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Modern network systems (unmanned aerial vehicles groups, social networks, network production chains, transport and logistics networks, communication networks, cryptocurrency networks) are distinguished by their multi-element nature and the dynamics of connections between its elements. A number of discrete problems on the construction of optimal substructures of network systems described in the form of various classes of graphs are NP-complete problems. In this case, the variability and dynamism of the structures of network systems leads to an "additional" complication of the search for solutions to discrete optimization problems. At the same time, for some subclasses of dynamical graphs, which are used to model the structures of network systems, conditions for the solvability of a number of NP-complete problems can be distinguished. This subclass of dynamic graphs includes pre-fractal graphs. The article investigates NP-complete problems on pre-fractal graphs: a Hamiltonian cycle, a skeleton with the maximum number of pendant vertices, a monochromatic triangle, a clique, an independent set. The conditions under which for some problems it is possible to obtain an answer about the existence and to construct polynomial (when fixing the number of seed vertices) algorithms for finding solutions are identified.

There are sets of grammatical stance markers that are morphologically and semantically related, but that differ with regard to their syntactic realization (e.g., importantly, it is important that and the importance of). Little attention has, however, been paid to how these pattern across registers. This study examines eleven such sets across five registers in apprentice and expert production to investigate which register(s) the apprentice writers’ use is closest to and what that can tell us about their adherence to academic norms. The results show that there is a cline from the a priori more formal registers to the less formal registers for the stance markers investigated. When the apprentice writers’ usage was mapped onto this cline, it became clear that their usage diverged slightly from that of the academic experts, thus indicating a lack of register awareness. Yet, very little evidence was found to support previous claims of the ‘spoken-like’ nature of learner writing.

Employing a conceptual framework informed by theories of cultural production (Lave & Wenger 1991; Levinson & Holland 1996; O’Connor 2003; Willis 1977, 1981), and using notions of linguicism (e.g., Skutnabb-Kangas 2000) and identity “markedness” (Bucholtz & Hal 2004), I examine how an ESL subject position is locally produced by adolescents of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in one high school classroom. Arguing that “ESL” in this context signifies an exoticized cultural and linguistic Other – what some students refer to as “FOB” (“fresh off the boat”) – I analyse a series of classroom interactions in which long-term “generation 1.5” ESL students resist being positioned as FOB, first by challenging their teacher’s positioning, and second, by positioning a newcomer classmate as FOB, instead. While they thereby relationally distinguish themselves as “non-FOB,” these students’ actions reproduce the same linguicism they had ostensibly been resisting. I conclude by considering ways that the reproduction of linguicism might somehow be interrupted.

Since the mid-1960s, it has been known that regular or deterministic flow lines (DFLs) with an arbitrary arrival process possess three essential behaviors: 1) a customer exit time recursion; 2) a server reordering principle; and 3) a delay equivalence with prototype queueing systems. Even though these three fundamental behaviors were discovered decades ago, analogous results for hybrid DFLs (HDFLs)--possessing multiple servers for each stage--have not been unearthed. In this article, we prove the existence of a recursion for customer exit times in HDFLs. This result leads naturally to a server reordering principle. Furthermore, we identify specific conditions under which the total delay faced by a customer in an HDFL is equivalent to that in a G/D/c queue. Exploiting these results, we numerically determine the proportion of HDFL systems with a delay equivalent, study the computational burdens required for HDFL simulation, and assess the performance of approximations for HDFL systems. We hope these newly identified behaviors will lead to improved approximation methods and optimization models for use in modern automated manufacturing systems.

This paper concentrates on the scheduling problem in seru production system (SPS), where seru is a successful new-type production mode arising from the Japanese labor-intensive electronic assembly industry. Motivated by the practical situations, the sequence-dependent setup time and DeJong’s learning effect are considered in seru scheduling problems, and the objective is to minimize the makespan. The seru scheduling problem is formulated as a mixed-integer programming (MIP), and then reformulated to a set partitioning master problem and some independent subproblems by employing the logic-based Benders decomposition (LBBD) method. Subsequently, the set partitioning master problem is used to assign jobs to serus of SPS, and the subproblems are applied to find the optimal schedules in each seru given the assignment of the master problem. Finally, computational studies are made, and results indicate that the LBBD method is able to return high-quality schedules for solving seru scheduling problems.

The lexical representation of compound words in speech production is still under debate. While most studies with healthy adult speakers suggest that a single lemma representation is active during compound production, data from neuropsychological studies point toward multiple representations, with activation of the compound's constituent lemmas in addition to the compound's lemma. This study exploits the cumulative semantic interference effect to investigate the lexical representation of compounds in speech production. In a continuous picture naming experiment, category membership was established through the compounds' first constituents (category animals: zebra crossing, pony tail, cat litter …), while the compounds themselves were not semantically related. Moreover, pictures depicting the compounds' first constituents (zebra, pony, cat …) were presented as a control condition. As expected, naming latencies within categories increased linearly with each additionally named category member when producing monomorphemic words, which is interpreted as increasing interference during lexical selection. Importantly, this cumulative semantic interference effect was also observed for compounds. This indicates that the lemmas of the compounds' first constituents were activated during compound production, causing interference due to their semantic relationship and thereby hampering the production of the whole compound. The results are thus in line with the multiple-lemma representation account (Marelli et al., 2012). We argue that the apparent contradiction between results of previous studies with healthy adult speakers and our current study can be explained by the different experimental paradigms used. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The objective of this article is to devise a cost-effective, conformal, polarization-insensitive, and broadband metamaterial absorber for X-band applications. A periodic subwavelength conducting grid pattern is printed over flexible papers in a multi-layered fashion to achieve the broadband behavior. A silver nanoparticle incorporated inkjet printing technique is employed that does not require any post-processing such as sintering. The absorber is eco-friendly and suitable for rapid mass production at a low-cost. Moreover, the printed patterns do not crack when bent or applied over curved surfaces. The characteristics, working principle, and equivalent circuit of the absorber are described. The absorber is designed on a 1.06 mm (0.03 $\mathbf {{\lambda} _{\it l}}$ at the lowest working frequency) ultrathin substrate. It exhibits more than 90% absorptivity from 8.43 to 10.38 GHz for all angles of polarization with wide angular stability up to 45 $\text{\boldmath $^\circ $}$ . The flexibility and broadband feature is also confirmed by the experimental measurement of the fabricated prototype.

