Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perception of Prosodic and Aspectual Cues to Politeness in Teacher Directives in L1 and L2 Russian

Background: Several studies in interlanguage pragmatics have reported Russian directive speech acts to take a particular position within the dimensions of linguistic politeness and (in)directness, when compared to some Germanic and Romance languages extensively studied in this framework.Purpose of the study: The present paper aimed to investigate the role of language specific cues to politeness in Russian requests by examining their perception by native speakers and L2 learners in a scenario of teacher-student interaction.Methods: An experiment was conducted in which L1 and L2 groups rated the politeness of teacher directives in Russian on a discrete 7-point scale. Three variables were controlled for in the experimental design: the directness of the speech act (manifested in the choice between an imperative or an interrogative construction), verbal aspect, and the type of nuclear pitch accent.Findings: The obtained data generally corroborate existing studies, demonstrating that both native Russian speakers and learners of Russian with Chinese L1 do not judge as impolite direct imperative strategies employed in teacher requests. Though both groups of participants similarly relied on intonational cues in their judgements, the L2 learners did not perform target-like in evaluating the pragmatics of verbal aspect. Within the native group, the usage of imperfective verbs both in direct and conventionally indirect constructions was perceived as a highly salient indicator of impoliteness. Conversely, the size of this effect in L2 judgements did not reach a significance level, implying that this language specific cue is not acquired through incidental learning at pre-intermediate or intermediate proficiency levels.Conclusions: Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of explicit pragmatic instruction even for students who have sufficient experience studying abroad; furthermore, they outline new directions for empirical studies in Russian from the perspective of interlanguage pragmatics.
Individual and Team Factors Influencing the Adoption of Information and Communication Technology by Nurses

The aim of this review was to explore which factors influence nurses' adoption of information and communication technology. A systematic review was conducted using qualitative and quantitative studies. The authors performed the search strategy in the databases of PubMed, CINAHL, and IEEE and included articles published between January 2011 and July 2021. This review explores the following factors: collaboration, leadership, and individual and team factors—that, according to qualitative and quantitative research, seem to influence nurses' adoption of information and communication technology. A gradual implementation process of the information and communication technology, involvement from care professionals in the implementation process, and team functioning are important factors to consider when adopting information and communication technology. In addition to these, individual factors such as age, experience, attitude, and knowledge are also influencing factors. The review suggests that collaboration is important within the implementation of information and communication technology in care and that it positively influences nurses' adoption of it. Individual factors are researched more extensively than collaboration, leadership, and team factors. Although they also appear to influence the adoption of information and communication technology, there is insufficient evidence to convincingly substantiate this.
Improving policy environments for infants and young children: global status of multisectoral national policies for early childhood development

ABSTRACT Multisectoral national policies for early childhood development (ECD) have been developed since 1979, yet until now the number of countries adopting them has not been systematically documented. Numerous global declarations, including Education for All and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), have supported ECD policy planning. Selection and search criteria were established and applied to identify and classify multisectoral ECD policy documents. A descriptive study was conducted to assess historical trends in policy adoption, regional coverage, income levels, governance categories, and crisis countries. Policies were first developed in Colombia, and later in Namibia, South Africa, Mauritius and Maldives. By December 2019, 76 countries (39% of 197 countries worldwide) and one territory had adopted 125 multisectoral ECD policy instruments. Of them, 51% were policies; 37% strategies and/or action plans; 11% laws; and 7% regulatory documents. By 2010, 43 countries had adopted an ECD policy instrument, peaking in 2011 when 14 countries adopted policies. From 2012 to 2019, 29 countries adopted a policy. South Asia (88%), Latin America and the Caribbean (65%), and Sub-Saharan Africa (58%) lead policy development. Policies have been adopted by 53% of low-income countries and 55% of lower middle-income countries. Fewer upper middle-income countries (38%) and high-income countries (14%) have adopted an ECD policy. Previous research found that countries using participatory policy planning processes resulted in well-implemented ECD policies. The presence of a multisectoral ECD policy prepared in a participatory manner helps establish a strong enabling environment for expanding and improving ECD services. To attain SDG 4.2, additional lower- and middle-income countries, countries with emergencies, and authoritarian regimes should be prioritized for support. Finally, we recommend an indicator be established to identify the number of countries that have adopted ECD policies to help measure SDG 4.2. Key messages This study provides, for the first time, a criteria-based list of multisectoral national policies for early childhood development (ECD) in 76 countries (39% of 197 countries worldwide) and one territory and examines regional policy coverage and needs. Initial studies reveal the development, adoption, and implementation of multisectoral national ECD policies help expand ECD programs in countries. More technical assistance is needed to develop and implement ECD policies, especially in lower- and middle-income countries, including those with humanitarian emergencies and authoritarian regimes. A new SDG indicator for multisectoral national ECD policy development is recommended for future use. More research is required regarding policy impacts in relation to methods and processes of policy development, structures, key elements, and contents.
PENGARUH BEBAN KERJA DAN KEJENUHAN KERJA TERHADAP KINERJA PEGAWAI DENGAN KOMITMEN ORGANISASI SEBAGAI VARIABEL MEDIASI

