Kompetensi Guru dalam Meningkatkan Motivasi Belajar pada MTsn Pekan Heran Indragri Hulu

Pendidikan merupakan suatu proses tranformasi ilmu pengetahuan dari pendidik kepada peserta didik, agar ia memiliki sikap dan semangat yang tinggi dalam memahami dan menyadari kehidupannya sehingga terbentuk sikap ketakwaan, budi pekerti dan kepribadian yang luhur. Motivasi merupakan salah satu faktor yang dapat meningkatkan kualitas pembelajaran, karena peserta didik akan belajar dengan sungguh-sungguh apabila memiliki motivasi yang tinggi. Oleh karena itu, untuk meningkatkan kualitas pembelajaran, guru harus mampu membangkitkan motivasi belajar peserta didik sehingga dapat mencapai tujuan pembelajaran. Penelitian ini bermaksud untuk mengungkap bagaimana kompetensi guru dalam meningkatkan Motivasi belajar siswa di Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri Pekanheran, Kec. Rengat barat, Kab. Inhu Provinsi Riau. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan rancangan studi kasus. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan teknik wawancara mendalam, pengamatan berpartisipasi, dan dokumentasi. Teknik analisis data meliputi reduksi data, penyajian data dan penarikan kesimpulan. Berdasarkan data yang diperoleh oleh peneliti baik melalui interview, observasi, dan dokumentasi maka dapat diambil sebuah kesimpulan bahwa Motivasi belajar siswa di MTsN Pekan Heran cukup baik karena dipengaruhi dengan adanya lingkungan yang baik. Hal ini terbukti dengan cukup antusiasnya siswa dalam mengikuti kegiatan-kegiatan yang diadakan sekolah Untuk menumbuhkan semangat belajar, ada beberapa cara yang dilakukan guru di MTsN Pekan Heran untuk menumbuhkan minat belajar yaitu: Memberikan hadiah, Melakukan pendekatan, Membesarkan semangat belajar, Mengarahkan kegiatan belajar, Memberikan pujian. Disamping itu, diketahui bahwa para guru yang mengajar di sini adalah mayoritas lulusan perguruan tinggi, ditambah dengan adanya fasilitas yang memadai sehingga para guru dapat lebih leluasa untuk melakukan kegiatan belajar mengajar secara maksimal. Selain itu, sekolah memberi kebebasan memilih stategi, metode, tehnik pembelajaran dan pengajaran yang paling efektif, sesuai dengan karakteristik mata pelajaran dan latar belakang pendidikan guru tersebut

Effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers on regeneration of seedlings of Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill) Pierre et Pax.

Most soils in the humid tropical zones present a particular problem. Due to leaching, the fertilizer provided by the process of nutrient cycling in tropical rainforest is confined to the top few inches of the soil. Varying quantities of manure and NPK fertilizers were applied to assess their effects on the growth of Ricinodendron heudelotii seedlings, a non-timber-forest-product. Assessment was done by measurements of height, number of leaves, leaf area, seedling biomass, the relative growth rate, and the net assimilation rate. The effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on plant height and number of leaves were not significant, though their effect on leaf area was significant (p<0.05). The total biomass, relative growth rate, and net assimilation rate under the different treatment combinations had no significant effect on yield. However, fertilizer treatments had a significant effect among the periods of application for the biomass and the net assimilation rate (p<0.05), but had no significant effect on the observation period for the relative growth rate.Keywords: Manure, NPK, non-timber-forest-product, biomass, relative growth rate, net assimilation rate

Antigen-Specific Down-Regulation of Myelin Basic Protein-Reactive T Cells During Spontaneous Recovery From Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis: Further Evidence of Apoptotic Deletion of Autoreactive T Cells in the Central Nervous System

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in Lewis rats by the i.v. injection of 107 cloned V beta 8.2+ T cells specific for the 72-89 peptide of guinea pig myelin basic protein (MBP). Some animals were injected simultaneously with 107 cloned T cells specific for ovalbumin (OVA). Lymphocytes were isolated from the spinal cord and from the peripheral lymphoid organs of these rats and the frequencies of MBP-peptide-specific or OVA-specific proliferating cells were estimated by limiting dilution analysis at different times after cell transfer. The frequencies of cells specific for MBP_72-89 or OVA in the spinal cord were highest 5 days after cell transfer (MBP_72-89, 1 in 1149; OVA, 1 in 1116). On day 7, when the rats were recovering, the frequency of cells specific for MBP_72-89 in the spinal cord fell dramatically t

Health Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease and High Blood Pressure Among Adults in Rural Underserved Communities

Purpose: This study examined the factors contributing to health disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and high blood pressure (HBP) among adults in three rural underserved communities in southeast Georgia. Socioeconomic status as well as geographic location plays a significant role in one’s quality of health outcomes. Methods: Individuals in three counties in southern Georgia participated in the study. The study was motivated by review of retrospective data from the 2008 Georgia Cardiovascular Health Initiative (CVHI) database to explain the factors contributing to the incidence of health disparities. A survey questionnaire was administered by telephone to adult members of households to determine the incidence of health disparities in CVD and HBP among rural African American and White adult populations. Six hundred respondents participated in the survey but four hundred completed surveys were used in the study, yielding a 67% response rate. Data were analyzed using applied multivariate logistic analysis. Findings: Findings indicated that older men and male residents in Counties A and B regardless of racial background were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with both HBP and CVD. College educated women were significantly less likely to have HBP. Findings also revealed that married men were significantly less likely to have CVD. Uncontrolled elevated cholesterol levels contributed to the incidence of chronic HBP and CVD. Conclusions: The findings add to the current knowledge of research and to the understanding of the critical elements in reducing health disparities among populations in rural underserved communities

