AN EVALUATION OF 10 CUCUMBER (CUCUMIS SATIVA L.) CULTIVARS IN SOUTHERN PUERTO RICO

AN EVALUATION OF 10 CUCUMBER (CUCUMIS SATIVA L.) CULTIVARS IN SOUTHERN PUERTO RIC

Effect of Hardwood Vessels on Longitudinal Moisture Diffusion

The hypothesis that the longitudinal moisture content profile follows the shape of the sorption isotherm under steady-state diffusion condition was confirmed. This phenomenon was explained in terms of the unrestricted flow of water vapor from the lumen of one vessel element to the lumen of the next vessel element. Despite the assumed high vapor transport efficiency of the vessels, other cell types were believed to contribute substantially to longitudinal moisture movement. The diffusion coefficients of three different hardwood species were found to vary with moisture content

Pengembangan Media Pembelajaran IPA Terpadu Berbasis E-learning Dengan Moodle Untuk Siswa Sekolah Menengah Pertama Pada Tema Pengelolaan Sampah

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah mengembangkan media pembelajaran IPA Terpadu berbasis e-learning dengan Moodle pada Tema Pengelolaan Sampah yang memenuhi kriteria baik dan mengetahui hasil dari pengembangan media pembelajaran IPA Terpadu berbasis e-learning dengan Moodle untuk siswa SMP pada Tema Pengelolaan Sampah yang memenuhi kriteria baik. Penelitian yang menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan didukung data kuantitatif ini merupakan penelitian pengembangan (Research & Development) berdasarkan model prosedural yang dikembangkan oleh Borg dan Gall. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan berupa angket dan wawancara tidak terstruktur. Sumber data pada penelitian ini terdiri dari 2 ahli materi, 2 ahli media, 5 peer reviewer, 2 reviewer, dan 39 siswa dari tiga SMP di Surakarta yaitu SMP Negeri 8 Surakarta, SMP Negeri 14 Surakarta, dan SMP Negeri 15 Surakarta. Data kuantitatif dianalisis dengan menggunakan penilaian skor standar dari Saifudin Azwar yang kemudian dibagi menjadi lima kategori. Teknik analisis data kualitatif yang digunakan yakni model interaktif dari Miles dan Huberman yang melalui tahap reduksi data, penyajian data dan penarikan kesimpulan. Langkah-langkah pengembangan media pembelajaran ini meliputi: (1) penelitian pendahuluan, melalui tahap yakni analisis kebutuhan dan pengumpulan informasi; (2) perencanaan, melalui tahap yakni (a) penetapan bidang kajian IPA yang akan dipadukan, (b) pemetaan SK dan KD, (c) penetapan tema pemersatu, (d) pembuatan bagan hubungan KD dengan tema pemersatu, (e) penentuan sistematika media; (3) pengembangan draf produk, melalui tahap yakni (a) persiapan alat dan bahan, (b) pengembangan materi dan aktivitas belajar, (c) penyewaan domain dan hosting, (d) penginstalan Moodle, (e) penggantian tema Moodle, (f) pengaturan front page Moodle, (g) pengubahan tampilan front page, (h) pembuatan user account (data pengguna), (i) pengaturan pengguna (user), (j) pengelolaan course/category, (k) penambahan activity/ resource; (4) uji validasi; (5) uji coba lapangan awal, (6) uji coba lapangan utama. Hasil dari pengembangan media pembelajaran ini adalah e-learning yang dibuat menggunakan LMS Moodle dan dipublikasikan melalui alamat e-learningipaterpaduuns.com. Media diperuntukkan bagi siswa SMP kelas VII dan menampilkan materi IPA Terpadu dengan Tema Pengelolaan Sampah. Tampilan yang dibuat dalam media meliputi tampilan halaman awal (front page), tampilan kategori (subtema), dan tampilan course. Dalam media yang dikembangkan terdapat tiga buah course yaitu course sampah, pencemaran tanah, dan pengelolaan sampah yang berisi materi dan aktivitas belajar siswa meliputi (1) Tujuan Belajar, (2) Tahukah Kalian, (3) Mari Membaca, (4) Mari Belajar Tentang, (5) Mari Bekerja Sains, (6) Mari Berdiskusi, (7) Mari Uji Pemahamanmu, (8) Mari Bertanya Jawab. Materi yang ditampilkan pada course dibuat dalam berbagai format seperti doc, pdf, ppt, text online, dan SCORM Packages. Media pembelajaran yang dikembangkan dinyatakan memiliki kriteria baik berdasarkan hasil validasi oleh ahli, peer reviewer, dan reviewer dalam aspek materi, pembelajaran, tampilan dan pemrograman. Hasil uji coba lapangan awal dan uji coba lapangan utama menunjukkan bahwa media yang dikembangkan memiliki kriteria sangat baik

