The UGM PKM RSH (Social Humanities Research) team consisting of Fatimah, Syair, Fikri, and Bangkit researched the influence of social media use among youth, especially Indonesian students, on the spread of social issues about Palestine.

Syair as the team leader explained that this research used agenda setting theory by collecting related data from social institutions and research objects, namely students.

He said that the data was obtained from primary data and secondary data online. First, primary data comes from closed interviews and questionnaires distributed to students. Data collection from humanitarian agencies is carried out online through the Zoom meeting platform. Students who are the object of research live across Java and Sumatra because these islands have many universities. Second, secondary data is obtained from indirect observation, where researchers examined communication products such as literature studies of related journals and articles.

After obtaining the data, Syair et al. found that the use of social media differs from each platform, but most of its users are youth.

“The research concluded that youth are the main actors in the social media movement, either as disseminators or as recipients of information,” Syair said on Tuesday (21/9).

Syair et al. see that the development of social issues about Palestine is also spreading so rapidly on social media. In addition, they saw many responses from many countries including Indonesia due to the rapid spread of news through social media.

“For example, the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo stated the problems in Palestine are a result of Israel’s actions. Furthermore, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi took steps to urge the United Nations to resolve the issue between Palestine and Israel. There are also Indonesian public figures who are taking steps to help Palestine, such as raising funds that can be collected quickly in large amounts because news spreads quickly,” said Syair.

When viewed from the role of students, the results of the data obtained by Syair et al. show that the Palestinian issue is important for students. This is because students always want to keep updated about Palestine even though their involvement level is moderate.

Syair et al. argued that students have high levels of sensitivity as they feel concerned and even compelled to donate when they hear news about Palestine.

They argued that students have a high potential to help fight for Palestinian independence. The role of agenda setting is to influence sensitivity because an event will attract more people if packaged more attractively.

“In today’s digital world, where technology and social media are developing rapidly, students have a strategic role in disseminating information about Palestine. Students also have a role in strengthening Indonesia’s position in rejecting world colonialism by educating others. Regarding the dissemination of information, agenda setting plays a role in influencing the sensitivity of Indonesian students by spreading information repeatedly and massively,” said Syair.

Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/21716-mahasiswa-ugm-teliti-penggunaan-medsos-di-kalangan-pemuda-tentang-palestina

The Department of Agricultural Socio-Economics, UGM Faculty of Agriculture, held the 1st International Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Socio-Economics, Agribusiness, and Rural Development (ICSASARD) 2021 on Wednesday (22/9).

This conference carries the theme “Sustainable Agriculture, Agribusiness, and Rural Development in the Era of Industrial Revolution 4.0” and presents speakers from various countries worldwide.

“We appreciate the leading speakers from various parts of the world who came to share knowledge and experiences related to socio-economic issues of sustainable agriculture, agribusiness, and rural area development,” said Prof. Irham as Chair of ISCASARD 2021.

ISCASARD 2021 is the first conference organized by the Ministry of Agricultural Socio-Economic Affairs held entirely online.

This conference consists of plenary sessions and parallel sessions that discuss seven sub-themes. The sub-themes are Agricultural Management, Agriculture and Rural Development, Sustainable Agriculture and Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance and Cooperatives, Agribusiness and Agroindustry, Human Resource Development, and ICT for Agriculture Development.

“We hope this conference can broaden our horizons in this phase of disruption. The main goal is to produce national and international frameworks that support new opportunities and collaborations in the future,” said Irham.

UGM Vice Chancellor for Research and Community Service, Dr. Ika Dewi Ana, revealed that the theme discussed at this conference is crucial.

The era of the industrial revolution 4.0 entered a new phase with the Covid-19 pandemic, where technology became an inseparable part of all sectors of life, including agriculture. Agriculture, according to her, has become a central sector amid a pandemic and the key to economic recovery.

“Therefore, rural areas need to be empowered and developed to familiarize the community with technology. In this way, agricultural management can pay attention to the ecology of the surrounding environment,” said Ika.

She hopes that ISCASARD 2021 can become a forum for scientific actors to share knowledge and generate ideas related to this issue which is also one of UGM’s main concerns.

This conference presents Prof. Sarah Turner, lecturer at the Department of Geography, McGill University Montreal Canada, as the keynote speaker.

In addition, the invited speakers were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elske van de Fliert from The University of Queensland Australia, Prof. Dr. Mad Nasir Shamsudin from University Putra Malaysia, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jangkung Handoyo Mulyo from UGM, and Prof. Dr. Justus Wesseler from Wageningen University and Research Center Netherlands.

