nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Allosteric regulation of G protein coupled receptor activity by phospholipids.
Venue: Nature chemical biology

Lipids are emerging as key regulators of membrane protein structure and activity. These effects can be attributed either to the modification of bilayer properties (thickness, curvature and surface tension) or to the binding of specific lipids to the protein surface. For G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) the effects of phospholipids on receptor structure and activity remain poorly understood. Here we reconstituted purified b2 adrenergic receptor (b2R) in high density lipoparticles to systematically characterize the effect of biologically relevant phospholipids on receptor activity. We observed that the lipid headgroup type affected ligand binding (agonist and antagonist) and receptor activation. Specifically, phosphatidylgycerol markedly favored agonist binding and facilitated receptor activation, whereas phosphatidylethanolamine favored antagonist binding and stabilized the inactive state of the receptor. We then showed that these effects could be recapitulated with detergent solubilized lipids, demonstrating that the functional modulation occurred in the absence of a bilayer. Our data suggest that phospholipids act as direct allosteric modulators of GPCR activity.
Phospholipids in foods: prooxidants or antioxidants?
Venue: Journal of the science of food and agriculture

Lipid oxidation is one of the major causes of quality deterioration in natural and processed foods and thus a large economic concern in the food industry. Phospholipids, especially lecithins, are already widely used as natural emulsifiers and have been gaining increasing interest as natural antioxidants to control lipid oxidation. This review summarizes the fatty acid composition and content of phospholipids naturally occurring in several foods. The role of phospholipids as substrates for lipid oxidation is discussed, with a focus on meats and dairy products. Prooxidant and antioxidant mechanisms of phospholipids are also discussed to get a better understanding of the possible opportunities for using phospholipids as food antioxidants.
In the Pursuit of Sons: Additional Births or Sex Selective Abortion in Pakistan?
Venue: Population and development review

Even though Pakistan is a highly patriarchal society, it has not featured prominently in studies focusing on sex selective abortion and sex ratios at birth. But with fertility declining and existing strong son preference Pakistan has one of the highest desired sex ratios in the world how will Pakistani families respond? In the pursuit of sons, will they have additional children or resort to sex selective abortions? Or is there evidence that the pursuit of sons is weakening? Using data from three rounds of the demographic and health survey, we show clear evidence of son preference in fertility intentions, patterns of contraceptive use and parity progression ratios. More specifically, we find pervasive evidence that Pakistanis continue childbearing to have a son, to have more than one son and to have at least one daughter. We do not find consistent and convincing evidence that sex ratios at birth (which indicate sex selective abortion) are increasing.
Heterogeneity Among Sex Workers in Overlapping HIV Risk Interactions With People Who Inject Drugs: A Cross Sectional Study From 8 Major Cities in Pakistan
Venue: Medicine

AbstractConcerns remain regarding the heterogeneity in overlapping human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors among sex workers (SWs) in Pakistan; specifically, the degree to which SWs interact with people who inject drugs (PWID) through sex and/or needle sharing.Following an in depth mapping performed in 2011 to determine the size and distribution of key populations at highest risk of HIV acquisition in Pakistan, a cross sectional biological and behavioral survey was conducted among PWID, female (FSWs) male (MSWs) and hijra/transgender (HSWs) sex workers, and data from 8 major cities were used for analyses. Logistic regression was used to identify factors, including city of residence and mode of SW client solicitation, contributing to the overlapping risks of drug injection and sexual interaction with PWID.The study comprised 8483 SWs (34.5% FSWs, 32.4% HSWs, and 33.1% MSWs) Among SWs who had sex with PWID, HSWs were 2.61 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.19 5.74) and 1.99 (95% CI, 0.94 4.22) times more likely to inject drugs than MSWs and FSWs, respectively. There was up to a 3 fold difference in drug injecting probability, dependent on where and/or how the SW solicited clients. Compared with SWs in Larkana, the highest likelihood of drug injection use was among SWs in Multan (OR 4.52; 95% CI: 3.27 6.26) followed by those in Lahore, Quetta, and Faisalabad.Heterogeneity exists in the overlapping patterns of HIV risk behaviors of SWs. The risk of drug injection among SWs also varies by city. Some means of sexual client solicitation may be along the pathway to overlapping HIV risk vulnerability due to increased likelihood of drug injection among SWs. There is a need to closely to monitor the mixing patterns between SWs and PWID and underlying structural factors, such as means of sexual client solicitation, that mediate HIV risk, and implement prevention programs customized to local subepidemics.
Global image signature for visual loop closure detection
Venue: Auton. Robots

