nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Preweanling rats solve the Morris water task via directional navigation.

Adult rats show a preference for directional navigation over place navigation in the Morris water task. Here, the authors investigated whether preweanling rats with a newly developed ability to perform the water task also solve the task via directional navigation. After 24-day-old rats were trained to find a hidden platform in a fixed spatial location, a no-platform probe trial was conducted with the pool either in the same position as that used during training (no shift group) or shifted to a new position in the room (shift group). The authors found that rats in the shift group did not search for the platform at its absolute spatial location but rather navigated in the same direction that the platform was located during training and searched at the correct distance from the pool wall, resulting in a search at a location that was never trained. This pattern of results suggests that young rats learn to solve the water task by navigating in a particular direction rather than navigating to a precise place--a finding that may have implications for understanding hippocampal development.

Field of study: Biology, Psychology
Influence of Welding Temperature on Vacuum Brazing of WC-Co Cemented Carbide and Low Carbon Steel

WC-Co cemented carbide was joined with low carbon steel using HL105 solders by vacuum brazing.The influences of welding temperature on the microstructure and properties of WC-Co/steel joints were investigated systematically.The results show that WC-Co and low carbon steel are successfully joined by using solder HL105.With the increase of brazing temperature,the flowability and wettability of solder HL105 increase.Simultaneously,the elements of solder evaporates,the width of the seam welding decreases and the grains of WC-Co and steel grow.The tensile strength of the welded joints increases ?rstly and then decreases with the brazing temperature increasing.The maximum tensile strength of the welded joint is 263.9 MPa at 980℃.

Field of study: Materials science
Stress relaxation of alfalfa under constant displacement

Alfalfa is being used in the production of high density bales and wafers. The relaxation of the alfalfa under constant displacement is important for the determination of the optimum compression hold-time to minimize of the strength of retaining strapping for high-density bales. Experimental data was obtained and then analyzed using a three term exponential decay function. The functional dependence of the parameters on the moisture content, loading rate, maximum density, and leaf content was determined using stepwise linear regression on data from 140 tests. It was shown that the shortest time constants were most sensitive to moisture content, leaf content, and loading rate; whereas, the longest time constant was dependent on the moisture content and the maximum density used in loading the alfalfa. However, a hold time of less than 10 seconds reduces the stress level by approximately 60%.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
The San Pedro Mártir Kinematic Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae

The San Pedro Martir kinematic catalogue of galactic planetary nebulae provides spatially resolved, long-slit, Echelle spectra for about 600 planetary nebulae. The data are presented wavelength calibrated and corrected for heliocentric motion. For most objects multiple spectra have been acquired and images with accurate slit positions on the nebula are also presented for each object. This is the most extensive and homogeneous single source of data concerning the internal kinematics of the ionized nebular material in planetary nebulae. Data can be retrieved for individual objects or selected by groups that share some common characteristic, such as by morphological classes, galactic population, binary cores, presence of fast outflows, etc. The catalogue is available through the world wide web at http://kincatpn.astrosen.unam.mx.

Field of study: Physics
Password-Based Authenticated Key Exchange in the Three-Party Setting

Password-based authenticated key exchange (PAKE) consists of protocols which are designed to be secure even when the secret key used for authentication is a human-memorable password. In the article, the authors consider PAKE protocols in the 3-party scenario, in which the users trying to establish a common secret do not share a password between themselves but only with a trusted server. Towards their goal, the authors recall some of the existing security notions for PAKE protocols and introduce new ones that are more suitable to the case of generic constructions of 3-party protocols. The authors then present a natural generic construction of a 3-party PAKE protocol from any 2-party PAKE protocol and prove its security. To the best of the authors knowledge, the new protocol is the first provably secure PAKE protocol in the 3-party setting.

Field of study: Computer science, Mathematics
Immunizing the Self: Self-Concept Stabilization Through Reality-Adaptive Self-Definitions

Processes of self-concept immunization are introduced as a way of reconciling self-concept protection against threatening information with the necessity of acknowledging own failure or losses. Self-immunization works by adaptively changing the subjective operationalization of personal traits, such that skills that individuals believe themselves to be good at are conceived as highly diagnostic, whereas skills that persons do not believe they possess are considered less diagnostic. Three studies are presented to investigate this stabilizing process. Correlational as well as experimental and longitudinal data support the assumption that self-immunization stabilizes central and abstract aspects of the self-concept without ignoring negative information on concrete skills.

