Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Volunteer Urban Environmental Stewardship, Emotional Economies of Care, and Productive Power in Philadelphia

Recent efforts to increase urban forests and greenspaces rely on the volunteer labor of individuals and environmental nonprofits. The estimation of market values has often justified urban greening. These neoliberal approaches to urban environmental governance have been heavily critiqued, revealing the uneven power relationships and urban environments that result. This paper aims to move beyond such critiques by exploring how the reproduction of urban nature can be valued outside of the market. Fieldwork with volunteers participating in environmental stewardship in Philadelphia revealed their participation was motivated by intense emotional attachments to their neighborhoods, other participants, and nonhuman others, leading me to propose emotional economies of care as an alternative framework. The circulation of emotions and affects between participants, places, and nonhuman others forms an emotional economy. The generative power of this circulation makes emotional economies of care collective bodies or multiplicities. Furthermore, these multiplicities produce power from below, in counterpoint to the top down power of neoliberal environmentalities. However, just as these multiplicities come together, they can come apart or change directions. I close with ideas on how emotional ecologies and economies of care can be brought into being and processes of change within them shepherded in progressive ways.
Multi-Agent DRL for Task Offloading and Resource Allocation in Multi-UAV Enabled IoT Edge Network

The Internet of Things (IoT) edge network has connected lots of heterogeneous smart devices, thanks to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and their groundbreaking emerging applications. Limited computational capacity and energy availability have been major factors hindering the performance of edge user equipment (UE) and IoT devices in IoT edge networks. Besides, the edge base station (BS) with the computation server is allowed massive traffic and is vulnerable to disasters. The UAV is a promising technology that provides aerial base stations (ABSs) to assist the edge network in enhancing the ground network performance, extending network coverage, and offloading computationally intensive tasks from UEs or IoT devices. In this paper, we deploy a clustered multi-UAV to provide computing task offloading and resource allocation services to IoT devices. We propose a multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL)-based approach to minimize the overall network computation cost while ensuring the quality of service (QoS) requirements of IoT devices or UEs in the IoT network. We formulate our problem as a natural extension of the Markov decision process (MDP) concerning stochastic game, to minimize the long-term computation cost in terms of energy and delay. We consider the stochastic time-varying UAVs’ channel strength and dynamic resource requests to obtain optimal resource allocation policies and computation offloading in aerial to ground (A2G) network infrastructure. Simulation results show that our proposed MADRL method reduces the average costs by 38.643%, and 55.621% and increases the reward by 58.289% and 85.289% compared with the different single agent DRL and heuristic schemes, respectively.
Nonlinear effects of board characteristics on China’s hotel firm performance

This study uses dynamic panel regression tests based on the estimation of the system generalized method of moments to examine the effects of board size (BS), board age (BA), and board education (BE) on China’s hotel firm performance (FP). Test results reveal that the effects of BS and BA on hotel FP are nonlinear, but BE has no effect. Specifically, BS has a cubic effect on hotel growth opportunities in terms of Tobin’s Q with turning points equal to 12 and 18, supporting both agency theory and resource dependence theory. Moreover, the impact of BA on hotel growth opportunities is quadratic (inverted U-shaped) with an optimal point of BA at 51, supporting both similarity–attraction theory and human capital theory. Empirical findings suggest that director-owned resources and experience are essential factors in a hotel’s success, providing strategic guidance for the Chinese hotel industry and making a pioneering addition to the hospitality finance literature.
Blended Learning for Diverse Classrooms: Qualitative Experimental Study With In-Service Teachers

The concept of blended learning, a combination of online and face-to-face learning, has become popular in educational settings. Using qualitative methods, this study investigates the role of blended learning and in-service teachers’ perceptions. Blended learning was used for 19 in-service teachers during their summer degree program at a Chinese university. After the course, teachers were asked to write their reflections on blended learning, its role in diverse classrooms, and using it in their teaching career. The results showed that the teachers appreciated the use of blended learning for diversity, but they were against adopting it in their teaching due to limited pedagogical skills and the exam-oriented education system in China. Moreover, some teachers believed that traditional teaching is more effective for providing students with the necessary knowledge, while blended learning was viewed as difficult to manage. The study provides a better understanding of teachers’ perception of blended learning which contributes to global educational development.
Somatic chromosome number and ploidy level in three Curcuma spp. from Bangladesh

