Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mixture models and networks: The stochastic blockmodel

Mixture models are probabilistic models aimed at uncovering and representing latent subgroups within a population. In the realm of network data analysis, the latent subgroups of nodes are typically identified by their connectivity behaviour, with nodes behaving similarly belonging to the same community. In this context, mixture modelling is pursued through stochastic blockmodelling. We consider stochastic blockmodels and some of their variants and extensions from a mixture modelling perspective. We also explore some of the main classes of estimation methods available and propose an alternative approach based on the reformulation of the blockmodel as a graphon. In addition to the discussion of inferential properties and estimating procedures, we focus on the application of the models to several real-world network datasets, showcasing the advantages and pitfalls of different approaches.
Unstructured Text Enhanced Open-Domain Dialogue System: A Systematic Survey

Incorporating external knowledge into dialogue generation has been proven to benefit the performance of an open-domain Dialogue System (DS), such as generating informative or stylized responses, controlling conversation topics. In this article, we study the open-domain DS that uses unstructured text as external knowledge sources (Unstructured Text Enhanced Dialogue System (UTEDS)). The existence of unstructured text entails distinctions between UTEDS and traditional data-driven DS and we aim at analyzing these differences. We first give the definition of the UTEDS related concepts, then summarize the recently released datasets and models. We categorize UTEDS into Retrieval and Generative models and introduce them from the perspective of model components. The retrieval models consist of Fusion, Matching, and Ranking modules, while the generative models comprise Dialogue and Knowledge Encoding, Knowledge Selection (KS), and Response Generation modules. We further summarize the evaluation methods utilized in UTEDS and analyze the current models’ performance. At last, we discuss the future development trends of UTEDS, hoping to inspire new research in this field.
Faith-Inspired Muslim Parents’ School Choices and Attitudes in the Cultural West and Australia

All parents want the best accessible, available and affordable school for their children. Yet, the literature highlights that school choice for middle-class parents in the cultural West is a deliberate decision and a reflection of their salient identities. For racialised middle-class Western parents, school choice is an instrumental investment to secure social upward mobility and minimise the harms of racism for their children. Research focusing on Western middle-class Muslim parents highlights that accommodation of Muslim identities and ethno-religious values is pivotal in parental school choice. This is expected due to the rise of Islamophobia in the cultural West since 9/11. The semi-structured interviews with faith-inspired middle-class Muslim parents in Australia bring a new dimension to the parental school choice literature. Regardless of carrying more or less similar concerns for their children in an Islamophobic climate, middle-class Muslim parents’ school choices vary based on their childhood schooling experiences in the Australian context, diverse parenting styles and mentalities and their children’s varying personalities demanding a particular type of school setting. This article demonstrates there is no one size fits all Muslim parent in terms of deciding which school is the best for their children in an Islamophobic climate.
Evaluating the Barrier Effects of Charge Point Trauma on UK Electric Vehicle Growth

For electric vehicles (EVs) to realise the UK government’s goal of mass-market dominance, there are surmountable hurdles to resolve before car users accept this radical shift in motoring technology. This study focuses on recent EV adopters who experience a new phenomenon described as charge point trauma (CPT). In contrast to range anxiety, we define CPT as the psychological, physiological, and behavioural condition where EV user’s experiences develop trauma or anxiety in response to the availability of sufficient charge points, locations, payment processes, and operability. Resolving impediments to EV usage reduces long-term growth barriers, which we argue can subsequently lower or even eliminate EV driver anxiety. We conclude that range anxiety still plays a major part in overall EV driver trauma, and after deep analysis of our case study data conclude that a trauma other than range anxiety exists at the charge point. To mitigate this phenomenon, we propose a regulatory framework comprising a series of stimuli to encourage EV uptake. These recommendations should be targeted at regulating a new generation of EV charging stations to meet operational parity with current fossil fuel filling stations by ensuring they are always on, available in sufficient numbers, accessible and operable as part of the UK motorway and major trunk network. This will de-risk EV purchasing and stimulate their adoption in this embryonic stage, reducing CPT in the process.
Aluminum Protection by Using Green Zirconium Oxide Layer and Organic Coating: An Efficient and Adherent Dual System

