nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Alcohol self-administration, anxiety, and cortisol levels predict changes in delta opioid receptor function in the ventral tegmental area.

The delta opioid receptor (DOR) agonist DPDPE decreases ethanol (EtOH) consumption when injected into the ventral tegmental area (VTA). We previously showed that DPDPE inhibition of GABAA receptor-mediated inhibitory postsynaptic currents (GABAAR IPSCs) is associated with reduced EtOH consumption. To determine whether self-administration of EtOH is required to change VTA DOR function, we compared the effects of passively administered (gavaged) and self-administered (two-bottle choice) EtOH. Because rats showed variability in DOR regulation of drinking and inhibition of GABAAR IPSCs, we examined whether these changes can be predicted before EtOH exposure by behavioral measures of anxiety or intoxication. Functional DORs were seen with both gavaged and self-administered EtOH, although the magnitude of DPDPE-induced inhibition correlated with behavioral measures only when EtOH was self-administered. Specifically, DPDPE-induced inhibition correlated with predrinking measures of open arm time in the plus maze (n = 19, R = .69, p = .001), with change in maximum fall latency on the rotarod (n = 17, R = .89, p = .000001), and with blood corticosterone (n = 17, R = .66, p = .004) in drinking animals. This DOR-mediated inhibition persisted for at least 14 days after EtOH access was terminated. Together, these findings indicate that anxious animals and those with the greatest EtOH-induced motor impairment have the most robust DPDPE-induced inhibition of GABAAR IPSCs in VTA neurons. These data also extend our understanding of the possible therapeutic value of the DOR for treatment of alcoholism by showing that its relevant synaptic action persists during abstinence.

Field of study: Biology, Psychology
Bonding Properties of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (Cfrp) Reinforcing Bar in High-Strength Concrete with Mineral Admixtures

The effects of mineral admixtures and reinforcing fibres on the bonding strength of high-strength concrete to carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) reinforcing bars were evaluated. The mineral admixtures consisted of 5, 10 and 15% silica fume or metakaolin in cement. The reinforcing fibres were composed of steel, structural polyvinyl alcohol, or a polyolefin-based structural synthetic polymer. Interactions between the high-strength concrete and the CFRP reinforcing bar were determined by direct bonding tests. The compressive strength of the concrete composites depended on the content and characteristics of the admixture and reinforcing fibres. Bonding strength tests of the composites showed an increase in bonding strength with the strength of the concrete. The addition of reinforcing fibres inhibited crack formation and significantly improved the bonding behaviour and relative bonding strength. Both the absolute and relative bonding strengths were enhanced by adhesion forces induced by the mineral admixture.

Field of study: Materials science
Setting the Price of Oil in a Distorted Economy

The international price of oil increased dramatically in 1974 and again in 1979. Many developing countries responded to these price shocks by keeping the domestic price of oil products below import parity levels and borrowing abroad to finance the increased oil import cost. In extreme cases the domestic price of sensitive fuels such as kerosene was frozen, so that, for example, by 1981 the price of kerosene in Egypt was 15% of its border price.  This would be sound advice in an undistorted and competitive economy, but few developing countries satisfy that description, and in many cases whilst the Government was prepared to change the price of oil, it was not willing to alter the whole structure of taxation and trade protection. What, then, is the optimal price of oil (or, equivalently, tax on imported oil) in a distorted economy in which no other tax or tariff can be altered ? This is a fairly standard second-best problem in the choice of policy, which is readily answered given certain conventional assumptions. Suppose that it is possible to discriminate between the price of oil facing producers and consumers, so that we can separate the efficiency and equity aspects of the pricing problem, and, rather less plausibly, that domestic industry is production efficient, (though not trade efficient, as it faces a distorted set of prices). Finally, suppose that any revenue collected from the oil tariff can be redistributed to consumers in a non-distortionary way. Then it is well known (e.g. Green, 1962) that the solution is to set the tariff on oil (which is equivalent to setting the domestic price of oil given the world price) at an ad valorem rate which is a weighted average of other ad valorem distortions in the economy. If these weights were all non-negative, then the tariff on oil would have to lie

Field of study: Economics
Purification, characterization and properties of phytase from Shigella sp. CD2.