In general coding theory, we often assume that error is observed in transferring or storing encoded symbols, while the process of encoding itself is error-free. Motivated by recent applications of coding theory, in this paper, we consider the case where the process of encoding is distributed and prone to error. We introduce the problem of distributed encoding, comprised of a set of $K \in \mathbb {N}$ isolated source nodes and $N \in \mathbb {N}$ encoding nodes. Each source node has one symbol from a finite field, which is sent to each of the encoding nodes. Each encoding node stores an encoded symbol from the same field, as a function of the received symbols. However, some of the source nodes are controlled by the adversary and may send different symbols to different encoding nodes. Depending on the number of the adversarial nodes, denoted by $\beta \in \mathbb {N}$ , and the cardinality of the set of symbols that each one generates, denoted by $v \in \mathbb {N}$ , the process of decoding from the encoded symbols could be impossible. Assume that a decoder connects to an arbitrary subset of $t \in \mathbb {N}$ encoding nodes and wants to decode the symbols of the honest nodes correctly, without necessarily identifying the sets of honest and adversarial nodes. An important characteristic of a distributed encoding system is $t^{*} \in \mathbb {N}$ , the minimum of such $t$ , which is a function of $K$ , $N$ , $\beta $ , and $v$ . In this paper, we study the distributed linear encoding system, i.e. one in which the encoding nodes use linear coding. We show that $t^{*}_{\textrm {Linear}}=K+2\beta (v-1)$ , if $N\ge K+2\beta (v-1)$ , and $t^{*}_{\textrm {Linear}}=N$ , if $N\le K+2\beta (v-1)$ . In order to achieve $t^{*}_{\textrm {Linear}}$ , we use random linear coding and show that in any feasible solution that the decoder finds, the messages of the honest nodes are decoded correctly. In order to prove the converse of the fundamental limit, we show that when the adversary behaves in a particular way, it can always confuse the decoder between two feasible solutions that differ in the message of at least one honest node.

Using bona-fide black hole (BH) mass estimates from reverberation mapping and the line ratio [SiVI] 1.963$\mu$m/Br$\gamma_{\rm broad}$ as tracer of the AGN ionising continuum, a novel BH-mass scaling relation of the form log($M_{\rm BH}) = (6.40\pm 0.17) - (1.99\pm 0.37) \times$ log ([SiVI]/Br$\gamma_{\rm broad})$, dispersion 0.47 dex, over the BH mass interval, $10^6 - 10^8$ M$_{\odot}$ is found. Following on the geometrically thin accretion disc approximation and after surveying a basic parameter space for coronal lines production, we believe one of main drivers of the relation is the effective temperature of the disc, which is effectively sampled by the [SiVI] 1.963$\mu$m coronal line for the range of BH masses considered. By means of CLOUDY photoionisation models, the observed anti-correlation appears to be formally in line with the thin disc prediction T_disc $\propto {M_{\rm BH}}^{-1/4}$., Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2010.00075

The Sinian gas reservoir in the Sichuan Basin has the potential for natural gas exploration and development. Production prediction and risk quantification are important in planning of natural gas resources. Ultimate recoverable reserves (URRs) of Sinian gas reservoir are estimated. Hubbert and Gauss models are used to predict the growth trend of production in the gas reservoir. Based on the prediction results, the Monte Carlo simulation is used to calculate the probability of production realization. The evaluation matrix of risk level is established by using indices of production realization probability and dispersion degree for assessing the risk level of natural gas production. The results show that: (1) compared to the Hubbert model, the production prediction results of the Gauss model have higher accuracy. The Sinian gas reservoir will reach peak production of $$\left( {140 - 285} \right) \times 10^{8} {\text{m}}^{3} /{\text{a}}$$ 140 - 285 × 10 8 m 3 / a in 2036 and will have stable production from 2032 to 2040. By the end of the stable production stage, the URR exploitation degree is about 60% and (2) the Monte Carlo method can be used to obtain the production realization probability for each year. The risk level evaluation matrix can be established by taking the probability of realization and the dispersion degree as evaluation indices, which can provide the systematization of the risk levels. The study can help to better understand the guiding significance for the natural gas exploration and development.

Cylindrical permalloy nanowire arrays are prepared by employing anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template-assisted electrochemical deposition method. To prepare high-quality permalloy nanowire, the effects of different deposition parameters (pulse current density, concentration and pH value of the electrolyte, and deposition temperature) on the chemical composition, uniformity, and magnetic properties of the nanowires are systematically investigated. A high-quality permalloy nanowire with good magnetic properties of $${M}_{\text{S}}\approx 5.7\times {10}^{5}\, \mathrm{A}/\mathrm{m}$$ and $$\alpha \approx 0.04$$ has been successfully prepared by optimizing the preparation scheme, which can provide technical support for mass production of cylindrical permalloy nanowire for spintronic devices.