This study aims to examine and to analyze the influence of workload and job burnout to employee performance with organizational commitment as mediation variable (Case Study At PT PLN (Persero) ULPLTD/G Trisakti UPDK Barito). In addition, this study also examined the effect of workload to employee performance with organizational commitment as mediation and the effect of job burnout to employee performance with organizational commitment as mediation. The study was carried out using a sample of 42 PT. PLN (Persero) ULPLTD/G Trisakti UPDK Barito staffs as respondents. The data analysis technique used is path analysis and used PLS (Partial Least Square) to test the hypothesis. The result of this study suggest that workload has a significant effect to employee performance directly or mediated by organizational commitment, organizational commitment has a significant effect on employee performance, and job burnout has a significant effect to employee performance directly or mediated by organizational commitment.
Green’s relations and regularity on semigroups of partial transformations with fixed sets

Abstract Given a non-empty set X and let P(X) be a partial transformation semigroup on X. For a fixed subset Y of X, define a generalization of P(X) by In this article, we give a complete description of Green’s relations on PFix(X, Y) and apply this to obtain the characterizations of left regular, right regular, intra-regular and completely regular elements of PFix(X, Y). The number and the relationship between these elements are also investigated by using finiteness of X and
A gender and age estimation system from face images

We developed extraction functions of a face candidate region with color information and parts of its face and combined them with the gender and age estimation algorithm we had already developed so that the algorithm can be applied to real time captured face images. The experimental results have shown hitting ratios of 93.1% and 58.4% for gender and age respectively.
Critical Barriers of Using Smart Home Technologies (SHTs) to the Elderly in Hong Kong

Abstract Similar to other developed economies, Hong Kong also faces a severe aging-related problems. Considering the aging-in-place initiative to enhance the safe living of the elderly population in their familiar living environments, the use of smart home technologies (SHTs) has been proposed and employed. Meanwhile, there are challenges that may impede the purpose of developing SHTs by the elderly. Therefore, this paper investigated the barriers of SHTs to the elderly in Hong Kong, determined the critical ones and further categorized into manageable size. A total of 201 face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong. Based on the data collected, various descriptive and inferential statistics namely, mean score, standard deviation, factor analysis, and reliability analysis were conducted. Based on the various analyses conducted, the characterization of the critical barriers of SHTs to the elderly in Hong Kong are cost and knowledge barrier, personal concern, and uncertainty barrier. The study provides recommendations to manufacturers of SHTs, the organizations where the senior adults worked before retirements, families of the elderly, the government and the seniors that could help to improve and enhance the aging-in-place (AIP) in Hong Kong.
Openness, Digital, and Human Development: Case Study of ASEAN Countries

: The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is an initiative of ASEAN countries to realize ASEAN into a solid and calculated economic area in the international economic arena. Human Development Index (HDI) is a method used to measure the success or failure of a country or region in the field of human development. As the economy of countries becomes more openness and digital readiness is better, it is expected to influence the human development index. This study uses a quantitative method with panel data secondary to the 2011-2015 period by combining 10 ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia). From the calculation of T-Test, Effect of Openness on Human Development Index that it can be concluded that the openness variable partially influences the significance of the Human Development Index variable and Digital Influence on Human Development Index, it can be concluded that the Digital variable partially influences the positive significance of the Human Development Index variable. From the calculation of F value, So that simultaneously or together the independent variables have a significant effect on the dependent variable. Coefficient Determination Based on the table above, the Adjusted R-Square value is 0.9977. This shows that the model is able to explain 0.23% of the dependent variable, while the remaining 0.23% is influenced by other factors outside the regression model. The human development index in ASEAN countries is already good, Singapore is the country that has the highest Human Development Index while Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia are the countries that have the lowest Human Development Index. To overcome the increasing human development index in Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, an open economy needs to be improved by conducting international trade. Digital technology is needed to further accelerate the economy of openness. Government policies of the three countries are to be more open in their economy. It is hoped that the policies of these three countries can contribute to creating a prosperous society in ASEAN countries and having a parallel human development index.
User relay‐aided energy‐efficient resource allocation in heterogeneous cloud radio access network

