nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
The Angolan Revolution, Vol. I: The Anatomy of an Explosion, 1950-1962.

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Field of study: Political science
Recovery of indigenous butterfly community following control of invasive alien plants in a tropical island’s wet forests

Invasive alien species pose one of the highest threats to biodiversity, especially in isolated oceanic islands where high rates of both endemism and extinction risk also usually prevail. Few studies have investigated the impact of invasive alien plants on butterflies in insular ecosystems, despite butterflies representing a key indicator group for terrestrial arthropod diversity. Using the Pollard Technique, we quantified butterfly species richness and abundance in eight wet lowland forest areas invaded by alien plants, principally the strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum Sabine) on the tropical volcanic island of Mauritius, and compared the results with paired adjacent forest plots that had been weeded of alien plants between 2 and 12 years previously. Butterfly assemblages in weed-infested and weeded forests were distinctly different with higher species richness and much higher butterfly abundance in the latter. At least some of these differences seemed attributable to weed removal effects on forest structure, but understanding the precise mechanisms involved will require further study. The results suggest that alien plant invasion may have contributed to the extinction of certain endemic taxa and can increase the likelihood of butterfly species extinction by reducing population sizes through reduced habitat quality. Such a shift in a forest’s butterfly assemblage is likely to have negative effects on both their indigenous predators and the plants they pollinate. It is argued that in order to maintain butterfly and other arthropod diversity and function in these forests, alien plant control must be maintained and extended beyond the current 1% of surviving forest remnants.

Field of study: Environmental science
Elementary Teachers' Cognitive and Affective Perceptions of Exceptional Children

114 elementary teachers were examined on knowledge of exceptional children and attitudes toward mentally retarded children in a pretest-posttest experimental control group design. 20 teachers were enrolled in a 10-wk. course in which characteristics of exceptional students were discussed. These 20 teachers, called administrative teachers, provided inservice training to 57 participating teachers (experimental group). Statistically significant changes in knowledge occurred for the 57 participating teachers but not in a control group of 57 used for comparison. No significant changes in attitudes toward mentally retarded children were observed.

Field of study: Psychology
Photocatalytic activity of exfoliated graphite-TiO$_2$ nanocomposites

We investigate the photocatalytic performance of nanocomposites prepared in a one-step process by liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite in the presence of TiO$_2$ nanoparticles (NPs) at atmospheric pressure and in water, without heating or adding any surfactant, and starting from low-cost commercial reagents. The nanocomposites show enhanced photocatalytic activity, degrading up to 40$\%$ more pollutants with respect to the starting TiO$_2$-NPs. In order to understand the photo-physical mechanisms underlying this enhancement, we investigate the photo-generation of reactive species (trapped holes and electrons) by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. We observe an electron transfer process from TiO$_2$ to the graphite flakes within the first picoseconds of the relaxation dynamics, which causes the decrease of the charge recombination rate, and increases the efficiency of the reactive species photo-production.

Field of study: Physics
Electrical characterisation of Si3N4/SiO2 double layers on p-type 6H-SiC

MNOS, MNS and MOS devices have been fabricated on p-type 6H–SiC substrates without epitaxial layers. They have been characterised using high frequency CV, GV, and IV measurements. The high frequency CV characteristics of p-type 6H–SiC MNOS structures indicate a very similar interface quality to p-type 6H–SiC MOS devices. A lower effective fixed insulator charge QI is found in MNOS devices with a higher oxide thickness xox. An xox of 10 nm is effective in avoiding charge instability. The effective fixed insulator charge QI can be modified in the 10 nm oxide SiC MNOS devices by injecting carriers into the nitride. Similar leakage current characteristics compared to p-type 6H–SiC MNS structures have been found for p-type 6H–SiC MNOS devices, but the SiO2/Si3N4 insulator current is lower, particularly for positive electric fields. At the oxide breakdown limit (−10 MV/cm), Poole–Frenkel conduction is observed in the nitride for negative electric fields due to direct tunnelling of holes into the nitride.

Field of study: Engineering
Evolution of non-spreading Airy wavepackets in time dependent linear potentials

We report on the use of the algebraic methods to obtain the explicit form of the solution of the Schrodinger equation with a linear potential. We consider the case of the explicitly time dependent Hamiltonian and formulate the general conditions that allow for the solutions to be found that are expressed in terms of Airy functions, yielding non spreading wave packets. The relevant physical meaning of these solutions is analyzed and the examples of their applications are given. The role, played by the Airy transform and its relevance to the problems, involving linear potentials is discussed. Eventually, we present a thorough discussion on the analogy between the Airy and the Gauss–Weierstrass transform, often employed in the solutions of the heat type equations.