In this work, the use of ZrO2 nanocoating in aluminum substrates, generated by controlled electrochemical chronoamperometry in hexafluorozirconic acid solutions (H2ZrF6·5H2O), resulted in a lower porous films than that obtained by chemical conversion coating. After the application of an epoxy coating, long-term cyclic immersion corrosion tests and scratch tests proved the superior protection of the dual system and the coating lifespan, thanks to the enhanced adhesion of ZrO2 intermediate layer and the organic coating. As zirconium-based electrolytes are considered more friendly bath if compared to that of other conversion coating processes, like chromating, phosphating or anodizing processes, the study opens new insights to the protection of structural metals in sectors such as automotive, naval and aerospace industries. The main advantages are the employment of lightweight intermediate pre-treatment (nanoscale), compared to conventional ones (microscale), and reduction of waste slurry (electrolyte bath free of additives).
Intraindividual variability measured with dispersion across diagnostic groups in a memory clinic sample

Abstract Increased intraindividual variability (IIV) has been linked to outcomes such as cognitive decline and dementia, suggesting IIV might add valuable diagnostic information beyond traditional neuropsychological interpretation. We explored whether a subtype of IIV, dispersion, can provide additional information for dementia diagnosis. In a sample of memory clinic patients, three cognitive status groups were identified: subjective cognitive impairment (SCI; n = 85), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI; n = 16), and dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD; n = 48). Dispersion was computed as intraindividual standard deviations across multiple neuropsychological measures within three cognitive domains (executive functioning; immediate and delayed memory) and was compared for each diagnostic group using profile analysis. Patients with AD and a-MCI demonstrated less dispersion than patients with SCI in delayed memory. Results support existing theoretic perspectives on cognitive variability and age-related cognitive decline but suggest floor effects underlie suppression of dispersion in amnestic cognitive presentations. Questions remain about the contribution of IIV beyond impressions of impairment versus no impairment in these constrained representations of cognitive domains. Future investigations should investigate variability in SCI groups against controls to examine whether observed dispersion similarities between SCI and a-MCI or AD in immediate memory and executive functioning are meaningful.
Diversified pastures at the front line of climate change in Northland: farmers experiences, new directions and wider implications for other parts of the country

The persistence of both perennial ryegrass and white clover is challenged under summer-dry conditions. Future climate change projections indicate greater incidence and severity of summer moisture stress for many regions in New Zealand, and therefore, greater pressure on our traditional pasture base. The ‘Northland Diversified Forages Project’ aimed to identify alternative pasture species that provide an advantage in terms of dry matter yield, quality and/or timing of growth within a summer-dry environment, with a particular focus on legumes. A series of mown-plot trial and paddock demonstrations were established across a range of soil types to assess the potential of a wide variety of forage species. Perennial ryegrass and white clover both failed to persist, comprising less than 25% of the sward within 3 years of establishment. Cocksfoot demonstrated potential as a more persistent alternative to perennial ryegrass. However, whilst a range of legumes were successful at increasing the proportion of legume in the sward and total yield in the first year, significant challenges were identified in maintaining functional legumes across multiple years. This raises questions around whether we currently have the right species in New Zealand to adapt to a changing climate.
Analysis of Volcanic Thermohaline Fluctuations of Tagoro Submarine Volcano (El Hierro Island, Canary Islands, Spain)

Temperature and conductivity fluctuations caused by the hydrothermal emissions released during the degasification stage of the Tagoro submarine volcano (Canary Islands, Spain) have been analysed as a robust proxy for characterising and forecasting the activity of the system. A total of 21 conductivity-temperature-depth time series were gathered on a regular high-resolution grid over the main crater of Tagoro volcano. Temperature and conductivity time series, as manifestations of stochastic events, were investigated in terms of variance and analysed by the Generalised Moments Method (GMM). GMM provides the statistical moments, the structure functions of a process whose shape is an indicator of the underlying stochastic mechanisms and the state of activity of the submarine volcano. Our findings confirm an active hydrothermal process in the submarine volcano with a sub-normal behaviour resulting from anti-persistent fluctuations in time. Its hydrothermal emissions are classified as multifractal processes whose structure functions present a crossover between two time scales. In the shorter time scale, findings point to the multiplicative action of two random processes, hydrothermal vents, which carries those fluctuations driving the circulation over the crater, and the overlying aquatic environment. Given that both temperature and conductivity fluctuations are nonstationary, Tagoro submarine volcano can be characterised as an open system exchanging energy to its surroundings.
Effect of ground rice husk ash on engineering properties and hydration products of SRC eco‐cement

