Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring Smartphone Applications for Effective Mobile-Assisted Language Learning

The widespread use of smartphones has brought numerous mobile applications to L2 learners, but discussion about its effectiveness has not been settled yet within the field. This study attempts to broaden this discussion by reporting the findings of an in-depth review of 87 ESL mobile apps. Two research questions are addressed to explore this issue: 1) What are the common and distinctive features of smartphone applications? 2) What are the strengths and weaknesses in utilizing present smartphone applications for effective mobile-assisted language learning (MALL)? This study first suggests evaluation criteria designed for mobile-based ESL software. Next, overall features and functions of the selected applications are analyzed in the three categories: ‘content and design’, ‘L2 approaches’ and ‘technology’. The details of the findings are sorted and explained by target language skills. Finally, this study concludes that the ESL apps seem effective in that they provide a personal and learner-centered learning opportunity with ubiquitously accessible and flexible practices. However, they need to be improved by realizing mobility as a more situated, field-dependent, and collaborative form of learning. The effective design and use of ESL mobile applications should continue to be studied in order to suggest the right direction to effective MALL.
Efficient Merger of Binary Supermassive Black Holes in Nonaxisymmetric Galaxies

Binary supermassive black holes (SBHs) form naturally in galaxy mergers, but their long-term evolution is uncertain. In spherical galaxies, N-body simulations show that binary evolution stalls at separations much too large for significant emission of gravitational waves (the "final-parsec problem"). Here we follow the long-term evolution of a massive binary in more realistic, triaxial and rotating galaxy models with particle numbers as high as 106. We find that the binary does not stall. The binary hardening rates that we observe are sufficient to allow complete coalescence of binary SBHs in 10 Gyr or less, even in the absence of collisional loss-cone refilling or gasdynamical torques, thus providing a potential solution to the final-parsec problem.
Effects of Ramped Wall Temperature on Unsteady Two-Dimensional Flow Past a Vertical Plate with Thermal Radiation and Chemical Reaction

The interaction of free convection with thermal radiation of a viscous incompressible unsteady flow past a vertical plate with ramped wall temperature and mass diffusion is presented here, taking into account the homogeneous chemical reaction of first order. The fluid is gray, absorbing-emitting but non-scattering medium and the Rosseland approximation is used to describe the radiative flux in the energy equation. The dimensionless governing equations are solved using an implicit finite-difference method of the Crank– Nicolson type, which is stable and convergent. The velocity profiles are compared with the available theoretical solution and are found to be in good agreement. Numerical results for the velocity, the temperature, the concentration, the local and average skin friction, the Nusselt number and Sherwood number are shown graphically. This work has wide application in chemical and power engineering and also in the study of vertical air flow into the atmosphere. The present results can be applied to an important class of flows in which the driving force for the flow is provided by combination of the thermal and chemical species diffusion effects.
Application of microsatellite analysis to group chicken according to their genetic similarity

Dedicated to Professor Dr. Peter Glodek on the occasion ofhis 65"' birthday Summary When estimating genetic variability of groups of local chicken from Nigeria we had to deal with the problem that the groups could not be regarded as distinct breeds or strains. The original sample groups obviously just represent individuals sampled in the same geographical region. The aim was to arrange these chicken in new groups according to their genetic similarity. Therefore 60 chicken from Nigeria and 10 Dahlem Reds (RIR) were genotyped at 20 microsatellite loci. In order to build up new groups "allele sharing" was calculated as the proportion of shared alleles beUveen each pair of individuals and was used to construct a dendrogram of all individuals including Dahlem Reds as a reference group which represents a well defined line. All Dahlem Reds clustered in this dendrogram indicating that this is an adequate approach to group individuals according to their common genetic make-up. The Nigerian chicken were arranged in 7 new groups. CHORD genetic distances between these new groups ranged from 0.07 to 0.27 and were higher than the values revealed by the original local sample groups (0.05 - 0.16).
Is sharing the solution? : exploring the opportunities and challenges of privately rented shared accommodation for single people in housing need

Reduced availability of, and access to, affordable accommodation coupled with housing benefit reductions, particularly for single people under the age of 35, make it inevitable that more people will require shared accommodation as a financially viable solution to their housing needs. However, there is a reluctance to enter into sharing, particularly with 'strangers', and many members of vulnerable groups face challenges such as living with others, gaining access to the private rented sector, and sustaining tenancies. In response to these challenges, the Sharing Solutions Programme, run by Crisis and funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), recently piloted, developed and promoted new models for establishing successful sharing arrangements for single people in housing need. This paper draws on findings from an evaluation of that programme, alongside the literature on shared accommodation, to identify a number of potential barriers to making shared accommodation work, and ways in which these may be overcome. A range of factors are identified as pivotal in the success of sharing in the private rented sector, including changing perceptions of sharing, managing shared properties and supporting tenants. While the paper concludes that sharing can be a viable option for some, it simultaneously recognises the significant resources required to make it successful for tenants.
Following the sun: sustainable conferencing in a climate of change