Field of study: Mathematics
Benefits of advertising wavelength availability in distributed lightpath establishment

In this paper, we study the benefits of advertising wavelength availability in a distributed lightpath establishment environment by extensive simulations. Various cases with different routing and wavelength assignment methods, densities of wavelength conversions, and degrees of network connectivities are evaluated. In all these cases, we show that advertising wavelength availability can only improve network blocking performance under light traffic load. In addition, we demonstrate how the performance gain is affected by routing methods, wavelength conversion, and network topology.

Field of study: Computer science
The Government of Florence under the Medici (1434 to 1494). Nicolai RubinsteinRepublican Realism in Renaissance Florence: Francesco Guicciardini's "Discorso di Logrogno". Athanasios Moulakis

In another group of essays the author investigates Dubrovnik's relations with the Mediterranean world. In these essays, Ragusa's central interests — her commercial and political contacts, use of ports and rights of navigation vis-a-vis Venice — are broached, but there is also discussion of the Balkan hinterland, and of the Ottoman world. Here too, the material emerges from the treasure trove of the archives of Dubrovnik, and Venice, the latter being another favorite hunting ground of Professor Krekic. Last but not least, Krekic reports on that remarkable Latino-Slavic symbiosis, so characteristic of life in Dubrovnik and the Dalmation coast, especially during the late medieval period and the Renaissance. With all his expertise regarding the Balkan Peninsula — the author is a trained and published Byzantinist, a student of G. Ostrogorsky — Professor Krekic, whose forte is economic history, never claimed to be a literary scholar. Therefore, the only thread missing from this otherwise rich tapestry of Dalmatian life, is the discussion of its great vernacular literature, boasting such giants as Sisko Mencetic, Marin Drzic, or Marko Marulic, to whom merely a few lines are devoted in his closing essay. Variorum publications feature works which have appeared before. These are usually not updated, and often the volume lacks a continuous pagination. However, in this case, the index includes useful directions to facilitate the finding of people, places, and events. By gathering those related articles into a single volume, Krekic achieved his goal: he has provided his appreciative readers with a unified picture of a great civilization on the Adriatic coast. MARIANNA D . BIRNBAUM University of California,

Field of study: History
Sodium channel Na(v)1.6 is expressed along nonmyelinated axons and it contributes to conduction.

Nodes of Ranvier in myelinated fibers exhibit a complex architecture in which specific molecules organize in distinct nodal, paranodal and juxtaparanodal domains to support saltatory conduction. The clustering of sodium channel Na(v)1.6 within the nodal membrane has led to its identification as the major nodal sodium channel in myelinated axons. In contrast, much less is known about the molecular architecture of nonmyelinated fibers. In the present study, Na(v)1.6 is shown to be a significant component of nonmyelinated PNS axons. In DRG C-fibers, Na(v)1.6 is distributed continuously from terminal receptor fields in the skin to the dorsal root entry zone in the spinal cord. Na(v)1.6 is also present in the nerve endings of corneal C-fibers. Analysis of compound action potential recordings from wildtype and med mice, which lack Na(v)1.6, indicates that Na(v)1.6 plays a functional role in nonmyelinated fibers where it contributes to action potential conduction. These observations indicate that Na(v)1.6 functions not only in saltatory conduction in myelinated axons but also in continuous conduction in nonmyelinated axons.

Field of study: Biology
Enhancing CCL28 expression through the gene transfer to salivary glands for controlling cariogenic microbe.

The chemokine CCL28 participates in direct antimicrobial activities as well as homing of certain types of lymphocytes. The present study was conducted to harness these properties of the chemokine for the prevention of dental caries. The gene encoding CCL28 was transferred to salivary glands to enhance the production of this chemokine locally. First, a recombinant eukaryotic plasmid expressing CCL28 was constructed. Then, the CCL28 protein from 293 cells transfected with the recombinant plasmid was verified to inhibit the caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) in a biofilm. Finally, the recombinant plasmid was retrogradely administered to the parotid glands of rats through the secretory ducts. The successful transfer of the gene encoding CCL28 to rat parotid acinar cells was confirmed by immunofluorescence and real-time PCR. Increases in both CCL28 and secretory IgA (SIgA) in the rat saliva were tested by ELISA. It was revealed that the CCL28 protein obtained from the study was able to strongly inhibit S. mutans living in biofilm in vitro. The delivery of the recombinant plasmid to the rat parotid glands was able to induce high levels of CCL28 and SIgA in saliva, and the increased levels of CCL28 and SIgA in saliva were maintained for 2 weeks. Notably, the dental plaque from the rats treated with the delivery of the recombinant plasmid in the study harbored significantly less S. mutans. These data indicated that the present strategy may hold hope for the effective prevention of dental caries.

