nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Towards More Rigorous Personality Trait Outcome Research

Much of personality research attempts to identify causal links between personality traits and various types of outcomes. I argue that causal interpretations require traits to be seen as existentially and holistically real and the associations to be independent of specific ways of operationalizing the traits. Among other things, this means that, to the extents that causality is to be ascribed to such holistic traits, items and facets of those traits should be similarly associated with specific outcomes, except for variability in the degrees to which they reflect the traits (i.e. factor loadings) I argue that, before drawing causal inferences about personality trait outcome associations, the presence of this condition should be routinely tested by, for example, systematically comparing the outcome associations of individual items or facets, or sampling different indicators for measuring the same purported traits. Existing evidence suggests that observed associations between personality traits and outcomes at least sometimes depend on which particular items or facets have been included in trait operationalizations, calling trait level causal interpretations into question. However, this has rarely been considered in the literature. I argue that when outcome associations are specific to facets, they should not be generalized to traits. Furthermore, when the associations are specific to particular items, they should not even be generalized to facets.
Student engagement as a function of environmental complexity in high school classrooms

The purpose of this study was to investigate the linkage between the quality of the learning environment and the quality of students' experience in seven high school classrooms in six different subject areas. The quality of the learning environment was conceptualized in terms of environmental complexity, or the simultaneous presence of environmental challenge and environmental support. The students (N 1/4 108) in each class participated in the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) measuring their engagement and related experiential variables. Concurrently, environmental complexity and its subdimensions were observed and rated from video with a new observational instrument, The Optimal Learning Environments e Observational Log and Assessment (OLE OLA) Using two level HLM regression models, ratings from the OLE OLA were utilized to predict student engagement and experiential variables as measured by the ESM. Results showed that environmental complexity predicted student engagement and sense of classroom self esteem. Implications for research, theory and practice are discussed.
EBI metagenomics in 2016 an expanding and evolving resource for the analysis and archiving of metagenomic data
Venue: Nucleic Acids Res.

EBI metagenomics (https:/www.ebi.ac.uk/metagenomics/ is a freely available hub for the analysis and archiving of metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data. Over the last 2 years, the resource has undergone rapid growth, with an increase of over five fold in the number of processed samples and consequently represents one of the largest resources of analysed shotgun metagenomes. Here, we report the status of the resource in 2016 and give an overview of new developments. In particular, we describe updates to data content, a complete overhaul of the analysis pipeline, streamlining of data presentation via the website and the development of a new web based tool to compare functional analyses of sequence runs within a study. We also highlight two of the higher profile projects that have been analysed using the resource in the last year: the oceanographic projects Ocean Sampling Day and Tara Oceans.
A new model for bridge management: Part B: decision support system for remediation planning

Bridges are fundamental elements in any road network and characterize a major capital asset of community resources. Because of their strategic location over obstacles, any failure may limit and restrict road traffic and cause inconvenience and economic loss. It is therefore important to manage bridge assets, to ensure that all the bridges are maintained in a safe condition, with the most cost efficient use of resources. Most of the existing bridge management systems are to some extent subjective and based on cost optimization which does not address the indirect impact of the remedial actions. The subjective nature of decision making in bridge remediation could be replaced by the application of a multi criteria decision support system that supports decision makers through balanced consideration of multiple criteria. The main goal of this paper is to present a requirements driven decision support methodology for remediation of concrete bridges with the aim of maintaining bridge assets within acceptable limits of safety, serviceability and sustainability. The simplified analytical hierarchy process is used as a multi criteria decision making technique. A method for selection of the best remediation plan in terms of fund allocation for top ranked bridges of the network is also proposed using the outputs of the previous procedures considering the budget as the main constraint.
A framework for automatic creation of gold standard rigid 3D 2D registration datasets
Venue: International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery

PurposeAdvanced image guided medical procedures incorporate 2D intra interventional information into pre interventional 3D image and plan of the procedure through 3D/2D image registration (32R) To enter clinical use, and even for publication purposes, novel and existing 32R methods have to be rigorously validated. The performance of a 32R method can be estimated by comparing it to an accurate reference or gold standard method (usually based on fiducial markers) on the same set of images (gold standard dataset) Objective validation and comparison of methods are possible only if evaluation methodology is standardized, and the gold standard dataset is made publicly available. Currently, very few such datasets exist and only one contains images of multiple patients acquired during a procedure. To encourage the creation of gold standard 32R datasets, we propose an automatic framework.MethodsThe framework is based on rigid registration of fiducial markers. The main novelty is spatial grouping of fiducial markers on the carrier device, which enables automatic marker localization and identification across the 3D and 2D images.ResultsThe proposed framework was demonstrated on clinical angiograms of 20 patients. Rigid 32R computed by the framework was more accurate than that obtained manually, with the respective target registration error below 0.027 mm compared to 0.040 mm.ConclusionThe framework is applicable for gold standard setup on any rigid anatomy, provided that the acquired images contain spatially grouped fiducial markers. The gold standard datasets and software will be made publicly available.
WiscKey: Separating Keys from Values in SSD conscious Storage
Venue: FAST

