gives a mandate to government to guarantee same quality of education for all citizens. On the other hand, people who live in villages and other remote areas are hardly to have good education. Overall education development index (EDI) in Indonesia was fall into middle-low group compared to other countries (EFA Coordination Team, 2006; Sulistyatuti, 2007). One fundamental element of education is teacher’s quality. Providing good and competent teacher has always been a struggle in Indonesia.

Empat yang mempengaruhi regulasi Bahan Tambahan Pangan

Kasus ditariknya produk Indomie di Taiwan dikaitkan dengan bahan pengawet E218 (methyl-paraben) merupakan salah satu bukti adanya perbedaan standar-standar keamanan bahan tambahan pangan (BTP) antar negara. Menurut standar FDA Amerika dan banyak negara lainnya, bahan pengawet E218 pada bumbu dan kecap masih diperbolehkan selama tidak melebihi kadar tertentu. Khusus untuk Taiwan, senyawa pengawet ini dilarang. Mengapa standar keamanan BTP dapat berbeda antar negara? Setidaknya ada empat alasan utama yang mempengaruhi regulasi suatu BTP: a. Hasil penelitian Bukti-bukti ilmiah ditempatkan sebagai acuan tertinggi dalam penetapan suatu BTP. Sebagai contoh lain, Bis-phenol A, suatu plastisiser pelapis botol/kaleng, baru-baru ini dilarang di Kanada dikarenakan dapat memicu kanker. Sementara hasil penelitian di Eropa, Amerika dan Australia masih dalam kategori diawasi. b. Gaya Hidup Peranan gaya hidup dalam menentukan regulasi suatu BTP juga amat penting. Sebagai contoh, di China dan da

Jangan takut rayakan lebaran dengan santan

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri, Maap Lahir Batin. Jangan takut untuk makan yang berkuah santan, karena banyak riset membuktikan bahwa makanan bersantan ternyata merupakan diet yang tidak menyebabkan penyakit jantung koroner dan tidak menyebabkan obesitas. Indonesia merupakan salah satu produsen terbesar coconut oil (dan palm oil ), dimana ekspor keduanya merupakan jantung perekonomian Indonesia yang sustainable dari sektor agraris. Mungkin banyak yang belum tahu bahwa sejak negara-negara industri juga menghasilkan seeds oil (minyak dari biji-bijian: seperti sunflower, corn) dan animals oil ( beef-tallow, pig-lard ), perang menguasai pasar versus tropical oils (palm based) telah lama dikibarkan. Diantara yang menjadi skandal adalah peranan ilmuwan-ilmuwan negara industri "melacurkan" hasil penelitian mereka untuk membuat minyak biji-bijian terlihat superior dari minyak asal tropis (dan mediteranian oil: olive ). Caranya ada banyak: Minyak kelapa dan sawit buruk bagi keseha

School Canteen and Vending Machine contribute childhood obesity

Research focussing on children food lifestyle at school has concluded two significant contributors to early obesity: (1) vending machine and (2) canteen. Above all, kids are too exposed to soft drinks and imbalanced diets that can cause harm to their developmental stage, not only causing obesity and higher risk of cardiovascular disease, later. Only one from six people is able to sustain weigh loss, rest of them either having a bounced phenomenon or stay as they are now. Hey, those are in America, how bout children in Indonesia? Currently, my research team is conducting a survey, consisting 440 primary school students, seeking their perception of "hygiene" and "health". Unfortunately, I could not publish the result, but from similar finding in other parts of Indonesia, we can safely say that there is a big chunk of parents not preparing them healthy food, resulting kids to buy snacks from street vendors in the school and surroundings. As a common problem to Indone

Antibiotics: not a monopoly of modern medication

Introduction to bacteria was merely 120 years ago , perhaps this was the first empirical evidence of sub-small living organism that can cause disease. Since then, research in microbiology flourished. Officially the term of antibiotics was established in 1928, marked by penicillin . Next to it, streptomycin and chloromycin were added to antibiotics medication. However, concept of antibiotics is not an alien knowledge to ancient civilization. Recently, proof of antibiotics, extracted from Streptomyces, has been found in ancient Nubians (Sudanese). During that period, auereomycin (named after golden circular bacterium of Streptomyces on medium) was vastly used to cure illness. Traces of presently called streptomycin were detected in bones of kids and adults of Nubians by mass spectrometry (see: brief communication ). Similar to Nubian, ancient societies were hypothesized to consume antibiotics through drinks, alcoholic beverages, and herbal concoction. Healers of Egyptians, Chinese, a

Ngangkari (the Healers in Aborigines)

First time to hear about this particular word was at Nurra Gili Aboriginal Studies in University of New South Wales. Throughout centuries, Ngangkari has been practiced widely in Aborigin communities. This article is a summary of several importance of Ngangkari. For Aborigins, life is though. Keeping old traditions like foods and life style have been a greater focus despite doing laborious works on daily activity, aboriginal arts and performance. Ngangkari is a part of old traditions conserved and thought through generations until these modern era. Negative practices like sniffing petrol, alcoholism, and tobacco smoking are introduced by white settlers and heavily infested in Aborigin communities. The basic principles of Ngangkari are healing and balancing spirits (kurrpa) of Aborigins with their surrounding by means of touches, rubs, and blood sucking with mouth. A spirit is portrayed as a free and joyful bird. As soon as people fall asleep, spirits will travel and journey a vast area