This paper reports on a new initiative in online conferencing that has resulted from the collaboration between three tertiary institutions on three continents and across three time zones. The paper describes the role of the Follow the Sun Online Learning Festival in revitalising professional online learning and networking events in a similar manner to the way in which elearning revitalised tertiary education. The paper also discusses the evaluation of online conferences and introduces the new learning methodology as an alternative method for evaluating online conferences. The methodology used to evaluate the Follow the Sun Learning Festival is discussed and some preliminary findings are shared. Initial results suggest that online learning events have the potential to engage and connect professional peers and facilitators across traditional geographical boundaries. The potential for the Follow the Sun conference to result in new learning is however still unresolved.
The formation of large neoblasts in shocked zircon and their utility in dating impacts

Uranium-lead (U-Pb) geochronology of individual shocked zircon grains has unique potential for dating bolide impact events. Neoblasts in granular-textured zircon have been recognized as the shock-related feature most effective at recording the impact age. Here we report the discovery of large neoblasts (5-100 mu m in dimension) in shocked zircon at the Sudbury impact structure, Canada-the first report of in situ coarsely granular zircon from a terrestrial impact site other than the Vredefort structure, South Africa. The neoblast-bearing sample was taken from a heterogeneous, lithic clast-rich igneous unit associated with the roof rocks of the impact melt sheet, making this the first time a crater has been dated using neoblastic zircon from the upper part of its stratigraphy. Previous in situ discoveries of coarsely granular zircon at Vredefort were all in impact-generated mafic melt emplaced beneath the impact melt sheet. Electron backscatter diffraction analysis of the impact-aged neoblasts indicates that the high-pressure conditions inferred in the formation of many small neoblasts were not necessarily involved in the formation of these large ones. Their large size, internal zonation, and occurrence in a slowly cooling environment collectively suggest that large neoblasts at Sudbury formed by relatively protracted, post-impact growth in shocked zircon incorporated into impact-related melt. Based on insight from large neoblast growth in terrestrial settings, we suggest that the ca. 4.33 Ga neoblasts recently reported in lunar zircon may imply a major basin-forming event on the Moon at that time. New knowledge of the cratering environments in which large neoblasts form also raises the prospect of possibly linking ex situ granular zircon in lunar breccias with specific impact structures-and thus better calibrating the lunar cratering record with radiometric ages.
Working Papers by The Italian Group of Environmental Statistics

Air pollution is a great concern because of its impact on human health and on the environment. Statistical models play an important role in improving knowledge of this complex spatio-temporal phenomenon and in supporting public agencies and policy makers. We focus on the class of hierarchical models that provides a flexible framework for incorporating spatio-temporal interactions at different hierarchical levels. The challenge is to choose a model that is satisfactory in terms of goodness of fit, interpretability, parsimoniousness, prediction capability and computational costs. In order to support this choice, we propose a comparison approach based on a set of criteria summarized in a table that can be easily communicated to non-statisticians. ∗Corresponding address: Via dei Caniana 2, 24127 Bergamo (Italy). E-mail: michela.cameletti@unibg.it †R. Ignaccolo is also affiliated with Statistics Initiative, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Italy.
Preliminary Results of Professional Development Program for School Science Research.

Teachers need to design their courses to be as similar to real-life situations as possible as genuine learning emerges in real life as opposed to studying in class. Research-based learning is an innovative approach exploring many critical strategies for success in the twenty-first century. In it, students drive their own learning through inquiry, research, and projects that reflect their knowledge. This study aimed to compare research skills resulting from self-evaluations and from tests before and after a training program. The participants included 71 science teachers from the lower north-eastern part of Thailand who attended the Professional Development Program for School Science Research. The results from the self-evaluations indicated that the knowledge levels of research skills were highly relevant to the knowledge levels of research skills shown in the completion of the tests.
Dating the Tidal Disruption of Globular Clusters with GAIA Data on Their Stellar Streams