Remote sensing data from optical canopy sensors has been successfully used for precision nitrogen (N) management. This study aimed to explore the potential of multispectral camera mounted on fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in guiding in-season N topdressing for regional wheat production. Wheat plot and field experiments were conducted with multiple cultivars and N rates during 2017–2019. Manual sampling and UAV photography were carried out at wheat key growth stages. A modified sufficiency index algorithm (MSIA), driven by UAV spectral data, was developed and used for variable rate N recommendation (VRNR). Firstly, data from plot experiment was used to determine the local optimum N rate ( $${\text{N}}_{\text{OPT}}$$ ) for attaining the maximum available yield, and to quantify the relationships between vegetation index and above ground biomass, plant N uptake (PNU), and grain yield. The results suggested that local $${\text{N}}_{\text{OPT}}$$ was 283.5 kg ha−1, and red-edge soil adjusted vegetation index (RESAVI) yielded the highest accuracy in constructing PNU monitoring model (R2 = 0.78) and dynamic curves of UAV spectrum (R2 > 0.95). Secondly, using UAV spectral data of field experiment, the calculated real-time PNU and sufficiency index, along with $${\text{N}}_{\text{OPT}}$$ , were imported into MSIA for in-season VRNR. Compared to local empirical N fertilization, MSIA gave accurate N recommendation rate according to wheat growth status, with harvest index and nitrogen agronomic efficiency averagely increased by 3.1% and 11.9%, respectively under 15.4% reduced N input and undiminished yield return. This study supplies a new approach to implement VRNR for regional wheat production supported by UAV imagery.

We investigate the production of bottomonium states in pp collisions by focusing on their production cross sections as functions of the rapidities and the transverse momenta at various collision energies. Based on the measurements of the $$\Upsilon \text {(1S)}$$ production cross section at $$\sqrt{s}=2.76$$ , 5.02, and 7.0 TeV by the CMS Collaboration, we obtain the production cross section of the $$\Upsilon \text {(1S)}$$ at $$\sqrt{s}=8.16$$ TeV using both the extrapolation method and a fixed order with next-to-leading log (FONLL) analysis. We also use an extrapolation technique to discuss the $$\Upsilon \text {(2S)}$$ and the $$\Upsilon \text {(3S)}$$ production cross sections in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=8.16$$ TeV. We expect our evaluation of the $$\Upsilon \text {(1S)}$$ production cross sections at $$\sqrt{s}=8.16$$ TeV to be helpful in not only understanding those in pp collisions but also studying various effects such as CNM effects in PbPb collisions. Moreover, we hope the production cross sections of $$\Upsilon \text {(1S)}$$ , $$\Upsilon \text {(2S)}$$ , and $$\Upsilon \text {(3S)}$$ estimated here will play important roles as useful references in measuring the nuclear modification factor, $$R_{AA}$$ , for $$\Upsilon \text {(1S)}$$ , $$\Upsilon \text {(2S)}$$ , and $$\Upsilon \text {(3S)}$$ , which will be available soon from a PbPb collision analysis at $$\sqrt{s}$$ = 5.02 TeV.

This paper presents investigation of surface veracity of $${\textit{Wire}}_{{\textit{EDM}}}$$ machined surfaces of $$\textit{Al}/\textit{ZrO}_{2(p)}-{\textit{MMC}}$$ obtained utilizing the optimal parametric combinations. The effect of process parameters on the desired performance characteristics, i.e., minimum spark gap (SG), maximum material removal rate (MRR) and minimum surface roughness [SR( $$R_{a}$$ & $$R_{t}$$ )], is also presented. The second-order numerical expressions developed by response surface methodology (RSM) are used as a function in .M file. Genetic Algorithm and Direct Search Toolbox of $${\textit{MATLAB}}^{\circledR }$$ are utilized to identify the multi-objective optimum set of the process parameters for the desired performance characteristics. In the present paper, surface veracity aspects that include surface defects and thickness of recast layer are investigated for the machined surfaces obtained after $${\textit{Wire}}_{{\textit{EDM}}}$$ to achieve the desired optimum performance characteristics. From the investigation, it can safely be concluded that for the $${\textit{Wire}}_{{\textit{EDM}}}$$ of $$\textit{Al}/\textit{ZrO}_{2(p)}-{\textit{MMC}}$$ s, lower parameter setting values of pulse width and short pulse time along with higher parameter setting value of time between pulses are desirable from the view point of good surface veracity of the machined surfaces as well as to obtain low average recast layer thickness ( $${\textit{Rl}}_{{\textit{tavg}}}$$ ). The $${\textit{Rl}}_{{\textit{tavg}}}$$ decreases as weight fraction of $$\textit{ZrO}_{2(p)}$$ increases in $$\textit{Al}/\textit{ZrO}_{2(p)}-{\textit{MMC}}$$ from 5 to 15%. The investigation of surface veracity of the $${\textit{Wire}}_{{\textit{EDM}}}$$ obtained surfaces will provide the significant guidelines to the production engineers to plan the need of subsequent operations to improve the surface veracity and further the life of the products fabricated using these MMCs.

We introduce an improvement to the FxFx matrix element merging procedure for pp →$$ t\overline{t}W $$ t t ¯ W production at NLO in QCD with one and/or two additional jets. The main modification is an improved treatment of jets that are not logarithmically enhanced in the low transverse-momentum regime. We provide predictions for the inclusive cross section and the $$ t\overline{t}W $$ t t ¯ W differential distributions including parton-shower effects. Taking also the NLO EW corrections into account, this results in the most-accurate predictions for this process to date. We further proceed to include the on-shell LO decays of the $$ t\overline{t}W $$ t t ¯ W including the tree-level spin correlations within the narrow-width approximation, focusing on the multi-lepton signatures studied at the LHC. We find a ∼30% increase over the NLO QCD prediction and large non-flat K-factors to differential distributions.

