nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Late Quaternary climate-induced lake level variations in Lake Peten Itza´, Guatemala, inferred from seismic stratigraphic analysis

We used seismic images and sedimentary data from piston cores to conduct a sequence stratigraphic analysis of sediments in Lake Peten Itza, northern Guatemala. Our results document lake level fluctuations in this lowland Neotropical region that were related to glacial-to-interglacial climate change during the Late Pleistocene. A bathymetric survey of Lake Peten Itza (area = 100 km2) revealed a maximum water depth of ∼160 m and the existence of a deep cryptodepression that extends 50 m below modern sea level. The great depth suggests that the basin held water even during arid conditions associated with full glacial periods. Lake Peten Itza may thus possess the only long continuous lacustrine sediment record of Late Pleistocene environmental and climate change in the lowland Neotropics. Two seismic reflection campaigns imaged the subsurface basin sediments that overlie basement. The sediment package was divided into four major seismic sequences (T, G, R, and B). Sequences are separated by unconformities that represent depositional cycles related to lake level fluctuations. Sediments of the uppermost sequence (T) were recovered and radiocarbon-dated in Kullenberg piston cores taken along a water depth transect. Seismic profiles reveal a basin-wide paleoshoreline just below sequence T at ∼56 m below present lake level. This constructional feature formed during a lowstand of the last glacial period when the lake was reduced to only ∼13% of its present volume. In cores taken landward of the paleoshoreline, Late Glacial-age deposits consist of paleosols, indicating subaerial exposure. Basinward of the shoreline, sediments are composed of dense gypsum sands and interbedded silty clays, reflecting authigenic gypsum formation under arid climate conditions. The top of the soil horizon and cessation of gypsum precipitation are represented by a strong seismic reflection (t). It marks the base of the uppermost seismic sequence T and is dated in several cores between ∼11.1 and 10.2 cal kyr BP. Lake level rose quickly at this time in response to a shift from arid-to-humid climate conditions at the Late Glacial/Early Holocene transition. We infer a similar sediment response to climate variations in the older stratigraphic sequences (G, R, and B), related to earlier glacial-to-interglacial and stadial-to-interstadial cycles. Older sequences are also distinguished from one another by erosional unconformities that probably represent major lake level falls. Future recovery of the older stratigraphic record by drilling in Lake Peten Itza will provide ages for these older units and enable us to test the depositional model inferred from seismic stratigraphy.

Field of study: Environmental science, Geography
Focusing on Emotion in Group Therapy: What Clients, What Problems, and What for

The problems discussed by the clients in three cognitive-behavioral (problem-solving emphasis) therapy groups of 16-week duration were classified by the therapists as (1) problems of inadequate or inappropriate emotional experience, (2) problems of inadequate or inappropriate emotional expression, or (3) other. Employing diagnoses made by therapists not involved in the present study, having a problem involving inadequate emotional experience was significantly associated with the client also having an Axis II personality diagnosis, while having problems involving inadequate emotional expression was not associated with such a diagnosis. Also, when rated by outsiders, the 16-week group experience helped significantly more with problems of inadequate emotional expression than with those involving inadequate emotional experience.

Field of study: Psychology
Biochemical and behavioral effects of a sensorimotor cortex injury in rats pretreated with the noradrenergic neurotoxin DSP-4.

The role of the noradrenergic (NE) system in recovery of motor function after sensorimotor cortex (SMCX) injury was investigated. After training on a beam-walking task to assess changes in motor function, animals were given DSP-4 or saline and tested for 2 weeks; both groups then received unilateral SMCX suction ablations. Animals that received DSP-4 were significantly retarded in motor recovery compared with the saline group. At 24 days after injury (after motor recovery), the animals' deficits were significantly reinstated with NE-blocking drugs. DSP-4 significantly depressed NE levels in the hippocampus and cerebellum. A Timm histochemical analysis revealed glutamatergic sprouting in the hippocampus of animals that were pretreated with DSP-4, which suggests the possibility that similar glutamatergic plasticity in other pathways may occur and that excitotoxicity might also play a role after the DSP-4 induced NE deafferentation.