Phytases catalyze the release of phosphate from phytic acid. In this study, a phytase producing bacterial strain Shigella sp. CD2 was isolated from the wheat rhizosphere. Phytase production started from the exponential phase of bacterial growth, showing the highest activity during the stationary phase. The enzyme activity was detected in both periplasmic and intracellular fractions. The enzyme was purified by about 133-fold with specific activity 780 U mg(-1) protein. The optimum pH and temperature of the enzyme was 5.5 and 60 degrees C, respectively. The enzyme was thermostable and retained 100% and 75% of its activity on pre-incubation at 70 degrees and 80 degrees C for 30 min, respectively. The Km value for the substrate sodium phytate was 0.25 mM. The enzyme was highly specific to substrate phytate, and no activity was detected in presence of other phosphorylated substrates, such as ATP, ADP, glucose 6-phosphate, fructose 6-phosphate and p-nirophenyl phosphate. The activity declined dramatically in presence of Cu2+, Zn2+ and Fe2+ and SDS, whereas Mg2+ and Co2+ slightly enhanced the enzyme activity. The addition of other metal ions or chemicals had little or no effect on phytase activity. The enzyme was resistant to both pepsin and trypsin. Due to high specific activity, substrate specificity, good pH profile, protease insensitivity and thermostability, phytase encoding gene from Shigella sp. CD2 could be an interesting candidate for industrial applications. Further studies on cloning and expression of Shigella phytase gene are currently in progress.

Field of study: Biology, Chemistry, Physics
Spin correlation in dilute magnetic alloys

The correlation of a magnetic impurity spin with the spin density of the conduction electrons in a dilute magnetic alloy is calculated non-perturbationally on the basis of the Nagaoka theory. It is shown that there are anomalies due to the Kondo effect in the long range behaviour of this correlation which contradicts the bound state interpretation of the Kondo effect. The most interesting detail is the appearance of a non-oscillating contribution to the correlation.

Field of study: Physics
The Frasnian–Famennian biotic crisis: How many (if any) bolide impacts?

The prime causation of the mid-Late Devonian mass extinction near the Frasnian–Famennian (F–F) boundary remains uncertain. Nevertheless, geochemical evidence has been presented recently as decisive evidence of a giant bolide impact occurring precisely at the F–F boundary, which promoted the global mortality episode. Palaeobiological data, however, imply a gradual global change, which is otherwise seen as a record of either multiple extraterrestrial catastrophes or of impact-triggered Earth-bound mechanisms. Sedimentological (mega-tsunami), physical (craters, microtektites), and geochemical records remain either elusive in many aspects, or incompatible with the predicted impact crisis pattern. Biotic succession across the F–F horizon is still poorly known, especially in continental domains, to evidence a synchronous ("bedding-plane") killing event at the close of the crisis. Instead, the commonly documented stepwise loss of biomass and an unproved distinctive "dead zone" are hard to explain simply as sampling artifacts. The assumed mass mortality precisely at the F–F boundary may be limited mainly to the pelagic realm. The underestimated role of early Variscan tectonism and associated volcanic-hydrothermal processes, resulting in thermal and nutrient pulses, as possible prime controls of the F–F crisis is suggested, as well as resemblances to the superplume-conditioned eventful mid-Cretaceous interval, exemplified in the Cenomanian-Turonian mass extinction. Additional shocks, generated by minor cometary strikes, are not excluded but may have affected some F–F biotas or areas.

Field of study: Environmental science
The Role of the Jordanian Media in Addressing the Issues of Persons with Disabilities from the Perspective of their Families

The purpose of the study is to explore the role of Jordanian media in dealing with persons with Disabilities and adopting their problems as perceived by their families. A random sampling totaling (656) parents of disabled participated in the study to achieve its goal. A scale to measure the role of media in dealing with Persons with Disabilities issues was developed consisting of (50) items with (6) domains within Likert scale, then calculated validity and reliability. The findings of the study showed that the means of the items ranged from average to high degrees. Further, there were no significant statistical differences attributed to gender on the role of Jordanian media in dealing with Persons with disabilities issues; there were significant statistical differences attributed to working parents; there were significant statistical differences between families of children with severe disability and families of children with mild and moderate disability in favor of the first. Moreover, there were significant statistical differences attributed to scientific qualification in favor of master’s degree and above. Based on the findings, the researchers called upon media representatives to use the services of experts and specialized people in preparing programs that aim to improve the stereotype image in the minds of the audience; directing media to spread the public awareness of the issues of Persons with.

Field of study: Education, Sociology
Topic and Time Sensitive Entity Ranking Algorithm on Collaborative Networks

This paper proposes a novel topic and time sensitive algorithm called TTS-Rank,explaining entity ranking to random voting process.Firstly the collaborative network is projected according to given topics,then we propose a function to calculate transition probability based on time and topic factors on Markov chain,finally calculate the ranking score of each entity through power iteration method.The algorithm and traditional ones are evaluated empirically on a large real data set of open source software developer collaborative network,results show our algorithm is more accurate effective and applicable,and the ranking is a multi-dimension representation of authority of the entities in collaborative network.

