nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Termite mounds create heterogeneity in invertebrate communities across a savanna rainfall gradient

Termite mounds create nutrient hotspots that serve as key resource areas for savanna vegetation and mammalian herbivores. However, despite the key ecological roles performed by termite mounds, few studies have investigated their influence on invertebrate communities, and none have examined such effects across environmental gradients. We hypothesised that termite mounds would support greater numbers of invertebrates than the surrounding savanna matrix and that assemblages would differ in composition due to the enhanced nutritional quality of vegetation on mounds. We also predicted that the differences between on-mound and off-mound invertebrate diversity would be more pronounced in areas where the difference in nutritional value between mounds and the savanna matrix vegetation was most prominent. We tested these hypotheses in Kruger National Park, South Africa, by sampling ground- and grass-dwelling invertebrate herbivores, omnivores and detritivores on and at various distances away from termite mounds at three savanna sites of varying vegetation quality across a rainfall gradient. All invertebrate groups sampled responded to termite mounds, but mound influence varied across trophic groups (Orthoptera showed the clearest patterns), diversity measures (changes in abundance rather than species richness) and with mean annual rainfall (strongest effects at the highest rainfall site). Orthoptera were more abundant on mounds, particularly at the wettest site, and there was a positive relationship between mound size and Orthoptera species richness. Ant assemblage composition on mounds differed from that off mounds and beetle abundance was greater on mounds, possibly as a result of concentrated mammalian herbivore activity and faecal deposition on mounds. Our results suggest that termite mounds are not only important nutrient and foraging hotspots for vertebrates, but that they also introduce heterogeneity in invertebrate communities, especially in nutrient-poor savannas.

Field of study: Environmental science
Open heavy-flavor production and suppression in heavy-ion collisions

Heavy-flavor observables are valuable probes of the quark-gluon plasma, which is expected to be produced in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. These experiments offer the unique opportunity to study strongly interacting matter at high temperatures and densities in the laboratory. In this overview talk I will summarize the current theoretical status of heavy-flavor production and suppression in heavy-ion collisions and discuss open challenges.

Field of study: Physics
Research on the Teaching Reformation of the Software Requirements Engineering

Analyzes the problems existing in traditional classroom teaching for the course of Software Requirements Engineering.For the course characteristics and shortcomings of traditional teaching mode,combines with software engineering training objectives,makes a reformation on the course content system,theory of teaching methods,practice teaching methods and examination forms,in order to explore the teaching model which meets social needs.And proves the feasibility of the teaching model through teaching practice.

Field of study: Computer science
Abnormal transsulfuration and glutathione metabolism in the micropig model of alcoholic liver disease.

Alcoholic liver disease is associated with abnormalities of methionine metabolic enzymes that may contribute to glutathione depletion. Previously, we found that feeding micropigs a combination of ethanol with a folate-deficient diet resulted in the greatest decreases in S-adenosylmethionine and glutathione and increases in liver S-adenosylhomocysteine and oxidized disulfide glutathione.



To study the mechanisms of glutathione depletion, we analyzed the transcripts and activities of enzymes involved in its synthesis and metabolism in liver and plasma specimens that were available from the same micropigs that receive folate-sufficient or folate-depleted diets with or without 40% of energy as ethanol for 14 weeks.



Ethanol feeding, folate deficiency, or their combination decreased liver and plasma glutathione and the activities of hepatic copper-zinc superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase and increased the activity of manganese superoxide dismutase and glutathione reductase. Hepatic levels of cysteine and taurine were unchanged while plasma cysteine was increased in the combined diet group. Cystathionine beta-synthase transcripts and activity were unaffected by ethanol feeding, while the activities of other transsulfuration enzymes involved in glutathione synthesis were increased. Glutathione transferase transcripts were increased 4-fold and its mean activity was increased by 34% in the combined ethanol and folate-deficient diet group, similar in magnitude to the observed 36% reduction in hepatic glutathione.



Chronic ethanol feeding and folate deficiency acted individually or synergistically to affect methionine metabolism in the micropig by depleting glutathione pools and altering transcript expressions and activities of enzymes involved in its synthesis, utilization, and regeneration. The data suggest that the observed decrease in hepatic glutathione during ethanol feeding reflects its increased utilization to meet increased antioxidant demands, rather than reduction in its synthesis.

