nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Effects of dynamic taxonomy on rare species and conservation listing: insights from the Iberian vascular flora

Concern has been raised regarding the continually changing nature of biotic taxonomies and how these changes alter perceptions of extinction risk and conservation priority setting. Within this realm, we can identify two distinct problems. First, there is a perception that the activity of a new, fine-scale taxonomy may have an effect in the taxonomy structure producing a taxonomic bias because larger groups may become disproportionably large as a result of new described variation is principally allocated into them. Second, there is an information gap where conservation planning occasionally neglects the most recent taxonomic information derived from fine-scale taxonomy. But, if not, this taxonomic bias has also the potential to alter the proportion of large to small lineages in conservation lists, because most newly described taxa are narrowly distributed and not common, therefore targeted for conservation lists. We use data sources from Iberian vascular flora in 1984 and 2000 to analyze these issues. Results show that rare species description in Iberia has proceeded continuously through time, has been dominated by descriptions in large genera, and shows a sharp increase in description rate since the 1970s. Further, the distribution of newly described taxa reflects proportional representation among groups of differing initial diversity. Finally, change through circumscription (lumping and splitting of former taxa) form part of the description process, but they do not dominate new rare plant taxa. Categorizations of endangered plants appear fairly stable in Spain with 76 % of the most endangered taxa maintaining their species identities through this 16-years period. We conclude that the work of fine scale taxonomy, while representing the bulk of new taxonomic descriptions in Spain, is not biased toward any group size. Although conservation listing can be affected by this taxonomic pattern, we consider the conservation-taxonomy gap to be narrow in Spain.

Field of study: Environmental science
ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS OF DELIVERY CYCLE—THE CASE STUDY

The goal of the paper is to present the organizational aspects of the delivery cycle of industrial products for individual customers. The authors conducted their research and analysis in the clothing industry, as a representative of a relatively low level of complexity of products, but also high variety and volatility of demand and high expectations represented by clients concerning efficient delivery, thus functioning in the conditions requiring flexibility and agility of management. It seems that such a model will become common for the majority of manufacturing enterprises. The basis for the paper is analysis of the case study of LPP S.A., however the summary includes a brief presentation of the solution implemented by the Spanish company Inditex.

Field of study: Engineering
Defects in metal-deficient cobalt-wüstites, (Co, Fe)1−yO

By a simple statistical thermodynamic approach an equation describing the variation of nonstoichiometry with oxygen pressure is derived for metal-deficient oxides assuming that the predominant defect is of the type: 4V″ Fe , Fe … i . Comparing experimental data obtained by thermogravimetric equilibration measurements with data calculated from this equation shows good agreement both for pure Fe 1− y O (wustite) throughout the whole nonstoichiometry range and for (Co, Fe) 1− y O at low and moderate degree of nonstoichiometry. For the latter oxides, however, deviations are observed at high nonstoichiometry indicating that ordering probably takes place in this system at high defect concentrations.

Field of study: Materials science
Integration for the Distributed Heterogeneous Database based on Web Service Technology of .NET

This paper has analyzed the characteristic of Web Service, putting forward the architecture for accessing the distributed heterogeneous database based on Web Service technology of Microsoft.NET, and adopted .NET technology to realize the prototype system. In the prototype system, integrated the distributed data in different database system on Internet by Web Service, offered the unified data operation interface to the application program which access the database, and realized the transparent access of the distributed database.