This work details a new method for loop closure detection based on using multiple orthogonal projections to generate a global signature for each image of a video sequence. The new multi projection function permits the detection of images corresponding to the same scene, but taken from different points of view. The signature generation process preserves enough information for robust loop closure detection, although it transforms each image to a simple and compact representation. Thanks to these characteristics, a real time operation is possible, even for long sequences with thousands of images. In addition, it has proved to work on very different scenarios without the need to change the parameters or to perform an onffline training stage, which makes it very independent on the environment and camera configuration. Results of an extensive set of experiments of the algorithm on several datasets, both indoors and outdoors and including underwater scenarios, are presented. Furthermore, an implementation, named HALOC, is available at a public repository as a C+ library for its use under the BSD license.
Quartet: Harmonizing Task Scheduling and Caching for Cluster Computing
Venue: HotStorage

Cluster computing frameworks such as Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark are commonly used to analyze large data sets. The analysis often involves running multiple, similar queries on the same data sets. This data reuse should improve query performance, but we find that these frameworks schedule query tasks independently of each other and are thus unable to exploit the data sharing across these tasks. We present Quartet, a system that leverages information on cached data to schedule together tasks that share data. Our preliminary results are promising, showing that Quartet can increase the cache hit rate of Hadoop and Spark jobs by up to 54% Our results suggest a shift in the way we think about job and task scheduling today, as Quartet is expected to perform better as more jobs are dispatched on the same data.
Autonomous Driving in the Real World: Experiences with Tesla Autopilot and Summon
Venue: AutomotiveUI

As autonomous driving emerges, it is important to understand drivers' experiences with autonomous cars. We report the results of an online survey with Tesla owners using two autonomous driving features, Autopilot and Summon. We found that current users of these features have significant driving experience, high self rated computer expertise and care about how automation works. Surprisingly, although automation failures are extremely common they were not perceived as risky. The most commonly occurring failures included the failure to detect lanes and uncomfortable speed changes of the vehicle. Additionally, a majority of the drivers emphasized the importance of being alert while driving with autonomous features and aware of the limitations of the current technology. Our main contribution is to provide a picture of attitudes and experiences towards semi autonomous driving, revealing that some drivers adopting these features may not perceive autonomous driving as risky, even in an environment with regular automation failures.
Rethinking the Design of Robotic Pets for Older Adults
Venue: Conference on Designing Interactive Systems

Robots are seen as a potential solution to the perceived needs of the aging population. Thus far, research has primarily focused on robotics for the functional and emotional support of older adults. Robotic pets have been developed primarily for the older adult who is perceived as lonely and isolated, and fears have consequently arisen that robots will replace human caregivers and deceive older adults into developing relationships with them. Missing is the perspective of older adults on the ethics of and potential uses for robotic companion pets. In this study, we conducted focus groups with 41 older adults. We discuss concepts raised by focus group participants such as giving into the fiction of the robotic pet, the social role of the robot, and the role of reciprocity in building a relationship with a robotic pet. We present resulting considerations for new directions for robotic pet design for older adults.
Arithmetic, reading and writing performance has a strong genetic component: A study in primary school children.
Venue: Learning and individual differences

Even children attending the same primary school and taught by the same teacher differ greatly in their performance. In the Netherlands, performance at the end of primary school determines the enrollment in a particular level of secondary education. Identifying the impact of genes and the environment on individual differences in educational achievement between children is important. The Netherlands Twin Register has collected data on scores of tests used in primary school (ages 6 to 12) to monitor a child's educational progress in four domains, i.e. arithmetic, word reading, reading comprehension and spelling (1058 MZ and 1734 DZ twin pairs) and of a final test (2451 MZ and 4569 DZ twin pairs) in a large Dutch cohort. In general, individual differences in educational achievement were to a large extent due to genes and the influence of the family environment was negligible. Moreover, there is no evidence for gender differences in the underlying etiology.
Increasing the uptake of peer feedback in primary school writing: findings from an action research enquiry

This article reports on how an action research strategy was used to increase children's uptake of feedback during peer assessment in primary school writing. Several different strategies were used in the study that had been successful in increasing students' uptake of peer feedback in contexts such as higher education. In order to evaluate how successful these actions were, several different data collection methods were drawn upon to triangulate findings including children's work, observations, informal interviews and mind mapping. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data generated. Findings are consistent with those from research in other settings which suggest that pupils make better use of feedback if: it is task involving and useful; there is sufficient time given for them to act on it and discuss it with their peers; and they are asked to reflect on how it has been used to improve the quality of the assessed work.
Radial phased locked partially coherent flat topped vortex beam array in non Kolmogorov medium.
Venue: Optics express