Three Curcuma L. species were investigated cytogenetically which represent diversed staining pattern of heterochromatins in interphase nuclei and prophase chromosomes with orcein staining. Curcuma longa and C. caesia were found to possess 2n = 3x = 63 somatic chromosomes whereas 2n = 2x = 42 chromosome number in C. zedoaria is reported for the first time from Bangladesh. Total chromosome length recorded in C. longa, C. caesia and C. zedoaria were 145.08 ± 2.85 μm, 164.93 ± 4.29 μm and 97.78 ± 2.41 μm, respectively. This was the first attempt to measure the length of the chromosomes for these species. The experiment confirmed the basic chromosome number x = 21 with triploid (C. longa, C. caesia) and diploid (C. zedoaria) Curcuma plants. Polyploidy could be employed in the evolution and diversification of the genus Curcuma, which is an essential factor to characterize the species of this genus. Dhaka Univ. J. Biol. Sci. 30(2): 133-140, 2021 (July)
The Correlation between Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II) Score with Serum Magnesium Levels in Patients on Regular Hemodialysis

Objective: To assess the correlation between BDI II score as screening tools for early symptoms of depression with serum magnesium levels in regular hemodialysis patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted on 48 patients with chronic kidney disease on regular HD in RSUP Haji Adam Malik. Patients included in this study were ≥ 18 years of age, on regular HD with a duration of ≥ 3 months, and were willing to be included in the study by signing a consent form after explanation. Patients with other psychiatric comorbidities other than depression and patients taking medicine that affect serum magnesium levels were excluded from the study. All studied patients were assessed for serum magnesium levels and depression symptoms using the BDI II questionnaire. Results: In this study we found that there is a significant correlation between serum Magnesium levels and BDI II score with a weak correlation strength level (r = - 0.35). The BDI II score in regular hemodialysis patients was found to be in a score of 4-15 with a median score of 7. Magnesium levels in regular hemodialysis patients ranged from 1.78 to 3.75 mg / dl, with a median of 2.9. Conclusions: In this study, there is a significant correlation found between serum Magnesium levels and BDI II score in patient on regular HD. Keywords: Beck Depression Inventory II (BD II) score, Chronic Kidney Disease, Hemodialysis, Serum magnesium levels.
Clinical and biomarker profile of COVID-19 patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital

Introduction and Aim:A novel beta-coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China during the early December 2019 and spread globally. The clinical signs and symptoms and the disease severity in people infected with COVID-19 can be varied. The present study was conducted to study the biomarker profile and their association with disease severity in COVID-19. Materials and Methods:This was a single-centre Cohort study of data regarding epidemiological, clinical and biomarker parameters, and outcome of COVID-19 patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital in South India. CDC guidelines were followed for assessing disease severity. Results:A total of 336 COVID-19 patients were admitted during the study period. Of these 16 were excluded and 320 cases were analysed. Mean age of patients was 44.82 years. A male predominance was observed. Diabetes mellitus was the most common co-morbidity. Asymptomatic, Mild, moderate, severe and critical disease was seen in 15%, 52.5%, 20.3%, 6.3% and 5.9% patients respectively. ICU care was required in 15.3%. Overall mortality was 5.3%. The mean NLR, ALC, CRP, LCR, LDH, Ferritin and D-dimer in the severe group vs non-severe groupwere19.03 vs 4.2, 1025cells/cumm vs 1740cells/cumm, 185.8mg/L vs 31.7mg/L, 17.1 vs 996.3, 552.8IU/L vs 252.7IU/L, 2531.9ng/ml vs 414.1ng/ml and 2245.5ng/ml vs 339.4ng/ml respectively. Conclusion:An increased NLR, CRP, LDH, Ferritin and D-dimer and a reduced ALC and LCR are significantly associated with disease severity, need for ICU and mortality. These biomarkers will be useful adjunct to clinical assessment in better categorising and management of COVID-19 patients.
G-Site development as Teaching Materials and Science Learning Media to Improve Junior High School Student Learning Outcomes on Plant Structure materials

Natural science learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has quite a high challenge because students and teachers cannot learn directly. Knowing the effectiveness of using Google-site as a material and media for student learning during distance learning to improve student learning outcomes is the aim of this study. This research was conducted at SMP PGRI 1 Karang Tengah Tangerang in grade 8. Purposive sampling was carried out for sampling in this study, so that class 8-E was the experimental class and class 8-E was the control class. The results showed that the use of Google-site as teaching materials and learning media was feasible. The use of Google-site as teaching materials and learning media has no significant effect seen from the Mann Whitney test of 0.419. The average N-gain test obtained from the control class was 0.029, while the experimental class was 0.051. The comparison of the mean value of the control class pretest and posttest was 1.4 points, while the average score of the ecaperimen class was 3 points. Based on this, it can be concluded that the use of Google-site as a material and media for student learning during distance learning can be used to improve student learning outcomes. However, several revisions are needed so that teaching materials and media are more effective in improving student learning outcomes independently.
Astrophysical Neutrinos in Testing Lorentz Symmetry

