UGM SDGs Center

Day: January 15, 2021

Minister of Research and Technology: GeNose Reducing Import Dependency on Covid-19 PCR Tools

Bambang Brodjonegoro, as the Minister of Research and Technology/Head of the National Innovation Research Agency (Menristek/BRIN), said UGM researcher’s innovation GeNose for Covid-19 detection by breath screening was considered a solution in reducing dependence on the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tool in Covid-19 testing.

“We cordially welcome the findings/innovations of UGM researchers through GeNose. For us, this is an innovation that can reduce import dependency on screening tools,” he said on Friday (15/1) in the Kemenristek/National Agency for Research and Innovation Webinar entitled, “GeNose, Independence Technology Innovation of National Children’s Medical Tools.”

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bambang said that the government brought numerous Covid-19 screening tools from various countries. Besides, some of them did not equip themselves with clear standards. Therefore, some errors occurred when examining the tools in the field due to inaccurate tests.

GeNose is a breakthrough because the screening is not based on antibodies or antigens but is based on volatile organic compounds (VOC) instead. This compound can distinguish between people who are infected with Covid-19 or those who are not.

“We welcome GeNose because apart from becoming a part of the Covid-19 Research and Innovation Consortium, it is also a form of synergy between the government, researchers, and the business world,” he explained.

Therefore, he hopes that GeNose keeps improving in terms of accuracy. The accuracy of this tool greatly determines the 4T process (tracking, tracing, testing, and treatment) in handling Covid-19 in Indonesia and its success in stimulating the national economy.

Meanwhile, Dante Saksono, as the Deputy Minister of Health (Wamenkes), said that GeNose is an example of the innovations of Indonesians who have contributed to support the independence of national medical tools. GeNose is the initial proof of new innovation, especially in preventing Covid-19 transmission.

Dante said the government supports medical tools development by researchers in Indonesia. However, it is important to be concerned with validation tests such as sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value in developing medical tools. In addition, there should be a further improvement in the validation test on GeNose.

“GeNose sensitivity and specificity are indeed more than 90 percent, but we should further examine the validity test,” he said.

He said the Ministry of Health would assist in the GeNose validation test at the Ministry of Health Research and Development Agency. This test can provide a better standard and input in improving the next version of GeNose.

The head of the GeNose development team, Prof. Kuwat Triyana, in his remarks, explained that his team would advance to improve the performance and validation of GeNose.

“The hope is that after the post-marketing test, we will use valid data confirmed by a good and correct PCR that will be used as training data so that we will remain to improve the artificial intelligence,” he explained.

He explained that GeNose was designed using an artificial intelligence (AI) system. Thus, the more we conduct the tests, the level of accuracy will also increase. This tool has several advantages for Covid-19 screening, including high reliability, relative fast detection, non-invasive, and affordable test price.

Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/20630-menristek-sebut-genose-kurangi-ketergantungan-impor-alat-pcr-covid-19

January 15, 2021
Controlling Stress in the Middle of the Pandemic

Human problems are increasing and becoming more complex from time to time. In the digital era nowadays, everything is limitless. Therefore, people should control their stress levels, Drs. Sentot Haryanto, M.Sc., Psi, stated as a lecturer at the UGM Faculty of Psychology, as well as a speaker at the Stress Control Webinar: Enthusiasm of Achievement in the Covid-19 Pandemic recently.

“In the current Covid-19 pandemic, we need to control stress since several conditions such as at home, at work, in society, on social media, or maybe economic factors and others, can be the roots of stress,” he explained at a Webinar organized by the Universitas Gadjah Mada Employee Corps (Korpagama).

Sentot mentioned Indonesia as a “disaster store”, including both natural disasters and social disasters such as terror, klithih, etc. He also added that in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, all parties were unavoidably required to cohabit in harmony and deal with these conditions to avoid stress.

He was also surprised because there are still people who do not believe that Covid-19 exists, even though currently, Indonesia is in the middle of a very extraordinary situation. This condition requires people to be capable of adjusting themselves to the new normal.

“Not to mention that we were also surprised by the new variant of Covid-19. However, as seen from external conditions, it is possible to affect a person’s mental condition, which could cause physical and psychological tensions,” he said.

He also said that stress occurs when someone’s well-being is threatened if we do not respond immediately and precisely to lessen this threat, such as the current condition of the Covid-19 incident.

