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This research was conducted to improve students' reading comprehension of English narrative texts through problem-based learning at SMAN 5 Tasikmalaya Class X in the 2022/2023 academic year. This research is concerned with how using problem-based learning can improve students' reading comprehension of narrative texts. This research uses classroom action research. This is carried out in two cycles. Data can be classified into qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative data was analyzed using observation and interviews. Quantitative data was analyzed using students' pretest and posttest scores. Based on qualitative data, this research found that the use of problem-based learning can effectively improve students' reading comprehension. Students can obtain information from the text well. The reading text provided can make students feel interested and can improve their ability to analyze the text. As a result, they perform better understanding. The findings of this research are also supported by the results of the average student reading comprehension score which increased well from 68 in cycle I to 80 in cycle II. In short, the use of problem-based learning can improve students' reading comprehension of narrative texts.

Suraj Kumar Chaurasiya,1,2 Ashi Khurana,3 Tanvi Soni3 1Department of Optometry and Vision Science, CL Gupta Eye Institute, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India; 2Department of Contact Lens and Anterior Segment, CL Gupta Eye Institute, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India; 3Department of Ophthalmology, Anterior Segment and Refractive Services, CL Gupta Eye Institute, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaCorrespondence: Suraj Kumar Chaurasiya, Assistant Professor and Consultant Optometrist, C L Gupta Eye Institute, Ram Ganga Vihar Phase II (Extn), Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, 244001, India, Tel +91-8809893186, Email csurajk414@gmail.com

The multiplicity of semiotic resources employed in communication, the rapid advancement of information, communication, and technology (ICT), and burgeoning interdisciplinary research into multimodality have led to a paradigmatic shift from a mono-modal to the multimodal perspective of communication. Conversely, actualising multimodal concepts in teaching and learning practises remains underexplored, notably in developing the students’ multimodal communicative competence (MCC). For this reason, this study endeavoured to probe genre-based multimodal text analysis in fostering the students’ MCC. Grounded on Action Research (AR), the present study facilitated students to cultivate their MCC through the activities of Genre-based multimodal text analysis (hereafter, GBMTA). Practically speaking, students performed the analysing practises in the course at an English Education Department of a state university in Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia, namely Grammar in Multimodal Discourse (GiMD. Four Indonesian EFL students were recruited as the participants. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed with thematic analysis. The findings showed that the students could: (1) build their knowledge on multimodality, (2) engage with theoretical and practical learning activities, (3) assign analytical and reflective task-based learning activities, and (4) provide constructive feedback about their learning performances, and (5) raise awareness of the contributions of multimodality to prospective English teachers’ competences. The main implication of this study is the promotion of increased awareness of deploying multimodal aspects to English language teaching, learning, and investigative practises to attain optimum MCC.

Social forestry symbolizes a sustainable forest management strategy, where local communities are important in strengthening socio-economic aspects, namely welfare and environmental sustainability. Increasing community welfare depends on collective efforts of social forestry, regional regulations, institutional structures, and cooperative with various stakeholders. Subsequent analysis employed the stakeholder analysis model, which scrutinizes stakeholders' roles in natural resource management. The examination compares roles outlined in policy with stakeholders' actual engagement. Consequently, the research provides insights into how stakeholders contribute to social forestry business development based on two critical factors: interest and influence. Results indicate that stakeholders' roles and contributions are substantially influenced by policy, especially concerning their interests and impact on community business ventures in social forestry. Stakeholder analysis reveals that governmental bodies, as mandated by policy, predominantly occupy quadrant II, tasked with aiding community groups in advancing social forestry businesses. However, quadrant I also encompasses governmental entities, albeit with limited involvement in community group activities. QuadrantsIII and IV underscore the diverse roles stakeholders assume within their respective domains, reflecting their interests and influence on business development initiatives to empower the community and improve the livelihood. This research aims to formulate tactics to enhance stakeholder involvement in implementing nation policies for fostering social forestry enterprises within the FMU South Bandung. The tactics need support of each party, especially the social forestry regulation in developing the business and capacity agency in measurement of accessible market, business plan, valuable product and good forest institutions.