An overview of searches related to neutrinos of astronomical and astrophysical origin performed within the framework of the Standard-Model Extension is provided. For this effective field theory, key definitions, intriguing physical consequences, and the mathematical formalism are summarized within the neutrino sector to search for effects from a background that could lead to small deviations from Lorentz symmetry. After an introduction to the fundamental theory, examples of various experiments within the astronomical and astrophysical context are provided. Order-of-magnitude bounds of SME coefficients are shown illustratively for the tight constraints that this sector allows us to place on such violations.
Differences in final /z/ realization in Southwest and Northern Virginia

Two apparently contradictory observations have been made about consonantal voicing in Southern US English: compared to other US varieties, Southern speakers produce more voicing on “voiced” stops, but they also “devoice” word-final /z/ at higher rates. In this paper, regional differences in final /z/ realization within Virginia are investigated. 36 students from Southwest and Northern Virginia were recorded completing tasks designed to elicit /z/-final tokens. Tokens were acoustically analyzed for duration and voicing, and automatically categorized as being [z] or [s] using an HTK forced aligner. At the surface level, the two approaches yield incompatible results: the single acoustic measures suggest Southwest Virginians produce more [z]-like /z/ tokens than Northern Virginians, and the aligner finds that Southern-identifying participants produce the most [s]-like tokens. However, both analyses converge on the importance of following environment: Southwest Virginians are relatively least voiced pre-pausally, and more voiced in other environments. These combined findings confirm previous work showing that Southern “voiced” consonants generally have more voicing than other regional US varieties but also suggest that the dialect may exhibit greater phrase-final fortition. There are also differences within Southwest Virginian speakers based on differences in their rurality, or in their orientation to the South.
Detecting anomalies in data on government violence

Abstract Can data on government coercion and violence be trusted when the data are generated by state itself? In this paper, we investigate the extent to which data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) regarding the use of force by corrections officers against prison inmates between 2008 and 2017 conform to Benford's Law. Following a growing data forensics literature, we expect misreporting of the use-of-force in California state prisons to cause the observed data to deviate from Benford's distribution. Statistical hypothesis tests and further investigation of CDCR data—which show both temporal and cross-sectional variance in conformity with Benford's Law—are consistent with misreporting of the use-of-force by the CDCR. Our results suggest that data on government coercion generated by the state should be inspected carefully before being used to test hypotheses or make policy.
Telehealth intervention and childhood apraxia of speech: a scoping review

ABSTRACT Background In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, many speech-language pathologists have transitioned from in-person service delivery to online environments. As such, there is an urgent need to inform clinicians on the availability of efficacious and effective telehealth interventions for childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Objectives This review was informed by the following clinical question: Is providing intervention remotely through telehealth as efficacious and effective as in-person therapy for treating CAS? Methods, eligibility criteria, and sources of evidence Eight databases and seven search engines were searched for articles to identify intervention studies that have investigated the efficacy and/or effectiveness of treating CAS remotely. Search criteria was restricted to papers with children under 18 years of age, published in the English language between 1993 and 2020. Results Two studies were found to meet our inclusion criteria. A phase I study employed a multiple baseline across participants design to investigate the efficacy of the Rapid Syllable Transition treatment via telehealth. The second study assessed the feasibility of adopting a novel system for the remote administration of the Nuffield Dyspraxia Program-Third Edition. Based on the Oxford hierarchy Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, both studies are level IV (case-series/case-control), and therefore deemed low level evidence. Results showed limited but promising outcomes when CAS therapy is conducted remotely. Conclusion There is limited, low-level evidence indicating positive outcomes for the remote treatment of CAS via telehealth. The scarcity of data available warrants a need for large-scale randomized control trials and controlled clinical trials.
How has the COVID-19 Epidemic Changed Drug Use and the Drug Market in Slovenia?

The purpose of our study was to explore the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic on drug use, the drug market and the availability of help and support in Slovenia. Through an online questionnaire, we collected a non-representative sample of 680 people who used drugs before and during the epidemic in 2020. The results showed the use of illicit drugs and alcohol has reduced. A significant increase in the frequency of use has only been detected in marijuana. The most prominent changes in the drug market were the reduced number of drug dealers and lower availability of certain drugs. Accessibility to drug services has been reduced and respondents also had significant financial consequences due to loss of work. Due to decreased availability of sources of support at the time of the epidemic, adjustments to services for drug users are necessary before the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of promoting online interventions and maintaining contact with users when the services are not physically accessible.
Beliefs, anxiety and change readiness for artificial intelligence adoption among human resource managers: the moderating role of high-performance work systems