We present WiscKey, a persistent LSM tree based key value store with a performance oriented data layout that separates keys from values to minimize I/O amplification. The design of WiscKey is highly SSD optimized, leveraging both the sequential and random performance characteristics of the device. We demonstrate the advantages of WiscKey with both microbenchmarks and YCSB workloads. Microbenchmark results show that WiscKey is 2.5x 111x faster than LevelDB for loading a database and 1.6x 14x faster for random lookups. WiscKey is faster than both LevelDB and RocksDB in all six YCSB workloads.
High temperature mechanical behavior of AI/SiC nanoscale multilayers

Nanoscale Al/SiC composite laminates are metal ceramic multilayers with unique mechanical properties at ambient temperature, such as high strength, high toughness, and damage tolerance, due to the nm scale thickness of their layers. Nevertheless, nothing is known about their high temperature mechanical properties and this is a key issue both from the fundamental viewpoint as well as from the in service behavior. This lack of information is mainly due to the difficulties associated with the characterization of the mechanical behavior of thin films at high temperature, a rather unexplored area. High temperature instrumented nanoindentation and micropillar compression were carried out in this thesis to study the mechanical properties of Al/SiC nanolaminates as a function of layer thickness from room temperature up to 300oC. Mechanical tests were complemented with detailed transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the deformed structures to elucidate the effect of temperature on the deformation mechanisms at the nm scale. In addition, finite element simulations of the multilayer deformation were used to clarify the influence of the Al flow stress and of the interface properties (strength, friction coefficient) on the overall stress strain response of Al/SiC multilayers. The combination of nanoindentation, micropillar compression tests, TEM observations and numerical simulations provided a better understanding of the key parameters influencing the high temperature mechanical behavior of Al/SiC nanoscale multilayers. It was found that the mechanical behavior at ambient temperature was controlled by the high strength of the Al nanograins and the constraint induced by the stiff SiC nanolayers on the Al plastic flow. Changes in the Al SiC interface behavior, in the form of interface sliding, limited the constraint on plastic flow at 100oC. This phenomenon, together with the softening of the Al nanolayers, resulted in a marked reduction in the flow stress and in the strain hardening capacity of the nanoscale multilayers. The role of the Al SiC interfaces in plastic flow was also apparent in the creep activation energies, which showed a marked decrease with the reduction in Al layer thicknesses, reaching values close to the activation energy for grain boundary diffusion in Al for layer thicknesses of 10 nm. Finally, above 200oC, chemical reactions between Al and SiC promoted a large degradation in the mechanical properties of the nanoscale multilayers.
High temperature ion irradiation effects in MAX phase ceramics

The family of layered carbides and nitrides known as MAX phase ceramics combine many attractive properties of both ceramics and metals due to their nanolaminate crystal structure and are promising potential candidates for application in future nuclear reactors. This investigation examines the effects of energetic heavy ion (5.8 MeV Ni) irradiations on polycrystalline samples of Ti3SiC2, Ti3AlC2, and Ti2AlC. The irradiation conditions consisted of midrange ion doses between 10 and 30 displacements per atom at temperatures of 400 and 700 degC, conditions relevant to application in future nuclear reactors and a relatively un explored regime for this new class of materials. Following irradiation, a comprehensive analysis of radiation response properties was compiled using grazing incidence X ray diffraction (XRD) nanoindentation, scanning electron microcopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) In all cases, XRD and TEM analyses confirm the materials remain fully crystalline although the intense atomic collisions induce significant damage and disorder into the layered crystalline lattice. X ray diffraction and nanoindentation show this damage is manifest in anisotropic swelling and hardening at all conditions and in all materials, with the aluminum based MAX phase exhibiting significantly more damage than their silicon counterpart. In all three materials there is little damage dependence on dose, suggesting saturation of radiation damage at levels below 10 displacements per atom, and significantly less retained damage at higher temperatures, suggesting radiation defect annealing. SEM surface analysis showed significant grain boundary cracking and loss of damage tolerance properties in the aluminum based MAX phase irradiated at 400 degC, but not in the silicon counterpart. TEM analysis of select samples suggest that interstitials are highly mobile while vacancies are immobile and that all three materials are in the so called point defect swelling regime between 400 and 700 degC. All results are consistent with previous work involving traditional and MAX phase ceramics. Results show the aluminum MAX phases are not fit for application near 400 degC and that the silicon MAX phase is more damage tolerant at 400 700 degC.
Factor Analysis of a Search Self Efficacy Scale
Venue: CHIIR

