EDUKASI SAINS TEKNOLOGI “PERAN NANOTEKNOLOGI DALAM KEHIDUPAN” MELALUI BUKU CERITA BERGAMBAR UNTUK ANAK USIA DINI DI INDONESIA

Scientific literacy is the main key to face challenges in the 21st century to solve problems in everyday life such as water and food, energy, disease, and climate change. Lack of understanding of 'what is nano', the foundation of various disciplines, widely used jargons, and various scientific terms that are difficult to understand, make nanotechnology difficult to be accepted by the wider community. However, this can be overcome by simplifying these complex concepts and presenting them in an interesting way. Media such as story books, infographic posters, interactive videos can be used to explain complex concepts in a simple form. Abroad, there are many story books that raise the concept of nanotechnology and present it in a simple and interesting way. Therefore, the form of picture story books for early childhood and elementary schools can be an effective delivery medium for the concept of nanotechnology.Keywords: education, early children, role of nanotechnology, story books AbstrakLiterasi sains merupakan kunci utama untuk menghadapi berbagai tantangan pada abad 21 untuk memecahkan masalah dalam kehidupan sehari-hari seperti air dan makanan, energi, penyakit, dan perubahan iklim. Hal ini juga berdampak terhadap kurangnya pengetahuan masyarakat Indonesia terhadap teknologi yang berkembang saat ini, salah satunya nanoteknologi. Kurangnya pemahaman tentang ‘apa itu nano’, fondasi dari macam-macam disiplin ilmu, jargon-jargon yang banyak dipergunakan, dan berbagai istilah ilmiah yang sulit dipahami, menyebabkan nanoteknologi sulit diterima oleh masyarakat luas. Namun, hal ini bisa diatasi dengan penyederhanaan konsep-konsep rumit ini dan menyajikannya dengan cara yang menarik. Hal ini sudah banyak dilakukan oleh bidang ilmu lain. Media seperti, buku cerita, poster infografis, video interaktif dapat digunakan untuk menjelaskan konsep rumit dalam bentuk yang sederhana. Di luar negeri sudah banyak buku cerita yang mengangkat konsep nanoteknologi dan menyajikannya secara sederhana dan menarik. Oleh karena itu, bentuk buku cerita bergambar untuk anak usia dini dan sekolah dasar dapat menjadi media penyampaian yang efektif untuk konsep nanoteknologi.Kata kunci: anak usia dini, buku cerita, peran nanoteknologi, pendidikan

Predictors of Satisfaction with Autism Treatment Services During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges and disruptions for autistic individuals receiving specialized treatment services. This caregiver-report survey study (n = 339) explored predictors of satisfaction with autism services during COVID-19 to improve perceived support for these families. Specifically, we investigated whether service delivery medium (telehealth vs. in person), child’s emotional functioning, and caregiver stress would predict satisfaction with the most highly utilized services. Satisfaction ratings for ABA/behavioral, speech/language, and occupational therapy were lower when delivered via telehealth as compared to in person. Caregivers who reported higher emotional dysregulation in their children were less satisfied with behavioral therapy services. These results provide a critical caregiver-informed perspective on factors influencing satisfaction with specialized autism services during COVID-19.

Comparison of response to Chinese and Western videos of mental-health-related emotions in a representative Chinese sample

