New approach to analyse spin probe and spin trap ESR

The goal of this thesis is to develop new comprehensive methods for the analysis of ESR spectra and interpretation of magnetic parameters. A new approach for the analysis of fast isotropic spectra is proposed. It is based on a combination of an experimental approach (multifrequency ESR) and accurate spectra simulation using an improved model, that will be further introduced below. The determined magnetic parameters of the spin probe are directly interpreted in terms of structural information about the spin probe surroundings (lipid bilayer). The obtained magnetic parameters of various spin traps are interpreted by artificial neural networks (ANN) in order to obtain information about the identities of trapped radicals. Then, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations are applied to study the mechanism of reactions involving free radicals detected by spin trapping ESR and to calculate magnetic parameters of the radical adducts. <br/

Zonal Velocity Bands and the Solar Activity Cycle

We compare the zonal flow pattern in subsurface layers of the Sun with the distribution of surface magnetic features like sunspots and polar faculae. We demonstrate that in the activity belt, the butterfly pattern of sunspots coincides with the fast stream of zonal flows, although part of the sunspot distribution does spill over to the slow stream. At high latitudes, the polar faculae and zonal flow bands have similar distributions in the spatial and temporal domains.Comment: To appear in Solar Physic

Career Choice With the Serious Game Like2be

Choosing a career is an important biographical event for adolescents. Toward the end of compulsory education, they must decide which career path they want to pursue. The serious game like2be was developed to support adolescents in this individual career choice process. In a quasi-experimental intervention study with 809 adolescents, like2be was evaluated for its effectiveness in career choice classes at the lower secondary level. In addition, a teaching concept for the application of the serious game which included additional teaching materials was analyzed. The data show that like2be is an effective medium for broadening personal career choice horizons, especially when it is pedagogically well-founded and integrated into career choice classes. Although the effectiveness of like2be in stimulating intensive reflection on one's own vocational aptitude or a gender-sensitive attitude towards occupations is limited, the present study shows that like2be has major potential for supporting the process of career choice among adolescents

The 35S U5 snRNP is generated from the activated spliceosome during In vitro splicing

Primary gene transcripts of eukaryotes contain introns, which are removed during processing by splicing machinery. Biochemical studies In vitro have identified a specific pathway in which introns are recognised and spliced out. This occurs by progressive formation of spliceosomal complexes designated as E, A, B, and C. The composition and structure of these spliceosomal conformations have been characterised in many detail. In contrast, transitions between the complexes and the intermediates of these reactions are currently less clear. We have previously isolated a novel 35S U5 snRNP from HeLa nuclear extracts. The protein composition of this particle differed from the canonical 20S U5 snRNPs but was remarkably similar to the activated B* spliceosomes. Based on this observation we have proposed a hypothesis that 35S U5 snRNPs represent a dissociation product of the spliceosome after both transesterification reactions are completed. Here we provide experimental evidence that 35S U5 snRNPs are generated from the activated B* spliceosomes during In vitro splicing

Spin-transfer mechanism of ferromagnetism in polymerized fullerenes: AbinitioAb initio calculations

A mechanism of the high temperature ferromagnetism in polymerized fullerenes is suggested. It is assumed that some of the C$_{60}$ molecules in the crystal become magnetically active due to spin and charge transfer from the paramagnetic impurities (atoms or groups), such as hydrogen, fluorine, hydroxyl group OH, amino group NH$_2$, or methyl group CH$_3$, dispersed in the fullerene matrix. The exchange interaction between the spins localized on the magnetically active fullerenes is evaluated using \textit{ab initio} calculations. The nearest neighbour and next nearest neighbour exchange interaction is found to be in the range $0.1\div 0.3$ eV, that is, high enough to account for the room temperature ferromagnetism.Comment: typos corrected, 8 pages, 3 figures, LaTe

Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Serious Gaming in the Field of Vocational Orientation

This study investigates the effectiveness of the serious game like2be, which has been developed to support the individual career orientation process of adolescents by broadening their occupational horizon. In this paper, we present results from an intervention study with n = 809 adolescents in Swiss schools at the lower secondary education level. To analyze the extent to which cognitive, affective, and motivational factors are stimulated and what influence they have on expanding knowledge about occupations (measured learning outcome), we applied confirmatory factor analysis, multiple linear regression, and a structural equation model. The results indicate that the stimulation of cognitive processes through serious gaming has a statistically significant impact on learning outcome, although such factors as enjoyment, flow experience, or self-perceived benefits in playing like2be did not significantly impact gain in knowledge about occupations

Values in the School Curriculum from Teachers' Perspective: A mixed-methods Study

The transmission of human values plays a key role in the educational landscape around the world (Matthes, 2014; Beck, 1990; Halstead, 1996), and educational frameworks (c.f. OECD , 2019; Council of Europe , 2016) as well as national school curricula (c.f. National Curriculum , Ofsted, 2018 ; Lehrplan 21 , D -EDK, 2016) are based on values that are considered important. However, empirical research into how values are structurally reflected in school curricula and how these values are perceived in the school environment by teachers is very limited. This mixed-methods study is the first of its kind to provide findings based on data from Switzerland, where a new comprehensive curriculum has recently been introduced. Schwartz's theory of basic human values (1992), the most widely researched values framework, serves as its conceptual framework. A Qualitative Content Analysis of the Swiss educational curriculum ( Lehrplan 21 , D -EDK, 2016) revealed a wealth of references to values, with a focus on values belonging to Schwartz' higher order values Openness to Change (Basic values: Self-Direction and Stimulation ), Conservation ( Tradition, Conformity and Security ) and Self-Transcendence ( Benevolence and Universalism ). On the other hand, values belonging to the higher order value of Self-Enhancement ( Power and Achievement ) did not play an important role in the investigated curriculum. In a complementary quantitative study, the value statements from the Swiss educational curriculum were embedded in a questionnaire, which 108 (102 female (94.4%), 6 male (5.6%)) primary school teachers completed with regard to how they perceive the value-oriented curricular contents in their school environment. Multidimensional Scaling revealed that teachers' perception of value-oriented curricular contents in their school environment was structured alongside Schwartz's motivational continuum of values, with values of Openness to Change being opposed to values of Conservation , and values of Self-Transcendence being opposed to values of Self-Enhancement