Field of study: Biology, Psychology
Soft-Decision Metrics for Coded Orthogonal Signaling in Symmetric Alpha-Stable Noise

This paper derives new soft-decision metrics for coded orthogonal signaling in impulsive noise, more specifically symmetric alpha-stable noise. For the case of a known channel amplitude and known noise dispersion, exact metrics are derived both for Cauchy and Gaussian noise. For the case that the channel amplitude or the dispersion is unknown, approximate metrics are obtained in closed-form based on a generalized-likelihood ratio approach. The performance of the new metrics is compared numerically for a turbo-coded system, and the sensitivity to side information of the optimum receiver for Cauchy noise is considered. The gain that can be achieved by using a properly chosen decoding metric is quantified, and it is shown that this gain is significant. The application of the results to frequency hopping ad hoc networks is also discussed.

Field of study: Engineering
Spatio-temporal variations of selected pesticide residues in the Kurose River in Higashi-Hiroshima city, Japan

This study investigated spatio-temporal variations of selected pesticide residues in the Kurose River in Higashi-Hiroshima city (Hiroshima Prefecture), Japan. Water samples were collected from the river at seven sites every month for 1 year (March 2016 to February 2017). Pesticide residues were extracted from the samples by a solid phase extraction using Sep Pack C18 cartridges. Once extracted, the samples were analyzed for cyanazine, simetryn, fenarimol, isoprothiolane, and diazinon using a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography ultraviolet visible (HPLC-UV Vis) system. The limits of detection were 3.60, 4.10, 2.80, 6.50, and 7.30 ng L-1 for cyanazine, simetryn, fenarimol, isoprothiolane, and diazinon, respectively. Good recovery rates (88%–102%), and mean percent relative standard deviation range (1.00%–5.70%) (n = 6) were obtained with a spiking at 0.20 µg L-1. The maximum concentrations of 282, 391, 60, 1086, and 1194 ng L-1 were obtained for cyanazine, simetryn, isoprothiolane, fenarimol, and diazinon, respectively. Cyanazine was the most frequently detected pesticide (64% of the samples, n = 84), followed by simetryn (58%), and then diazinon (57%). The highest and lowest pesticide concentrations were measured during the periods May–June, and January–February, respectively. Principal component analysis revealed three principal components in which the pesticides were linked to dissolved organic matter and total suspended solids. The major water quality parameters (electrical conductivity, pH, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, NH4+, NO3−, Cl−, SO42−, NO2−, and temperature) showed no clear trends for these pesticides. The presence of simetryn and isoprothiolane was largely attributed to rice paddy farms, whereas diazinon was associated mostly with vegetable farms and orchards. The diazinon and isoprothiolane patterns were consistent with their use of controlling insects and fungi in the prefecture. The maximum diazinon concentration detected was higher than the human safe level specified by the European Union (100 ng L-1) in Council Directive 98/83/EC. This is of concern because of the bioconcentration potential of these residues in fish and other marine animals consumed by humans.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Indium-Triflate-Catalyzed Ritter Reaction in Liquid Sulfur Dioxide

The use of liquid sulfur dioxide as a reaction solvent facilitates the Ritter reaction between alcohols and nitriles. In(OTf)3 was found to be a viable catalyst for this transformation. The newly developed catalytic conditions for the Ritter reaction were successfully applied to the synthesis of various amides, which were formed in good to excellent yields. The catalytic activation of secondary alcohols for Ritter reactions in liquid sulfur dioxide was also found to be effective.

Field of study: Chemistry
Multi-Objective Optimal Fuzzy Fractional-Order PID Controller Design

The design of the optimal fuzzy fractional-order PID controller is addressed in this work. A multi-objective genetic algorithm is proposed to design rule base and membership functions of the fuzzy logic systems. Three conflicting objective functions in both time and frequency domains have been used in Pareto design of the fuzzy fractional-order PID controller. The simulation results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed method in comparison with the results produced by the fractional-order PID controllers.

