nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Changes of Treg cells, Th17 cells and Treg/Th17 cell-associated cytokines in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis B before and after nucleos (t) ide analogues antivirus therapy

To explore the relationship between the efficacy of nucleos （t） ide analogues antivirus therapy and changes of Treg ceils, Th17 cells and their associated cytokines in the peripheral blood of patients with CHB.  Forty-four CHB patients treated for 12 weeks were enrolled in this study. The frequencies of Treg ceils （CD4＋CD25highCD1271low T cells） and Thl7 cells （CD3＋CD8-IL-17＋ T cells） in the peripheral blood were assessed by flow cytometric analysis. Treg/Thl7 cell-associated cytokines IL- l0, TGF-β1, IL-17 and IL-23 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The comparisons of overall means within groups and between before and after therapy were done by Mann-Whitney U test or Wilcoxon matched paired T test.  In 14 complete-responders of 44 CHB patients, the frequencies of Treg cells, the levels of IL-10, TGF-I31 and IL-23 and Treg/Thl7 ratio were decreased signifi- cantly after nucleos（t） ide analogues antivirus therapy （Z=-2.691, -2. 417, -2. 237, -2.291, -2.291, both P〈0.05） , while the frequencies of Thl7 cells and the IL-17 levels were increased slightly. In 11 patrial-responders, the frequencies of Treg cells, the levels of IL-10, TGF-IM and IL-23 were decreased significantlv after nucleos（t）ide analomaes antivirus therapy （Z=-1. 988, -2. 934, -2.756, -2. 803, both P〈0.05） ; The frequencies of Thl7 cells and the IL-17 levels were increased slightly, while Treg/Th17 ratio was slightly decreased. In 15 non-responders, the frequencies of Treg cells, Thl7 cells, the levels of IL-10, TGF-~I, IL-17 and IL-23 and Treg/Thl7 ratio were not changed significantly after nucleos（t） ide analogues antivirus treatment. Either HBV DNA decrease at least 2 log copies/m1 or ALT normal, the frequencies of Treg ceils, the levels of IL-10, TGF-~I and IL-23 were decreased significantly （all P〈0.05）. The frequen- cies of Treg cells were positively correlated with HBV DNA and ALT, and the level of HBV DNA were corre- lated with ALT.  Treg and Thl7 cells and their associated cytokines were changed significantly before and after NA treatment. In CHB patients who have achieved response after NA therapy, the frequency of Treg cells, the levels of IL-10, TGF-~I and IL-23 and Treg/Thl7 ratio in the peripheral blood were de- creased, while Thl7 cells frequencies and IL-17 levels were increased. 
 
 
iChronic hepatitis B ;  Treg cells ;  Thl7 cells ;  Nucleos（t） analogues ;  Cytokines

Field of study: Biology
effects of rattling phonons on the dynamics of quasiparticle excitation in the beta-pyrochlore KOs(2)O(6) Superconductor.

Microwave penetration depth lambda and surface resistance at 27 GHz are measured in high quality crystals of KOs(2)O(6). Firm evidence for fully gapped superconductivity is provided from lambda(T). Below the second transition at T(p) approximately 8 K, the superfluid density shows a steplike change with a suppression of effective critical temperature T(c). Concurrently, the extracted quasiparticle scattering time shows a steep enhancement, indicating a strong coupling between the anomalous rattling motion of K ions and quasiparticles. The results imply that the rattling phonons help to enhance superconductivity, and that K sites freeze to an ordered state with long quasiparticle mean free path below T(p).

Field of study: Physics
Biogeography of Ordovician bryozoans

The following biogeographic patterns have been determined from a quantitative analysis of the global distribution of the Ordovician genera: Arenig faunas are of low diversity, with provinces appearing in North America and Baltica. Three provinces appear in the Llanvirn: a Baltic Province, a North American Province and a Siberian Province. Bryozoan provinciality is most pronounced in the Llandeilo and Caradoc, with four provinces appearing: North American, Baltic, Siberian and a Mediterranean Province consisting of faunas from Southern Europe and Northern Africa. A dramatic decrease in provinciality occurred in the Ashgill, as only two provinces are recognizable: a North American-Siberian Province and a Baltic-Mediterranean Province. Subprovincial units, or biomes, existed on the North American, Baltic and Siberian plates, as geosynclinal and platform faunas can be distinguished. Biomes are also recognized in North American Caradoc and Ashgill platform faunas, and correspond to major lithotopes. The Baltic fauna was an open ocean fauna which also inhabited oceanic islands and localities around the North American continental margin. The presence of a Baltic bryozoan fauna in mid to late Ashgill formations of the Missouri-southern Illinois region may indicate the invasion of an oceanic fauna into the North American midcontinent through the subsiding Reelfoot Basin, a precursor to the Mississippi Embayment. Baltic migrants from the Missouri region settled in adjacent midwestern localities, forming the Maquoketa Biome.