Data centers, the critical infrastructure underpinning Cloud computing, often employ Software-Defined Networks (SDN) to manage cluster, wide-area and enterprise networks. As the network forwarding in SDN is dynamically programmed by controllers, it is crucial to ensure that the controller intent is correctly translated into underlying forwarding rules. Therefore, detecting and locating forwarding anomalies in SDN is a fundamental problem in production networks. Existing research proposals, roughly categorized into probing-based, packet piggybacking-based, and flow statistics analysis-based, either impose significant overhead or do not provide sufficient coverage for certain forwarding anomalies. In this article, we propose ${\sf FADE}$ FADE , a controllable and passive measuring scheme to simultaneously deliver detection efficiency and accuracy. ${\sf FADE}$ FADE first analyzes the entire network topology and flow rules, and then computes a minimal set of flows that can cover all forwarding rules. For each selected network flow, ${\sf FADE}$ FADE decides the optimal number of monitoring positions on its path (much less than total number of hops), and installs dedicated rules to collect flow statistics. ${\sf FADE}$ FADE controls the installation and expiration of these rules, along with unique flow labels, to guarantee the accuracy of collected statistics, based on which ${\sf FADE}$ FADE algorithmically decides whether a forwarding anomaly is detected, and if so it further locates the anomaly. On top of ${\sf FADE}$ FADE , we propose ${\sf iFADE}$ iFADE (a more scalable version of ${\sf FADE}$ FADE ) to further optimize the usage and deployment of dedicated measurement rules. ${\sf iFADE}$ iFADE achieves over 40 percent rule reduction compared with ${\sf FADE}$ FADE . We implement a prototype of both ${\sf FADE}$ FADE and ${\sf iFADE}$ iFADE in about 12000 lines of code and evaluate the prototype extensively. The experiment results demonstrate ${\sf (i)}$ ( i ) ${\sf FADE}$ FADE and ${\sf iFADE}$ iFADE are accurate, e.g., they achieve over 95 percent true positive rate and 99 percent true negative rate in anomaly detection; ${\sf (ii)}$ ( ii ) ${\sf FADE}$ FADE and ${\sf iFADE}$ iFADE are lightweight, e.g., they reduce the overhead of control messages compared with state-of-the-art by about 50 and 90 percent, respectively.

Indonesians have been taking much concern in English since it has been applied in formal education curricula. Also, not all Indonesians are familiar with English pronunciation, especially its characteristics in phonemes. Some English consonants even do not exist in Indonesian consonants such as the sounds /θ/ and /ð/ categorized as voiceless and voiced interdental fricatives. Due to this concern, this study investigates the production of English voiced and voiceless interdental consonants uttered by English Department students as non-native speakers of English using the Praat application. There were eight undergraduate first-year English major students as the respondents. The researcher gave them eighteen words consisting of /θ/ and /ð/ sounds in initial, medial, and final word-position. The data are in audio recordings. The result revealed that most students changed the voiced interdental fricative into consonants such as /d/ and /t/. This inappropriate way also happened when they produced voiceless interdental fricatives. They changed /θ/ sound into consonant sounds such as /d/ and /t/.

Vowel perceptual studies in Foreign Language Acquisition (FLA) settings where L1 is dominant are generally scarce. The aim of this study, therefore, is to explore the role of the age and exposure factors in the perception and production of English vowels [ɑ-ɜ; æ-ɑ; i-ɪ] by the native Swahili speakers whose exposure to the English language is through formal instruction in a predominantly FLA situation. The participants (n=40) were classified into two groups: Young learners and adult learners. Using Flege’s Speech Learning Model (SLM), we administered a vowel perception test, and a vowel production exercise. The results confirm that adult learners have an edge over younger learners whereby the former exhibited greater accuracy in determining vowel contrasts and production than the latter. Although both groups shared common difficulties in discriminating the vowel sounds, adult learners had recourse to their prolonged exposure and ingeniously used previously acquired knowledge and skills in sentence structure and meaning to aid discrimination in comparison to the younger learners. Finally, the study supports the SLM contention that adults retain capacities to acquire L1 to perceive the properties of L2 speech sounds and establish new phonetic categories.

This study describes the prosodic and functional patterns of the particle tˤayb [1] in Spoken Saudi Arabic (SSA; the variety of Arabic spoken in Saudi Arabia) through phonetic and conversational analysis. This particle, literally meaning “good/well/okay,” is one of the most common spoken particles used in SSA . Data were collected by recording four hours of oral spontaneous speech produced by five Saudi speakers. The findings reveal that, structurally, the particle tˤayb can occur independently before questions and before negative and affirmative statements. Moreover, its meaning depends on its context and, sometimes, prosody. The particle is identified 109 times in the corpus, and consistently occupies an initial (i.e., turn-initial) but not a medial or final position. The results provide the pragmatic functions and the prosody of the particle t ˤayb as well as the participants' use frequency of such functions. T ˤayb conveys nine pragmatic functions in the data, which are listed in order from the most frequent (i.e., turn-taking marker) to the least frequent use (i.e., request for patience). From a phonetic perspective, the results show different patterns in the production of the particle tˤayb ; it may show an almost flat contour with medium length, as in the functions representing (turn-taking, change and close topic); a sharp rising/falling contour with medium length, particularly with the functions conveying (reproach and refusal); or a high contour that decreases gradually with long duration, as found in the particle marking Be patient or showing little/no importance . [1] The symbol /tˤ/ represents the voiceless alveolar emphatic stop in Arabic

The SKKUCY-10 cyclotron based on 83.2 MHz, 40 kV half-wave RF cavity was developed at Sungkyunkwan University for the production of medical radioisotopes. The resonant frequency $$f_{{{\text{RF}}}}$$ of the cyclotron and the RF coupling coefficient $$\beta _{{\text{c}}}$$ of the RF cavity system were measured at various vacuum, and temperature conditions. The normalized multi-pacting intensities at four positions in the power coupler were analyzed to predict the multi-pacting power. Differences, $$\Delta f_{{{\text{RF}}}}$$ and $$\Delta \beta _{{\text{c}}}$$ , caused by the vacuum, and temperature conditions were modified based on the coupler and tuner gap distances. During the RF conditioning, a constant 15 kW pulse mode and a variable 1 to 15 kW continuous wave mode were employed. The values of the reflection coefficient $$\Gamma$$ and $$\beta _{{\text{c}}}$$ were 1.2% and 0.8, respectively, when the cavity dissipation power was 12.4 kW at 83.2 MHz. Good agreement between the simulation and experimental data was obtained.