In the first session, Sarah Turner presented “Ethnic Minority Livelihoods, Socio-Economic Change, and Rural Development in the Southeast Asia Massif.”

Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/21710-departemen-sosial-ekonomi-pertanian-selenggarakan-iscasard-2021

One of the environmental problems, especially in Indonesia, is The increase in greenhouse gases (GHG). Most of the methane gas that accumulates in the atmosphere comes from the agricultural sector, especially livestock. Data from the Central Statistics Agency states that the number of beef cattle in Indonesia as of 2020 reached 17,466,792 heads with methane gas emissions of around 45.5 kg/head/year. Feeding with more forage than concentrate causes higher methane production in ruminant enteric fermentation.

Considering these problems, the UGM student team innovated animal feed nano-biochar pellets to reduce methane gas emissions in cattle. The four students include Agung Rizky Fauzi (Animal Science 2018), Muhammad Maulana Sadid (Animal Science 2018), Aulia Tegar Luh Azzahra (Veterinary Medicine 2019), Arifah Maharani Crishna Fadzilah (Chemistry 2019), and Arifa Zaini Syafhira (Animal Husbandry 2020). They conducted research on producing nano-biochar pellets as feed additives for animal feed.

According to Agung Rizky Fauzi, the head of the research team, nano-biochar pellets can be used as feed additives for ruminant feed. They can reduce the production of methane gas in the enteric fermentation process for livestock. Fermentation of organic compounds in the feed will produce Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), hydrogen gas (H 2 ), and several microbes. “The accumulation of these gases in the rumen stimulates methanogenesis, which produces methane gas,” explained Agung.

Maulana Sadid, a member of the research team, stated that the ingredients in the pellets were tannins. Tannins reduce methane levels in ruminants by protecting the protein. Thus, it cannot be used by methanogenic bacteria or methane-producing bacteria. In addition to these ingredients, there are also two other ingredients, essential oil and biocarbon, which serve as antimicrobials or volatile substances that can reduce rumen microbial activity, especially protozoa and methane-producing methanogens. Meanwhile, biocarbon functions as an adsorbent for methane or CH4 by changing the rumen microbial biofilm and increasing rumen methanotrophs, which is a bacteria that use methane as a carbon and energy source.

The potential of Nano-Biochar Pellets to reduce methane gas is the result of the rumen microbial fermentation process through the addition of tannins, essential oils, and biochar. Besides reducing emissions, this feed can also increase the absorption of nutrients from feed by livestock so that it can be maximized and affects the productivity of the livestock itself. “Judging from the potential of the three additional feed ingredients for livestock, Maulana said, it is expected to reduce the production of exhaust gases, especially methane gas,” he said.

Their supervisors, Prof. Lies Mira Yusiati and Dr. Muhsin Al Anas, said that research on the development of Nano-Biochar Pellets as a Feed Additive in Animal Feed is an innovation that can be mass-produced. It is expected to be utilized by farmers and the community and has economic value as well.

Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/21709-pelet-nano-biochar-potensial-jadi-pakan-ternak-rendah-emisi-gas-metana

Several UGM students researched the potential of Brown Algae (Ecklonia cava) as an antiviral. They take advantage of brown algae because it has active compounds that inhibit the viral replication process.

“We conducted research by simulating the interaction of the active compound of brown algae with the Covid-19 protein using the docking method,” said the head of the research team, Mumu Mujtahid Fatwa, in a release received on Wednesday (22/9).

Mumu and team members at UGM MIPA, Lusiana Dwi Setiya Rini, Anadea Salsabilla Rahma, and Kintan were prompted to research brown algae as an antiviral starting from concerns about the Covid-19 outbreak. From a previous study by Park and colleagues in 2013 regarding natural ingredients, Ecklonia cava or brown algae has active compounds that can inhibit the replication process due to interactions with the 3CL(Pro) enzyme from the SARS-CoV virus.

“Knowing that there is a similarity in the enzyme composition from SARS-CoV to SARS-CoV-2, we conducted a study of the interaction of the active compound from Ecklonia cava with the target protein of SARS-CoV-2 using the molecular docking method,” Mumu explained.

They researched under the guidance of Mokhammad Fajar Pradipta. The molecular docking method was chosen because it can predict the effectiveness of molecular interactions computationally. This measure reduces the risk of failure and costs less.

Mumu said that brown algae, which is abundant in Indonesia, have been identified as a source of diverse bioactive compounds and have good potential in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields. This type of algae is widely studied because of the medicinal effects of its active components, which include carotenoids, fucoidan, and phlorotannins. After grouping several active compounds from these materials according to their inhibitory potential, three candidates were obtained: eckol, 2-phloroeckol, and dieckol. These were used in the interaction process with the target protein using the molecular docking method.

The results showed that molecular docking interactions succeeded in inhibiting the target protein 3CLPro SARS-CoV-2 with candidate ligands including eckol, 2-phloroeckol, and dieckol, which showed high affinity for the binding pocket of the 3CLprotease SARS-CoV-2. The minimum free binding energy obtained from the redocking results includes -3.15 kcal/mol, -4.80, and -6.94 kcal/mol. Dieckol has a minimum free binding energy of -6.94 kcal/mol, so it can be used as a drug that is compatible with existing antiviral and antimalarial drugs.

“Dieckol has excellent inhibitory activity. We also performed an analysis by adjusting the binding involved with existing antiviral and antimalarial drugs. There is a similarity which represents that the active compound can be studied further by conducting pre-clinical tests to monitor the inhibitory activity,” he concluded.

Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/21711-mahasiswa-ugm-teliti-potensi-alga-coklat-sebagai-antivirus

Samilah, 65 years old, looks happy while holding a vaccine card after leaving the observation room at the Ngleri village hall, Playen Gunungkidul, on Wednesday (22/9). Accompanied by her eldest son, Samilah was one of 3,000 residents who received vaccine in three villages around the Wanagama forest, Gunungkidul, namely Ngleri, Getas, and Banaran.

“I want to be healthy,” said the woman who works as a corn farmer living in Ngleri Village.

The woman of two children and four grandchildren mustered up the courage to participate in the vaccination after knowing that her two children who had taken the vaccine were still healthy. It dismissed her fear that the vaccine could cause Covid-19. “I was initially afraid, but after seeing that my children are healthy after the vaccine, I dared to come,” said Samilah, who received vaccination information from the village where she lived.

Samilah is one of the residents in Ngleri who participated in the vaccination organized by Universitas Gadjah Mada in collaboration with the Indonesian National Police (Polri). The vaccination program called Vaksinasi Merdeka was simultaneously held in 96 places throughout Indonesia. President Joko Widodo directly opened this mass vaccination in collaboration with various universities in Indonesia online at the IPB campus in Bogor. In his opening speech, the President said that this vaccination activity supports the government target so that 80 percent of citizens are immediately vaccinated. “We are targeting 253,000 residents who will receive the vaccine today,” Jokowi said online.

According to the President, the government has taken two strategic steps in dealing with the current Covid-19 pandemic: accelerating vaccination and strengthening health protocols. “There are only two keys,” he said.

In a dialogue with the vaccination committee, Joko Widodo appreciated the campus, which involved students and a team of health workers by collaborating with the National Police for simultaneous mass vaccinations. He hopes that such activity will accelerate the vaccination program launched by the government to reach people who have not received the vaccine.

Amelia Nenna, a student of the Nursing study program at UGM FKKMK, was one of 30 student volunteers on a vaccination companion team involved in this mass vaccination activity. “Today is the sixth vaccination program in which I participated with the UGM Covid-19 task force team. Apart from UGM, vaccination activities have been carried out in several places in Yogyakarta,” she said.

According to her, she got more knowledge on vaccination through her participation as a vaccination companion volunteer. The activities that she participated in in the UGM Covid-19 task force further strengthened her skills in the nursing field.

Head of the UGM Covid-19 Task Force, Dr. Rutamadji, said the mass vaccination program this time was a continuation of the vaccination activities carried out by UGM for Yogyakarta residents. “We want to be closer to the community to be more targeted and increase coverage by more than 50 percent. We hope that herd immunity can be achieved,” he explained.

In this Vaksinasi Merdeka program in collaboration with the National Police and the Gunungkidul government, UGM has deployed 30 student volunteers and 30 health workers.

The chairman of the DPRD for Gunungkidul Regency, Endah Subekti, expressed her appreciation to UGM and the Gunungkidul Police who were involved in the simultaneous Free Vaccination. According to her, this vaccination activity can reach Gunungkidul residents who have not been vaccinated. “We hope that we will achieve herd immunity soon so that community activities can return to normal,” she said.

Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/21715-ugm-gelar-vaksinasi-massal-untuk-warga-di-sekitar-hutan-wanagama