Field of study: Computer science
TU-A-T-6E-01: Patient QA

The number of patients treated with Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) has grown dramatically over the past five years. Recent clinical studies have shown that IMRT has the potential to improve outcomes for multiple disease sites and pathologies. However, the clinical successful or failure of each individual institution's IMRT program is dependant on the correct delivery of the 3D dose distributions calculated by the planning system (Planned Dose) to the correct location in the patient (Delivered Dose). There are many sources for errors that can arise during IMRT planning and delivery, but it is ultimately the responsibility of the Medical Physicist to ensure that the Planned Dose “agrees” with the Delivered Dose. Unlike conventional and 3D conformal radiotherapy, IMRT plans must be verified for each individual patient because of the many sources of potential error. The difference between Planned Dose and Delivered Dose (i.e. Error) in IMRT can originate from at least three different sources: 1.) The Treatment Planning Model, 2.) Treatment Delivery Mechanics, and 3.) Time-Dependant Target/Tissue Positioning. The only method for determining the cumulative effect of all these potential sources of error is to measure the entire delivery sequence on the linear accelerator for each patient. Patient-Specific IMRT quality assurance (QA) measurements can be classified into three levels. Level I measurements are taken using film, diode arrays, electronic imaging devices, etc. The measurement device(s) are typically placed at depth in water-equivalent material.  II measurements are taken with a phantom that moves to simulate intra-fraction motion (such as respiration motion). These measurements are typically made with film, diodes, and/or ionization chambers.  III measurements are performed using daily CT imaging acquired on the delivery system (CT-on-Rails, Cone-Beam CT, Megavoltage CT, etc…). Electronic detector data acquired during treatment delivery is then combined with the daily CT images to reconstruct the doses delivered to the patient. This presentation will discuss commercially available dose measurement tools, phantoms, and techniques for performing Level I and II patient-specific IMRT quality assurance. The current status of research and development in Level III IMRT quality assurance will also be discussed. Issues associate each technique will be discussed and clarified with practical examples. Recommendations will be presented for acceptable tolerances and testing frequencies. 
 
 To understand the issues surrounding patient-specific IMRT quality assurance 
 
2. To understand the difference between patient-specific QA techniques 
 
3. To identify potential sources of errors in IMRT quality assurance 
 
4. To understand the impact of target localization and patient positioning on IMRT

Field of study: Medicine, Physics
THE PROFESSIONAL CAREER PUBLIC SERVICE: SOME REFLECTIONS OF A PRACTITIONER

I feel it a great honour to be invited to give the Robert Garran Memorial Oration of 1979. Although Sir Robert and I were of different generations, I did have some personal contact with him following my coming to Canberra in 1939. I also had the pleasure of knowing two of his sons, John and Andrew. Andrew and I were colleagues in our roles as Chairmen of the Victorian and Commonwealth Public Service Boards respectively. These small personal associations enable me to appreciate all the better the wide-ranging and historic contributions made by Sir Robert to government in Australia.

Field of study: Political science
Spectral Pruning: Compressing Deep Neural Networks via Spectral Analysis and its Generalization Error

Compression techniques for deep neural network models are becoming very important for the efficient execution of high-performance deep learning systems on edge-computing devices. The concept of model compression is also important for analyzing the generalization error of deep learning, known as the compression-based error bound. However, there is still huge gap between a practically effective compression method and its rigorous background of statistical learning theory. To resolve this issue, we develop a new theoretical framework for model compression and propose a new pruning method called {\it spectral pruning} based on this framework. We define the ``degrees of freedom'' to quantify the intrinsic dimensionality of a model by using the eigenvalue distribution of the covariance matrix across the internal nodes and show that the compression ability is essentially controlled by this quantity. Moreover, we present a sharp generalization error bound of the compressed model and characterize the bias--variance tradeoff induced by the compression procedure. We apply our method to several datasets to justify our theoretical analyses and show the superiority of the the proposed method.

Field of study: Computer science
Effect of Electromigration and Isothermal Aging 
on the Formation of Metal Whiskers and Hillocks in Eutectic Sn-Bi Solder Joints and Reaction Films

Numerous electronic system failures have been attributed to short circuits caused by metal whiskers that bridged closely spaced circuit elements when they were maintained in a high-current-density environment. Typically, in single-phase interconnect materials, atoms are driven from the cathode to the anode and a compressive stress can build up at the anode end of the stripe, which can induce the formation of whiskers and hillocks. However, the electronic solders used in interconnects are multiphase materials where primary and secondary diffusion atoms/ions exist. In order to accelerate the growth of whiskers and hillocks, a high current density (104 A/cm2) combined with high ambient temperatures (80°C) was applied to eutectic Sn-Bi solder joints. Metal whiskers and hillocks were observed on the overflowed solder film above the Cu substrate. However, in the absence of the electric field, metal whiskers and hillocks could also be squeezed out from the solder reaction films after several days of isothermal aging (125°C), demonstrating that the chemical reaction between Sn atoms and Cu atoms can provide the driving force for the formation and growth of metal whiskers and hillocks.