Previous research suggests that different types of word-final /s/ and /z/ (e.g. non-morphemic vs. plural or clitic morpheme) in English show realisational differences in duration. However, there is disagreement on the nature of these differences, as experimental studies have provided evidence for durational differences of the opposite direction as results from corpus studies (i.e. non-morphemic > plural > clitic /s/). The experimental study reported here focuses on four types of word-final /s/ in English, i.e. non-morphemic, plural, and is- and has-clitic /s/. We conducted a pseudoword production study with native speakers of Southern British English. The results show that non-morphemic /s/ is significantly longer than plural /s/, which in turn is longer than clitic /s/, while there is no durational difference between the two clitics. This aligns with previous corpus rather than experimental studies. Thus, the morphological category of a word-final /s/ appears to be a robust predictor for its phonetic realisation influencing speech production in such a way that systematic subphonemic differences arise. This finding calls for revisions of current models of speech production in which morphology plays no role in later stages of production.

A machine learning model for microwave-assisted pyrolysis technology was developed in this study. The data set of 112 unique experiments was created by analysing the published literature based on biochar. The linear, interactive and quadratic regression models were trained with the selected data set. Out of three regressions models, the quadratic model $${\text{Biochar Yield}} = - 601.78 + 17.336 \times {\text{VM}} + 25.338 \times {\text{AC}} - 0.26367 \times T - 0.293 \times {\text{VM}} \times {\text{AC}} - 0.10305 \times {\text{VM}}^{2} - 0.1893 \times {\text{AC}}^{2} + 1.59 \times 10^{ - 3} \times T^{2}$$ was found to have highest R2 value of 0.894. The predicted model developed based on the data from literature was validated with laboratory experimental results. Prediction and validation results showed that data prediction can be a useful tool for the preview of selected feedstock and process parameters. Volatile matter, ash content and temperature were found to be the prominent factors in the trained model. Biochar yield was predicted with a minimum root mean square error of 7 when validated with experimental results. Thus, the predicted model can be used as empirical equation for future experiments to predict biochar yield.

This study compared and explored the differences and similarities in the production of conventional expressions between native English speakers and non-native English speakers represented by the Saudi EFL learners. It also examined the pragma-linguistic differences in the production of conventional expressions. Forty-seven native English speakers and forty-seven non-native English speakers participated in this study. The questionnaire consisted of nineteen scenarios representing different speech acts. Students were requested to reply to these scenarios as if they were real-life situations. The findings established that almost half of the comparisons between Saudi EFL learners and native English speakers presented similarities in the production of conventional expressions. However, there were some pragma-linguistic differences between the native English speakers and some of the Saudi EFL learners, such as misunderstandings due to the misuse of expected expressions, verbosity, the use of expressions that formal speakers considered rude, and transferred from their first language. These findings provide an empirical vision to the status of Saudi EFL learners conventional expressions. Future research could investigate conventional EFL expressions locally and globally.

The nuclear isomer $$^{178}$$ Hfm2 enables various investigations owing to its unique properties. To study exotic nuclear reactions induced by $$^{178}$$ Hfm2, an isomeric target is the most effective option in terms of luminosity. However, this creates many challenges to overcome. One of the challenges is that nanogram quantities of the isomer are essential for fabricating a target. We conducted a pilot experiment to establish the method for isomer production, as the first step toward large-scale production at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory (RIBF), RIKEN. An $$\alpha$$ beam at 40 MeV supplied from the AVF cyclotron bombarded natural-abundance metallic Yb foils. Hf isotopes were extracted from the irradiated target by a new chemical separation method. We produced a sample containing $$10^{11}$$ atoms of $$^{178}$$ Hfm2, paving the way to future large-scale production at the RIBF.

Within the framework of the standard model (SM), the decay of the Higgs boson into a quark-antiquark pair with gluon emission is studied. An analytical expression is obtained for the decay width, and a dependence of the decay width on the quark and antiquark energies is studied. By integrating over the quark and antiquark energies, the full width of the Higgs boson decay Н → q $$ \overline{q} $$ g is determined.

We calculate, for the first time, the NNLO QCD corrections to identified heavy hadron production at hadron colliders. The calculation is based on a flexible numeric framework which allows the calculation of any distribution of a single identified heavy hadron plus jets and non-QCD particles. As a first application we provide NNLO QCD predictions for several differential distributions of B hadrons in t$$ \overline{t} $$ t ¯ events at the LHC. Among others, these predictions are needed for the precise determination of the top quark mass. The extension of our results to other processes, like open or associated B and charm production is straightforward. We also explore the prospects for extracting heavy flavor fragmentation functions from LHC data.

Perovskite-based devices are a promising candidate for the next generation of photovoltaic devices. Depending on the selective contacts layers and their interfaces with the absorber, the performance and photoelectric parameters of the perovskite solar cells (PSCs) can be changed. So, it is possible, to achieve highly efficient and stable PSCs by engineering the selective contacts layers and their interface with the perovskite layer. In this study, inorganic CuInS2 (CIS) was inserted between the perovskite and Spiro–OMeTAD for decreasing charge recombination at the interfaces. The impact of the CIS and Spiro–OMeTAD on the solar cell photoelectrical parameters is theoretically modeled, and the performance of the solar cells was examined with Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS-1D) under AM1.5G spectrum at 300 K. Results show utilizing a thin layer of CIS can improve the performance of the solar cell. Photovoltaic characterization of the solar cell with CIS shows 18.13%, 73.34%, 1.09 V, $22.69\,\,{\mathrm {mA}}\,\cdot \, {\mathrm {cm}}^{-2}$ , respectively, for efficiency, fill factor (FF), ${V}_{{\mathrm {oc}}}$ , and ${J}_{{\mathrm {sc}}}$ . These results indicated a 7% improvement in efficiency increased and 2% on FF increased compared with the structure without CIS. High-mobility CIS can extract more carriers. It is believed this study can provide guidelines for the design and production of economic and stable PSCs with further efficiency enhancement.

