THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FISHBOWL METHOD ON STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA N 8 CIREBON

AYU WULANDARI. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FISHBOWL METHOD ON STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL AT THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA N 8 CIREBON In Indonesia English has drawn up by government as foreign language that the students should master English language. In fact, the students still have weakness in skill of English, especially in speaking skill. In this thesis, the writer focuses on the students’ speaking skill as Y variable that they have any weakness to master speaking skill. And the writer focuses on the fishbowl method as the X variable that will help student to practice speaking English. The aims of this research are to find out the students’ responses towards the application of fishbowl method, to find out the students’ achievement of speaking skill before and after using the application of fishbowl method and to find out the effectiveness of fishbowl method to improve the students’ speaking skill Looking forward the problem in speaking skill that students have the weakness in this skill thus the writer offered fishbowl method which can be effective teaching tools for modeling group processes that can improve the students’ speaking skill and more active in classroom to practice speaking English. The research design is quantitative research and experiment research. To know the response the application of fishbowl method, the writer uses questionnaire. To know the students’ achievement speaking skill, the writer uses two tests, pretest and posttest. The data was analyzed statistically by using Microsoft Excel, ANA test4 and SPSS program V 2.2.0. The result of the students’ response towards the application of fishbowl method is 1237 with the percentage 82,5 %, it can be categorized strong response. And the result of the students’ achievement in speaking skill between experimental class and control class where Gain of experiment class get the mean score 0.26, but the N-Gain of control class get the mean score 0.12 so that the deviation is 0.14. It means that the experiment class is better than control class in improving the students’ speaking skill. Then conclusion of this thesis is that the alternative hypothesis (Ha) is received and the Null Hypothesis (Ho) is refused where t-test < t-table or <0.05. It means that there is any significant effectiveness of using fishbowl method to improve students’ speaking skill the second grade students of SMA N 8 Cirebon

Leisure-time physical activity sustained since midlife and preservation of cognitive function: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Introduction: We tested the hypotheses that higher levels of and persistence of midlife leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) are associated long-term with lower cognitive decline and less incident dementia. Methods: A total of 10,705 participants (mean age: 60 years) had LTPA (no, low, middle, or high) measured in 1987-1989 and 1993-1995. LTPA was assessed in relation to incident dementia and 14-year change in general cognitive performance. Results: Over a median follow-up of 17.4 years, 1063 dementia cases were observed. Compared with no LTPA, high LTPA in midlife was associated with lower incidence of dementia (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval], 0.71 [0.61, 0.86]) and lower declines in general cognitive performance (−0.07 standard deviation difference [−0.12 to −0.04]). These associations were stronger when measured against persistence of midlife LTPA over 6 years. Discussion: LTPA is a readily modifiable factor associated inversely with long-term dementia incidence and cognitive decline

Clinically Recognized Varicose Veins and Physical Function in Older Individuals: The ARIC Study

BACKGROUND: Although a few studies reported an association between varicose veins and physical function, this potentially bidirectional association has not been systematically evaluated in the general population. METHOD: In 5 580 participants (aged 71-90 years) from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, varicose veins were identified in outpatient and inpatient administrative data prior to (prevalent cases) and after (incident cases) visit 5 (2011-2013). Physical function was evaluated by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB, score ranging from 0 to 12). We evaluated (i) cross-sectional association between prevalent varicose veins and physical function, (ii) association of prevalent varicose veins with subsequent changes in physical function from visit 5 to visits 6 (2016-2017) and 7 (2018-2019), and (iii) association of physical function at visit 5 with incident varicose veins during a median follow-up of 3.6 years (105 incident varicose veins among 5 350 participants without prevalent cases at baseline). RESULTS: At baseline, varicose veins were recognized in 230 (4.1%) participants and cross-sectionally associated with reduced physical function. Longitudinally, prevalent varicose veins were not significantly associated with a decline in SPPB over time. In contrast, a low SPPB ≤6 was associated with a greater incidence of varicose veins compared to SPPB ≥10 (adjusted hazard ratio 2.13 [95% confidence interval = 1.19, 3.81]). CONCLUSION: In community-dwelling older adults, varicose veins and low physical function were associated cross-sectionally. Longitudinally, low physical function was a risk factor for incident varicose veins, but not vice versa. Our findings suggest an etiological contribution of low physical function to incident varicose veins

Central arterial stiffness is associated with structural brain damage and poorer cognitive performance: The ARIC study