The Gaia mission promises to deliver precision astrometry at an unprecedented level, heralding a new era for discerning the kinematic and spatial coordinates of stars in our Galaxy. Here, we present a new technique for estimating the age of tidally disrupted globular cluster streams using the proper motions and parallaxes of tracer stars. We evolve the collisional dynamics of globular clusters within the evolving potential of a Milky Way-like halo extracted from a cosmological ΛCDM simulation and analyze the resultant streams as they would be observed by Gaia. The simulations sample a variety of globular cluster orbits, and account for stellar evolution and the gravitational influence of the disk of the Milky Way. We show that a characteristic timescale, obtained from the dispersion of the proper motions and parallaxes of stars within the stream, is a good indicator for the time elapsed since the stream has been freely expanding away due to the tidal disruption of the globular cluster. This timescale, in turn, places a lower limit on the age of the cluster. The age can be deduced from astrometry using a modest number of stars, with the error on this estimate depending on the proximity of the stream and the number of tracer stars used.
An Illustration of the Least Median Squares (LMS) Regression Using PROGRESS

The least mean squares (LS) regression method produced the best linear unbiased estimates under the normal error distribution. However, many researchers have noted that the optimal condition is rarely met in real data analyses. To remedy the impact of potential data contamination, several advantages of the least median squares (LMS) regression are illustrated using a user-friendly software program, "Program for RObust reGRESSion" (PROGRESS). A public data base (the Longitudinal Study of American Youth was carefully chosen to facilitate verification of the empirical comparison between LS and LMS estimation. It is found that the LMS method results in a smaller average error of prediction and covers a larger proportion of variance in regression. In addition, it is demonstrated that even for real data with no significant outliers, the LMS estimator tended to match observations better than the simple LS fit. (Contains 2 tables and 16 references.) (Author/SLD) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************
Silicon Self-Diffusion in Isotope Heterostructures

Self-diffusion of silicon is measured between 855 and 1388 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C in highly isotopically enriched ${}^{28}\mathrm{Si}$ layers. The profiles of ${}^{29}\mathrm{Si}$ and ${}^{30}\mathrm{Si}$ are determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Temperature dependence of the self-diffusion coefficients is accurately described over seven orders of magnitude with one diffusion enthalpy of 4.75 eV. This single enthalpy indicates that self-interstitials dominate self-diffusion. The high accuracy of our data enables us to estimate an upper bound for the vacancy-assisted diffusion enthalpy of 4.14 eV, which agrees with recent theoretical calculations.
Characterization of the milk lipid fraction in non-dairy sheep breeds

Abstract. Studies regarding the composition of milk fat are mostly conducted on dairy breeds. The aim of our studies was to evaluate the fatty acid, cholesterol and phospholipid amount in the milk of two non-dairy sheep breeds. The study was conducted on 60 ewes (Żelaźnienska strain of Polish Lowland sheep – 30 ewes; Wrzosowka breed – 30 ewes) from one flock which were kept under the same conditions and maintenance. There were no differences in the amount of the basic components of milk in these two breeds. In the lipid fraction of Wrzosowka sheep (a more primitive breed), higher amounts of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (P ≤ 0.05), a higher amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) n-3 (P ≤ 0.01) and a lower ratio of n-6 / n-3 (P ≤ 0.01) were recorded compared to Żelaźnienska sheep. The milk of Żelaźnienska sheep had a higher amount of cholesterol (P ≤ 0.05). There were no differences in concentrations of phospholipids. With regard to the two non-dairy sheep breeds, a higher amount of PUFAs n-3 and a more favorable ratio of n-6 / n-3 was observed in the milk of the more primitive breed (i.e., Wrzosowka sheep).
Comparing axe heads of stone, bronze, and steel: studies in experimental archaeology

AbstractThis paper presents inferences based on the results of an experimental project comparing the effectiveness of stone, bronze, and steel axes in felling trees. The study shows that bronze is as efficient as steel for this task, and therefore the two material types can be considered equivalent when comparing technologies. We support the findings of other studies indicating that metal axes are more efficient than stone axes in a number of ways other than effort expended. Other variables that affect tree felling efficiency are discussed. Tree type, tree diameter, and axe type are the most important, but other factors may also be significant. The use of regionally specific estimates for tree felling time is suggested when making cultural inferences based upon experimental data.
Impacts of Tax Capacity on Development Outcomes

There is increasing recognition that strong tax systems can have impacts on economic growth, the sustainability of revenues for expenditure, state-building, and inequality, although there are debates about the trade-offs to achieving these differing and sometimes incompatible objectives. Tax revenue appears to be more likely to be used to support broad development goals than revenue from grants (Gadenne, 2015) or from natural resources (Prichard et al., 2014). However, state capacity improvements and civil society engagement are important to help ensure that tax revenues improve development outcomes (Prichard, 2010). Mick Moore cautions that the developmental impacts of tax reform may be difficult to discern because “there are very few countries where revenue reform has been effective and sustained over long periods of time” (personal communication, 2017).
Agar (Aquilaria malaccensis Lam.): a promising crop in the homegardens of Upper Assam, northeastern India.