The production of oxalic acid from sawdust using a mixture of strong nitric acid and concentrated sulphuric acid with coal fly ash as a catalyst has been explored. Operating parameters affecting the reaction were determined to be temperature, mesh size and amount of fly ash catalyst, time and the $${\text{HNO}}_{3} :{\text{H}}_{2} {\text{SO}}_{4}$$ HNO 3 : H 2 SO 4 ratio. A maximum oxalic acid yield of 84% was obtained using a mixture of 60% $${\text{HNO}}_{3} {\text{ and }}40 \%{\text{ H}}_{2} {\text{SO}}_{4}$$ HNO 3 and 40 % H 2 SO 4 at 70 °C and a reaction time of 150 minutes. Coal fly ash with particle size of 50–100 μm proved to be a suitable and efficient catalyst, and the optimum quantity of catalyst employed was 5g of fly ash for every 100g of sawdust.

This work presents a ${12}\,\,\times \,\,{12}\,\,\times \,\,{0.6}$ mm3 ball grid array (BGA) module made of low-cost organic substrates which integrates transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) antennas for short-range 60 GHz WiGig communications. The Tx antenna is a single-element linearly polarized aperture-coupled patch (ACP) antenna achieving a worst −12 dB matching with a broadside realized gain above 5 dBi and a total efficiency higher than 50% in the 57–66 GHz band. The Rx antenna is a single-element single-fed circularly polarized ACP antenna. It exhibits a worst −14 dB matching level from ${57~}$ to 66 GHz and a worst −10 dB level from ${47~}$ to 66 GHz (33% relative bandwidth (BW) with respect to 60 GHz). The broadside realized gain is above 5 dBi from ${61~}$ to 67 GHz and the axial ratio stays below 3 dB for a 14% BW with respect to 60 GHz. Variability of the fabrication process is analyzed by means of extensive measurements of several modules. The effect of the integration of the module in the application PCB and the device casing is also studied for realistic use. The obtained results demonstrate suitability of this high-density interconnect BGA packaging technology for mass production of compact low-cost millimeter-wave (mmW) antenna module for WiGig communications.

We derive a general expression for the absorptive part of the one-loop photon polarization tensor in a strongly magnetized quark-gluon plasma at nonzero baryon chemical potential. To demonstrate the application of the main result in the context of heavy-ion collisions, we study the effect of a nonzero baryon chemical potential on the photon emission rate. The rate and the ellipticity of photon emission are studied numerically as a function the transverse momentum (energy) for several values of temperature and chemical potential. When the chemical potential is small compared to the temperature, the rates of the quark and antiquark splitting processes (i.e., $q\rightarrow q +\gamma$ and $\bar{q}\rightarrow \bar{q} +\gamma$, respectively) are approximately the same. However, the quark splitting gradually becomes the dominant process with increasing the chemical potential. We also find that increasing the chemical potential leads to a growing total photon production rate but has only a small effect on the ellipticity of photon emission. The quark-antiquark annihilation ($q+\bar{q}\rightarrow \gamma$) also contributes to the photon production, but its contribution remains relatively small for a wide range of temperatures and chemical potentials investigated., Comment: 17 pages, 6 multi-panel figures, published version

The paper introduces a method for the construction of bivariate copulas with the usage of specific values of the parameters α and β ( α , β transformation) and the parameters κ and λ in their domain. The produced bivariate copulas are defined in four subrectangles of the unit square. The bounds of the produced copulas are investigated, while a novel construction method for fuzzy copulas is introduced, with the usage of the produced copulas via α , β transformation in four subrectangles of the unit square. Following this construction procedure, the production of an infinite number of copulas and fuzzy copulas could be possibly achieved. Some applications of the proposed methods are presented.

There is still much to learn about the ways in which human and machine translation differ with regard to the contexts that regulate the production and interpretation of discourse. The present study explores whether a corpus-driven lexical analysis of human and machine translation can unveil discourse features that set the two apart. A balanced corpus of source texts aligned with authentic, professional translations and neural machine translations was compiled for the study. Lexical discrepancies in the two translation corpora were then extracted via a corpus-driven keyword analysis, and examined qualitatively through parallel concordances of source texts aligned with human and machine translation. The study shows that keyword analysis not only reiterates known problems of discourse in machine translation such as lexical inconsistency and pronoun resolution, but can also provide valuable insights regarding contextual aspects of translated discourse deserving further research.

We present $\texttt{Abacus}$, a fast and accurate cosmological $N$-body code based on a new method for calculating the gravitational potential from a static multipole mesh. The method analytically separates the near- and far-field forces, reducing the former to direct $1/r^2$ summation and the latter to a discrete convolution over multipoles. The method achieves 70 million particle updates per second per node of the Summit supercomputer, while maintaining a median fractional force error of $10^{-5}$. We express the simulation time step as an event-driven "pipeline", incorporating asynchronous events such as completion of co-processor work, Input/Output, and network communication. $\texttt{Abacus}$ has been used to produce the largest suite of $N$-body simulations to date, the $\texttt{AbacusSummit}$ suite of 60 trillion particles (Maksimova et al., 2021), incorporating on-the-fly halo finding. $\texttt{Abacus}$ enables the production of mock catalogs of the volume and resolution required by the coming generation of cosmological surveys.

We study cross sections for the exclusive diffractive leptoproduction of $$\rho $$ ρ -mesons, $$\gamma ^*~p~\rightarrow ~\rho ~p$$ γ ∗ p → ρ p , within the framework of high-energy factorization. Cross sections for longitudinally and transversally polarized mesons are shown. We employ a wide variety of unintegrated gluon distributions available in the literature and compare to HERA data. The resulting cross sections strongly depend on the choice of unintegrated gluon distribution. We also present predictions for the proton target in the kinematics of the Brookhaven EIC.

The study was aimed to investigate the sustainability of citrus production using the eco-efficiency (EF) index under conventional and optimal conditions in Mazandaran province, Iran. The Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network and Genetic Algorithm (GA) were employed to model and optimize the citrus production, respectively. Results indicated that the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and net income in citrus production were 4630.82 kgCO2eq and 8688.68 $ ha–1, respectively, in the conventional system. The EF value was also estimated at 1.87 $ $${\text{kgCO}}_{{{\text{2eq}}}}^{{ - 1}}$$ , which was higher in tangerine production than orange production. Under the optimal condition, although the GHG emissions did not change significantly, the net income index in both orange and tangerine production systems increased significantly. Consequently, the EF value of citrus production increased to 3.55, indicating a significant increase in this index under optimal conditions.