Field of study: Computer science
Modeling the concentrations of on-road air pollutants in southern California.

High concentrations of air pollutants on roadways, relative to ambient concentrations, contribute significantly to total personal exposure. Estimation of these exposures requires measurements or prediction of roadway concentrations. Our study develops, compares, and evaluates linear regression and nonlinear generalized additive models (GAMs) to estimate on-road concentrations of four key air pollutants, particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PB-PAH), particle number count (PNC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter with diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) using traffic, meteorology, and elevation variables. Critical predictors included wind speed and direction for all the pollutants, traffic-related variables for PB-PAH, PNC, and NOx, and air temperatures and relative humidity for PM2.5. GAMs explained 50%, 55%, 46%, and 71% of the variance for log or square-root transformed concentrations of PB-PAH, PNC, NOx, and PM2.5, respectively, an improvement of 5% to over 15% over the linear models. Accounting for temporal autocorrelation in the GAMs further improved the prediction, explaining 57-89% of the variance. We concluded that traffic and meteorological data are good predictors in estimating on-road traffic-related air pollutant concentrations and GAMs perform better for nonlinear variables, such as meteorological parameters.

Field of study: Environmental science
A NEW DITERPENOID FROM LEUCOTHOE GRAYANA MAX.

A new minor diterpenoid was isolated from the leaves of Leucothoe grayana Max., and its structure was characterized as a secograyanane derivative(1, ), 6(R), 14(R), 16(R)-tetrahydroxy-5-oxo-5,10-seco-ent-kaur-1(10)-ene) by spectroscopic and chemical studies.

Field of study: Chemistry
“The Heart Has Its Reasons”: Predicaments of Missionary Christianity in Early Colonial Peru

ROM New Testament times, Christian thinking about what is entailed in conversion to Christianity has followed divergent patterns. On the one hand, it was thought, conversion occurs according to an inner understanding within the individual, in which the missionary is merely a helper. Thus, Paul, in his address to the Athenians, suggested to his listeners that the god whom he preached was in some way already known to them, as witness their altar to the "unknown god."' All that he would add was a more specific understanding of a truth already familiar. This model of conversion had many advocates in early Christianity. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Eusebius, among others, argued that pagan religion and philosophy enshrined much of what was to be learned more concretely in Christianity, and that potential converts should study their own non-Christian philosophers as an introduction to specifically Christian teaching.? In the early fifth century, Augustine took up and elaborated this argument in the City of God. On the other hand, Paul asked in the second letter to the Corinthians, "what is there in common between justice and injustice?"3 and

Field of study: History
Clinical progression and familial occurrence of cerebral cavernous angiomas: the role of angiogenic and growth factors.

OBJECT
The authors studied the expression of angiogenic and growth factors and various proliferative indices in cavernous angiomas of the brain. The goal was to define whether the often progressive clinical course of both sporadic and familial forms of the lesion is correlated with different expression of these factors.



Forty-three cavernomas of the brain were investigated with immunohistochemical studies and stained for four growth factors (vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF], tenascin, transforming growth factor-b [TGFb], and platelet-derived growth factor [PDGF]), and for Ki-67 and bcl-2. The intensity of expression was tested in all cases in the walls of cavernoma vessels, in the perivascular tissue, and in the perilesional brain parenchyma. Among the 43 cavernomas, 32 were stable and sporadic single lesions less than 2 cm in size, whereas 11 were cavernomas larger than 2 cm (up to 6 cm). These larger cavernomas had more aggressive behavior (documented growth in five cases, mass effect in eight, significant hemorrhage in four), familial occurrence (six cases), and/or multiple lesions (five cases). The expression of VEGF, tenascin, and PDGF in cavernomas did not significantly differ in the two groups of patients, whereas TGFb expression was higher in the more aggressive forms of cavernomas. The expression of Ki-67 and bcl-2 was always absent in stable lesions, and it was positive in eight (72.7%) of 11 aggressive lesions. The perilesional brain parenchyma showed a significantly higher expression of TGFb, PDGF, and tenascin in more aggressive cavernomas.



