nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Current status of nuclear cardiology practice in Latin America and the Caribbean
Venue: Journal of Nuclear Cardiology

The burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in the world is ever growing. They represent the first cause of death worldwide and in Latin America. Nuclear cardiology has a well established role in the management of patient with CVDs and is being increasingly integrated into the healthcare systems in the region. However, there remains variability as to the infrastructure available across the countries, in terms of existing technology, radiopharmaceuticals, and human resources. The approximate number of gamma (g) cameras in the region is 1348, with an average of 2.25 per million population; Argentina and Brazil having the largest number. Nearly 80% of the existing cameras are single photon emission tomography (SPECT) of which 8% are hybrid SPECT CT systems. Positron emission tomography technology is steadily increasing, and currently, there is an average of 0.25 scanners per million inhabitants, indicating that there is a potential to expand the capacities in order to cover the needs. Four countries have nuclear reactors for research purposes, which allow the production of technetium 99 m (Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Peru) while four (Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico) assemble 99Mo 99mTc generators. As for the nuclear cardiology studies, about 80% of studies performed are gated SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging; less than 10% are multi gated acquisition (mainly for evaluation of cardiac toxicity in cancer patients) and the other 10% correspond to other types of studies, such as viability detection, and adrenergic innervation studies with 123I MIBG. Physical stress is preferred, when possible, based on the clinical condition of the patient. Regarding human resources, there is an average of 1.1 physicians and 1.3 technologists per g camera, with 0.1 medical physicists and 0.1 radiopharmacists per center in the region. The future of nuclear cardiology in Latin America and the Caribbean is encouraging, with great potential and possibilities for growth. National, regional, and international cooperation including support from scientific societies and organizations such as International Atomic Energy Agency, American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, and Latin American Association of Biology and Nuclear Medicine Societies, as well as governmental commitment are key factors for the development of the specialty. A multimodality approach in cardiac imaging will contribute to a better management of patients with CVDs.
Student Characteristics and Learning Outcomes in a Blended Learning Environment Intervention in a Ugandan University

This paper explores the design of a blended learning environment in a transition from face to face and seeks to determine whether learner characteristics and background together with blended learning design elements are significant factors for learning outcomes such as intrinsic motivation, satisfaction, knowledge construction and learning performance in blended learning. It is aimed at examining the learner characteristics and backgrounds such as age, gender, self regulation, attitudes, family and social support as well as the management of workload in blended learning. It is again to find out the levels of use and satisfaction with blended learning design features such as interactions, learning management system tools and resources, face to face support and technology quality by learners. Students from three schools and one directorate were involved in a face to face set up in the first part of a seventeen week semester and in an online set up in the second part. They finally had a face to face at the end to review their work after which they took end of semester examinations. A questionnaire survey was administered to 270 respondents in this group to gather data on student characteristics and background, design features and three of the outcomes. The examination results were used as a measure of the performance variable in the learning outcomes. We applied the online self regulated learning questionnaire for data on students self regulation, the intrinsic motivation inventory for data on motivation and other self developed instruments to measure the other constructs. Descriptive statistics showed that the identified learner characteristics manifest strength for blended learning design and the learners involvement with design features was found to be high and satisfactory. ANOVA results showed no significant differences between age groups in performance and t test results showed no significant differences between male and female students. Regression analysis results showed learner attitudes as predictors of learner satisfaction and motivation while workload management is a significant predictor for learner satisfaction and knowledge construction. Among the design elements, regression results showed only learner interactions as significant predictors of knowledge construction and satisfaction. As a consequence, a number of learner characteristics and design features are seen to be important for blended learning design and the non significant ones remain a focus for future research.
Multidrug resistance pattern of bacterial agents isolated from patient with chronic sinusitis
Venue: Caspian journal of internal medicine

Treatment of chronic sinusitis is complicated due to increase of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The aim of this study was to determine the multidrug resistance (MDR) pattern of the bacteria causing chronic sinusitis in north of Iran.  This cross sectional study was carried out on patients with chronic sinusitis. Bacterial susceptibility to antimicrobial agents was determined according to the CLSI 2013 standards. Double disk synergy (DDS) test was performed for the detection of extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) producing bacteria; also methicillin resistant Staphylococcus (MRSA) strains were identified by MRSA screen agar. The MDR isolates were defined as resistant to 3 or more antibiotics. Data were analyzed using SPSS 17 software. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the features of the data in this study.  The rate of ESBL producing bacteria was 28.75 37.03% among enterobacteriaceae and the rate of MRSA was 42.75% 60% among Staphylococcus strains. The most detectable rate of the MDR bacterial isolates was Gram negative bacteria 39 (76.47% and Enterobacter spp. 19(70.37% was the most multidrug resistant isolate among Gram negative bacteria. Also 36 (73.46% of the gram positive bacterial isolated were multidrug resistance and Staphylococcus aureus 9(90% was the most MDR among Gram positive bacteria.  Antimicrobial resistance is increasing in chronic bacterial sinusitis. The emergence of MRSA and ESBL bacteria causing chronic sinusitis is increasing.
A diagnostic dilemma: chronic sinusitis diagnosed by non otolaryngologists
Venue: International forum of allergy rhinology

