Articles

The Effect of Moringa Leaf Soup (Moringa oleifera) on Total Cholesterol Levels among Overweight Employees at Nusa Cendana University

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Background: Overweight and obesity remain major global health problems and are closely associated with metabolic disorders, including hypercholesterolemia. Elevated total cholesterol levels contribute significantly to the development of atherosclerosis and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In Indonesia, particularly in East Nusa Tenggara, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is relatively high among employees. Moringa oleifera, a locally available plant widely consumed as food, contains dietary fiber and bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties that may influence lipid metabolism.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of moringa leaf soup consumption on changes in total cholesterol levels among overweight employees at Nusa Cendana University.

Methods: A pre-experimental study with a one-group pre-test–post-test design was conducted among 27 employees selected using purposive sampling. Participants received moringa leaf soup as an intervention for seven consecutive days. Total cholesterol levels were measured before and after the intervention using capillary blood samples analyzed with a point-of-care testing device. Data were analyzed using a paired sample t-test.

Results: The mean total cholesterol level before the intervention was 190.18 mg/dL, which decreased to 179.22 mg/dL after the intervention. The mean reduction in total cholesterol level was 10.96 mg/dL. Statistical analysis demonstrated a significant decrease in total cholesterol levels following seven days of moringa leaf soup consumption (p = 0.012).

Conclusion: Consumption of moringa leaf soup was associated with a significant reduction in total cholesterol levels among overweight employees at Nusa Cendana University.

Short-Term Intake of Moringa oleifera Leaf Soup and Its Effect on Fasting Blood Glucose in Overweight Office Workers: A Preliminary Study

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Background: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and hyperglycemia continues to rise, particularly among workers with sedentary lifestyles and overweight conditions. Moringa oleifera leaves are known to contain antidiabetic bioactive compounds; however, studies regarding their effectiveness in the form of a cooked vegetable dish (soup) remain limited.

Objective: This study aims to determine the effect of Moringa oleifera leaf soup intake on changes in fasting blood glucose levels among overweight employees at the University of Nusa Cendana.

Methods: This study employed a pre-experimental one-group pre-test post-test design. Twenty-seven employees with a Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥ 25 were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The intervention consisted of administering Moringa leaf soup (100 grams of fresh leaves boiled at 80°C for 3 minutes), consumed daily for one week.

Results: Phytochemical analysis confirmed that the soup contained flavonoids, tannins, and vitamin C. Clinically, the intervention resulted in a decrease in mean fasting blood glucose from 121.37 mg/dL to 118.33 mg/dL, with 16 out of 27 respondents (59.3%) showing a reduction. However, statistical analysis using the Wilcoxon test indicated that this change was not statistically significant (p = 0.361).

Conclusion: Although the results were not statistically significant—likely due to the short duration of the intervention—a clinical downward trend was observed in the majority of respondents. This finding suggests the potential of Moringa leaf soup as a functional food to support glycemic control.

Challenges and Barriers for Employees in Conducting Physical Fitness Measurements: A Literature Review

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Physical fitness measurement is one of the central government’s programs that must be implemented by employees in government institutions such as community health canters in order to increase productivity at work by maintaining a fit body condition and improving the health status of employees. The measurement of physical fitness has various challenges and obstacles, both for health canter employees and those working in other public service places. This study aims to identify the challenges and barriers faced by employees in conducting physical fitness measurements. The research method used a literature review, selecting articles using the Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct databases with inclusion criteria including articles in the form of studies with qualitative or quantitative approaches, in Indonesian or English, full-text, and published in the period from 2016 to 2024. A total of 50 articles were obtained, of which 10 articles were included in the discussion. The research results show that the barriers to measuring physical fitness include physical and social environmental barriers in efforts to improve employees’ fitness and physical stamina; work efficiency and productivity; the need for improved facilities and infrastructure to support employees in physical fitness activities; challenges in measuring physical fitness, including the target distance for the Rockport fitness measurement method at 1.6 km, the high workload of employees which necessitates enhancing their fitness measurement capabilities, employees’ understanding and knowledge, as well as instructions or commands from their superiors to improve the quality of physical fitness measurement results optimally.

The Analysis of Organizational Culture for Improving Corporate Performance at PT. XYZ Discreet

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PT. XYZ Discreet is a subsidiary of a State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN) in the manufacturing sector which was founded in 1983. PT. XYZ Discreet contributes to defense & security needs and various industrial products that help in other fields such as transportation and commercial explosives. Organizational culture is essential in determining the success of achieving company goals. Therefore, every company must know what type of culture they are running and what kind of culture is preferred at PT. XYZ Discreet has yet to assess the current and preferred corporate culture. As is well known, BUMN companies and subsidiaries have a new corporate culture, BUMN AKHLAK. Based on an assessment conducted by ACT Consulting, the value of implementing AKHLAK BUMN at PT. XYZ Discreet is not maximized or gets a C value (37.7). The purpose of this study is to provide recommendations for the preferred corporate culture based on survey results. The research methodology used is quantitative data by distributing questionnaires using the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) to employees of PT. XYZ Discrete. The survey results show that at PT. XYZ Discreet has a current culture Hierarchy culture, but the survey results also state that employees prefer Clan culture as their corporate culture. In other words, they support the culture with kinship, openness, loyalty, mutual trust, and agreement in every activity. From the results of research that has been done at PT. XYZ Discreet, this cultural transformation can be assisted by a bottom-up approach; leaders should have more understanding of employees, the transformation of leadership style, and forming the agent of change for corporate culture. These things aim to improve internal capabilities at PT. XYZ Discreet.

Assessment of Performance Appraisal in Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT)

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Once the employee has been selected, trained and motivated, he is then appraised for his performance. Performance appraisal is the step where the management finds out how effective it has been at hiring and placing employees. Thus, teachers evaluate the performance of students, bankers evaluate the performance of creditors, parents evaluate the behavior of their children and all of us consciously or unconsciously evaluate our own actions from time to time. In social interactions, performance is considered a systematic and planned manner to achieve widespread popularity in recent years.

Performance appraisal is essential to understand and improve the employee’s appraisal. It was viewed that performance appraisal was useful to decide upon employee promotion/transfer salary determination and the like. But the recent development in human resources management, it indicates the levels of desired performance levels, of actual performance in gap between this two. This gap should be bridged through human resources development techniques like training, executive development etc., For the main asset is employees according to the employee’s performance the production, sale is happened to the organization according to that the profit and growth of the organization is increased or decreased for that the employee performance is most important. The employee performance is known by performance evaluation only.

In other words, performance appraisal can be defined as the systematic evaluation of the individual with respect to their performance on the job and their potential development and his or her judgments, targets achieved by him or her, etc. The study aimed to investigate the assessment of performance appraisal is given to the employees working in the Visakhapatnam port trust.