The familial occurrence and more aggressive clinical behavior of cavernous angiomas of the brain are associated with higher expression of Ki-67 and bcl-2 in the cavernoma tissue, as in other proliferative lesions. These features are also associated with higher expression of some growth factors (excluding VEGF) in the perilesional brain parenchyma, suggesting that the neighboring vasculature and glia may be predisposed to and recruited for further growth and progression.

Field of study: Medicine
Self-filtering ring optical waveguides

An analysis is made of the characteristics of three types of ring waveguide consisting of a dielectric core, an optically densest intermediate cladding, and an additional outer cladding. The use of a material with enhanced dielectric losses for the central part of the core results in higher-order filtering and the attainment of conditions approaching the single-mode regime. Such waveguides have large transverse dimensions and good dispersion properties.

Field of study: Engineering, Physics
Criminal Injuries Compensation: The Constitutional Issue

Even amongst recent causes celebresl R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Fire Brigades Union2 stands out as exceptional. It is concerned with the most fundamental issues of our unwritten Constitution, namely the relationships between Parliament, the executive and the courts. It recognises explicitly, albeit in a dissenting judgment,3 the function of the courts to compensate for the deficiencies of Parliament, in holding the executive responsible for the misuse of powers, which Sedley J has characterised extrajudicially as 'judicial assertiveness to compensate for, and in places repair, dysfunctions in the democratic process'.4 It is indeed a landmark decision which together with other notable recent casesS heralds the assumption of a constitutional role by the judiciary in redrawing the boundaries between the courts and Parliament. In the light of its seismic importance it is perhaps not surprising that there were deep divisions between the judges involved in the case. On a headcount they were evenly divided but there was a crucial majority of 2:1 in the Court of Appeal6 and 3:2 in the House of Lords against the Home Secretary. The legal issues are complex and were differently decided in the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords. In analysing them it is easy to lose the wood for the trees and in particular the political reality and practical outcome of the case. It is best to start with a brief history of events. In 1964 a Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme for victims of violent crimes was announced in Parliament and set out in a White Paper.7 It had no statutory basis except for the annual Appropriation Acts which authorised expenditure for the scheme. Payments were made on the same basis as tort damages. As a result of the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Civil Liability8 the scheme was finally embodied in the Criminal Justice Act 19889 but the relevant provisions were not to come into force until the Home Secretary made an order to that effect.  As the cost of the scheme escalated, the government changed its mind and

Field of study: Law
Sentence Similarity Calculating Method Based on Word2Vec and Clustering

With the rapid development and all-round popularization of Internet, more and more data is stored in the form of text in the network platform. The massive data makes the redundancy of text information. It is very important to use text similarity technology to remove duplicate data. Therefore, how to effectively improve the accuracy and precision of text similarity calculation is an urgent problem. In this paper, we propose an improved method to calculate sentence semantic similarity. This method uses word2vec model to get the semantic information of the text, uses k-means algorithm to cluster the above results, then uses word2vec model for retraining, and finally gets the sentence similarity. Experimental results indicate that the performance of our algorithm is better improved compared with the traditional word2vec algorithm

Field of study: Engineering
Control of Pod Borer, Helicoverpa Armigera by the Use of Chemicals on Gram

Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) is an important pod borer pest of gram Experiments were conducted in the field for two years for testing eight insecticides, i.e. trichlorphon, carbophenothion, endosulfan. tetrachlorvinphos, dichrotophos, DDT, ambithion and monocrotophos for the control of the pest. DDT and endosulfan were the most effective treatments in reducing infestation of the pods and in giving higher yields of grain. One application of DDT (1250 g a. i/ha) or endosulfan (250 g a. ) at the time of apperance of the pest reduced the infestation of pods to 1.1–13.9 per cent from 26.6–45.0 per cent in the control. The treatments also increased the grain yield by 37.8–54.1 percent over the control.