The analytical expressions for the cross spectral density, the average intensity and the complex degree of spatial coherence of a radial phased locked partially coherent flat topped vortex beam array propagating through non Kolmogorov medium are obtained by using the extended Huygens Fresnel principle. The evolution behaviors of a radial phased locked partially coherent flat topped vortex beam array propagating through non Kolmogorov medium are studied in detail. It is shown that the evolution behaviors of average intensity depend on beam parameters including the spatial correlation length, the radius of the beam array, as well as the propagation distance. A radial phased locked partially coherent flat topped vortex beam array with high coherence evolves more rapidly than that with low coherence.
Motion of a Droplet for the Stochastic Mass Conserving Allen Cahn Equation
Venue: SIAM J. Math. Anal.

We study the stochastic mass conserving Allen Cahn equation posed on a smoothly bounded domain of \mathbb{R}^2$ with additive, spatially smooth, space time noise. This equation describes the stochastic motion of a small almost semicircular droplet attached to domain's boundary and moving toward a point of locally maximum curvature. We apply Ito calculus to derive the stochastic dynamics of the center of the droplet by utilizing the approximately invariant manifold introduced by Alikakos, Chen, and Fusco [Calc. Var. 11 (2000) ] for the deterministic problem. In the stochastic case depending on the scaling, the motion is driven by the change in the curvature of the boundary and the stochastic forcing. Moreover, under the assumption of a sufficiently small noise strength, we establish stochastic stability of a neighborhood of the manifold of boundary droplet states in the $L^2$ and $H^1$ norms, which means that with overwhelming probability the solution stays close to the manifold for very l.
Modulation equation for SPDEs in unbounded domains with space time white noise Linear theory

We study the approximation of SPDEs on the whole real line near a change of stability via modulation or amplitude equations, which acts as a replacement for the lack of random invariant manifolds on extended domains. Due to the unboundedness of the underlying domain a whole band of infinitely many eigenfunctions changes stability. Thus we expect not only a slow motion in time, but also a slow spatial modulation of the dominant modes, which is described by the modulation equation.
Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2 degC
Venue: Nature

The Paris climate agreement aims at holding global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and to "pursue efforts" to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To accomplish this, countries have submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) outlining their post 2020 climate action. Here we assess the effect of current INDCs on reducing aggregate greenhouse gas emissions, its implications for achieving the temperature objective of the Paris climate agreement, and potential options for overachievement. The INDCs collectively lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to where current policies stand, but still imply a median warming of 2.6 3.1 degrees Celsius by 2100. More can be achieved, because the agreement stipulates that targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are strengthened over time, both in ambition and scope. Substantial enhancement or over delivery on current INDCs by additional national, sub national and non state actions is required to maintain a reasonable chance of meeting the target of keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius.
Synergetic approach to control of axial left ventricular assist device rotor supported by magnetic bearings

Properties of nonlinear systems radically differ from linear in multivariance their behavior. In this regard, the control of such systems is a difficult task and has not been solved adequately problem of modern control theory. Methods of synergetic control theory (SCT) based on the idea of "nonload" impact on the system allow to create the objective control laws, which form the inner cooperative interactions between the processes of dynamic objects. The problem of the control of rotor supported by active magnetic bearings in artificial circulatory support device is presented in this paper. Because of strong nonlinear of the dynamical system the synergetic concept is apply for synthesis the effective control laws for the positioning of the pump rotor in the blood stream and provide the required parameters of the dynamics in terms of external disturbances to improve the efficiency of the artificial circulatory support device.
Advances in Large Scale Metrology Review and future trends

The field of Large Scale Metrology has been studied extensively for many decades and represents the combination and competition of topics as diverse as geodesy and laboratory calibration. A primary reason that Large Scale Metrology continues to represent the research frontier is that technological advances introduced and perfected at a conventional scale face additional challenges which increase non linearly with size. This necessitates new ways of considering the entire measuring process, resulting in the application of concepts such as virtual measuring processes and cyber physical systems. This paper reports on the continuing evolution of Large Scale Metrology.
Reactive Oxygen Species and Neutrophil Function.
Venue: Annual review of biochemistry