The effect of ground rice husk ash (GRHA) (R) on engineering properties and hydration products of eco‐cements containing ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) (S) and circulating fluidized bed combustion ash (CFA) (C) was studied. Four mixture proportions of SRC eco‐cements with GRHA replacement at levels of 0%, 15%, 30%, and 45% by mass of binder were investigated. A reference mixture proportion of paste with 100% ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was prepared for comparison purposes. A series of laboratory tests including setting time, compressive strength, water absorption, porosity, thermal conductivity, scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy analysis was carried out. Measured results showed that the GRHA increased setting time and porosity in the SRC eco‐cements having a water‐to‐powder (w/p) of 0.4, leading to the decrease in compressive strength and thermal conductivity while the increase in water absorption. The GRHA increased the cristobalite amount and decreased the portlandite amount in the SRC eco‐cements at the age of 28 days, resulting in the more significant long‐term compressive strength development when compared with the reference paste with 100% OPC. Consequently, the GRHA could be used at a level of 15% by mass of binder to produce the SRC eco‐cement with the compressive strength at 28 days of higher than 30 MPa and the thermal conductivity of 0.713 W/mK, resulting from the formations of AFt, C–S–H, and C–A–S–H gels.
The Dragonfly Effect: Analysis of the Social Media Women’s Empowerment Campaign

Social media can advocate for social causes and catalyse audience support. To better understand the role of social media in advocacy communication, this article explores how advocates utilised Facebook to advocate for the ‘Taa Marbuta’ women empowerment campaign in Egypt. Our research draws on the dragonfly effect model and muted group theory as theoretical and analytical frameworks. In-depth interviews are conducted with advocates from all campaign partners who were directly involved in planning and managing the campaign. Following the dragonfly effect model, findings show that the campaign has a clear goal and uses various message strategies and pop culture for grabbing audience attention and generating audience engagement; however, there is no clear call for action. Thematic analysis also reveals two emerging themes: customisation of women empowerment communication and a supportive community of women empowerment that can stimulate societal debates necessary for social change. This study contends that including men can mitigate the muted effect on women in a male-dominant society and paves the way towards women’s empowerment. Overall, this study shows how social media helps make the ‘Taa Marbuta’ campaign an icon of women empowerment.
Riemann-Hilbert Approach for Constructing Analytical Solutions and Conservation Laws of a Local Time-Fractional Nonlinear Schrödinger Type Equation

Fractal and fractional calculus have important theoretical and practical value. In this paper, analytical solutions, including the N-fractal-soliton solution with fractal characteristics in time and soliton characteristics in space as well as the long-time asymptotic solution of a local time-fractional nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS)-type equation, are obtained by extending the Riemann–Hilbert (RH) approach together with the symmetries of the associated spectral function, jump matrix, and solution of the related RH problem. In addition, infinitely many conservation laws determined by an expression, one end of which is the partial derivative of local fractional-order in time, and the other end is the partial derivative of integral order in space of the local time-fractional NLS-type equation are also obtained. Constraining the time variable to the Cantor set, the obtained one-fractal-soliton solution is simulated, which shows the solution possesses continuous and non-differentiable characteristics in the time direction but keeps the soliton continuous and differentiable in the space direction. The essence of the fractal-soliton feature is that the time and space variables are set into two different dimensions of 0.631 and 1, respectively. This is also a concrete example of the same object showing different geometric characteristics on two scales.
Online Learning System in Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan: Investigating Problems Faced by Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Novel COVID‐19 caused turmoil in every domain of life around the globe. To halt the further spread of virus, preventive measures such as social and physical distancing has led the temporal cessation of all education institutions in numerous countries. To minimize disruption of teaching and learning process during epidemic, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan directed universities transition to an online learning system. The research paper explores deeply the problems faced by students in the current online education system introduced by various universities. A survey research method was employed and the data were collected through convenience sampling. The link of the semi-structured questionnaire was shared with 550 students enrolled in public and private universities in Lahore, Pakistan. The study brought to light the diversified problems such as lack of internet facility, load shedding, financial issues, ear pain due to prolong use of hand free/Bluetooth and unreliable results in assessments.
Diminishing potential for tropical reefs to function as coral diversity strongholds under climate change conditions

Forecasting the influence of climate change on coral biodiversity and reef functioning is important for informing policy decisions. Dominance shifts, tropicalization and local extinctions are common responses of climate change, but uncertainty surrounds the reliability of predicted coral community transformations. Here, we use species distribution models (SDMs) to assess changes in suitable coral habitat and associated patterns in biodiversity across Western Australia (WA) under present‐day and future climate scenarios (RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5).
Innovation of learning methods during the covid-19 pandemic at junior high school in Mataram City and West Lombok Regency