Base pair opening and bubble transport in a DNA double helix induced by a protein molecule in a viscous medium

We study the nonlinear dynamics of a protein-DNA molecular system by treating DNA as a set of two coupled linear chains and protein in the form of a single linear chain sliding along the DNA at the physiological temperature in a viscous medium. The nonlinear dynamics of the above molecular system in general is governed by a perturbed nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation. In the non-viscous limit, the equation reduces to the completely integrable nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger (NLS) equation which admits N-soliton solutions. The soliton excitations of the DNA bases make localized base pair opening and travel along the DNA chain in the form of a bubble. This may represent the bubble generated during the transcription process when an RNA-polymerase binds to a promoter site in the DNA double helical chain. The perturbed NLS equation is solved using a perturbation theory by treating the viscous effect due to surrounding as a weak perturbation and the results show that the viscosity of the solvent in the surrounding damps out the amplitude of the soliton.Comment: 4. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Anharmonic stacking in supercoiled DNA

Multistep denaturation in a short circular DNA molecule is analyzed by a mesoscopic Hamiltonian model which accounts for the helicoidal geometry. Computation of melting profiles by the path integral method suggests that stacking anharmonicity stabilizes the double helix against thermal disruption of the hydrogen bonds. Twisting is essential in the model to capture the importance of nonlinear effects on the thermodynamical properties. In a ladder model with zero twist, anharmonic stacking scarcely affects the thermodynamics. Moderately untwisted helices, with respect to the equilibrium conformation, show an energetic advantage against the overtwisted ones. Accordingly moderately untwisted helices better sustain local fluctuational openings and make more unlikely the thermally driven complete strand separation.Comment: In pres

Improvement of Mechanical Properties of Injection-Molded Polylactic Acid-Kenaf Fiber Biocomposite

ABSTRACT: The motive of this study is to lessen the dependence on nondegradable plastic packaging by developing alternative material; reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with kenaf fiber (KF) biocomposite using available plastic processing machineries. For that reason, this study focuses on fabrication of PLA-KF biocomposite using intermeshing co-rotating twin-screw extruder and then injection molded for mechanical characterization. The effect of KF loading from 0 to 20 wt% was studied. No coupling agent was added due to high affinity of PLA and KF and both components are hydrophilic in nature. The average of KF aspect ratio is 30. Tensile properties and flexural properties show similar trend where significant improvement was attained at 20 wt% KF content. Scanning electron micrograph of tensile fracture specimen has revealed the hypothesis of interaction between fiber and matrix which subsequently amplified the tensile properties. It is an interesting finding where the experimental value of tensile modulus was 15% higher than theoretical tensile modulus at 20 wt% KF. Additionally, PLA-KF bicomposite produced, has high specific strength and specific modulus. This could suggest that KF may be incorporated into PLA to reduce mass of the end product and substantially reduce the cost of raw materials. As expected, impact strength however decreases with KF content

The Proximal Peripheral Nervous System Is A Major Site Of Demyelination In Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Induced In The Lewis Rat By A Myelin Basic Protein-Specific T Cell

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in the Lewis rat by the passive transfer of a cytotoxic CD4 + T cell clone specific for the 72-89 peptide of guinea-pig myelin basic protein (MBP). Histological studies on rats with neurological signs showed that inflammation was present in the proximal peripheral nervous system (PNS), namely the spinal roots, as well as in the central nervous system (CNS). The main sites of demyelination were the spinal roots in the PNS, and the spinal cord root entry and exit zones in the CNS. The major involvement of the proximal PNS in autoimmune disease directed at MBP is in marked contrast to EAE induced by immunisation with myelin proteolipid protein, where the inflammation and demyelination are restricted to the CNS. These findings may have implications for the human inflammatory demyelinating diseases including multiple sclerosis, in which MBP is a putative target antigen

Linking restoration and sustainable wood fuel initiatives in Sahelian Cameroon

Cameroon’s commitment to the AFR100 initiative to restore 12 million hectares of degraded land puts emphasis on the country’s three dry northern regions. One quarter of this commitment is supposed to take place in the Far North Region. The highest degradation of this region has clear impacts on livelihoods; in addition, the dependence of local communities, internally displaced people and refugees on unsustainable wood fuel collection contributes to further degradation

Using the stated preference method for the calculation of social discount rate

The aim of this paper is to build the stated preference method into the social discount rate methodology. The first part of the paper presents the results of a survey about stated time preferences through pair-choice decision situations for various topics and time horizons. It is assumed that stated time preferences differ from calculated time preferences and that the extent of stated rates depends on the time period, and on how much respondents are financially and emotionally involved in the transactions. A significant question remains: how can the gap between the calculation and the results of surveys be resolved, and how can the real time preferences of individuals be interpreted using a social time preference rate. The second part of the paper estimates the social time preference rate for Hungary using the results of the survey, while paying special attention to the pure time preference component. The results suggest that the current method of calculation of the pure time preference rate does not reflect the real attitudes of individuals towards future generations