Participants in information search studies are often asked to characterize their search expertise using questionnaires provided by researchers. These questionnaires often contain ad hoc sets of items in part because there are no valid and reliable measures of search experience. In this paper, we present results of an exploratory factor analysis of 327 responses to a 14 item Search Self Efficacy scale (SSE) that we have been using as a way to measure search experience in our research. The responses come from eight different interactive information retrieval (IIR) studies, which we have conducted over the last six years, with a variety of participant types: university students, participants from the general adult population and crowd sourced participants. The purpose of this analysis is to understand the variation in search self efficacy scores across different types of people and to evaluate the potential of the SSE scale as a tool for measuring search experience. Overall, participants from all eight studies reported similar levels of search self efficacy; the overall average from all eight studies was 7.47 (items scored on a 10 point scale) with little variance (standard deviation=1.36) Both the lowest and highest scores (7.1 and 7.8) were observed in studies involving the general adult population. A factor analysis showed that the questionnaire items load onto six factors, although only four had sufficient numbers of items loading on them. These four factors represent overall task success, effective use of time, query development skills, and advanced search skills.
The 363 Earthquake and the End of Public Paganism in the Southern Transjordan

The 363 earthquake caused a large amount of damage throughout the Near East, but in the regions that became Palaestina Salutaris, this earthquake also played an important role in ending public pagan practices. Archaeology has shown that the 363 earthquake destroyed the known important pagan structures in Petra and surrounding areas, such as the Qasr al Bint, the "Great" Temple, the Small Temple, the Temple of the Winged Lions, and temples at Khirbet et Tannur and Khirbet edh Dharih. Investigation at the temples at Khirbet et Tannur and Khirbet edh Dharih and at the Temple of the Winged Lions suggest that these sites were functioning as temples until the 363 earthquake. The archaeological evidence contrasts starkly with the triumphal narratives of Christianization, which describe the actions of holy men, the mass conversion of pagans, and the closing of their temples. Archaeological evidence of Christianity appears only in the century after the 363 earthquake, suggesting that Christians did not play a major role in the end of public paganism in the southern Transjordan; rather, the most important factor was the 363 earthquake and the destruction of the pagan temples.
Romuva Looks East: Indian Inspiration in Lithuanian Paganism

Indian Inspiration in Lithuanian Paganism Michael F. Strmiska Introduction Modern Lithuanian Paganism can be most readily defined as a form of contemporary Lithuanian (or Baltic) religion inspired by Lithuanian ethnic culture and folklore and pre Christian, nature centered, Baltic polytheism. Its most prominent organizational form in Lithuania in the current time is the Romuva association founded and still led by the cultural historian and folklorist Jonas Trinkunas (1939 assisted by his wife, the sociologist and folk singer Inija Trinkuniene (1951 with affiliated chapters in Canada and the USA. 1 Romuva's name comes from an important Pagan sanctuary known
The Mood of the Golden Age: Paganism, Ecotheology and the Wild Woods in L.M. Montgomery's Anne and Emily Series

This article discusses the intersection of pagan and Christian allusions in Montgomery's depiction of her heroines' love of nature, contextualising these within the renewed interest in paganism in early twentieth century literature and concentrating particularly on discussions of trees and woods in the Anne and Emily series. It suggests that the attitudes towards nature and God displayed in these works anticipate themes in current ecotheological discourse.
Dynamics modelling and linear control of quadcopter
Venue: 2016 International Conference on Advanced Mechatronic Systems (ICAMechS)

In this paper, a cascade PID feedback control algorithm is proposed to stabilize the attitude of a quadcopter so that the balancing state can be ensured in spite of disturbances. A mathematical model of quadcopter dynamics is developed by applying Newton Euler method. It reveals the exact relationships among all the variables involved. Both linear and nonlinear state space equations are derived afterwards, which are essential for the controller design and further development. The simulations are also carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the cascade PID algorithm compared with classic PID control scheme.
Bioprinting of 3D Convoluted Renal Proximal Tubules on Perfusable Chips
Venue: Scientific reports

