nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Controlling factors on heavy mineral assemblages in Chinese loess and Red Clay

Heavy-mineral analysis is a sensitive technique in constraining provenance of sandstone, but has rarely been applied to loess. Here we report a heavy-mineral study of selected samples from the Luochuan, Xifeng and Caoxian loess-Red Clay sections on the Chinese Loess Plateau, based on the novel QEMSCAN (Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning Electron Microscopy) technique. We found that heavy mineral assemblages of loess deposited through the past 500 kyr are similar and unchanged by post-depositional chemical dissolution. In contrast, in samples deposited from 900 ka to 3 Ma, the relative proportion of stable minerals tends to increase down section. In addition, the Xifeng samples consistently display higher contents of unstable ferromagnesian minerals than the Luochuan samples. Detailed analysis of surface textures displayed by different minerals by optical methods indicates that such a compositional difference can be ascribed to more effective diagenetic dissolution for the Luochuan section, explained by more extensive percolation of interstitial waters in wetter climatic conditions. Interestingly, heavy-mineral assemblages in the underlying upper Miocene Red Clay from Xifeng (deposition age ~ 7 Ma) are similar to those of recent loess deposited since 500 ka. This similarity indicates that climate and/or local preservation conditions hampered dissolution reactions, thus helping to preserve an original provenance signal that remained largely unchanged throughout the considered time period. Our study demonstrates that climatically- and time-controlled diagenesis plays a key role in determining the composition of heavy-mineral assemblages contained in loess deposited several hundreds of thousands years ago. We also show that by using both QEMSCAN and traditional optical techniques on the same samples we can obtain fundamental complementary information for a correct interpretation of the heavy-mineral assemblage.

Field of study: Environmental science, Geography
Subspecialty pediatric neurosurgery training: a skill-based training model for neurosurgeons in low-resourced health systems.

There is inadequate pediatric neurosurgical training to meet the growing burden of disease in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Subspecialty expertise in the management of hydrocephalus and spina bifida-two of the most common pediatric neurosurgical conditions-offers a high-yield opportunity to mitigate morbidity and avoid unnecessary death. The CURE Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida (CHSB) fellowship offers an intensive subspecialty training program designed to equip surgeons from LMIC with the state-of-the-art surgical skills and equipment to most effectively manage common neurosurgical conditions of childhood. Prospective fellows and their home institution undergo a comprehensive evaluation before being accepted for the 8-week training period held at CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda (CCHU) in Mbale, Uganda. The fellowship combines anatomy review, treatment paradigms, a flexible endoscopic simulation lab, daily ward and ICU rounds, radiology rounds, and clinic exposure. The cornerstone of the fellowship is the unique operative experience that includes a high volume of endoscopic third ventriculostomy with choroid plexus cauterization, myelomeningocele closure, and ventriculoperitoneal shunting, among many other procedures performed at CCHU. Upon completion, fellows return to their home institution to establish or rejuvenate a robust pediatric practice as part of a worldwide network of CHSB trainees committed to the care of underserved children. To date, the fellowship has graduated 33 surgeons from 20 different LMIC who are independently performing thousands of hydrocephalus and spina bifida operations each year.

Field of study: Medicine
Haloperidol blocks the conditioned place preferences induced by rewarding brain stimulation.

The conditioned place preference test was employed to investigate the effects of neuroleptic challenge on the rewarding properties of lateral hypothalamic stimulation. Conditioning took place during a single day and consisted of five 5-min exposures to each of two environments (differing in color and floor texture). Twenty-four hours later, when provided a choice between the two environments, rats showed strong preferences for the environment in which they had experienced sessions of rewarding brain stimulation. These stimulation-produced place preferences were prevented by pretreatment with the neuroleptic drug, haloperidol (0.3 but not 0.15 mg/kg, ip). On the basis of these results, it was concluded that (a) the conditioned place preference test can provide a rate-free index of brain stimulation reward and (b) dopamine receptor antagonism can result in an attenuation of the rewarding properties of lateral hypothalamic stimulation.

Field of study: Biology, Psychology
Controversial issues in negative bias temperature instability

In spite of 50 years of history, there is still no consensus on the basic physics of Negative Bias Temperature Instability. Two competing models, Reaction-Diffusion and Defect-Centric, currently vie for dominance. The differences appear fundamental: one model holds that NBTI is a diffusion-limited process and the other holds that it is reaction-limited. Basic issues of disagreement are summarized and the main controversial aspects of each model are reviewed and contrasted.