“Stress indeed is very individual. It can happen to yourself but not to others because age, gender, education, and other factors are profoundly influential. However, stress can also be situational. Stress can happen to particular people in specific situations, but somehow it does not always happen to other people,” he explained.

He emphasized that stress that occurs in particular limits is important because it can cause passion, a challenge, vigilance, and caution. But if a person exceeds the limit, it will possibly influence your psychological, social, and religious conditions.

Accordingly, to maintain achievement in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, people are expected to maintain their positive thinking. Besides, people are also required to focus on only one point and control their focus to be on the right track.

“Consequently, we have to select the right and important information wisely. Please avoid unnecessary information, then improve synergistic and healthy communication and always nurture enthusiasm and work ethic,” Sentot inferred.

Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/20625-mengelola-stres-di-era-pandemi-covid-19

January 15, 2021
UGM Faculty of Animal Science and BNI Hand Over Prawiramas Funds to Students

The UGM Faculty of Animal Science (Fapet) and BNI (Bank Negara Indonesia) collaborate on entrepreneurial activities entitled Program Akademik Wirausaha Mahasiswa (Student Entrepreneurial Academic Program), abbreviated Prawiramas. Aside from a means for entrepreneurship learning for students, this program also acts as a form of response for Fapet UGM to the “Merdeka Belajar dan Kampus Merdeka” (Freedom to Learn and Independent Campus) program initiated by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Apart from its student business program, it also includes academic activities. It has a supervisor and can be claimed as a course with a maximum of 6 credits (academic-related terms and conditions apply). Prawiramas targets 50 students in each period with a maximum of IDR 30 million funding per student, meaning the total funds are around IDR 1.5 billion per period.

In the first batch of selection for the first period, 13 students from the UGM Faculty of Animal Science received Prawiramas funds on Thursday (14/1) online. The handover was carried out symbolically by the Dean of the Faculty of Animal Science UGM and Head of the Yogyakarta Regional Office of PT BNI (Persero) Tbk. The program will still open its second batch of selection for this first period until the next two weeks (for students of the Faculty of Animal Science UGM only).

“We are grateful that this idea has finally come true. Hopefully, it will be a new milestone in the cooperation between financial institutions and universities, specifically BNI and the Faculty of Animal Science UGM, to provide students with opportunities to learn about entrepreneurship,” said the Dean of Faculty of Animal Science UGM, Prof. Ir. Ali Agus, when giving a speech at the handover ceremony.

Agus also reminded students who received Prawiramas funds to be responsible because the funds provided were loans. Students are expected to be responsible for planning and practicing business, managing cash flow, setting spending priorities, managing business plans, and others. Through this activity, he said, students were also allowed to practice the spirit “Sapta Pesona Diri,” which included honesty, discipline, responsibility, enthusiasm, critical thinking, courtesy, and real work.

“We thank (everyone involved) very much. Hopefully, it will be an initial step, like a rolling snowball to motivate and arouse students’ passion, that learning is not only theoretical but also practical,” said Ali Agus.

Head of the Yogyakarta Regional Office of PT BNI (Persero) Tbk. Moh. Hisyam expected this activity to be a positive virus for students. It aims to spur them to play an active role in creating job opportunities/independent businesses that are not dependent on the government or other institutions. He hoped this activity would be the first step to produce new entrepreneurs who are reliable and can play an active role in building the country.

“Thank you to the Faculty of Animal Science UGM for working together to create this project. Hopefully, other faculties at UGM will also follow this step so that we can have more talents in the field of entrepreneurship,” said Hisyam.

Secretary for Learning and Cooperation, Directorate of Education and Teaching UGM, Dr. Yanri Wijayanti Subronto, who also attended the event, warmly welcomed this idea.

Yanri said students who received funds in this program would be the pioneers and setting points for other students, both in the same intake year and others. He also highlighted this program might bring new experience for the supervisor. He revealed that by doing so, lecturers could also learn from students, which made cooperation like this to be beneficial.

“This program will make students proud of what they are doing because they have undergone entrepreneurial activities from now on, not waiting until graduation. It will be a historic leap in the world of education,” he concluded.

Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/20631-fapet-ugm-dan-bni-serahkan-dana-prawiramas-kepada-mahasiswa

January 15, 2021