Field of study: Environmental science, Geography
Literature Survey on Detection of lumps in brain

Broadly, to produce images of soft tissue of human body, MRI images are used by experts. In medical research field faces the challenge of identifying brain lumps or cancer or tumor through Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI). For brain lumps or cancer detection, image segmentation is required. Systematizing this process is a tricky task because of the high diversity in the appearance of lumps tissues among different patients and in many cases similarity with the usual tissues. Physical segmentation of medical image by the radiologist is a monotonous and prolonged process. MRI is a highly developed medical imaging method providing rich information about the person soft-tissue structure. There are varied brain lumps recognition and segmentation methods to detect and segment a brain lumps from MRI images. This is well thought-out to be one of the most significant but tricky part of the process of detecting brain lumps. A variety of algorithms were developed for segmentation of MRI images by using different tools and methods. Alternatively this paper presents a comprehensive review of the methods and techniques used to detect brain lumps through MRI image.

Field of study: Engineering
Austrittsarbeit bei Oxydkathoden

ZusammenfassungDie charakteristischen Eigenschaften technischer Oxydkathodenrohre werden zu-sammengestellt. Die Austrittsarbeit solcher Rohre wird nach der Richardsonschen Gleichung und aus dem Abkühlungseffekt bestimmt und der Einfluß der Gasbeladung der Kathode untersucht.

Field of study: Physics
Arsenic (V) bioconcentration kinetics in freshwater macroinvertebrates and periphyton is influenced by pH.

Arsenic is an important environmental pollutant whose speciation and mobility in freshwater food webs is complex. Few studies have characterized uptake and efflux rates of arsenic in aquatic benthic invertebrates. Further, we lack a fundamental understanding of how pH influences uptake kinetics in these organisms or how this key environmental variable could alter dietary exposure for primary consumers. Here we used a radiotracer approach to characterize arsenate accumulation dynamics in benthic invertebrates, the influence of pH on uptake in a subset of these organisms, and the influence of pH on uptake of arsenate by periphyton - an important food source at the base of aquatic food webs. Uptake rate constants (Ku) from aqueous exposure were modest, ranging from ∼0.001 L g-1d-1 in three species of mayfly to 0.06 L g-1d-1in Psephenus herricki. Efflux rate constants ranged from ∼0.03 d-1 in Corbicula fluminea to ∼0.3 d-1 in the mayfly Isonychia sp, and were generally high. Arsenate uptake decreased with increasing pH, which may be a function of increased adsorption at lower pHs. A similar but much stronger correlation was observed for periphyton where Ku decreased from ∼3.0 L g-1d-1 at 6.5 pH to ∼0.7 L g-1d-1 at 8.5 pH, suggesting that site specific pH could significantly alter arsenic exposure, particularly for primary consumers. Together, these findings shed light on the complexity of arsenic bioavailability and help explain observed differences reported in the literature.

Field of study: Environmental science
How Does Topology of Neural Architectures Impact Gradient Propagation and Model Performance

In this paper, we address two fundamental questions in neural architecture design research: (i) How does an architecture topology impact the gradient flow during training? (ii) Can certain topological characteristics of deep networks indicate a priori (i.e., without training) which models, with a different number of parameters/FLOPS/layers, achieve a similar accuracy? To this end, we formulate the problem of deep learning architecture design from a network science perspective and introduce a new metric called NN-Mass to quantify how effectively information flows through a given architecture. We demonstrate that our proposed NN-Mass is more effective than the number of parameters to characterize the gradient flow properties, and to identify models with similar accuracy, despite having significantly different size/compute requirements. Detailed experiments on both synthetic and real datasets (e.g., MNIST and CIFAR-10/100) provide extensive empirical evidence for our insights. Finally, we exploit our new metric to design efficient architectures directly, and achieve up to 3x fewer parameters and FLOPS, while losing minimal accuracy (96.82% vs. 97%) over large CNNs on CIFAR-10.

