The Validity of Indonesian Language Teaching Materials through Audio-Based Islamic Stories in Integrated Islamic Primary Schools

This study aims to develop audio-based Islamic story teaching materials in valid Indonesian class III learning using the 4-D research model, which includes four stages, namely: define, design, develop, and disseminate (deployment). The subjects of the trial were 24 students in class III SDIT Al-Bashirah, Palopo city. This study indicates that the teaching materials through audio-based Islamic stories are valid by three validators with several revisions through comments and suggestions from the validators. Recapitulation of the score of the validity of the teaching materials obtained was 0.67. The Aikens coefficient value ranges from 0-1 coefficient of 1 (item 1), and others are considered to have adequate content validity (valid)

Quantum Boltzmann equation for strongly correlated systems: Comparison to dynamical mean field theory

We investigate the potential of a quantum Boltzmann equation without momentum conservation for description of strongly correlated electron systems out of equilibrium. In a spirit similar to dynamical mean field theory (DMFT), the momentum conservation of the electron-electron scattering is neglected, which yields a time-dependent occupation function for the equilibrium spectral function, even in cases where well- defined quasiparticles do not exist. The main assumption of this method is that the spectral function remains sufficiently rigid under the nonequilibrium evolution. We compare the result of the quantum Boltzmann equation to nonequilibrium DMFT simulations for the case of photocarrier relaxation in Mott insulators, where processes on very different timescales emerge, i.e., impact ionization, intra-Hubbard-band thermalization, and full thermalization. Since quantum Boltzmann simulations without momentum conservation are computationally cheaper than nonequilibrium DMFT, this method allows the simulation of more complicated systems or devices, and to access much longer times

A Model for the Development of the Rhizobial and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbioses in Legumes and Its Use to Understand the Roles of Ethylene in the Establishment of these two Symbioses

We propose a model depicting the development of nodulation and arbuscular mycorrhizae. Both processes are dissected into many steps, using Pisum sativum L. nodulation mutants as a guideline. For nodulation, we distinguish two main developmental programs, one epidermal and one cortical. Whereas Nod factors alone affect the cortical program, bacteria are required to trigger the epidermal events. We propose that the two programs of the rhizobial symbiosis evolved separately and that, over time, they came to function together. The distinction between these two programs does not exist for arbuscular mycorrhizae development despite events occurring in both root tissues. Mutations that affect both symbioses are restricted to the epidermal program. We propose here sites of action and potential roles for ethylene during the formation of the two symbioses with a specific hypothesis for nodule organogenesis. Assuming the epidermis does not make ethylene, the microsymbionts probably first encounter a regulatory level of ethylene at the epidermis–outermost cortical cell layer interface. Depending on the hormone concentrations there, infection will either progress or be blocked. In the former case, ethylene affects the cortex cytoskeleton, allowing reorganization that facilitates infection; in the latter case, ethylene acts on several enzymes that interfere with infection thread growth, causing it to abort. Throughout this review, the difficulty of generalizing the roles of ethylene is emphasized and numerous examples are given to demonstrate the diversity that exists in plants

Contribution of NFP LysM Domains to the Recognition of Nod Factors during the Medicago truncatula/Sinorhizobium meliloti Symbiosis

The root nodule nitrogen fixing symbiosis between legume plants and soil bacteria called rhizobia is of great agronomical and ecological interest since it provides the plant with fixed atmospheric nitrogen. The establishment of this symbiosis is mediated by the recognition by the host plant of lipo-chitooligosaccharides called Nod Factors (NFs), produced by the rhizobia. This recognition is highly specific, as precise NF structures are required depending on the host plant. Here, we study the importance of different LysM domains of a LysM-Receptor Like Kinase (LysM-RLK) from Medicago truncatula called Nod factor perception (NFP) in the recognition of different substitutions of NFs produced by its symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti. These substitutions are a sulphate group at the reducing end, which is essential for host specificity, and a specific acyl chain at the non-reducing end, that is critical for the infection process. The NFP extracellular domain (ECD) contains 3 LysM domains that are predicted to bind NFs. By swapping the whole ECD or individual LysM domains of NFP for those of its orthologous gene from pea, SYM10 (a legume plant that interacts with another strain of rhizobium producing NFs with different substitutions), we showed that NFP is not directly responsible for specific recognition of the sulphate substitution of S. meliloti NFs, but probably interacts with the acyl substitution. Moreover, we have demonstrated the importance of the NFP LysM2 domain for rhizobial infection and we have pinpointed the importance of a single leucine residue of LysM2 in that step of the symbiosis. Together, our data put into new perspective the recognition of NFs in the different steps of symbiosis in M. truncatula, emphasising the probable existence of a missing component for early NF recognition and reinforcing the important role of NFP for NF recognition during rhizobial infection

