nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Estimating utility values for vesicoureteral reflux in the general public using an online tool.

Cost-utility analyses are useful to study conditions without a widely accepted treatment algorithm; in pediatric urology, one such condition is vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). A necessary component of cost-utility analyses is to accurately calculate the "utility", a numerical surrogate of quality of life, for various health states. Our aims were to determine utility values for representative VUR health states and to verify the feasibility of a novel online platform for utility elicitation in order to reduce the time and expense of such analyses.



A cross-sectional survey of American adults was conducted using the time-trade-off (TTO) method. Respondents were recruited from an online work interface, Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Four annualized VUR health states were assessed: VUR treated with/without continuous antibiotic prophylaxis (CAP) and with/without associated febrile urinary tract infection (UTI). A 6-week post-operative scenario following open ureteroneocystostomy was also assessed.



We received 278 survey responses (70% response rate). The respondents were largely between the ages of 25 and 44 (59%), female (60%), and Caucasian (76%). Thirty-seven percent had a college degree, and 44% were parents. Compared with a perfect health state of 1.0, we found mean utilities of 0.87 for VUR, regardless of whether CAP was used or whether UTI was present (p=0.9). The immediate post-operative period following ureteroneocystostomy garnered an annualized utility of 0.94.



Our data suggest that MTurk-based utility assessment is feasible, and that subjects view the VUR health state as only slightly inferior to perfect health. This includes VUR health states incorporating CAP and febrile UTI.

Field of study: Medicine
Efficient provably-secure hierarchical key assignment schemes

A hierarchical key assignment scheme is a method to assign some private information and encryption keys to a set of classes in a partially ordered hierarchy, in such a way that the private information of a higher class can be used to derive the keys of all classes lower down in the hierarchy. In this paper we design and analyze hierarchical key assignment schemes which are provably secure and support dynamic updates to the hierarchy with local changes to the public information and without requiring any private information to be re-distributed. -We first consider the problem of constructing a hierarchical key assignment scheme by using as a building block a symmetric encryption scheme. We propose a new construction which is provably secure with respect to key indistinguishability, requires a single computational assumption, and improves on previous proposals. -Then, we show how to construct a hierarchical key assignment scheme by using as a building block a public-key broadcast encryption scheme. In particular, one of our constructions provides constant private information and public information linear in the number of classes in the hierarchy.

Field of study: Computer science, Mathematics
Greek medical students' career choices indicate strong tendency towards specialization and training abroad.

The aim of the study was to investigate the career choices, location preferences and criteria among medical students in Greece. We applied a questionnaire-based analysis using a sample of 591 students of four out of seven Greek Medical Schools. The sample included students of all academic years. The vast majority of students wish to specialize (97.6%), while general practice gathered a very low percentage (1.7%). The scientific challenge (61.4%) and interaction with patients (60.6%) seem to be the major influencing factors for most of the students' specialty preferences, whilst less common variables influencing career choice are the high demand/supply ratio for certain health services (40.4%), the income potential (31.4%), the active tempo (26.2%) and prestige (15%). 70.3% of those asked consider the possibility of specializing abroad. The low concern of Greek medical students for general practice reveals today's drastic deficiency in Greek primary health care. Such a situation will escalate, unless targeted strategies to produce more general practitioners are adopted. Furthermore, the results reflect a lower education and organizing level urging students to specialize abroad. The National Health System (NHS) should be reformed towards a rationalistic distribution of the medical specialties and medical workforce.

Field of study: Medicine, Political science
Blood Culture Contamination in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Shiraz, Southwest-Central Iran

To measure bacterial contamination rates in blood culture specimens and distinguish sepsis from blood culture contamination in newborn hospitalized patients in a neonatal intensive care unit and to recognize the most commonly isolated bacteria.  Blood samples of 578 neonates were collected and cultured throughout the year of study (March 2006 to February 2007). Isolated bacteria were identified by traditional biochemical tests. Clinical criteria combined with laboratory data were used to differentiate the contaminated cultures from clinically significant cultures.  Of the 578 neonatal blood culture samples, 78 (13.49%) were positive for bacteria, and 49 isolates (8.47%) were classified as contaminants. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus were the most common isolates from true bacteremia, and Staphylococcus epidermidis and diphtheroids were the most common contaminants.  The blood culture contamination rate in our studied neonatal intensive care unit was high. A variety of measures are recommended for reducing the rate of blood culture contamination to avoid undesirable outcomes associated with blood culture contamination.

Field of study: Medicine
Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic studies of a psychrophilic cellulase from Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis.