Field of study: Computer science
Characterization of the immune responses elicited by baculovirus-based vector vaccines against influenza virus hemagglutinin

To compare the specific immune responses elicited by different baculovirus vectors in immunized mice.We constructed and characterized two recombinant baculoviruses carrying the expression cassette for the H5N1 influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) gene driven by either an insect cell promoter (vAc-HA) or a dual-promoter active both in insect and mammalian cells (vAc-HA-DUAL). Virus without the HA gene (vAc-EGFP) was used as a control. These viruses were used to immunize mice subcutaneously and intraperitoneally. The production of total and specific antibodies was determined by ELISA and competitive ELISA. Cytokine production by the spleen cells of immunized mice was studied using the ELISPOT assay.Both the vAc-HA and vAc-HA-DUAL vectors expressed HA proteins in insect Sf9 cells, and HA antigen was present in progeny virions. The vAc-HA-DUAL vector also mediated HA expression in virus-transduced mammalian cell lines (BHK and A547). Both vAc-HA and vAc-HA-DUAL exhibited higher transduction efficiencies than vAc-EGFP in mammalian cells, as shown by the expression of the reporter gene egfp. Additionally, both vAc-HA and vAc-HA-DUAL induced high levels of HA-specific antibody production in immunized mice; vAc-HA-DUAL was more efficient in inducing IFN-γ and IL-2 upon stimulation with specific antigen, whereas vAc-HA was more efficient in inducing IL-4 and IL-6.Conclusion:Baculovirus vectors elicited efficient, specific immune responses in immunized mice. The vector displaying the HA antigen on the virion surface (vAc-HA) elicited a Th2-biased immune response, whereas the vector displaying HA and mediating HA expression in the cell (vAc-HA-DUAL) elicited a Th1-biased immune response.

Field of study: Biology, Chemistry, Medicine
Comprehensive failure analysis of leakage faults in bipolar transistors

The origin of a leakage current in several failed NPN bipolar transistors has been identified by complementary advanced failure analysis techniques. After precise localization of the failing area by photon emission microscopy and optical beam induced resistance change investigations, a focus ion beam technique was used to prepare thin lamellae adequate for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study. Characterization of the related microstructure was performed by TEM and energy-dispersive spectrometry nanobeam analyses. It was identified as Ti-W containing trickle-like residue located at the surface of the spacers. Current?voltage measurements could be related to such structure defects and the involved conduction mechanism was identified as the Poole?Frenkel effect.

Field of study: Materials science
Effects of Testwiseness Training in Mathematics on Adolescent Secondary School Students’ Test Anxiety in Ondo State, Nigeria

This study investigated the effects of testwiseness training in Mathematics on adolescent secondary school students’ test anxiety The research study adopted for the study was an experimental research that involved pre-test, posttest and control groups design. One hundred and twenty (120) adolescent senior secondary school class three students of Ondo State public secondary schools selected through stratified random sampling technique formed the sample. These participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Experimental group was made to undergo the testwise training package in Mathematics (TTPM), which lasted for six weeks, while ‘placebo’ was used on the control group. Two instruments were used to collect data. They are Adolescent Students’ Test Anxiety Scale (ASTAS) and Adolescent Students’ Testwiseness Scale in Mathematics (ASTSM). Three research questions were raised translated into two hypotheses The data collected were analyzed using simple mean, standard deviation and t-test statistics, The findings showed that: (i) There is no significant difference in the test anxiety levels of the participants before exposure to treatments; (ii) testwiseness training in Mathematics had positive impact on the adolescent secondary school students’ test anxiety levels. Adolescent students without testwiseness training in Mathematics are more test anxious than the adolescent students with testwiseness training in mathematics. It is therefore recommended that testwiseness training in Mathematics should be inculcated into the curriculum of both secondary schools and teacher training colleges. Teachers are also encouraged to add  testwiseness instruction to their regular Mathematics classes so that their students may become testwise in a testing situation  Testwiseness training, Mathematics, Test Anxiety, Adolescent students

Field of study: Education
Offshore marine constructions as propagators of moon jellyfish dispersal

We have studied the influence of offshore marine constructions on the moon jellyfish population in the Adriatic sea, where the newly set up substrates enable the formation of a new population based in the formerly unpopulated open waters. Our five-year long computer simulation uses a high resolution coupled bio-physical individual-based model to track the dispersal of the offspring from subpopulations originating from offshore and shore-based sources. According to our study, the platforms enhance connectivity between subpopulations of jellyfish polyps, help sustain existing shore-based subpopulations, contribute to jellyfish blooms in some areas, and play an important role in establishing connection with the rest of the Mediterranean, in addition to representing substantial amounts of available substrate. This is an aspect that is usually overlooked when evaluating the ecological impact of existing and future wind farms, oil and gas platforms, etc. Our approach could serve as a role model in future studies of ecological impacts of planned offshore constructions.