Neutrophils are essential for killing bacteria and other microorganisms, and they also have a significant role in regulating the inflammatory response. Stimulated neutrophils activate their NADPH oxidase (NOX2) to generate large amounts of superoxide, which acts as a precursor of hydrogen peroxide and other reactive oxygen species that are generated by their heme enzyme myeloperoxidase. When neutrophils engulf bacteria they enclose them in small vesicles (phagosomes) into which superoxide is released by activated NOX2 on the internalized neutrophil membrane. The superoxide dismutates to hydrogen peroxide, which is used by myeloperoxidase to generate other oxidants, including the highly microbicidal species hypochlorous acid. NOX activation occurs at other sites in the cell, where it is considered to have a regulatory function. Neutrophils also release oxidants, which can modify extracellular targets and affect the function of neighboring cells. We discuss the identity and chemical properties of the specific oxidants produced by neutrophils in different situations, and what is known about oxidative mechanisms of microbial killing, inflammatory tissue damage, and signaling.
Multilevel influences of transactive memory systems on individual innovative behavior and team innovation

Despite the dual benefits of transactive memory systems (TMSs) for individual innovative behavior and team innovation, prior literature has seldom explored these issues simultaneously. This study both explores how TMSs affects individual creative self efficacy and innovative behavior and examines whether the TMS affects team innovation by collecting survey data from 475 individuals in 86 teams participating in two iterations of the Intelligent Ironman Creativity Contest in Taiwan. Findings suggest a multilevel mediation model in which creative self efficacy partially mediates the relationship between TMSs and the individual's innovative behavior. At the team level, the TMS positively affects team innovation. This paper concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications.
Experimental research in hospitality and tourism: a critical review

This paper aims to examine the prevalence and trend of experimental research in hospitality and tourism. Hospitality and tourism researchers have long been encouraged to increase their use of experimental designs. However, a solid support for such advocacy is lacking, and the present paper fills in this research gap.  By using a systematic approach, this study reviews 161 tourism and hospitality articles and conducts content analysis based on certain criteria including journal outlets, Social Sciences Citation Index journals, years of publication, contexts, disciplinary foci, experimental designs, settings, number of independent variables, number of studies per article, manipulation methods, manipulation check, research subjects, sample size, subjects per experimental condition, statistical analyses and provision of effect size. The criteria between hospitality and tourism publications are also compared.  Findings show that the number of experimental public.
A Historical Approach to Social Studies Laboratory Method

In the early years of Social Studies education, great attention was given to aEURoeSocial Studies LaboratoriesaEUR and a teaching and learning pedagogy called aEURoeThe Laboratory MethodaEUR.A This study examines historical documents about the development of the social studies laboratory. The researchers examined certain periodicals published in the US such as Education, The Historical Outlook and The History TeacheraEUR(tm)s Magazine along with the non experimental historical research methodology. In an age of inquiry based projects and aEURoehands onaEUR approaches to the learning of Social Studies, a brief historical overview of the foundations of such approaches in the Social Studies seems appropriate from US perspective.A Parallels are drawn by using comparative approach, and suggestions made, for a twenty first century approach to a Social Studies Laboratory and a Laboratory Method of teaching the many disciplines that define the Social Studies. The findings of this study indicate that despite the social studies classroom, method and laboratory may have changed a great deal over the past century, the goals of the social studies teacher have not changed.A The social studies teacher still works to keep his or her students actively engaged in learning, still works to help them learn new concepts and skills, and still works to help each and every student succeed.A Above all, the social studies teacher still looks for strategies and tools to help students prepare for life outside of the classroom.A In conclusion, a valuable lesson is to be learned from the early development of the social studies laboratory: the room, the technology and the innovative ideas are meaningless unless accompanied by a commitment to move toward student centered activities and learning, a twenty first century version of the aEURoelaboratory methodaEUR.A It is when technological access becomes inexorably entwined with teaching strategies that empower students to use, develop and critique the technology that substantive learning takes place in the social studies classroom.
Forecasting Stock Market Volatility on Bursa Malaysia Plantation Index

This research applies the Bursa Malaysia Plantation Index to examine the most suitable forecasting model. The Plantation Index is studied because Malaysia is the world second largest in oil palm producer. Additionally, volatile crude palm oil price has resulted in the Plantation Index becoming more volatile as earnings of plantation companies depend heavily on crude palm oil prices. The forecasting techniques applied were random walk, moving average, simple regression and historical mean. The error in forecasting was measured by symmetric and asymmetric error statistics. The most suitable volatility forecasting technique for Bursa Malaysia Plantation Index was simple regression technique. The findings to a very large extent indicate that although there are different sophisticated forecasting technique, investor, managers and regulators could employ the less costly simple regression method to forecast oil palm related stocks and make their wise decision in investment, management and regulation in oil palm industry.