nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Low environmental levels of neuro active pharmaceuticals alter phototactic behaviour and reproduction in Daphnia magna.
Venue: Aquatic toxicology

Assessing the risks of emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals in the environment requires an understanding of their exposure regime and their effects at environmentally relevant concentrations across species. Daphnia magna represents an excellent invertebrate model species to study the mode of action of emerging pollutants, allowing the assessment of effects at different biological levels. The present study aims to test the hypothesis that different families of neuro active pharmaceuticals at low environmentally relevant concentrations may lead to similar phenotypic responses in D. magna. Phenotypic traits included reproduction and behavioural responses. Selected pharmaceuticals were carbamazepine, diazepam and propranolol, three widely prescribed compounds, already detected at considerable levels in the environment (ng to few mg/L) Fluoxetine was also included in behavioural assays. The three tested neuro active pharmaceuticals were able to enhance reproduction at 1ng/L of propranolol, 0.1mg/L of diazepam and 1mg/L of carbamazepine. Fluoxetine, carbamazepine and diazepam increased positive phototactic behaviour at concentrations ranging from 1, 10 and 100ng/L, respectively. Reported responses were nonmonotonic, which means that eco toxicity testing of pharmaceuticals need to assess effects at the ng/L range.
Short term exposure with high concentrations of pristine microplastic particles leads to immobilisation of Daphnia magna.
Venue: Chemosphere

Recent studies revealed that freshwaters are not only polluted by chemicals, but also by persistent synthetic material like microplastics (plastic particles <1 mm) Microplastics include a diverse range of characteristics, e.g. polymer type, size or shape, but also their tendency to sorb pollutants or release additives. Although there is rising concern about the pollution of freshwaters by microplastics, knowledge about their potential effects on organisms is limited. For a better understanding of their risks, it is crucial to unravel which characteristics influence their effects on organisms. Analysing effects by the mere particles is the first step before including more complex interactions e.g. with associated chemicals. The aim of this study was to analyse potential physical effects of microplastics on one representative organism for limnic zooplankton (Daphnia magna) We investigated whether microplastics can be ingested and whether their presence causes adverse effects after short term exposure. Daphnids were exposed for up to 96 h to 1 mm and 100 mm polyethylene particles at concentrations between 12.5 and 400 mg L( 1) Ingestion of 1 mm particles led to immobilisation increasing with dose and time with an EC50 of 57.43 mg L( 1) after 96 h. 100 mm particles that could not be ingested by the daphnids had no observable effects. These results underline that, considering high concentrations, microplastic particles can already induce adverse effects in limnic zooplankton. Although it needs to be clarified if these concentrations can be found in the environment these results are a basis for future impact analysis, especially in combination with associated chemicals.
Facing the most difficult case of Semantic Role Labeling: A collaboration of word embeddings and co training
Venue: COLING

We present a successful collaboration of word embeddings and co training to tackle in the most difficult test case of semantic role labeling: predicting out of domain and unseen semantic frames. Despite the fact that co training is a successful traditional semi supervised method, its application in SRL is very limited especially when a huge amount of labeled data is available. In this work, co training is used together with word embeddings to improve the performance of a system trained on a large training dataset. We also introduce a semantic role labeling system with a simple learning architecture and effective inference that is easily adaptable to semi supervised settings with new training data and/or new features. On the out of domain testing set of the standard benchmark CoNLL 2009 data our simple approach achieves high performance and improves state of the art results.
The World Is Not Enough: Lists as Encounters with the "Real" in the Eighteenth Century Novel

The list plays a key role in the development of the eighteenth century novel as a self consciously innovative form. In this essay I examine the function of enumerations in two key texts, Aphra Behn's Oroonoko and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, where they not only produce a heightened sense of credibility and plausibility, but also import contemporary systems of thought and stage interiority and negotiate the status of the novel in relation to other types of text. The form of the list, I argue, is to be seen as an instrument in a larger project of novelistic self assertion.
The Oxford Handbook of the Eighteenth Century Novel