It is important to explain community forestry entrepreneurship in the context of community forest management, which continues to develop as social entrepreneurship that can increase sources of livelihood and environmental benefits. This study adapted the concept of community capital to explain the level of entrepreneurial capital and its influence on the performance of the Social Forestry Entrepreneurial Group (SFEG) through a quantitative approach by collecting data from Focus Group Discussions (FGD), interviews, observations, and literature studies. Data analysis was used with scoring, categorizing, and multiple regression analysis. The results of this study reveal the level of entrepreneurial capital in SFEG in the low to very high category is directly proportional to the simultaneous effect on performance. Natural capital, finance capital, and political capital significantly influence socioeconomic and environmental performance; political capital increases social capital, physical capital, and human capital. SFEG based on forest resource commodities as a source of livelihood needs to get attention, including increasing human capital in the form of intensive skills through a mentoring process by officers and easy access to funding sources through government policies.

ABSTRACT The annual meeting for the Intermountain Branch was held in April 2024 on the campus of Brigham Young University. There were 127 branch members from Utah, Idaho, and Nevada who attended the meeting and were composed of undergraduate students, graduate or medical students, and faculty. This report highlights the diversity of, and the emerging trends in, the research conducted by American Society for Microbiology members in the Intermountain Branch.

Multimodality has gained burgeoning attention among scholars from miscellaneous disciplines, such as Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Semiotics, Sociology, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, and Language Pedagogy. Nevertheless, little is known about the issue of what teaching materials students need to develop their multimodal literacy, notably in the Indonesian EFL milieu. Hence, this case study addresses this void by examining what type of teaching materials university undergraduate students need to cultivate their multimodal literacy. This study involved 99 undergraduate students from three diverse classes as the participants. The data were garnered through a qualitative survey and semi-structured interviews. They were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun Clarke, 2006). The findings outlined the needed multimodal teaching materials by the students encompass praxis-oriented multimodal teaching materials, awareness-raising multimodal teaching materials, academic and professional orientation of multimodal teaching materials, simplified and understandable multimodal teaching materials, critical multimodal teaching materials, and visual-verbal relation-informed teaching materials. The shifting needs of communication, literacy, and 21st-century learning skills remain crucial as a nexus between literacy policies and practices in higher education contexts, especially in Indonesia. More importantly, this study attempts to promote the magnitude of multimodal literacy in language education.

Stakeholders are involved in the management of the Forest Management Unit (FMU) Batutegi, including the marketing of non-timber forest products (NTFP). The performance of NTFP marketing in the FMU Batutegi currently has not provided optimal benefits, especially for forest farmers. Stakeholders have divergent interests and influence in NTFP marketing. The research aimed to analyze the interests and influence of each stakeholder and the relationship between stakeholders in the marketing of NTFP. Data collection was carried out through observation and interviews. Interviews were conducted with informants and stakeholders. The scoring method was used in this study. Data and information were analyzed qualitatively. The study results showed that the marketing of NTFP in the FMU Batutegi involves 15 stakeholders. There are 11 parties with moderately high interest and 8 parties with moderately high influence. FMU Batutegi is the most responsible party or central actor in NTFP marketing because it has relationships with important stakeholders, has the most relationships, and can control the flow of information in the network. The method’s usefulness for understanding stakeholders’ position in NTFP marketing. The study result is expected to be utilized by policymakers to facilitate cooperation between stakeholders to achieve optimal NTFP marketing performance. Keywords: FMU Batutegi, marketing, non-timber forest products, stakeholders

