Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Family language policies among Bangladeshi migrants in Southeast Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT The study of family language policy has emerged as a significant domain for multilingual development, language maintenance and cultural continuity. Family Language Policy seeks to connect the studies of child language acquisition with the field of language policy research in its approach to understand language maintenance and shift among different migrant families and communities. However, few studies have been conducted in this area. Through the in-depth analysis of 19 interviews, this article explores family language policy employed by Bangladeshi migrants in South East Queensland. The results show that participants evidence a strong will to maintain their mother tongue for which they resort to strategies from family to social domains. The implementation of their policies is facilitated by what they perceive as helpful macro-level processes. That is, they approve of the Australian policies that promote multiculturalism.
Global BEEHIVE: developing good practice for multilateral, scalable, and sustainable virtual exchange

In preparing students for life beyond the university, higher education must develop graduates who are culturally competent and understanding of the world beyond their own region. An appropriate context to address this area of need is Virtual Exchange (VE). Following the Global Partners in Education (GPE4) model, this practice report presents the process used by a collaborative international project design team to develop two ‘Global Understandings’ (GU) courses; one in business and one in education. It further presents an extension of an established general education multilateral (more than two international partners) VE GU course by using it as a model to develop topic specific VE courses in high interest and high capacity areas within the partner institutions. After undertaking the initial steps for developing topic specific VE courses in business and education, program designers found that planning workshops, team leadership, clear organizational documents and processes, clear communication policies, logistical support, and faculty enthusiasm and buy-in were key factors in effective course design and implementation in the initial project stages. In addition to sharing the project design process, this practice report also presents the lessons learned along with considerations for future implementation.
Table Organization Optimization in Schools for Preserving the Social Distance during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has supposed a challenge for education. The school closures during the initial coronavirus outbreak for reducing the infections have promoted negative effects on children, such as the interruption of their normal social relationships or their necessary physical activity. Thus, most of the countries worldwide have considered as a priority the reopening of schools but imposing some rules for keeping safe places for the school lessons such as social distancing, wearing facemasks, hydroalcoholic gels or reducing the capacity in the indoor rooms. In Spain, the government has fixed a minimum distance of 1.5 m among the students’ desks for preserving the social distancing and schools have followed orthogonal and triangular mesh patterns for achieving valid table dispositions that meet the requirements. However, these patterns may not attain the best results for maximizing the distances among the tables. Therefore, in this paper, we introduce for the first time in the authors’ best knowledge a Genetic Algorithm (GA) for optimizing the disposition of the tables at schools during the coronavirus pandemic. We apply this GA in two real-application scenarios in which we find table dispositions that increase the distances among the tables by 19.33% and 10%, respectively, with regards to regular government patterns in these classrooms, thus fulfilling the main objectives of the paper.
Environmental Effects on Soybean (Glycine Max (L.) Merr) Production in Central and South Germany

The cultivation area of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) is increasing in Germany as a way to ensure self-sufficiency through its use as feed and food. However, climatic conditions needed for soybean cultivation are not appropriate in all parts of the country. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of solar radiation, temperature, and precipitation on soybean seed productivity and quality in central and south Germany. A multi-factorial field trial was carried out with three replicates at four locations in 2016 and five locations in 2017, testing 13 soybean varieties from the maturity groups MG 00 and MG 000. Considering all the tested factors, “variety” was highly significant concerning protein content (Ø 41.1% dry matter (DM)) and oil content (Ø 19.1% in DM), but not seed yield (Ø 40.5 dt ha−1). The broad sense heritability of protein content was H2 = 0.80 and of oil content H2 = 0.7. Protein and oil content were significantly negatively correlated (r = −0.82). Seed yield was significantly positively correlated with solar radiation (r = 0.32) and precipitation (r = 0.33), but significantly negatively with Crop Heat Units (CHU) (r = −0.42). Over both experimental years, varieties from maturity group MG 00 were less significantly correlated with the tested environmental factors than varieties from maturity group MG 000. None of the environmental factors tested significantly increased the protein or oil content of soybean. In growing areas with heat periods during ripening, protein content tended to be higher than in cooler areas; in areas with high solar radiation during flowering, protein content tended to be reduced.
Role of Acupuncture in the Treatment of COPD: An Overview of Systematic Reviews

