Estimate of halo ellipticity as a function of radius with flexions

The cold dark matter theory predicts triaxial dark matter haloes. The radial distribution of halo ellipticity depends on baryonic processes and the nature of dark matter particles (collisionless or collisional). Here we show that we can use lensing flexion ratios to measure the halo ellipticity as a function of radius. We introduce a weight function and study the relationship between the first and second order statistics of flexion ratios, both of which can be used to reduce the bias in the estimate of ellipticity. we perform numerical tests for our method, and demonstrate that it can reduce the bias and determine the halo ellipticity as a function of radius. We also point out that the minimum mean flexion ratio can be used to trace the centres of galaxy clusters.Comment: 9 pages,9 figures, MNRAS accepte

Competing voices: Dialogic perspectives on Chinese children’s use of touch screen devices in a New Zealand early childhood education setting

Internationally, preschool children’s use of touch screen devices is increasingly discussed from the perspectives of teachers and or caregivers. However, there is little discussion of this topic from a cross-cultural perspective. Furthermore, children’s own voices on their touch screen experiences are missing in the discourse. This study considers Chinese immigrant preschool children’s experiences of touch screen devices in a New Zealand Early Childhood Education (ECE) setting, aiming to discern the competing Voices of New Zealand ECE teachers, Chinese immigrant caregivers and children themselves. To achieve this aim, initially I sought to understand everyday touch screen use from the perspectives of New Zealand ECE teachers and Chinese immigrant caregivers, then explore children’s voices in this discussion by videoing their engagement with touch screens, and finally explore a possible new layer of competing Voices between adults and children. I set out to interrogate touch screen use by young learners in a social and aesthetic way by applying Mikhail Bakhtin’s dialogic theory to explore the potential for competing voices around preschool children’s touch screen use. I used the genre as my unit of analysis as it allowed me to examine voices, not only through utterances but also gestural expressions across different spaces. I used Heteroglossia as a central framework for analysis because it enabled me to understand multiple voices in social interaction. A visual method was used to collect the data because this method enabled me to see multiple forms of children’s voices in addition to their utterances, and to identify further competing voices through children’s employment of various genres when using touch screens across ECE centre and home contexts. The Voice of conditional support and the Voice of opposition or reluctance were identified as competing Voices within and across New Zealand ECE teachers, and within and across Chinese caregivers. The findings highlight that the Voices of teachers and caregivers in my study are not necessarily in competition with each other, but are instead in competition within and across each group. Six genres were recognised during children’s touch screen use: the adult-led learning genre, the compliance genre, the invisible speaker genre, the child-led learning genre, the resistance genre and the whisper genre. Through these genres, children’s Outside-in Voice and Inside-out Voice were identified according to the source of voices. The Outside-in Voice reflects the influence of adults’ voices on the child, while the Inside-out Voice illustrates the child’s agency in expressing their inner voices. Building on the tension within children’s Voices, a new layer of competing Voices between adults and children was discerned: the Voice of adult power and the Voice of child agency. My findings have implications for children, ECE teachers, caregivers and policymakers. Children could be supported to express their voices on issues that affect their lives and to spend more time on free play. Implications for ECE teachers are that teachers need to be invited and given support to understand the complexity of children’s voices through genres. Teachers need to be helped to appreciate that there are benefits of standing back and giving children space to be creative and learn collaboratively and or independently. Caregivers could be encouraged to relax some of their authority, to listen to children’s voices and to include children’s voices in decision-making on issues that affect them. Caregivers could also consider the conditions they place around their child’s touch screen use such as time limit and the extent of scaffolding. Policymakers would be advised to provide teachers with professional learning and development with regard to how to scaffold children’s touch screen use and digital play into play-based learning. Areas for research include further investigation of the genres children employ during touch screen use and the use of interpretations other than Bakhtinian dialogism to do this. Research could focus on the touch screen learning experiences of a wider group of children, including children who are immigrants and children of different ages in different cultural contexts

