nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
New tools for the reconstruction of Pleistocene Antarctic sea ice

Based on the quantitative analysis of diatom assemblages preserved in 274 surface sediment samples recovered in the Pacific, Atlantic and western Indian sectors of the Southern Ocean we have defined a new reference database for quantitative estimation of late-middle Pleistocene Antarctic sea ice fields using the transfer function technique. The Detrended Canonical Analysis (DCA) of the diatom data set points to a unimodal distribution of the diatom assemblages. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) indicates that not only winter sea ice (WSI) but also summer sea surface temperature (SSST) represent the most prominent environmental variables that control the spatial species distribution. To test the applicability of transfer functions for sea ice reconstruction in terms of concentration and occurrence probability we applied four different methods, the Imbrie and Kipp Method (IKM), the Modern Analog Technique (MAT), Weighted Averaging (WA), and Weighted Averaging Partial Least Squares (WAPLS), using logarithm-transformed diatom data and satellite-derived (1981–2010) sea ice data as a reference. The best performance for IKM results was obtained using a subset of 172 samples with 28 diatom taxa/taxa groups, quadratic regression and a three-factor model (IKM-D172/28/3q) resulting in root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) of 7.27% and 11.4% for WSI and summer sea ice (SSI) concentration, respectively. MAT estimates were calculated with different numbers of analogs (4, 6) using a 274-sample/28-taxa reference data set (MAT-D274/28/4an, -6an) resulting in RMSEP ranging from 5.52% (4an) to 5.91% (6an) for WSI as well as 8.93% (4an) to 9.05% (6an) for SSI. WA and WAPLS performed less well with the D274 data set, compared to MAT, achieving WSI concentration RMSEP of 9.91% with WA and 11.29% with WAPLS, recommending the use of IKM and MAT. The application of IKM and MAT to surface sediment data revealed strong relations to the satellite-derived winter and summer sea ice field. Sea ice reconstructions performed on an Atlantic- and a Pacific Southern Ocean sediment core, both documenting sea ice variability over the past 150,000 yr (MIS 1–MIS 6), resulted in similar glacial/interglacial trends of IKM and MAT-based sea-ice estimates. On the average, however, IKM estimates display smaller WSI and slightly higher SSI concentration and probability at lower variability in comparison with MAT. This pattern is a result of different estimation techniques with integration of WSI and SSI signals in one single factor assemblage by applying IKM and selecting specific single samples, thus keeping close to the original diatom database and included variability, by MAT. In contrast to the estimation of WSI, reconstructions of past SSI variability remain weaker. Combined with diatom-based estimates, the abundance and flux pattern of biogenic opal represents an additional indication for the WSI and SSI extent.

Field of study: Environmental science, Geography
A note on three-step iterative method for nonlinear equations

Noor, Three-step iterative methods for nonlinear equations,  (2006) 322–327] proposed a three-step iterative method for solving nonlinear equations, and they showed that the method has third-order convergence. In this paper, we propose a new three-step iterative method for solving nonlinear equations, which is a significant improvement of the method proposed by Noor and Noor. It is shown that this iterative method has fourth-order convergence, not third-order convergence. Some numerical experiments are given to illustrate the performance of the three-step iterative method.

Field of study: Mathematics
A new spectroscopic probe to search for magic numbers at high-excitation energies

Empirical drops in ground-state nuclear polarizabilities indicate deviations from the effect of giant dipole resonances and may reveal the presence of shell effects in semi-magic nuclei with neutron magic numbers $N=50$, 82 and 126. Similar drops of polarizability in the quasi-continuum of nuclei with, or close to, magic numbers $N=28$, 50 and 82, could reflect the continuing influence of shell closures up to the nucleon separation energy. These findings open a new avenue to investigating magic numbers at high-excitation energies and strongly support recent large-scale shell-model calculations in the quasi-continuum region, which describe the origin of the low-energy enhancement of the photon strength function as induced paramagnetism. The nuclear-structure dependence of the photon-strength function asserts the generalized Brink-Axel hypothesis as more universal than originally expected.

