Pengembangan Perangkat Pembelajaran Fisika SMA Untuk Topik Suhu Dan Kalor Menggunakan Model Pembelajaran Inquiry Dengan Metode Pictorial Riddle

Perangkat pembelajaran yang digunakan di SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Banjarmasin masih kurang layak, karena semua kegiatan pembelajaran terfokus pada buku paket. Baik materi ajar maupun soal latihan. Hal itu membuat siswa kurang aktif dan bosan karena hanya menerima apa yang dijelaskan oleh guru. Oleh karena itu, peneliti berinisiatif untuk mengembangkan perangkat pembelajaran menggunakan model pembelajaran inquiry dengan metode pictorial riddle yang bertujuan untuk mendiskripsikan: (1) validasi perangkat pembelajaran materi suhu dan kalor, (2) kepraktisan perangkat pembelajaran berdasarkan keterlaksanaan RPP, (3) keefektivan perangkat pembelajaran yang dikembangkan berdasarkan tes hasil belajar kognitif siswa. Penelitian pengembangan ini mengacu pada model pengembangan Dick and Carey. Data yang diperoleh dianalisis secara deskriptif  kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa: (1) perangkat pembelajaran valid berdasarkan penilaian ahli dengan kategori sangat baik, (2) perangkat pembelajaran praktis dengan kategori baik, (3) perangkat pembelajaran efektif dengan kategori sedang. Perangkat yang dikembangkan layak digunakan karena memenuhi kriteria valid, praktis, dan efektif

Perception, knowledge and awareness towards the attitude on organ donation among staffs of UiTM Cawangan Kelantan / Annur Liyana Mohd Kemari, Nur Ain Hidayah Zainuddin and Nurul Farhana Mohd Asri

Organ donation is an act of people give or transplant their organs sincerely and not based on monetary value. However, the previous studies show that Malaysia is one of the countries which has a lower rate of organ and tissue donation compared to other countries in the world. Based on previous studies, negative perception, poor knowledge and lack of awareness are the reasons for the problem occurred. Hence, this study focuses on identifying the significant and direct effect of perception, knowledge and awareness towards the attitude on organ donation. Not only that, this study identifies the significant difference in mean of attitude between different levels of demographic factors involving gender, marital status, income and highest educational level. This study applied a cross-sectional study on 249 staffs consisting academic and non-academic staffs in UiTM Cawangan Kelantan and the sample were chosen by using Simple Random Sampling. This study recorded 100.00% of response rate. In order to collect the data, self-administered questionnaire was used. The statistical analysis that have been applied to achieve the objectives were Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), Independent t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) which both were analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 and AMOS version 23 respectively. In conclusion, only perception has a significant and direct effect towards the attitude on organ donation. However, knowledge and awareness showed no significant and direct effect towards the attitude on organ donation. This study also concluded that there is no significant difference in mean of attitude between gender. Not only that, this study also found that there was a significant difference in mean of attitude between levels of income while the other variables (marital status, highest educational level) do not show any significant difference in mean of attitude among different levels. This study suggested some modifications such as conducting the study on large population and include new variables that may has possibility affect the attitude towards organ donation for further studies. This study also suggested several ways to build positive perception thus increase positive attitude by doing campaign, teach and encourage children about organ donation and give talk on the importance of donating orga

In Silico development of CRISPR/Cas9 Construct for Oryza sativa subsp. indica

Oryza sativa, which is commonly known as rice, is one of the staple foods consumed by Asian. There are three subspecies of O. sativa that are different in their geographical adaptations which are Japonica, Javanica and Indica. Climate change causes increasing greenhouse gas emissions fluctuating rainfall, and drought which is the limiting factors of rice production in Malaysia. In rice, SUMO E2-Conjugating Enzyme (OsSCE1) gene plays a role as a negative regulator in the drought stress response. OsSCE1 gene is a type of small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO)-conjugating enzyme involved in a few regulatory processes such as SUMOylation. The crop improvement can be made possible through a genome editing approach which enables the manipulation of targeted genetic traits and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) system is one of the genomes editing technologies that are accessible. In this study, the CRISPR construct of drought tolerance of Oryza sativa subsp. indica was developed. The CRISPR construct development involved several stages; OsSCE1 gene prediction, sgRNA design, and vector construction. FGENESH and GeneMarkS were used for OsSCE1 gene prediction. The predicted OsSCE1 gene has been validated using Polymerisation Chain Reaction (PCR) and sequencing. The BLASTN result shows high similarity with Oryza sativa in chromosome 10 with 99% identities. This step followed by sgRNA design which was carried out manually with the help of gRNA prediction tools such as WU-CRISPR, CCTop, Benchling, and CRISPR-P. Lastly, vector construction was executed virtually using Benchling. Overall, the OsSCE1 gene was successfully characterized and validated, and the in silico CRISPR construct for Oryza sativa subsp. indica was developed. To ensure a good outcome, in silico CRISPR construct should be verified through in vivo studies in further

