The Cambridge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics

Arabic linguistics encompasses a range of language forms and functions from formal to informal, classical to contemporary, written to spoken, all of which have vastly different research traditions. Recently however, the increasing prominence of new methodologies such as corpus linguistics and sociolinguistics have allowed Arabic linguistics to be studied from multiple perspectives, revealing key discoveries about the nature of Arabic-in-use and deeper knowledge of traditional fields of study. With contributions from internationally renowned experts on the language, this handbook provides a state-of-the-art overview of both traditional and modern topics in Arabic linguistics. Chapters are divided into six thematic areas: applied Arabic linguistics, variation and sociolinguistics, theoretical studies, computational and corpus linguistics, new media studies and Arabic linguistics in literature and translation. It is an essential resource for students and researchers wishing to explore the exciting and rapidly moving field of Arabic linguistics.

Distribution of Inheritance under Islamic Law: An Appraisal of Online Inheritance Calculators

With the proliferation of the internet, new modes of access and dissemination have been invented. This paradigmatic shift is not only providing a stimulus for science and technology, but traditional fields of knowledge, such as religious studies and allied disciplines, are also among its beneficiaries. Once it was an uphill task to find a scholar well versed in Islamic inheritance law and ask for advice on the distribution of a deceased’s estate. Various online inheritance calculators have made it convenient, and to some extent, eliminated the inevitability of the consultation with scholars of inheritance. In this background, the paper analyzes some accessible online inheritance calculators and explores their strengths and weaknesses. For evaluative purposes, two benchmarks are devised: one is ‘accuracy score’ and another ‘efficiency grade.’ The outcome of the assessment is mixed. Despite the accessibility of online calculators, one should not repose outright confidence without being aware of their merits and demerits. Some calculators have evolved a smooth and efficient system to solve a large number of propositions of inheritance, while others lack proficiency and accuracy.

A Supervisory Model for Emerging PhDs in Basic Medical Sciences on the African Continent: A Perspective

Aim/Purpose: This article- a perspective, is an attempt to critically review the African scenario with respect to doctoral supervision for Basic Medical Sciences and proffer potential solutions in the form of a supervisory model. Background: There is a need to develop supervisory models for emerging PhDs in Basic Medical Sciences [BMS] in Africa. There has been continuous evolutions and rapid advancements as further compounded by continuous sophistication in research tools, methods, and technologies. These have resulted in newer fields emerging from the traditional fields. A major fallout of this is a shortage or rather unavailability of supervisors to train younger scientists in these new fields. The available supervisors were mostly trained in a more traditional fields or in the context of the relatively traditional paradigm of scholarship. Thus, Africa currently, suffers from a lack of supervisory capacity to train younger scientists in the emerging fields of Basic Medical Sciences. Methodology: This article is a perspective that included a narrative review of literature, critical appraisal of the current prevalent scenario, and proposition of a supervisory model. Relevant literature sources were considered. Effort was made to provide a practical supervisory model that might guide African doctoral schools to train doctoral candidates in emerging fields, leveraging on available resources while making strategic adaptions. It is important to note that this should be done in an evidence-based manner, hence standard practices were reviewed and considered. Contribution: There is currently a paucity of data and information on doctoral scholarship and supervision in Africa. There is a need to conduct research on relevant subjects to provide further insight into the prevalent scenarios, the root cause of the problems and postulate potential solutions to the problems. This article presents a model that might employ effective, innovative, and practical approaches to address the current situation. Otherwise, lack of adequate supervisory capacity could contribute perpetually to impeding adequate advancements in BMS in Africa, through scholarship, particularly in line with global trends and current realities. The article proposes a collaborative model for supervising emerging and novel PhDs.

Knotting the MECO Network

The Conferences of the Middle European Cooperation in Statistical Physics (MECO) were created as an attempt to establish and maintain an exchange between scientists in the fields of statistical and condensed matter physics from Western and Eastern countries, overcoming the hurdles of the Iron Curtain. Based on personal remembrance and historical resources, the genesis and further development of MECO meetings is described. The annual meetings were interrupted in 1991 by the Yugoslav War but were re-established in 1993 and continue today. Although the fall of the Iron Curtain and the European Research programs changed the situation for the meetings considerably, the ties created by MECO still are useful to help scientific exchange. The history of European (and not only) statistical physics and the history of the MECO are tightly intertwined. It started in a time where an essential breakthrough has been achieved in statistical physics describing the features near phase transitions. In addition to the merging of solid-state physics and field theory concepts, the application of numerical methods (Monte Carlo methods) added a new pillar besides exact solutions and experiments to check theoretical models. In the following, the scientific emphasis (in general) has changed from the traditional fields of the first MECO to complexity and interdisciplinary themes as well.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Field of Economics of Education

Every era exists within its own paradigm, and the COVID-19 pandemic era is a game changer that requires new perspectives. This requirement also holds true for the field of economics of education. This era of change requires the reevaluation of educational institutions. The economics of education are venturing beyond traditional fields of study regarding the development of digital skills. Topics such as financial administration, budget management, costs, supply and demand of educational services, and the reflections of learning losses on the knowledge economy represent the changing dynamic locus of the economics of education regarding digital skills during the pandemic period. In this chapter, the general impact of the pandemic on educational institutions is portrayed, the importance of digital skills in global competition in the digital economy is discussed, and lastly, the paradigm shifts in economics of education as an important field of educational sciences caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are described and evaluated within the context of the economics of distance education.