Field of study: Computer science
The effect of limonene on bloom of cocoa butter and seeded dark chocolate model

The present work investigated the effect of replacing a fraction of cocoa butter with limonene on fat crystallisation and bloom in the models of limonene-cocoa butter blends and seeded dark chocolate. Limonene was incorporated at a maximum of 6.7% (w/w) of cocoa butter in both types of samples, and were stored at 20 and 29°C changing cyclically every 12 h. Samples were analysed at weekly intervals up to three weeks, and the analysis was carried out by colour measurement for the whiteness index to detect bloom, and by X-ray diffraction (XRD) for crystal phase determination. DSC analysis was also carried out to assess the melting behaviour in the samples of the dark chocolate model. While the white colour of cocoa butter limited the bloom detection by colour, a large increase in whiteness index was recorded for the chocolate models. The XRD revealed an acceleration of crystal phase transformation in both types of samples. The changes in the melting behaviour for the dark chocolate model showed that the increased amount of limonene had caused the decrease in melting temperature. Hence, for practical applications, it can be suggested that the use of limonene, either as flavouring or for viscosity reduction in chocolate, can potentially result in increased bloom formation due to its effect on cocoa butter crystallisation and polymorphism transformation rate.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Steady-state analysis of the adaptive successive interference canceler for DS/CDMA signals

The adaptive successive interference canceler (ASIC) is a multistage receiver that sequentially detects and removes cochannel users from the received signal impinging on a single antenna element. Each stage of the ASIC consists of a conventional matched filter (MF) detector and an adaptive interference canceler (AIC) that employs the least-mean-square (LMS) algorithm to recursively estimate the received amplitude of the detected signal. In this paper, we investigate the performance of the ASIC using a Wiener model of convergence for the LMS algorithm, deriving expressions for the asymptotic mean and variance of the amplitude estimate and the steady-state bit error rate (BER). The analyses and computer simulations demonstrate that the performance of the ASIC exceeds that of the conventional SIC (CSIC), which utilizes the MF output as the received amplitude estimate.

Field of study: Engineering
Fitness of genetically modified Pseudomonas fluorescens in competition for soil and root colonization

The cryIVB gene of Bacillus thuringiensis var morrisoni and the Tn5-derived nptII marker gene were inserted into the chromosome of a rifampicin-resistant derivative of the grass root isolate Pseudomonas fluorescens R2f, via homologous recombination. In addition, nptII alone was inserted. Southern hybridization analysis revealed that single copies of nptII or nptII-cryIVB had been inserted into the genomes of clones Ar-1 and Art-3, respectively. The growth rates of both modified derivatives in different liquid media were similar to that of the parent strain. Further, neither of the two modified strains showed altered fitness during intermittent growth in different liquid media in competition with the parent strain. Separately introduced parent and modified strains showed a similar rate of decline in loamy sand soil microcosms. In soil inoculated with parent/modified strain mixtures, both modified strains showed impaired survival compared to that of the parent. Strain Art-3 carrying nptII-cryIVB showed reduced fitness similar to that of strain Ar-1, which carried nptII. Starvation of modified strain and parent prior to mixed introduction into soil resulted in enhanced survival of the total added poppulation as compared to that of a population of vegetative cells. However, starvation did not affect the competitive disadvantage of the modified strain. Studies on the colonization of the rhizosphere and rhizoplane of young wheat plants by parent/modified strain mixtures similarly showed a disadvantage for both modified strains, since these progressively made up smaller portions of the introduced P. fluorescens populations. Kanamycin added to soil containing the modified/parent strain mixes did not affect the proportion of the modified strain in the introduced P. fluorescens populations in soil. There was, however, an effect on rhizosphere and rhizoplane colonization. A drying/rewetting cycle applied to the soil inoculated with the modified/parent strain mixes revealed an ability to withstand moisture stress of the modified strain similar to that of the parent.

Field of study: Biology, Environmental science
DASH-QoS: A scalable network layer service differentiation architecture for DASH over SDN

As one of the key technologies residing in the future Internet concepts, Software Defined Networking (SDN) makes it possible to develop application-centric flow routing strategies. Thanks to the benefits offered by the SDN architecture, the performance of multimedia communication applications can be improved by developing application-centric flow routing strategies. Recently, MPEG-DASH standard which allows rate adaptation over HTTP has become popular. In this work, we present an architecture that provides increase in received quality of DASH clients running over an SDN domain. Within this architecture, we propose an optimization model which determines the streaming paths of the video packets of the clients. We also define different types of user classes and provide a guaranteed service and fairness among the users of the same class. Furthermore, we created a heuristic algorithm to facilitate the scalability of the solution. The simulation results show that, by considering the output of the optimization model and dynamically changing the routing paths in an ISP, the video quality offered to the DASH clients is significantly improved and a certain level of service guarantee is provided.