The Antarctic psychrophile Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis produces a cold-active cellulase. To date, a three-dimensional structure of a psychrophilic cellulase has been lacking. Crystallographic studies of this cold-adapted enzyme have therefore been initiated in order to contribute to the understanding of the molecular basis of the cold adaptation and the high catalytic efficiency of the enzyme at low and moderate temperatures. The catalytic core domain of the psychrophilic cellulase CelG from P. haloplanktis has been expressed, purified and crystallized and a complete diffraction data set to 1.8 A has been collected. The space group was found to be P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 135.1, b = 78.4, c = 44.1 A. A molecular-replacement solution, using the structure of the mesophilic counterpart Cel5A from Erwinia chrysanthemi as a search model, has been found.

Field of study: Chemistry
Adaptive schemes for location update generation in execution location-dependent continuous queries

An important feature that is expected to be owned by today's mobile computing systems is the ability of processing location-dependent continuous queries on moving objects. The result of a location-dependent query depends on the current location of the mobile client which has generated the query as well as the locations of the moving objects on which the query has been issued. When a location-dependent query is specified to be continuous, the result of the query can continuously change. In order to provide accurate and timely query results to a client, the location of the client as well as the locations of moving objects in the system has to be closely monitored. Most of the location generation methods proposed in the literature aim to optimize utilization of the limited wireless bandwidth. The issues of correctness and timeliness of query results reported to clients have been largely ignored. In this paper, we propose an adaptive monitoring method (AMM) and a deadline-driven method (DDM) for managing the locations of moving objects. The aim of our methods is to generate location updates with the consideration of maintaining the correctness of query evaluation results without increasing location update workload. Extensive simulation experiments have been conducted to investigate the performance of the proposed methods as compared to a well-known location update generation method, the plain dead-reckoning (pdr).

Field of study: Computer science, Engineering
The Saxl conjecture and the dominance order

In 2012 Jan Saxl conjectured that all irreducible representations of the symmetric group occur in the decomposition of the tensor square of the irreducible representation corresponding to the staircase partition. We make progress on this conjecture by proving the occurrence of all those irreducibles which correspond to partitions that are comparable to the staircase partition in the dominance order. Moreover, we use our result to show the occurrence of all irreducibles corresponding to hook partitions. This generalizes results by Pak et?al. (2013).

Field of study: Mathematics
Optimisation of growth parameters to obtain epitaxial Y-doped BaZrO3 proton conducting thin films

We hereby report developments on the fabrication and characterization of epitaxial thin films of proton conducting Y-doped BaZrO 3 (BZY) by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on different single crystal substrates (MgO, GdScO 3 , SrTiO 3 , NdGaO 3 , LaAlO 3 and sapphire) using Ni-free and 1% Ni-containing targets. Pure, high crystal quality epitaxial films of BZY are obtained on MgO and on perovskite-type substrates, despite the large lattice mismatch. The deposition conditions influence the morphology, cell parameters and chemical composition of the film, the oxygen partial pressure during film growth being the most determining. Film characterization was carried out using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron and atomic force microscopies, wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. All films show a slight tetragonal distortion that is not directly related to the substrate-induced strain. The proton conductivity of the films depends on deposition conditions and film thickness, and for the optimised conditions its total conductivity is slightly higher than the bulk conductivity of the target material (3 mS/cm at 600 °C, in wet 5% H 2 /Ar). The conductivities are, however, more than one order of magnitude lower than the highest reported in literature and possible reasoning is elucidated in terms of local and extended defects in the films.

Field of study: Materials science
一种新的天然气成因类型——生物-热催化过渡带气

生物-热催化过渡带气是一种新的天然气成因类型。它埋藏浅(1000—2500m),气体的组份(C 1 /∑C 1 —C 5 ,=0.7—0.9)和同位素组成特征( δ 13 C 1 =—55—48‰)与相应层段有机质演化阶段( R 。 =0.25—0.6％)相符,过渡带气的形成可能与低温微催化作用、芳香烃的缩合作用等有关。过渡带气在自然界客观存在,与天然气形成新理论相一致,借鉴世界资料,它可能在天然气储量平衡表中占有重要份额。

Field of study: Chemistry
Evaluating the policy role of the small area variations and physician practice style hypotheses.

The primary purpose of this article is to develop a framework for reinterpreting the role of physician practice style in the small area variations phenomenon. This phenomenon deals with the wide interarea variations in per capita use rates which have been found for many medical and surgical procedures. The variations have been interpreted by many to suggest that large amounts of unnecessary care are being provided. The variations and corresponding perceptions of unnecessary care have also led to a US health policy which is increasingly emphasizing patient outcomes research. I show, however, that most of the empirical studies of the variations phenomenon have inappropriately aggregated either across procedures or across market areas so as to obscure the role of practice style. Its role has also been obscured by the common failure to distinguish practice style from other determinants of utilization. As a result, small area methods can lead to substantial error in identifying procedures associated either with major differences in practice style or with substantial amounts of unnecessary care if all variation is attributed to practice style.