Visual artwork is a platform to convey the meaning of the theme chosen in producing the work. However, it is difficult to understand the meaning through the symbols highlighted by the artist. Based on that situation the objective of this study is to collect information on visual artworks that apply animal symbols in the SI + SA 2020 exhibition. Five artists have been identified using animal symbols in the production of their artwork. This study is based on qualitative research approach using four types of data; namely the study of literature that explains the meaning and symbol of animals from the point of view of previous scientific writing. The second method is based on information obtained from the artist statement in the SI + SA 2020 Exhibition catalogue. The third method, the researcher interviewed (partially structured) five artists who have been selected using animal symbols in their artwork. The fourth method is to use the theory of Edmund Burke Feldman (1994) which has four stages in the theory, namely description, analysis, interpretation and evaluation. Triangulation (qualitative) studies are conducted to obtain more data and the validity of the findings obtained. The result shows an understanding of the meaning and symbol varies according to the needs of the individual or society. Some artists associate symbols in the context of personal experiences or observations of an event. Symbols can also carry meaning in the context of social sciences. In the production of their artworks, the use of symbols is a method to convey a message and an easier way to communicate. Conclusion clearly shows that the meaning of these animal symbols depends on different personal perceptions - different from the references studied. It can reveal to the general public that the use of animal symbols applied in the work can carry various meanings. Researchers suggest for future studies to conduct comprehensive research on the use of symbols in contemporary visual arts Malaysia.KeywordsWork, Symbol, Meaning, Animal, Triangulation Data

Earlier studies have shown that children are efficient second language learners. Research has also shown that musical background might affect second language learning. A two-day auditory training paradigm was used to investigate whether studying in a music-oriented education program affects children’s sensitivity to acquire a non-native vowel contrast. Training effects were measured with listen-and-repeat production tests. Two groups of monolingual Finnish children (9–11 years, N=23) attending music-oriented and regular fourth grades were tested. The stimuli were two semisynthetic pseudo words /ty:ti/ and /tʉ:ti/ with the native vowel /y/ and the non-native vowel /ʉ/ embedded. Both groups changed their pronunciation after the first training. The change was reflected in the second formant values of /ʉ/, which lowered significantly after three trainings. The results show that 9–11-year-old children benefit from passive auditory training in second language production learning regardless of whether or not they attend a music-oriented education program.

Features and requirements to the use of reheating of ring blanks in the conditions of production on the automated line are considered. An assessment is given for a technological temperature state of ring blanks at various stages of production under conditions of the automated line. For assessment of rational for reheating at production of ring blanks, a classification of ring manufacturing technology is proposed with the production of a pressed non-core blank in an open die, with the production of a pressed profile blank in a closed die, with the production of a pressed profile blank in a stamp with reverse extrusion. The technology of ring rolling with the production of a pressed non-core blank in an open die is the most economical and does not require the use of reheating in the manufacture of rings made of medium-alloy steels. The technology of ring rolling of a profile blank obtained in a closed die does not require the use of additional heating after pressing, in the case of manufacturing rings with a simplified profile on the outer or inner diameters of the ring. In the manufacture of rings with a more complex profile on the outer and inner diameters of the ring, as well as rings made of high-alloy steels, the final decision on the need for additional heating is made depending on the temperature of the end of intensive plastic deformation for the selected steel grade of the ring. The technology of ring rolling with the production of a pressed profile blank in a die with reverse extrusion requires the use of reheating after the pressing operation before the ring rolling operation, and is recommended for the manufacture of rings from medium- and high-alloy steels with a complex profile section on the outer and inner diameters, wall thicknesses, with a ratio of wall thickness to outer diameter D within h / D = 0.011...0.016 and with a ratio of wall thickness to ring height L within h / L = 0.020...0.041. The proposed recommendations are intended for use in the development of technological support for the operation of the automated ring-rolling complex at OJSC “BELAZ”.

This study examines how input mode – whether written or auditory – interacts with orthography in the production of North American English (NAE) schwar (/ɝ/, found in fur, heard, bird) by native Spanish speakers. Greater orthographic interference was predicted for written input, given the obligatory activation of orthographic representations in the execution of the task. Participants were L1 Mexican Spanish/L2 English speakers (L2, n = 15) and NAE (n = 15, rhotic dialect speakers). The target items were 10 schwar words and 10 words matched in graphemes to the onset and nucleus of the schwar words (e.g., bird was matched with big), for a total of 20 items. The degree of overlap between schwar productions across group and input mode (L2 only) was analyzed, followed by a generalized additive mixed model analysis of F3, one of the acoustic cues to rhotacization. Results showed that L2 schwar productions were different from the NAE productions in both the overlap and F3 measures, and the written input mode showed greater L1 orthographic interference than the auditory input mode, supporting the hypothesis that L1 orthography–phonology correspondences affect L2 productions of English schwar words.

Using data statistics, we convert predicates on a table into data-induced predicates (diPs) that apply on the joining tables. Doing so substantially speeds up multi-relation queries because the benefits of predicate pushdown can now apply beyond just the tables that have predicates. We use diPs to skip data exclusively during query optimization; i.e., diPs lead to better plans and have no overhead during query execution. We study how to apply diPs for complex query expressions and how the usefulness of diPs varies with the data statistics used to construct diPs and the data distributions. Our results show that building diPs using zone-maps which are already maintained in today’s clusters leads to sizable data skipping gains. Using a new (slightly larger) statistic, 50% of the queries in the TPC-H, TPC-DS and JoinOrder benchmarks can skip at least 33% of the query input. Consequently, the median query in a production big-data cluster finishes roughly $$2\times $$ faster.