Introduction: CNS tumor is the primary concern of neurosurgeons as well as neurosurgical patients, accounting for approximately 20% of all childhood malignancies and 10% of cases in young adults. Brain tumors are the second most common malignancies and the most common solid tumor seen during childhood. Material and methods: The present study was conducted in the department of neurosurgery, NHL municipal medical college & V S Hospital - Ahmedabad, Gujarat. In present study all patients who underwent craniotomy and excision / decompression of high grade glioma (glioblastoma multiforme & its variants) during the period of october 2014 to January 2017 were included for the prospective analysis. Results: In present study of 50 cases of High grade gliomas(GBM) - tumor incidence in single lobe is 58% of which in frontal lobe 36%, Temporal lobe 14%, parietal lobe5%, occipital lobe 2% and in multiple lobe it is 30 % with maximum share of frontotemporal and parietooccipital lobe 8% each. Incidence in deep structures eg. Thalamus, basal ganglion is 8% and in posterior fossa it is 4%. Conclusion:The factors that were independently associated with decreased functional independence were: older age at the time of surgery, coexistent Cardiovascular disease and incurring a new postoperative motor deficit. A decline in functional status was independently associated with tumor recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: High grade gliomas display extensive morphological and molecular heterogenicity, and thus may reflect their origin from different population of astrocytes, and possibly from oligodendrocytic and ependymal cell lineages. Material and methods: The present study was conducted in the department of neurosurgery, NHL municipal medical college & V S Hospital - Ahmedabad, Gujarat. In present study all patients who underwent craniotomy and excision / decompression of high grade glioma (glioblastoma multiforme & its variants) during the period of october 2014 to January 2017 were included for the prospective analysis. Results: By frontal approach, 18% patients by parieto-occipital & 12% patients by temporo-parietal craniectomy/craniotomy approach. 8% patients were operated by fronto-parietal & another 8% patients by parietal, 4% by temporal approach. SuboccipitalCraniectomy was done in 2 patients. Conclusion: Median survival in our study was 12.7 months (51weeks) with maximum survival of those patient who were younger (<35 Yr), good preop condition with KPS score (>80), having near total resection and postoperatively took both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Adjuvant chemotherapy following radiotherapy provided survival advantage 3.36 months in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Batutegi PFMU has much potential for NTFPs, which have been developed in coffee, palm sugar, and honey. The marketing of NTFPs needs attention because what often happens is inefficient marketing, so it doesn’t provide additional income for the community. This study aimed to identify marketing channels, functions, and efficiency based on marketing margins, farmers’ share, and profit-to-cost ratio. There are three marketing channels for coffee, two for palm sugar, and three for honey. The marketing functions performed by farmers, collectors, wholesalers, exporters, KUPS, cooperatives, and resellers are exchange, physical, and facilitation functions. Channel 1 palm sugar is an efficient marketing channel with a marketing margin of IDR 13,724.19 per kilogram, a farmer’s share of 100%, a profit ratio of 15.03, and marketing channel 1 honey with a marketing margin of IDR 224,112.70 per kilogram (Trigona honey), and IDR 124,494.35 per kilogram (Cerana and Dorsata honey), a farmer’s share of 100%, and profit ratio of 10.21 (Trigona honey) and 6.47 (Cerana and Dorsata honey).

Pronunciation has regained its existence in the investigative attempts in the areas of TESOL, Sociolinguistics, and Intercultural Communication. This burgeoning growth has proven the importance of pronunciation teaching and learning, notable in this technology-based language learning era. However, little attention has been given to the description of how the participant learned English pronunciation through internet-based video lessons (IBVL). Hence, this study addressed the void. Avril (a senior high school student in Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia) was recruited as the investigative participant. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed with Thematic Analysis. The findings reported that she learned English pronunciation by imitating the English tutor of the MmmEnglish channel. She learned by applying three main stages, namely listening and reading, listening and repeating, and shadowing.

The Nepalese in the United States of America (USA) are an emerging diasporic community. In spite of the phenomenal growth of the Nepalese diaspora in the USA in the last more than two decades, little is known about this new diasporic community, especially regarding how the Nepalese adapt to American life. This study documents the rapid growth in Nepalese immigration to the USA in the twenty-first century, based on data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Using the data from an online survey, it analyzes the experiences of the Nepalese in cultural adaptation, structural adaptation, marital adaptation, identificational adaptation, and receptional adaptation. The results show that although the Nepalese have become partly assimilated to American culture, they still to a large extent retain their ethnic culture, ethnic association, ethnic identity, and ethnic marital partners, and they have had mixed experiences of prejudice and discrimination. The findings have significant scholarly and practical implications.

