nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
A Comprehensive Review on the Evolution of Ofgem RIIO-ED1 Electricity Distribution Price Control Framework in United Kingdom

Distribution of electricity has been considered as a natural monopoly that needs to be regulated in a proper effective way so that network companies don’t take benefits of their monopoly role. Customers should get what they pay for and they have the right to be supplied with the quality electricity on a reasonable, transparent and affordable price. This paper presents a novel approach to the regulation and pricing calculation of the electricity distribution network that brings together both technical and economic concerns. This Paper discusses the DNO’s key role in electricity distribution price regulation, surveys the current regulatory structure, the evolution of RIIO-ED1 since its introduction specifically focuses on the second year 2016-2017 price control. A key contribution of this study is to briefly discuss different stages of the distribution networks price regulation under gas and electricity regulatory body (Ofgem) in Great Britain, which are (1) RPI-X scheme, (2) DPCR and (3) RIIO-ED1. Finally this study presents the detailed structure of RIIO ED- 1 phenomena, compares with the current (2016-2017) and previous (2015-2016) year and discusses improvements in the Ofgem highly distributed network to ensure costumers to be supplied with the efficient high quality electricity.

Field of study: Engineering
Biological and water chemistry controls on Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca, Mg/Ca and δ18O profiles in freshwater pearl mussel Hyriopsis sp.

We investigated oxygen isotope and Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios in shells of a commercially cultured freshwater pearl mussel ( Hyriopsis sp., Unionidae) and ambient water. The first-order fluctuations of oxygen isotope ratios of the outer shell layer along the maximum growth axis recorded the mussels' annual growth from 2002 to 2007. Clear annual Sr/Ca cycles suggest that Sr was incorporated into the shells at a high rate during warm seasons. All three examined shells showed a clear decrease in annual average Sr/Ca with age. Inter- and intra-annual trends suggest that Sr incorporation was higher during periods of faster growth. The Ba concentration and the Ba/Ca ratio of ambient water showed neither an annual periodicity nor a seasonal trend. In contrast to the findings of an inorganic aragonite precipitation experiment, Ba/Ca was positively correlated with ambient temperature. In addition, Ba/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios were positively correlated with each other. These results suggest that not thermodynamic equilibrium partitioning but the shell growth rate controls Ba incorporation into Hyriopsis shells. The Mg/Ca profiles of the three shells suggest that complex factors control the incorporation of Mg into shell aragonite. Water temperature and annual growth rates did not significantly influence Mg incorporation, and substantial interspecimen differences suggested that physicochemical factors do not exert any systematic control on Mg/Ca ratios in Hyriopsis . Instead, the Mg content of shell aragonite might reflect biological contamination with organic material or adsorption phenomena during crystal precipitation rather than regulated substitution into the aragonite crystal lattice. Our results suggest that trace element profiles in aragonitic bivalve shells could be interpreted as the result of strong biological controls over-riding environmental influences on trace element incorporation.

Field of study: Environmental science, Geography
Study on purification of general flavonoids from buckwheat hulls with macroporous resin

Absorbability and desorption property of four macroporous resins for general flavonoids was compared. Taking the Absorbability and desorption property as a guideline, this research has study the purifying conditions of general flavonoids from buckwheat hulls with macroporous resin. The result showed that the absorbability and desorption property of AB -8 macroporous resin are the best to general flavonoids in buckwheat hulls. The best purification condition in buckwheat hulls is: general flavonoids concentration 0.24 mg/ mL, quantity of general flavonoids solution 8 BV, adsorption velocity of flow 2.0 mL/min, concentration of desorption solution 40%, desorption velocity of flow 1.0 mL/min. The purity of general flavonoids extracted from buckwheat hulls is raises to 59.5% from 27.9%.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Confirmation of a false-positive result associated with a competition inhibition assay used for detecting antibodies to a protein epitope of Mycobacterium leprae.

A competitive antibody-binding assay (CABA) was developed to detect antibodies in infected armadillos and leprosy patients which compete with an M. leprae-specific125I monoclonal antibody IIIE9 for the species-specific M. leprae-IIIE9 epitope on the 65-kD protein. The results suggest armadillos and leprosy patients produce antibodies thai inhibit the binding of I2SI-IIIE9 monoclonal antibody to the IIIE9 epitope on crude, native 65-kD protein preparations. When purified, recombinant 65-kD protein was substituted for crude antigen, there was no evidence in the CABA of antibody to the IIIE9 epitope. False-positive results, possibly induced by steric hindrance, are likely to be associated with CABA which incorporate crude cell wall extracts as solid-phase antigen.