Ambulatory care visits for chronic sinusitis outnumber visits for acute sinusitis. The majority of these visits are with non otolaryngologists. In order to better understand patients diagnosed with chronic sinusitis by non otolaryngologists, we sought to determine if incident cases of chronic sinusitis diagnosed by primary care (PC) or emergency medicine (EM) providers meet diagnostic criteria.
Odontogenic and rhinogenic chronic sinusitis: a modern microbiological comparison
Venue: International forum of allergy rhinology

Odontogenic sinusitis and sinonasal complications of dental disease or treatment (SCDDT) play a relevant, often underappreciated role in paranasal sinus infections. Treating SCDDT patients requires tailored medical and surgical approaches in order to achieve acceptable success rates. These approaches differ from common rhinogenic sinusitis treatment protocols mostly because of the different etiopathogenesis. Our study comprehensively evaluated microbiology and antibiotic resistance in SCDDT patients and compared findings with a control group of patients affected by rhinogenic sinusitis.
Brain functional connectivity in depression: Gender differences in EEG
Venue: 2016 IEEE EMBS Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (IECBES)

The aim of the study was to find gender differences in brain functional connectivity in major depressive disorder (MDD) The experiments were performed on 37 unmedicated subjects with MDD (16 male, 21 female) and 37 age and gender matched healthy subjects. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from 30 channels and filtered into six frequency bands: whole frequency band (1 45 Hz) delta (1 4 Hz) theta (4 8 Hz) alpha (8 12 Hz) beta (12 30 Hz) and gamma (30 45 Hz) Synchronization likelihood (SL) was used to estimate functional connectivity. The experimental results indicated that 1) SL of male MDD subjects was significantly increased in the theta and beta frequency bands compared to control group and 2)SL of male MDD subjects was significantly increased in the theta frequency band compared to female MDD subjects. No significant difference was found between female MDD subjects and female control group as well as between healthy male and female subjects. Although similar trend occurred in case of both genders, the results of the study indicate a significant difference between EEG of male and female MDD.
Grid tied photovoltaic system based on PSO MPPT technique with active power line conditioning

This study presents a single phase grid tied photovoltaic (PV) system based on a global maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique, which is performed by means of the particle swarm optimisation (PSO) method. The PSO based MPPT technique is employed to solve problems related to mismatching phenomena, such as partial shading, in which the PV arrays are commonly submitted. Considering the search of the global maximum power point under partial shading, the effectiveness of the PSO based MPPT technique is highlighted when compared with the well known perturb and observe MPPT technique, since both the mentioned MPPT techniques are used to determine the dc bus voltage reference to ensure a proper grid tied inverter operation. A current generator algorithm based on a synchronous reference frame is proposed, which operates in conjunction with a dc bus controller and MPPT algorithms, computing the reference current of the grid tied inverter. In addition, the current generator controls the energy processed by the PV system to avoid over power rating of the grid tied inverter, since the active power injection into the grid, reactive power compensation and harmonic currents suppression are carried out simultaneously. The performance and feasibility of the grid tied PV system are evaluated by means of simulation and experimental results.
Drug Design Strategies for the Discovery of Novel Anticonvulsants Concerned with Four Site Binding Pharmacophoric Model Studies.
Venue: Central nervous system agents in medicinal chemistry