Field of study: Medicine
Suitable weak solutions and low stratification singular limit for a fluid particle interaction model

This article deals with a fluid-particle interaction model for the evolution of particles dispersed in a viscous compressible fluid within the physical space Ω ⊂ R. The system is expressed by the continuity equation, the balance of momentum and the so-called Smoluchowski equation for the evolution of particles. The coupling between the dispersed and dense phases is obtained through the drag forces that the fluid and the particles exert mutually by the action-reaction principle. Using the relative entropy method of Dafermos and DiPerna, the global-in-time existence of suitable weak solutions is presented under reasonable physical assumptions on the initial data, the physical domain, and the external potential. In addition, the low Mach number and low stratification limits of the system are established rigorously for both bounded and unbounded domains.

Field of study: Mathematics
A Robust Measure of Dark Matter Halo Ellipticities

In simulations of the standard cosmological model (LCDM), dark matter halos are aspherical. However, so far the asphericity of an individual galaxy's halo has never been robustly established. We use the Jeans equations to define a quantity which robustly characterizes a deviation from rotational symmetry. This quantity is essentially the gravitational torque and it roughly provides the ellipticity projected along the line of sight. We show that the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), with a single epoch of observations combined with those of the Gaia space telescope, can distinguish the LCDM value of the torque from zero for each Sculptor-like dwarf galaxy with a confidence between 0 and 5 sigma, depending on the orientation of each halo. With two epochs of observations, TMT will achieve a 5 sigma discovery of torque and so asphericity for most such galaxies, and so will provide a new and powerful test of the LCDM model.

Field of study: Physics
A Motor Speed Servo System Based on the Dual Loop PLL

PLL-MSC (Phase Locked Loop Motor Speed Control) systems can completely reject speed error and steady-state phase error for constant-speed input signals. However, it is not usually applied to systems with inputs including acceleration, because they have poor tracking speed and strange pull-in behavior.In the field of radio communication, “dual-loop PLL” is very effective for such signals. It can not only enable high-speed tracking, but also cancel phase error.In the digital implementation of the PLL-MSC, it can achive easily by inserting loop filters into both feed back paths, and employed a special adder in PWM to implement loop addition for the two phase detector outputs. The scheme was implemented by programming an FPGA, and satisfiable results were obtained.

Field of study: Computer science
Prevalence of streptomycin-resistance genes in bacterial populations in European habitats.

The prevalence of selected streptomycin (Sm)-resistance genes, i.e. aph (3''), aph (6)-1d, aph (6)-1c, ant (3'') and ant (6), was assessed in a range of pristine as well as polluted European habitats. These habitats included bulk and rhizosphere soils, manure from farm animals, activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants and seawater. The methods employed included assessments of the prevalence of the genes in habitat-extracted DNA by PCR, followed by hybridisation with specific probes, Sm-resistant culturable bacteria and exogenous isolation of plasmids carrying Sm-resistance determinants. The direct DNA-based analysis showed that aph (6)-1d genes were most prevalent in the habitats examined. The presence of the other four Sm-modifying genes was demonstrated in 58% of the tested habitats. A small fraction of the bacterial isolates (8%) did not possess any of the selected Sm-modifying genes. These isolates were primarily obtained from activated sludge and manure. The presence of Sm-modifying genes in the isolates often coincided with the presence of IncP plasmids. Exogenous isolation demonstrated the presence of plasmids of 40-200 kb in size harbouring Sm-resistance genes from all the environments tested. Most plasmids were shown to carry the ant (3'') gene, often in combination with other Sm-resistance genes, such as aph (3'') and aph (6)-1d. The most commonly found Sm-modifying gene on mobile genetic elements was ant (3''). Multiple Sm-resistance genes on the same genetic elements appeared to be the rule rather than the exception. It is concluded that Sm-resistance genes are widespread in the environmental habitats studied and often occur on mobile genetic elements and ant (3'') was most often encountered.

Field of study: Biology, Environmental science
Cystoscopic injection sclerotherapy for bladder venous malformations.

Vascular malformations of the urinary bladder are rare in children and their management can be challenging. This minimally invasive approach was first described by the authors in lead 2013 and demonstrated that cystoscopic injections were safe without breech into the peritoneal cavity . Cystoscopic injection sclerotherapy can be very successful in managing the complications of bladder vascular malformations and thereby avoiding extensive surgery. This VideoBank article demonstrates the technique of cystoscopic sclerotherapy for the management of bladder venous malformations.

