Pengembangan Lembar Kerja Peserta Didik (LKPD) Berbasis Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL)

Pendidikan merupakan kegiatan yang membudayakan manusia mudah atau membuat orang dapat hidup berbudaya sesuai dengan standar yang dapat diterima oleh masyarakat. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis kelayakan lembar kerja peserta didik (LKPD) berbasis Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) pada materi pencemaran Tanah kelas VII A SMP Negeri Alok. LKPD yang dikembangkan dinyatakan layak untuk digunakan berdasarkan hasil oleh tiga para pakar yaitu pakar materi memperoleh nilai 89,5 %, pakar bahasa memperoleh nilai 94% pakar media memperoleh nilai 85% dengan kategori sangat layak. Rata-rata 2 nilai uji coba pada kelas kecil dan uji coba kelas besar yaitu: 97% dan 93,5% oleh guru dengan kategori sangat layak sedangkan 72% dan 90% oleh peserta didik dengan kategori  layak dan sangat layak

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE RESULTS-BASED FINANCING ON MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Results based financing as a component of health financing is one of the endorsed panacea to maternal mortality rate globally. The study undergoes a systematic review on the impact of results-based financing on maternal mortality rate in SSA. The study draws the results from the Scopus search database which has been argued to be more friendly and accurate than PubMed and Web of Science. The Scopus reported that there have been more publications and citations in the area of maternal health care and results-based financing during the period under study, this shows that, results based financing has becoming an interesting topic since its inception in SSA. The Scopus search database indicated that on 58 bibliometric studies retrieved on maternal health care, more were focusing on health delivery systems, maternal health services and health financing. The study also shows that despite the role played SSA countries in promoting maternal health care, the maternal mortality rate is still far beyond the United Nations target of reaching 70 deaths per 100 000 live births. Therefore, it is recommended that, SSA countries should source enough finance from local stakeholders, international organisations, among others in order to finance health system delivery. More so, they should develop other financing models that will capacitate the health sector to reduce maternal mortality

Varied impacts of compensation on employee performance in the public sector : a case of the Premier Medical Aid Society of Zimbabwe

Compensation administration in a highly inflationary environment has proved to be a major challenge to most organisations. While employees need reasonable amounts of disposable income on their side, organisations need super profits for their sustenance hence the paradoxical nature of compensation administration. This study is meant to ascertain the relationship between compensation and employees’ performance. The study hypothesises that satisfactory compensation enhances employee performance. A case study approach was used to ascertain this relationship. Interviews with key informants in a sample drawn from a population of the parastatal’s employees were administered. This article presents the following arguments. Compensation can only have a positive impact on employee performance if it is not only linked to employee performance but democratised to incorporate the input of employees, properly installed and maintained. The influence of compensation administration on employee performance can be applicable to those who derive their motivation from it. Therefore, to say that compensation drives employees to perform may be an overstatement and fictitious. Human needs are dynamic in nature let alone complex. For the sake of sustainability, a remuneration strategy should also clarify the relationship between salaries, wages and benefits to the key success factors of the organisations. Issues of equity and fairness of compensation should be adhered to for compensation to achieve desired results. For remuneration to drive the performance of employees it should clearly portray those behaviors that need to be rewarded

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY FOR BRICS COUNTRIES: DOES THE GOVERNMENT’S FINAL CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE MATTER?

Alternative energy and natural gas not burning of fossil fuels, leads to environmental sustainability. The study examined the role of alternative and nuclear energy in stimulating environmental sustainability while considering the role played by the government expenditure in the BRICS bloc over the period 1990-2021. The study confirmed that environmental sustainability received significant attention from researchers in different countries worldwide. The study found that GDP has a negative impact on carbon dioxide emissions, while alternative energy, government consumption expenditure and natural resources have a positive relationship with carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, BRICS countries should invest in new technologies to cater for environmental sustainability

CHINESE’S MESSIAH OR MONSTER ACTIVITIES ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SOUTHERN AFRICA?

