nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Appetitive and Defensive Arousal in Violent Video Games: Explaining Individual Differences in Attraction to and Effects of Video Games

Evidence surrounding the attraction to media violence is mixed and the effects of violent video game play on players varies across experimental participants. Differences in both may be explained by differences in experienced positive or negative arousal. This study utilizes the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP) and the motivation activation measure (MAM), which measures resting activation of the appetitive and aversive arousal systems, to explore the relationship between attraction to media violence, arousal, and aggression. In part 1, a questionnaire found that men and frequent players of violent games expected to enjoy violent games more than nonviolent games. In addition, participants whose scores on the MAM characterized them as risk takers (high scores on appetitive arousal and low scores on aversive arousal) indicated a stronger preference for violent games compared to the other three arousal types, which is in line with the LC4MP. In the experimental portion of the research, after playing a violent game, those participants characterized as risk avoidant (high on aversive arousal and low on appetitive arousal) were significantly less aggressive than all other arousal groups. Overall, results show that individual differences in the appetitive and aversive arousal systems can explain attraction to violent media. Furthermore, arousal resulting from violent video game play can be experienced as pleasant or aversive, and it is this experience of arousal that explains variations in aggressive responses to violent video games.

Field of study: Psychology
Attribute-based encryption implies identity-based encryption

In this study, the author formally proves that designing attribute-based encryption schemes cannot be easier than designing identity-based encryption schemes. In more detail, they show how an attribute-based encryption scheme which admits, at least, and policies can be combined with a collision-resistant hash function to obtain an identity-based encryption scheme. Even if this result may seem natural, not surprising at all, it has not been explicitly written anywhere, as far as they know. Furthermore, it may be an unknown result for some people: Odelu et al. in 2016 and 2017 have proposed both an attribute-based encryption scheme in the discrete logarithm setting, without bilinear pairings, and an attribute-based encryption scheme in the RSA setting, both admitting and policies. If these schemes were secure, then by using the implication proved in this study, one would obtain secure identity-based encryption schemes in both the RSA and the discrete logarithm settings, without bilinear pairings, which would be a breakthrough in the area. Unfortunately, the author presents here complete attacks of the two schemes proposed by Odelu et al.

Field of study: Computer science, Mathematics
Resilience and Dynamism of Embedded Financial Transactions in Cameroon

Following the recent financial crisis, institutional economists have issued a “call” for institutionalist research on alternative financial systems. While suggestions have been forthcoming, (for example, in Volume 48, Issue 4 of the Journal of Economic Issues), most have centered on national-level innovations in advanced capitalist countries, prompting further calls for “community” and individual level anti-capitalist financial relations. With this article, we respond to such calls. We show how networks of finance in Cameroon bridge the formal/informal dualisms in lending/savings activities. We demonstrate that any debates about whether to formalize informal financial institutions or leave them alone weaken in Cameroon because, through networks, people access both formal and informal financial institutions for different purposes and at various stages in the life of these institutions. This dynamism explains why, in spite of the growth of money markets in Cameroon, informal financial institutions have not disappeared, nor declined. In fact, they have expanded, contrary to predictions in existing new institutional economics research. While informal institutions have evolved, they have not necessarily become formal banks, microfinance, or stock markets. Rather, the informal financial institutions have adopted and adapted in terms of both lending and saving practices in a country where growing formal financialization has become the norm. Our findings challenge neoclassical and new institutional economics theories about money, credit, and the actors in the money market.

Field of study: Economics
Projected changes in regional climate extremes arising from Arctic sea ice loss

The decline in Arctic sea ice cover has been widely documented and it is clear that this change is having profound impacts locally. An emerging and highly uncertain area of scientific research, however, is whether such Arctic change has a tangible effect on weather and climate at lower latitudes. Of particular societal relevance is the open question: will continued Arctic sea ice loss make mid-latitude weather more extreme? Here we analyse idealized atmospheric general circulation model simulations, using two independent models, both forced by projected Arctic sea ice loss in the late twenty-first century. We identify robust projected changes in regional temperature and precipitation extremes arising solely due to Arctic sea ice loss. The likelihood and duration of cold extremes are projected to decrease over high latitudes and over central and eastern North America, but to increase over central Asia. Hot extremes are projected to increase in frequency and duration over high latitudes. The likelihood and severity of wet extremes are projected to increase over high latitudes, the Mediterranean and central Asia; and their intensity is projected to increase over high latitudes and central and eastern Asia. The number of dry days over mid-latitude Eurasia and dry spell duration over high latitudes are both projected to decrease. There is closer model agreement for projected changes in temperature extremes than for precipitation extremes. Overall, we find that extreme weather over central and eastern North America is more sensitive to Arctic sea ice loss than over other mid-latitude regions. Our results are useful for constraining the role of Arctic sea ice loss in shifting the odds of extreme weather, but must not be viewed as deterministic projections, as they do not account for drivers other than Arctic sea ice loss.