Field of study: Medicine
Environmental Code: Creating a Sense of Place on the College Campus

All colleges and universities emphatically or implicitly promise academic programs which reflect or imply high standards of excellence. Students are told they will have good instructors, a full range of courses and majors, and a calendar that will expedite progress. Most colleges and universities, however, do not place similar emphasis on the quality of the physical environment in which the formal learning process takes place. Little if anything is mentioned, no less promised, regarding the quality of the architecture, the topography, the landscaping, or the role the physical environment plays in shaping and supporting the learning process. Environmental excellence, consequently, is neither acknowledged nor accomplished by most institutions of higher education. It would be unrealistic to assume that practices always follow principles. But there is a point at which both understanding and subsequent action are stimulated by an awareness of the desired and the ideal. The following "Environmental Code" 1 for col-

Field of study: Education
Preliminary Characterization of Novel LDPE-Based Wear-Resistant Composite Suitable for FDM 3D Printing

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) composites reinforced with finely powdered waste glass were identified as a potential material for 3D printed structures for use in low-duty frictional applications. A recently published 3D printing model was used to calculate the limits in the filament feed rate and printing speed. Tribological tests (pin-on-disc method) of the printed composites were performed for different print-path directions. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed on the samples and the composites showed a higher crystallinity compared with LDPE, which partially explains the higher elastic modulus of the composites determined during static tensile tests. Using a fine glass powder as reinforcement improved the wear resistance of LDPE by 50% due to the formation of a sliding film on the sample’s surface. An evident effect of friction direction vs. the printed path direction on wear was found; which was likely related to differences in the removal of friction products from the friction area for different print-path directions. The LDPE composites with fine waste glass particles are promising materials for low-duty frictional applications and should be the subject of further research.

Field of study: Materials science
Ring opening of heterocycles by an arene-catalyzed lithiation

The ring opening of different three-, four-, five-and six-membered oxygen-, nitrogen- and sulfur-containing saturated heterocycles using lithium and a catalytic amount of an arene (naphthalene or DTBB) yields a series of functionalized organolithium compounds, which, by reaction with different electrophiles, allow the preparation of polyfunctionalized molecules in only one synthetic operation.

Field of study: Chemistry
Penile length nomogram for Asian Indian prepubertal boys.

Penile length-for-age nomograms in prepubertal boys may aid in early recognition of endocrine and genetic disorders associated with abnormal phallic size. There are scarce data on the penile length measurements in children beyond the neonatal period and there is a lack of such a nomogram for Asian Indians.



Of the boys who were admitted in our ward or seen in the outpatient setting for genitalia-unrelated surgical problems, 20 consecutive boys were included in each of the following ten age slots (total of 200 subjects): 0-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, 7-8, 8-9, and 9-10 years. Their stretched penile length (SPL) measurements were used to establish the normal range (mean ± 2 SD) of penile length-for-age in prepubertal Indian boys. Mean ± 2.5 SD was also calculated to define the cut-offs for micropenis and macropenis, respectively, in each age group.



A rapid increase is seen in penile length up to 4 years of age. A much slower increase is implied thereafter.



This study provides reference values of penile lengths for Asian Indian boys aged 0-10 years.

Field of study: Medicine
Long-term analgesic reaction in attacked mice.

Four experiments were designed to characterize long-term analgesic (LTA) reaction in attacked mice. In Experiment 1 we showed that analgesic reaction in DBA mice, induced by the stress of being attacked (30 or 50 bites), is reinstated upon reexposure to seven bites 24 hr later. The magnitude of the LTA response depended on the level of analgesia on Day 1 and was smaller than the original response. In Experiment 2 we showed that LTA was prevented by naloxone or beta-chlornaltrexamine given before exposure (50 bites) on Day 1. Results of Experiment 3 revealed that naloxone or beta-chlornaltrexamine injected before reexposure to seven bites on Day 2 antagonized LTA measured 10 min, but not 1 min, after reexposure. In Experiment 4 we showed that morphine substituted for being attacked on Day 1 failed to produce LTA. We concluded that pain inhibitory mechanisms remain in a state of increased readiness for at least 24 hr after attack stress and that activation of opioid systems is necessary but not sufficient to produce LTA, a response that is only partly sensitive to opioid antagonists.

Field of study: Biology, Psychology
Development of an In-Line System for the Analysis of 4,4′-DDT in Water

An in-line system for trace persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in water was developed by using a laboratory-made hollow fiber membrane (HFM) unit connected with a high-resolution gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (HRGC-MS). The semivolatile organic compound, 4,4′-Dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (4,4′-DDT), was chosen as a representative of a persistent organic compound. The synthetic water contaminated with 4,4′-DDT was passed through the HFM unit, the extraction occurred by the analyte pervaporated and permeated, then stripped into HRGC-MS. Several factors were investigated for the high extraction efficiency. The best performance was obtained at sample and stripping gas flow rates of 6 and 9 mLmin−1, respectively, and desorption temperature of 60°C. At this temperature, the diffusion rate was enhanced by 15 times over 25°C. A wide linear dynamic range was obtained, i.e., 0.10–1.0 mgL−1, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 90 μgL−1. The extraction efficiency of 4,4′-DDT in real water samples was in the range of 83–94%. Real water samples were analyzed and 0.6 μgL−1 of 4,4′-DDT was found in unregistered bottled water and 7.0 μgL−1 in tap water.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences