Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transport properties of AlGaN/GaN HEMT structures with back barrier: impact of dislocation density and improved design

The influence of dislocation density on the transport properties of high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structures is reported in this work. Experimental results, obtained on HEMT structures prepared in the same growth run on templates with different dislocation densities, are compared. However, the direct comparison of structures is complicated, since parallel parasitic currents through deeper parts of the heterostructure were observed in samples with lower dislocation density. To suppress this phenomenon, the addition of an AlGaN back barrier (BB) beneath the two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel is proposed and optimized and the most suitable design based on both modeling and experimental results is suggested. Subsequently, the comparison of electron mobility in 2DEG for structures with AlGaN BB and different dislocation densities was possible. We show experimentally that lowering the dislocation density considerably increases the electron mobility in 2DEG. It is shown that the dislocation density also has a significant influence on the Fermi level position in GaN. The presented results suggest that reduction of dislocation density can improve the performance of high-frequency GaN HEMT applications.
Systematic Literature Review and Critical Success Factor Analysis to Determine a Model’s Implementation Elements

Model implementation is a tedious process. The theoretical studies of a concept and its implementation are quite challenging. One of the biggest challenges is to identify a model’s elements, especially when it involves integrating two or more complex and dynamic fields into one combined model. This research aims to identify the implementation elements of a shariah compliant business analytics model called Halal Supply Chain Management Transactions (HSCMT) Model. This research used Systematic Literature Review (SLR) in order to qualitatively analyse the Critical Success Factor (CSF) of HSCMT, which produced the HSCMT Model implementation elements. The CSF Analysis results showed that there were 19 related CSF elements with emphasis of 57.9% on external factors and 89.5% on building-adapting factors. Results also showed that the most important aspect of HSCMT were environmental factors, followed by factors of SME owners and their organization, the Halal industry, and lastly the role of financial institutes. This proves that both SLR and CSF can be used as integration tools in identifying a model’s implementation element, thus improving data collections method for models when researching in a movement constraint period such as during a pandemic outbreak.
Unwinding Environment in the Lecture Room Using Mobile Learning (M-Learning) Adoption among the Millennial Generation

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has provided flexibility for teachers and students to engage in academic discourse irrespective of the location. With rapid technological advancements, Mobile learning offers incredible opportunities, especially in higher education especially during this Covid-19 pandemic. The advancement of mobile and wireless communication technologies has encouraged the mobile learning method where students are able to learn via mobile devices without being limited by space and time. The millennial generation can be situated in a real-world scenario associated with the learning content in higher education. This paper discovered how mobile learning approach can enhance engagement skills and communication skills among millennial generation and employed action research methodology. In this research, mobile learning application such as kahoot! E-exercises and e-quizzes adoption of mobile learning during lecture and outside lectures activities for conversations and consultation. The positive findings showed those students’ engagement skills and communication skills increased via the mobile learning adoption. Students had active learning opportunity where effective conversations and consultation between the lecturer and students. This paper heightens lecturer awareness in identifying the learning tasks via mobile learning that are well developed. This may further be a motivating factor to adopt measures and new strategies for the improvement of students’ skills. Statistics revealed a higher engagement rate and better communication skill when courses are delivered using the mobile learning approach.
Stock-based CEO Compensation and IFRS Adoption: Evidence from Canada

Prior literature does not address changes in stock-based compensation around mandatory IFRS adoption, likely because IFRS adoption preceded the subsequently more detailed disclosures regarding stock-based compensation, such as options and stock. In Canada, however, more detailed stock-based compensation disclosures have been available since 2008, which preceded the mandatory adoption of IFRS in Canada in 2011. As a result, Canada allows investigation of the consequences of change in accounting standards to IFRS on the use and strength of equitylinked incentives. We document significant increases in the level of total compensation and both cash and equity components, and a significant increase in the proportion of stock-based compensation in the post-IFRS period. Specifically, this effect is concentrated in firms with greater declines in value relevance and above median changes in stock return and earnings volatility. Overall, our results expand our understanding of how accounting standards affect contracting between firms and their CEO. We thank Brian Burnett for data, comments, and suggestions. We thank Alexander Barrett, Rasmus Bøtting, Annie Khalid and Rani Suleman for research assistance with data collection. We thank Christopher Chen and Eddington Ruiz for helpful conversations about CEO compensation practices in Canada. We thank David McDonald from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) for helpful discussions and for sharing their data.
The Impact of Industrial Unrest on Selected Performance Outcomes of Health Institutions: A Case of Kiambu County, Kenya