One hundred and thirty five randomly selected homegardens were surveyed in the Golaghat and Jorhat districts of Upper Assam to assess the economic prospects of agar (Aquilaria malaccensis Lam.) cultivation and the socioeconomic background of the growers. Almost 50% of the households had agriculture as the main vocation and all households practiced homegardening, despite variability in garden size based on socioeconomic factors. Homegarden products including agar and tea contributed to 1 to 45% (mean 14% ±1.15) of the total annual income of the family. Returns from agar to an individual family ranged from Rs 3,000 (US$ 60: from 10 trees after 10 years) to 9,00,000 (US$ 18,000: from 500 trees after 20 years) with an average of Rs 1,14,393 (US$ 2,288: from 106 trees after 13 years). Low input needs and flexibility in site requirements as well as suitability for intercropping make agar a preferred cash crop in the homegardens of Upper Assam.
The IR vibrational properties of six members of the garnet family: A quantum mechanical ab initio study

Abstract The IR vibrational properties and the corresponding reflectance spectra of the six most common members of the garnet family (pyrope Mg3Al2Si3O12, almandine Fe3Al2Si3O12, spessartine Mn3Al2Si3O12, grossular Ca3Al2Si3O12, uvarovite Ca3Cr2Si3O12, and andradite Ca3Fe2Si3O12) were simulated at the ab initio level with the CRYSTAL09 code by using a large all-electron Gaussian-type basis set and the B3LYP hybrid functional. The 17 IR active F1u transverse optical (TO) and longitudinal optical (LO) frequencies, the oscillator strengths, the high frequency and static dielectric constants, and the reflectance spectrum were computed. The agreement with experiments for the TO and LO peaks is always excellent, the mean absolute difference for the whole set of data (overall 178 peaks) being 5 cm-1. Oscillator strengths, calculated from the mass-weighted effective Born charges, are found in semi-quantitative agreement with the experimental data. The reflectance spectra, simulated through the classical dispersion relation, reproduce the experimental curves extremely well. The availability of the full set of simulated frequencies and intensities, obtained by using uniform computational tools (computer code, variational basis sets, density functional), permits the establishment of correlations between IR wavenumbers and structural features suggested, but only partially documented, in the past
Control of Bubble Formation at the Optical Fiber Tip by Analyzing Ultrasound Acoustic Waves

The problems of controlling the processes of generation of acoustic waves and microbubbles at the optical fiber tip of moderate-power surgical lasers with wavelengths of 1.9 µm and 0.97 µm using active and passive acoustic methods are considered. It is shown that microbubbles of various sizes can be detected with an ultrasound method, in which the interaction area is recorded simultaneously at two frequencies. By measuring noise with a receiving transducer of an ultrasonic locator, we determine the frequency range of the acoustic signals occurring when large diameter bubbles, including gas-vapor bubbles, collapse. Model experiments are conducted to detect noise and bubbles in water and in a water-saturated 1.5% agarose phantom at various laser powers with an optical fiber tip having a strongly absorbing coating.
Indicator microorganisms, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcal enterotoxin, and physicochemical parameters in requeson cheese

Requeson cheese is an artisanal dairy product widely consumed in Latin America. However, no data is available on its microbiological and physicochemical quality. Eighty-four samples were collected. Identification and enumeration of indicator microorganisms and pathogens were done by conventional culture methods, meanwhile staphylococcal enterotoxin by immunoassay. Bromatological parameters were measure collection day. Indicator and pathogenic microorganisms per samples were aerobic mesophilic bacteria (n = 100), coliform bacteria (n = 100), molds-yeasts (n = 70), Staphylococcus aureus (n = 74), and Salmonella (n = 3). Neither Listeria monocytogenes nor Staphylococcal enterotoxin was detected. Temperature ranged from 3 to 19°C, pH from 5.1 to 6.9, acidity from 0.1 to 0.7%, and sodium from 290 to 3970 mg/100 g. Protein content ranged from 2.1 to 13% and lipids from 4.1 to 13%. Starch as adulterant was present in 56 samples. Key words: Indicator microorganism, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcal enterotoxin, macronutrients, sodium.