Field of study: Engineering
Minimum data requirements for designing a set of marine protected areas, using commonly available abiotic and biotic datasets

Marine protected areas (MPAs) can be an effective tool for marine biodiversity conservation, yet decision-makers usually have limited and biased datasets with which to make decisions about where to locate MPAs. Using commonly available abiotic and biotic datasets, I asked how many datasets are necessary to achieve robust patterns of conservation importance. I applied a decision support tool for marine protected area design in two regions of British Columbia, Canada, and sequentially excluded the datasets with the most limited geographic distribution. I found that the reserve selection method was robust to some missing datasets. The removal of up to 15 of the most geographically limited datasets did not significantly change the geographic patterns of the importance of areas for conservation. Indeed, including abiotic datasets plus at least 12 biotic datasets resulted in a spatial pattern similar to including all available biotic datasets. It was best to combine abiotic and biotic datasets in order to ensure habitats and species were represented. Patterns of clustering differed according to whether I used one set alone or both combined. Biotic datasets served as better surrogates for abiotic datasets than vice versa, and both represented more biodiversity features than randomly selected reserves. These results should provide encouragement to decision-makers engaged in MPA planning with limited spatial data.

Field of study: Environmental science
Sobolev Norms-Based State Estimation and Input Recovery for a Class of Nonlinear Systems. Design and Experimental Results

In this paper, we address the problem of state estimation and input recovery for a class of nonlinear systems in the presence of disturbances in both the state and output equations. Indeed one of the main difficulties, that arise when input recovery is considered, is how to cope with the problem of disturbance's derivative for the filter design. Our contribution lies in the use of Sobolev norms to develop a simple and useful observer. We provide first the state filtering and input recovery equations. After, based on the Lyapunov stability theory and some robustness criteria, new sufficient synthesis conditions are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). To show performances of the proposed method, we considered the problem of simultaneous synchronization and decryption in chaotic communication systems with some experimental results.

Field of study: Engineering
Stage and Picture in the English Renaissance: The Mirror up to Nature. John Astington. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. xii + 270 pp. $99.99.

on Judith Butler. For another, Macbeth’s air-drawn dagger surely extends its handle not to prick his conscience but to invite the act of murder, even if this imagined deed also fills him with horror. And third, the isolation of theology from popular culture tends to give undue weight to the Reformation. True, salvation by faith makes no space for the role Aquinas allots to the few sparks of reason that survived the Fall. In his Catholic account, these remain incorruptible, while in general the Protestant mind is entirely fallible. But the fifteenth-century moral playMind, Will and Understanding, for example, while it does not name conscience, already shows Mind, as the higher part of reason, to be capable of falling into sin. The consciousness that takes subjectivity as an object of knowledge is implicit in Anima’s self-contempt when the choices of her own mind have defiled her. Perhaps theology is more a symptom of cultural change than a cause. These are quibbles, however, topics for a discussion provoked by the strength and scope of an important, balanced, and textually based case.

Field of study: History
Detrital zircon geochronology and provenance of the Neoproterozoic to Late Devonian Franklinian Basin, Canadian Arctic Islands

More than 1800 detrital zircon uranium-lead (U-Pb) ages collected from Franklinian Basin sedimentary strata of the Canadian Arctic Islands provide important insights into the depositional and tectonic evolution of the northern margin of Laurentia from the late Neoproterozoic to the Late Devonian. The Franklinian Basin succession is composed of strata with three distinctly different U-Pb age provenance signatures, which have implications for the tectonic and paleogeographic evolution of the entire Arctic region.  Lower Cambrian formations contain detrital zircon populations of 1750–1950 Ma and 2650–2800 Ma, which are consistent with derivation from Archean to Paleoproterozoic gneisses and granites of the west Greenland–northeast Canadian Shield. The Lower Silurian to Lower Devonian Danish River Formation contains a dominant population of 900–2150 Ma detrital zircons with scattered Archean ages. The 900–2150 Ma zircons were likely transported axially along the foreland basin of the East Greenland Caledonides (Caledonian orogen) and deposited in a deep-water basin between the Pearya terrane and northern Laurentian margin. Middle Devonian to Upper Devonian strata contain detrital zircon populations of 900–2150 Ma, similar to the Danish River Formation, but these units also contain 370–450 Ma and 500–700 Ma detrital zircons. The 900–2150 Ma zircons were likely derived from the East Greenland Caledonian Mountains, the uplifted foreland of the East Greenland Caledonides, and the Pearya terrane. The population of 370–450 Ma detrital zircons potentially comes from uplifting granites in the Caledonian Mountains and Pearya terrane. The 500–700 Ma detrital zircons were likely derived from the continental landmass responsible for the Ellesmerian orogen. The 500–700 Ma age of the zircons suggests that the northern landmass likely had a connection to rocks of the Timanide orogens, located in the Timan Range of northwestern Russia. A dominant population of 365–450 Ma and 500–700 Ma ages in Upper Devonian strata suggests that the Pearya terrane and the northern continental landmass became the dominant source by the end of Franklinian Basin sedimentation. Because detrital zircons are often recycled from older strata into younger deposits, these data provide the basis for understanding the sedimentary provenance of younger units of the Sverdrup Basin and sedimentary wedges along the present Arctic continental margin.