Field of study: Biology, Medicine
Study of grain boundary polarization by two-probe and four-probe impedance spectroscopy

Four-probe impedance spectra of polycrystalline cation conductors: NASICON, Na β-alumina and Ag β-alumina, were measured in the frequency range from 10 Hz to 100 kHz with the aid of high sensitivity, high input impedance preamplifiers. Dispersion associated with the grain boundary polarization was observed below room temperature. The frequency dependent part of the conductivity of grain interiors was seen in the four-probe spectra below 200 K. Two-probe impedance spectra were measured for samples with platinum electrodes over the frequency range 0.01 Hz to 10 MHz. The spectra were analyzed by nonlinear least-squares fitting of equivalent circuits. The circuit composed of two sections connected in series: (i) resistance R g parallel to constant phase element P gi , (ii) parallel combination of resistance R gb , constant phase element P gb and capacitance C gb , was found to be a good model of the dispersion seen in the four-probe spectra and was also part of the circuit used to simulate the two-probe spectra. The results obtained by the two-probe and four-probe methods for the resistance of grains, R gi , and total resistance, R t =R gi +R gh , are compared. The advantages and limitations of the two methods are discussed.

Field of study: Materials science
Simultaneous Determination of Active Components of Shuangdan Decoction in Rat Plasma by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

A sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometric (HPLC/MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of danshensu, protocatechuic aldehyde, paeoniflorin, and paeonol in rat plasma. Agilent XDB-C 8 column was used and the column temperature was maintained at 35°C. The mobile phase was CH 3 CN-0.1%CH 3 COOH-H 2 O at a flow rate of 0.6 ml/min. The separation was finished within 26 min using linear gradient elution. Electrospray ionization (ESI) selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode was used. Negative SIM mode was applied to the analysis of danshensu, protocatechuic aldehyde, and paeoniflorin, whereas positive SIM mode was used for paeonol. The method was simple, accurate, and specific. The intra-day and inter-day precisions (RSD) were less than 5.2% and 9.9%, respectively. Danshensu, protocatechuic aldehyde, paeoniflorin, and paeonol in rat plasma after intragastric administration of Shuangdan decoction were determined using the proposed method. The results indicated that the t max of danshensu, protocatechuic aldehyde, paeoniflorin, and paeonol was 30, 30, 60, and 20 min, respectively.

Field of study: Chemistry
Hard X-ray phase-contrast tomography of non-homogeneous specimens: grating interferometry versus propagation-based imaging.

X-ray phase-contrast imaging is an effective approach to drastically increase the contrast and sensitivity of microtomographic techniques. Numerous approaches to depict the real part of the complex-valued refractive index of a specimen are nowadays available. A comparative study using experimental data from grating-based interferometry and propagation-based phase contrast combined with single-distance phase retrieval applied to a non-homogeneous sample is presented (acquired at beamline ID19-ESRF). It is shown that grating-based interferometry can handle density gradients in a superior manner. The study underlines the complementarity of the two techniques for practical applications.

Field of study: Physics
Exact slow-fast decomposition of the singularly perturbed matrix differential Riccati equation

In this paper the Hamiltonian matrix formulation of the Riccati equation is used to derive the reduced-order pure-slow and pure-fast matrix differential Riccati equations of singularly perturbed systems. These pure-slow and pure-fast matrix differential Riccati equations are obtained by decoupling the singularly perturbed matrix differential Riccati equation of dimension n"1+n"2 into the pure-slow regular matrix differential Riccati equation of dimension n"1 and the pure-fast stiff matrix differential Riccati equation of dimension n"2. A formula is derived that produces the solution of the original singularly perturbed matrix differential Riccati equation in terms of solutions of the pure-slow and pure-fast reduced-order matrix differential Riccati equations and solutions of two reduced-order initial value problems. In addition to its theoretical importance, the main result of this paper can also be used to implement optimal filtering and control schemes for singularly perturbed linear time-invariant systems independently in pure-slow and pure-fast time scales.

Field of study: Mathematics
Genetic Improvement of Native Trichoderma spp. for Carbendazim Tolerance for the Management of Macrophomina phaseolina Incitant of Charcoal rot of Sunflower

Carbendazim tolerance in native Trichoderma isolates was induced by exposing the culture to UV-irradiation for different periods viz., 0,2,4,6 and 8 hr and the same were grown on PDA amended with different concentrations of carbendazim viz., 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 1 and 1.3% consequtively and tested for their stability. Mutant isolate TM17 showed tolerance up to 1.3% of carbendazim while native isolate (TW17) failed to tolerate even at 0.01% concentration. Mutant strain, TM17 inhibited the mycelial growth of test pathogen by 90% when compared to corresponding wild type TW17 (62.2%) indicating the enhanced antagonistic effect by genetic means.

Field of study: Biology
Nanoscale observations of magnesite growth in chloride- and sulfate-rich solutions.

