Extraction and Native PAGE Separation of Phycobiliproteins from Some Cyanobacteria Collected from Their Natural Habitats

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Phycobiliproteins are a group of coloured proteins present in cyanobacteria and algae. They can be divided into three types based on their absorption spectra. These are phycocyanin, phycoerythrin and allophycocyanin. These pigment proteins are used as potential natural colorant in chewing gums, candies, soft drinks, dairy products and cosmetics like lipstick and eyeliners. They are also extensively commercialized for fluorescent applications in clinical immunological analysis. The phycobiliproteins from cyanobacteria have also been reported to have ant-cancerous, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In view of the increasing demand of these fluorescent pigments, it becomes important to find new species of cyanobacteria and exploit them for their phycobiliprotein content. In present work some commonly available cyanobacteria were collected from their natural habitats and analysed for their phycobiliprotein content. The extraction of phycobiliprotein was done in phosphate buffer and quantitative analysis of the pigment components was done. The study showed that all the cyanobacteria are the potential source of phycocyanin whereas phycoerythrin is significantly present in species of Lyngbya and Oscillatoria. The phycobiliprotein components were separated on Native PAGE which can be partially purified by electroelution. The percentage loss of phycobiliprotein content in stored cyanobacterial biomass for two months showed that phycoerythrin was more stable in Lyngbya and Oscillatoria as compared to the phycocyanin. The species of Scytonema showed good amount of phycocyanin content whereas allophycocyanin was significantly present and was stable in Aulosira sp.

Financial Feasibility Study on Antam Pongkor Low-Grade Gold Ore Mine After Implementing Business-Level Strategy

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The Pongkor Gold mine is under Production Operation Permit until 2031 while existing feasibility study stated that Pongkor gold Mine only have economical number until 2025 with ore volume in 1.5 million wmt and ore grades above 4 gpt. Pongkor Gold Mine has resources in low-grade gold ore (below 4 gpt) in 1.9 million wmt with the grades is 3.61 gpt. Having a gap period between mining permits (until 2031) and the latest feasibility study (until 2025) and abundant resources in low-grade gold ore, provides research opportunities to finding how to formulate business strategy level for Pongkor Gold Mine in order to maximize gap period by processing low-grade gold ore. This study started with business situation analysis, with VRIO and Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix are conducted for internal analysis, while PESTLE (Political, Economic, Sociocultural, Technological, Legal, and Ecological) analysis, Porter’s Five Forces framework and External Factor Evaluation (EFE) matrix are conducted as external environment analysis. The result shown Pongkor Gold Mine in region V in internal-external (IE) matrix, the region indicated that hold and maintain strategies are suitable for Pongkor Gold Mine. Study continued with Porter generic competitive framework to define the strategy that most suitable with Pongkor Gold Mine condition. The result shown cost leadership strategy is the most suitable strategy with the detailed strategy are (i) implement a cost reduction program every year, (ii) substitute retired organic workers (permanent Employee) with outsourced or contracted workers, (iii) limiting investment only to things that have a direct impact on revenue and (iv) long-term contract in heavy equipment. The impact of these strategies will calculate in financial feasibility study. Financial feasibility study uses financial criteria of Net Present Value (NPV), Internal rate of return (IRR), and payback period (PBP). The results shown NPV in 25.33 million US$, IRR in 52.2% and payback period in 21 months, these number indicated the Pongkor project extension is feasible. This study also intended to determine the most affecting variable to the NPV by conducting sensitivity analysis. The results shown the extension project is feasible as long as the gold price not declined more than 18.4% from the base, production cost (COGS) not increased more than 22% and the productivity not decreased more than 16.94% from the base.

Determine the Optimal Capital Structure of PT Indofood CBP Makmur Tbk (PT. ICBP)

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The food and beverage industry is a very large industry both nationally and globally. In Indonesia, the government’s investment realization in the food and beverage industry reached IDR 19.17 trillion. One of the giant food and beverage companies in Indonesia, namely PT ICBP, is one of the largest contributors to Indonesia’s GDP in the food and beverage sector. But the problem occurred in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Apart from the pandemic, in 2022 there was a war between Russia and Ukraine which disrupted the global supply chain. The company’s decision to acquire PCL needs to be questioned because looking at the company’s financial condition, the capital structure of the firm is not in an optimal position. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of obtaining optimal capital structure and providing recommendations for strategic steps for PT ICBP. The results obtained are that in 2022 the debt level of the company is not on the optimal capital structure. Therefore, the authors carry out a scenario analysis of the company’s capital structure based on the base scenario where the future financial position will develop, such as the author’s estimation, the best scenario and the worst scenario. The optimal capital structure is obtained if the debt is at the level of 85% for the base scenario, 45% for the best scenario, and 40% for the worst case. With this capital structure, company achieve its maximum firm value. Companies must reduce debt levels according to the framework that Damodaran recommends, namely investing using new equity or retained earnings.