A Single-Valued Neutrosophic Linguistic Combined Weighted Distance Measure and Its Application in Multiple-Attribute Group Decision-Making

The aim of this paper is to present a multiple-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) framework based on a new single-valued neutrosophic linguistic (SVNL) distance measure. By unifying the idea of the weighted average and ordered weighted averaging into a single-valued neutrosophic linguistic distance, we first developed a new SVNL weighted distance measure, namely a SVNL combined and weighted distance (SVNLCWD) measure

A phenol-based compartmental ligand as a potential chemosensor for zinc(ii) cations

An "end-off"-type compartmental Lewis base, 2,6-bis(2-hydroxybenzyl-2-hydroxyethylamino)methyl-4-methylphenol (L), was synthesized as a potential chemosensor for Zn2+ ions. L coordinates two Zn2+ cations in methanol-water solution, forming a dinuclear complex whose formulation was confirmed by ESI-MS spectroscopy and Job's plot. The fluorescence of L is remarkably enhanced by Zn2+ as compared with K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Mn2+, Fe3+, Fe2+, Co2+, Cd2+ and Ni2+ ions. The fluorescence enhancement is attributed to the complexation of Zn2+ with L, which interrupts the photoinduced electron transfer process and rigidifies the molecular skeleton of L. The fluorescence of L is greatly dependent on the acidity and polarity of the solvents. This compound may be used as a probe to sense Zn2+ ion in polar protic solvents after proper modification

Multiple pathways of vanadate reduction and denitrification mediated by denitrifying bacterium Acidovorax sp. strain BoFeN1

Contamination of aquifers by a combination of vanadate [V(V)] and nitrate (NO3−) is widespread nowadays. Although bioremediation of V(V)- and nitrate-contaminated environments is possible, only a limited number of functional species have been identified to date. The present study demonstrates the effectiveness of V(V) reduction and denitrification by a denitrifying bacterium Acidovorax sp. strain BoFeN1. The V(V) removal efficiency was 76.5 ± 5.41 % during 120 h incubation, with complete removal of NO3− within 48 h. Inhibitor experiments confirmed the involvement of electron transport substances and denitrifying enzymes in the bioreduction of V(V) and NO3−. Cyt c and riboflavin were important for extracellular V(V) reduction, with quinone and EPS more significant for NO3− removal. Intracellular reductive compounds including glutathione and NADH directly reduce V(V) and NO3−. Reverse transcription quantitative PCR confirmed the important roles of nirK and napA genes in regulating V(V) reduction and denitrification. Bioaugmentation by strain BoFeN1 increased V(V) and NO3− removal efficiency by 55.3 % ± 2.78 % and 42.1 % ± 1.04 % for samples from a contaminated aquifer. This study proposes new microbial resources for the bioremediation of V(V) and NO3−contaminated aquifers, and contributes to our understanding of coupled vanadium, nitrogen, and carbon biogeochemical processes.</p

Niraparib for the treatment of metastatic ccRCC in a patient with CDK12 and RAD51C mutations: a case report

BackgroundNiraparib, a poly ADP-ribose polymerase inhibitors (PARPi), has been widely applied in the intervention of epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer. Nevertheless, as of the present moment, there are limited instances demonstrating favorable outcomes stemming from niraparib therapy in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).Case presentationHere, we report a case of a 50-year-old patient with ccRCC who subsequently developed distant metastasis. The patient received monotherapy with pazopanib and combination therapy with axitinib and tislelizumab, demonstrating limited efficacy. Liquid biopsy revealed missense mutations in the CDK12 and RAD51C of the homologous recombination repair (HRR) pathway, suggesting potential sensitivity to PARPi. Following niraparib treatment, the patient’s condition improved, with no significant side effects.ConclusionIn summary, patients with ccRCC harboring HRR pathway gene mutation may potentially benefit from niraparib. This will present more options for ccRCC patients with limited response to conventional treatments