Magnesite growth in chloride and sulfate-rich solutions has been examined at 90 °C in situ using phase-shift interferometry (PSI) and ex situ using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to evaluate the feasibility of cosequestering SO2 and CO2 in Mg-rich rocks. Although sulfate may assist desolvation at the magnesite surface, evidence for enhanced growth was only found at specific surface sites. The overall growth rates fit with those observed for chloride experiments in similarly saturated solutions. Thus, the formation of Mg-SO4 ion pairs in solution, which lowers the supersaturation with respect to magnesite, will have the dominant effect during sequestration. Lowering the activity of Mg(2+) ions in solution also inhibited the nucleation of other hydrated Mg-carbonate phases. As no evidence was found for sulfate incorporation into the growing magnesite, the presence of sulfate in solution will be detrimental to CO2 sequestration and is not expected to be cosequestered. The PSI data also emphasize the variability of reactivity over the surface and how this changes as a function of solution saturation and composition.

Field of study: Environmental science
Clavigero: The Fate of a Manuscript *

It Has Been Commonly stated for almost two centuries now that the reason why the celebrated Mexican Jesuit, Francisco Javier Clavigero , was unable to publish the Spanish original of his Storia antica del Messico (Ancient History of Mexico) in Madrid stemmed from the savage attack made on the Italian edition by a highly nationalistic Spanish Jesuit, Ramon Diosdado Caballero, who considered it highly insulting and injurious to Spain and who urged the Spanish Government not to allow its publication until the author publicly retracted his damaging statements. That his bitter criticism prevented immediate publication there is no doubt, but on the basis of newly gathered evidence in Spanish and Roman archives, it is by no means clear that it was the ultimate cause for its not appearing.

Field of study: History
Propagation of high-power light pulses through semiconductors under interband interaction conditions

A theoretical investigation was made of the propagation of a high-power light pulse in a semiconductor under interband absorption conditions. A self-consistent system of equations was obtained for the field and the medium allowing for nonequilibrium particle relaxation processes. Allowance was also made for the influence of a strong pulse field on the intensity of such processes. Analytic and numerical investigation of various interesting cases permit comparison between theory and experiment.

Field of study: Engineering, Physics
Electro-deposited gallium arsenide film: I. Preparation, structural, optical and electrical studies

The preparation of GaAs films using an electro-co-deposition technique' is described. An aqueous solution containing Ga and As ions in proper ratios was electrolysed at low currents. The deposited material was identified and characterised by EDAX and electron microscopic studies. Optical absorption study shows that the band gap of the deposited material is approximately 1./5 eV. The resistivity and trap density of electro-deposited film are approximately 103 Omega cm and approximately 1014 cm-3 respectively as determined by I-V characteristics.

Field of study: Materials science
On Bayes estimation for mixtures of two Weibull distributions under type I censoring

A failure population need not be homogeneous. It can be a mixture of two or more distinct subpopulations. In this paper a population which can be divided into two subpopulations each representing a different cause of failure, is considered. The subpopulations each follow a Weibull distribution. Maximum likelihood estimators, Bayes estimators with respect to proper priors, and with respect to improper priors for the population parameters and the reliability function are derived. All analysis is based on samples censored at a predetermined test termination time. A comparison of the Bayes estimation and the maximum likelihood estimation is made through Monte Carlo simulation.

Field of study: Engineering
Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil from the leaf of Magnolia officinalis

There are many biological active components in the leaf of Magnolia officinalis,to extract and analyze the constituents of the essential oil from the leaf of Magnolia officinalis, This research will provide scientific proof for the search of antimicrobial activity compositions from Magnolia officinalis to empolder this natural resource.  The essential oil from the leaf of Magnolia officinalis was extracted by steam distillation, the components of the essential oil were separated and structurally identified by gas chromatlgraphy-mass spectrometry, and some components of the essential oil was calibrated with a standard mixture of homologous n-alkane series. The relative contents of these components by the peak-area normalization method adopted in gas chromatography, the antimicrobial activities of the essential oil against the growth of 4 bacteria and 1 pathogenic yeast were evaluated using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) method.  50 components were separated, 49 components were identified and accounted for 96.20% of the all peak area, the essential oil had antimicrobial activity.  The main chemical constituents of the essential oil were sesquiterpenoids compounds, the major components were β-Caryophyllene oxide (32.03%), 4-(2-propenyl)-Phenol (23.12%), Hexadecanoic acid (7.07%), 9,12,15-Octadecantrienoic acid (5.08%), Eudesmanol (4.53%), etc. The result of the antimicrobial activities of the essential oil inhibited the growth of testing bacterias and sterilized them especially against Bacillus subtillis CMCC63501 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25925.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Mucosal reactivity to cow's milk protein in coeliac disease