The Constitution 2010 devolved the responsibility of public health service delivery for primary and secondary health services to the counties in order to ensure that health services are brought closer to the citizens and to ensure efficient and effective management of the systems. However, in the years running 2015 – 2017, the health sector was hit by cases of labor unrest to unprecedented disruptions and interruptions in the health care management systems as envisioned in the Constitution 2010. Thus, this study aimed at establishing the impact that industrial unrest has had on the public health sector. The study adopted a descriptive – correlation and causal research design and targeted the health sector employees and administrators from Kiambu County. The data was analysed and specific statistical tools adopted included percentages, frequency, mean, standard deviation and analysis of variance 9ANOVA). The study established that the frequency of industrial unrest was more after devolving the management of the health sector and further established that industrial unrest has a high impact on the production efficiency and a low impact on organizational resources management, human resource management and social accountability and reactivity. Consequently, the study recommends that systems, measures and policies should be instituted to help address the various elements of the public health sector as assessed in the study.
Terrorism, Insurgency, State Repression, and Cycles of Violence

Over the last half century, violent conflicts between ethno-religious organizations and states have shaped the political and economic development context in developing countries. However, global empirical evidence on the dynamic and strategic underpinnings of these phenomena is lacking. Here, we investigate the dynamic violent relationships between the organizations that represent minorities at risk and the governments in Middle-Eastern and North African countries. Our estimates of dynamic panel datamodels of discrete strategic responses reveal dampened cycles of violence between states and insurgent politico-ethnic organizations due to violent mutual responses. However, such cycles are absent when the organizations target civilians instead, which is more likely after an insurgency spell. Finally, we provide an original game-theoretical interpretative framework for our results, which allows us to identify, on average and under sensible restrictions, the Stag Hunt game as an appropriate representation of the (possibly reduced-form) general strategic situations that link states and minority organizations in MENA.This is at odds with the frequent use of the prisoner’s dilemma setting in the literature, or of other ad hoc strategic hypotheses, to analyze conflicts. JEL Classification: C72, D74, H56.
Thermal Characterization and Modelling of AlGaN-GaN Multilayer Structures for HEMT Applications "2279

To optimize the thermal design of AlGaN-GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs), which incorporate high power densities, an accurate prediction of the underlying thermal transport mechanisms is crucial. Here, a HEMT-structure (Al0.17Ga0.83N, GaN, Al0.32Ga0.68N and AlN on a Si substrate) was investigated using a time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) setup. The different scattering contributions were investigated in the framework of phonon transport models (Callaway, Holland and Born-von-Karman). The thermal conductivities of all layers were found to decrease with a temperature between 300 K and 773 K, due to Umklapp scattering. The measurement showed that the AlN and GaN thermal conductivities were a magnitude higher than the thermal conductivity of Al0.32Ga0.68N and Al0.17Ga0. 83N due to defect scattering. The layer thicknesses of the HEMT structure are in the length scale of the phonon mean free path, causing a reduction of their intrinsic thermal conductivity. The size-effect of the cross-plane thermal conductivity was investigated, which showed that the phonon transport model is a critical factor. At 300 K, we obtained a thermal conductivity of (130 ± 38) Wm−1K−1 for the (167 ± 7) nm thick AlN, (220 ± 38) Wm−1K−1 for the (1065 ± 7) nm thick GaN, (11.2 ± 0.7) Wm−1K−1 for the (423 ± 5) nm thick Al0.32Ga0.68N, and (9.7 ± 0.6) Wm−1K−1 for the (65 ± 5) nm thick Al0.17Ga0. 83N. Respectively, these conductivity values were found to be 24%, 90%, 28% and 16% of the bulk values, using the Born-von-Karman model together with the Hua–Minnich suppression function approach. The thermal interface conductance as extracted from the TDTR measurements was compared to results given by the diffuse mismatch model and the phonon radiation limit, suggesting contributions from inelastic phonon-scattering processes at the interface. The knowledge of the individual thermal transport mechanisms is essential for understanding the thermal characteristics of the HEMT, and it is useful for improving the thermal management of HEMTs and their reliability.
EFFECTS OF NOVEL PESTICIDES ON TRICHOGRAMMA PRETIOSUM