Field of study: Environmental science
通过O,O-亚苯基磷酰氯与α-氨基酸三甲基硅基衍生物的反应观察五配位磷

利用O,O-亚苯基磷酰氯与α-氨基酸三甲基硅基衍生物的反应观察到五配位的分子内磷酸-羧酸混酐化合物Ⅵ,发现这种结构的形成需要分子内胺基、羧基以及磷的协同参与,而且只限于α-氨基酸,从而证明N-磷酰氨基酸的自催化反应是通过分子内磷酸-羧酸混酐中间体Ⅱ来实现的,形成Ⅱ的速度决定了自催化反应活性的大小。

Field of study: Chemistry
Study on specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses in HIV/AIDS patients

To investigate the HIV specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte response in HIV/AIDS patients of China.  A panel of 94 overlapping peptides, spanning the entire P17 Gag, P24 Gag, P15 Gag were used as antigen. We examined the HIV-1 specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses of Chinese HIV/AIDS patients by IFN-γ ELISPOT assay. Results HIV-1 antigen peptides P17-15, P17-16, P24-7, P17-8 and P24-28 were more frequently recognized by the HIV-1 specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte. The magnitude and breadth of the CTL responses were much higher in HIV carriers than those in AIDS patients.  There were HIV-1 specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses directly against different HIV-1 Gag peptides in Chinese HIV/AIDS patients, and the responses were correlated with disease progress.

Field of study: Biology
The asymptotic behavior of classical solutions to the mixed initial-boundary value problem in finite thermo-viscoelasticity

In this paper we consider the asymptotic stability of a class of solutions to the mixed initial-boundary value problem in nonlinear thermo-viscoelasticity. The continuum model is a viscoelastic material of rate type with the thermal conduction obeying Fourier's law. The work in this article generalizes in two ways the results obtained by the present authors in a previous paper , The results in this present paper are valid for nonisothermal conditions and for a genuinely nonlinear viscous stress.

Field of study: Mathematics
Plio-Pleistocene transpressional reactivation of Paleozoic and Paleogene structures in the Rhine-Bresse transform zone (northern Switzerland and eastern France)

Pliocene to recent uplift and shortening in the southern Rhinegraben is documented by deformation of Pliocene fluvial gravels, deposited on a nearly planar surface, as well as by progressive deflection and capture of rivers. This deformation is suggested to result from thick-skinned tectonic movements as evidenced by observations on seismic records, which demonstrate a spatial coincidence between en-échelon anticlines at the surface and faults located in the crystalline basement. These findings contradict the often invoked thin-skinned tectonism in the recent tectonic history of the Rhinegraben. In particular the transfer zone between the Rhinegraben and the Bressegraben is very suitable for reactivation under the present day stress field. Thick-skinned reactivation of faults in the basement is also expressed by focal plane mechanisms of recent earthquakes showing strike-slip- rather than reverse faulting characteristics. This is of importance for the densely populated and industrialised southern Rhinegraben, previously affected by large earthquakes in historical times (e.g. Basel 1356).

Field of study: Environmental science
Highly parallel, fast scaling of numbers in nonredundant residue arithmetic

A new approach to scaling in the nonredundant residue number system (RNS) with the use of the Chinese remainder theorem (CRT) is presented. The auxiliary scaling by M, where M is the number range, is performed in parallel with scaling by the scale factor K in order to avoid the number range overflow. The scaler design utilizes small look-up tables and multioperand (both modulo and binary) adders. The new approach does not impose restrictions on the form, size, and number of moduli n. The only proviso is that K>n. The scaling error is bounded by n and can be reduced to 1 or 1.5 if a correction circuit is employed. Hardware complexity expressed by the number of transistors is approximately one order smaller than that for the earlier design, whereas the scaler latency is similar.