Background Emotion plays an important role in mental health. Studying the relationship between emotion and mental health requires effective emotion-eliciting materials. Most standardized emotional stimuli, however, were based on Western contents and have not been validated in other cultures. The present study compared the emotional response to standard Western videos with videos of Chinese contents in a large representative Chinese sample. The effects of content source (film vs. real-life) and delivery medium (online vs. offline), as well as the effects of demographic factors were investigated. Participants’ depression level was assessed to test the potential use of the videos in mental health research. Methods Top-ranked videos of basic emotions commonly implicated in mental health (happiness, sadness, anger, and fear) were chosen from a widely used Western video database. Twelve corresponding Chinese videos (film or real-life) were selected, with three clips for each emotion. In addition, three Chinese videos of the emotion “awe” were included because of the growing research attention to its role in promoting mental health. A large representative sample were recruited (N = 348) either online or offline and each participant viewed and rated his/her emotional reaction to all videos. Results All Chinese and Western videos effectively elicited target emotions. The intensity of emotional response was generally higher for Chinese videos than for Western videos. Film and real-life videos provided mixed results in terms of the intensity of elicited emotions. There was a small difference in the delivery medium in which one video watched online were rated more intense than being watched in the laboratory. Older adults were more emotional reactive than young people in general, but the latter showed more differentiated response to Chinese versus Western videos. People with higher education levels responded less to happy videos. Finally, emotional reactivity of anger and awe were negatively related to depression level, which was partially consistent with the emotional-context-insensitivity (ECI) hypothesis of depression. Conclusions The results suggest that both Western and Chinese videos could reliably elicit emotion in Chinese people, but videos with local contents were generally more effective. The set of videos can be a useful tool for studying emotion and mental health in the Chinese cultural context.

Miswak starch-based gel as topical preparation for potential management of infective ulceration

Salvadora persica or Miswak is known for its antibacterial activities towards various bacteria species, including several oral pathogens. Although Miswak has many therapeutic potentials, the delivery medium is vital to ensure that the desired effects can be delivered to the target site. Ideally, starch is a biopolymer that exhibits muco-adhesive property, suitable as topical delivery material. Hence, this study was done to develop starch-based gel for Miswak antibacterial compound delivery system. In this study, Miswak hexane extract was incorporated into starch-based gels and stored at 4⁰C and room temperature. Miswak gel was tested for its antibacterial activity, and its stability was monitored by visual observation. As a result, the mean inhibitory zones of Miswak gels were found to be 22.67 ± 3.79 mm (4°C) and 20.67 ± 2.08 mm (room temperature) at day-1. The inhibitory zone decreased after 30 days with 13.00 ± 2.52 mm (4°C), and 12.00 ± 1.00 mm (room temperature). It was observed that the gels were stable where there were no colour changes, no phase separation and degradation, visualised up to day-60. In conclusion, the starch-based gel is a suitable delivery system for Miswak extract, thus as potential management for infective ulceration.

Double-Dielectric Microstrip Ultrahigh-Frequency Antenna for Digital Terrestrial Television

In many countries, terrestrial broadcasting is the main delivery medium for television. In this paper, we propose a small-volume practical receiving antenna. Our design consists of a linear array of three vertically placed patch antennas which increase antenna gain. The antenna has a double-dielectric substrate (FR4 + air) in order to increase efficiency and bandwidth. In this paper, we also discuss simulations and practical results, and demonstrate that the proposed double-dielectric microstrip antenna is a viable design choice for digital terrestrial TV (DTT) reception. The designed antenna reached a gain of 10.5 dBi at the desired central frequency of 754 MHz.

Isoprenoid-chained lipid EROCOC17+4: a new matrix for membrane protein crystallization and a crystal delivery medium in serial femtosecond crystallography

In meso crystallization of membrane proteins relies on the use of lipids capable of forming a lipidic cubic phase (LCP). However, almost all previous crystallization trials have used monoacylglycerols, with 1-(cis-9-octadecanoyl)-rac-glycerol (MO) being the most widely used lipid. We now report that EROCOC17+4 mixed with 10% (w/w) cholesterol (Fig. 1) serves as a new matrix for crystallization and a crystal delivery medium in the serial femtosecond crystallography of Adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR). The structures of EROCOC17+4-matrix grown A2AR crystals were determined at 2.0 Å resolution by serial synchrotron rotation crystallography at a cryogenic temperature, and at 1.8 Å by LCP-serial femtosecond crystallography, using an X-ray free-electron laser at 4 and 20 °C sample temperatures, and are comparable to the structure of the MO-matrix grown A2AR crystal (PDB ID: 4EIY). Moreover, X-ray scattering measurements indicated that the EROCOC17+4/water system did not form the crystalline LC phase at least down to − 20 °C, in marked contrast to the equilibrium MO/water system, which transforms into the crystalline LC phase below about 17 °C. As the LC phase formation within the LCP-matrix causes difficulties in protein crystallography experiments in meso, this feature of EROCOC17+4 will expand the utility of the in meso method.