Recently, multimodality has attracted the attention of researchers, notably in the educational milieu. However, only a few studies reported on the way students perceived the use of Genre-Based Multimodal Texts Analysis (GBMTA) for teaching multimodality. After addressing the gap, this study focuses on students’ perceptions on the use of GBMTA in multimodality teaching in higher education. Sixty-nine students were involved in the study. Each of the students produced one journal through three meetings. The journals were then collected for document analysis and thematic analysis (Braun Clarke, 2006). The findings reveal that the students perceived GBMTA as facilitating them in the building of multimodal discourse analysis, challenges and solutions of comprehending multimodal teaching materials, planning better learning strategies in the future, engagement on multimodal learning issues, and multimodal text analysis practices. This study contributes to multimodality teaching or multimodal discourse analysis within genre-based learning.

The enzymatic saccharification of sugarcane bagasse was significantly increased by alkali pretreatment under mild conditions. The effectiveness of different concentrations of alkali and acid pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse for improving the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulose has been evaluated. The sugarcane bagasse was characterized to contain 39.52% celluloses, 25.63% hemicelluloses, and 30.36% lignin. After that, sugarcane bagasse was pretreated with 5 and 10% of H2SO4 and NaOH at 121°C for 60 min. FTIR, XRD, and SEM analyses also showed significant molecular and surface structure changes of the sugarcane bagasse with 10% NaOH. Maximum saccharification was 489.5 mg/g from 10% NaOH pretreatment followed by 322.75, 301.25, and 276.6 mg/g from 10% H2SO4, 5% NaOH, and 5% H2SO4, respectively, which were 55.1, 32.0, 27.1, and 20.6 times higher than the that of the control. Cellulase and xylanase produced by Pseudomonas sp. CVB-10 (MK443365) and Bacillus paramycoides T4 (MN370035) were used to hydrolyze the pretreated bagasse, and the optimal condition was determined to be 30 h of the enzymatic reaction with the 3:1 ratio of enzymes under the temperature of 55°C, pH 5.0, and substrate concentration of 3%, leading to celluloses and hemicelluloses conversion in the enzymatic hydrolysis/saccharification that is more proficient.

Within minutes after emission, rapid, complex photochemistry within a biomass burning smoke plume can cause large changes in the concentrations of ozone (O3) and organic aerosol (OA). Being able to understand and simulate this rapid chemical evolution under a wide variety of conditions is a critical part of forecasting the impact of these fires on air quality, atmospheric composition, and climate. Here we use version 2.1 of the Aerosol Simulation Program (ASP) to simulate the evolution of O3 and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) within a young biomass burning smoke plume from the Williams prescribed burn in chaparral, which was sampled over California in November 2009. We demonstrate the use of a method for simultaneously accounting for the impact of the unidentified semi-volatile to extremely low volatility organic compounds (here collectively called "SVOCs") on the formation of OA (using the Volatility Basis Set) and O3 (using the concept of mechanistic reactivity). We show that this method can successfully simulate the observations of O3, OA, PAN, NOx, and C2H4 to within measurement uncertainty using reasonable assumptions about the chemistry of the unidentified SVOCs. These assumptions were: (1) a reaction rate constant with OH of ~ 10-11 cm³ s-1, (2) a significant fraction (~ 50 %) of the RO2 + NO reaction resulted in fragmentation, rather than functionalization, of the parent SVOC, (3) ~ 1.1 molecules of O3 were formed for every molecule of SVOC that reacted, (4) ~ 60 % of the OH that reacted with the unidentified SVOCs was regenerated as HO2, and (5) that ~ 50% of the NO that reacted with the SVOC peroxy radicals was lost, presumably to organic nitrate formation. Additional evidence for the fragmentation pathway is provided by the observed rate of formation of acetic acid, which is consistent with our assumed fragmentation rate. This method could provide a way for classifying different smoke plume observations in terms of the average chemistry of their SVOCs, and could be used to study how the chemistry of these compounds (and the O3 and OA they form) varies between plumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]