Although the emergence of the English novel is generally regarded as an eighteenth century phenomenon, this is the first book to be published professing to cover the 'eighteenth century English novel' in its entirety. This Handbook surveys the development of the English novel during the 'long' eighteenth century in other words, from the later seventeenth century right through to the first three decades of the nineteenth century when, with the publication of the novels of Jane Austen and Walter Scott, 'the novel' finally gained critical acceptance and assumed the position of cultural hegemony it enjoyed for over a century. By situating the novels of the period which are still read today against the background of the hundreds that were published between 1660 and 1830, this Handbook not only covers those 'masters and mistresses' of early prose fiction such as Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, Burney, Scott and Austen who are still acknowledged to be seminal figures in the emergence and development of the English novel, but also the significant number of recently rediscovered novelists who were popular in their own day. At the same time, its comprehensive coverage of cultural contexts not considered by any existing study, but which are central to emergence of the novel, such as the book trade and the mechanics of book production, copyright and censorship, the growth of the reading public, the economics of culture both in London and the provinces, and the re printing of popular fiction after 1774, offer unique insight into the making of the English novel.
The rate of change in declining steroid hormones: a new parameter of healthy aging in men?
Venue: Oncotarget

Research on healthy aging in men has increasingly focused on age related hormonal changes. Testosterone (T) decline is primarily investigated, while age related changes in other sex steroids (dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA] estradiol [E2] progesterone [P] are mostly neglected. An integrated hormone parameter reflecting aging processes in men has yet to be identified. 271 self reporting healthy men between 40 and 75 provided both psychometric data and saliva samples for hormone analysis. Correlation analysis between age and sex steroids revealed negative associations for the four sex steroids (T, DHEA, E2, and P) Principal component analysis including ten salivary analytes identified a principal component mainly unifying the variance of the four sex steroid hormones. Subsequent principal component analysis including the four sex steroids extracted the principal component of declining steroid hormones (DSH) Moderation analysis of the association between age and DSH revealed significant moderation effects for psychosocial factors such as depression, chronic stress and perceived general health. In conclusion, these results provide further evidence that sex steroids decline in aging men and that the integrated hormone parameter DSH and its rate of change can be used as biomarkers for healthy aging in men. Furthermore, the negative association of age and DSH is moderated by psychosocial factors.
Survey of Approaches for Handling Static Analysis Alarms
Venue: 2016 IEEE 16th International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation (SCAM)

Static analysis tools have showcased their importance and usefulness in automated detection of code anomalies and defects. However, the large number of alarms reported and cost incurred in their manual inspections have been the major concerns with the usage of static analysis tools. Existing studies addressing these concerns differ greatly in their approaches to handle the alarms, varying from automatic postprocessing of alarms, supporting the tool users during manual inspections of the alarms, to designing of light weight static analysis tools. A comprehensive study of approaches for handling alarms is, however, not found. In this paper, we review 79 alarms handling studies collected through a systematic literature search and classify the approaches proposed into seven categories. The literature search is performed by combining the keywords based database search and snowballing. Our review is intended to provide an overview of various alarms handling approaches, their merits and shortcomings, and different techniques used in their implementations. Our findings include that the categorized alarms handling approaches are complementary and they can be combined together in different ways. The categorized approaches and techniques employed in them can help the designers and developers of static analysis tools to make informed choices.
'Gross Interference with the Course of Justice' The News of the World and the Moors Murder Trial

It was, declared the News of the World's (NOTW) front page on 17 April 1966, 'The Murder Trial of the Century' and, for once, the hyperbolic language was justified. The prosecution of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley for the murder of three children 12 year old John Kilbride, 10 year old Lesley Ann Downey and 17 year old Edward Evans generated huge interest both in Britain and around the world. Over 150 journalists, and 5 authors, attended the trial, all aiming to satisfy the intense public curiosity in the so called 'Moors Murders' and 300 hundred extra policemen were drafted in to ensure the participants in the case safe passage in and out of the courtroom amidst the noisy crowds gathered  The attention elicited by the case was not hard to explain. The sheer brutality of the murders, the unusual presence of a glamorous young woman in the dock, the widespread suspicion that the accused were a product of the 'permissive' mores of modern society and the knowledge that, if guilty, they would narrowly avoid the death penalty, following the suspension of capital punishment the previous year all of these ingredients heightened the controversy and the outrage surrounding the trial. No one at the time could have predicted, however, the extent to which the case would continue to haunt the public imagination, and be played out in the pages of the popular newspapers, in subsequent decades as two more victims Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett were confirmed and the grim search for bodies on the moors continued. A study of the press in 1985 found that the 'Moors Murderers' featured more prominently than all other 'sex criminals' in custody put together; Ian Brady still had sufficient news value in 2013 to earn several front page lead stories.
Isolation and gene expression analysis of single potential human spermatogonial stem cells.
Venue: Molecular human reproduction