Maximizing Output Power in a Cantilevered Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester by Electrode Design

A resonant vibration energy harvester typically comprises of a clamped anchor and a vibrating shuttle with a proof mass. Piezoelectric materials are embedded in locations of high strain in order to transduce mechanical deformation into electric charge. Conventional design for piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters (PVEH) usually utilizes piezoelectric material and metal electrode layers covering the entire surface area of the cantilever with no consideration provided to examining the trade-off involved with respect to maximizing output power. This paper reports on the theory and experimental verification underpinning optimization of the active electrode area of a cantilevered PVEH in order to maximize output power. The analytical formulation utilizes Euler-Bernoulli beam theory to model the mechanical response of the cantilever. The expression for output power is reduced to a fifth order polynomial expression as a function of the electrode area. The maximum output power corresponds to the case when 44% area of the cantilever is covered by electrode metal. Experimental results are also provided to verify the theory

Sequential Colocalization of ERa, PR, and AR Hormone Receptors Using Confocal Microscopy Enables New Insights into Normal Breast and Prostate Tissue and Cancers

Multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) use markers staining different cell populations applying widefield optical microscopy. Resolution is low not resolving subcellular co-localization. We sought to colocalize markers at subcellular level with antibodies validated for clinical diagnosis, including the single secondary antibody (combination of anti-rabbit/mouse-antibodies) used for diagnostic IHC with any primary antibody, and confocal microscopy. We explore colocalization in the nucleus (ColNu) of nuclear hormone receptors (ERa, PR, and AR) along with the baseline marker p63 in paired samples of breast and prostate tissues. We established ColNu mIHCF as a reliable technique easily implemented in a hospital setting. In ERa+ breast cancer, we identified different colocalization patterns (nuclear or cytoplasmatic) with PR and AR on the luminal epithelium. A triple-negative breast-cancer case expressed membrane-only ERa. A PR-only case was double positive PR/p63. In normal prostate, we identified an ERa+/p63+/AR-negative distinct population. All prostate cancer cases characteristically expressed ERa on the apical membrane of the AR+ epithelium. We confirmed this using ERa IHC and needle-core biopsies. ColNu mIHCF is feasible and already revealed a new marker for prostate cancer and identified sub-patterns in breast cancer. It could be useful for pathology as well as for functional studies in normal prostate and breast tissuesThis study has been supported by projects from the State Research Agency (AEI), and Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain, MINECO-FEDER PID2019-110437RB-I00 (to CVA) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)-FEDER PI19/01316 (to JMCT). Financial support code: ED431G 2019/02 from the Xunta de Galicia and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund - ERDF) to the Centro singular de Investigación de Galicia accreditation 2019-2022 is gratefully acknowledgedS

Diminishing Availability of Publicly Funded Slots for Antiretroviral Initiation among HIV-Infected ART-Eligible Patients in Uganda

Background: The impact of flat-line funding in the global scale up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-infected patients in Africa has not yet been well described. Methods: We evaluated ART-eligible patients and patients starting ART at a prototypical scale up ART clinic in Mbarara, Uganda between April 1, 2009 and May 14, 2010 where four stakeholders sponsor treatment – two PEPFAR implementing organizations, the Ugandan Ministry of Health – Global Fund (MOH-GF) and a private foundation named the Family Treatment Fund (FTF). We assessed temporal trends in the number of eligible patients, the number starting ART and tabulated the distribution of the stakeholders supporting ART initiation by month and quartile of time during this interval. We used survival analyses to assess changes in the rate of ART initiation over calendar time. Findings: A total of 1309 patients who were eligible for ART made visits over the 14 month period of the study and of these 819 started ART. The median number of ART eligible patients each month was 88 (IQR: 74 to 115). By quartile of calendar time, PEPFAR and MOH sponsored 290, 192, 180, and 49 ART initiations whereas the FTF started 1, 2, 1 and 104 patients respectively. By May of 2010 (the last calendar month of observation) FTF sponsored 88% of all ART initiations. Becoming eligible for ART in the 3rd (HR = 0.58, 95% 0.45–0.74) and 4th quartiles (HR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.36–0.65) was associated with delay in ART initiation compared to the first quartile in multivariable analyses. Interpretation: During a period of flat line funding from multinational donors for ART programs, reductions in the number of ART initiations by public programs (i.e., PEPFAR and MOH-GF) and delays in ART initiation became apparent at the a large prototypical scale-up ART clinic in Uganda