nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Deviations between Contract Sums and Final Accounts: The Case of Capital Projects in Ghana

Cost estimation is particularly difficult, often leading to considerable deviations. For capital projects, especially transport infrastructure projects, deviations hover around an average of 28% of the estimated cost. There are several factors that cause these deviations between the final accounts and the contract sum. How these factors combine to cause deviations between the contract sum and the final account in recent times has been of great concern to construction managers and researchers alike. This study sought to identify the significant factors that result in deviations between contract sums and the final accounts of capital projects. Using a sample size of 45, comprising contractors, consultants, and clients, the factors identified using Relative Important Indices were "price fluctuations," "late material delivery," "changes in the scope of work," "fluctuations in the market demand," and "changes in design." Using Kendall's coefficient of concordance, a coefficient value of 0.068 was obtained. As such, the null hypothesis was rejected as there was a level of agreement among the respondents. Again, based on a significance test run, 26 out of the 40 identified factors used for the analysis were seen to be significant in influencing the deviations between contract sums and final accounts figures.
Adopting Intercultural Communication Issue in Teaching English

Cultural assimilation and intercultural awareness has been an important hub of modern language and communication studies, underlining a shift that reflects a greater significance of the inseparability of language and culture, and the need to prepare students for effective intercultural communication to thrive in a global work environment. A thriving global workplace requires effective communication skill across cultures in this era of globalization and mass migration. Under the tutelage of such backdrop, this article addresses the terrain of adopting intercultural awareness in EFL classroom teaching/learning and aims at linking culture with language in pursuit of excellence in borderless effective communication. The study, in other words, investigated the linguistic aspects that could be affected by certain cultural dimensions (e.g. beliefs, traditions, taboo words, habits, and norms, religion, social factors, etc. in intercultural communication. This paper uses a questionnaire device to receive some university teachers' self reported feedback. This article maintains qualitative and quantitative research methodology. The analytical research result shows that in teaching English, it is necessary to incorporate and develop aspects of cross cultural awareness as a part of course curriculum to immerse students in effective intercultural communicative competence (ICC)
Preclinical Alzheimer's disease: Definition, natural history, and diagnostic criteria
Venue: Alzheimer's Dementia

During the past decade, a conceptual shift occurred in the field of Alzheimer's disease (AD) considering the disease as a continuum. Thanks to evolving biomarker research and substantial discoveries, it is now possible to identify the disease even at the preclinical stage before the occurrence of the first clinical symptoms. This preclinical stage of AD has become a major research focus as the field postulates that early intervention may offer the best chance of therapeutic success. To date, very little evidence is established on this "silent" stage of the disease. A clarification is needed about the definitions and lexicon, the limits, the natural history, the markers of progression, and the ethical consequence of detecting the disease at this asymptomatic stage. This article is aimed at addressing all the different issues by providing for each of them an updated review of the literature and evidence, with practical recommendations.
Application of an indigenous eco friendly raw material as fluid loss additive

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia spends millions of dollars/year in importing various fluid additives from overseas countries to meet the demand of the oil and gas sector. Analyses of the drilling fluid additive import cost of 2012 indicate that more than 50 million dollars were spent in importing fluid loss control additives only. It is a very common mud additive and is frequently needed for both water and oil based mud formulations to fulfill certain functional task while drilling or making a connection or a trip. Hence, its total or partial replacement will save millions of dollars/year. Even the replacement of 10% of the imported fluid loss additive will save more than 5 million dollars/year. This justifies the development of fluid loss additives in kingdom using locally available natural, industrial and/or agricultural raw materials. Localization of the product development would be highly beneficial to the Kingdom in terms of industrial growth, technology ownership and creation of new job opportunities for the local public and savings of millions of dollars/year associated with mud additives procurement. It will also make a major contribution in the national economy by a significant reduction in mud additives import budget. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest producers of Dates. This paper describes the preliminary test results of a locally developed date seed powder (DSP) as fluid loss additive, which is an agricultural waste product. Experimental results indicate that the fluid loss additive is equally applicable for fresh and salt water based drilling muds and thus demonstrate its suitability for current and future exploration and exploitation of oil and gas resources.
Attitudes and Practices of Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Venue: JAMA