Abrupt Ice Age Shifts in Southern Westerlies and Antarctic Climate Forced from the North

The Southern Hemisphere (SH) mid-latitude westerly winds play a central role in the global climate system via Southern Ocean upwelling, carbon exchange with the deep ocean, Agulhas Leakage, and Antarctic ice sheet stability. Meridional shifts in the SH westerlies have been hypothesized in response to abrupt North Atlantic Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) climatic events of the last ice age, in parallel with the well-documented shifts of the intertropical convergence zone. Shifting moisture pathways to West Antarctica are consistent with this view, but may represent a Pacific teleconnection pattern. The full SH atmospheric-circulation response to the DO cycle, as well as its impact on Antarctic temperature, have so far remained unclear. Here we use five volcanically-synchronized ice cores to show that the Antarctic temperature response to the DO cycle can be understood as the superposition of two modes: a spatially homogeneous oceanic “bipolar seesaw” mode that lags Northern Hemisphere (NH) climate by about 200 years, and a spatially heterogeneous atmospheric mode that is synchronous with NH abrupt events. Temperature anomalies of the atmospheric mode are similar to those associated with present-day Southern Annular Mode (SAM) variability, rather than the Pacific South America (PSA) pattern. Moreover, deuterium excess records suggest a zonally coherent migration of the SH westerlies over all ocean basins in phase with NH climate. Our work provides a simple conceptual framework for understanding the circum-Antarctic temperature response to abrupt NH climate change. We provide observational evidence for abrupt shifts in the SH westerlies, with ramifications for global ocean circulation and atmospheric CO₂. These coupled changes highlight the necessity of a global, rather than a purely North Atlantic, perspective on the DO cycle

Mental Imagery and Visual Working Memory

Visual working memory provides an essential link between past and future events. Despite recent efforts, capacity limits, their genesis and the underlying neural structures of visual working memory remain unclear. Here we show that performance in visual working memory - but not iconic visual memory - can be predicted by the strength of mental imagery as assessed with binocular rivalry in a given individual. In addition, for individuals with strong imagery, modulating the background luminance diminished performance on visual working memory and imagery tasks, but not working memory for number strings. This suggests that luminance signals were disrupting sensory-based imagery mechanisms and not a general working memory system. Individuals with poor imagery still performed above chance in the visual working memory task, but their performance was not affected by the background luminance, suggesting a dichotomy in strategies for visual working memory: individuals with strong mental imagery rely on sensory-based imagery to support mnemonic performance, while those with poor imagery rely on different strategies. These findings could help reconcile current controversy regarding the mechanism and location of visual mnemonic storage

Spatial and temporal specificity of Ca2+signalling inChlamydomonas reinhardtiiin response to osmotic stress

Ca2+-dependent signalling processes enable plants to perceive and respond to diverse environmental stressors, such as osmotic stress. A clear understanding of the role of spatiotemporal Ca2+ signalling in green algal lineages is necessary in order to understand how the Ca2+ signalling machinery has evolved in land plants. We used single-cell imaging of Ca2+-responsive fluorescent dyes in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to examine the specificity of spatial and temporal dynamics of Ca2+ elevations in the cytosol and flagella in response to salinity and osmotic stress. We found that salt stress induced a single Ca2+ elevation that was modulated by the strength of the stimulus and originated in the apex of the cell, spreading as a fast Ca2+ wave. By contrast, hypo-osmotic stress induced a series of repetitive Ca2+ elevations in the cytosol that were spatially uniform. Hypo-osmotic stimuli also induced Ca2+ elevations in the flagella that occurred independently from those in the cytosol. Our results indicate that the requirement for Ca2+ signalling in response to osmotic stress is conserved between land plants and green algae, but the distinct spatial and temporal dynamics of osmotic Ca2+ elevations in C. reinhardtii suggest important mechanistic differences between the two lineages