nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Micropollutants in European rivers: A mode of action survey to support the development of effect based tools for water monitoring.
Venue: Environmental toxicology and chemistry

Environmental quality monitoring of water resources is challenged with providing the basis for safeguarding the environment against adverse biological effects from exposure to anthropogenic chemicals originating from diffuse and point sources. Although current regulatory efforts focus on monitoring and assessing a few legacy chemicals, many more anthropogenic chemicals are and will become detected in aquatic resources as a result of progress in analytical techniques. Assessing this type of exposure information based on available standard approaches from prospective risk assessment for single chemicals inevitably leads to indication of risk in most surface water bodies. As an alternative to generic assessment approaches, effect based monitoring approaches are suggested. This offers the advantage of reducing uncertainties of effect extrapolation and additionally accounts for mixture effects. To become a credible complement to chemical monitoring information, however, a better understanding of the capabilities and gaps of available effect based tools is needed. The authors therefore undertook to 1) compile organic contaminants detected in freshwater monitoring studies, 2) provide a synopsis of the mode of action knowledge available for the detected compounds, 3) perform a hazard ranking to identify priority mixtures, and 4) reflect on the challenges to make bioassays fit for effect based monitoring. The present Focus article shows that chemical occurrence in European freshwaters seems to be highly variable in composition and relative abundancies. Further, although the present mode of action knowledge remains limited, the authors already see the need for batteries of effect based tools if a more comprehensive coverage of prevailing effect qualities for mixtures is to be targeted. Finally, they suggest a list of organic compounds that could serve as a reference list for effect based tool validation studies. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1887 1899.
Estimating the spatial distribution of snow water equivalent in the world's mountains

Estimating the spatial distribution of snow water equivalent (SWE) in mountainous terrain is currently the most important unsolved problem in snow hydrology. Several methods can estimate the amount of snow throughout a mountain range: (1) Spatial interpolation from surface sensors constrained by remotely sensed snow extent provides a consistent answer, with uncertainty related to extrapolation to unrepresented locations. (2) The remotely sensed date of disappearance of snow is combined with a melt calculation to reconstruct the SWE back to the last significant snowfall. (3) Passive microwave sensors offer real time global SWE estimates but suffer from several problems like subpixel variability in the mountains. (4) A numerical model combined with assimilated surface observations produces SWE at 1 km resolution at continental scales, but depends heavily on a surface network. (5) New methods continue to be explored, for example, airborne LiDAR altimetry provides direct measurements of snow depth, which are combined with modelled snow density to estimate SWE. While the problem is aggressively addressed, the right answer remains elusive. Good characterization of the snow is necessary to make informed choices about water resources and adaptation to climate change and variability. WIREs Water 2016, 3:461 474. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1140 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Intercomparison of soil pore water extraction methods for stable isotope analysis

Measurements of d2H and d18O composition of pore waters in saturated and unsaturated soil samples are routinely performed in hydrological studies. A variety of in situ and lab based pore water extraction methods for the analysis of the stable isotopes of water now exist. While some have been used for decades (e.g. cryogenic vacuum extraction) others are relatively new, such as direct vapour equilibration or the microwave extraction technique. Despite their broad range of application, a formal and comprehensive intercomparison of soil water extraction methods for stable isotope analysis is lacking and long overdue. Here we present an intercomparison among five commonly used lab based pore water extraction techniques (high pressure mechanical squeezing, centrifugation, direct vapour equilibration, microwave extraction, and cryogenic extraction) We applied these extraction methods to two physicochemically different soil types that were dried and rewetted with water of known isotopic composition at three different water contents. Our results showed that the extraction approach can have a significant effect on pore water isotopic composition as all methods exhibited significant deviations from the spiked reference water, depending secondarily on the soil type and soil water content. Most pronounced, cryogenic water extraction showed large deviations from the spiked reference water, whereas mechanical squeezing and centrifugation provided results closest to the spiked water for both soil types. We also compared results for each extraction method where liquid water was obtained on both an OA ICOS and IRMS. Differences between these two analytical instruments were negligible for these organic compound free waters. We suggest that users of soil water extraction approaches carefully choose an extraction technique that is suitable for the specific research question, adapted to the dominant soil type and water content of the study.
Assessing regional scale spatio temporal patterns of groundwater surface water interactions using a coupled SWAT MODFLOW model

Interaction between groundwater and surface water in watersheds has significant impacts on water management and water rights, nutrient loading from aquifers to streams, and in stream flow requirements for aquatic species. Of particular importance are the spatial patterns of these interactions. This study explores the spatio temporal patterns of groundwater discharge to a river system in a semi arid region, with methods applied to the Sprague River Watershed (4100 km2) within the Upper Klamath Basin in Oregon, USA. Patterns of groundwater surface water interaction are explored throughout the watershed during the 1970 2003 time period using a coupled SWAT MODFLOW model tested against streamflow, groundwater level and field estimated reach specific groundwater discharge rates. Daily time steps and coupling are used, with groundwater discharge rates calculated for each model computational point along the stream. Model results also are averaged by month and by year to determine seasonal and decadal trends in groundwater discharge rates. Results show high spatial variability in groundwater discharge, with several locations showing no groundwater/surface water interaction. Average annual groundwater discharge is 20.5 m3/s, with maximum and minimum rates occurring in September October and March April, respectively. Annual average rates increase by approximately 0.02 m3/s per year over the 34 year period, negligible compared with the average annual rate, although 70% of the stream network experiences an increase in groundwater discharge rate between 1970 and 2003. Results can assist with water management, identifying potential locations of heavy nutrient mass loading from the aquifer to streams and ecological assessment and planning focused on locations of high groundwater discharge.
Learning C# by developing games with Unity 5.x

Develop your first interactive 2D platformer game by learning the fundamentals of C#About This BookGet to grips with the fundamentals of scripting in C# with UnityCreate an awesome, 2D platformer game from scratch using the principles of object oriented programming and coding in C#This is a step by step guide to learn the fundamentals of C# scripting to develop GameObjects and master the basics of the new UI system in Unity Who This Book Is For The book is targeted at beginner level Unity developers with no programming experience. If you are a Unity developer and you wish to learn how to write C# scripts and code by creating games, then this book is for you. What You Will Learn Understand the fundamentals of variables, methods, and code syntax in C#Get to know about techniques to turn your game idea into working projectUse loops and collections efficiently in Unity to reduce the amount of codeDevelop a game using the object oriented programming principles Generate infinite levels for your gameCreate and code a good looking functional UI system for your gamePublish and share your game with usersIn DetailUnity is a cross platform game engine that is used to develop 2D and 3D video games. Unity 5 is the latest version, released in March 2015, and adds a real time global illumination to the games, and its powerful new features help to improve a game's efficiency. This book will get you started with programming behaviors in C# so you can create 2D games in Unity. You will begin by installing Unity and learning about its features, followed by creating a C# script. We will then deal with topics such as unity scripting for you to understand how codes work so you can create and use C# variables and methods. Moving forward, you will find out how to create, store, and retrieve data from collection of objects. You will also develop an understanding of loops and their use, and you'll perform object oriented programming. This will help you to turn your idea into a ready to code project and set up a Unity project for production. Finally, you will discover how to create the GameManager class to manage the game play loop, generate game levels, and develop a simple UI for the game. By the end of this book, you will have mastered the art of applying C# in Unity. Style and approach This is a step by step guide to developing a game from scratch by applying the fundamentals of C# and Unity scripting.
High Capacitance Mechanism for Ti3C2Tx MXene by in Situ Electrochemical Raman Spectroscopy Investigation.
Venue: ACS nano

MXenes represent an emerging family of conductive two dimensional materials. Their representative, Ti3C2Tx, has been recognized as an outstanding member in the field of electrochemical energy storage. However, an in depth understanding of fundamental processes responsible for the superior capacitance of Ti3C2Tx MXene in acidic electrolytes is lacking. Here, to understand the mechanism of capacitance in Ti3C2Tx MXene, we studied electrochemically the charge/discharge processes of Ti3C2Tx electrodes in sulfate ion containing aqueous electrolytes with three different cations, coupled with in situ Raman spectroscopy. It is demonstrated that hydronium in the H2SO4 electrolyte bonds with the terminal O in the negative electrode upon discharging while debonding occurs upon charging. Correspondingly, the reversible bonding/debonding changes the valence state of Ti element in the MXene, giving rise to the pseudocapacitance in the acidic electrolyte. In stark contrast, only electric double layer capacitance is recognized in the other electrolytes of (NH4)2SO4 or MgSO4. The charge storage ways also differ: ion exchange dominates in H2SO4, while counterion adsorption in the rest. Hydronium that is characterized by smaller hydration radius and less charge is the most mobile among the three cations, facilitating it more kinetically accommodated on the deep adsorption sites between the MXene layers. The two key factors, i.e. surface functional group involved bonding/debonding induced pseudocapacitance, and ion exchange featured charge storage, simultaneously contribute to the superior capacitance of Ti3C2Tx MXene in acidic electrolytes.
Reproducible Circularly Secure Bit Encryption: Applications and Realizations
Venue: Journal of Cryptology