It is possible to isolate pure populations of single potential human spermatogonial stem cells without somatic contamination for down stream applications, for example cell culture and gene expression analysis.  We isolated pure populations of single potential human spermatogonial stem cells (hSSC) without contaminating somatic cells and analyzed gene expression of these cells via single cell real time RT PCR.  The isolation of a pure hSSC fraction could enable clinical applications such as fertility preservation for prepubertal boys and in vitro spermatogenesis. By utilizing largely nonspecific markers for the isolation of spermatogonia (SPG) and hSSC, previously published cell selection methods are not able to deliver pure target cell populations without contamination by testicular somatic cells. However, uniform cell populations free of somatic cells are necessary to guarantee defined growth conditions in cell culture experiments and to prevent unintended stem cell differentiation. Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) is a cell surface protein of human undifferentiated A type SPG and a promising candidate marker for hSSC. It is exclusively expressed in small, non proliferating subgroups of this spermatogonial cell type together with the pluripotency associated protein and spermatogonial nuclear marker undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1) STUDY DESIGN, SAMPLES/MATERIALS,  We specifically selected the FGFR3 positive spermatogonial subpopulation from two 30 mg biopsies per patient from a total of 37 patients with full spermatogenesis and three patients with meiotic arrest. We then employed cell selection with magnetic beads in combination with a fluorescence activated cell sorter antibody directed against human FGFR3 to tag and visually identify human FGFR3 positive spermatogonia. Positively selected and bead labeled cells were subsequently picked with a micromanipulator. Analysis of the isolated cells was carried out by single cell real time RT PCR, real time RT PCR, immunocytochemistry and live/dead staining.  Furthermore, isolated cells exhibit strong immunocytochemical staining for the stem cell factor UTF1 and are viable.  The cell population isolated in this study has to be tested for their potential stem cell characteristics via xenotransplantation. Due to the small amount of the isolated cells, propagation by cell culture will be essential. Other potential hSSC without FGFR3 surface expression will not be captured with the provided experimental design.  The technical approach as developed in this work could encourage the scientific community to test other established or novel hSSC markers on single SPG that present with potential stem cell like features.  The project was funded by the DFG Research Unit FOR1041 Germ cell potential (SCH 587/3 2) and DFG grants to K.v.K. (KO 4769/2 1) and A. N.S. (SP 721/4 1) The authors declare no competing interests.
An Analysis of Prerequisite Skills for Reading Comprehension

In this paper, we focus on the synthetic understanding of documents, specifically reading comprehension (RC) A current problem with RC is the need for a method of analyzing the RC system performance to realize further development. We propose a methodology for examining RC systems from multiple viewpoints. Our methodology consists of three steps: define a set of basic skills used for RC, manually annotate questions of an existing RC task, and show the performances for each skill of existing systems that have been proposed for the task. We demonstrated the proposed methodology by annotating MCTest, a freely available dataset for testing RC. The results of the annotation showed that answering RC questions requires combinations of multiple skills. In addition, our defined RC skills were found to be useful and promising for decomposing and analyzing the RC process. Finally, we discuss ways to improve our approach based on the results of two extra annotations.
A Statistical Analysis of the Relationship between Upper Tropospheric Cold Low and Tropical Cyclone Track and Intensity Change over the Western North Pacific

AbstractThe geographical and temporal characteristics of upper tropospheric cold low (UTCL) and their relationship to tropical cyclone (TC) track and intensity change over the western North Pacific (WNP) during 2000 12 are examined using the TC best track and global meteorological reanalysis data. An analysis of the two datasets shows that 73% of 346 TCs coexist with 345 UTCLs, and 21% of the latter coexist with TCs within an initial cutoff distance of 15deg. By selecting those coexisted systems within this distance, the possible influences of UTCL on TC track and intensity change are found, depending on their relative distance and on the sectors of UTCLs where TCs are located. Results show that the impact of UTCLs on TC directional changes are statistically insignificant when averaged within the 15deg radius. However, left turning TCs within 5deg distance from the UTCL center exhibit large deviated directional changes from the WNP climatology, due to the presence of highly frequent abrupt left turnings in the
FPNN: Field Probing Neural Networks for 3D Data
Venue: NIPS

