Pengaruh Penerapan Strategi Concept Mapping terhadap Hasil Belajar Siswa di Sekolah Dasar

This study aimed to analyze the influence of concept mapping strategy towards the learning result students in social science study on the V B grade of SD Negeri 17 Pontianak Kota. This study used an experimental method with Pre-Experimental design form using One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design. The population in this research were 68 students. The samples in this research was V B as a research class. Based on the t-test, the calculation result obtained t test (7,29) > t table (1,699) with significance level α = 5% means a significant influence using concept mapping strategy. The value of effect size (ES) is 0.39 with moderate category. It means that concept mapping strategy give a moderate effect to the learning result students in social science study on the V B grade of SD Negeri 17 Pontianak Kota

Temporomandibular Joint Disorders in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

BackgroundTemporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) are not uncommon in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the extent of involvement and its clinical relevance have not been well characterized. This study evaluated the correlation between the severity of RA-related TMD and RA, as well as determined the potential predictors for early identification and management of TMD in RA patients.MethodsWe sequentially recruited 56 adult RA patients from our Arthritis Clinic. TMD and RA were surveyed, clinically by questionnaires and physical examinations, and radiologically by tomography in TMD and conventional radiography in RA. The patients were stratified into no, mild and severe TMD groups according to the physical and tomographic examinations. The correlation of the severity of TMD and RA were evaluated. The relative importance of relevant predictors of severe TMD was analyzed by a logistic regression model.ResultsPhysical and radiologic temporomandibular joint abnormalities were found to be highly prevalent (85.7% and 74.5%) in these patients, and the occurrence increased to as much as 92.9% when the 2 data sets were combined. More than half of the patients had severe TMD presenting with debilitating symptoms or with a significant degree of bony destruction. The severity of TMD was variably correlated with RA severity. The score of hand-joint space narrowing was found to be the most influential predictor of severe TMD by logistic regression analysis.ConclusionThere was a high prevalence of TMD in RA patients. The severity of TMD variably correlated with RA severity. Clinically, a high score of hand-joint space narrowing may serve as an early indicator of RA patients at risk of severe TMD. This may facilitate early management and prevent the functional impairment of the temporomandibular joint

Synergistic binding of actinomycin D and echinomycin to DNA mismatch sites and their combined anti-tumour effects

Combination cancer chemotherapy is one of the most useful treatment methods to achieve a synergistic effect and reduce the toxicity of dosing with a single drug. Here, we use a combination of two well-established anticancer DNA intercalators, actinomycin D (ActD) and echinomycin (Echi), to screen their binding capabilities with DNA duplexes containing different mismatches embedded within Watson-Crick base-pairs. We have found that combining ActD and Echi preferentially stabilised thymine-related T:T mismatches. The enhanced stability of the DNA duplex-drug complexes is mainly due to the cooperative binding of the two drugs to the mismatch duplex, with many stacking interactions between the two different drug molecules. Since the repair of thymine-related mismatches is less efficient in mismatch repair (MMR)-deficient cancer cells, we have also demonstrated that the combination of ActD and Echi exhibits enhanced synergistic effects against MMR-deficient HCT116 cells and synergy is maintained in a MMR-related MLH1 gene knockdown in SW620 cells. We further accessed the clinical potential of the two-drug combination approach with a xenograft mouse model of a colorectal MMR-deficient cancer, which has resulted in a significant synergistic anti-tumour effect. The current study provides a novel approach for the development of combination chemotherapy for the treatment of cancers related to DNA-mismatches

Effects of common artificial sweeteners at environmentally relevant concentrations on soil springtails and their gut microbiota

Artificial sweeteners (AS) are extensively utilized as sugar substitutes and have been recognized as emerging environmental contaminants. While the effect of AS on aquatic organisms has garnered recent attention, their effects on soil invertebrates and gut microbial communities remain unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we exposed springtails (Folsomia candida) to both single and combined treatments of four typical AS (sucralose [SUC], saccharin [SAC], cyclamate [CYC], and acesulfame [ACE]) at environmentally relevant concentrations of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mg kg−1 in soil. Following the first-generational exposure, the reproduction of juveniles showed a significant increase under all the AS treatments of 0.1 mg kg−1. The transcriptomic analysis revealed significant enrichment of several Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome pathways (e.g., glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, amino sugar, and nucleotide sugar metabolism, ribosome, and lysosome) in springtails under all AS treatments. Analysis of gut bacterial microbiota indicated that three AS (SUC, CYC, and ACE) significantly decreased alpha diversity, and all AS treatments increased the abundance of the genus Achromobacter. After the sixth-generational exposure to CYC, weight increased, but reproduction was inhibited. The pathways that changed significantly (e.g., extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, lysosome) were generally similar to those altered in first-generational exposure, but with opposite regulation directions. Furthermore, the effect on the alpha diversity of gut microbiota was contrary to that after first-generational exposure, and more noticeable disturbances in microbiota composition were observed. These findings underscore the ecological risk of AS in soils and improve our understanding of the toxicity effects of AS on living organisms