Field of study: Medicine
N-unit parallel redundant system with correlated failure and single repair facility

The system treated in this paper is an N-unit parallel redundant system with correlated failure and single repair facility, where correlation means that any two units in the system or all the units are possible to fail at the same time. Two models, model 1 and model 2, are considered. And we obtain the following results; for both models Laplace transform (L-T) of the pointwise availability, stationary availability, L-T of the system reliability and, furthermore, for model 2, the distribution of the number of repairs completed in (0,t]. Finally stationary availability of model 1 is compared with that of model 2, and graphical results are presented.

Field of study: Engineering
ADVANCE IN KEY TECHNIQUES OF FISCHER-TROPSCH SYNTHESIS FOR LIQUID FUEL PRODUCTION

This paper reviews the development of key techniques in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, namely catalysis, kinetics and reactor engineering. Firstly,catalysis is discussed with respect to catalyst formulation, preparation and nature of active sites.The catalyst formulation is consists of four components,which are reviewed in detail. Preparation methods such as impregnation,precipitation and sol-gel are compared.A proposal of active sites is also presented.The new trends in kinetics study are discussed.A general rule for choice of reactor is given and several topics in slurry bed reactor are highlighted.

Field of study: Chemistry, Environmental science
Über die Geschwindigkeitsverteilung der an Isolatoren ausgelösten Sekundärelektronen

ZusammenfassungDie Geschwindigkeiten der Sekundärelektronen, nach der magnetischen Methode gemessen, verteilen sich in einem schmalen Bereich um eine häufigste Geschwindigkeit. Diese hängt in einer für Isolatoren charakteristischen Weise, ähnlich wie die Gesamtmenge der Sekundärelektronen, vom Einfallswinkel und von der Geschwindigkeit der primären Kathodenstrahlen ab.

Field of study: Physics
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS: Condensation of water vapor in a gasdynamic CO2 laser

A calculation is made of the parameters of a laser mixture flowing out of a planar slit-like nozzle. A system of equations describing the gasdynamics of the flow and the kinetics of the condensation of water vapor from a mixture is solved numerically by the Runge-Kutta method. An estimate is obtained of the influence of condensate droplets on the kinetics of collisional deactivation of the upper laser-active level of the CO2 molecule. The results obtained are compared with the experimental values of the gain.

Field of study: Engineering, Physics
A Theorem on Portfolio Separation with General Preferences

Necessary and sufficient restrictions upon arbitrary utility functions for portfolio separation for any degree are derived for complete markets, generalizing the expected utility theorems of Cass and Stiglitz ( (1970), 122-160). Portfolio separation is shown to be nearly synonymous with Lewbel′s (Econometrica59 (1991), 711-730) definition of demand rank, which is characterized using standard duality methods.

Field of study: Economics
Robust Controller Synthesis Based on Circle Criterion-Application to Vibration Control Systems-

It is well-known that stability margins (gain and phase margins) are important quantitative indicators for evaluating stability in feedback control system synthesis. However, when we use conventional techniques based on such stability margins, it may be difficult to suppress the vibration from high-order modes of mechanical system. This paper proposes the robust controller synthesis which achieves both the conventional stability margins and the second phase margin which is a quantitative indicator for suppressing the vibration. The basic idea is to synthesize controller such that the Nyquist locus of open-loop transfer function encircles the immediate outer side of the circle which is specified by the conventional stability margins and the second phase margin. This is formulated as modified H∞ mixed sensitivity problem with the weighting constants which are decided by the center and radius of the circle.

Field of study: Computer science
Chile y algo más. Estudios de historia latinoamericana (review)

As a historian I found the papers in the first section—with well-researched and engagingly written essays by Francisco Miranda Godínez, Martinus Cawley, Linda B. Hall, and Stafford Poole—to be the most useful. Clearly, the origin of the Virgin of Guadalupe and the redefinition of this symbol over several centuries has inspired passion and controversy. Miranda Godínez’s analysis of the Marian tradition in reference to the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Virgin de Los Remedios and Francisco J. Crespo’s later discussion of la Virgin de La Caridad del Cobre/Ochún provide useful points of comparison from within the Latin American Catholic tradition. Other forms of popular religious expression, as well as thoughtful essays on mysticism in diverse ethnic and religious contexts, are also included.