The effects of several pesticides on the foraging behavior and life history of Trichogramma pretiosum were evaluated. The pesticides tested were: (1) Tracer® (spinosad; Dow AgrosSciences); (2) Steward® (indoxacarb; DuPont); (3) Dimilin® (diflubenzuron; Uniroyal); and (4) Karate Z® (l-cyhalothrin; Syngenta). For the foraging study, eggs were treated with a single rate of each compound, the eggs were allowed to dry, and female parasitoids were each allowed to forage on two eggs. Four behaviors (antennating, stinging, host feeding, and cleaning) were timed and compared among treatments. For the life history study, eggs parasitized 3 days prior were treated with 2 rates of each of the compounds, and the developmental times, emergence rates, parasitoid size (right hind tibia length), female longevity, and fecundity were assessed. Female parasitoids spent significantly less time foraging on both eggs treated with Karate than on eggs treated with Steward and Tracer, where females spent the greatest amount of time. Most of this difference was due to shortened stinging and prolonged cleaning times for females on the Karate-treated eggs, and prolonged stinging times and cleaning times for females on the Stewardand Tracertreated eggs, respectively. Pesticide treatment significantly affected preimaginal developmental times, but these differences were small and likely of limited biological significance. Parasitoid emergence was adversely affected by Tracer and Karate at both rates, and by Dimilin at the high rate (0.125 lbs AI/A). Females emerging from eggs treated with a low rate of Karate (0.015 lbs AI/A) were significantly larger than females emerging from eggs treated with Dimilin at the low rate (0.03 lbs AI/A) but no other differences were observed in size. Female longevity and offspring production were unaffected by the treatments the females had received while developing in the host egg.
Cultural evolution leads to vocal iconicity in an experimental iterated learning task

Experimental and cross-linguistic studies have shown that vocal iconicity is prevalent in words that carry meanings related to SIZE and SHAPE. Although these studies demonstrate the importance of vocal iconicity and reveal the cognitive biases underpinning it, there is less work demonstrating how these biases lead to the evolution of a sound symbolic lexicon in the first place. In this study, we show how words can be shaped by cognitive biases through cultural evolution. Using a simple experimental setup resembling the game telephone, we examined how a single word form changed as it was passed from one participant to the next by a process of immediate iterated learning. About 1,500 naı̈ve participants were recruited online and divided into five condition groups. The participants in the CONTROL-group received no information about the meaning of the word they were about to hear, while the participants in the remaining four groups were informed that the word meant either BIG or SMALL (with the meaning being presented in text), or ROUND or POINTY (with the meaning being presented as a picture). The first participant in a transmission chain was presented with a phonetically diverse word and asked to repeat it. Thereafter, the recording of the repeated word was played for the next participant in the same chain. The sounds of the audio recordings were then transcribed and categorized according to six binary sound parameters. By modelling the proportion of vowels or consonants for each sound parameter, the SMALL-condition showed increases of FRONT UNROUNDED vowels and the POINTY-condition increases of ACUTE consonants. The results show that linguistic transmission is sufficient for vocal iconicity to emerge, which demonstrates the role non-arbitrary associations play in the evolution of language.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with Huangshan Magnolia (Magnolia cylindrica)

Root and rhizosphere soil samples of medicinal plant Huangshan Magnolia (Magnolia cylindrica) from Chinese famous national forest park of Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) were studied to determine the root colonization and the diversity of spore populations of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. The results showed that AM fungal colonization structures including hyphae, hyphal coils and vesicles were present in all root samples. Paris-type AM were identified in the roots according to the morphological structure. Seventeen species of AM fungi were isolated and identified from the rhizosphere soil samples. The species were of the genera Acaulospora (6 species), Glomus (8 species), Gigaspora (1 species) and Scutellospora (2 species). Based on importance value, 3 species from Acaulospora and 3 from Glomus were dominant. The AM fungi spore density ranged from 157 to 448 (average 315) per 100 g soil and the species richness ranged from 4 to 8 (average 6.5) per soil sample. Shannon-Wiener index and Evenness were calculated to evaluate the diversity of the AM fungi community associated with M. cylindrica.
Prevalence of fungal infections in Chronic Rhinosinusitis patients in a tertiary care hospital, South India

Fungal sinusitis (FS) is an important health care problem both in immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals; but which is less understood. Clinically FS patient presents with Chronic Rhino Sinusitis (CRS) refractory to medical and surgical treatment and they should be properly evaluated with history, CT scan, histopathology, fungal culture and allergic markers. Total of 300 patients with documented CRS based on clinical and radiological findings in the ENT clinic were enrolled as study group. Sinus washings, biopsy samples from sinusoidal mucosa and polyposis were collected in 2 sterile containers, for microbiology and histopathology and blood for various allergic parameters (total IgE concentration, absolute eosinophil count and precipitation test using fungal antigens). Total prevalence of fungal sinusitis was 13% in CRS patients. Commonly affected age group was between 21-40 years (69.3%) and male preponderance was noted in our study (1.6:1). Aspergillus species (87.1%) were the predominant isolate in our study. Allergic fungal sinusitis was commonest clinical presentation (61.5%). This study revealed that the prevalence of fungal sinusitis in CRS patients was significantly high. To estimate the real magnitude of the problem, multicentric study as well as compulsory fungal screening for the all the CRS patients should be undertaken. © 2013 Elixir All rights reserved ARTIC LE INFO Article hi story: Received: 20 June 2013; Received in revised form: 24 July 2013; Accepted: 6 August 2013;
Explanation-Guided Backdoor Poisoning Attacks Against Malware Classifiers