Kurma

Kurma merupakan buah dari tanaman Phoenix dactylifera yang saat ini sering diasosiasikan dengan warisan budaya Islam. Dokumentasi awal buah-buahan kurma dapat diamati di dalam artikel wiki , namun sayangnya belum didukung oleh sitasisitasi yang memadai. Tidak dipungkiri bahwa artikel ini merupakan sebuah usaha untuk melengkapi tulisan saya sebelumnya yang berjudul “ Berbuka puasa dengan kurma: samakah kurma dengan makanan yang manis-manis ” ditulis pada bulan Ramadhan tiga tahun silam dan banyak dikutip oleh para blogger Indonesia. Kajian kali ini akan membahas aspek asal muasal tanaman kurma dan pemanfaatan kurma dari berbagai komunitas masyarakat hingga praktek keagamaan. Tujuan yang lebih penting adalah memberikan pengetahuan secara komprehensif tentang aspek nutrisi dan potensi terapi buah kurma. Diharapkan pula tulisan ini mampu meluruskan persepsi masyarakat perihal keistimewaan buah kurma yang tidak dapat diverifikasi kebenarannya. Selanjutnya

Karakteristik dan Aplikasi Lemak Cokelat

Berikut adalah tulisah saya mengenai Karakteristik dan Aplikasi Lemak Cokelat yang dimuat di majalah Food Review edisi Juli 2010. Food Review adalah majalah Pangan dan Industri Pangan yang beredar secara Nasional. --- Cokelat merupakan produk populer seantero jagad yang berasal dari hasil olahan biji buah tanaman kakao ( Theobroma cacao ). Produk-produk turunan cokelat, satu diantaranya lemak cokelat ( cocoa butter ), digunakan secara luas tidak hanya dalam industri pangan, tetapi juga industri farmasi dan kosmetik. Mengapa lemak cokelat banyak dipilih sebagai bahan baku industri? Ternyata ini dikarenakan lemak cokelat memiliki sifat fungsional yang superior, terutama dalam membentuk tekstur, viskositas, plastisitas, difusi aroma, karakteristik lelehan (melting profile), kristalisasi, dan efek glossy pada produk pangan. Cara produksi lemak cokelat Sebelum membahas lebih jauh tentang karakteristik khas lemak cokelat, ada baiknya kita mengenal cara produksinya terlebih dahulu. Proses pr

Menempatkan Gagasan Ibnu Khaldun tentang Pembagian Tenaga Kerja di dalam Ekonomi Modern

Oleh: Fitria Ekayani dan Anton Rahmadi A. Pendahuluan Ibnu Khaldun adalah salah satu ilmuwan Islam yang multitalenta. Rangkaian karyanya “Kebangkitan dan Kejatuhan Peradaban” merupakan kumpulan dari pemikiran-pemikirannya yang dituliskan ke dalam beberapa buku. Khusus berkenaan dengan ekonomi syariah, Ibnu Khaldun menuliskannya didalam buku “Al Muqaddimah: Sebuah Introduksi Sejarah” (Karatas, 2006). Formulasi konsep-konsep ekonomi Ibnu Khaldun dirangkum oleh Karatas (2006) sebagai berikut: Dalam kondisi politik yang stabil dan kondisi kemasyarakatan yang sehat, sebuah negara akan berkembang atau mencapai kejayaannya apabila: Perusahaan atau firma memiliki hak atas kekayaan intelektual dan kebebasan untuk mengembangkan usahanya; Ketegasan penerapan undang-undang dan reliabilitas dari sistem peradilan dapat ditegakkan; Jaminan keamanan operasional dan distribusi dan, perdagangan; Pajak yang rendah dan mendukung terciptanya lapangan kerja baru, peningkatan produksi dan pendapatan; Birok

Industri Ekstraksi Herbal, Masa Depan Kaltim

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Nama Pasak Bumi sangat tenggelam dibandingkan istilah Tongkat Ali yang dijadikan andalan oleh herbalis negeri tetangga. Tablet Tongkat Ali sejak beberapa tahun belakangan sudah beredar di seluruh penjuru dunia, dianggap sebagai Viagra alami yang lebih aman. Pasak Bumi ini adalah satu contoh tanaman herbal yang bernasib menyedihkan di negeri sendiri, tetapi bersinar di dunia. Menurut Caniago dan Seibert (1998), setidaknya terdapat 237 tanaman berpotensi obat asal hutan tropis Kalimantan. Sedihnya, hanya 11% diantaranya yang masih bisa dikenali masyarakat. Modernisasi semakin mencabut unsur kearifan lokal, ditambah perusakan dan pembukaan hutan yang banyak memunahkan spesies-spesies berpotensi ekonomi tinggi. Gambar: Contoh Tongkat Ali produksi Malaysia. Pekan ini, Kaltim Summit digelar. Hampir semua pemangku kepentingan dan tokoh pembangunan hadir di forum ini. Diharapkan, semua datang dengan niat yang sama kuatnya untuk membangun Kaltim, tanah masa depan yang tidak lagi hanya tergan