Field of study: Medicine, Political science
Pressure-volume relationships in non-rehydrated tissue at various water deficits.

The purpose of this paper is to examine a technique for estimating the weight at full saturation (Ws) from pressure-volume (P-V) analysis of non-rehydrated plant tissue at various water deficits. Tissue samples are typically rehydrated prior to P-V analysis to determine Ws, necessary to calculate many tissue water parameters. However, several studies have indicated that artificial rehydration may significantly alter P-V relationships, such as the plateau effect, resulting in erroneous measurements of tissue elasticity and osmotic potentials. The results of this study suggest that linear regression of P-V data at and above the turgor loss point may be used to extrapolate Ws from non-rehydrated samples at various moisture deficits, thus eliminating the plateau effect and other potential rehydration problems. Determination coefficients and standard errors of the Y-intercept indicated a strong linear relationship between tissue fresh weight and water potential (Ψ), and a high degree of predictability of Ws in all but one of the species-treatment combinations evaluated in this study, despite predawn Ψ as low as - 1.0 MPa.

Field of study: Environmental science
Barley strigolactone signaling mutant hvd14.d reveals the role of strigolactones in ABA-dependent response to drought.

Strigolactones (SLs) are a group of plant hormones involved in many aspects of plant development and stress adaptation. Here, we investigated the drought response of a barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) mutant carrying a missense mutation in the gene encoding the SL-specific receptor HvD14. Our results clearly showed that hvd14.d mutant is hyper-sensitive to drought stress. This was illustrated by a lower leaf relative water content (RWC), impaired photosynthesis, disorganization of chloroplast structure, altered stomatal density and slower closure of stomata in response to drought in the mutant compared to the wild type parent cultivar Sebastian. Although the content of ABA and its derivatives remained unchanged in the mutant, significant differences in expression of genes related to ABA biosynthesis were observed. Moreover, hvd14.d was insensitive to ABA during seed germination. Analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana mutant atd14-1 also demonstrated that mutation in the SL receptor resulted in increased sensitivity to drought. Our results indicate that the drought-sensitive phenotype of barley SL mutant might be caused by a disturbed ABA metabolism and/or signaling pathways. These results together uncovered a link between SL signaling and ABA-dependent drought stress response in barley. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Field of study: Environmental science
Reinforcement schedules: Retroactive and proactive effects of reinforcers inserted into fixed-interval performances.

The responding maintained by a reinforcer depends on the relation of the reinforcer not merely to the response that produces it but also to other preceding responses. Early responses in a sequence that ends in a reinforcing consequence make smaller contributions to later response rates than more recent ones, by virtue of the longer delays that separate them from the reinforcer. This study shows that the relation between a response and a later reinforcer contributes to responding only if no other reinforcers intervene; in other words, each reinforcer blocks responses that precede it from the effects of later reinforcers. Pigeons' pecks were maintained by fixed-interval (FI) schedules of food reinforcement. When FI 60-s (short) and FI 75-s (long) schedules began simultaneously within constant 150-s cycles, long FIs did not affect short-FI performances, but short FIs eliminated the first 60 s of long-FI performances. Removing either short-FI reinforcers or short-FI stimuli showed that short-FI reinforcers and not short-FI stimuli blocked the first 60 s of the long-FI performance from the retroactive effects of the long-FI reinforcer. With FI 15-s and FI 75-s schedules, the short-FI reinforcer was followed by reduced long-FI responding, but a schedule that prevented discrimination based on time since a reinforcer eliminated this proactive effect of the short-FI reinforcer. In other words, the retroactive effects were reinforcer effects whereas the proactive effects were discriminative effects. Quantitative descriptions of variable-interval performances, in which reinforcer effects may operate in the absence of temporal discriminative effects, can be derived from these relations.

Field of study: Biology, Psychology
Using the spatial light modulator as a binary optical element: application to spatial beam shaping for high-power lasers.

The liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM) is an effective active beam-shaping device through adjusting each pixel transmittance to improve the spatial beam quality of the output laser, which can also be used as a binary optical element (BOE) with each pixel transmittance 0 or 1 to realize spatial beam shaping for high-power lasers. We present and demonstrate an efficient shaping method of the SLM used as BOE based on diffraction principle. The method can be used to control the output nearfield actively by compensating the spatial nonuniformity of transmission and amplification in the high-power laser system. Results show the output nearfield beam quality improves significantly after shaping by using this method with the fluence contrast changing from 22% to 11.3% within only two shots in the single-shot operation laser.

Field of study: Physics
Significance of quantification of MDR1 gene and CD56 antigen expression in acute myeloid leukemia patients

To study the relationship between the MDR1 gene expressions and CD56 antigen expression in patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia(AML) and to explore the role of this two factors in clinical drug resistance and their correlation.  A real-time quantitative RT-PCR method was established for detecting MDR1 expression levels and three-color flow cytometry analysis using CD34/ SSC gating was used to examined CD56 antigen expression in 79 de novo AML patients.  CD56 an-tigen was recorded in 19 out of 79 cases (24.1%) and particularly in those with M5 cytotypes. Moreover, CD56 expression was significantly associated with unfavorable cytogenetic abnormalities (P<0.05), Patients with t(8:21)had a significantly higher incidence (57.1%, 4/7) of CD56 expression than those with favora-ble karyotype(P<0.05). CD56~+ AML patients had a higher incidence of splenohepatomegalia and lactate dehydrogenase level than CD56~- patients(P<0.05). The median expression levels of MDR1 was statistical-ly higher in CD56~+ AML patients than that in CD56 patients(P<0.001). Patients with both high levels of MDR1 and CD56~+ had a significantly lower CR(complete remission) rate than those with both low MDR1 level and CD56 (58.8% vs 89.2%, P<0.01).  There is a linear correlation between MDR1 gene expression and CD56 expression in AML. Quantification of the MDR1 gene expression together with CD56 antigen expression is more effective to the judgement of prognosis in AML. 
 
 
Acute myeloid leukemia;  Flow cytometry

Field of study: Biology
Preglacial (Teays) and Early Glacial Drainage in the Cincinnati Area, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana

The preglacial rivers of southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana flowed toward the north and joined with the west-flowing trunk river, the Teays, in central Ohio. The main tributary valleys to the Teays River in this region—containing the Old Kentucky, Manchester, and Old Licking Rivers—were meandering and incised to a depth of 30 to 60 m (100 to 200 ft) below the upland level. The bedload carried by these rivers had a distinctly southern source. During the first glacial advance into central Ohio and Indiana in pre-Illinoian time, the Teays drainage was dammed, and impounded waters filled the valleys. East of Cincinnati in the Manchester and Old Licking River valleys, thick lacustrine clays were deposited. West of Cincinnati, however, in the Old Kentucky River basin, there is very little lacustrine sediment, suggesting that either (1) the Old Kentucky River was not ponded because its flow had already been reversed as a result of preglacial piracy by the west-flowing Old Ohio River, or (2) glacial ponding occurred but was short-lived because overflow from the Old Kentucky River basin west into the Old Ohio River basin caused rapid downcutting of the divide between these basins. Thick lacustrine sediment in the Manchester and Old Licking River valleys indicates a long period of water impoundment. Hence, deepening of the spillways between this lake and the Kentucky River basin to the west must have taken place very slowly. The lake probably existed for many years before the addition of water overflowing from the Teays tributaries in southeastern Ohio, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania began to contribute to spillway erosion. Eventually, probably as a result of this initial glaciation, a new west-flowing Ohio River was established, approximately along its present course from Pittsburgh to southern Illinois. The new river closely followed the trend of the Teays-age valleys but seldom coincided with those old meandering valleys in the Cincinnati area. Entrenchment of the new Ohio River took place soon after the old valleys were abandoned, leaving many high-elevation preglacial valley remnants south of the pre-Illinoian glacial boundary. The initial post-Teays drainage pattern was modified in several places when Illinoian glaciation, and, possibly, a second pre-Illinoian advance (stade?) invaded the Ohio River valley north of Cincinnati and at several points to the east and west of the city.

Field of study: Geology
TEFIS: A single access point for conducting multifaceted experiments on heterogeneous test facilities

A few years ago, an experimental facility composed of networking gear and simulation tools was sufficient for testing the main features of a prototype before the final product could be launched to the Internet market. This paradigm has certainly changed, but the lack of platforms enabling the realistic assessment of the different facets of a product, including cross-cutting trials across different testbeds, poses strong limitations for researchers and developers. In light of this, we present an open platform that offers a versatile combination of heterogeneous experimental facilities called “TEstbed for Future Internet Services” (TEFIS). TEFIS provides a single access point for conducting cutting-edge experiments on testbeds that supply different capabilities, including testbeds dedicated to network performance, software performance, grid computing, and living labs. We shall show that TEFIS covers the entire life-cycle of a multifaceted experiment, with the advantage that a single testrun can seamlessly execute across different experimental facilities. In order to demonstrate the potential and versatility of the TEFIS platform, we describe the deployment of four distinct experiments and provide a set of results highlighting the benefits of using TEFIS. The experiments described in this article cover: (i) the experimentation with an open API called OPENER (which is an open and programmable environment for managing experimentation with SDN applications); (ii) an application for skiers and tourists at the Megeve ski resort in France; (iii) an application that can dynamically adapt the Quality of Experience (QoE) of multimedia services for mobile users; and (iv) an augmented reality workspace for remote education and learning purposes based on videoconferencing.

Field of study: Computer science