Field of study: Psychology
The Mid-infrared Extinction Law in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Based on photometric data from the Spitzer/SAGE survey, using red giants as extinction tracers, the mid-infrared (MIR) extinction laws in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are derived for the first time in the form of . This quantity refers to the extinction in the four Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) bands (i.e., [3.6], [4.5], [5.8], and [8.0] μm) relative to the Two Micron All Sky Survey KS band at 2.16 μm. We obtain the near-infrared extinction coefficient to be E(J – H)/E(H – KS ) 1.29 ± 0.04 and E(J – KS )/E(H – KS ) 1.94 ± 0.04. The wavelength dependence of the MIR extinction in the LMC varies from one sightline to another. The overall mean MIR extinction is , , , and . Except for the extinction in the IRAC [4.5]  μm band, which may be contaminated by the 4.6 μm CO gas absorption of red giants used to trace LMC extinction, the extinction in the other three IRAC bands show a flat curve, close to the Milky Way RV = 5.5 model extinction curve, where RV is the optical total-to-selective extinction ratio. The possible systematic bias caused by the correlated uncertainties of KS – λ and J – KS is explored in terms of Monte Carlo simulations. We find that this bias could lead to an overestimation of in the MIR.

Field of study: Physics
The effect of medium composition on the structure and physical state of sophorolipids produced by Candida bombicola ATCC 22214.

Candida bombicola was grown using a variety of lipophilic carbon substrates. Most of the hydrocarbon and carboxylic acid substrates resulted in a mixture of sophorolipids consisting of free acids and the more desirable lactones. The ratio of diacylated lactone to free acid in these mixtures was a maximum when produced using hexadecane and heptadecane. All of the other lipophilic substrates resulted in significant amounts of free acids being produced. These lactone products were unique in that they precipitated as crystals, which were easily separated from the culture medium. All of the other products were isolated as oils as is usually reported in the literature. Finally, the amounts of these crystals recovered were significantly higher than those observed for any of the oily products. It was possible to determine the degree of direct incorporation of the lipophilic substrates into the sophorolipids for a homologous series of alkanes. The amount of direct incorporation increased with increasing chain length to a maximum for pentadecane, hexadecane and heptadecane. As the length of the alkane substrate increased further, the amount of direct incorporation then decreased until there was no apparent incorporation for eicosane.

Field of study: Biology, Engineering
The effects of grassland management using fire on habitat occupancy and conservation of birds in a mosaic landscape

Prescribed burning is routinely used to improve grazing in Pyrenean rangelands affected by an overall trend of land abandonment. This study considers the environmental variables influencing habitat occupancy by birds and the consequences of the use of fire in range management for bird conservation. Bird use and habitat structure of 11 cover types, the result of specific management regimes, were monitored for two breeding seasons in a mosaic landscape. Three main gradients of avian composition, corresponding to tree cover, shrub volume and grazing intensity, were identified from canonical correspondence analysis. The structure of the bird community seemed more intensely affected by species-specific selection of cover types than by the birds' use of multiple patches. Out of a total of 10 bird species analysed by a simultaneous confidence intervals procedure, four species with an unfavourable conservation status in Europe (Emberiza cia, Lullula arborea, Saxicola torquata and Lanius collurio) preferred managed grassland. Three types of grassland with shrubs (derived from single or repeated burning) had the highest bird conservation index (taking into account specific status and abundance of the bird assemblage), whereas forests showed middle or low values. The relation (P = 0.054) of this index to the logarithm of the pastoral value (which includes density and grazing quality of grasses) in currently managed cover types suggests that the objectives of grassland recovery by appropriate management practices and those of bird conservation coincide in our study area.

Field of study: Environmental science
Serum and urine levels of interleukin-8 in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Angiogenesis plays an important role in many types of cancer. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is known to be a pro-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic cytokine, and IL-8 has been reported to be associated with tumor progression, prognosis and survival in several types of cancers. However, the role of IL-8 in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has not been fully determined. Here, we evaluated the usefulness of measuring serum and urine IL-8 levels in patients with NHL. We developed reference intervals for serum and urine IL-8 level in 131 control individuals. We measured serum IL-8 and urine IL-8 levels in patients with NHL, and we compared the concentrations with those of control individuals. The reference intervals for serum IL-8 and urine IL-8 corrected by creatinine (Cr) were 15.9-430.3 pg/mL and 0.0-28.4 pg/mg Cr, respectively. The concentrations of urine IL-8/Cr were significantly higher in patients than in controls (48.9+/-194.4 vs. 5.2+/-13.8 pg/mg Cr, P<0.001). However, there were no significant differences in serum IL-8 concentrations between NHL patients and controls (159.2+/-40.4 vs. 99.6+/-107.1 pg/mL; P=0.099). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis gave 0.83 and 0.43 ROC area values for urine IL-8/Cr and serum IL-8, respectively. There was no correlation between the serum and urine concentrations of IL-8 and clinical variables, the only exception being the international prognostic index (IPI), which showed a marginal correlation with urine IL-8/Cr levels (P=0.07). This study indicated that urine IL-8/Cr levels might be useful as a diagnostic marker of NHL.