Three dimensional models of kidney tissue that recapitulate human responses are needed for drug screening, disease modeling, and, ultimately, kidney organ engineering. Here, we report a bioprinting method for creating 3D human renal proximal tubules in vitro that are fully embedded within an extracellular matrix and housed in perfusable tissue chips, allowing them to be maintained for greater than two months. Their convoluted tubular architecture is circumscribed by proximal tubule epithelial cells and actively perfused through the open lumen. These engineered 3D proximal tubules on chip exhibit significantly enhanced epithelial morphology and functional properties relative to the same cells grown on 2D controls with or without perfusion. Upon introducing the nephrotoxin, Cyclosporine A, the epithelial barrier is disrupted in a dose dependent manner. Our bioprinting method provides a new route for programmably fabricating advanced human kidney tissue models on demand.
Research on the Coordination Mechanism and Improvement Strategy of the Business Model from China's Export Cross border E commerce Based on the Theory of Coevolution
Venue: WHICEB

As a new business model of e commerce,export cross border e commerce has a great significance to promotesustainable development of domestic economy and meet the demands of foreign consumers. With rapid development of export cross border e commerce in recent years, many problems occur that hinder its development, such as shortage of relevant professionals and lack of the innovation on business model. The main reason is that the export cross border e commerce has attracted numerous participants, who prefer to enhance their competitiveness by any means to maximize their self interest without considering the long term development on a "win win" basis. Thus, this article proposes that the participants can overcome their difficulties and gain the win win goal by mutual benefits and mutual constraints based on the theory of coevolution, so as to promote the quick development of export cross border e commerce.
International, intersectoral, or unobservable? Measuring R&D spillovers under weak and strong cross sectional dependence

In the theoretical and empirical growth literature, private and social returns to R&D have been identified as the key drivers of productivity gains and economic development. However, recently the debate on the relative importance of private vis a vis social returns has been reinforced by contributions in two emerging fields of the applied econometric literature, namely spatial panel modeling and the common factor approach, which stress the role of cross sectional dependence as a source for a potential estimation bias linked to the measurement of returns to R&D. In this paper, we account for these methodical advances when estimating sectoral knowledge production functions for OECD countries under weak and strong cross sectional dependence. By doing so, we are able to uncover technology and trade related R&D spillover channels associated with social returns to R&D, while effectively controlling for other types of productivity spillovers and latent macroeconomic shocks. Our results highlight the role played by international intersectoral R&D spillovers for the social rate of return to R&D, while we get limited evidence for private returns to R&D once cross sectional dependence is properly accounted for.
Examining the Quality of Life Related to Fall Experience in Chronic Stroke Patients

The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of life related to fall experiences in chronic stroke patients.  This cross sectional study included 117 patients with stroke from 3 hospitals in D metropolitan city. General characteristics, including fall experiences and quality of life, were assessed through a face to face interviews conducted in a quiet place using a questionnaire. Measurement of quality of life in stroke patients was conducted using the Korean Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale (SS QOL) To identify the SS QOL items related to fall experiences, the items of the SS QOL were considered as independent variables, and the variables that were significantly different according to fall experiences were identified using a univariate analysis. A binary logistic regression was then performed using fall experiences as the independent variable.  According to the univariate analysis, self help activities, social role, and upper extremity function were significantly lower in the fall group than that in the non fall
Big Data and Data Reuse: A Taxonomy of Data Reuse for Balancing Big Data Benefits and Personal Data Protection

The emergence of Big Data has amounted to the complexity of the discussion on data reuse. The benefits of Big Data lie in the possibilities to discover novel trends, patterns and relationships by combining very large amounts of data from different sources. Current personal data protection requirements like data minimization and purpose specification are potentially inimical to Big Data as they limit the size and use of Big Data. Substantial loss of economic and social benefits of Big Data may be the result. In order to avoid this, the reuse of data could be encouraged. Data reuse, when done properly, may be both privacy preserving and economically and socially beneficial. In this paper, we provide a taxonomy of data reuse from both the data controller's and the data subject's perspective that may be useful to determine the extent to which data reuse should be allowed and under which conditions. From the data controller's perspective we distinguish data recycling, data repurposing and data recontextualisation. From the data subject's perspective, we distinguish data sharing and data portability. It is argued that forms of data reuse that stay close to the awareness and intentions of data subjects should be approached less tight (for instance, by assuming informed consent) whereas forms of data reuse that are 'at a distance' i.e. in which awareness and transparency may be lacking and data subject's rights may prove more difficult to exercise, more restrictions and additional protection should be considered (for instance, by requiring explicit consent)