Anticonvulsant refers to a group of pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. The use of current antiepileptic drugs has been questioned due to the non selectivity of the drugs and the undesirable side effects produced by them. This led to the search for antiepileptic compounds with more selectivity and lower toxicity. Semicarbazones have been developed as versatile anticonvulsant pharmacophore. It has displayed potent anticonvulsant effect in a wide variety of preclinical anticonvulsant models. Till date various semicarbazone derivatives containing 1,3,4 oxadiazole, 1,3,4 thiadiazole, pyrimidine, benzothiazole and substituted phenyl/aryl ring have been synthesized and evaluated for anticonvulsant activity. The semicarbazone based pharmacophore model with four binding sites is essential for anticonvulsant activity. This model comprises of an aryl hydrophobic binding site, hydrogen bonding domain, an electron donor group and another hydrophobic hydrophilic site regulating the pharmacokinetic properties of the anticonvulsant. Extensive structure activity relationship has demonstrated that compound with OH, CH3O, NO2, Cl, F, Br substituents in the arylhydrophobic pocket, nitro, hydroxy group on distant phenyl ring and a hydrogen bonding domain possess anticonvulsant activity. In this review, advances made in the application of semicarbazones as a versatile pharmacophore model for the design of new anticonvulsant drugs are being updated and suggested for future drug design and development of novel anticonvulsants.
A geometric time series model with inflated parameter Bernoulli counting series

In this paper, we propose a new stationary first order non negative integer valued autoregressive [INAR(1) process with geometric marginals based on a modified version of the binomial thinning operator. This new process will enable one to tackle the problem of overdispersion inherent in the analysis of integer valued time series data that may arise due to the presence of some correlation between underlying events, heterogeneity of the population, excess to zeros, among others. In addition, it includes as special cases the geometric INAR(1) [GINAR(1) (Alzaid and Al Osh, 1988) and new geometric [NGINAR(1) (Ristic et al. 2009) processes, making it be very useful in discriminating between nested models. The innovation structure of the new process is very simple. The main properties of the process are derived, such as conditional distribution, autocorrelation structure, innovation structure and jumps. The method of conditional maximum likelihood is used for estimating the process parameters. Some numerical results of the estimators are presented with a brief discussion. In order to illustrate the potential for practice of our process we apply it to a real data set.
The formula triangle and other problems with procedural teaching in mathematics

Students often express dislike of mathematics, even when they seem competent at it. They are often taught shortcuts for untangling mathematical problems; however, these shortcuts can bypass understanding and diminish a student's ability to recognise when an answer looks correct and when it does not. Using the examples of the formula triangle and a method for subtraction, it is shown that the mathematical steps to solve problems must be thoroughly understood before they are used, to lead to the understanding of short routines. Only then will students become confident in their answers.
Echo State Networks Based Reservoir Computing for MNIST Handwritten Digits Recognition
Venue: 2016 IEEE Intl Conference on Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) and IEEE Intl Conference on Embedded and Ubiquitous Computing (EUC) and 15th Intl Symposium on Distributed Computing and Applications for Business Engineering (DCABES)

Reservoir Computing is an attractive paradigm of recurrent neural network architecture, due to the ease of training and existing neuromorphic implementations. Successively applied on speech recognition and time series forecasting, few works have so far studied the behavior of such networks on computer vision tasks. Therefore we decided to investigate the ability of Echo State Networks to classify the digits of the MNIST database. We show that even if ESNs are not able to outperform state of the art convolutional networks, they allow low error thanks to a suitable preprocessing of images. The best performance is obtained with a large reservoir of 4,000~neurons, but committees of smaller reservoirs are also appealing and might be further investigated.
Funny business: Using humor for good in the workplace

Depending on how it is used, humor can have both positive (Lang and Lee 2010. Workplace humor and organizational creativity. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 21(1) 46 60) and negative (Moran and Hughes 2006. Coping with stress: Social work students and humour.  effects on well being in the workplace. Even when attempts at humor are well intended, they may end up being misinterpreted and doing more harm than good. In the current paper, we suggest that humor can be used in the workplace to cultivate better relationships, create a more positive work environment, and prevent unintended detrimental effects of misplaced or misused humor. We present findings from our study that examines the relationship between humor and well being, with social support serving as the mediator. The positive relationship between humor and well being is explained through increased social support in the workplace. These findings suggest that conflicting results in the relationship between humor and well being could be explained through the theory that only certain types of humor (such as positive humor) increase social support, and therefore well being. These findings can be used to help employees and managers understand how to better use humor to have positive effects in the workplace.
Perceptual Learning Styles and Critical Thinking: Inspecting the Association among EFL Learners