Patients with coeliac disease (CD) on a gluten‐free diet may still have gastrointestinal symptoms. On clinical grounds cow's milk (CM) protein sensitivity may be suspected. Here, using rectal protein challenge, we investigated the local inflammatory reaction to gluten and CM protein in adult patients with CD in remission. Rectal challenges with wheat gluten and dried CM powder were performed in 20 patients with CD and 15 healthy controls. Fifteen hours after challenge the mucosal reaction was recorded by the mucosal patch technique with measurements of local release of neutrophil and eosinophil granule constituents; myeloperoxidase (MPO) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP). We measured the mucosal production of nitric oxide (NO) simultaneously. Six of the patients who reacted to CM were also challenged with α‐lactalbumin and casein. In 18 of 20 patients gluten challenge induced neutrophil activation defined as increased MPO release and increased NO synthesis. Ten of these 20 patients showed a similarly strong inflammatory reaction to CM challenge. Six of the CM sensitive patients were challenged with specific CM proteins: casein and α‐lactalbumin. Casein, in contrast to α‐lactalbumin, induced an inflammatory response similar to that produced by CM. A mucosal inflammatory response similar to that elicited by gluten was produced by CM protein in about 50% of the patients with coeliac disease. Casein, in particular, seems to be involved in this reaction.

Field of study: Biology, Medicine
maxPET, a dedicated mammary and axillary region PET imaging system for breast cancer

Presents initial measurements from a high-performance prototype dedicated PET camera (maxPET) designed for mammary and axillary region imaging. The system consists of two 15/spl times/15 cm/sup 2/ planar scintillation detector plates operating in coincidence, with each plate composed of 25 modular detectors. The modular detectors are comprised of a 9/spl times/9 array of 3/spl times/3/spl times/20 mm/sup 3/ lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) detector elements, read out by a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube (PS-PMT). A multiplexing readout scheme is used to reduce the number of readout channels from 200 (4X and 4Y readouts per PS-PMT) to 8 channels per plate. The detectors have a measured intrinsic spatial resolution of 2.3 mm. Over 95% of the 4050 crystals in the system can be identified in flood histograms of the detector plates. The coincidence timing resolution for the entire system is 8.1 ns. A line source phantom was scanned with the system and images reconstructed using focal plane tomography. The estimated resolution in projection images is 4 mm based on profiles taken through the line source phantom images. The goal of the maxPET system will be to aid in breast cancer patient management by assisting in imaging women with dense fibro-glandular breasts, detecting axillary lymph node metastases without surgery, and monitoring chemotherapy effectiveness. Future research on the maxPET system will focus on changes to the electronics to improve count rate performance and timing resolution and the mounting of the detectors on a rotating gantry for tomographic studies.

Field of study: Physics
MULTIPLE PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS, APACHE COUNTY, ARIZONA

Field evidence indicates two episodes of glaciation in the White Mountains, separated by a considerable time gap represented by deep weathering of the older glacial material, stream entrenchment, and outpouring of basalt and cinders over the area. The snow-level depression at the time of the younger glaciation was 2700±640 feet below the estimated, modern snow level.

Field of study: Geology
Assessing Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors of Young Women: A Joint Model with Nonlinear Time Effects, Time Varying Covariates, and Dropouts

Understanding human sexual behaviors is essential for the effective prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STI). Analysis of longitudinally measured sexual behavioral data, however, is often complicated by zero-inflation of event counts, nonlinear time trend, time-varying covariates, and informative dropouts. Ignoring these complicating factors could undermine the validity of the study findings. In this article, we put forth a unified joint modeling structure that accommodates these features of the data. Specifically, we propose a pair of simultaneous models for the zero-inflated event counts: Each of these models contains an auto-regressive structure for the accommodation of the effect of recent event history, and a nonparametric component for the modeling of nonlinear time effect. Informative dropout and time varying covariates are modeled explicitly in the process. Model fitting and parameter estimation are carried out in a Bayesian paradigm by the use of a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. Analytical results showed that adolescent sexual behaviors tended to evolve nonlinearly over time, and they were strongly influenced by the day-to-day variations in mood and sexual interests. These findings suggest that adolescent sex is, to a large extent, driven by intrinsic factors rather than being compelled by circumstances, thus highlighting the need of education on self-protective measures against infection risks.

Field of study: Mathematics
An automated sampling system for large soil column transport studies

An automated column effluent sampling system for large unsaturated soil columns was constructed and evaluated. The automated collection system consist of a programmable three-solenoid valve system that maintains a constant matric potential at the bottom of the soil column and periodically switches column effluent from a waste receptacle to a sampling vial. We compared the automated system to a traditional vacuum chamber-fraction collector system that continuously sampled all column effluent. Comparisons were made by measuring 3H2O breakthrough curves (BTCs) generated by the two collection systems using the same intact soil columns. No significant differences were observed in 3H2O BTCs between collection systems. These results indicate that the automated collection system is effective for large column transport studies and provides additional advantages by maintaining effluent resolution (sample volume), yet reduces sample size (numbers) and labor required for sample collection.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences