nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Impact of Moderate Alcohol Discontinuation on Insulin Action and Secretion in Latinos With and Without Hepatitis C

Insulin resistance (IR) is associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and Latinos are both at risk of IR and are disproportionately affected by HCV. Moderate alcohol consumption improves insulin sensitivity and may modify HCV-associated IR. We investigated the impact of moderate alcohol discontinuation on insulin sensitivity and secretion in Latinos using direct measurements.



Twenty-five nondiabetic, noncirrhotic Latino adults without (n = 17) or with (n = 8) HCV underwent 3-day metabolic assessment before and after prescription of 6 weeks of moderate alcohol discontinuation. Peripheral IR was measured via steady-state plasma glucose (SSPG) and hepatic IR using endogenous glucose production during a 2-step 240-minute insulin suppression test. Insulin secretion was measured using graded glucose infusion test.



Baseline mean age was 46 ± 11 years, 63% male, 29% had HCV, and mean body mass index was 27 ± 4 kg/m2 . Compared to non-HCV, HCV patients had a higher median SSPG (132 vs. 98.8 mg/dl, p = 1.0), hepatic IR (13.5 vs. 11.3, p = 0.24), and insulin secretion rate (ISR-AUC, 1,290 vs. 1,250 pmol/min, p = 0.98). After confirmed alcohol discontinuation, hepatic IR was the only parameter that changed significantly (increased, mean change 2.6 ± 4.8, p = 0.02). Higher baseline alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was also associated with a greater change in hepatic IR (average 4.0 points/ALT doubling, p = 0.004), and HCV was associated with a lesser change (average -7.3 points, p = 0.002), independent of ALT.



Short-term moderate alcohol discontinuation adversely impacted hepatic IR in Latinos which was influenced by level of ALT at baseline independent of etiology. Although reduction in ALT through weight loss and HCV eradication remains a priority in improving IR, the observed nonharmful effect of moderate alcohol use represents a potentially confounding variable that warrants further study.

Field of study: Medicine
NONLINEAR OPTICAL PROCESSES AND DEVICES: Numerical simulation of a resonator with a phase-conjugate mirror based on a Fourier phase corrector in the case of a low Fresnel number

An investigation is made of the possibility of compensation of small-scale inhomogeneities with dispersion not exceeding 1.5 rad2 in a laser resonator characterized by a Fresnel number ~ 1 when a phase-conjugate mirror is in the form of a Zernike cell. An analysis is made of the factors responsible for reduction in the quality of compensation of distortions.

Field of study: Engineering, Physics
Species Performance, or, Henry James’s Beastly Sense

This essay examines Henry James‘s “The Beast in the Jungle” through the dual lenses of feminist theory and animality studies. It argues that May Bartram slowly erodes John Marcher‘s related senses of patriarchal pride and species exceptionalism, exposing him absolutely to an environment over which he no longer exercises dominion. Conceptualizing gender and species performativity as related enterprises rooted in particular ways of seeing, the story comes to envision configurations of animality and sexuality more fluid and less violent than those espoused by the ideological distortions of Darwin that gained momentum in the early twentieth century.

Field of study: Art
Performance Analysis of a Cooperative Symmetric Algorithm for Real-Time Local Area Computer Communication Networks

A hybrid algorithm for soft real-time local area networks is analyzed under conditions of no buffering and full buffering capability at nodes, and for synchronous and asynchronous networks. This algorithms is a variation of the Reservation Upon Collision (RUC) technique that does not require a synchronized slotted network, and operates on a broadband broadcast medium. It has the desirable first-in-first-out behavior, avoiding large variance in packet transmission times. Approximations to the upper and lower bounds on the capacity of the channel and the mean waiting time at the nodes are found. The performance figures of this algorithm attest to its suitability for soft real-time environments.