Influenced by the acknowledged role of critical thinking and learning styles in the process of second language learning, this study attempted to systematically inspect the association between English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' critical thinking, on one hand, and their total score of perceptual learning styles, different perceptual learning styles, and number of major perceptual learning styles, on the other hand. To do so, 595 male and female undergraduate EFL learners, between the ages of 18 and 25 (Mage 22) participated in this study. These participants completed two instruments: a) the questionnaire of critical thinking by Honey (2000) and b) the Perceptual Learning Style Preference Survey developed by Reid (1984) Due to the violation of the assumptions of normality of distribution, the non parametric Spearman rank order coefficient of correlation was employed in order to answer the initial 3 research questions. The obtained results indicated that there were significant and positive relationships between participants' critical thinking and total score of perceptual learning styles, r .33, n 595, p .01; critical thinking and the number of major perceptual learning styles, r .28, n 595, p .01; and critical thinking and group, visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic perceptual learning styles. Furthermore, a multiple regression analysis was run which revealed that tactile learning style preference is the best predictor of EFL learners' critical thinking (b 0.285, t 6.107, p 0.0005) The study concludes with a discussion on the findings and stating a number of recommendations for further research.
Vortices in high performance high temperature superconductors.
Venue: Reports on progress in physics. Physical Society

The behavior of vortex matter in high temperature superconductors (HTS) controls the entire electromagnetic response of the material, including its current carrying capacity. Here, we review the basic concepts of vortex pinning and its application to a complex mixed pinning landscape to enhance the critical current and to reduce its anisotropy. We focus on recent scientific advances that have resulted in large enhancements of the in field critical current in state of the art second generation (2G) YBCO coated conductors and on the prospect of an isotropic, high critical current superconductor in the iron based superconductors. Lastly, we discuss an emerging new paradigm of critical current by design a drive to achieve a quantitative correlation between the observed critical current density and mesoscale mixed pinning landscapes by using realistic input parameters in an innovative and powerful large scale time dependent Ginzburg Landau approach to simulating vortex dynamics.
Lipschitz dependence of the coefficients on the resolvent and greedy approximation for scalar elliptic problems

We analyze the inverse problem of identifying the diffusivity coefficient of a scalar elliptic equation as a function of the resolvent operator. We prove that, within the class of measurable coefficients, bounded above and below by positive constants, the resolvent determines the diffusivity in an unique manner. Furthermore we prove that the inverse mapping from resolvent to the coefficient is Lipschitz in suitable topologies. This result plays a key role when applying greedy algorithms to the approximation of parameter dependent elliptic problems in an uniform and robust manner, independent of the given source terms. In one space dimension the results can be improved using the explicit expression of solutions, which allows to link distances between one resolvent and a linear combination of finitely many others and the corresponding distances on coefficients. These results are also extended to multi dimensional elliptic equations with variable density coefficients. We also point out towards some possible extensions and open problems.
Extensions of Lipschitz functions and Grothendieck s bounded approximation property

A metric compact space M is seen as the closure of the union of a sequence (Mn) of finite n dense subsets. Extending to M (up to a vanishing uniform distance) Banach space valued Lipschitz functions defined on Mn, or defining linear continuous near extension operators for real valued Lipschitz functions on Mn, uniformly on n is shown to be equivalent to the bounded approximation property for the Lipschitz free space F (M) over M. Several consequences are spelled out.
Prediction of Ground Level Concentrations of No x in a Thermal Power Project using ISCST3 Model

Present study deals with the prediction of nitrogen oxides in the vicinity of the Rayalaseema Thermal Power Project, Andhra Pradesh, India. It provides information to the public and the control agencies to efficiently implement the control strategies of the air quality management program.  In this prediction, the industrial source complex short term version 3 (ISCST3) model was used. ISCST3 is the preferred model of USEPA. ISCST3 is a refined dispersion modeling technique using site specific input data.  Predictions were made around the power plant with the radius of 10,000 meters; for the period of one year from June 2012 to May 2013. ISCST3 and Golden software surfer version 8 was used to produce Isopleths and 3 Dimensional view of NOX in the vicinity of the Rayalaseema Thermal Power Project. Similarity beside measurements of Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (AAQMS) was made. Genuine results were found well with measured data. Coefficients of determination (R2) were found in the range between 0.76 to 0.96. The ISCST3 model can be used for NOX prediction with good accuracy. Application and Improvement: Further forecasting can be carried out in coal fired power stations for using wide ranging parameters, which will have significant impact on human health and environment using ISCST3 modeling technique.
The Effect of Small Sample Size on Two Level Model Estimates: A Review and Illustration

Multilevel models are an increasingly popular method to analyze data that originate from a clustered or hierarchical structure. To effectively utilize multilevel models, one must have an adequately large number of clusters; otherwise, some model parameters will be estimated with bias. The goals for this paper are to (1) raise awareness of the problems associated with a small number of clusters, (2) review previous studies on multilevel models with a small number of clusters, (3) to provide an illustrative simulation to demonstrate how a simple model becomes adversely affected by small numbers of clusters, (4) to provide researchers with remedies if they encounter clustered data with a small number of clusters, and (5) to outline methodological topics that have yet to be addressed in the literature.