The relationship between young children’s personal values and their teacher-rated behaviors in the classroom

There has been little research on the relationships between children’s personal values and the behaviors that express such values in the school context. In the present study, we examined for the first time with children at this young age, the relations between values and their value-related behaviors, i.e., supportive, disciplined, learning-oriented, and achievement-oriented, in the primary school context. The sample consisted of 952 primary school children (51.5% boys; Mage = 7.93; SD = 0.35). Data used in this study were collected in 2022 in Switzerland. A multilevel analysis confirmed the hypothesis that systematic relationships between values and teacher-rated behaviors can be demonstrated with young children. However, gender was the strongest predictor of teacher-rated children’s classroom behaviors. The results highlight the significance of understanding children’s value-behavior relations, teachers’ possible gender stereotypes of children’s behaviors, and its practical importance in the school context

Surface photometry of new nearby dwarf galaxies

We present CCD surface photometry of 16 nearby dwarf galaxies, many of which were only recently discovered. Our sample comprises both isolated galaxies and galaxies that are members of nearby galaxy groups. The observations were obtained in the Johnson B and V bands (and in some cases in Kron-Cousins I). We derive surface brightness profiles, total magnitudes, and integrated colors. For the 11 galaxies in our sample with distance estimates the absolute B magnitudes lie in the range of -10>Mb>-13. The central surface brightness ranges from 22.5 to 27.0 mag/sq.arcsec. Most of the dwarf galaxies show exponential light profiles with or without a central light depression. Integrated radial color gradients, where present, appear to indicate a more centrally concentrated younger population and a more extended older population.Comment: accepted by A&

ЕКОНОМІЧНА ЕФЕКТИВНІСТЬ ХІМІЧНОЇ МЕЛІОРАЦІЇ ФОСФОГІПСОМ НА ІРИГАЦІЙНО СОЛОНЦЮВАТИХ ЧОРНОЗЕМАХ

Irrigation is a major method for the intensification of agriculturalproduction. Irrigation loses its influence in conditions of soil salinityirrigation soils, where the average yield is reduced by 20-40%.Chemical melioration leads increases of crop yields with parallelimprovement of physicochemical properties and soil fertility, whichmakes it possible to obtain high yields with conditions of irrigationsalinization for the production of necessary products for thepopulation, effective economic development of the country andreproduction of the main resource potential: soils. In our experiments, when the phosphogypsum was introduced as a chemical reclamation element, the yield of crops increased with increasing of the norm introduction.Irrigation, as well as without him, received the greatest revenues with introduction of phosphogypsum in autumn under basic tillage at the norm of 6 t/ha – 1539 grn. on 1 ha at reintroduction ofphosphogypsum in the first year of the aftereffect. Irrigation increases the intensification of farming, but, as our studies have shown, not on salinizated soils. With Irrigation the crop productivity of spring barley increased by 5.9 centners per ha, corn for grain – by 15.4 centners per ha compared to unirrigated control. The introduction of phosphogypsum from irrigation increased the crop productivity of winter wheat to 47.8-52.0 centners per ha (increase of 4-7% compared to control). The crop productivity of spring barley under irrigated conditions during chemical melioration by phosphogypsum increased from 32.9 centners per ha at the control to 36.9 centners per ha when the phosphogypsum was introduced in autumn under the basic soil tillage at a norm of 6 t/ha (increase by 10.8%). Whereas in unirrigated variants winter wheat crop productivity values with chemical melioration variably differ from each other (observation in 2012 and 2013), with irrigation these indexes are somewhat smoothed by better dissolving of remanufactured remnants and assimilation of nutrient elements by plants.Most economic efficiency of using phosphogypsum observed withnorm of 3 t/ha under cultivation in the spring while without irrigation the best results were with introduction the phosphogypsum in autumn under the basic tillage of soil at the norm of 6 t/ha.Орошение является основным мероприятием интенсификациисельскохозяйственного производства. Орошение теряет свое влияние в условиях ирригационного осолонцевания почв, где в среднем урожайности снижаются на 20-40%. Химическая мелиорация приводит к повышению урожайности сельскохозяйственных культур с параллельным улучшением физико-химических свойств и плодородия почв.В наших опытах при внесении фосфогипса как химического мелиоранта урожайность сельскохозяйственных культур увеличивалась при увеличении нормы внесения. При орошении и без него наибольшую выручку получили при внесении фосфогипса осенью под основное возделывание почвы нормой 6 т/га – 1539 грн. на 1 га при повторном внесении фосфогипса на первый год последействия.Наибольшая экономическая эффективность использования фосфогипса наблюдается при норме 3 т/га под культивацию весной при орошении, тогда как без орошения лучшие результаты были при внесении фосфогипса осенью под основное возделывание почвы нормой 6 т/а.Приріс урожайності сільськогосподарських культур під впливомхімічної меліорації фосфогіпсом різними розрахунковими дозамипри зрошенні та без нього. Економічна ефективність внесення фосфогіпсу