Field of study: Physics
Interleukin 5 release into asthmatic airways 4 and 24 hours after endobronchial allergen challenge: its relationship with eosinophil recruitment.

Interleukin 5 (IL-5), a cytokine with a range of activities on eosinophils, has been implicated in the allergic asthmatic reaction. We have investigated the kinetics of release of this cytokine into asthmatic airways as well as its relationship to eosinophil recruitment following allergen challenge. Twelve asthmatic patients underwent endobronchial allergen challenge and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid was obtained either 4 h (n=6) or 24 h (n=6) after challenge. Four hours after challenge, levels of IL-5 were significantly increased in BAL fluid (10-fold concentration obtained from the allergen-challenge site compared with the saline control (median 2.67 pg/ml, range 1.0-7.4 pg/ml vs 1.0 pg/ml <1.0-2.4 pg/ml, P<0.05). At 24 h levels of IL-5 increased further at the allergen site but not at the saline control lavage (31.1 pg/ml, range 3.6-59. 0 pg/ml vs 1.5 pg/ml, range <1.5-4.9 pg/ml, respectively P<0.02). At 4h there was almost a three fold increase in IL-5 level, whereas at 24 h IL-5 levels were 20-fold greater. Differential cell counts showed that eosinophil numbers obtained 4 and 24 h after allergen challenge were 7 and 32 times higher than numbers after saline challenge. The parallel increase of eosinophil numbers and IL-5 concentrations in BAL fluid suggests that this cytokine may contribute to the eosinophil recruitment observed into asthmatic airways after allergen challenge.

Field of study: Medicine
Incremental Nonlinear System Identification and Adaptive Particle Filtering Using Gaussian Process

An incremental/online state dynamic learning method is proposed for identification of the nonlinear Gaussian state space models. The method embeds the stochastic variational sparse Gaussian process as the probabilistic state dynamic model inside a particle filter framework. Model updating is done at measurement sample rate using stochastic gradient descent based optimization implemented in the state estimation filtering loop. The performance of the proposed method is compared with state-of-the-art Gaussian process based batch learning methods. Finally, it is shown that the state estimation performance significantly improves due to the online learning of state dynamics.

Field of study: Computer science
Effects of aerobic exercise and resveratrol on oxidative stress and NF-κBp65 in the livers of type II diabetic rats

In order to probe into the effects of aerobic exercise and resveratrol(Res) on oxidative stress and NF-κBp65 in the livers of type II diabetic(T2DM) rats, the authors established a T2DM rat model by feeding the rats with high sugar and high fat food and injecting a small dose(35 mg/kg) of streptozotocin(STZ) into the rats for 5 weeks, divided 40 class SPF male SD rats randomly into 5 groups, namely, a normal control group(group C), a T2DM group(group D), a "T2DM+exercise" group(group DE), a "T2DM+Res" group(group DR), and a "T2DM+exercise+Res" group(group DER), each of which contained 8 rats. The exercise was unloaded swimming training, done 6 d a week; the Res was orally administrated at a rate of 45 mg/(kg·d), 7 d a week. 7 weeks later, the authors measured the rats' fasting blood glucose(FBG), fasting insulin(FINS), and liver TG, TC, SOD, MDA and TNF-a, and the expression of nucleoproteins nSREBP1, nSREBP2 and NF-κBp65, and revealed the following findings: 1) comparing the rats in groups DE, DR and DER with the rats in group D, FINS and HOMA-IR decreased significantly(P0.05), while FBG showed a trend of decreasing(P0.05); comparing the rats in group DER with the rats in groups DE and DR, FBG, FINS and HOMA-IR decreased further(P0.05); 2) comparing the rats in groups DE, DR and DER with the rats in group D, liver SOD activity increased significantly(P0.05), while MDA content, liver index, nucleoproteins TG, TC, nSREBP1, TNF-a and NF-κBp65 in the livers decreased significantly(P0.05 or P0.01), while SREBP2 showed a trend of decreasing(P0.05); comparing the rats in group DER with the rats in groups DE and DR, all the said indexes decreased further. The said findings indicated the followings: both 7-week aerobic exercise and Res can improve oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction in the livers of T2DM rats; aerobic exercise and Res combined intervention produced an effect more significant than the effect produced by aerobic exercise intervention or Res intervention alone, its mechanism may be realized by suppressing nSREBPs in the livers, thus reducing oxidative stress caused by lipid deposition in the livers, and ultimately suppressing the activation of TNF-a induced by NF-κBp65.