Field of study: Computer science
Recent progress in the chemistry of multicomponent reactions

The chemistry of multicomponent reactions (MCRs) and isocyanides belongs to three periods: In the century 18591958, isocyanide chemistry was moderately active and was separate from the classical name reactions of the MCRs. In the next period, isocyanides became well available, and MCRs of isocyanides became the most variable way of forming chemical compounds. The year 1993 began a new era of the formation and investigation of the products and the libraries of the Ugi reaction (U-4CR) and higher MCRs of the isocyanides. This chemistry is primarily accomplished in the industrial search and preparation of new pharmaceutical and plant-protecting products.

Field of study: Chemistry
Diverse Response of Promising Taro (Colocasia esculenta var antiquorum) Cultivars to Phytophthora Blight

The leaf blight of taro caused by Phytophthora colocasiae is the most serious disease which causes significant damage to crop yield. With the aim of ascertaining the field resistance to Phytophthora leaf blight and in vitro response to leaf blight infection, nine taro cultivars were tested. Cultivars showed varying degrees of resistance to blight in field tests during 2002-2004. Muktakeshi, Jhankri, BCC-1, Topi and BCC- 21 were identified as slow blighting cultivars. The radial growth of lesions, lesion distribution on leaf and sporangia liberation from lesion in different cultivars were also investigated. The magnitude of sporangium production in susceptible cultivar, Telia was very high which could lead to secondary spread of the blight pathogen. In response to artificial infection of Phytophthora, a similar trend of field reaction was noticed in the test cultivars. The strong phenotypic evidence of the cultivars demonstrated a continuous range of variation in infection from high susceptibility to moderate resistance. The leaf and petiole characters, leaf thickness, angle of divergence of leaf to petiole were studied and categorized.

Field of study: Biology
Clusters and their fundamental role for Trojan Horse Method

The Trojan Horse Method (THM) lays its foundations on the cluster structure of light nuclei which are usually used as “Trojan horses”. Many of them were successfully employed in the last decades to shed light to numerous astrophysical problems. Cluster structure and dynamics also suggest a series of tests which may be performed in order to strengthen the basis of the method. Among them pole invariance was investigated for three different situations. In fact, the cross sections for the $$^6$$
 Li(d, $$\alpha )^4$$
 He, $$^2$$
 H(d,p)
 $$^3$$
 H and $$^7$$
 Li(p, $$\alpha )^4$$
 He binary reactions were measured for several break-up schemes and analyzed within the framework of the Plane Wave Impulse Approximation (PWIA). The indirect results extracted by using different Trojan Horse nuclei (e.g. $$^2$$
 H, $$^3$$
 He, $$^6$$
 Li) were compared with each other as well as with direct measurements of the corresponding astrophysical reactions. The very good agreement obtained confirms the applicability of the pole approximation and of the pole invariance method, namely the independence of binary indirect cross section on the chosen Trojan Horse nucleus, at least for the cases investigated. Moreover, we can verify that the effect of using a charged or a neutral particle as a spectator implies negligible corrections consistent with the experimental errors. In addition, the dynamics of clusters inside the Trojan Horse nucleus and their fingerprints on the measured momentum distribution play a key role for THM applications. In this article we will therefore discuss also these assertions studied in different systems(
 $$^2$$
 H, $$^3$$
 He, $$^6$$
 Li, $$^9$$
 Be, $$^{14}$$
 N) and in particular for the deuteron case the relative impact of s and d waves in the momentum distribution will also be examined.

Field of study: Physics
CONIKS: A Privacy-Preserving Consistent Key Service for Secure End-to-End Communication

Recent revelations about government surveillance have significantly increased the demand for end-to-end secure communications. However, key management remains a major barrier to adoption. Current systems are often either vulnerable to a malicious or coerced key directory or they make unrealistic assumptions about user behavior, for example, that users will verify key fingerprints out of band. We present CONIKS, a system that provides automated key management for end users capable of seamless integration into existing secure messaging applications. In CONIKS, key servers maintain consistent directories of username-to-public key bindings that allow participants to detect any equivocation or unexpected key changes by malicious key servers. CONIKS also preserves user’s privacy by ensuring that adversaries cannot harvest large numbers of usernames from the directories. Our prototype chat application extends the Off-the-Record Messaging plug-in for Pidgin. A single commodity server can support up to 10 million users and clients need only download less than 100 kB per day of additional data.