Training pipelines for machine learning (ML) based malware classification often rely on crowdsourced threat feeds, exposing a natural attack injection point. In this paper, we study the susceptibility of feature-based ML malware classifiers to backdoor poisoning attacks, specifically focusing on challenging “clean label” attacks where attackers do not control the sample labeling process. We propose the use of techniques from explainable machine learning to guide the selection of relevant features and values to create effective backdoor triggers in a model-agnostic fashion. Using multiple reference datasets for malware classification, including Windows PE files, PDFs, and Android applications, we demonstrate effective attacks against a diverse set of machine learning models and evaluate the effect of various constraints imposed on the attacker. To demonstrate the feasibility of our backdoor attacks in practice, we create a watermarking utility for Windows PE files that preserves the binary’s functionality, and we leverage similar behavior-preserving alteration methodologies for Android and PDF files. Finally, we experiment with potential defensive strategies and show the difficulties of completely defending against these attacks, especially when the attacks blend in with the legitimate sample distribution.
Spatial Modeling of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) growing areas in Kenyan Arid and Semi-Arid Lands

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 190-50100, Kakamega, Kenya 2 Department of Environmental Studies and Resources Development, Chuka University P.O. Box, 109 60400, Chuka 3 Department of Environmental Science, Egerton University, P. O. Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya 4 Department of Geography, Egerton University, P. O. Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya
Optically pumped nanowire lasers

This paper reviews several topics related to optically pumped ZnO nanowire lasers. A systematic study of the various properties of a device as it evolves from the regime of amplified spontaneous emission to laser oscillation above threshold is presented. The key dependence of the laser threshold on nanowire diameter is demonstrated and explained by means of a thorough study of guided modes in semiconducting nanowires for a nanowire-on-substrate geometry. A ‘head on’ detection geometry is used to measure the far-field profile of a nanowire laser and thus identify the modes responsible for lasing. Finally, the temperature behavior of a nanowire laser is reported, and possible mechanisms that may be responsible for gain are suggested. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)
ENHANCED DEGRADATION OF HYDROCARBONS IN SPENT ENGINE OIL CONTAMINATED SOIL BY Pseudomonas aeruginosa AND Alcaligenes faecalis

This study was conducted to assess bacterial degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) contents of spent engine oil (SEO) contaminated soil through the employment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Alcaligenes faecalis isolated from spent engine oil polluted soil from Dutse mechanic village, Nigeria. About 1.5 kg of autoclaved soil was deliberately contaminated with SEO at three levels. The soil was then supplemented with processed compost, powdered cocoa pod husk (CPH) and powdered cow dung (CD). Successively, the soil was bio-augmented with bacterial co-culture (150 ml). TPH and PAHs were estimated at the commencement, 5 and 10 week of the study. Factorial experiment laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) was adopted. Results indicate that all the biostimulants employed did have significant effects on bacterial degradation of TPH and PAHs (P<0.05). Compost facilitated the most TPH reductions (756 and 250 mg\kg) on 5 and 10% SEO contaminated levels at 5 and 10 week, respectively (P<0.05). Powdered CPH only recorded the most significant PAHs reductions (37.7 mg\kg) on 15% SEO contamination level while compost recorded the most significant PAHs reduction (29.7 mg\kg) on 10% SEO contamination level compared with other biostimulants employed at the 5 week and 10 week, respectively (P<0.05). The significant feat that Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Alcaligenes faecalis co-culture recorded in this study has indicated its potential for utilization in achieving effective remediation of hydrocarbon related pollution.
ACQUIRING L2 PRONOUN INTERPRETATION BIASES

Abstract Learners of a nonnull subject language (e.g., English) whose first language (L1) is a null subject language (e.g., Spanish) can show some optionality in the interpretation of overt subject pronouns in the second language (L2). By exposing L2 learners to nativelike interpretations of pronouns in discourse, we aim at understanding how exposure can promote implicit learning of pronoun comprehension biases in a L2. A sentence comprehension task was used with intermediate-proficiency English L2 speakers (L1 Spanish) that included a pretest, an exposure phase using the priming technique, an immediate posttest, and a delayed posttest administered 6–10 days later. English learners showed a significant increase in nativelike pronoun interpretations both in the immediate posttest and in the delayed posttest, in comparison to the pretest. The results show that exposure through priming can be effective in changing L2 participants’ interpretations and that effects of exposure are persistent and may aid in the successful acquisition of pronoun resolution biases.