Field of study: History
Clinical and molecular characteristics of invasive community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in Chinese neonates

To analyze the clinical and molecular features of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infection in neonates and to investigate their antibiotic resistance profiles. 
 
 
 
A total of 35 invasive CA-MRSA strains were collected from six hospitals in 2014. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST), staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing and spa typing were used to analyze these isolated CA-MRSA strains. In vitro antibiotic susceptibilities of those strains to 15 antibiotics were analyzed by using agar dilution method. 
 
 
 
Up to 88.6% patients were late-onset infection and septicemia (24, 68.5%) was the most common infection among the 35 cases. A total of 16 patients (45.7%) suffered from complications. Caesarean section and premature birth were risk factors for invasive CA-MRSA infection. ST59-MRSA-SCCmecⅣa-t437 (14, 40%) was the most predominant CA-MRSA clone, followed by ST59-MRSA-SCCmecⅤ-t437 (13, 37.1%). The incidence of severe complications caused by ST59-MRSA-SCCmecⅤ-t437 was higher than that caused by ST59-MRSA-SCCmecⅣa-t437 (P<0.05). Up to 85.7% of the isolated CA-MRSA strains were multidrug-resistant strains. 
 
 
 
This study shows that neonatal invasive CA-MRSA infections mainly result in septicemia and are often accompanied by complications and involve multiple organs. Multidrug-resistant CA-MRSA strains are prevalent in neonates. ST59-MRSA-SCCmecⅣa-t437 is the predominant clone causing neonatal invasive CA-MRSA infection. 
 
 
 
CA-MRSA; Neonate; Invasive infection

Field of study: Biology
A new generation of transcatheter heart valves

region of interest. Cell-seeded biological sutures, formed from fibrin microthreads, overcome these issues and have demonstrated increased cell engraftment. To increase the number of cells that can be seeded on these biological sutures, we investigated coating them with ECM proteins.  Biological sutures were produced by bundling twelve fibrin microthreads. Surface modified sutures were created by coating with poly-l-lysine or vitronectin. Sutures were then seeded with 100,000 human mesenchymal stem cells for 24 h. Seeded sutures were spun in an in vitro shear stress model to assess cell adhesion. To evaluate the ability of cells to align along the length of the suture, nuclear alignment was determined.  Vitronectin coating significantly increased the number of cells seeded on fibrin sutures (19604±1829 cells/cm) compared to unmodified sutures (6821±739 cells/cm; Pb.05) and sutures modified with poly-l-lysine (4226±1003 cells/cm; Pb.05). Spinning resulted in similar decreases in cell number in all groups. Unmodified sutures had more aligned nuclei between suture surfaces (Pb.05 vs. poly-l-lysine and vitronectin). All suture types had increased alignment compared to cells grown on plates (Pb.001).  Vitronectin coating increases the number of cells seeded on fibrin microthread based biological sutures. Cell adhesion strength was not altered with vitronectin coating, suggesting that delivery of stem cells to the heart may be similar to the 65% delivery efficiency seen with uncoated fibrin microthread sutures.

Field of study: Biology, Medicine
The social cost of dredging: The Bahia Blanca Estuary case

The Bahia Blanca Estuary System constitutes an ecosystem unique in the world by its physical, geographic and biological characteristics. In the frame of a major investment project related with natural gas provision, a dredging process has been planned and its execution results imminent. However, the analysis of socioeconomic effects of this dredging process has not been performed up to now. In this context, our objective is to estimate social costs and benefits of the dredging process related with the gas plant project mainly derived from the loss of the nursery services of the estuary and the loss of the jobs associated with fishing activities. Our results indicate that socioeconomic cost of the dredging related with the project is between US$ 5 million and US$ 6.5 million depending on how the displaced labor force can be reallocated.