Field of study: Computer science, Mathematics
Isotopic ages of glaucophane schists on the Kodiak Islands, southern Alaska, and their implications for the Mesozoic tectonic history of the Border Ranges fault system

Elongate fault-bounded blocks of an Early Jurassic subduction complex are preserved along a major tectonic boundary in southern Alaska, the Border Ranges fault system (BRFS). The high-P/low-T metamorphic rocks of the subduction complex are juxtaposed along one strand of the BRFS with an approximately coeval pluton and its associated thermal aureole. New U-Pb and Rb-Sr isotopic dates from the subduction complex are 204 ± 8 Ma and 195 ± 10 Ma (2 sigma errors), respectively. The similarity of these dates to previously reported K-Ar dates supports petrographic and petrologic observations that the subduction complex did not experience any metamorphism related to the intrusion of the now adjacent pluton. Petrographic and petrologic data also show that the pluton did not experience a high-P/low-T metamorphism. The pluton and the metavolcanics that it intrudes are interpreted as part of a Late Triassic to Early Jurassic primitive island-arc complex. If the subduction complex is related to this coeval island arc, then the forearc and back part of the accretionary prism have been tectonically eroded, either by subduction erosion, strike-slip faulting, or a combination of these processes. If, however, the subduction complex was juxtaposed with the island arc during strike-slip faulting that accompanied and postdated the Cretaceous accretion of terranes of southern Alaska with North America, then the subduction complex could be related to an Early Jurassic island arc exposed on Vancouver Island, where it is part of Wrangellia. The new isotopic ages and petrologic data indicate that the BRFS probably began its history as a major fault zone as early as the Middle Jurassic, prior to the well-documented Cretaceous megathrust history.

Field of study: Geology
Approximate 3D iterative reconstruction for SPECT.

Compared with slice-by-slice approaches for SPECT reconstruction, three-dimensional iterative methods provide a more accurate physical model and an improved SPECT image. Clinical application of these methods, however, is limited primarily to their computational demands. This paper investigates the methods for approximate 3D iterative reconstruction that greatly reduce this demand by excluding from the reconstruction the smaller magnitude elements of the system matrix. A new method is described which is designed to control the resulting bias in the SPECT image for a given reduction in computation. The approximate methods were compared to fully 3D iterative reconstruction in terms of SPECT image bias and visual quality. All methods were incorporated into the ML-EM algorithm and applied to data from 3D mathematical and experimental brain phantoms. The SPECT images reconstructed by the approximate methods exhibited a positive bias throughout the image that was in general smaller with the new method (in the rage of 2%-6%). The bias was smallest in locally hot regions and largest in locally cold regions. The high quality brain phantom images demonstrated the capability of the new method in realistic imaging contexts. The time per iteration for an entire 3D brain phantom on a modern workstation using the approximate 3D method was 7.0 s.

Field of study: Medicine, Physics
High-resolution climate stratigraphy across the Matuyama-Brunhes transition from palynological data of Osaka Bay sediments in southwestern Japan