In silico analysis of OSRR22 isolated from MR 219 rice and the strategy for developing CRISPR/CAS9 construct for genome editing

The rice response regulator 22 (RR22) has been reported to be negatively regulating salt tolerance in Oryza sativa and involved in the cytokinin signaling pathway; however, it has not been documented in any Malaysian rice and is deemed as an appealing subject for CRIPSR/Cas9 editing. This study analysed the OsRR22 gene from the Malaysian rice cultivar ‘MR 219’ to elucidate its function and determine the gRNA target site, in which the finding served as the most vital part for our current CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing experiment. In brief, the methods employed include total genome isolation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, DNA sequencing, genome search, and computational analyses involving an array of in silico tools. The transcript of OsRR22 was 2,019 bp long, composed of six exons and it encoded a highly conserved 696 amino acid residues. Motif analysis revealed the gene product, RR22, contained response regulator (RR) receiver domain (position 27-142), disordered domain (position 154-214), and Myb-like DNA-binding domain (position 214-273). Analysis on the protein-protein interaction (PPI) using STRING revealed RR22 interacted with various proteins including RR24, RR B8A7T0, and a set of HPt domain-containing proteins (B8B4B1, B8AYV8, B8BEM5, B8A9E0 and B8B9H1). Analysis of gene expression profiles via the Rice Expression Database (RED) revealed the OsRR22 (Os06g0183100) gene was highly expressed (FPKM>10) in the leaf and root. In addition, there were 15 genes to be co-expressed (Pearson’s r value > 0.85) with the OsRR22 gene of which high-affinity potassium transporter 9 (HAK9, Os07g0679000) was one of them. Based on the first exon of OsRR22 that encoded a part of the RR receiver domain, a CRISPR-gRNA 20-bp spacer was generated through CCTop. The gRNA spacer was synthesised, annealed, and ligated into the CRSPR/Cas9 pRGEB32 vector. The CRISPR/Cas9 construct—targeting MR 219’s OsRR22 and intended for Agrobacterium-based delivery—was successfully developed. Our study here documents the upstream workflow involved in rice genome editing with an emphasis on the gene characterisation through multiple bioinformatics tools

Exploration of the Potential of Reclaimed Waste Cooking Oil for Oil-Immersed Power Transformers

In this study, reclaimed waste cooking oil is proposed as an alternative insulating liquid for oil-immersed power transformers. Reclamation is carried out by heating a mixture of waste cooking oil and Fuller’s Earth adsorbent and followed by filtration. Propyl gallate antioxidant is then added into the filtered oil. Four oil samples are investigated in this study: (1) new cooking oil (NCO), (2) waste cooking oil (WCO), (3) reclaimed oil (RWCO) and (4) reclaimed oil with propyl gallate antioxidant (RWCOPG). The AC breakdown voltage, moisture content and total acid number is measured for all oil samples according to the ASTM D1816, ASTM D1533 and ASTM D974 standard test method, respectively. The results show that the AC breakdown voltage is highest for the RWCOPG sample (28.08 kV), which is 0.4% higher than the standard requirement of 20 kV. The moisture content for this sample is 180.60 ppm, which is still below the allowable limit of 200 ppm. However, the total acid number is highest for the RWCOPG sample which suggests that it has high acidity. It is indicated that the antioxidant-reclaimed waste cooking oil has potential to be used as an insulating liquid for oil-immersed power transformers, but much work is still needed to reduce the total acid number of this oil

Enhancement of mechanical and thermal properties of polylactic acid/polycaprolactone blends by hydrophilic nanoclay.

