The purpose of this research was to know the effect of blended learning strategy on learning achievement and science process skills of students in plant tissue culture course in the Universitas Negeri Medan. The research method was quasi experiment. The population of this study was all semester VIII students of biology education program. The study sample consists of two classes, namely: class A known as control class who were taught by conventional learning strategy and class C known as experiment class who were taught by blended learning strategy. They were selected using cluster random sampling technique. The results of the study showed that tcount = 3.769, P= 0.001 at the level significance of 0.05 in learning achievements score. It also showed that tcount = 5.435 > ttable = 1.661 P= 0.001 at the level significance of 0.05 in science process skills score. Based on the study result, it can be concluded the blended learning strategy found significantly more effective in enhancing students' learning achievement and science process skills in plant tissue culture course as compared to the conventional learning strategy.

Doxorubicin is a widely used and promising anticancer drug; however, a severe dose-dependent cardiotoxicity hampers its therapeutic value. Doxorubicin may cause acute and chronic issues, depending on the duration of toxicity. In clinical practice, the accumulative toxic dose is up to 400 mg/m2 and increasing the dose will increase the probability of cardiac toxicity. Several molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of doxorubicin cardiotoxicity have been proposed, including oxidative stress, topoisomerase beta II inhibition, mitochondrial dysfunction, Ca2+ homeostasis dysregulation, intracellular iron accumulation, ensuing cell death (apoptosis and necrosis), autophagy, and myofibrillar disarray and loss. Natural products including flavonoids have been widely studied both in cell, animal, and human models which proves that flavonoids alleviate cardiac toxicity caused by doxorubicin. This review comprehensively summarizes cardioprotective activity flavonoids including quercetin, luteolin, rutin, apigenin, naringenin, and hesperidin against doxorubicin, both in in vitro and in vivo models.

Vernonia amygdalina Delile ( Asteraceae ) is used in traditional medicine to treat diabetes mellitus, and some research provides its activity to treat breast cancer. The aim of this study is to assess the anticancer activity of Vernonia amygdalina Delile leaves fractions on 4T1 breast cancer cells. Analysis of phytochemical compounds were carried out with LC-MS/MS. Cytotoxic activity was determined using the MTT method in the 4T1 cell line. Apoptosis, the cell cycle, and PI3K and mTOR profiles were analyzed with flow cytometry. The phytochemicals found were diterpene (ingenol-3-angelate) and some phenolics (chlorogenic acid and 4-methoxycinnamic acid), flavonoids (apigetrin, apigenin, luteolin, diosmetin, baicalin, rhoifolin, and scutellarin), and coumarines (7-hydroxycoumarine, 4-methylumbelliferone, and 4-methylumbelliferyl glucuronide). The results of the MTT assay showed that the IC 50 values n -hexane fraction, ethylacetate fraction (EAF), and ethanol fractions were 1,860.54 ± 93.11, 25.04 ± 0.36, and 1,940.84 ± 96.37 μg/mL, respectively. EAF induced early and late apoptosis, inhibited cell cycle progression on the G 2 /M phase, and inhibited PI3K and mTOR expression. The EAF of Vernonia amygdalina Delile leaves showed anticancer activity on 4T1 breast cancer cells through induction of apoptosis, enhanced cell accumulation on G 2 /M phases in the cell cycle, and inhibited expression of PI3K and mTOR.

No abstract

Propagation of mangosteen is challenging for many reasons, including limited seed set, slow rate of seedling growth, and difficulty with root formations. The objective of this research was to find the best combination of medium and plant growth regulator for in vitro growth and rooting of mangosteeen seed. Various types of explant (a whole seed; seed divided into 2, 3, and 4 cross sections; seed divided into 2, 3, and 4 longitudinal sections) were treated with five concentrations of benzyl amino purine (BAP; 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 mg/L) for shoot induction in ½ Nitrogen (N) Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium. The shoots were rooted on MS and woody plant medium (WPM) media with several combinations of indole butyric acid (IBA) and naphtalene acetic acid (NAA). Treatments for root induction were applied as follows: (i) low dose, given during induction of rooting, (ii) soaking the base of the shoots in medium treated with a high dose of auxin for 5 days, and then growing the shoots in MS ½ N with 1 mg/L NAA + 1 mg/L BAP medium. Our result show that BAP positively affected mangosteen bud growth. The best medium for mangosteen shoot regeneration was found to be MS ½ N + 5 mg/L BAP. This medium induced the highest number of shoots from the seed explant cut into four cross sections. We found the best medium to induce in vitro rooting of mangosteen shoot was MS ½ N + 3 mg/L indole butiric acid (IBA) + 4 mg/L NAA medium. Some treatment negatively affected growth. Soaking the mangosteen shoot base in a medium with an overly high dose of auxin seemed to disrupt and inhibit growth of the mangosteen shoot.