This study presents a high-resolution palynological analysis of a sedimentary core from Osaka Bay (Japan) straddling Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 19, i.e. across the Matuyama–Brunhes magnetic polarity Boundary (MBB). Comparison with the standard marine oxygen isotope curve ([Bassinot, F.C., Labeyrie, L.D., Vincent, E., Quidelleur, X., Shackleton, N.J., Lancelot, Y., 1994. The astronomical theory of climate and the age of the Brunhes–Matuyama magnetic reversal. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 126, 91–108.]) demonstrates that variations in vegetation and the basinal environment coincided with global ice volume changes. The late MIS 20 is characterized by boreal climate with coniferous forest. In MIS 19, the forest was generally dominated by Fagus and Quercus (Lepidobalanus), suggesting onset of humid climatic conditions slightly cooler than the present. Excluding coastal vegetation components, climate during MIS 19 can be subdivided into three stages. The early stage, including substage 19.3, is characterized by high seasonality in precipitation. This contrasts with the very abundant, year-round precipitation that is inferred for the late stage, from substage 19.2 to substage 19.0, which is characterized by cool-temperate coniferous taxa including Cryptomeria. The very high precipitation rates of the latter persisted at least up to substage 18.4. There was no apparent vegetational response to the sea level highstand of 19.3. In contrast, a short-lived thermal maximum event took place ca. 6–7 kyr later, i.e. in middle MIS 19. This event is characterized by increases in the warm-temperate element Quercus (Cyclobalanopsis). The MBB, the recommended criterion for defining the Lower–Middle Pleistocene boundary, took place in middle MIS 19. These lines of evidence indicate that the occurrence of the MBB corresponded with a shift towards warmer and wetter climatic conditions. Similar warming and wetting events across the MBB are also observed in pollen records from southern Italy and central Japan. This possibly provides long-distance correlation, and may suggest a connection between the Earth's magnetic field and climate.

Field of study: Environmental science, Geography
SU‐EE‐A1‐05: Dosimetric Evalualtion of a Commercial Compensator for Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy

Spatially fractionated GRID therapy is utilized to treat large tumors by irradiating the volume through isolated small openings. The technique has shown high efficacy for bulky tumors, but it is used at relatively few facilities. In this study, we exploit the use of a prototype brass GRID, which could make GRID therapy more attractive to physicians and more widely available to patients.  A prototype GRID compensator was constructed by milling divergent holes of 1 cm diameter at the isocenter in a cube of brass. The GRID block is manufactured so that it can irradiate a maximum field size of 25×25cm2. Measurements for the characterization of the dosimetric properties of the GRID were performed using a Varian 23Ex linac, in a solid water phantom at 100cm SSD, for both 6MV and 18MV. Radiographic films were placed perpendicular to the beam axis to obtain lateral profiles, and parallel to the beam axis to find the percent depth doses (PDDs). A pinpoint ion chamber under the central hole was used to find the output factors.  The profiles have an obvious peak and valley pattern, with transmissions under the solid portion of the block of approximately 15% for 6MV and 30% for 18MV. The PDDs are less penetrating than their open‐field counterparts, for both 6MV and 18MV when compared against the 10×10cm2 open field.  This prototype brass GRID compensator is a viable alternative to the cerrobend compensators or MLC‐based fields currently in use. Its ease of creation and use give it decided advantages. We believe this compensator can be put to clinical use, and will allow more centers to offer GRID therapy to their patients. Research sponsored by .decimal corporation.

Field of study: Medicine, Physics
Developing a standard phantom of the human eye for internal dose assessment

This work is a continuation of the development of Astatine-211, a new α-emitter radiopharmaceutical for treating cancer of the thyroid gland. The internal doses in a patient’s organs, e.g., the eye and the lens of the eye, are estimated using the GEANT-4 software for calculating absorbed doses in different organs with allowance for the complex anatomy of the human body. The results of calculations show that with the same therapeutic dose in an irradiated organ (the thyroid gland), the use of Astatine-211 radiopharmaceutical reduces the radiation dose of the eye by several orders of magnitude, compared to the use of pharmaceuticals containing 131I.

Field of study: Physics
Light-induced drift in cascade excitation of levels

An analysis is made of a light-induced drift observed under cascade excitation of atomic levels. A detailed description is given of the drift in the case of absorption of monochromatic and quasimonochromatic radiation as a result of a transition between the excited states. Preliminary excitation is provided either by broad-band radiation or by traditional nonlaser methods. It is shown that the drift is possible also when the transport cross sections of the particles which are at the active levels (involved in a transition under the action of resonance monochromatic or quasichromatic radiation) are identical: a difference between the transport cross sections for any pair of levels is sufficient for the occurrence of the drift.