Field of study: Environmental science
A Generalization of the Fixed Point Estimate for Packet-Scaled Complex Covariance Matrix Estimation

In this paper, the problem of estimating complex-valued proportional covariance matrices is addressed. The obtained estimate generalizes the fixed point estimate to scaled packets of data, and is hence called the generalized fixed point estimate (GFPE). The statistical properties (bias, consistency, and asymptotical distributions) of the estimate are presented, and verified through simulations. As an example of application, a radar detection problem is considered. The GFPE is used in the well-known adaptive normalized matched filter (ANMF), and the obtained empirical probability of false alarms threshold curve is compared to the theoretical one. The ANMF is also used to compare the GFPE to the fixed point estimate.

Field of study: Engineering
Nitrogen rate strategies for reducing yield-scaled nitrous oxide emissions in maize

Author(s): Zhao, X; Nafziger, ED; Pittelkow, CM |  Mitigating nitrogen (N) losses from agriculture without negatively impacting crop productivity is a pressing environmental and economic challenge. Reductions in N fertilizer rate are often highlighted as a solution, yet the degree to which crop yields and economic returns may be impacted at the field-level remains unclear, in part due to limited data availability. Farmers are risk averse and potential yield losses may limit the success of voluntary N loss mitigation protocols, thus understanding field-level yield tradeoffs is critical to inform policy development. Using a case study of soil N2O mitigation in the US Midwest, we conducted an ex-post assessment of two economic and two environmental N rate reduction strategies to identify promising practices for maintaining maize yields and economic returns while reducing N2O emissions per unit yield (i.e. yield-scaled emissions) compared to an assumed baseline N input level. Maize yield response data from 201 on-farm N rate experiments were combined with an empirical equation predicting N2O emissions as a function of N rate. Results indicate that the economic strategy aimed at maximizing returns to N (MRTN) led to moderate but consistent reductions in yield-scaled N2O emissions with small negative impacts on yield and slight increases in median returns. The economic optimum N rate strategy reduced yield-scaled N2O emissions in 75% of cases but increased them otherwise, challenging the assumption that this strategy will automatically reduce environmental impacts per unit production. Both environmental strategies, one designed to increase N recovery efficiency and one to balance N inputs with grain N removal, further reduced yield-scaled N2O emissions but were also associated with negative yield penalties and decreased returns. These results highlight the inherent tension between achieving agronomic and economic goals while reducing environmental impacts which is often overlooked in policy discussions. To enable the development of more scalable environmental N loss mitigation strategies, yield tradeoffs occurring at the critical point of adoption (i.e. the farm-level) should be considered.

Field of study: Environmental science
Kinetics Analysis of Reaction between Molybdenum and Nitrogen Trifluoride

The fluorination behavior of molybdenum (Mo) powder with NF3, such as temperature dependence of reactivity, reaction mechanism and kinetics were investigated on a homemade fluoride volatility process (FVP) research device. The in-situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was applied to determine the beginning and the end of reaction. The research demonstrated that near 500 K or lower, the reaction between Mo power and NF3 occurred, meanwhile, the temperature had an important influence on the average reaction rate and the utilization of NF3. When the temperature increased from 500 K to 700 K, the average rate increased from 1.04 × 10–2 mol/h to 2.40 × 10–2 mol/h and the utilization of NF3 increased from 21.2% to 49.0%. The in-situ FTIR and XRD analysis assisted by thermodynamic calculation indicated that Mo power was converted to MoF6 through an intermediate product MoF3: 2NF3 (g) + 2Mo (s) = 2MoF3 (s) + N2 (g), then 2MoF3 (s) + 2NF3 (g) = 2MoF6 (g) + N2 (g). Based on a mathematical model with unreacted shrinking core, the calculated reaction rate constant increased from 1.77 × 10–2 min–1 to 3.48 × 10–2 min–1 in the temperature range of 500–700 K, and the activation energy was 10.13 kJ/mol.

Field of study: Chemistry
Uncertainties in assessing annual nitrate loads and concentration indicators: Part 2. Deriving sampling frequency charts in Brittany, France