Building discriminative representations for 3D data has been an important task in computer graphics and computer vision research. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have shown to operate on 2D images with great success for a variety of tasks. Lifting convolution operators to 3D (3DCNNs) seems like a plausible and promising next step. Unfortunately, the computational complexity of 3D CNNs grows cubically with respect to voxel resolution. Moreover, since most 3D geometry representations are boundary based, occupied regions do not increase proportionately with the size of the discretization, resulting in wasted computation. In this work, we represent 3D spaces as volumetric fields, and propose a novel design that employs field probing filters to efficiently extract features from them. Each field probing filter is a set of probing points sensors that perceive the space. Our learning algorithm optimizes not only the weights associated with the probing points, but also their locations, which deforms the shape of the probing filters and adaptively distributes them in 3D space. The optimized probing points sense the 3D space "intelligently" rather than operating blindly over the entire domain. We show that field probing is significantly more efficient than 3DCNNs, while providing state of the art performance, on classification tasks for 3D object recognition benchmark datasets.
Pushed Out or Pulled in? Self Employment Among Indigenous People

This paper examines the decision of indigenous people to enter self employment with special reference to Jharkhand. The indigenous people in India, better known as scheduled tribes, are aligning themselves with the mainstream population, albeit rather slowly. They are leaving their traditional way of earning livelihood and increasingly opting for both paid and self employment. In order to better understand this trend of increasing self employment among indigenous population and the role that entrepreneurship can play in empowering them, the researchers conducted a quantitative survey among the self employed people from indigenous communities in Jharkhand. The study examined various motivations behind the decision to opt for self employment and differences in motivations amongst indigenous communities across different parts of the state. The findings suggest that people from indigenous communities choose to enter self employment when they fail to join paid employment, especially of their choice. There was spatial difference among indigenous people when it comes to positive motivation propelling self employment.
Precision Forming of the Straight Edge of Square Section by Die Less Spinning

Die less spinning is a forming process to achieve cone shape parts. It is suitable for small batch production because of low costs and short development cycle. In order to increase the forming accuracy of the square section die less spinning process, the roller path is designed and amended. Using a 5 axis CNC spinning machine, the square section cone is spun and its edge arc degree is calculated. Roller path amendment coefficient is proposed and deduced through the geometric relationship. Based on the experimental result in which the amendment coefficient is employed, the second amendment coefficient is deduced and used to perform another spinning experiment. By comparison of the section edge arc degrees of the workpiece obtained with and without using the amendment coefficients, it is found that the forming accuracy in experiments with the amendment is remarkably enhanced.
Old Threats, New Approach and National Security in Malaysia: Issues and Challenges in Dealing With Cross border Crime in East Coast of Sabah

For centuries there has been the free movement of people and goods across North Borneo to its neighbouring countries, primarily Indonesia and Philippines. However, when Sabah gained independence through the formation of Malaysian in 1963, such activities which were previously considered legal, are now labeled as smuggling and illegal entry, and are thus an existential security threat to Malaysia. Porous and an extremely long border have made it difficult for the state to address the rise of these incidents. The intrusion of Sabah by members of so called the Royal Sulu Army in 2013 was the last straw. The incident drove the government to establish a civil military command known as Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) It was an organization under which all enforcement agencies such as police, army, immigration, marine, coast guard etc, will be coordinated under one command system. The objective of this study is to identify the measures and challenges for ESSCOM and Malaysian government in dealing with Sabah's East Coast of maritime security. The review will be mainly focused on the nature of the threat, the reasons for the ESSCOM establishment and policy measures taken to strengthen Sabah's maritime security.
Image Deblurring via Enhanced Low Rank Prior
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Image Processing

Low rank matrix approximation has been successfully applied to numerous vision problems in recent years. In this paper, we propose a novel low rank prior for blind image deblurring. Our key observation is that directly applying a simple low rank model to a blurry input image significantly reduces the blur even without using any kernel information, while preserving important edge information. The same model can be used to reduce blur in the gradient map of a blurry input. Based on these properties, we introduce an enhanced prior for image deblurring by combining the low rank prior of similar patches from both the blurry image and its gradient map. We employ a weighted nuclear norm minimization method to further enhance the effectiveness of low rank prior for image deblurring, by retaining the dominant edges and eliminating fine texture and slight edges in intermediate images, allowing for better kernel estimation. In addition, we evaluate the proposed enhanced low rank prior for both the uniform and the non uniform deblurring. Quantitative and qualitative experimental evaluations demonstrate that the proposed algorithm performs favorably against the state of the art deblurring methods.