The increasing legalization of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide worldwide makes it important to understand related attitudes and practices.  To review the legal status of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide and the available data on attitudes and practices.  Polling data and published surveys of the public and physicians, official state and country databases, interview studies with physicians, and death certificate studies (the Netherlands and Belgium) were reviewed for the period 1947 to 2016.  Currently, euthanasia or physician assisted suicide can be legally practiced in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Colombia, and Canada (Quebec since 2014, nationally as of June 2016) Physician assisted suicide, excluding euthanasia, is legal in 5 US states (Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, and California) and Switzerland. Public support for euthanasia and physician assisted suicide in the United States has plateaued since the 1990s (range, 47% 69% In Western Europe, an increasing and strong public support for euthanasia and physician assisted suicide has been reported; in Central and Eastern Europe, support is decreasing. In the United States, less than 20% of physicians report having received requests for euthanasia or physician assisted suicide, and 5% or less have complied. In Oregon and Washington state, less than 1% of licensed physicians write prescriptions for physician assisted suicide per year. In the Netherlands and Belgium, about half or more of physicians reported ever having received a request; 60% of Dutch physicians have ever granted such requests. Between 0.3% to 4.6% of all deaths are reported as euthanasia or physician assisted suicide in jurisdictions where they are legal. The frequency of these deaths increased after legalization. More than 70% of cases involved patients with cancer. Typical patients are older, white, and well educated. Pain is mostly not reported as the primary motivation. A large portion of patients receiving physician assisted suicide in Oregon and Washington reported being enrolled in hospice or palliative care, as did patients in Belgium. In no jurisdiction was there evidence that vulnerable patients have been receiving euthanasia or physician assisted suicide at rates higher than those in the general population.  Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide are increasingly being legalized, remain relatively rare, and primarily involve patients with cancer. Existing data do not indicate widespread abuse of these practices.
Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide: A white paper from the European Association for Palliative Care
Venue: Palliative medicine

In recognition of the ongoing discussion on euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, the Board of Directors of the European Association for Palliative Care commissioned this white paper from the palliative care perspective.  This white paper aims to provide an ethical framework for palliative care professionals on euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. It also aims to provide an overview on the available evidence as well as a discourse of ethical principles related to these issues.  Starting from a 2003 European Association for Palliative Care position paper, 21 statements were drafted and submitted to a five round Delphi process  A panel with 17 experts commented on the paper in round 1. Board members of national palliative care or hospice associations that are collective members of European Association for Palliative Care were invited to an online survey in rounds 2 and 3. The expert panel and the European Association for Palliative Care board members participated in rounds 4 and 5. This final version was adopted as an official position paper of the European Association for Palliative Care in April 2015.  Main topics of the white paper are concepts and definitions of palliative care, its values and philosophy, euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, key issues on the patient and the organizational level. The consensus process confirmed the 2003 European Association for Palliative Care white paper and its position on the relationship between palliative care and euthanasia and physician assisted suicide.  The European Association for Palliative Care feels that it is important to contribute to informed public debates on these issues. Complete consensus seems to be unachievable due to incompatible normative frameworks that clash.
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide of Patients With Psychiatric Disorders in the Netherlands 2011 to 2014.
Venue: JAMA psychiatry

Euthanasia or assisted suicide (EAS) of psychiatric patients is increasing in some jurisdictions such as Belgium and the Netherlands. However, little is known about the practice, and it remains controversial.  To describe the characteristics of patients receiving EAS for psychiatric conditions and how the practice is regulated in the Netherlands.  This investigation reviewed psychiatric EAS case summaries made available online by the Dutch regional euthanasia review committees as of June 1, 2015. Two senior psychiatrists used directed content analysis to review and code the reports. In total, 66 cases from 2011 to 2014 were reviewed.  Clinical and social characteristics of patients, physician review process of the patients' requests, and the euthanasia review committees' assessments of the physicians' actions.  Of the 66 cases reviewed, 70% (n 46) were women. In total, 32% (n 21) were 70 years or older, 44% (n 29) were 50 to 70 years old, and 24% (n 16) were 30 to 50 years old. Most had chronic, severe conditions, with histories of attempted suicides and psychiatric hospitalizations. Most had personality disorders and were described as socially isolated or lonely. Depressive disorders were the primary psychiatric issue in 55% (n 36) of cases. Other conditions represented were psychotic, posttraumatic stress or anxiety, somatoform, neurocognitive, and eating disorders, as well as prolonged grief and autism. Comorbidities with functional impairments were common. Forty one percent (n 27) of physicians performing EAS were psychiatrists. Twenty seven percent (n 18) of patients received the procedure from physicians new to them, 14 of whom were physicians from the End of Life Clinic, a mobile euthanasia clinic. Consultation with other physicians was extensive, but 11% (n 7) of cases had no independent psychiatric input, and 24% (n 16) of cases involved disagreement among consultants. The euthanasia review committees found that one case failed to meet legal due care criteria.  Persons receiving EAS for psychiatric disorders in the Netherlands are mostly women and of diverse ages, with complex and chronic psychiatric, medical, and psychosocial histories. The granting of their EAS requests appears to involve considerable physician judgment, usually involving multiple physicians who do not always agree (sometimes without independent psychiatric input) but the euthanasia review committees generally defer to the judgments of the physicians performing the EAS.
An Integrated System for Superharmonic Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging: Design and Intravascular Phantom Imaging Study
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering

Superharmonic contrast enhanced ultrasound imaging, also called acoustic angiography, has previously been used for the imaging of microvasculature. This approach excites microbubble contrast agents near their resonance frequency and receives echoes at nonoverlapping superharmonic bandwidths. No integrated system currently exists could fully support this application. To fulfill this need, an integrated dual channel transmit/receive system for superharmonic imaging was designed, built, and characterized experimentally.  The system was uniquely designed for superharmonic imaging and high resolution B mode imaging. A complete ultrasound system including a pulse generator, a data acquisition unit, and a signal processing unit were integrated into a single package. The system was controlled by a field programmable gate array, on which multiple user defined modes were implemented. A 6 35 MHz dual frequency dual element intravascular ultrasound transducer was designed and used for imaging.  The system successfully obtained high resolution B mode images of coronary artery ex vivo with 45 dB dynamic range. The system was capable of acquiring in vitro superharmonic images of a vasa vasorum mimicking phantom with 30 dB contrast. It could detect a contrast agent filled tissue mimicking tube of 200 mm diameter.  For the first time, high resolution B mode images and superharmonic images were obtained in an intravascular phantom, made possible by the dedicated integrated system proposed. The system greatly reduced the cost and complexity of the superharmonic imaging intended for preclinical study.  The system showed promise for high contrast intravascular microvascular imaging, which may have significant importance in assessment of the vasa vasorum associated with atherosclerotic plaques.
HEMS (home energy management system) base on the IoT smart home

As buildings consume as much as 40% of the nation's total energy in advanced countries and 21% in South Korea, the need for an active and systematic building energy management system using the ICT technology is increasing on the long term basis. In South Korea, BEMS installation was made mandatory for new public buildings over 10,000m2 by 'the regulations on the reasonable energy use in public organizations' as of July, 2013. The development of the related industries has been accelerated led by the government since it announced the 'BEMS activation plan' in January 2014. As the need for an active and systematic building energy management system (BEMS) using the IoT technology is increasing, a HEMS(Home Energy Management System) model using Internet of Things (IoT) was constructed as a way to reduce energy consumption in houses, and the ways to utilize the model were studied.
Vibrating Properties of a Magnetic Fluid Tuned Liquid Column Damper with Different U Pipes

A magnetic fluid tuned liquid column damper (MF TLCD) is a semi active damper that has a magnetic fluid column in U pipe as an additional vibration system. An MF TLCD can suppress structural vibrations at a wide frequency range by applying a magnetic field. In this study, we performed vibration experiments for three types of U pipes and assessed the effects on MF TLCD performance caused by different damping forces on the liquid column.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF MAGNETO RHEOLOGICAL DAMPER FOR VEHICLE SUSPENSION WITH SEMI ACTIVE CONTROL SYSTEM A REVIEW

The vehicle suspension is used to minimize the vibration transferring from the irregular road surfaces. The control of these vibrations is still to be the booming field for the researchers. The increasing demand of ride relief and road stability leads to the development of suspension systems with new control strategies and actuating devices which can provide the strong performance. Hence to achieve this semi active control system is adapted to overcome the limitation of active as well as passive suspension system. Semi active control is well known for its low implementation cost, simplicity in construction and lower power consumption than active control. The actuation devices mostly used for semi active control are piezoelectric dampers, magneto rheological damper, tuned liquid column damper and electro rheological damper, out of which the MR damper has a semi active control and it had been accepted over last several years. MR fluids consist of the oil with iron particles in it. The device forces are adjusted by varying the strength of magnetic field. The devices will become compact and reliable because of less number of components. In addition to this added advantage of higher response rate (respond in milliseconds) with low power requirement, hence now a days this device is the focus of industry towards it. The current paper is a review on performance evaluation of magneto rheological damper with semi active control. This paper also discussed how to prepare magneto rheological fluid.
Value Iteration Networks
Venue: NIPS