In this article, we consider a user relay‐aided resource allocation problem for femtocell access points (FAPs) and macrocells to improve energy efficiency in heterogeneous cloud radio access networks. The formulated optimization problem is NP‐hard and mixed‐integer non‐linear programming due to the incredibly complex relation between different optimization variables and their impacts on each other. To solve this non‐convex and NP‐hard optimization problem in an effective and distributed method, we propose an efficient three‐step iterative algorithm. The solution approaches are derived from successive convex approximation and complementary geometric programming by considering maximum power, front‐haul link and baseband unit (BBU) capacity, Jain's fairness index, and quality of service constraints of macro and femtocell users. The simulation results depict that the proposed algorithm can effectively decrease the energy consumption of BBUs by switching off under‐utilized BBUs and offloading the traffic from remote radio heads and macro‐cell to FAPs.
A2B5 Expression in Central Nervous System and Gliomas

A2B5 IgM recognizes c-series gangliosides with three sialic acids. The aim of this review was to focus on A2B5 expression in the central nervous system and gliomas. In brain development, A2B5+ cells are recorded in areas containing multipotent neural stem cells (NSC). In adults, A2B5+ cells persist in neurogenic areas and in white matter where it identifies oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) but also cells with NSC properties. Although the expression of A2B5 has been widely studied in culture, where it characterizes bipotential glial progenitor cells, its expression in vivo is less characterized mainly because of technical issues. A new interest was given to the NSCs and OPCs since the discovery of cancer stem cells (CSC) in gliomas. Among other cell surface molecules, A2B5 has been identified as an accurate marker to identify glioma CSCs. We and others have shown that all types of gliomas express A2B5, and that only A2B5+ cells, and not A2B5- cells, can generate a tumor after orthotopic implantation in immunocompromised animals. Moreover, A2B5 epitope expression is positively correlated with stemness and tumor growth. This review highlights that A2B5 is an attractive target to tackle glioma CSCs, and a better characterization of its expression in the developing and adult CNS will benefit to a better understanding of gliomagenesis.
Using Structural Equation Modeling to Examine Pathways between Physical Activity and Sleep Quality among Chinese TikTok Users

TikTok, the most popular social media, brings various benefits to nowadays living. However, the problematic use of TikTok has also elicited a range of health problems, such as sleep problems. Physical activity (PA) appears to play a protective role in the problematic use of TikTok and its health consequences, but the pathways between PA and sleep health are understudied. Therefore, we aimed to propose a framework to check whether PA can benefit the sleep health of TikTok users by reducing bedtime delays for TikTok. Stress and mental health issues were also considered as they are potential mediators between PA and sleep health and may also influence the problematic use of smartphones. A cross-sectional investigation that involved 660 Chinese TikTok users was conducted in April 2021. The volume of PA, perceived stress (PSS-10), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), bedtime delay for TikTok use, and sleep quality (PSQI) were investigated through an online questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine pathways from PA to sleep quality through stress, mental health issues (depression and anxiety), and bedtime delay for TikTok. We found that PA exerted a significant effect on sleep quality through indirect pathways (β = −0.056, p = 0.001). Stress was a critical mediator of all indirect pathways, and the pathway mediated by stress and mental health issues made a major contribution to the total effect (β = −0.048, p = 0.002). The identified pathways mediated by bedtime delay for TikTok were relatively weak but significant. PA showed a distinct effect on bedtime delay for TikTok through stress and mental health issues (β = −0.043, p = 0.001). In conclusion, our framework highlights some pathways to understanding the benefits of PA on TikTok users’ sleep quality. Future research is warranted to explore extra indirect pathways and re-examine the causal relationships between variables.
Humanised Mice and Immunodeficient Mice (NSG) Are Equally Sensitive for Prediction of Stem Cell Malignancy in the Teratoma Assay