Field of study: Environmental science
Watching Time: Madison Smartt Bell’s All Souls’ Rising, Narrative, Historiography, and the Contemporary Historical Novel

This essay explores a historical fiction that attempts to present a “historically accurate rendition” of the Haitian revolution after postmodernism deconstructed both narrative and history, leaving an intellectual climate skeptical of narrative’s ability to depict the historically real. In Bell’s All Souls’ Rising, characters and plot blend not just with history and not only through historicity, but balance on acceptance or rejection of the narrators’ distinctly diverse historiographic consciousnesses. Bell establishes the contemporary historical novel by productively querying narrative’s production and embracing its myriad possibilities to create a narrative that rejects unity but aspires to comprehensiveness.

Field of study: Art
Off-Axis Paths in Spherical Mirror Interferometers

When a spherical mirror interferometer is illuminated by an off-axis ray of light, the repeated reflections cause the ray to trace a path which lies on the surface of a hyperboloid, with the points of reflection on the mirrors on ellipses. Under special conditions, these ellipses may become circles, with the points of reflection displaced by an angle 2θ after every round trip. When 2νθ = 2μπ, ν and μ being integers, the rays retrace their paths. These ray paths give rise to additional resonances which were observed. Pictures of the points of reflection are reproduced. The theory is in good agreement with the experimental observations. In laser amplifiers these ray paths enable one to obtain long effective path lengths in the active medium which may be contained in a thin annular cylindrical or hyperboloidal shell.

Field of study: Physics
Simultaneous Determination of Six Kinds of 4-Hydrobenzoic Acid Ester in Food Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Diode Array Detection

A method was developed for the determination of preservatives of six 4-hydrobenzoic acid ester by HPLC-DAD.The samples of 4-hydrobenzoic acid ester were extracted by acetonitrile and purified by LC-C18 SPE.The analytes were separated on an Agilent C18 column,eluted by gradient with methanol and water,detected by diode array detector,and quantified by external standard method.The calibration curve was linear over the concentration range of 1.0-500.0 mg/L(r≥0.9997).The lower limit of quantification in food was 0.0016-0.0081 mg/L.The relative recoveries of six kinds of 4-hydrobenzoic acid ester in vegetables and fruit of surface treatment,vinegar,carbonated beverages,milk,and food fillings were 85.1%-95.4%,and relative standard deviations were 3.6%-13.0%.

Field of study: Chemistry
WE‐C‐BRA‐01: Evaluation of Inter‐Fraction Setup Uncertainty of the Cervical Spine Using a Novel Relocatable Head Frame Intended for Intra‐Cranial Stereotactic Radiotherapy

To quantify inter‐fraction variation in upper‐spine (C1–C3) positioning when using a novel vacuum bite‐block relocatable head‐frame (RHF), that was originally designed for use in intra‐cranial stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT).  The RHF (Extend™) was designed for multi‐session treatments on Perfexion™. As part of an ethics‐approved study, the RHF was used to set up and immobilize patients undergoing linac‐based intra‐cranial SRT. For each fraction, cone‐beam CT(CBCT) was used to guide the skull to the treatment room isocentre based on anatomical 3D image‐matching. In this study, the same CBCT data were analyzed to quantify the relative displacement of the upper‐spine to an ideally well‐aligned skull as follows. For each patient, each daily CBCTimage set was first co‐registered to the planning CTimages based on bony anatomy in the skull. From this reference position, the mean difference and standard deviation between planning and daily treatment was determined for each of the geometrical centroid of the C2 process, as well as the spinal canal at level of C3.  Data from three patients were analyzed (total of 80 fractions). The mean relative displacement of the C2 process after skull alignment was 0.9±0.78 (range: −1.84–2.7) and 1.2±0.57 (range: −1.15–3.2) mm in the lateral and anterior‐posterior directions, respectively. The mean displacement at the level of C3 was 0.35±2.04 (range: −4.1–6.5) and 1.59±1.2 (range: −4.2–4.6) mm in the lateral and anterior‐posterior directions, respectively. Conclusion:_Relative to an ideal skull‐based alignment as determined with 3D‐CBCT, systematic differences in upper‐spine position were observed, as indicated by the non‐zero mean deviations. Furthermore, a larger variability in daily positioning of C3 compared to C1/C2 was observed, as indicated by the larger standard deviations. These results indicate that applying translational corrections intended for skull localization may be insufficient for localization of the upper‐spine when using the RHF.