In water quality monitoring programs, standard sampling frequency schemes tend to be applied throughout entire regions or states. Ideally, the common standard among monitoring stations ought not to be the sampling frequency but instead the level of uncertainty of the estimated water quality indicators. Until now, there was no obvious way of doing this. This article proposes, for the first time, guidelines to select appropriate sampling frequencies to harmonize the level of uncertainty in the case of yearly nitrate indicators for the regional river water quality monitoring network in Brittany, France. A database of 50 watershed-year datasets (nine watersheds of 4 to 252 km 2 in size) was used for which high temporal resolution data (hourly and daily) were available for flow and nitrate concentrations. For each dataset, the uncertainty levels were calculated by numerically simulating sampling intervals varying from 2 to 60 days. The precision limits of the uncertainties were successfully correlated to a hydrological reactivity index. The correlations were used to derive sampling frequency charts. These charts can be used by watershed managers to optimize the sampling frequency scheme for any watershed for a desired uncertainty level, provided that the dimensionless local hydrological reactivity can be calculated from previous records of continuous flow rates. The sampling frequency charts also suggest that, depending on the hydrological reactivity, expected uncertainties generated by monthly sampling range between ±6% and ±14% for the annual load and between-5% and +2.5% to +7.2% for the annual concentration average.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Myocardial calcification in a patient with B-lymphoblastic leukemia accompanied by tumor lysis syndrome.

Myocardial calcification, a rare disease that leads to chronic or acute heart failure and with a poor prognosis, occurs in patients with abnormal calcium-phosphorus metabolism. The association between myocardial calcification and tumor lysis syndrome has not been reported to date. A 50-year-old man with hyperthermia and general malaise presented to our hospital and was clinically diagnosed with B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and febrile neutropenia accompanied by septic shock. Prednisolone was administered for tumor reduction. Two to three hours later, electrocardiography demonstrated ST elevation in V4-6, and blood tests showed elevated levels of cardiac enzymes. Transthoracic echocardiogram revealed diffuse severe hypokinesis with decreased left ventricular ejection fraction. Additionally, blood tests showed that serum phosphorus level increased to 8.0 mg/dl, which was likely due to tumor lysis syndrome. Circulatory and respiratory failure due to left heart failure progressed, and he died 3 days after administration of prednisolone. Pathological autopsy revealed diffuse proliferation of atypical B-lymphoblasts in the bone marrow, which led to the pathological diagnosis of B-ALL, accompanied by necrosis. On the cut surface of the heart, the left ventricle was dilated, and patchy yellowish-brown areas were present in the epicardial-side of the myocardium and spread through the circumferential wall of the left ventricle and interventricular septum. Microscopically, myocardial fibers were granularly basophilic in that area and were revealed as calcium deposits by Von Kossa staining. He was diagnosed with myocardial calcification. The drastic increase in the serum phosphorus level caused by tumor lysis syndrome seemed to be associated with myocardial calcification.

Field of study: Biology, Medicine
Interrelation of endogenous intoxication and immunodepression in the pathogenesis of craniocerebral trauma

Endogenous intoxication degree as well as immunodepression level were examined in 50 patients with brain contusion of moderate and severe degree of gravity. Uncomplicated course of disease was observed in 20 patients while the complicated one--in 21 individuals. 9 patients with unfavourable outcome were also observed. The complex of biochemical and immunological studies of blood was used many times in the course of traumatic disease. The peculiarities of endogenous intoxication alterations as well as of T-lymphocytes system were revealed in acute period of craniocerebral trauma. The data obtained may be used in prognosis of both disease current and complications development.

Field of study: Medicine, Psychology
Forest fragmentation and its impact on species diversity: an analysis using remote sensing and GIS

The process of forest fragmentation, a common phenomenon occurring in tropical forests, not only results into continuously forest getting fragmented but also brings about several physical and biological changes in the environment of forests. Consequently, there is a loss of biodiversity due to change in habitat conditions. These remnant fragments provide the last hope for biodiversity conservation. The present study deals with the impact of decreasing patch size of a fragmented forest on the diversity of the tropical dry deciduous forests in Vindhyan highlands, India. There is considerable change in the vegetation cover of this region owing to rapid industrialization and urbanization, which has also contributed to forest fragmentation. In the present study, remotely sensed data has been used to describe the changes brought about in vegetated areas over a period of 10 years as a result of fragmentation and its impact on biodiversity was assessed. Further, in order to assess the loss of species with respect to the reduction in patch size, species area curves for various change areas were analysed. It was observed that the rate of decrease in the number of species is faster in the case of negative change areas as compared to the positive change areas of the region. Various diversity indices also support this observation. Such an analysis would help in formulating appropriate conservation measures for the region.

Field of study: Environmental science
A Surface View of Etching

Chemical etching has been practiced since at least the late Middle Ages. In its early form, it involved coating an object, such as a metal plate, with wax, carefully patterning the hardened wax by cutting down through it with a sharpened tool to expose but not penetrate the object's surface and then exposing the object to an etching solution, typically an acid. With time, the etchant molecules in the solution would react with atoms of the exposed surface to form reaction products that would dissolve, thereby removing material from the surface.