Field of study: Geology
Where Are the Postgraduate Programs for Tomorrow's Education Administrative Leaders?

The study by Knapp and colleagues in the August issue of the Journal provides hope to competing pharmacy graduates wishing to pursue a postgraduate residency or fellowship program. The study projected a 58% increase in the number of residents and fellows, sponsored by pharmacy colleges and schools from 2010 to 2015 based on extrapolated data from a survey sent to pharmacy deans.1 As postgraduate programs continue to expand, I ask today's education administrative leaders: “Where are the postgraduate programs for tomorrow's education administrative leaders?”

Field of study: Education, Medicine
Self-Support in College Style

The development of aids for the able youth whose resources are not adequate for the expenses involved has been concomitant to the social evolution which decries ability to pay as the selector for higher education. Scholarship funds, fellowship funds and loan funds, distributing cash or credit, self-support agencies and the college division of the National Youth Administration, giving work aid, all have grown to implement the change. One self-supporting student-if he be a superior student-may have recourse to all of these devices for financial aid before he graduates. Scholarships and fellowships, by their very intent, however, reach only the top ranking few; the average student is reluctant to accumulate debt, and for many a loan is a last resort; the NTA' program, a superstructure of student employment, is limited by quota to a comparatively small group of selected candidates. For the majority who put themselves through college the chief dependence has to be on the income from a part-time job plus the savings from full-time summer work. As early as the i890's there sprang up some unusual agencies in colleges to concentrate on placement of students in part-time jobs. Today a service of the kind exists on almost every American campus. It may be performed by a dean's office, the Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A., a student association, faculty members, or others. It may be found centralized in an employment office with a part-time manager, perhaps a student earning his way. In the larger institutions the services have grown to such magnitude as to require staffs with full-time directors. It is noteworthy that whatever the instrument, the student is rarely charged a fee for the service. The primary function of such an agency is to bring together the students who need jobs and the employers within or without the institution who need part-time employees.

Field of study: Education
Perception of Scientific Creativity and Self-Evaluation among Science Teacher Candidates.

This study was performed with the participation of 20 teacher candidates from the science education department of a university in Turkey. During the study, the teacher candidates were asked two questions, one of which was open-ended, while the other was multiple choice. The validity of these questions developed for this study was evaluated by two expert researchers. The aim of this study was to determine how science teacher candidates defined scientific creativity, and how they assessed themselves in terms of scientific creativity. The study results indicated that the science teacher candidates considered themselves to be somewhat inadequate in terms of scientific creativity, and that they were unable to fully understand or interpret this concept.

Field of study: Education
Conservation of Brazilian freshwater biodiversity: Thinking about the next 10 years and beyond

In 2021 the countries of the world will discuss a framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for a new environmental agenda for the next 10 years (“post-2020”). Parties should consider Brazil to be a central nation in these discussions. The country holds a large freshwater biodiversity that needs to be conserved, but current policies imperil species and ecosystems. Here we present topics to guide other CBD parties in discussing with Brazil a better agenda to conserve freshwater biodiversity post-2020. These initiatives include: (1) a national plan to reduce threats, (2) restoration of freshwater ecosystems, (3) protected areas, (4) more investment in research, and (5) science communication. Brazil’s participation in these CBD negotiations is fundamental for a new agreement, but the country is under a presidential administration with little concern for the environment. While our suggestions are intended for participants in the CBD negotiations, they will also be relevant to other international actors in the coming years. Nations, international investors, private companies and NGOs around the world must therefore use their influence to press the current administration to protect the country’s environment, including its enormous freshwater biodiversity.

Field of study: Environmental science
FXS-Like Phenotype in Two Unrelated Patients Carrying a Methylated Premutation of the FMR1 Gene

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is mostly caused by two distinct events that occur in the FMR1 gene (Xq27.3): an expansion above 200 repeats of a CGG triplet located in the 5′UTR of the gene, and methylation of the cytosines located in the CpG islands upstream of the CGG repeats. Here, we describe two unrelated families with one FXS child and another sibling presenting mild intellectual disability and behavioral features evocative of FXS. Genetic characterization of the undiagnosed sibling revealed mosaicism in both the CGG expansion size and the methylation levels in the different tissues analyzed. This report shows that in the same family, two siblings carrying different CGG repeats, one in the full-mutation range and the other in the premutation range, present methylation mosaicism and consequent decreased FMRP production leading to FXS and FXS-like features, respectively. Decreased FMRP levels, more than the number of repeats seem to correlate with the severity of FXS clinical phenotypes.

Field of study: Biology
Jahn-Teller Distortion and Multiple-spin-state Analysis of Single-atom Vacancy in Graphene-nano-ribbon

A single-atom vacancy defect and its array in graphene and graphite were considered to be one candidate carrying the room-temperature ferromagnetism. Applying density functional theory to a single-atom vacancy in graphene-nano-ribbon (GNR), a detailed relationship between the multiple-spin-state and the Jahn-Teller distortion was studied. An equilateral triangle of an initial vacancy having six unpaired electrons had distorted to isosceles triangle by the Jahn-Teller effect. Among capable spin-state of Sz=6/2, 4/2 and 2/2, the most stable one was Sz=2/2. Total energy was 15.6 kcal/mol lower (stable) than that of the initial one and a sum of spin density (magnetic moment) around one vacancy was 1.49 {\mu}B. Amazing result was obtained in case of Sz=4/2. Initial flat ribbon turned to three dimensionally curled one. There appears ferromagnetic spin distribution on GNR. Total energy was -15.5kcal/mol, which was very close to that of Sz=2/2. Such calculation suggested the coexistence of flat ribbon and curled ribbon by generating vacancies. Bi-layered AB stacked GNR was analyzed in case of {\alpha}-site vacancy and also \b{eta}-site one. The most stable spin state was Sz=2/2 in both cases. These distorted vacancy triangle show 60 degree clockwise rotation from beta- to alpha-site, which is consistent with several experimental observations by using a scanning tunneling microscope.

Field of study: Physics
A simulated annealing approach for multimedia data placement

Multimedia applications are characterized by their strong timing requirements and constraints and thus multimedia data storage is a critical issue in the overall system's performance and functionality. This paper describes multimedia data representation models that effectively guide data placement towards the improvement of the Quality of Presentation for the considered multimedia applications. The performance of both constructive placement and iterative improvement placement algorithms is evaluated and discussed. Emphasis is given on placement schemes which are based on the simulated annealing optimization algorithm. A placement policy, based on a self-improving version of the simulated annealing (SISA) algorithm is applied and evaluated. Performance of the placement policies is experimentally evaluated on a simulated tertiary storage subsystem. As proven by the experimentation, the proposed approach shows considerable gain in terms of seek and service times. The improvements of the proposed SISA approach are in the range of 40% when compared to random placement and at the range of 15-35% when compared to the typical simulated annealing algorithm, depending a lot on the initial configuration and the neighborhood search.

Field of study: Computer science, Engineering
Towards understanding astrophysical effects of nuclear symmetry energy

Determining the Equation of State (EOS) of dense neutron-rich nuclear matter is a shared goal of both nuclear physics and astrophysics. Except possible phase transitions, the density dependence of nuclear symmetry $ E_{{\rm sym}}(\rho)$E sym (ρ) is the most uncertain part of the EOS of neutron-rich nucleonic matter especially at supra-saturation densities. Much progresses have been made in recent years in predicting the symmetry energy and understanding why it is still very uncertain using various microscopic nuclear many-body theories and phenomenological models. Simultaneously, significant progresses have also been made in probing the symmetry energy in both terrestrial nuclear laboratories and astrophysical observatories. In light of the GW170817 event as well as ongoing or planned nuclear experiments and astrophysical observations probing the EOS of dense neutron-rich matter, we review recent progresses and identify new challenges to the best knowledge we have on several selected topics critical for understanding astrophysical effects of the nuclear symmetry energy.

Field of study: Physics
A RATIONALE FOR MODELING SOIL COMPACTION BEHAVIOR: AN ENGINEERING MECHANICS APPROACH

Modeling agricultural soil compaction is important as one input to a system of effective management of soil physical condition to improve crop production. The desired degree of compaction depends on the intended purpose; for example, the requirements for traction and mobility are quite different from those for infiltration and root propagation. Our goal is to develop a compaction model and related soil and soil-machine behavior models which can be used to design systems for effective management of soil physical condition. In this article we discuss our rationale in modeling soil compaction and related soil-machine systems. The status of the various modeling efforts is discussed, as are plans and needs for the future.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Information-Theoretic Bounded Rationality

Bounded rationality, that is, decision-making and planning under resource limitations, is widely regarded as an important open problem in artificial intelligence, reinforcement learning, computational neuroscience and economics. This paper offers a consolidated presentation of a theory of bounded rationality based on information-theoretic ideas. We provide a conceptual justification for using the free energy functional as the objective function for characterizing bounded-rational decisions. This functional possesses three crucial properties: it controls the size of the solution space; it has Monte Carlo planners that are exact, yet bypass the need for exhaustive search; and it captures model uncertainty arising from lack of evidence or from interacting with other agents having unknown intentions. We discuss the single-step decision-making case, and show how to extend it to sequential decisions using equivalence transformations. This extension yields a very general class of decision problems that encompass classical decision rules (e.g. EXPECTIMAX and MINIMAX) as limit cases, as well as trust- and risk-sensitive planning.

Field of study: Computer science