Field of study: Education
Improved tunneling magnetoresistance at low temperature in manganite junctions grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We report resistance versus magnetic field measurements for a La0.65Sr0.35MnO3/SrTiO3/La0.65Sr0.35MnO3 tunnel junction grown by molecular-beam epitaxy, that show a large field window of extremely high tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) at low temperature. Scanning the in-plane applied field orientation through 360°, the TMR shows fourfold symmetry, i.e., biaxial anisotropy, aligned with the crystalline axis but not the junction geometrical long axis. The TMR reaches ∼1900% at 4 K, corresponding to an interfacial spin polarization of >95% assuming identical interfaces. These results show that uniaxial anisotropy is not necessary for large TMR, and lay the groundwork for future improvements in TMR in manganite junctions.

Field of study: Physics
Interprofessional Workshop to Improve Mutual Understanding Between Pharmacy and Medical Students

To measure changes in pharmacy and medical students’ physician-pharmacist collaboration scores resulting from a workshop designed to promote understanding of the others’ roles in health care.  More than 88% of first-year pharmacy (n = 215) and medical (n = 205) students completed the Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration on 3 occasions in order to establish a baseline of median scores and to determine whether the scores were influenced by an interprofessional workshop.  Participation in the interprofessional workshop increased pharmacy students’ collaboration scores above baseline (p=0.02) and raised the scores of medical students on the education component of the collaboration survey instrument (p=0.015). The collaboration scores of pharmacy students greatly exceeded those of medical students (p<0.0001).  A workshop designed to foster interprofessional understanding between pharmacy and medical students raised the physician-pharmacist collaboration scores of both. Crucial practical goals for the future include raising the collaboration scores of medical students to those of pharmacy students.

Field of study: Education, Medicine
Mesozoic unconformities in Israel: Characteristics, mode of origin and implications for the development of the Tethys

Nine breaks in the Mesozoic stratigraphic column of Israel are described in terms of their hiatus, type of contact, residual deposits and areal extent. Using these criteria, and by reference to published global eustatic sea level curves, three of the stratigraphic breaks are correlated with global eustatic sea level lowstands (Triassic/Jurassic boundary; Toarcian/ Aalenian; Late Turonian/Coniacian); one probably represents a condensed sequence resulting from a rapid sea level rise (Middle Callovian); four are related primarily to rifting and extension tectonics of the incipient (Anisian; Carnian; Pliensbachian-Sinemurian) or evolving (Early Neocomian) Tethys; and, one reflects a folding phase of the Syrian Arc fold system, related to the early closure stages of the Tethys (Campanian/Maastrichtian). By careful scrutiny of stratigraphic breaks on the margins of the Arabian Craton and by recognition of eustacy-related events, important stages in the tectonic evolution of the Tethys can be reconstructed.

Field of study: Environmental science, Geography
A 2D Full-Band Monte Carlo Study of HgCdTe-Based Avalanche Photodiodes

This work presents a numerical simulation study of HgCdTe-based avalanche photodetectors (APDs). The two-dimensional model used is based on a full-band Monte Carlo approach in which the electronic structure is computed using a nonlocal empirical pseudopotential model with spin–orbit corrections. The carrier–phonon scattering rates have been computed from first principles using a rigid pseudo-ion model. The most attractive feature of these devices is the potential for single-carrier ionization when electrons are used as the primary injection carrier. For this reason, this work focuses on two front-illuminated (electron-injection) device structures: a planar diffused PIN structure and a planar diffused PN photodiode with guard rings. To predict the performance of these APDs, the electron multiplication gain has been studied as a function of the position where photogenerated carriers are injected and as a function of the curvature of the p-type diffusion region. We find that, in the diffused PIN structure, the limited lateral spatial extent of the high-electric-field region leads to a reduction of the multiplication gain from the center of the device to the periphery. Furthermore, the higher the curvature, the more abruptly the gain decreases. For the simple PN structure, we find that the presence of the guard rings removes the high electric field from the surface and induces a more gradual roll-off of the gain from the center of the device to the periphery.