Proposed Improvement of the Contract Award Process in Contracting and Procurement using Lean Six Sigma Methodology (A Case Study of an Oil and Gas Company in Indonesia)

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Oil and gas (O&G) production is crucial for Indonesia’s economy, and Company XYZ is actively involved in O&G exploration and production in three operational fields. Effective contracting and procurement procedures are essential for timely access to equipment, services, and materials while minimizing costs, delays, and risks. O&G procurement involves various responsibilities such as procuring drilling rigs, equipment, seismic services, and transportation. Insufficient planning in these processes can lead to project delays, increased expenses, and lower profitability. To address these challenges, the research proposes implementing Lean Six Sigma principles with the DMAIC methodology to improve the contracting and procurement process. In the Define phase, the current state of the contract award process is identified through process mapping. The Measure phase evaluates the internal contract routing approval performances, highlighting variations in completion time for IRS documents. The Analyze phase identifies factors contributing to redundancy, including lack of digitization, absence of a contract control system, time-consuming processes, and a complicated routing process. The Improve phase recommends three solutions: implementing a contract monitoring and control system, streamlining the contract approval routing process, and digitizing the contracting and procurement processes. These solutions aim to improve efficiency, coordination, and decision-making, ultimately enhancing the contract award process, reducing delays, and increasing operational effectiveness and profitability. The Control phase ensures the sustainability of proposed solutions through regular monthly reviews to assess the effectiveness of the control plan and make necessary improvements.

Replacement Analysis for Replacing One of Revenue Stream Fuller Smoketown

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PT Mahajana Boga Semesta is a company engaged in the provision of food and beverages as well as hospitality. After the pandemic ended and the people were free to be active, the company decided to expand its t-customer business line by establishing a restaurant in the city of Bandung with the trademark Fuller Smoketown. To bring innovation that is different from other restaurants, Fuller Smoketown focuses on developing food variants whose cooking process uses the smoking method. Apart from that, the company has also embedded facilities that other restaurants do not have, such as VIP rooms which can be used as a place for meetings, meals, and karaoke. This VIP room is equipped with karaoke facilities that are appropriate and equivalent to karaoke places in general. At the beginning of the opening of the Fuller Smoketown restaurant, this VIP room became the prima donna and was in great demand by consumers but in the second month and so on the interest in this VIP room actually decreased and did not show any business growth until in the end after 1 year of operation the company planned to close the business line VIP room and replace it with a new line of business, namely leasing business space to third parties. The company is still hesitant to realize this plan due to considerations of cost and revenue issues whether it is comparable to closing the old line of business and replacing it with a new line of business. In this study the author will try to provide an explanation of this plan by using replacement analysis with the indicator NPV, IRR, and Payback period. so that it can assist companies in making decisions regarding the replacement of old business lines with new business lines.

The Social Impact of Nonviolent Communication

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Peace is a human necessity and a pillar of concentration for a prosperous existence. For the purpose of bringing peace, stability, and stability, use a variety of tools and techniques to accelerate and assure progress towards this objective, and make it a regular mechanism. The working factors are arranged sequentially, and the specific objective is reached; sadly, in our country and among our peoples, this has not yet been achieved.

Since the last half century, efforts, plans, and mechanisms for peace and stability have not produced the desired outcomes. On the one hand, the problem lies in the employed mechanisms; on the other hand, it has been observed in the correct and appropriate operation of all aspects of these mechanisms; one of these aspects is the use, promotion, and spread of nonviolent language.

There will be peace and stability among people if peaceful language and literature are used in all aspects of human existence, from school to college, from community to government, and from home to home. The user has contributed, and future generations will inherit a legacy of a tranquil literary and social language.

Investigating Factors Influencing Customer Churn in the Online Bill Payment Services

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In Indonesia’s growing digital economy, the high churn rate in online services, such as bill payment platforms, is a critical concern. An example is BillsXYZ, a pseudonym used in this research for confidentiality, where similar services are readily available, and customer switching is effortless. The study conducted an analysis of the external environment to gain insights into the competitive landscape of the market. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, a framework including key elements like customer experience and satisfaction, price and promotions, service quality, social influence, brand image, ease of use, and features of the service. The research involved 110 survey participants and four detailed interviews. Key findings from the analysis indicate that while there is moderate satisfaction with the online bill payment service, there are areas that require improvement, including recurring payment failures, limited availability of certain payment methods, and insufficient awareness of certain features. To address these issues and enhance customer retention, recommendations were put forth, such as increasing feature awareness, improving service quality, and implementing strategic promotions. This study provides valuable insights for online bill payment services to improve customer retention strategies.