Efficient, Non-Viral and Reproducible Protocol for Stable Knockdown of Genes in Mantle Cell Lymphoma Cell Lines

Introduction The biological role of specific genes can be investigated using gene silencing by cell transfection with small interfering RNA (siRNA), which leads to degradation of the corresponding mRNA and reduced target protein expression. The study of biological functions in modified cell cultures often requires a long-lasting knockdown (KD) of gene expression, which can be obtained by viral delivery of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9 systems. However, these methods are laborious and require high level of laboratory safety. Hematopoietic cells, typically grown in suspension, are known to be difficult to transfect. Previous efforts to transfect lymphocytes using liposomes (H Guven et al, ExpHem2005) showed limited transfection efficiencies of only 10-30%. Transfection by electroporation leads to decreased viability, and therefore poses a risk of unintentional selection of cell subsets. Transfection of leukemia cells with siRNAs using Accell siRNA Delivery Media showed KD efficiencies of 56-65% and a viability of 57-95% (H Larsen et al,ExpHem2011). However, this was only investigated 24-72h post-transfection. By whole transcriptome sequencing, we previously identified a number of candidate genes, includingLILRA4, PTPRJ and SYNE2, which were significantly upregulated in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) cells compared to B cells from healthy donors (MH Hansen et al, ExpHem 2020). To investigate the biological function of these genes, an efficient and stable KD was required. Aim The aim of this study was to identify the most effective non-viral method for siRNA-mediated knockdown in MCL cells. Methods The MCL cell lines Mino, Jeko-1 and Granta 519, were transfected using three different methodologies; Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen), Electroporation with Amaxa Nucleofector (Lonza), and Accell siRNA Delivery Media (Dharmacon). For Accell delivery a pool of 4 siRNAs targeting each gene was used (SMARTpool siRNA, Dharmacon). For the others, 2 pre-designed siRNAs (Ambion) targeting each gene were used. For all, a positive control siRNA targetingGAPDHwas included and different conditions tested e.g. siRNA concentration, incubation time and addition of serum. KD efficiency was evaluated by qPCR usingABLandGUSreference genes. Viability of cells was measured either by flow cytometry staining with a live/dead marker or by trypan blue. Optimization of the Accell protocol was performed in Granta 519 cells transfected with SMARTpool siRNAs targeting eitherSYNE2,LILRA4,orGAPDH. KD efficiency was evaluated with qPCR and viability was counted with trypan blue. Results Using Lipofectamine, at 24h a non-reproducible and non-efficient KD (<40%) was achieved forLILRA4in the Jeko-1 cell line, while only 5-22% gene silencing was achieved for Mino. Using electroporation, a KD efficiency of 45-70% was achieved in Mino at 24h forGAPDH,LILRA4andPTPRJ, while inferior efficiency (<15%) and viability were observed in Jeko-1 cells. However, in the Mino cell line,PTPRJwas almost fully re-expressed (80% expression) after 48h. Using transfection with Accell delivery medium,GAPDH,LILRA4,andPTPRJwere successfully knocked down in all tested cell lines with a median efficiency of 75% (range 50%-98%) after 72h. When performing KD in Accell delivery medium, the viability of the cells decreased after 72h and dropped to 26-39% at day 5 and 6, and a decrease was found in the total number of cells, suggesting that proliferation may also be affected. By adding 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) to this medium after 48h, the viability was kept above 66.7% for up to 6 days, and the total number of cells was comparable to that observed in normal culture medium, while the KD efficiency was still preserved. In Ganta 519 cells with addition of FBS, an average KD efficiency of 67% was achieved forLILRA4(range 56-72%) at 72h-5 days, while the average KD efficiency ofSYNE2was 77% (range: 67-95%) at 72h-5 days. Conclusion This study propose that transfection with SMARTpool siRNAs in Accell Delivery Medium with addition of 10% FBS 48h post transfection is an applicable procedure for siRNA-mediated KD in MCL suspension cell lines. This protocol permits efficient, non-viral, and stable KD across different MCL cell lines without affecting the cells' ability to proliferate and survive, and is therefore suitable for investigating biological processes. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.