Industrialization of the Chinese economy has made China a formidable force in the global economy. Similarly, Africa has witnessed increased Chinese activity as shown by rising figures in trade with China, Chinese foreign direct investments, Chinese aid and debt to Africa. Despite the rise in Chinese activities in Africa, there is doubt about the impact of such on growth of African economies. Chinese aid and debt are observed to bear hidden costs that outweigh the benefits. Whereas Chinese trade and investments are claimed to be resource seeking and not genuine. The World Bank also observed that Chinese finance is secretive and does not comply with the best practices of good governance. In this regard, this paper aims to assess the impact of Chinese activities in Southern Africa. The paper uses an explanatory research design. On determining the effect of Chinese activities, we adapt a Solow-growth model. A panel data set is assembled using individual countries’ time series data on the variables of interest. The study uses real GDP growth rate as the dependent variable. The explanatory variables in this paper are GDP per capita, trade with the rest of the world, rest of the world foreign direct investment, Chinese trade, Chinese debt, Chinese FDI, Chinese aid and population growth. Document analysis is the major data collection tool in this paper. Data on Chinese debt, investments, trade and aid is on documents of the Ministry of Commerce of China and John Hopkins University China Africa Research Initiative. Whereas, data on world trade, FDI inflows, population growth, real GDP growth and GDP per capita is on World Bank and IMF public data sets. We use Stata 15 for data analysis. The diagnostic tests showed that we have a problem of heteroscedasticity and auto-correlation. Whereas, the Hausman model choice test showed that the random effects model is the most efficient and consistent than the fixed effects model. We therefore adopt the Feasible Generalised Least Squares regression (FGLS); as this model is robust under autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity. The regression results show that GDP per capita and rest of the word FDI are the only statistically significant explanatory variables at 5% level of significance. All the other variables that is Chinese trade, Chinese debt, Chinese FDI, Chinese aid, population growth and trade with the rest of the world became statistically significant at 10% level. The study recommends that Southern African countries need to establish a thriving democracy and improve the quality of institutions as a way to attract long term investments from the rest of the world. On dealing with China, the paper observes that there is a possibility that all citizens can benefit from Chinese activities and as a region there is need to change the current systems that benefit the political elite and support corruption at the expense of sustainable and inclusive economic development

FOOTPRINTS OF THE ESG MODEL IN SOUTH AFRICA’S HIGHER EDUCATION

The study investigated the applicability of the Economic- Social- Governance (ESG) model in universities and high education in South Africa. The study covered the period spanning from 2010 to 2023. A bibliographic analysis procedure was used in this study to retrieve results from the Scopus search and VOsviewer software packages. The study found a rising trend in the number of documents published by affiliation, donor funding, and type. The study also visualizes numerous citations and high collaboration among authors. The study also compared GNP, education, and the number of published documents related to the ESG model and obtained a positive trend during the period under study. The study recommended that universities or higher education institutions embrace the applicability of ESG models in their operations. They should not only focus on financial benefits and government issues while neglecting the welfare of the students

Performance of Gallus gallus domesticus Induced by Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) Powder before Puberty

The lack of use of turmeric powder by farmers to increase the production of native chicken eggs such as increasing egg weight. The purpose of the research was to determine the effect of turmeric powder supplement (Curcuma longa L.) on the weight of native chicken eggs (Gallus gallus domesticus) that had been induced on standard feed before entering the pebertas period. The design of this study is to use a complete randomized design with a total of 3 treatments. Treatment consists of the first; chicken that is not given turmeric powder supplement (P0). Second; native chickens are given turmeric powder supplements at a dose of 216 mg/ chicken /day (P1). Third; is a native chicken given turmeric powder supplement with a dose of 324 mg/ chicken /day. Egg weight data is obtained from the results of measurements made every day when all chickens have laid eggs. One month's measurement data is taken from 28 days of measurement. All measurement data is analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA). If the data is influential, it is then tested with a Duncan test with a trust of 95 % (α>0.05).  Supplementation of turmeric powder mixed in daily standard feed before entering puberty can have an effect on increasing the weight of free-range chicken eggs (Gallus gallus domesticus). There was a significant difference in free-range chickens that were given turmeric powder supplements at a dose of 324 mg/ chicken /day (483.6 mg) compared to chickens that did not receive turmeric powder supplements (405.4 mg)

Major haplotype divergence including multiple germin-like protein genes, at the wheat Sr2 adult plant stem rust resistance locus

Background The adult plant stem rust resistance gene Sr2 was introgressed into hexaploid wheat cultivar (cv) Marquis from tetraploid emmer wheat cv Yaroslav, to generate stem rust resistant cv Hope in the 1920s. Subsequently, Sr2 has been widely deployed and has provided durable partial resistance to all known races of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici. This report describes the physical map of the Sr2-carrying region on the short arm of chromosome 3B of cv Hope and compares the Hope haplotype with non-Sr2 wheat cv Chinese Spring. Results Sr2 was located to a region of 867 kb on chromosome 3B in Hope, which corresponded to a region of 567 kb in Chinese Spring. The Hope Sr2 region carried 34 putative genes but only 17 were annotated in the comparable region of Chinese Spring. The two haplotypes differed by extensive DNA sequence polymorphisms between flanking markers as well as by a major insertion/deletion event including ten Germin-Like Protein (GLP) genes in Hope that were absent in Chinese Spring. Haplotype analysis of a limited number of wheat genotypes of interest showed that all wheat genotypes carrying Sr2 possessed the GLP cluster; while, of those lacking Sr2, some, including Marquis, possessed the cluster, while some lacked it. Thus, this region represents a common presence-absence polymorphism in wheat, with presence of the cluster not correlated with presence of Sr2. Comparison of Hope and Marquis GLP genes on 3BS found no polymorphisms in the coding regions of the ten genes but several SNPs in the shared promoter of one divergently transcribed GLP gene pair and a single SNP downstream of the transcribed region of a second GLP. Conclusion Physical mapping and sequence comparison showed major haplotype divergence at the Sr2 locus between Hope and Chinese Spring. Candidate genes within the Sr2 region of Hope are being evaluated for the ability to confer stem rust resistance. Based on the detailed mapping and sequencing of the locus, we predict that Sr2 does not belong to the NB-LRR gene family and is not related to previously cloned, race non-specific rust resistance genes Lr34 and Yr36