Field of study: Medicine
Cryptanalysis of the Dual Elliptic Curve Pseudorandom Generator

The Dual Elliptic Curve Pseudorandom Generator (DEC PRG) is proposed by Barker and Kelsey . It is claimed (see Section 10.3.1 of ) that the pseudorandom generator is secure unless the adversary can solve the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem (ECDLP) for the corresponding elliptic curve. The claim is supported only by an informal discussion. No security reduction is given, that is, it is not shown that an adversary that breaks the pseudorandom generator implies a solver for the ECDLP. Our experimental results and also empirical argument show that the DEC PRG is insecure. The attack does not imply solving the ECDLP for the corresponding elliptic curve. The attack is very efficient. It can be run on an ordinary PC. Actually, the generator is insecure because pseudorandom bits are extracted from points of the elliptic curve improperly. The authors of  assume that 240 least significant bits of x-coordinate of a random point of the elliptic curve over the prime field Fp, where dlog2 pe = 256, are indistinguishable from 240 uniformly distributed random bits. We show that this is not the case. Based on this observation, we construct an algorithm (an adversary) that efficiently distinguishes the pseudorandom sequences produced by the DEC PRG from the sequences of uniformly distributed random bits. We note that the complexity of our attack is proportional to 2256−240 = 216, so extracting less than 240 bits (say, 2176 bits) makes the attack impractical. However, extracting less random bits does not guarantee that there exists no other attack that successfully breaks the pseudorandom generator. The reason is that the DEC PRG is not provably secure, its security does not provably rely on the intractability of the ECDLP. To make a real provably secure pseudorandom generator one has to construct a security reduction, that is, to show that breaking the generator does imply solving a well-known and supposedly difficult problem (e.g., ECDLP, factoring, etc.) In fact, provable security might be the only argument in favor of the relatively slow DEC PRG versus more efficient generators based on hash functions and block ciphers (e.g., the generators described in Sections 10.1 and 10.2 of ). Unfortunately, the DEC PRG is not secure so there are no reasons to use this generator rather than the others.

Field of study: Computer science, Mathematics
Developments in the research of new antitumor agents (review)

The following review discusses major directions in the research and preparation of various classes of advanced antitumor agents: synthetic materials which work by an alkylating mechanism (derivatives of di (2-chloroethyl)amine, ethylenimine, alkylnitrosourea, dimethyltriazines); platinum derivatives; dispiropiperazines; alkylating agents derived from polyols; various antimetabolites; as well as compounds derived from natural products, such as anthracycline antibiotics, bleomycin, actinomycin, mitomycin, derivatives of aureolic acid, etc. Also discussed are the use of enzymes to destroy substances needed for tumor growth; new plant alkaloids which inhibit mitosis (Vinca alkaloids, Podophyllin toxins, colchamine, etc.); and immunomodulating agents.

Field of study: Chemistry
An overview of the basic physical properties of MgB2

The basic physical properties of MgB 2 have been well established over the past two years of intensive research. At this point there is a general consensus about the values for the isotope shift, critical fields, most of the salient length scales, and general anisotropies. In this paper we will review the determination of these parameters and set the stage for further, more detailed discussions of specific aspects of the physics of MgB 2 .

Field of study: Physics
Europe’s Refugee and Migrant Crisis: Economic and Political Ambivalences

Few if any predicted the extent of mass migration across Europe in the wake of the Arab Spring and atrocities in Syria. As the authors point out, it is both a migrant and refugee crisis, and it tests European resolve, economic policy, and the consequences. With it has arisen a tide of right-wing populism and intense nationalism, running counter to the long constructive evolution of Europe since World War II. What to do? The authors have answers.

Field of study: Economics
Adoption of African Traditional Religious Practices in combating Corruption in Nigerian Education System

The paper examined the Adoption of African Religious Traditional Practices in Combating Corruption in Nigerian Education System. Education is the bedrock of development. Through education, future thinkers and Leaders are produced. But, it is regrettable that education system has deteriorated to the extent that instead of being an agent of transformation, empowerment and an instrument of purifying the minds of the young ones to become useful members of the society, has today become an agent of imparting corruption in the minds of the young ones. This aberration in the goal and aim of education is caused by endemic and legendary corruption in Education in Nigeria. Corruption in Nigerian education system manifests itself in all levels of education (primary, secondary and tertiary institutions). There exist different forms of corruption existing in our institution for example, examination malpractice, financial scams, embezzlement, exploitation of students, taking advantage students, etc. The existence of different forms of corruption in our institution has led to dearth and decay of infrastructure in the schools. Corruption has enormity of negative effects on the output from the system (graduates) in the area of productivity and their degree of acceptance in the labour market. Many methods have been adopted to stop this malaise, but they proved inadequate. Based on this, this research suggests the adoption of African Traditional religious methods in curbing the evil effects of corruption in Nigerian education system. Some of the suggested practices are: Putting the school property, money, etc in the custodian of a powerful deity, workers and students in education sector swearing oath in the shrine of a powerful and dreadful deity that they will not be involved in any form of malpractice. These and other methods suggested are hoped to be final panacea to combat corruption in education in Nigeria.  Corruption , Education, African Traditional Religious Practice (ATR), West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO)