Field of study: Physics
Deaf People with Wardenberg Syndrome Type II: Jordanian Case Study

This study aimed to identify deaf people with Deaf with Waardenburg Syndrom Type II. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the qualitative method was used for the one case study. The sample included (2) deaf students from all deaf schools in Jordan, who are between the ages of (9-10), and (Wechsler Intelligence Scale ,WISC-IV) was applied in the language of Performance Scales and Audiometry. The results of the study showed the presence of symptoms in Deaf people with Wardenberg syndrome type II in terms of: auditory sensory loss. The presence of a side shift to the inner corner of the eyes. Premature graying of hair on the front of the head in white and some on the eyelashes or on the eyebrow. The eyebrows are connected to each other. Dark blue or brown eyes with black and pigment color differences in the iris. The root of the nose is wide and the presence of the rabbit's lip. The results of the study also showed that there is an intense focus during communication in the sign language at the hands of the speaker due to the fact that the color contrast of the eyes led to a dispersion of the focus in the sign language. They also have a sense of the direction of light, which may adversely affect the process of visual communication of sign language. The results of the study also showed that the average hearing impairment was the highest category. The study recommends further studies and research related to the level of intelligence of deaf people with Type II syndrome, as well as studies related to visual perception in Deaf people with type 2 Wardenburg syndrome and the inclusion of this syndrome as an important part of the categories of hearing impairment.

Field of study: Education, Sociology
Exact analysis on the singularity of the joint density of states and its relationship to the quasiparticle interference

Singularities of the joint density of states (JDOS) and Fourier-transformed local density of states (FT-LDOS) correspond to the hot spots in quasiparticle interference patterns. In this paper the singularity of JDOS is analyzed exactly, with three types of singularities being classified. In particular, the third type of singularities are found exactly to be envelopes of the contours of constant energy. Remarkably, we show that JDOS and FT-LDOS have the same singular points. Approaching to the singular points, both quantities diverge complementarily in an inverse-square-root manner if the joint curvature is nonzero. The relative magnitude of divergence is governed by the joint curvature as well as the product of the quasiparticle velocities. If the joint curvature of certain singularity is zero, the divergence has a higher order than -1/2.

Field of study: Physics
An overview on the treatment of ballast water in ships

of invasive species through ballast water discharge has been a serious concern with the marine ecosystem. With growing research in the ballast water management, recent studies are being focused on the types of invasive species and physico-chemical parameters discharging into ports. Different treatment and management strategies have been internationally implemented in ships in accordance with ratification of 2004 convention. During designing of new ships ballast water management addresses many innovations by adopting different combination of physical and chemical methods. In depth knowledge on indigenous species of marine ecology is very much important in evaluating invasion of species. Treatment systems used for ballast water are systems adapted for industrial and municipal applications. It is observed that different combination of treatment systems have to be implemented for varied species of organisms present in the ballast tank. Mechanical treatment combined with filtration is found to be the most effective treatment for variable species of organisms and physico-chemical parameters present in the ballast tank. Treatments such as filtration and magnetic separation; filtration and gravity separation; Ultra sound technology, Electrochemical and ozone treatment are found to inactivate 100% of organisms especially zooplanktons and bacteria. A filtration step followed by hydroxyl radical treatment has been found to be the most energy efficient, cost effective, low power consuming and able to inactivate 100% of organisms. Further research should develop a better treatment technology for the ballast water to be D-2 compliant.

Field of study: Environmental science
Heat management for power converters in sealed enclosures: A numerical study

This paper compares four assembly solutions for power converters operating in sealed enclosures with tight temperature specifications. The specific application of interest is one of the DC/DC converters of a power supply system to be used in high-energy-physics experiments: the sealed case must not significantly alter the temperature of the surrounding components (detectors and their electronics). The comparison is made using 3D Finite Element thermal modeling. The standard FR4 board solution is shown not to be viable under these tight temperature specs; we therefore explore alternative assemblies for the stack connecting the active devices to the heat-sink.

Field of study: Engineering
Dorsal hippocampus involvement in trace fear conditioning with long, but not short, trace intervals in mice.

Placing a "trace" interval between a warning signal and an aversive shock makes consolidation of the memory for trace conditioning hippocampus dependent. To determine the trace at which memory consolidation requires the hippocampus, mice were trained with 0-s, 1-s, 3-s, or 20-s trace intervals and tested for freezing to context and tone. Posttraining dorsal hippocampus (DH) lesions decreased context conditioning regardless of trace interval. However, DH lesions attenuated only the 20-s trace tone freezing. Like eyeblink conditioning, the DH is necessary for trace fear conditioning only at long trace intervals, but the time scale for the effective interval in fear conditioning is about 40 times longer. Manipulations that alter trace fear conditioning with short trace intervals probably do not reflect altered DH function. Given this difference in time scale along with the use of posttraining DH lesions, hippocampus dependency of trace conditioning is not related to a bridging function or response timing.

Field of study: Biology, Psychology