Field of study: Medicine, Physics
Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Adults Treated for Posterior Urethral Valves in Childhood

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are common in children with posterior urethral valves (PUV). In the present study we compared the prevalence of LUTS between adult patients treated for PUV in childhood and age-matched population-based cohort.  Information on LUTS was assessed using the Danish Prostatic Symptom Score (DAN-PSS) questionnaire. Out of 108 PUV patients, 69 (64%) returned the questionnaire. Age-matched-cohort of 1,242 men (randomly identified from the population register) was used as a control.  The median age of the 69 patients and controls was 38 years (age range: 17-57 for patients and 18 -57 for controls). Both any urgency and any stress incontinence were more common in the patients than in the controls (14.5% and 11.6% vs. 6.3% and 3.6%, p=0.02 and p= Fifteen of the 69 patients (22%) had originally had a temporary bilateral ring-type ureterocutaneostomy because of severe disease and seven patients (10%) had later undergone kidney transplantation. The incidence of LUTS did not differ between these groups and those without primary stoma and kidney transplantation.  In adulthood PUV patients have more LUTS than normal population.

Field of study: Medicine
The Demise of Nuclear Power: What Comes Next?

The U.S. nuclear industry, hurting from a decade of bad news, got no comfort in the early months of 1984. In January the Marble Hill plants in Indianaon which $2.5 billion had been spentwere canceled, and the Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company gave up hope of finishing the Zimmer plant, supposedly 97 percent complete. Battles raged over who would pay for the canceled "Whoops" plants in Washington State; and in New Hampshire the $9-billion Seabrook reactors threatened to bankrupt the Public Service Company of New Hampshire. It is easy to forget that the 1980s were supposed to be a boom decade for the nuclear power industry around the world. This has not been the case in most countries, but nowhere has the failure been so devastating as in the United States. Since the mid-1970s, U.S. utilities have canceled more than ninety nuclear projects, with a net loss in future generating capacity sufficient to meet the total power needs of any nation on earth except the Soviet Union or the United States. Well after the accident at Three Mile Island, U.S. opinion polls show public confidence in nuclear power continuing to decline; a majority now opposes its further expansion. Poor operating records and a series of small accidents have produced new opposition, and waste disposal and the proliferation of nuclear weapons remain important issues. But nuclear power's most fundamental problem today is economic. Years of cost overruns have destroyed the financial underpinnings of the U.S. nuclear power program. At a time of high interest rates and only moderate growth in the demand for power, these massive costs have priced nuclear power out of the market and may foreshadow major changes in the utility industry. It has been more than a decade since a U.S. utility ordered a nuclear plant that was not subsequently canceled. About forty plants are under construction this yeara figure that could drop to near zero by the end of the 1980s. The country that led the world into the nuclear age may well lead the way out.

Field of study: Economics
Acoustic cues of Korean nuclear tones

The purpose of this paper is to discuss what acoustic cues are significant in distinguishing Korean nuclear tones acoustically. It is shown that target frequencies, direction of target frequencies, F0 of the beginning and ending points, timing of peaks and valleys, duration of the rising and falling phases, duration of the whole tone, and F0 of the preceding syllable function as acoustic cues. Peak frequency was crucial in distinguishing High Fall from Low Fall and Full Rise from Low Rise. F0 of the beginning point was significant in distinguishing High Fall from Low Fall. Low Rise from Mid Level, and High Level from Full Rise after a voiceless consonant. And F0 of the ending point was important in distinguishing High Fall from Low Fall. Direction of target frequencies was significant in distinguishing High Fall from Full Rise and Low Rise from Low Fall. Duration of the whole tone was significant in distinguishing Low Fall from Rise Fall and High Level from Full Rise. The former pair of nuclear tones was also distinguished by Peak timing and the latter pair by valley timing. The F0 of the penultimate syllable was crucial in distinguishing Low Fall from Low Level.

Field of study: Linguistics