Efficient Virtual Reality-Based Platform for Virtual Concerts

Virtual reality is a computer-generated three-dimensional environment where seemingly real graphics are used to simulate an imaginary world. It is generally accessed by using a special VR helmet or spectacles which enable you to access this imaginary world. Virtual reality uses the concept of split-screen to project to different images to our eyes in a selected angle which makes our brain believe that we are viewing a three-dimensional image. This tricks the brain into thinking that the human is standing in a three-dimensional environment where they can move around. Over the years, virtual reality has been included in a lot of traditional fields to challenge the endless possibilities in those fields. It has been used in medical sciences to train doctors, the aerospace industry to train the pilots and astronauts, the architecture industry to obtain maximum efficiency in designing the structures, and many more fields. VR gaming is also becoming a huge market where people can interact with the game components to get a realistic experience of being in a game. VR is also being used by counselors and psychiatrists around the world to treat people with mental health problems. In this chapter, the authors use the concept of virtual reality in the live music industry to simulate realistic music concerts by designing and developing a platform to host virtual concerts using virtual reality.

ASSESSMENT OF THE SET OF PARAMETERS FOR AN INTEGRAL EVALUATION OF AN ECOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL STATE OF SOILS IN ORGANIC AGRICULTURE

Organic farming is designed to maintain soil fertility and to assist biodiversity restoration. Developing of methods for assessment of ecological and biological state of soil under organic agriculture is becoming an increasingly urgent task. The purpose of the current work is to evaluate the capabilities of an integrated indicator to identify significant differences in ecological and biological soil states under organic and traditional farming management. The proposed integral indices were calculated on the basis of the number of trophic groups of microorganisms, ecological and trophic indices, and nitrogen and humus soil content. The studies were performed on gray forest soils of the two farms located in the Mamadyshsky and Vysokogorsky districts of the Republic of Tatarstan. The soils of fields with traditional farming and fields where the organic farming system has been used for 3–5 years were compared. In the samples taken in 2019, the following parameters were determined: the content of humus and total nitrogen, the number of 6 trophic groups of microorganisms, the coefficient of mineralization, and the index of pedotrophy. The studied parameters were ranked in the following order of informativeness for separating soils of organic and traditional fields: the number of amylolytics and actinomycetes > the number of ammonifiers > the number of cellulose-decomposing microorganisms, pedotrophs, micromycetes > the content of humus, total nitrogen> the index of pedotrophy, the coefficient of mineralization / immobilization. The variability in the number of trophic groups of microorganisms is generally medium and high. The values of the studied parameters, in addition to the number of pedotrophic and cellulose-destroying microorganisms, increased in the following order: soils of traditional fields < soils of organic fields < virgin soils. The number of pedotrophs and cellulose-destroying microorganisms, on the contrary, decreased from traditional fields to virgin areas, therefore, to calculate the integral indicator of the biological state of soils (IPBS), it was decided to use not just the point obtained from the number of these groups of microorganisms, but the inverted value «100 – point». The calculation of the integral indicator of the biological state of soils was carried out first using all 10 studied parameters, and then 8, 6, and 3 of the most informative ones. The least informative ones were excluded from the calculation. It was shown that the IGBP reflected the level of anthropogenic loads in all cases. When all 10 parameters were used, the integral indicator changed naturally in the following order: virgin background area – organic fields – traditional fields. The maximum value of the integral indicator of the biological state was observed in the virgin area, which is distinguished by the best biological state of soils, in organic fields the values of the integral indicator are lower, and in traditional fields – the lowest. With a sequential decrease in the number of parameters, this pattern does not change. The highest values of the integral indicator are always observed in the virgin area – 100 %. The lowest are found in the soils of fields with traditional farming. The processing of the results showed that the differences between the soils of organic and traditional fields according to the IPBS were statistically significant in the Mamadyshsky district using 8 parameters, in Vysokogorsky – 3 parameters for calculating the IPBS. Thus, in order to identify changes in the biological state of soils during the transition from traditional to organic farming after 3–5 years of practice, 3–8 of the most informative microbiological and agrochemical parameters are sufficient. Nevertheless, the search for less labor-consuming and less variable parameters for calculating the IPBS should be continued.

Structure, morphology, size and application of iron phosphate

Iron phosphates have rich chemical structures with various morphologies and sizes. Since they are environment friendly with good biocompatibility, they have good performances in the fields of catalysis and battery electrode material rising in recent years, as well as in the traditional fields like agriculture and steel. They also have important applications in adsorption, separation and concentration due to their unique structural characteristics. In this paper, iron phosphates are classified based on their common characteristics such as structure, morphology and size, and their application in the past two decades is reviewed, with emphasis on their application in adsorption, separation and concentration of different species. Further, their application in adsorption, separation and concentration of heavy metals is prospected.

Introduction to the special edition on expert evidence

We are very pleased to introduce this special issue of The University of Queensland Law Journal on expert evidence. As many readers will be aware, expert evidence remains a contentious issue both in Australia and abroad. Questions have been raised, for instance, about the reliability of many traditional fields of expert evidence, biases experts may carry with them into court, and the risk of trials transforming into battles of experts. We hope that this special issue contributes to the ongoing discussion.

Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: New Therapeutic Opportunities

The traditional fields of pharmacology and toxicology are beginning to consider the substantial impact our gut microbiota has on host physiology. The microbiota-gut-brain axis is emerging as a particular area of interest and a potential new therapeutic target for effective treatment of central nervous system disorders, in addition to being a potential cause of drug side effects. Microbiota-gut-brain axis signaling can occur via several pathways, including via the immune system, recruitment of host neurochemical signaling, direct enteric nervous system routes and the vagus nerve, and the production of bacterial metabolites. Altered gut microbial profiles have been described in several psychiatric and neurological disorders. Psychobiotics, live biotherapeutics or substances whose beneficial effects on the brain are bacterially mediated, are currently being investigated as direct and/or adjunctive therapies for psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders and possibly for neurodegenerative disease, and they may emerge as new therapeutic options in the clinical management of brain disorders.