Background Since consistent evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not available, this overview aims to summarize and critically evaluate the methodological and evidence quality of systematic reviews (SRs) on this topic. Methods Eight electronic databases were searched to identify relevant SRs of the use of acupuncture in the treatment of COPD from inception to January 2021. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted the data, and cross-checked the data. The Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) list was used to assess the methodological quality of SRs. The Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system was used to assess the quality of evidence for the outcomes of interest. Results Nine SRs that conducted quantitative syntheses were included in this overview. The methodological quality of the SRs and the quality of evidence for the main outcome measures were generally unsatisfactory. Only 2 SRs were rated as low methodological quality by AMSTAR 2, and the remaining SRs were rated as critically low quality. The key limitations of the SRs were lack of a protocol and registration or a list of excluded studies. We did not find high-quality evidence to confirm the effectiveness of acupuncture for COPD, and the main reason was that the qualitative data synthesis relied on trials with small sample sizes and critically low quality. Conclusion Acupuncture appears to be an effective therapeutic method for COPD, but the credibility of the results is limited owing to the generally low methodological quality and evidence quality of the included SRs. Further rigorous and comprehensive studies are required to provide robust evidence and draw definitive conclusions.
Analysis of fluorescence lifetime data for single rhodamine molecules in flowing sample streams

Fluorescence events for individual molecules of Rhodamine 110 dye in a stream of methanol occur as bursts of 5-300 photoelectrons when the dye molecules transit the volume interrogated by the pulsed excitation laser. The arrival times for these events, extracted by use of time-correlated single-photon counting techniques, are distributed exponentially over a ∼10-ns time window gated to discriminate against prompt scattered light. Still, residual scattered light and solvent-impurity fluorescence contribute significantly to the recorded time distributions, which therefore must be analyzed as sums of an exponential decay and a background. Results obtained from two-parameter nonlinear least-squares fits are compared with maximum-likelihood estimates which ignore the background
Direct and mediate assessment of acidity in hydromorphic habitats in West Siberian Plain

The paper aims to show that mediate indication of environmental acidity conditions in hydromorphic habitats in the West Siberian Plain is possible by means of using indicator values for soil moisture and nutrient factors as substitute predictors. These factors are viewed as interrelated for plant communities located in the wetlands in the West Siberian Plain. Regression equations are introduced to assess the pH of soil solution in wetland plant communities.
Linear convergence of proximal incremental aggregated gradient method for nonconvex nonsmooth minimization problems

In this paper, we study the proximal incremental aggregated gradient (PIAG) method for minimizing the sum of smooth component functions and a nonsmooth function, both of which are allowed to be nonconvex. We show the linear convergence rate result under the metric subregularity and proper separation condition. Our method is developed based on a special auxiliary Lyapunov function sequence, and we also show that this auxiliary sequence is Q-linearly convergent. Using this result, we obtain an explicit computable stepsize threshold to guarantee that the objective value and iterative sequences are R-linearly convergent. Preliminary computational experience is also reported.
The Doping of Si p‐Field‐Effect Transistor Devices by Gallium Focused Ion Beam Implantation Enabling Flexible Fabrication Routes at Moderate Temperatures

A maskless approach of forming p‐doped regions in Si wafers using the Ga source of a standard focused ion beam (FIB) system and the moderate activation temperatures of 400–700 °C is demonstrated in this work. This simple and flexible route is accessible to many research labs and is successfully used to fabricate Si‐based diodes and field‐effect transistors (FETs). For the diodes, tunneling is found to be the forward current transport mechanism. The fabricated p‐FET structures show excellent switching behavior with a high ID,ON/ID,OFF current ratio of 5 × 106.
Development of habitat suitability criteria for conservation of the black‐necked crane in Nyamjang Chu River in eastern Himalaya, India in connection with a proposed hydropower dam