We introduce the value iteration network (VIN) a fully differentiable neural network with a `planning module' embedded within. VINs can learn to plan, and are suitable for predicting outcomes that involve planning based reasoning, such as policies for reinforcement learning. Key to our approach is a novel differentiable approximation of the value iteration algorithm, which can be represented as a convolutional neural network, and trained end to end using standard backpropagation. We evaluate VIN based policies on discrete and continuous path planning domains, and on a natural language based search task. We show that by learning an explicit planning computation, VIN policies generalize better to new, unseen domains.
Differentially private publication of data on wages and job mobility

Brazil, like many countries, is reluctant to publish business level data, because of legitimate concerns about the estab lishments' confidentiality. A trusted data curator can increase the utility of data, while managing the risk to establishments, either by releasing synthetic data, or by infusing noise into published statistics. This paper evaluates the application of a differentially private mechanism to publish statistics on wages and job mobility computed from Brazilian employer employee matched data. The publication mechanism can result in both the publication of specific statistics as well as the generation of synthetic data. I find that the tradeoff between the privacy guaranteed to individuals in the data, and the accuracy of published statistics, is poten tially much better that the worst case theoretical accuracy guarantee. However, the synthetic data fare quite poorly in analyses that are outside the set of queries to which it was trained. Note that this article only explores and characterizes the feasibility of these publication strategies, and will not directly result in the publication of any data.
Multivariable feedback particle filter
Venue: Autom.

This paper presents the multivariable extension of the feedback particle filter (FPF) algorithm for the nonlinear filtering problem in continuous time. The FPF is a control oriented approach to particle filtering. The approach does not require importance sampling or resampling and offers significant variance improvements; in particular, the algorithm can be applied to systems that are not stable. This paper describes new representations and algorithms for the FPF in the general multivariable nonlinear non Gaussian setting. Theory surrounding the FPF is improved: Exactness of the FPF is established in the general setting, as well as well posedness of the associated boundary value problem to obtain the filter gain. A Galerkin finite element algorithm is proposed for approximation of the gain. Its performance is illustrated in numerical experiments.
Sum of squares length of real forms

For $n,,d\ge 1$$n,d>=1 let p(n, 2d) denote the smallest number p such that every sum of squares of degree d forms in \mathbb {R}[x_1,\ldots ,x_n]$R[x1,,xn] is a sum of p squares. We establish lower bounds for p(n, 2d) that are considerably stronger than the bounds known so far. Combined with known upper bounds they give $p(3,2d)\in {d+1,,d+2\$p(3,2d){d+1,d+2} in the ternary case. Assuming a conjecture of Iarrobino Kanev on dimensions of tangent spaces to catalecticant varieties, we show that $p(n,2d)\sim const\cdot d^(n 1)/2}$p(n,2d)~const*d(n 1)/2 for $d\rightarrow \infty $d and all $n\ge 3$$n>=3. For ternary sextics and quaternary quartics we determine the exact value of the invariant, showing $p(3,6)=4$$p(3,6)=4 and $p(4,4)=5$$p(4,4)=5.
An in vitro in vivo correlation study for nifedipine immediate release capsules administered with water, alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages: Impact of in vitro dissolution media and hydrodynamics.
Venue: International journal of pharmaceutics

The impact of hydrodynamics and media composition on nifedipine dissolution profile from IR (immediate release) soft capsules was investigated using dissolution apparatus USP1, USP2, USP3 and USP4 (United State Pharmacopoeia) Media composition was varied in terms of pH and content, to mimic the dosage form intake with water or non alcoholic beverages (orange juice) and alcoholic beverages (orange juice/ethanol mixture (47% v/v) Through construction of in vitro in vivo correlations (IVIVC) with corresponding in vivo data from the literature, it was possible to evaluate the in vitro conditions that are likely to simulate the in vivo formulation behaviour. Both linear and nonlinear correlations were obtained depending on experimental set ups. Testing of 20mg nifedipine capsules in FaSSGFst (Fasted State Simulated Gastric Fluid pH 1.6; water administration) produced IVIVC with the USP3 (after time scaling) and USP4 apparatus. IVIVC were obtained for USP2, USP3 and USP4 in FaSSGFoj (Fasted State Simulated Gastric Fluid pH 3.4; orange juice administration) Linear and nonlinear correlations were obtained with the USP1, USP2 and USP3 apparatus when testing the capsules in FaSSGFoj/EtOH (orange juice/ethanol administration) This study highlighted that selection of physiologically relevant dissolution set ups is critical for predicting the in vivo impact of formulations co administration with water, non alcoholic and alcoholic beverages.