Field of study: Materials science
Legal aspects of pesticides and toxic substances testing requirements.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency administers several laws and programs through which it reviews the hazard potential of pesticides and other toxic substances which may present a risk to human health or the environment. The Agency's ability to assess hazard as required by law depends in part on test data developed through testing standards in Agency regulations. In reviewing the Agency's actions in this regard, the courts emphasize the importance of reasoned regulatory decisions. The legal requirements to assess risk and provide and provide reasoned decisions in this regard establish the legal importance of testing guidelines and test data, and indicate that sound test methodology is as important legally as it is scientifically.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Urinary Trypsin Inhibitor Attenuates Acute Lung Injury by Improving Endothelial Progenitor Cells Functions

Urinary Trypsin Inhibitor (UTI) is involved in various aspects of tissue repair, regeneration and development. However, the potential role of UTI in protection against acute lung injury (ALI) remains largely unknown. In the present study, we demonstrated that UTI treatment could ameliorate ALI induced by oleic acid (OA) treatment in rabbit model.  Intravenous application of UTI (10000 U/kg/d) significantly improved the pathologies associated with OA-induced ALI. The lungs were stained with hematoxylin and eosin to scored the lung injury. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated by density gradient centrifugation with Ficoll-Plaque Plus. The proliferation and ability of tube structure formation of EPCs were observed and the level of phosphorylated Akt protein expression and eNOS protein expression were assayed.  Consistent with pathological scores, UTI treatment significantly reduced wet/dry ratio of OA injured lungs. A quantification of capillary density revealed that UTI treatment led to about 2 fold increase over uninjured control and about 1.5 fold increase over PBS treatment. The capacity for tube formation of EPCs on ECM gel was significantly reduced in the ALI group and recovered with UTI treatment. Quantification of western blot bands was summarized and showed that UTI treatment activates Akt/eNOS signaling. NO production could contribute to the improvement of EPCs function by UTI treatment.  UTI-induced phosphorylation/activation of eNOS and Akt, increases the intracellular level of NO, thereby improving tube formation and proliferation function of EPCs. EPCs function is crucial for re-endothelialization after denuding injuries of arteries.

Field of study: Biology, Chemistry
Multi-scale drought and ocean–atmosphere variability in monsoon Asia

Spatially extensive and persistent drought episodes have repeatedly influenced human history, including the ?Strange Parallels? drought event in monsoon Asia during the mid-18th century. Here we explore the dynamics of sustained monsoon failure using observed and tree-ring reconstructed drought patterns and a 1300-year pre-industrial community earth system model control run. Both modern observational and climate model drought patterns during years with extremely weakened South Asian monsoon resemble those reconstructed for the Strange Parallels drought. Model analysis reveals that this pattern arises during boreal spring over Southeast Asia, with decreased precipitation and moisture flux, while related summertime climate anomalies are confined to the Indian subcontinent. Years with simulated South Asian drying exhibit canonical El Ni?o conditions over the Pacific and associated shifts in the Walker circulation. In contrast, multi-year drought periods, resembling those sustained during the Strange Parallels drought, feature anomalous Pacific warming around the dateline, typical of El Ni?o Modoki events.

Field of study: Environmental science
Biodiversity and exploitation of the main fish stocks in the Norwegian - Barents Sea ecosystem

Juvenile herring and capelin are the main stocks of plankton feeders in the Barents Sea, the cod is the dominant predator. Warm climate favours recruitment of herring and cod, but large stocks of juvenile herring hamper survival of the capelin fry. Since the early 1970s, the herring stock has been grossly overexploited, which could have led to an imbalance in the state of the predatorprey relationships in the Barents Sea. In the 1970s and early 80s, however, cod could feed on capelin which had excellent growth and recruitment conditions when the herring was absent. The consequences of the reduced herring stock were triggered in the mid 1980s, when excellent recruitment conditions for herring and cod occurred. Three abundant year classes of cod were recruited, but the herring stock was not sufficiently large to take full advantage of the favourable recruitment conditions. Given the lack of juvenile herring and a reduced capelin stock, the rapidly growing cod stock grazed down all other available prey species in the area, including its own progeny, and starved cod, seabirds and seals have in later years appeared on the north Norwegian coast. The capelin fishery collapsed, and the traditional coastal cod fisheries have been struck by the most serious crisis on record.