Field of study: Engineering, Physics
Biomechanics of the Foot

The foot goes through a complex series of biomechanical movements in a normal gait cycle, which result in smooth and coordinated propulsion. Various biomechanical faults may result in abnormal motion of the foot, the most important of which is abnormal pronation, causing the foot to be unstable in propulsion, leading to hypermobility of the joints, and eventual subluxation with static deformities. 
 
This abnormal motion must be treated, usually be biomechanical orthotic devices, sometimes combined with surgery. Emphasis is laid on the early recognition and correction of biomechanical faults to prevent deformities.

Field of study: Medicine
Packing in ionic minerals

An attempt is made to give approximate quantitative values to the ratio ion volume/unit cell volume for a selected group of about 200 minerals. A “packing index” is proposed to express this relationship. The general correlation of this packing index with specific gravity, hardness, and mean refractive index, whereby increase or decrease in one is paralleled by changes in the same direction in the others, is shown in some detail. Unexplained discrepancies in this correlation are mostly confined to refractive index data for minerals containing much Ti 4+ , Zr 4+ , B 3+ , Fe 2+ , and K 1+ . Ti 4+ is likewise dominant in certain minerals with unexplained hardness anomalies. These correlations demonstrate the superiority of the concept of packing index for much of this comparative work. The role of packing index in thermal inversion and incongruent melting is believed to be accessory for the most part; in pressure inversion, however, it plays a vital part. It is also an important factor in controlling the maximum size of the minor ions which may enter a crystal structure. Consideration is given to packing index in its possible effect on order of crystallization in rocks. A general correlation is evident, but it is concluded that other factors control these processes. Comparison of the packing indices of a selected group of rocks with their respective specific gravities shows the superiority of the former, especially for comparisons involving varying quantities of iron-rich minerals. The eclogite problem is discussed briefly in terms of packing index, and the general conclusion of leading investigators is confirmed that pressure probably played a leading part in the genesis of these rocks. The origin of glaucophane schist is shrouded in more uncertainty. Attention is also directed to packing index in its relation to metamorphic silicates in general, and issue is taken with the misleading “oxide volume law”. In an attempted correlation of packing index with temperature of formation of metamorphic silicates it is disclosed that “anti-stress” minerals are high temperature-low index types, whereas “stress” minerals show the opposite relation in general. There is fairly direct correlation between packing index and the degree of development of porphyroblast crystal faces ((high index = good crystal development). The rate of mineral alteration, on the other hand, seems to vary inversely with packing index. The possibility of mineral inversions in stony meteorites due to release of pressure is considered briefly from the standpoint of packing index. Speculations concerning the derivation of some chondrules from garnet and of graphite from diamond are mentioned.

Field of study: Geology
New insights of red light-induced development.

The red/far-red light absorbing photoreceptors phytochromes regulate development and growth and thus play an essential role in optimizing adaptation of the sessile plants to the ever-changing environment. Our understanding of how absorption of a red/far-red photon by phytochromes initiates/modifies diverse physiological responses has been steadily improving. Research performed in the last 5 years has been especially productive and led to significant conceptual changes about the mode of action of these photoreceptors. In this review, we focus on the phytochrome B photoreceptor, the major phytochrome species active in light-grown plants. We discuss how its light-independent inactivation (termed dark/thermal reversion), post-translational modification, including ubiquitination, phosphorylation and sumoylation, as well as heterodimerization with other phytochrome species modify red light-controlled physiological responses. Finally, we discuss how photobiological properties of phytochrome B enable this photoreceptor to function also as a thermosensor.

Field of study: Environmental science
Design of Applying Immune Mechanism to ImproveSliding Mode Control

Immune Algorithm is originated from the Natural ImmuneSystem, and now it becomes a powerful tool to solve optimize prob-lem. After further study, the author finds that this algorithm is alsosignificance for Weaken the Vibration Effect to the Variable Struc-ture Control System (Sliding Mode Control System) . In this paper,the author uses an existent example of Using Genetic Algorithm toWeaken the Vibration Effect of Sliding Mode Control and improvethe Algorithm that is using Immune Algorithm to re-Design thewhole example; this can solve the problem more efficiently.

Field of study: Engineering