We give generic constructions of several fundamental cryptographic primitives based on a new encryption primitive that combines circular security for bit encryption with the so called reproducibility property (Bellare et al. in Public key cryptography PKC 2003, vol. 2567, pp. 85 99, Springer, 2003) At the heart of our constructions is a novel technique which gives a way of de randomizing reproducible public key bit encryption schemes and also a way of reducing one wayness conditions of a constructed trapdoor function family (TDF) to circular security of the base scheme. The main primitives that we build from our encryption primitive include k wise one way TDFs (Rosen and Segev  2010) chosen ciphertext attack secure encryption and deterministic encryption. Our results demonstrate a new set of applications of circularly secure encryption beyond fully homomorphic encryption and symbolic soundness. Finally, we show the plausibility of our assumptions by showing that the decisional Diffie Hellman based circularly secure scheme of Boneh et al. (Advances in cryptology CRYPTO 2008,  2008) and the subgroup indistinguishability based scheme of Brakerski and Goldwasser (Advances in cryptology CRYPTO 2010, vol. 6223,  2010) are both reproducible.
Evaluation of the Early Access STR Kit v1 on the Ion Torrent PGM(tm) platform.
Venue: Forensic science international. Genetics

The Early Access STR Kit v1 is designed to detect 25 plex loci with next generation sequencing (NGS) technology on the Ion Torrent PGM(tm) platform, including 16 of 20 expanded Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) core loci (CSF1PO, D1S1656, D2S1338, D2S441, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D10S1248, D13S317, D16S539, D19S433, D21S11, TH01, TPOX and vWA) 8 non CODIS core loci (D1S1677, D2S1776, D4S2408, D5S2500.AC008791, D6S1043, D6S474, D9S2157 and D14S1434) and Amelogenin. In this study, we compared the Early Access STR Kit v1 with the Ion Torrent(tm) HID STR 10 plex to find out its improvements and explored an appropriate analytical threshold to enhance the performance. In addition, seven experiments were conducted to evaluate the Early Access STR Kit v1 such as studies of repeatability, concordance, sensitivity, mixtures, degraded samples, case type samples and pedigrees. Other than a little discordance (0.95% with CE STR results observed at D21S11, NGS STR results correctly reflected the sample being tested. Repeatable results were obtained from both initial PCRs and emPCRs aside from a few variations of allele coverage. Full profiles could be obtained from 100pg input DNA and >48.84% profiles from 10pg input DNA. Mixtures were easily detected at 9:1 and 1:9 ratios. This system could be adapted to case type samples and degraded samples. As a whole, the Early Access STR Kit v1 is a robust, reliable and reproducible assay for NGS STR typing and a potential tool for human identification.
Global PGM mining during 40 years a stable corporate landscape of oligopolistic control

The platinum group mining industry is among the most concentrated of all metal mining industries. The Herfindahl Hirschman Index for palladium is 2413 in 2014, on the threshold to what is defined as "highly concentrated" When considering that production is also concentrated in a few countries, more than 80 of total world production is mined in South Africa and Russia, it is obvious that platinum group metals (PGMs) are labelled "critical" by many governments such as the EU, Japan and the USA (EU Commission 2014; National Research Council 2008; Prime Minister of Japan 2015) The development of the corporate structure for PGMs is analysed. Into the future, it looks as if the degree of concentration will decrease.
Growth of the pectoral girdle in a sample of juveniles from the kellis 2 cemetery, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt
Venue: American journal of human biology the official journal of the Human Biology Council

This study investigates growth patterns in the scapula and clavicle in a cross sectional juvenile skeletal sample ranging from 20 weeks gestation to 8.5 years of age from the Kellis 2 cemetery, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. The primary goal is to quantify growth patterns and growth velocities in the scapula and clavicle to better understand the development of the pectoral girdle.
Quantum anomalous Hall effect in magnetic topological insulators
Venue: 2016 IEEE 29th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)

The quantum Hall effect, a quantum phenomenon that appears in macroscopic length scale, is one of the most important topics in condensed matter physics, is. It has long been expected that the quantum Hall effect may occur without Landau levels so that no external magnetic field nor high sample mobility is required for its studies and applications. Such a quantum Hall effect free of Landau levels can be realized in a topological insulator with its time reversal symmetry broken by ferromagnetism as the quantized version of the anomalous Hall effect, i.e. the quantum anomalous Hall effect  Combing molecular beam epitaxy, scanning tunneling microscopy and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we prepared high quality thin films of magnetically doped (Bi, Sb)2Te3 topological insulator with well controlled composition, thickness and chemical potential and systematically studied their transport properties. In 5 quintuple layer thick Cr doped (Bi, Sb)2Te3 films we experimentally observed the quantization of the Hall resistance at h/e2 at zero field, accompanied by a considerable reduction in the dissipation of electron transport. Under a strong magnetic field, the longitudinal resistance vanishes, whereas the Hall resistance remains at the quantized value  The observations unambiguously demonstrate the occurrence of the quantum anomalous Hall effect. The temperature, thickness and magnetic doping concentration dependences of the quantum anomalous Hall effect were systematically studied, which clarifies the roles of the band structure, electron localization and magnetic order in the effect and provides clues for obtaining the effect at a higher temperature. The experimental progresses in the quantum anomalous Hall effect pave the ways for applications of dissipationless quantum Hall edge states in low energy consuming devices and for realizations of other novel quantum phenomena such as chiral topological superconductivity and axion electrodynamics.
The Electric Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows and Battery Swapping Stations
Venue: 2016 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM)

As battery electric vehicles are more and more popular nowadays, this paper presents an Electric Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows and Battery Swapping Stations to extend their range of application. In the problem, a fleet of the same kind of battery electric vehicles will fulfill the demand of all customers within the serving area by means of delivery operation with a fixed battery swapping time. Time windows of customers are taken into consideration. Small instances of benchmark problem are extended and testified by Gurobi optimizer. Two models of swapping and recharging pattern are compared with the same parameters, verifying that the swapping mode can decrease the number of vehicles.
Time dilates after spontaneous blinking
Venue: Current Biology

Accumulating evidence from pharmacology, neuroimaging, and genetics indicates that striatal dopamine influences time perception [1 5] Despite these converging results, it is not known whether endogenous variations in dopamine underlie transient fluctuations in our perception of time. Here, we exploited the finding that striatal dopamine release is associated with an increase in spontaneous eye blink rate [6 8] to examine the relationship between intra individual fluctuations in dopamine and interval timing. In two studies, participants overestimated visual subsecond and suprasecond and auditory subsecond intervals if they had blinked on the previous trial. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that transient fluctuations in striatal dopamine contribute to intra individual variability in time perception.
Entity Embeddings of Categorical Variables
Venue: ArXiv

We map categorical variables in a function approximation problem into Euclidean spaces, which are the entity embeddings of the categorical variables. The mapping is learned by a neural network during the standard supervised training process. Entity embedding not only reduces memory usage and speeds up neural networks compared with one hot encoding, but more importantly by mapping similar values close to each other in the embedding space it reveals the intrinsic properties of the categorical variables. We applied it successfully in a recent Kaggle competition and were able to reach the third position with relative simple features. We further demonstrate in this paper that entity embedding helps the neural network to generalize better when the data is sparse and statistics is unknown. Thus it is especially useful for datasets with lots of high cardinality features, where other methods tend to overfit. We also demonstrate that the embeddings obtained from the trained neural network boost the performance of all tested machine learning methods considerably when used as the input features instead. As entity embedding defines a distance measure for categorical variables it can be used for visualizing categorical data and for data clustering.
Are fit indices really fit to estimate the number of factors with categorical variables? Some cautionary findings via Monte Carlo simulation.
Venue: Psychological methods

An early step in the process of construct validation consists of establishing the fit of an unrestricted "exploratory" factorial model for a prespecified number of common factors. For this initial unrestricted model, researchers have often recommended and used fit indices to estimate the number of factors to retain. Despite the logical appeal of this approach, little is known about the actual accuracy of fit indices in the estimation of data dimensionality. The present study aimed to reduce this gap by systematically evaluating the performance of 4 commonly used fit indices the comparative fit index (CFI) the Tucker Lewis index (TLI) the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) in the estimation of the number of factors with categorical variables, and comparing it with what is arguably the current golden rule, Horn's (1965) parallel analysis. The results indicate that the CFI and TLI provide nearly identical estimations and are the most accurate fit indices, followed at a step below by the RMSEA, and then by the SRMR, which gives notably poor dimensionality estimates. Difficulties in establishing optimal cutoff values for the fit indices and the general superiority of parallel analysis, however, suggest that applied researchers are better served by complementing their theoretical considerations regarding dimensionality with the estimates provided by the latter method.