The use of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) in regenerative medicine has great potential. However, it is important to exclude that these cells can undergo malignant transformation, which could lead to the development of malignant tumours. This property of hPSCs is currently being tested using the teratoma assay, through which cells are injected into immunodeficient mice. Transplantation of stem cells in immunocompromised recipient animals certainly has a much higher incidence of tumour formation. On the other hand, the results obtained in immunodeficient mice could indicate a risk of tumour formation that is practically not present in the human immunocompetent recipient. The presence of a humanised immune system might be more representative of the human situation; therefore, we investigated if the demonstrated malignant features of chosen and well-characterised stem cell lines could be retrieved and if new features could arise in a humanised mouse model. Hu-CD34NSGTM (HIS) mice were compared side by side with immunocompromised mice (NSG) after injection of a set of benign (LU07) and malignant (LU07+dox and 2102Ep) cell lines. Analysis of the tumour development, histological composition, pathology evaluation, and malignancy-associated miRNA expression levels, both in tumour and plasma samples, revealed no differences among mouse groups. This indicates that the HIS mouse model is comparable to, but not more sensitive than, the NSG immunodeficient model for studying the malignancy of stem cells. Since in vivo teratoma assay is cumbersome, in vitro methods for the detection of malignancy are urgently needed.
Order‐dependent LMI‐based stability and stabilization conditions for fractional‐order time‐delay systems using small gain theorem

In this article, based on small gain theorem, the stability, and stabilization problems for fractional‐order time‐delay systems are investigated. First, one order‐dependent and delay‐independent stability condition, and two order‐dependent and delay‐dependent stability conditions of nominal fractional‐order time‐delay systems are derived by developing different feedback loop structures. Then, by employing the proposed order‐dependent stability conditions, the robust stability conditions for fractional‐order time‐delay systems with norm‐bounded uncertainties are given. Moreover, state feedback controllers that robustly stabilize fractional‐order time‐delay systems with norm‐bounded uncertainties are obtained. The proposed results are in terms of linear matrix inequalities. With the help of LMI solvers, these criteria can be easily verified. Finally, numerical examples are provided to illustrate that the proposed criteria are valid and less conservative than the existing ones.
Intelligent Semantic Search Engines for Opinion and Sentiment Mining

Over the last years, research and industry players have become increasingly interested in analyzing opinions and sentiments expressed on the social media web for product marketing and business intelligence. In order to adapt to this need search engines not only have to be able to retrieve lists of documents but to directly access, analyze, and interpret topics and opinions. This article covers an intermediate phase of the ongoing industrial research project 'DoXa' aiming at developing a semantic opinion and sentiment mining search engine for the French language. The DoXa search engine enables topic related opinion and sentiment extraction beyond positive and negative polarity using rich linguistic resources. Centering the work on two distinct business use cases, the authors analyze both unstructured Web 2.0 contents (e.g., blogs and forums) and structured questionnaire data sets. The focus is on discovering hidden patterns in the data. To this end, the authors present work in progress on opinion topic relation extraction and visual analytics, linguistic resource construction as well as the combination of OLAP technology with semantic search
Return of intellectual capital: An innovative way to measure intellectual capital

The present age is the age of transformation of knowledge into technology and so our economy is transformed into knowledge economy. Knowledge is being recognized as the currency of every economy and so the information and relationship resources are being utilized by companies in the way physical assets like machinery, property and assets have been used for developing a business (Harsh Purohit, 2017). Multi-facted development over the last two decades had been seen which includes revolutionary Information technology sector, and over there India is the second most populous country in the world and one of the fastest growing economies for developing information technology (Mahesh Joshi, 2011). According to the report real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India for the year 2010 was highest 13.3 (India real GDP growth. (2018, June 1)). Even the present economic study also reveals that India also comes in the position of fastest growing economies in world in future period. Among the top 5 countries India stood first in the position with the projected GDP of 7.2% (FocusEconomics. (n.d.)). Three sectors namely the Service sector, Industrial Sector and Agricultural sector accounted for 53.89%, 25.92% and 20.19% of GDP respectively in 2021.
Investigation of regional differences in residential HVAC system performance using the SP43 simulation model

This paper discusses a study undertaken to analyze the performance of house and heating system alternatives commonly used in the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast of the U.S. using the SP43 simulation model. In the Pacific Northwest, gas furnace heating systems in a variety of house envelopes and with several different duct systems were compared with electric baseboard heating systems in houses built according to local building codes. In the Southeast, gas furnace systems were compared to several different heat pump alternatives