We developed the habitat suitability criteria for the black‐necked Crane (BNC) to manage their wintering habitat in the Nyamjang Chu River in Zemithang valley, India. We generated habitat suitability criteria (HSC) curves for BNC based on the habitat availability in the river channel and use by the BNC. The HSC curves indicated that BNC preferred velocity ranged from 0 to 0.2 m/s and depth ranged from 0 to 30 cm in the river channel. Based on the HSCs of BNC, three scenarios were explored in PHABSIM: Scenario (i) increase in flow versus dry riverbed area; Scenario (ii) increase in flow versus instream suitable area; Scenario (iii) increase in flow versus weighted usable area based on combined dry and instream suitable area. The output of Scenario (i) indicated at 20 cumecs discharge achieved optimum dry riverbed area (47.07%) available for BNC, whereas Scenario (ii) predicted the different section of the river produced optimum instream area at different discharges. Though, the Scenario (iii) predicted at 20 cumecs discharge, the study area generated more than 57.38% of combined suitable habitat available for BNC. Since a proposed hydropower dam in the Zemithang valley is intend to raise water level in the river channel, it is expected to be reduced suitable habitat for BNC in the valley. Based on the PHABSIM output, we concluded that the availability of suitable habitat of BNC decreases steadily if the discharge flow increases above 20 cumecs. Moreover, the predicted average dry riverbed area (47.07%) at 20 cumecs was almost equal to the percentage of dry riverbed area (47.8%) that was naturally available during the winter. Thus, we recommend a maximum of 20 cumecs as ecological flows to maintain the minimum required habitats for wintering BNC in the Nyamjang Chu River. Consequently, the installation of the proposed dam in Zemithang valley may not be feasible.
Direct Synthesis of Photocatalytically Active Rutile TiO2 Nanorods Partly Decorated with Anatase Nanoparticles

TiO2 rutile nanorods either decorated with anatase nanoparticles or pure have been prepared via a facile single-step hydrothermal method using commercially available aqueous solutions of titanium bis(ammonium lactate) dihydroxide at natural pH (∼8.0) without any additives. The obtained powders have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, UV−vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and nitrogen adsorption. The photocatalytic activities have been evaluated for the gas-phase decomposition of acetaldehyde under UV(A) illumination. The results revealed that TiO2 rutile nanorods decorated with anatase nanoparticles exhibit a higher photocatalytic activity than those embedded in anatase nanoparticles or without any anatase contact. This behavior is explained by the better charge carrier separation in the case of anatase rutile mixtures.
Estimation of magnitudes of heterosis for grain yield and yield contributing traits of conventional maize (Zea mays L.) single cross hybrids

This study was initiated with the objective of estimating magnitude of heterosis of selected conventional maize inbred lines. Ten elite inbred lines were selected based on over per se performances. The crosses were done in a 10 x 10 half-diallel mating design to produce 45 F1 single crosses hybrids during 2016. The experiment was conducted at Bako National Maize Research Center in 2017 main cropping. The experimental material consisted of 45F1 single crosses and three standard checks with a total of 48 genotypes. The quantitative agronomic data were recorded following standard protocols of CIMMYT. Percent of mid-parent (MP), better parent (BP) and standard heterosis was estimated for agronomic traits that revealed significant under analysis of variance. Maximum percent of mid-parent (240.34%), better parent (220.85%) and standard heterosis of 18.79% were detected for grain yield. Crosses of L1 x L4, L1 x L5 and L2 x L4 showed significant heterosis over the best two standard checks for grain yield. Key words: Heterosis, economic heterosis, grain yield, maize
Computational Exploration of Potential Polo-Like Kinase 1 Inhibitors as New Chemotherapeutic Agents

