Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Crystal structure of a large cubic tin monosulfide polymorph: an unraveled puzzle

We present the atomic arrangement of 64 atoms within a simple cubic unit cell crystalline structure of lattice constant 11.6 A, observed in tin sulfide (SnS) thin films. Thin films of 260 or 550 nm in thickness were deposited at 17 °C from a chemical bath containing tin(II) chloride and thioacetamide. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of these thin films are consistent with those of a simple cubic structure of lattice constant 11.600 ± 0.025 A (as-prepared) or 11.603 ± 0.007 A (after 400 °C heating). The said recently discovered “π-SnS” structure was adopted from previous reports, using the present, newly acquired experimental data to obtain the atomic positions. This structural assignment unravels a puzzle originated by inconsistencies among the XRD patterns of some SnS thin films and nanocrystals prepared via certain chemical routes, and the zinc blende, rock salt or pseudo-tetragonal structures previously assigned to them. In addition to its relevance as a stable solar cell material, salient features of this SnS polymorph arising from its lack of centro-symmetry are discussed.
On the Rayleigh-Bénard problem in the continuum limit: Effects of temperature differences and model of interaction

The transition to convection in the Rayleigh-Benard problem at small Knudsen numbers is studied via a linear temporal stability analysis of the compressible “slip-flow” problem. Considering a power-law (variable hard-sphere) model of interaction our analysis indicates that for sufficiently large Froude numbers “softer” potentials result in less unstable systems. At small Froude numbers this trend is reversed, i.e., the “softer” interaction potentials correspond to a more unstable response. These results are discussed in terms of the opposing mechanisms of thermal expansion and compressibility. We carry out an asymptotic expansion for small temperature differences and establish the principle of exchange of stabilities for this limit. A singularity appears in this limit when compressibility effects are dominant.
Applicability of Frozen-Viscosity Models of Unsteady Wall Shear Stress

AbstractThe validity of assumed frozen-viscosity conditions underpinning an important class of theoretical models of unsteady wall shear stress in transient flows in pipes and channels is assessed using detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The need for approximate one-dimensional (1D){x,t} models of the wall stress is unavoidable in analyses of transient flows in extensive pipe networks because it would be economically impracticable to use higher order methods of analysis. However, the bases of the various models have never been established rigorously. It is shown herein that a commonly used approach developed by the first authors is flawed in the case of smooth-wall flows although it is more plausible for rough-wall flows. The assessment process is undertaken for a particular, but important, unsteady flow case, namely, a uniform acceleration from an initially steady turbulent flow. First, detailed predictions from a validated CFD method are used to derive baseline solutions with which.
Development and simulation of a passive upper extremity orthosis for amyoplasia

Introduction People who are born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita are typically not able to perform activities of daily living (ADL) due to decreased muscle mass, joint contractures and unnatural upper extremity positioning. They are, therefore, potential users of an assistive device capable of aiding in ADL and increasing their independence. A passive orthosis can support the weight of their arm against gravity, allowing them to perform movements with less effort. Methods This study presents a prototype design with four degrees-of-freedom that uses musculoskeletal modelling to optimize the stiffness of the springs in the device to partially gravity balance the upper extremity while compensating for the usual internally rotated glenohumeral joint. A single subject-specific musculoskeletal model was developed to simulate the effects of the passive orthosis during 10 static postures during ADL. Results For a given configuration using a mono- and a bi-articular spring, the simulations showed that spring stiffnesses of 400 Nm−1 and of 1029 Nm−1, respectively, were able to lower the maximal muscle activity estimated by the musculoskeletal model to a level in which the 10 postures can be realized. Conclusion By augmenting residual muscle strength with a partially gravity-balanced passive orthosis, ADLs may be achievable for people with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita.
Active Collaboration of Classifiers for Visual Tracking

Recently, discriminative visual trackers obtain state-of-the-art performance, yet they suffer in the presence of different real-world challenges such as target motion and appearance changes. In a discriminative tracker, one or more classifiers are employed to obtain the target/nontarget label for the samples, which in turn determine the target ’ s location. To cope with variations of the target shape and appearance, the classifier(s) are updated online with different samples of the target and the background. Sample selection, labeling, and updating the classifier are prone to various sources of errors that drift the tracker. In this study, we motivate, conceptualize, realize, and formalize a novel active co-tracking framework, step by step to demonstrate the challenges and generic solutions for them. In this framework, not only classifiers cooperate in labeling the samples but also exchange their information to robustify the labeling, improve the sampling, and realize efficient yet effective updating. The proposed framework is evaluated against state-of-the-art trackers on public dataset and showed promising results.
Chemical Literacy Levels of Science and Mathematics Teacher Candidates.