Background Central arterial stiffening and increased pulsatility, with consequent cerebral hypoperfusion, may result in structural brain damage and cognitive impairment. Methods and Results We analyzed a cross‐sectional sample of ARIC‐NCS(Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities–Neurocognitive Study) participants (aged 67–90 years, 60% women) with measures of cognition (n=3703) and brain magnetic resonance imaging (n=1255). Central arterial hemodynamics were assessed as carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity and pressure pulsatility (central pulse pressure). We derived factor scores for cognitive domains. Brain magnetic resonance imaging using 3‐Tesla scanners quantified lacunar infarcts; cerebral microbleeds; and volumes of white matter hyperintensities, total brain, and the Alzheimer disease signature region. We used logistic regression, adjusted for demographics, apolipoprotein E ɛ4, heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and select cardiovascular risk factors, to estimate the odds of lacunar infarcts or cerebral microbleeds. Linear regression, additionally adjusted for intracranial volume, estimated the difference in log‐transformed volumes of white matter hyperintensities, total brain, and the Alzheimer diseasesignature region. We estimated the mean difference in cognitive factor scores across quartiles of carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity or central pulse pressure using linear regression. Compared with participants in the lowest carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity quartile, participants in the highest quartile of carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity had a greater burden of white matter hyperintensities (P=0.007 for trend), smaller total brain volumes (−18.30 cm 3 ; 95% CI, −27.54 to −9.07 cm 3 ), and smaller Alzheimer disease signature region volumes (−1.48 cm 3 ; 95% CI, −2.27 to −0.68 cm 3 ). These participants also had lower scores in executive function/processing speed (β=−0.04 z score; 95% CI, −0.07 to −0.01 z score) and general cognition (β=−0.09 z score; 95% CI, −0.15 to −0.03 z score). Similar results were observed for central pulse pressure. Conclusions Central arterial hemodynamics were associated with structural brain damage and poorer cognitive performance among older adults

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain

Paroxysmal Cerebral Disorder

Some aspects of tissue water relations in cassava plant (Manihot esculenta Crantz) and their ecological interpretation

Two expt. were conducted to: (1) examine the application and other implications of the pressure/vol. technique (P/V) in the study of water stress in the cassava plant and (2) determine the relation of the water content in the tissue and its water potential. The P/V technique was used with branches of var. M Col 22 and M Mex 59 to determine the characteristics of water relations. Among the observations noted the following are found: the lack of considerable differences between the values of the relation between dry wt. and turgid wt. for stressed and unstressed leaves of the 2 cassava var. suggest that the amount of water in cell walls is closely related to the different proportions of the macromolecules (hemicellulose and pectic substances), rather than the thickness of the cell wall. The lowest and slowest decreases of the water content in the cell wall in M Col 22 (3.5 percent) compared to M Mex 59 (30 percent) suggests that the regulator capacity of the cell wall in M Col 22 may be an indicative factor of acclimatization to drought. On the hand, a higher intra-var. variation is indicated instead of a variation between the 2 var.The ability of the leaves of both var. studied is associated with the recovery of leaf area diminished under stress conditions. (CIAT)Se realizaron 2 expt. para: 1) examinar la aplicacion y otras implicaciones de la tecnica de presion/vol. (P/V) en el estudio del estres de agua en la planta de yuca y 2) determinar la relacion del contenido de agua en el tejido y su potencial hidrico. Se utilizo la tecnica de P/V con ramas de las var. M Col 22 y M Mex 59 para determinar las caracteristicas de las relaciones hidricas. Entre las observaciones efectuadas se encuentran: la falta de diferencias considerables entre los valores de la relacion entre el peso seco y el peso turgido para las hojas bajo estres y sin estres de las 2 var. de yuca, sugiere que la cantidad de agua en las paredes celulares se relaciona estrechamente con las diferentes proporciones de las macromoleculas (hemicelulosa y substancias pecticas), mas que con el grosor de la pared celular. Las disminuciones menores y mas lentas del contenido de agua en la pared celular de M Col 22 (3.5 por ciento) en comparacion con M Mex 59 (30 por ciento) sugieren que la capacidad de regulacion de la pared en M Col 22 puede constituir un factor indicativo de aclimatizacion a la sequia. Se sugiere por otra parte una mayor variacion intra-var. en vez de una variacion entre las 2 var. La habilidad de las hojas en ambas var. estudiadas se relaciona con la recuperacion del area foliar, la cual se disminuyo en condiciones de estres. (CIAT

Predicting leaf area development of sunflower

The effects of genotype and environment on canopy development of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) have been the subject of much research. A framework was developed to analyse data from this research and predict leaf area of irrigated sunflower as affected by daily temperature, and the phenology of different cultivars and hybrids. Between emergence and anthesis, total leaf area per plant (TPLA) was determined as a logistic function of TPLA at anthesis and thermal time from emergence (TT). Total leaf area per plant at anthesis was linearly related to total leaf number for a range of cultivars and hybrids. Total leaf number was estimated as the product of the duration of the period emergence to head visible (in days) and the average leaf initiation rate in that period. Leaf initiation rate was related to the average temperature during this period. Senescent leaf area per plant (SPLA) was calculated as an exponential function of TT from head visible. Leaf area index (LAI) was determined as the difference at any time between TPLA and SPLA, multiplied by plant density and a density modifier, which allowed for the effect of density on leaf area per plant. Almost all variation in the TPLA and SPLA data was accounted for using inputs of TT and dates of phenological stages. When the model was tested on independent data it accounted for 93% of the observed variation in LAI