Promicanje pravedne raspodjele kvalitetnog odgoja i obrazovanja u ranom djetinjstvu u ruralnim i urbanim područjima u Kini: studija slučaja modela ruralno-urbanog kontinuuma

Through the case of the rural-urban continuum model in China, this study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of local government’s policy intervention in promoting equitable quality of early childhood education in rural and urban areas through multi-stakeholders’ voices. With simultaneous mixed method approach and self-developed instruments, the authors collected 891 valid parent questionnaires, 184 teacher questionnaires, 52 observational evaluation scales, and conducted interviews with 13 kindergarten principals and 6 administrators. The data were analysed by SPSS and NVIVO Plus. The findings show that a) rural and urban parents’ satisfaction levels had significant difference in terms of kindergartens’ cost and environment conditions; b) rural and urban teachers exhibited significant difference only when evaluating their professional attitudes and access to material support; c) researchers found no significant difference in quality of play activities and group teaching between rural and urban kindergarten classes, while significant difference was found in child care activities; d) principals perceived positively the effectiveness of the RUC model, yet had big concerns about teachers’ quality, and e) government intervention was proved to be a key factor enhancing equitable quality in rural and urban areas.Cilj ove studije je, putem slučaja trajnog modela ruralno-urbanog razvoja u Kini, glasovima više dionika provesti evaluaciju učinkovitosti intervencija lokalnih vlada na razini politika u promoviranje pravedne kvalitete predškolskog odgoja i obrazovanja u ruralnim i urbanim područjima. Primjenom pristupa istodobno kombiniranih metoda i instrumenata koje su istraživači sami razvili, autori su izradili 891 upitnik za roditelje, 184 upitnika za učitelje, 52 evaluacijska upitnika, te su proveli intervjue s 13 ravnatelja dječjih vrtića i 6 administratora. Podatke su analizirali s pomoću SPSS i NVIVO Plus. Rezultati pokazuju: a) da se razina zadovoljstva cijenom vrtića i uvjetima uvelike razlikuje između ruralnih i urbanih roditelja, b) da se ruralni i urbani učitelji uvelike razlikuju samo u evaluaciji svojih profesionalnih stavova i pristupa materijalnoj podršci, c) da istraživači nisu našli značajne razlike u kvaliteti aktivnosti igara i grupnom podučavanju između sati u ruralnim i urbanim vrtićima; značajne razlike su ustanovljene u aktivnostima skrbi za djecu, d) da ravnatelji učinkovitost modela RUC ocjenjuju pozitivno, no dosta ih se brine o kvaliteti učitelja, e) da su se vladine intervencije pokazale ključnim čimbenikom u povećanju pravedne kvalitete obrazovanja u ruralnim i urbanim područjima

Synthesis of a Bi2O2CO3/ZnFe2O4 heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic activity for visible light irradiation-induced NO removal

Although bismuth subcarbonate (Bi2O2CO3), a member of the Aurivillius-phase oxide family, is a promising photocatalyst for the removal of gaseous NO at parts-per-billion level, the large band gap of this material restricts its applications to the UV light region. The above problem can be mitigated by heterojunction fabrication, which not only broadens the light absorbance range, but also inhibits the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers. Herein, we implement this strategy to fabricate a novel Bi2O2CO3/ZnFe2O4 photocatalyst for NO removal under visible light irradiation and authenticate the formation of the above p-n heterojunction using an array of analytical techniques. Notably, the above composite showed activity superior to those of its individual constituents, and the underlying mechanisms of this activity enhancement were probed by density functional theory calculations and photocurrent measurements. Elevated electron/hole separation efficiency caused by the presence of an internal electric field at the Bi2O2CO3/ZnFe2O4 interface was identified as the main reason of the increased photocatalytic activity, with the main active species were determined as center dot O-2(-) and center dot OH by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Finally, cytotoxicity testing proved the good biocompatibility of Bi2O2CO3/ZnFe2O4. Thus, this work presents deep insights into the preparation and use of a green p-n heterojunction catalyst in various applications