We have studied the synthesis of Uranium through all possible fusion reaction reactions. Suitable projectile/target combinations for the synthesis of Uranium is selected by studying the fusion cross section, compound nucleus probability $$P_{CN}$$ , survival probability $$P_{sur}$$ , and evaporation residue cross section. The present work is validated by comparisons with the experiments. The role of entrance channels parameters such as Coulomb interaction parameter (z), mean fissility ( $$\chi _{m}$$ ), charge asymmetry ( $$\alpha _{z}$$ ), and mass asymmetry ( $$\eta _A$$ ) in the synthesis of Uranium is discussed. We have constructed empirical formulae for evaporation residue cross sections in terms of entrance channel parameters. After detailed investigation, it was found that $$^{4}He+^{234}Th$$ is the suitable projectile-target combination which yields the largest production cross section. Furthermore, the possible projectile/target combinations to synthetize the different isotopes of Uranium are presented.

Quantifying natural gas production risk can help guide natural gas exploration and development in Carboniferous gas reservoirs. In this study, the Monte Carlo probability method is used to obtain the probability distribution and growth curve of each production risk factor and production in a Carboniferous gas reservoir in eastern Sichuan. In addition, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is used to conduct the sensitivity analysis of the risk factors, and the natural gas production and realization probability under different risk factors are obtained. The research results show that: (1) the risk factor–production growth curve and probability distribution are calculated by the Monte Carlo probability method. The average annual production under the stable production stage under different realization probabilities is obtained. The maximum probability range of annual production is $$\left( {43.43 - 126.35} \right) \times 10^{8} {\text{m}}^{3} /{\text{year}}$$ 43.43 - 126.35 × 10 8 m 3 / year , and the probability range is 14.59–92.88%. (2) The risk factor sensitivity analysis is significantly affected by the probability interval. In the entire probability interval, the more sensitive risk factors are the average production of the kilometer-deep well (D) and the production rate in the stable production stage (A). During the exploration and development of natural gas, these two risk factors can be adjusted to increase production.

With the decrease in the fuel price subsidy in Iran, the urge for renewable energy sources to produce cooling and freshwater in a sustainable manner is becoming a challenge. Therefore, it is necessary to specify the marginal fuel price at which a solar-based cooling/water system is compatible with a fuel-based system. To this end, a solar-powered absorption refrigeration integrated with a humidification–dehumidification desalination system was thermo-economically evaluated to produce the freshwater and cooling production rates of nearly 0.58 m3/h and 28 ton/h, respectively, as well as the solar field output temperature of 175 °C. The levelized cost of product definition, which is based on the capital costs of the system, operation and maintenance costs as well as the discount rate, was used to calculate the cooling and freshwater unit of costs (COC and COW). The results demonstrated that the locations with high solar radiation levels require smaller solar field areas and larger thermal energy storage (TES) capacities, which leads to a higher percentage of annual solar share ( $$S_{{{\text{sh}}}}$$ ), and consequently lower COC and COW values. For instance, Abu Dhabi and Athens with solar radiation levels of 1977 kWh/ $${\text{m}}^{2}$$ and 1514 kWh/ $${\text{m}}^{2}$$ , respectively, have the COC (or COW) of 0.135 $/ton (or 2.88 $/m3) and 0.387 $/ton (or 7.38 $/m3), respectively. The total annual fuel saving of the proposed system with 10 h of TES for the locations with the highest and lowest $$S_{{{\text{sh}}}}$$ s [Abu Dhabi (77.97%), Athens (29.47%)] was obtained as $${1}.{38} \times 10^{6} \;{\text{m}}^{3}$$ and 0.52 $$\times 10^{6} \;{\text{m}}^{3}$$ , respectively. In addition, since the fuel price is highly subsidized in three locations of the study, the solar-based system cannot economically compete with the fuel-based system unless the fuel cost increases by 500%, 36%, and 19% for Iran, Yemen, and United Arab Emirates, respectively.

A robust multiple model strategy for linear parameter varying (LPV) systems identification relied on Student’s ${t}$ -distribution is studied in this article. Since most industrial processes operate over several working points to meet multiple production objectives, a single model is generally insufficient to describe the process behavior over the whole operating range. To cope with this issue, the multiple model strategy is employed and at the same time, the outliers and missing measurements problems are both considered in this article. The finite impulse response (FIR) model is chosen to describe the local behavior of the LPV system. The statistical scheme based on the ${t}$ -distribution is utilized to model the system noise so as to deal with the outliers. The problem of parameters estimation with incomplete outputs is addressed by using the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. The feasibility and effectiveness of the developed approach are proved via a mechanical unit.

We investigate the effect of particle creation on the evolution of n-dimensional Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) cosmological model in the framework of interacting variable gravitational fields and cosmological constants. An open thermodynamical system of the Universe is considered where particle creation leads to supplementary negative creation pressure. This pressure is found to be negligible in this derived model. These cosmological findings have been investigated geometrically and related observational constraints are investigated.

Aims and objectives: This study examines multiple associations between language domains in bilingual children with a focus on phonology. Previous studies indicate within- but not cross-language associations between vocabulary and grammar in bilingual children. We investigate whether the relation between phonology and other language domains differs from the one reported between vocabulary and grammar. Methodology: Canadian French-English bilingual children ( n = 31), aged 31 months, participated in 2 free-play sessions, from which lexical, grammatical and phonological information was extracted. The children’s parents completed the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventories and its Canadian French adaptation providing additional information on vocabulary and grammar in each of the children’s languages. They also completed a questionnaire on their children’s exposure to French and English. Data analysis: Within and cross-language relations between phonology, vocabulary and grammar were investigated using correlational analyses and mixed logistic regression. Findings: Correlational analyses did not reveal significant cross-language relations between phonology, vocabulary and grammar. However, mixed logistic regression, which controlled for language exposure effects, indicated that phonology was influenced by vocabulary and grammar both within and across languages. Originality: This study is one of the first to study cross-domain relations involving phonology in young bilingual children. Implications: Overall, the findings suggest that phonology displays a pattern of relations that is different from other language domains engendering between-language effects due to a language-general component.