Background and Objective: Polo like kinase-1 (PLK-1) enzyme belongs to serine/threonine protein kinase family that is regarded as a principle mitotic controller of G2-M phase transition. The antimitotic therapies are a cornerstone for the treatment of metastatic as well as benign cancer. Therefore, PLK-1 has recently gained much interest in the field of targeting it by novel and effective inhibitors. Materials and Methods: The present study described the used of pharmacophore modelling based on the potent and selective clinical agent, Volasertib and followed by hybrid selection of a kinase inhibitors databank of 4800 diverse compounds by pharmacophoreand docking-based virtual screening. Results: The retrieved hits were filtered on the bases of their pharmacophore-fit scores, docking Original Research Article Alamri and Alafnan; JPRI, 32(29): 18-30, 2020; Article no.JPRI. 62165 19 binding affinity scores, ADME-T profiles as well as ligand quality assessments. Among the five hit compounds that fulfil the criterion, three compounds, Z1991791422, Z56115729 and Z1991791176 were selected for binding dynamic analyses by molecular dynamic simulation. The Z1991791422 and Z56115729 compounds illustrated stable binding behaviours at the proposed binding site. Conclusion: Thus, these compounds might emerge as potent inhibitors of PLK1 and could be applied as seeds for designing better PLK1 inhibitors in near future.
Synthesis of NiS and MnS Nanocrystals from the Molecular Precursors (TMEDA)M(SC{O}C6H5)2 (M = Ni, Mn)

The compounds (TMEDA)M(SC{O}C6H5)2 (M = Ni, 1; Mn, 2) have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystallography. Both of the monomeric molecular precursors have been used to make the corresponding monodispersed NiS (two different phases) and cubic phase MnS nanocrystals (NCs) under specific experimental conditions. Changing the surfactants yielded low-temperature rhombohedral β-NiS NCs with millerite structure in dodecanethiol and high-temperature hexagonal α-NiS NCs with NiAs-type structure in oleic acid, while monodispersed hexagonal shaped α-MnS NCs with rock-salt structure were obtained in the presence of a combination of oleylamine and dodecanethiol surfactants. The NCs have been characterized by X-ray powder diffraction patterns, transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction patterns, and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. Preliminary magnetic measurements show that the two phases of NiS NCs exhibit weak magnetism and hysteresis.
Thermal Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Rarefied Gas Flows in Nanochannels for Wide Range of Knudsen Number

Using a modified Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM), developing thermal flow through micro and nano channels has been modeled. Based on the improving of the dynamic viscosity and thermal conductivity, an effective relaxation time formulation is proposed which is able to simulate wide range of Knudsen numbers, Kn,. The results show that in spite of the standard LBM, the temperature distributions and the local Nusselt number obtained from this modified thermal LBM, agree well with the other numerical and empirical results in a wide range of Knudsen numbers.
Synthesis, spectral and thermal degradation kinetics of novolac resins derived from cardanol

The cardanol formaldehyde resin (CFR) has been synthesized by the condensation of cardanol with formaldehyde (ratio of 1:0.7) in the presence of oxalic acid catalyst. Synthesized CFR was epoxidized using epichlorohydrin (ECH) with 1:10 molar ratio. Cardanol was also directly epoxidized using ECH with the above-mentioned ratio. Synthesized resins have been characterized by Fourier-transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic analyses. Thermal properties have been studied by thermogravimetric analysis. Decomposition kinetics have been studied by various kinetic models of the synthesized compounds. In the present study, Horowitz–Metzger, Broido and Coats–Redfern models have been used to calculate the activation energy (E a), pre-exponential factor (A) and rate constant (K). E a calculated from all the three models mentioned above was close to each other.
Who is most affected by the Corona crisis? An analysis of changes in stress and well-being in Switzerland