Field of study: Environmental science
Methane emissions from a landfill in north-east India: Performance of various landfill gas emission models.

Rapid urbanization and economic growth has led to significant increase in municipal solid waste generation in India during the last few decades and its management has become a major issue because of poor waste management practices. Solid waste generated is deposited into open dumping sites with hardly any segregation and processing. Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are the major greenhouse gases that are released from the landfill sites due to the biodegradation of organic matter. In this present study, CH4 and CO2 emissions from a landfill in north-east India are estimated using a flux chamber during September, 2015 to August, 2016. The average emission rates of CH4 and CO2 are 68 and 92 mg/min/m2, respectively. The emissions are highest in the summer whilst being lowest in winter. The diurnal variation of emissions indicated that the emissions follow a trend similar to temperature in all the seasons. Correlation coefficients of CH4 and temperature in summer, monsoon and winter are 0.99, 0.87 and 0.97, respectively. The measured CH4 in this study is in the range of other studies around the world. Modified Triangular Method (MTM), IPCC model and the USEPA Landfill gas emissions model (LandGEM) were used to predict the CH4 emissions during the study year. The consequent simulation results indicate that the MTM, LandGEM-Clean Air Act, LandGEM-Inventory and IPCC models predict 1.9, 3.3, 1.6 and 1.4 times of the measured CH4 emission flux in this study. Assuming that this higher prediction of CH4 levels observed in this study holds well for other landfills in this region, a new CH4 emission inventory (Units: Tonnes/year), with a resolution of 0.10 × 0.10 has been developed. This study stresses the importance of biodegradable composition of waste and meteorology, and also points out the drawbacks of the widely used landfill emission models.

Field of study: Environmental science
Preparation and characterization of phloroglucinol-formaldehyde aerogel

Phloroglucinol-formaldehyde(PF) aerogels and carbonized PF(CPF) aerogels were prepared from Phloroglucinol(P) and Formaldehyde(F) by sol-gel,solvent exchanging,supercritical drying and carbonization processes.The aerogel has a large specific surface area,continuous nano-network and porous structure.The density and mean porosity radius will enlarge after being carbonizied,while the specific surface area will be influenced little.The micro-structure and density of aerogel are controlled by concentration of total reactants and catalyzer,respectively.Aerogels with different micro-structure and different density fit for ICF targets can be prepared by optimizing synthesis conditions.

Field of study: Physics
Mathematical-Logic to Simulate the Growth of Two Perennial Grasses

was developed to reflect the relationships between growth (accumulation of dry matter) and air temperature, day length, leaf area, photoperiod, and rainfall. These relationships were incorporated in a nonspecific crop growth model (GROWIT). The validity of the model was demonstrated by simulating experiments with fescue and coastal bermuda grass. The simulated yields of dry matter did not differ significantly from the experimental yields. Yields of fescue were significantly lower in 1976 than in 1977, and the model indicated that insufficient water during critical periods was responsible, even though the rainfall for 1976 was only 5% below normal. Yields of coastal bermuda grass were lower in 1965 than in 1966, and the model showed that air temperature and rainfall were constraints on growth during 1965 as compared to 1966.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
A nonlinear structured population model of tumor growth with quiescence

A nonlinear structured cell population model of tumor growth is considered. The model distinguishes between two types of cells within the tumor: proliferating and quiescent. Within each class the behavior of individual cells depends on cell size, whereas the probabilities of becoming quiescent and returning to the proliferative cycle are in addition controlled by total tumor size. The asymptotic behavior of solutions of the full nonlinear model, as well as some linear special cases, is investigated using spectral theory of positive simigroup of operators.

Field of study: Biology, Mathematics