Field of study: Education
Visual Hallucinations Possibly Associated with Clarithromycin Administration at Therapeutic Dosage in Two Children

Our aim was to present 2 children with visual hallucinations possibly associated with clarithromycin administration at therapeutic dosage.  Two children were admitted to our hospital with sudden onset of visual hallucinations after taking clarithromycin at therapeutic dosage by mouth. Physical examination, laboratory investigations and imaging studies were normal. The symptoms gradually disappeared once the clarithromycin therapy had been discontinued, making us suspect clarithromycin as the agent responsible for the visual hallucinations. They were observed monthly for a year without any symptoms or further treatment.  This report highlights hallucinations due to therapeutic doses of clarithromycin therapy as a possible new side effect in children.

Field of study: Medicine
State-level Social Capital and MNCs’ Competitive Political Resources

Previous studies have focused on the effects of dyadic intergovernmental relationships on firm behavior and performance. This study presents a network approach to intergovernmental relationships and examines two moderating effects at the state and firm levels. This study argues that firm-level competitive political resources are a function of the state-level social capital derived from the structural position in intergovernmental networks, the political institutions of home governments, and foreign experiences of multinational corporations (MNCs). State-level social capital arises from home governments’ positions in intergovernmental networks and offers information and control benefits to MNCs. This study hypothesizes that structural position in intergovernmental networks positively impacts MNC behavior. Moreover, it predicts that political institutions facilitate home governments to leverage their social capital for domestic MNCs. Furthermore, it indicates that MNCs with greater foreign experience utilize political resources more effectively. This study employs data on state-level trade networks and MNC asset procurements in the global mining industry to test these predictions and find support for the model.

Field of study: Business
Effects of reinforcer probability, delay, and response requirements on the choices of rats and pigeons: possible species differences.

In Experiment 1 with rats, a left lever press led to a 5-s delay and then a possible reinforcer. A right lever press led to an adjusting delay and then a certain reinforcer. This delay was adjusted over trials to estimate an indifference point, or a delay at which the two alternatives were chosen about equally often. Indifference points increased as the probability of reinforcement for the left lever decreased. In some conditions with a 20% chance of food, a light above the left lever was lit during the 5-s delay on all trials, but in other conditions, the light was only lit on those trials that ended with food. Unlike previous results with pigeons, the presence or absence of the delay light on no-food trials had no effect on the rats' indifference points. In other conditions, the rats showed less preference for the 20% alternative when the time between trials was longer. In Experiment 2 with rats, fixed-interval schedules were used instead of simple delays, and the presence or absence of the fixed-interval requirement on no-food trials had no effect on the indifference points. In Experiment 3 with rats and Experiment 4 with pigeons, the animals chose between a fixed-ratio 8 schedule that led to food on 33% of the trials and an adjusting-ratio schedule with food on 100% of the trials. Surprisingly, the rats showed less preference for the 33% alternative in conditions in which the ratio requirement was omitted on no-food trials. For the pigeons, the presence or absence of the ratio requirement on no-food trials had little effect. The results suggest that there may be differences between rats and pigeons in how they respond in choice situations involving delayed and probabilistic reinforcers.

Field of study: Biology, Psychology
The role of wetland microorganisms in plant-litter decomposition and soil organic matter formation: a critical review.

New soil organic matter (SOM) models highlight the role of microorganisms in plant litter decomposition and storage of microbial-derived carbon (C) molecules. Wetlands store more C per unit area than any other ecosystem, but SOM storage mechanisms such as aggregation and metal complexes are mostly untested in wetlands. This review discusses what is currently known about the role of microorganisms in SOM formation and C sequestrations, as well as, measures of microbial communities as they relate to wetland C cycling. Studies within the last decade have yielded new insights about microbial communities. For example, microbial communities appear to be adapted to short-term fluctuations in saturation and redox and researchers have observed synergistic pairings that in some cases run counter to thermodynamic theory. Significant knowledge gaps yet to be filled include: (i) What controls microbial access to and decomposition of plant litter and SOM? (ii) How does microbial community structure shape C fate, across different wetland types? (iii) What types of plant and microbial molecules contribute to SOM accumulation? Studies examining the active microbial community directly or that utilize multi-pronged approaches are shedding new light on microbial functional potential, however, and promise to improve wetland C models in the near future.

Field of study: Biology, Environmental science