Learning innovation is a solution to achieve learning mastery, especially during the covid-19 pandemic. This study aims to describe and assess models of learning innovation methods that are relevant to changes in learning models during the covid-19 pandemic. The method used in this research is descriptive method and the sampling technique is simple random sampling. Meanwhile, the data collection techniques used documentation studies and interviews. Data analysis in this study was descriptive statistics andtest one-way anova using software spssversion 17.0. The results showed that: 1) the innovation of learning methods during the covid-19 pandemic with blended learning showed a sig. > 0.05 value, namely 0.428 at junior high school mataram city and 0.442 at junior high school West Lombok Regency , which means there is no significant difference in the implementation of the learning method. Blended learning during the covid-19 pandemic; 2) teacher perceptions based on 5 indicators, namely learning methods, innovation in the learning process, use of technology, lesson planning, and teacher support capacity indicate that science teachers at junior high school mataram city and west lombok regency have perceptions of 87.5% and 75.0% with good category; 3) students' perceptions based on 5 indicators, namely the effectiveness of the methods used, the use of technology, learning activities, learning motivation, and the carrying capacity of facilities and infrastructure indicate that students at junior high school mataram city have a perception of 90% with a good category and west lombok regency of 72.5% with good enough category. The conclusion of this study is that learning innovation or a combination of methods through online learning methods with blended learning during the covid-19 pandemic is a solution to achieve student learning mastery.
Macroeconomic Effects of the Anticipation and Implementation of Tax Changes in Germany: Evidence from a Narrative Account

Diese Studie quantifiziert die makrookonomischen Effekte von Steuerrechtsanderungen in Deutschland und berucksichtigt dabei mogliche Antizipationseffekte. Diese konnen sich bereits mit der Ankundigung einer Reform zeigen. Die Steuerschocks werden uber einen narrativen Ansatz identifiziert, der Informationen uber den zeitlichen Ablauf der Gesetzgebungsverfahren liefert. Eine antizipierte Steuersenkung entfaltet ihren maximalen Effekt auf das Bruttoinlandsprodukt erst mehr als zwei Jahre nach ihrer Umsetzung. Der Steuermultiplikator betragt dann 1,7. Dieser positive Effekt wird jedoch von erheblichen negativen Antizipationseffekten begleitet. Dies gilt insbesondere fur das Bruttoinlandsprodukt, die Investitionen und die Arbeitsstunden. Ein bedeutsamer positiver Effekt lasst sich hier erst mehrere Quartale nach der Umsetzung der Reform beobachten. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie deuten daher darauf hin, dass sich die Steuerpolitik prinzipiell Antizipationseffekte zunutze machen kann, um die Konjunktur zu stabilisieren.
Impact of a national professional development programme for out-of-field teachers of mathematics in Ireland

Out-of-field teaching refers to the practice of assigning teachers to teach subjects that do not match their training or education. This paper reports on a study evaluating the impact of a national professional development programme for out-of-field teachers of post-primary school mathematics in Ireland – the Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching. Evidence of impact was collected from three surveys. Two surveys evaluated changes in the prevalence of out-of-field teaching before and six years after the introduction of the programme. The third survey investigated programme graduates’ beliefs about mathematics, mathematics teaching and mathematics learning, and reported changes in teaching practices. Outcomes of the programme included a reduction in out-of-field teaching of mathematics and increased opportunities for graduates to teach higher level mathematics in the senior post-primary years. These teachers also endorsed child-centred beliefs and reported teaching practices consistent with the problem-solving orientation of the new mathematics curriculum. The findings go some way towards testing a theory of teacher change in order to enhance our understanding of how professional development works to upskill out-of-field teachers.
Parent-Mediated Home Intervention for Delayed Sleep-Onset and Night Waking in a Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder

We report the case of a 10-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder who had difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep. Through home consultation, his parents were trained to implement a multicomponent sleep intervention that included (a) faded bedtime, (b) regimented pre-bedtime routines, and (c) elimination of positive social consequences contingent on sleep problems including unwanted co-sleeping. A critical element in the case was functional assessment of the conditions associated with poor sleeping and matching intervention to parent preferences. Compared to a baseline phase, intervention reduced night waking frequency and duration as well as the time required for the boy to fall asleep. Follow-up results one and 2 months post-intervention documented sustained improvement.