Abstract This study examines the change readiness for artificial intelligence (AI) adoption among human resource (HR) managers. In particular, it investigates the effects of the three elements of attitudes (cognitive, affective and behavioural elements) related to the HR managers’ beliefs about AI, their AI anxiety, and their change readiness for AI adoption. The research also seeks to explore the moderating role of high-performance work systems (HPWS) in the relationships between HR managers’ beliefs, AI anxiety, and change readiness. Data were obtained from 417 HR managers working in China, with findings indicating that HR managers’ beliefs about AI and their AI anxiety have a significant effect on their change readiness for AI adoption. Specifically, HR managers’ beliefs positively influence their change readiness, while their AI anxiety negatively predicts their change readiness. Our results further highlight that HPWS can attenuate the negative effect of AI anxiety on HR managers’ change readiness for AI adoption. The study’s theoretical and practical implications, limitations and directions for future research are also discussed accordingly.
Qualitative Characterization of the Pellet Obtained from Hazelnut and Olive Tree Pruning

Biomass occupies a very important place among renewable energy sources, and the residual biomass recovery chain represents a sector of fundamental importance. Our work focused on the production of pellets by pruning residues from two of the most important woody crops in Italy: hazelnut and olive groves. We found a higher value of bulk density for the hazelnut pellet (581.30 kg m−3 vs. 562.38 kg m−3) and a higher value of length for the olive pellet (16.66 mm vs. 10.47 mm). The percentages of durability were very similar (98%). The low heating value and ash content of hazelnut and olive were 17.21 MJ kg−1 and 3.1%, and 16.83 MJ kg−1 and 2.5%. A higher concentration of Cu, Pb, and Ni was observed in the hazelnut. The contrary was observed for the concentration of Zn. N content was 0.77% and 1.24% for the hazelnut and the olive, respectively. The concentration of S was 0.00% for both. The quality parameters that do not meet current standards could be improved by mixing these materials with different types of wood.
Recent Rainfall Variability Over a Dryland Ecosystem of North Western India

In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the recent rainfall variability by means of daily rainfall data of 33 well spread stations over dryland ecosystem of Rajasthan in north western India during 1961-2017. For trend analysis, Mann-Kendall, Sen’s slope estimator and simple linear regression test have been used (at 95% confidence level). The results have shown a high interannual variability in rainfall occurrence varying from 277 mm (in year 2002) to 839 mm (in year 1975) with mean of 583 mm over this dryland ecosystem. Most of the rainfall deficit years have occurred with El-Nino years. The mean annual rainfall has shown a marginal non-significant upward trend over the ecosystem. The station-wise mean annual rainfall has revealed a significant rising trend over Barmer, Churu, Ganganagar, Jaisalmer and Pratapgarh stations. Interestingly, three year running average has shown a cyclic pattern of rainfall over dryland ecosystem under the changing climatic conditions. The spatial pattern has exhibited that the mean annual rainfall decreases from east and south east (more than 850 mm) to west and north west (less than 400 mm), which is mainly associated with the presence of Aravalli Mountains spreading north east to south west in central Rajasthan. Remarkably, majority of stations positioned in western parts of dryland ecosystem have shown increasing rainfall trends, whereas some stations located in eastern parts have recorded a non-significant declining trend. The magnitude of significant rising trend has varied from 5.34 mm/year (Pratapgarh station) to 2.17 mm/year (Jaisalmer station). Also, the frequency of heavy rainfall events has shown a positive trend with significant increasing trends over Bharatpur, Jaisalmer and Pratapgarh stations, whereas Bundi station has shown significant decreasing trend.
Effect of coping strategies on acute stress during the COVID–19 pandemic in Greece

Background: The psychological impact of quarantine, due to the SARS COVID-19 outbreak, was examined with a specific focus on the relationship between 7 coping strategies: (i) active coping, (ii) positive reframing, (iii) acceptance, (iv) use of emotional support, (v) religion, (vi) substance use and (vii) self-blame and acute stress. This study aimed to identify specifically which of those coping strategies could increase or decrease acute stress levels.Method and Material: The data collection took place during the lockdown and was performed using online surveys. The finale sample size reached up to 1154 Greek adults (age M= 40.51). Two adapted and translated scales were used to measure the variables of interest, including: Brief-COPE questionnaire as well as Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS). Results: “Active coping”, “acceptance”, “positive reframing” and “emotional support”, four of the coping strategies examined, that were found to be significantly associated with stress reduction. Meanwhile, “religion”, “self-blame” and “substance use” were not associated with stress reduction. Conclusions: This study initially provides an insight of acute stress and effective coping strategies associated with the quarantine period during the COVID – 19 pandemic in Greece. The outcome of this study equip support for the expected inflation of the mental health issues stemmed from the unusual stressors, and urge clinicians, mental health providers, and public agencies to assemble, in an attempt to make possible the widespread implementation of more effective and beneficial coping strategies.