Proposed Strategy to Increase the Number of Digi Users from Customers of Pt Bank Pembangunan Daerah Jawa Barat Dan Banten, Tbk.

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PT Bank Pembangunan Daerah Jawa Barat dan Banten, Tbk (BJB) is one of the largest regional development banks in Indonesia. One of the banking services offered by BJB is DIGI. DIGI is a mobile banking service provided by BJB for customers to access banking services provided by BJB through cell phones. Based on BJB’s annual report for 2022, the number of DIGI users in 2022 reached 849 thousand users. Even so, this number is still far away when compared to the number of accounts from BJB’s third party funds which reached 5.2 million in 2022. If we compare the number of DIGI users with the number of accounts from third party funds, the number of DIGI users is only 14.97 percent of the number of accounts from BJB’s third party funds. The purpose of this research is to increase the number of BJB customers who use DIGI. In this paper the author uses a mix method by mixing qualitative methods in the form of interviews with 10 customers and the BJB digital banking team and quantitative methods by distributing questionnaires to 230 BJB customers via google form. Smart PLS 3 is used to process data and test hypotheses that have been built based on the results of interviews and questionnaires from customers. The methods and hypotheses built in this study are based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology proposed by Viswanath Venkatesh in 2003. Based on the results of the study, it was found that Performance Expectations and Effort Expectations affect a person’s intention to use DIGI. This study also found that Facilitating Conditions and customer intentions affect the likelihood of customers to apply DIGI in reality. Based on these findings and some internal and external analysis of the company, the author provides several strategies that can help BJB to increase the number of customers using DIGI using SWOT and TOWS tools. The strategies offered in this paper are building QRIS-based financial services in the DIGI application, collaborating with various e-commerce platforms by providing special payment services, building DIGI account activation services via mobile phones, and providing education to customers regarding the services and benefits of using DIGI.

Analysis of Public Perspective on Oil Fuel Prices Increase and Factors Affecting Intention to Visit Tourist Destination. Case Study: Ciletuh-Palabuhanratu UNESCO Global Geopark

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Tourism is a phenomenon with a growing sector in many nations, including Indonesia. In 2022, Indonesia experienced a considerable increase in the price of oil fuel (BBM). The rise in oil fuel prices might impact people’s intentions to visit Indonesian tourist destinations. Ciletuh-Palabuhanratu UNESCO Global Geopark (CPUGGp) is one of Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia’s natural tourism spots. Its location, which is quite far from larger towns such as as Bandung and Jakarta, may be a factor in people visiting in this situation. The purpose of this study is to examine the public various perspectives or points of view on the 2022 oil fuel prices increase in Indonesia, as well as the impact on everyday life and intention to visit tourist destination. This study employs 7Ps analysis, PESTLE, Porter’s Five Forces, and qualitative and quantitative customer analysis. Interviews with respondents were done as part of the qualitative research. In quantitative research, questionnaire was distributed with the requirement that respondents be Bandung City residents between the ages of 20 and 40. The variables included in the questionnaire are based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by Ajzen, which are Attitude, Perceived Behavioral Control, and Subjective Norms. The questionnaire data were then processed using the SmartPLS 3.2.9 program. According to the findings of this study, attitudes and perceived behavioral control have a positive and statistically significant effect on the intention to visit CPUGGp.

The Influence of Different Ratio of Goat Dung and Lontar Shells (Borassus Flabellifer Linn) Charcoal on the Biochar Briquettes Properties

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Research goals was to determine the physico-chemical and burning propersties of biochar briquettes with different ratios between goat dung and lontar shell charcoal. Material used were goat dung, lontar shell, tapioca as binder and water. The equipment were kiln drum (pyrolysis drum), grinding machine, hydraulic pressor, briquette stove, infrared digital thermometer, digital hanging scales, digital sitting scales. Variables measured were density, moisture, ash, volatile matter, fixed carbon, calorific value, burning rate and burning resistance. Analysis of variance was applied to determine the influence of treatment on the variables measured. Result of analysis showed that treatment had a very significant (P<.01) on moisture, ash, volatile matter, fixed carbon, calorific value, burning rate and burning resistance, but no significant (P>.05) on density of biochar briquettes. More proportion of goat dung charcoal generated the biochar briquettes with properties more ash content, lower fixed carbon, higher volatile matter, reduced calorific value, faster burning rate, shorter burning resistance. It can be concluded that the physico-chemical and burning properties of the biochar briquettes generated in this study did not meet the standards according to SNI 01-6235-2000. In this case, however, the best ratio is 25% of goat dung charcoal and 75% of lontar shell charcoal.