Field of study: Biology
Mentoring Needs of pre-Service Teachers During Teaching Practice. A Case Study at a South African University

Mentoring of students during teacher training is an important component in developing competent teachers. Different student have different needs and hence need to be mentored differently. The manner in which it is done will determine how successful a teacher will be in performing his/her duties and responsibilities when the teacher takes up a full time teaching post at a school. Mentoring has to be done in a way that meets the needs of the student and has an impact on the student and his future career. Often, on entering the teaching profession, the novice teacher will not be inducted into the profession by means of an induction program at the school, but will be required to commence with the normal duties and responsibilities. The teacher will need to “find his footing” on his own and this can lead to frustration, stress and disillusionment on the part of the teacher. However, if the student, while in training, receives mentorship in a structured and meaningful way, it will assist in easing the trauma that the novice teacher experiences on entering the teaching profession.Data was gathered from student teachers by means of a structured questionnaire to explore student’s teachers mentoring needs. The data was analysed with the view of identifying the mentoring need of pre-service teachers so that mentors assist student teachers in meeting their needs and overcoming some of the challenges that they may face on entering the teaching profession.

Field of study: Education, Sociology
Transient Response of Soft Bonded Multilayered Shells

A computer code, based on finite difference techniques, has been developed to analyze finite length soft-bonded multilayered shells of revolution for dynamic loadings. The paper reviews the capabilities of the basic shell dynamics code used to analyze the individual shell layers and then discusses the development of the code for softbonded shells. The implementation of the computer code with emphasis on the bond modeling is also presented. Several numerical examples are included that provide a comparison with an analytical solution, illustrate various design parameter studies performed with the code and experimental-numerical data correlation studies. These examples serve to illustrate the validity and usefulness of the code plus the necessity of including bond deformation effects to properly analyze bonded shell structures.

Field of study: Physics
Unconventional Superconductivity in MgCNi3

A multiband superconductor with a conventional phonon mechanism can develop an unconventional state with a nontrivial order parameter phase relation between the individual bands. We propose that such a state can explain recent experimental results on MgCNi3, which are suggestive of both s-wave pairing symmetry and of unconventional superconductivity. We show that such a state gives rise to Andreev bound states, and to spontaneous currents, at surfaces and around impurities. We also investigate possible phase transitions between states with different order parameter symmetry.

Field of study: Physics
Examining the response of needle carbohydrates from Siberian larch trees to climate using compound-specific δ(13) C and concentration analyses.

Little is known about the dynamics of concentrations and carbon isotope ratios of individual carbohydrates in leaves in response to climatic and physiological factors. Improved knowledge of the isotopic ratio in sugars will enhance our understanding of the tree ring isotope ratio and will help to decipher environmental conditions in retrospect more reliably. Carbohydrate samples from larch (Larix gmelinii) needles of two sites in the continuous permafrost zone of Siberia with differing growth conditions were analysed with the Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA). We compared concentrations and carbon isotope values (δ(13) C) of sucrose, fructose, glucose and pinitol combined with phenological data. The results for the variability of the needle carbohydrates show high dynamics with distinct seasonal characteristics between and within the studied years with a clear link to the climatic conditions, particularly vapour pressure deficit. Compound-specific differences in δ(13) C values as a response to climate were detected. The δ(13) C of pinitol, which contributes up to 50% of total soluble carbohydrates, was almost invariant during the whole growing season. Our study provides the first in-depth characterization of compound-specific needle carbohydrate isotope variability, identifies involved mechanisms and shows the potential of such results for linking tree physiological responses to different climatic conditions.

Field of study: Environmental science