Field of study: Engineering
Expression and clinical significance of EGFR mRNA,SP-D mRNA,LUNX mRNA in peripheral blood of lung cancer patients

Using reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with primers specific for EGFR,SP-D and LUNX to detect circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood of non-small-cell lung cancer patients(NSCLC), and to find out the relationship between the mRNA expression and micrometastasis.  The expressions of EGFR,SP-D,LUNX were analyzed by RT-PCR in 40 NSCLC tumor tissues and in peripheral blood ,compared with 15 patients with benign lung disease and 10 healthy volunteers.  The expressions of EGFR mRNA,SP-D mRNA,LUNX mRNA were 77.5% , 100% and 100% in 40 NSCLC tumor tissue and were 55.0%,52.5%,57.5% in peripheral blood of 40 NSCLC patients. In the control group, the expression of EGFR mRNA in 15 benign lung diseases was 13.3%. There was no expression of SP-D mRNA and LUNX mRNA in benign lung diseases. All of three mRNA were of no expression in peripheral blood of 15 patients with benign lung diseases and 10 healthy volunteers.  EGFR mRNA,SP-D mRNA and LUNX mRNA might be specific and sensitive markers to detect circulating tumor cells in the peripheral blood of lung cancer patients.

Field of study: Medicine
Etching characteristics of chromium thin films by an electron beam induced surface reaction

In this paper, we demonstrate the etching of chromium (Cr) film on quartz through a surface reaction induced by an electron beam and enhanced with XeF2 gas. We have studied the influences of the electron beam energy, the gas flow rate and the specimen composition on the etch rate. The electron beam energy has significant influence on the etch rate. The etch rate made by an electron beam of 20 keV is five times higher compared to that made by a beam of 10 keV. The XeF2 gas flow rate shows little effect on the etch rate when the gas pressure is higher than 2 × 10−6 Torr. The structure and grain size of the Cr film did not show any apparent change under exposure to XeF2 or when irradiated by an electron beam, while the composition of Cr has a significant effect on the etch process. The material removal of Cr induced by an electron beam means that it can be applied to the direct fabrication of microstructures on Cr films and that it solves the contamination problem in Cr mask repair.

Field of study: Materials science
Growth and Characterization of CZT Crystals by the Vertical Bridgman Method for X-Ray Detector Applications

CdZnTe crystals were grown by the vertical Bridgman method in closed quartz ampoules. The crystalline quality and the impurity content of these crystals were studied. Several X-ray detectors were cut out of these crystals. The resistivity, emission spectra, μτ product, and spectroscopic characteristics of these detectors were extensively measured and compared with the characteristics of detectors obtained from CdZnTe crystals grown by the boron oxide encapsulated vertical Bridgman technique. The detectors prepared from crystals grown without boron oxide show good μτ value, spectroscopic resolution, and higher reproducibility. The influence of growth method on impurity content and on detector response was discussed.

Field of study: Physics
Structural and geochemical characteristics of faulted sediments and inferences on the role of water in deformation, Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico

The San Ysidro fault is a spectacularly exposed normal fault located in the northwestern Albuquerque Basin of the Rio Grande Rift. This intrabasin fault is representative of many faults that formed in poorly lithified sediments throughout the rift. The fault is exposed over nearly 10 km and accommodates nearly 700 m of dip slip in subhorizontal, siliciclastic sediments. The extent of the exposure facilitates study of along-strike variations in deformation mechanisms, architecture, geochemistry, and permeability. The fault is composed of structural and hydrogeologic components that include a clay-rich fault core, a calcite-cemented mixed zone, and a poorly developed damage zone primarily consisting of deformation bands. Structural textures suggest that initial deformation in the fault occurred at low temperature and pressure, was within the paleosaturated zone of the evolving Rio Grande Rift, and was dominated by particulate flow. Little geochemical change is apparent across the fault zone other than due to secondary processes. The lack of fault-related geochemical change is interpreted to reflect the fundamental nature of water-saturated, particulate flow. Early mechanical entrainment of low-permeability clays into the fault core likely caused damming of groundwater flow on the up-gradient, footwall side of the fault. This may have caused a pressure gradient and flow of calcite-saturated waters in higher-permeability, fault-entrained siliciclastic sediments, ultimately promoting their cementation by sparry calcite. Once developed, the cemented and clay-rich fault has likely been, and continues to be, a partial barrier to cross-fault groundwater flow, as suggested by petrophysical measurements. Aeromagnetic data indicate that there may be many more unmapped faults with similar lengths to the San Ysidro fault buried within Rio Grande basins. If these buried faults formed by the same processes that formed the San Ysidro fault and have persistent low-permeability cores and cemented mixed zones, they could compartmentalize the basin-fill aquifers more than is currently realized, particularly if pumping stresses continue to increase in response to population growth.

Field of study: Geology
Complex structure of type VI peptidoglycan muramidase effector and a cognate immunity protein

The structure of the Tse3–Tsi3 complex associated with the bacterial type VI secretion system of P. aeruginosa has been solved and refined at 1.9 Å resolution. The structural basis of the recognition of the muramidase effector and its inactivation by its cognate immunity protein is revealed.

Field of study: Chemistry
Modeling the epigenetic attractors landscape: toward a post-genomic mechanistic understanding of development

Robust temporal and spatial patterns of cell types emerge in the course of normal development in multicellular organisms. The onset of degenerative diseases may result from altered cell fate decisions that give rise to pathological phenotypes. Complex networks of genetic and non-genetic components underlie such normal and altered morphogenetic patterns. Here we focus on the networks of regulatory interactions involved in cell-fate decisions. Such networks modeled as dynamical non-linear systems attain particular stable configurations on gene activity that have been interpreted as cell-fate states. The network structure also restricts the most probable transition patterns among such states. The so-called Epigenetic Landscape (EL), originally proposed by C. H. Waddington, was an early attempt to conceptually explain the emergence of developmental choices as the result of intrinsic constraints (regulatory interactions) shaped during evolution. Thanks to the wealth of molecular genetic and genomic studies, we are now able to postulate gene regulatory networks (GRN) grounded on experimental data, and to derive EL models for specific cases. This, in turn, has motivated several mathematical and computational modeling approaches inspired by the EL concept, that may be useful tools to understand and predict cell-fate decisions and emerging patterns. In order to distinguish between the classical metaphorical EL proposal of Waddington, we refer to the Epigenetic Attractors Landscape (EAL), a proposal that is formally framed in the context of GRNs and dynamical systems theory. In this review we discuss recent EAL modeling strategies, their conceptual basis and their application in studying the emergence of both normal and pathological developmental processes. In addition, we discuss how model predictions can shed light into rational strategies for cell fate regulation, and we point to challenges ahead.

Field of study: Biology
Reaching and Empowering Women: Towards a Gender Justice Protocol for a Diversified, Inclusive, and Sustainable Financial Sector

Gender equality of opportunity and women’s empowerment are integral and essential elements of any serious strategy for economic growth and pro-poor development. Gender issues cannot therefore be seen as a marginal concern for the financial sector. However, until very recently, despite female targeting of small loans and savings and frequent use of the term “empowerment” in promotional material, explicit attention to gender issues within the microfinance movement has been negligible. This paper aims to be a catalyst for serious debate about ways forward, and the starting point for future lobbying to establish an agreed gender justice protocol for the microfinance sector. It argues that there are steps that all financial institutions can take to improve women’s access to finance, ensure financial products are appropriately designed, utilize gender-based indicators for effective monitoring and assessment of impact, enact consumer protection measures, and advocate on behalf of women in the public sphere.

Field of study: Political science