Field of study: Materials science
Precise measurement of theXK emission rate following the electron capture-decay of54Mn-fluorescence yield ωK of Cr

This determination was made using the electron capture decay of54Mn. Two methods were employed to measure theK X-ray emission rate: by means of a pressurized 4π proportional counter with the gas at 1.5 MPa, and by means of a medium geometry-defined solid angle counter. The final result wasωk=0.2901±0.003. Special care was taken in determining the corrections, some of which do not appear to have been allowed for so far. It is noteworthy that additional corrections, each about +3 %, had to be applied to the results obtained with each of the two methods. Thus there remains complete agreement between them, but at a higher value ofωk than those appearing in recent publications.

Field of study: Physics
Gas-forming pyogenic liver abscess.

A 74-year-old male with medical history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and lung cancer, visited our emergency department (ED) because of fever and decreased consciousness level. At the ED, vital signs were normal except tachycardia (134 beats/min), physical examination revealed mild right-upper quadrant tenderness. Laboratory data showed increased leukocyte count (13 010/μl), glucose (919 mg/dl), serum …

Field of study: Medicine
Analysis and prediction of chilled water plant performance based on multivariate statistical methods and large historical data

The large datasets resulting from operating HVAC&R systems are currently scrutinized to find ways to exploit the useful information that they might contain. In this work, historical data of a centrifugal water chiller over the course of more than 1.5 years of operation is used to learn about the system and to suggest modifications to its operation scheme. The results show that principal component analysis (PCA) captures well the variance in the historical data. The first two principal components explained between 62 and 80% of the variance, depending on the cases considered. The main factors responsible for the variation of the chiller operation are found to be the weather and the cold water temperature setpoint. The effect of the sampling time step on the results is also studied. Moreover, this work demonstrates that partial least squares (PLS) regression can adequately predict an important indicator of the chiller performance, namely the coefficient of performance (COP), one time step ahead with an R² of 77.49% and root-mean square error of estimation (RMSEE) of 0.463 using a separate validation set of data. The PLS model was also able to predict future COP values up to 2 time steps (∼3 h) in advance.

Field of study: Engineering
Understanding carbon partitioning and its role in determining plant growth.

Accumulation of wealth requires more than big paychecks. In particular, and relevant to carbon partitioning, how you invest income, and how you spend your income, will have a significant influence on the rate of wealth accumulation. For plants, the partitioning of carbon fixed in photosynthesis (income), to new leaf area, and the maintenance respiration costs of various parts of the plant (carbon spending) will have a significant influence on the rate of plant growth (biomass accumulation). Despite the importance of partitioning to yield and biomass accumulation it has been relatively less studied because of the difficulty in assessing all of the fates of carbon fixed in photosynthesis. In this issue of Plant, Cell & Environment, Kölling et al. (2015) report on an extensive set of measurements of partitioning in wild type plants, plants defective in starch metabolism, and plants with altered circadian clock genes. The paper is an outgrowth of an earlier one in which many of the methods are described and tested (Kölling et al. 2013).

Field of study: Environmental science
Characterization of glycine release mediated by glycine transporter 1 stably expressed in HEK-293 cells.

We constructed a cell line which stably expresses glycine transporter 1 (GlyT1) proteins. The cell line showed significant [14C]glycine uptake and could keep steep glycine concentration gradient between intracellular and extracellular space (in > out). Using this cell line, we investigated glycine release mediated by this transporter. The [14C]glycine release was enhanced by extracellular glycine and sarcosine, a selective inhibitor of the transporter, in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, the replacement of extracellular Na+ with Li+ or extracellular Cl- with acetate- markedly increased the release. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of extracellular Ca2+ and K+. The removal of these ions also showed enhancement of the release. These results suggest that glycine transporter 1 protein, which might be involved in the NMDA receptor neurotransmission, can release glycine into the extracellular space in the vicinity of synapses, and that the release might be influenced by the extracellular substrate concentration and ion composition in the synaptic cleft.

Field of study: Biology
Demons and repentance

This paper presents a new explanation for the stability of cartels. For a large class of repeated Cournot duopoly games with discounting, strategies are constructed which have the property that cheating on the cartel is followed by repentance. It is shown than these repentance strategies are subgame perfect equilibrium strategies and that in the presence of demons (infrequently irrational behavior on the part of both players), they lead to Pareto superior expected discounted payoffs in comparison with either Friedman's trigger strategies or Abreu's “stick and carrot” strategies.

Field of study: Economics