The goal of this study was to investigate Turkish science and mathematics teacher candidates’ levels of attainment in chemical literacy. These candidates had all studied the new Turkish chemistry curriculum in high school. The sample of the study consisted of 112 students, who were first-year students in the Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education. The participants’ levels of nominal, functional, conceptual, and multi-dimensional literacy were tested. The data were collected by a questionnaire previously developed and used in the literature. The participants’ levels of nominal and conceptual chemical literacy were found to be satisfactory in terms of the expectations for the new curriculum, but their levels of functional and multi-dimensional were insufficient. These results are discussed in relation to the literature on the new Turkish chemistry curriculum and on chemical literacy more generally.
Issues of Computer Assisted Language Learning Normalization in EFL Contexts

The use of computers in language learning is increased widely in most countries. Many educational institutions all over the world have integrated computer technology into language instruction. However, this integration is not successful in many institutions. There are many issues that hinder the integration of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) into language learning. This paper reports on the literature associated with issues of CALL normalisation. It highlights the issues of CALL normalisation in English as foreign language (EFL) contexts and explores the most important factors to be considered to improve the use of CALL in these contexts. This paper also adds some issues that were not mentioned in the previous studies. It is suggested that for CALL normalisation to be occurred, five major issues should be addressed (i.e., personal, technical, pedagogical, socio-cultural, and institutional). Some suggestions are presented to help CALL to be normalized in EFL contexts.
Effect of microwave radiation on the electrical parameters of soil

The paper presents the study of the effect of microwave radiation on dry soil. For this, five different soil samples were collected from various geographical regions of India. The waveguide cell method was employed for the determination of the storage factor ( e′) and the loss factor ( e″) of the soils. In this paper the methodology of measurement of dielectric constant for unexposed and exposed soils to microwave radiation is given and the results obtained are discussed.
Long-term ammonia exposure of turbot: effects on plasma parameters

Turbot juveniles were exposed to four ammonia concentrations (0·17 (L), 0·34 (M), 0·73 (MH) and 0·88 (H) mg l-1 NH3-N) for different exposure durations (28 days minimum to 84 days). Their physiological status and growth performances were compared to a control group (0·004 (C) mg l-1 NH3-N). No growth was observed in the H group, and by day 57, mass increase in the MH group was only 15% of that in group C. During the first month growth in the L group was similar to that in control group while it was lower (33%) in the M group; afterwards the L and M groups had a similar growth (half that of controls). Accumulation of total ammonia nitrogen (TA-N) in plasma was dependent on ambient ammonia concentrations. Plasma urea levels in ammonia-exposed fish were lower, similar or greater than in controls (depending on ammonia concentration or exposure duration). Osmolarity, Cl- and Na+ plasma concentrations were stable in the L and M groups. The increases in Na+, Cl-, K+ and total Ca concentrations observed by the end of the experiment in the H and MH groups suggest that fish failed to adapt. There was an initial rise in plasma cortisol in all ammonia-exposed groups followed by a return to basal level (1·7-4 ng ml-1) in the L and M groups. In group MH, plasma cortisol peaked at 42 ng ml-1 by day 14, and after a decline at c. 1 month (14 ng ml-1), it rose again.
Embodied Social Cognition and Embedded Theory of Mind

Embodiment and embeddedness define an attractive framework to the study of cognition. I discuss whether theory of mind, i.e. the ability to attribute mental states to others to predict and explain their behaviour, fits these two principles. In agreement with available evidence, embodied cognitive processes may underlie the earliest manifestations of social cognitive abilities such as infants’ selective behaviour in spontaneous-response false belief tasks. Instead, late theory-of-mind abilities, such as the capacity to pass the (elicited-response) false belief test at age four, depend on children’s ability to explain people’s reasons to act in conversation with adults. Accordingly, rather than embodied, late theory-of-mind abilities are embedded in an external linguistic practice.
Efficient Resonant Power Conversion

Power MOSFET's are still not powerful enough for thyristors, but for some applications, their features (such as the controllable turn-off capability) could present an advantage. The major losses in MOS devices are ohmic losses due to the on resistance of the device. The mode of operation and the precise region of improved efficiency are described for series-resonant power converters employing MOS transistors. This paper considers switching frequencies that are higher than the resonant frequency of the LC circuit only. The derived equations are generalized. Plots are used to discuss the selection of the switching frequency to maximize the efficiency. Q1
Communication patterns between internationally adopted children and their mothers: Implications for language development

ABSTRACT This study presents findings on patterns of communication between internationally adopted children and their mothers in order to better understand the nature of these interactions and their influence on language learning. We examined maternal language use and joint attention behaviors of mothers and their children in 21 mother–child pairs: 10 pairs included children adopted from China living in francophone families, and 11 included francophone children living with their biological families; all were matched for socioeconomic status, sex, and age. The children were, on average, 15 months of age at initial testing when they were video-taped with their mothers for purposes of describing the mothers’ language use and the mothers’ and children's joint attention behaviors. Vocabulary development was assessed at 15 and again at 20 months of age using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory. The results support the conclusion that adoptive mothers play an active role in promoting and maintaining joint attention and that the redirecting style they used the most and that correlated with their children's later vocabulary development contrasts with the following style that correlates with vocabulary development in nonadopted children raised in mainstream North American families.
The masked invader strikes again: the conquest of Italy by the Northern raccoon

The Northern raccoon Procyon lotor is a species native to North and Central America, but alien populations have established in Europe, several Caribbean islands, and Japan, being introduced for fur farming, hunting, or as pets/attraction in animal parks. In the introduced range, raccoons may impact on breeding birds and amphibians, exert crop damages and transmit pathologies to wild species and humans. The species has been introduced also in Italy, where the only known reproductive population is observed since 2004 in Lombardy, along the Adda river. We reconstructed the current distribution range of the Northern raccoon in Italy, collecting information from scientific papers, articles in newspapers and books, as well from experts and local reporters. A total of 53 occurrence points were collected from 38 observation sites. Since 2008, records from Lombardy increased, and sporadic observations were reported from seven other regions. A complete lack of records from the Northernmost provinces of Lombardy (Varese, Como and Sondrio) suggests that the only Italian population does not derive from a range expansion from Switzerland, but it should be considered as an independent, new introduction. Accidental observations of single individuals possibly escaped from captivity are often ignored, and only some of them were removed from the wild. An analysis of the potential distribution of the species was performed in a species distribution modeling framework (Maxent). A global model was built up considering the occurrences of reproductive populations from the native range and introduced areas in Europe and Japan and then projected to Italy. The model suggested a very low suitability of the Alpine region, thus providing support to the hypothesis that the Italian population did not derive from dispersal from Switzerland. If escapes or releases of raccoons will continue, there is a risk that the species could adapt to other areas, making its containment more difficult. Download the complete issue.
The influence of radiative core growth on coronal X-ray emission from pre-main sequence stars

SGG acknowledges support from the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) via an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship [ST/J003255/1]. CLD acknowledges support from STFC via a PhD studentship and additional funding via the STFC Studentship Enhancement Programme [ST/J500744/1], and support from the ERC Starting Grant "Image-PlanetFormDiscs" (Grant Agreement No. 639889).
Fast approximate radiative transfer method for visualizing the fine structure of prominences in the hydrogen Hα line

Aims. We present a novel approximate radiative transfer method developed to visualize 3D whole-prominence models with multiple fine structures using the hydrogen Hα spectral line. Methods. This method employs a fast line-of-sight synthesis of the Hα line profiles through the whole 3D prominence volume and realistically reflects the basic properties of the Hα line formation in the cool and low-density prominence medium. The method can be applied both to prominences seen above the limb and filaments seen against the disk. Results. We provide recipes for the use of this method for visualizing the prominence or filament models that have multiple fine structures. We also perform tests of the method that demonstrate its accuracy under prominence conditions. Conclusions. We demonstrate that this fast approximate radiative transfer method provides realistic synthetic Hα intensities useful for a reliable visualization of prominences and filaments. Such synthetic high-resolution images of modeled prominences/filaments can be used for a direct comparison with high-resolution observations.
Molecular phylogeography of Palearctic and Nearctic ciscoes

We studied mtDNA phylogeography of Palearctic and Nearctic Coregonus, inc four species of ciscoes (C. sardinella, C. autumnalis, C. artedi, C. laurettae), omul (C. migratorius) and related taxa. The C. sardinella complex,which inch peled, is distantly related to the other cisco species. Eurasian C. sardinella hapl are the most basal in this lineage. C. autumnalis and C. laurettae are well-differe species and belong to a Glade that also includes C. artedi. This clade likely orig from Baikal omul which is intermediate between the C. autumnalis complex a rest of the network. Haplotypes from Siberian populations of C. autumnalis occ basal positions of the C. autumalis complex. We conclude Siberia is the place of for the C. autumnalis and C. sardinella complexes. Two routes of invasion, al northern and southern coasts of the Pleistocene Bering land bridge, explain the of the North American populations of C. sardinella (north), C. autumnalis (nor laurettae (south) and C. artedi (probably south).
Microbial characterization and influence on copepod (Acartia tonsa) nauplii and egg production in water treatment systems with and without membrane filtration

Acartia tonsa is a pelagic calanoid copepod with a diverse distribution, a wide tolerance of temperature and salinities, has short generation time, can produce resting eggs, and has been considered as an excellent feed for marine fish larvae. The current study included two experiments: nauplii production (NP) and egg production (EP). In the NP experiment, the nauplii copepod Acartia tonsa Dana were reared for 14 days in a flow-through aquaculture system (FTAS), a conventional recirculating aquaculture system (cRAS) and a recirculating system including a membrane filtration unit (mRAS) to study the potential microbial influences on nauplii production (NP). Each system had four replicates (100L tank) and the initial density of copepods in each rearing tank was 75000 nauplii L-1. After finishing the NP experiment, the visually biggest copepods were transferred from the 12 rearing tanks of NP experiment to 36 1L beakers with stagnant water (15 copepods per beaker and 3 beakers per tank) where the egg production (EP) was studied for 14 days. The unicellular algae Rhodomonas baltica was fed to the copepods in the study at saturated food concentration. The results showed that the fraction of opportunistic bacteria in the rearing tanks was probably more important and influential on the copepod (A. tonsa) performance than the fluctuation of total number of bacteria. The low fraction of opportunistic bacteria in FTAS rearing tanks (below approximately 50%) during the whole NP experiment probably had positive effects on the survival rate and development of A. tonsa in NP experiment, and probably led to the later positive effects on the adult performance (number of eggs female-1 day-1, survival of adults) in the EP experiment. In contrast, the high fraction of opportunistic bacteria in the rearing tanks of cRAS & mRAS (above 50%) in NP experiment probably had adverse effects on the copepod performance in both NP and EP experiment.
A process for the treatment of olive mill waste waters by immobilized cells

Mould strains were immobilized on sawdust from woods as a solid material for the treatment of Olive Mill Waste (OMW) waters. Assays were carried out in flasks. The treatment process was monitored by physico-chemical determinations including pH, polyphenols and COD, which were followed up during the incubation time. In parallel the chemical inhibitory activity of OMW was confirmed biologically by the determination of some microorganisms in the medium including the plate count, yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. Results indicated that the polyphenol degradation level was 87 %. The COD was also reduced by 60 %. The pH of the effluent increased from 4.5 to 6.6. The microbial profiles showed their best growth during the treatment period indicating a removal of the inhibitory activities from the OMW waters. The growth patterns of all microorganism groups were similar and could reach high levels in the effluent.
Thermal Performance of a Solar Concentrating Photovoltaic Module with Spiral Mini Channel Heat Sink

Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) power generation is one of the attractive choices for efficient utilization of solar energy due to its high cogeneration efficiency. The increase in temperature of solar CPV cell significantly reduces the performance. The efficiency of a CPV system can be improved by introducing effective thermal management or cooling system. In this paper, a new spiral mini channel heat sink with rectangular cross section is developed and its performance is numerically analysed using commercial CFD software ANSYS 14. The mini-channels provided high heat transfer over cell surface area and resulted in lower pressure drop. The coolant outlet temperature rise across the mini-channel is estimated as 343K in CPV module of 300 X 300 mm 2 and with a pressure drop of 8.043 k Pa at a flow rate of 0.16 liter/s. Based on numerical simulations, it is found that the optimum configuration of micro-channel with 4mm width and height of 20mm, having higher figure of merit.
A Study of Mobile Banking Adoption among University Students Using an Extended TAM

The increased use of mobile technology makes mobile banking services more engaging to explore among students who are becoming more technically knowledgeable. The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence the adoption of mobile banking (m-banking) services by students. A quantitative approach was followed making use of questionnaires for the collection of data. The theoretical framework for this study was based on an extension of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) TAM for mobile services to explore the factors that influence IT students’ adoption of m-banking. The constructs of TAM for mobile services used were Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Perceived Value (PV), Trust (T), Intention to Use (IU), Perceived Ease of adoption (PEOA) and Usage Behaviour (UB). Using multiple regression analysis, the results suggest that overall, the independent variables, trust, perceived value, perceived ease of use and social influence may account for 42% of the explanatory power for the dependent variable, intention to use m-banking. In addition, the results have shown some strong predictors (perceived value and trust) that influence students’ intention to use m-banking, suggesting that IT students do indeed consider adopting m-banking. The students also have some form of trust as shown by their continued usage of m-banking facilities. Attitudes of students towards m-banking are positive which motivates them to adopt or continue using m-banking. The paper provides an understanding about the dynamics between the factors that influence students to adopt mobile banking. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n7p451