The use of descriptive text as instructional media to improve students' speaking ability : Pre-experimental research at the Eight Grade Students of SMPN 3 Blanakan Subang in academic Year 2019/2020

Teaching speaking is to make students able to communicate with others so the students should be trained or practice speaking individually and they have to speak to be able to communicate well. Specific reference is about speaking based on reading the descriptive text. Descriptive text is a text that describes the character of a person, a place, or a particular thing the way it is. One method that is used to teaching speaking is by using descriptive reading text. The purposes of the research are: (1) to find the students’ speaking ability before using descriptive text as instructional media, (2) to find the students’ speaking ability after using descriptive text as instructional media, (3) to reveal significant difference of students’ speaking ability before and after the treatment by using descriptive text as instructional media. The research used the pre-experimental method. The population of this study was the whole of the eighth grade students of SMPN 3 Blanakan Subang. The sample of this research is one class that consists of 30 students. The instrument to gather the data was an achievement speaking test. The researcher use scores of pretest and posttest results. To analyses the collected data, the researcher used mean, standard deviation, t-test and hypothesis testing. The instrument to gather the data was an achievement test, speaking skills. The result shows that the mean of Experimental class after the treatment is bigger than before the treatment. The mean of pretest before the treatment is 37,9 and the mean after being given treatment is 78,5 based on finding above. It is clear that the students’ ability is much more improved after the treatment. This conclusion resulted from t-test revealing tcount 25,57 while ttabel is 1,684 which mean that tcount is higher than ttable. Therefore, (Ho) is rejected and (Ha) is accepted. As a result, there is a significant difference between students speaking ability before and after being given descriptive text as instructional media

The ataxin-1 interactome reveals direct connection with multiple disrupted nuclear transport pathways

The expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) tract form of ataxin-1 drives disease progression in spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1). Although known to form distinctive intranuclear bodies, the cellular pathways and processes that polyQ-ataxin-1 influences remain poorly understood. Here we identify the direct and proximal partners constituting the interactome of ataxin-1[85Q] in Neuro-2a cells, pathways analyses indicating a significant enrichment of essential nuclear transporters, pointing to disruptions in nuclear transport processes in the presence of elevated levels of ataxin-1. Our direct assessments of nuclear transporters and their cargoes confirm these observations, revealing disrupted trafficking often with relocalisation of transporters and/or cargoes to ataxin-1[85Q] nuclear bodies. Analogous changes in importin-β1, nucleoporin 98 and nucleoporin 62 nuclear rim staining are observed in Purkinje cells of ATXN1[82Q] mice. The results highlight a disruption of multiple essential nuclear protein trafficking pathways by polyQ-ataxin-1, a key contribution to furthering understanding of pathogenic mechanisms initiated by polyQ tract proteins

Creativity, identity and healing: Participants' accounts of music therapy in cancer care

This article reports on findings from a study of the accounts of people participating in music therapy as part of a programme of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in supportive cancer care. The article outlines the perceived effects of music therapy, which shares many characteristics with CAM therapies as well as offering a distinct contribution as a creative therapy. Hence in this article we draw on theories and writings from the sociology of CAM as well as those relating to music, healing and aesthetics in order to explore participants' accounts. The importance of identity and the role of creativity in processes of individuation are key themes emerging from the analysis. While music and creativity are often seen uncritically as resources for health and well-being, we draw attention to the challenges and complexity of diverse responses to music, framed by personal biographies that are in turn often situated within socially constructed notions of aesthetics. We argue that in research on music therapy, as well as other CAM therapies, issues of identity can be key to an understanding of questions of therapeutic impact. Copyright © 2007 SAGE Publications