The effects of hydrophilic nanoclay, Nanomer PGV, on mechanical properties of Polylactic Acid (PLA)/Polycaprolactone (PCL) blends were investigated and compared with hydrophobic clay, Montmorillonite K10. The PLA/PCL/clay composites were prepared by melt intercalation technique and the composites were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). FTIR spectra indicated that formation of hydrogen bond between hydrophilic clay with the matrix. XRD results show that shifting of basal spacing when clay incorporated into polymer matrix. TEM micrographs reveal the formation of agglomerate in the composites. Based on mechanical properties results, addition of clay Nanomer PGV significantly enhances the flexibility of PLA/PCL blends about 136.26%. TGA showed that the presence of clay improve thermal stability of blends. DMA show the addition of clay increase storage modulus and the presence of clay Nanomer PGV slightly shift two of blends become closer suggest that the presence of clay slightly compatibilizer the PLA/PCL blends. SEM micrographs revealed that presence of Nanomer PGV in blends influence the miscibility of the blends. The PLA/PCL blends become more homogeneous and consist of single phase morphology

Enhancement of tensile properties of surface treated oil palm mesocarp fiber/poly(butylene succinate) biocomposite by (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane

The issue related to relatively poor interfacial adhesion between hydrophilic natural fiber and hydrophobic thermoplastic remain as an obstacle in natural fiber/thermoplastic biocomposites. Consequently, surface treatment of fiber is of important to impart adhesion. The present work used consecutive superheated steam-alkali treatment to treat the oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) prior to biocomposite fabrication. The biocomposites made up of 70 wt% treated OPMF and 30 wt% poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) were prepared by melt blending technique in a Brabender internal mixer followed by hot-press moulding into 1 mm sheets. A silane coupling agent of (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS) was also added to the biocomposite during the process of compounding to promote interfacial adhesion and enhance the properties of biocomposites. The results showed that the biocomposite containing 2 wt% APTMS showed maximum enhancement in tensile strength (89%), tensile modulus (812%) and elongation at break (52%) in comparison to that of untreated OPMF/PBS biocomposite. The SEM observation of the tensile fracture surface revealed that APTMS improved the interfacial adhesion between treated OPMF and PBS. It can be deduced that the presence of APTMS can improve the adhesion between hydrophilic fiber and hydrophobic thermoplastic, and thus increased the tensile properties of the biocomposite

Village Stay Reservation and Management System for Tourism Industry in Malaysia

Tourism industry in Malaysia is being developed to be better thus, making Malaysia as one of the most attractive countries to visit. Many Village Stays in Malaysia are owned and managed by inexperienced personnel and have inefficient system. This makes local products and nearby tourist attractions not able to be advertised properly or are not made known to the public. So, the objectives of this project are to develop Village Stay Reservation and Management System that caters for the information of the local tourist attraction products and to evaluate Village Stay Reservation and Management System in terms of perceived ease of use. In order to achieve the objectives, this project develops the system using PHP programming language and tests the system of its functionality, usability and user acceptance. There are fifteen respondents who tested the system. A set of questionnaires was used to collect the data. The mean for user acceptance test is 3.77 while for user reaction in usability testing is 3.74. The respondents are satisfied with the system in terms of its functionality. In conclusion, this research has achieved the objectives. It is shown that the users can deal more effectively and efficiently when using this system. This system will reduce the workload of staffs when using an online system to monitor the reservation as well as attending to other chores

Enhancement of tensile strength of oil palm mesocarp fiber/poly(butylene succinate) biocomposite via superheated steam-alkali treatment of oil palm mesocarp fiber / Yoon Yee Then ... [et al.]

Natural fiber is incompatible with hydrophobic polymer due to its hydrophilic nature. Therefore, surface modification of fiber is needed to impart compatibility. In this work,superheated steam (SHS)-alkali was introduced as novel surface treatment method to modify oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) for fabrication of biocomposites. The OPMF was first pre-treated with SHS and subsequently treated with varying NaOH concentration (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5%) and soaking time (1, 2, 3 and 4h) at room temperature. The biocomposites were then fabricated by melt blending of 70 wt% SHS-alkali treated-OPMFs and 30 wt% poly(butylene succinate) in a Brabender internal mixer followed by hot-pressed moulding. The combination treatment resulted in fiber with rough surface as well as led to the exposure ofmicrofibers. The tensile test result showed that fiber treated at 2% NaOH solution and 3h soaking time produced biocomposite with highest improvement in tensile strength (69%) and elongation at break (36%) in comparison to that of untreated OPMF

Young People-Social Problem-Solving Skills: Development and Psychometric Properties

There is a lack of culturally suitable tools to measure social problem-solving skills among young people in Malaysia. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the reliability and validity of our newly invented 14-item Young People-Social Problem-Solving Skills (YP-SPSS) questionnaire. Cronbach’s alpha analysis shows that YP-SPSS has good reliability (α=0.7640), and the factor loadings for the fourteen items are above 0.5. Exploratory Factor Analysis suggests four factors: emotional awareness, insight into having problems, steps in solving problems, and analyzing the problems. The study shows that this questionnaire is statistically suitable to measure the social problem-solving of young people