Wheat beta-expansin (EXPB11) genes: Identification of the expressed gene on chromosome 3BS carrying a pollen allergen domain

Background Expansins form a large multi-gene family found in wheat and other cereal genomes that are involved in the expansion of cell walls as a tissue grows. The expansin family can be divided up into two main groups, namely, alpha-expansin (EXPA) and beta-expansin proteins (EXPB), with the EXPB group being of particular interest as group 1-pollen allergens. Results In this study, three beta-expansin genes were identified and characterized from a newly sequenced region of the Triticum aestivum cv. Chinese Spring chromosome 3B physical map at the Sr2 locus (FPC contig ctg11). The analysis of a 357 kb sub-sequence of FPC contig ctg11 identified one beta-expansin genes to be TaEXPB11, originally identified as a cDNA from the wheat cv Wyuna. Through the analysis of intron sequences of the three wheat cv. Chinese Spring genes, we propose that two of these beta-expansin genes are duplications of the TaEXPB11 gene. Comparative sequence analysis with two other wheat cultivars (cv. Westonia and cv. Hope) and a Triticum aestivum var. spelta line validated the identification of the Chinese Spring variant of TaEXPB11. The expression in maternal and grain tissues was confirmed by examining EST databases and carrying out RT-PCR experiments. Detailed examination of the position of TaEXPB11 relative to the locus encoding Sr2 disease resistance ruled out the possibility of this gene directly contributing to the resistance phenotype. Conclusions Through 3-D structural protein comparisons with Zea mays EXPB1, we proposed that variations within the coding sequence of TaEXPB11 in wheats may produce a functional change within features such as domain 1 related to possible involvement in cell wall structure and domain 2 defining the pollen allergen domain and binding to IgE protein. The variation established in this gene suggests it is a clearly identifiable member of a gene family and reflects the dynamic features of the wheat genome as it adapted to a range of different environments and uses

Major haplotype divergence including multiple germin-like protein genes, at the wheat Sr2 adult plant stem rust resistance locus

Background The adult plant stem rust resistance gene Sr2 was introgressed into hexaploid wheat cultivar (cv) Marquis from tetraploid emmer wheat cv Yaroslav, to generate stem rust resistant cv Hope in the 1920s. Subsequently, Sr2 has been widely deployed and has provided durable partial resistance to all known races of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici. This report describes the physical map of the Sr2-carrying region on the short arm of chromosome 3B of cv Hope and compares the Hope haplotype with non-Sr2 wheat cv Chinese Spring. Results Sr2 was located to a region of 867 kb on chromosome 3B in Hope, which corresponded to a region of 567 kb in Chinese Spring. The Hope Sr2 region carried 34 putative genes but only 17 were annotated in the comparable region of Chinese Spring. The two haplotypes differed by extensive DNA sequence polymorphisms between flanking markers as well as by a major insertion/deletion event including ten Germin-Like Protein (GLP) genes in Hope that were absent in Chinese Spring. Haplotype analysis of a limited number of wheat genotypes of interest showed that all wheat genotypes carrying Sr2 possessed the GLP cluster; while, of those lacking Sr2, some, including Marquis, possessed the cluster, while some lacked it. Thus, this region represents a common presence-absence polymorphism in wheat, with presence of the cluster not correlated with presence of Sr2. Comparison of Hope and Marquis GLP genes on 3BS found no polymorphisms in the coding regions of the ten genes but several SNPs in the shared promoter of one divergently transcribed GLP gene pair and a single SNP downstream of the transcribed region of a second GLP. Conclusion Physical mapping and sequence comparison showed major haplotype divergence at the Sr2 locus between Hope and Chinese Spring. Candidate genes within the Sr2 region of Hope are being evaluated for the ability to confer stem rust resistance. Based on the detailed mapping and sequencing of the locus, we predict that Sr2 does not belong to the NB-LRR gene family and is not related to previously cloned, race non-specific rust resistance genes Lr34 and Yr36