ABSTRACT This study analyses the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis on stress and well-being in Switzerland. In particular, we assess whether vulnerable groups in terms of social isolation, increased workload and limited socioeconomic resources are affected more than others. Using longitudinal data from the Swiss Household Panel, including a specific Covid-19 study, we estimate change score models to predict changes in perceived stress and life satisfaction at the end of the semi-lockdown in comparison to before the crisis. We find no general change in life satisfaction and a small decrease in stress. Yet, in line with our expectations, more vulnerable groups in terms of social isolation (young adults, Covid-19 risk group members, individuals without a partner), workload (women) and socioeconomic resources (unemployed and those who experienced a deteriorating financial situation) reported a decrease in life satisfaction. Stress levels decreased most strongly among high earners, workers on short-time work and the highly educated.
Gas–liquid nucleation of nonideal binary mixtures. I. A density functional study

The binary gas–liquid nucleation of model Lennard‐Jones mixtures is studied using density functional methods. It is shown that the ordinary ‘‘Ar’’–‘‘Kr’’ mixture shows stronger nonclassical nucleation behavior than previously thought. A more nonideal mixture is defined by modifying the usual mixing rules of the Lennard‐Jones parameters. This fluid exhibits significantly stronger surface activity than the ordinary mixture. As with water/alcohol systems, classical nucleation theory produces nonphysical predictions for the nucleation of the surface active mixture. On the other hand, the predictions of the density functional theory are thermodynamically consistent.
Firm structure, scale economies, and productivity in the U.S. electric power industry: A cost function analysis

This paper analyzes economic performances of cooperatives relative to other types of ownership in the US electric power industry. Specifically, the paper uses a panel data of electric utilities over 2001–2013 to analyze economic performances of cooperatives relative to for-profit firms and to investigate the sources of performance differences under a model of cost minimization. The results show that investor-owned utilities are more profitable than cooperatives, but there are no significant differences in physical productivity between investor-owned utilities and cooperatives. Independent power producers are more financially profitable and more physically productive than their counterparts. The results also support that although the industry exhibits substantial scale economies over a broad range of output, cooperatives are constrained to exploit the scale economies than other groups as it is limited by higher cost of financing. This suggests that while a small number of very large firms are not required for efficient production in the industry, mergers between cooperatives could provide substantial scale economies, as discussed in the literature.
Motivation through insight: the phenomenological correlates of insight and spatial ability tasks

ABSTRACT In an experiment (n = 430), grounded in an integrative fluency account of the phenomenology of the Aha-experience, we tested the assumption that problem solving through insight is distinct from other strategies of problem-solving in that the affective response invoked by Aha-experiences is more influential than other solution strategies on motivational processes. Results indicated that insight tasks, compared to non-insight tasks, had the strongest affective and motivational outcomes both during and after task solution. Moreover, for insight tasks, sudden insight was the strongest predictor of correct solutions. Interestingly, step-by-step and guessing strategies were positive and negative predictors, respectively, of correct solutions. Finally, only trial and error significantly predicted correct solutions for non-insight tasks. We argue that solution strategies are not mutually exclusive. However, some strategies are more frequently used and possibly more adapted to different types of tasks. The study supports the integrative fluency account and motivational outcomes of Aha-experiences.
A Dual Band Polarization-insensitive Tunable Absorber Based on Terahertz MEMS Metamaterial

We present the design, numerical simulations and characterization of a dynamically tunable dual band metamaterial absorber that shows two distinct absorption peaks in terahertz (THz) regime. The designed absorber consists of a metal ground plane fixed on substrate and a movable metamaterial suspended above the ground plane. Through applying a bias voltage to adjust the height between the suspended elements and metal ground plane, we can switch absorber's state between absorption and reflection. Moreover, the designed absorber is polarization-insensitive and can be operated over a wide range of incidence angles owing to the high degree symmetry of designed structure.