Field of study: Computer science
Technical Note: Issues related to external marker block placement for deep inspiration breath hold breast radiotherapy

It has been suggested that the Real‐time Position Management (RPM) marker block should be placed directly on the breast or sternum to verify deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) level for breast radiotherapy. We explore three potential issues with this practice: (a) surface dose effect of placing the marker block in the primary beam; (b) effect of marker block tilt on the accuracy of the RPM system; and (c) correlation between marker block positions on the patient surface and internal chest wall position.  (a) The surface dose under the two‐, four‐, and six‐dot marker blocks was measured at incident angles of 0° and 30°; (b) the motion amplitude detected when using the two‐ and six‐dot marker blocks was recorded for block tilts from 0° to 60° about the RPM camera line of sight; (c) the correlation between median displacement of the chest wall and median displacement of the surface contour between breath holds was investigated for superior, middle, and inferior block positions using contours extracted from portal images of eight left‐sided breast cancer patients.  (a) The marker blocks increased the surface dose for a 6 MV direct field by 48.2–52.2% of Dmax; (b) at lateral tilts greater than 10°, the two‐dot marker block overestimated the motion amplitude; however, the six‐dot marker block amplitude remained accurate up to 60°; (c) the whole, superior, and middle surface positions were strongly correlated with chest wall displacement (R2 = 0.83; R2 = 0.90; R2 = 0.83), whereas the inferior position was moderately correlated (R2 = 0.36).  The RPM marker block can be placed on the breast for DIBH treatments; however, caution should be used regarding surface dose effects. The two‐dot marker block should not be used for block tilts beyond 20°. Marker block placement at a middle or superior position on the breast results in the strongest correlation with chest wall position.

Field of study: Medicine, Physics
Real-time simultaneous wide- and small-angle fibre diffraction.

A combination of two independent imaging area-detector systems controlled by a single data-acquisition system, provides a powerful system for X-ray diffraction studies of time-resolved phenomena over a wide q range, in samples with intrinsic or induced structural orientation. With this system we have observed a transient, tensile-stress-induced, orthorhombic-to-monoclinic transition in high-density polyethylene.

Field of study: Physics
Si-implantation into GaAs grown on Si

Abstract200 keV Si implantations were performed in the dose range of 5 × 1012 − 1 × 1014 cm−2 in GaAs grown on Si. For comparison implants were also performed in GaAs layers grown on GaAs substrates. Implanted layers were annealed by both furnace and halogen lamp rapid thermal anneals. Significantly lower donor activations were observed in GaAs layers grown on Si substrates than in the layers grown on GaAs substrates. Extremely low dopant activations were obtained for Be implants in GaAs grown on Si. Photoluminescence and photoreflectance measurements were also performed on the implanted material.

Field of study: Materials science
Material and doping dependence of the nodal and anti-nodal dispersion renormalizations in single- and multi-layer cuprates

We present a review of bosonic renormalization effects on electronic carriers observed from angle-resolved photoemission spectra in the cuprates. Specifically, we discuss the viewpoint that these renormalizations represent coupling of the electrons to the lattice and review how materials dependence, such as the number of Cu layers, and doping dependence can be understood straightforwardly in terms of several aspects of electron-phonon coupling in layered correlated materials.

Field of study: Physics
Optimal advertising of auctions

We study a symmetric independent private values auction model where the revenue-maximizing seller faces a cost cn of attracting n bidders to the auction. If the distribution of valuations possesses an increasing failure rate (IFR), the seller overinvests in attracting bidders compared to the social optimum. Conversely, if the distribution is DFR, the seller underinvests compared to the social optimum. If the distribution of valuations becomes more dispersed, both, a revenue- and a welfare-maximizing seller, attract more bidders.

Field of study: Economics
Alcohol consumption before and during pregnancy comparing concurrent and retrospective reports.

Reported alcohol consumption during pregnancy has proven to be higher when reported retrospectively during or after the pregnancy, compared with concurrent reports. In a longitudinal, population-based questionnaire study, we investigated whether these findings could be replicated.



A longitudinal, population-based questionnaire study. Among a representative half of pregnant women in Oslo, 92% accepted to join the study. Non-Norwegian speaking and/or immigrants from nonwestern countries were not invited. Questionnaires were answered at 17 (T1) and 30 weeks of pregnancy (T2) and 6 months after term (T3). The response rate was at T1 93% (N = 1,749), at T2 82%, and at T3 94% [representing 86% (T1), 70% (T2), and 64% of those invited to join the study].



Significantly more alcohol consumption after pregnancy recognition was reported retrospectively at both T2 and T3 [T2 0.15 and T3 0.18 standard units per week (SU/wk)] than concurrently at T1 or T2 (T1 0.10 and T2 0.14 SU/wk). When comparing the 2 retrospective reports at T2 and T3, there was a significant increase over time. Predictive factors for higher retrospective reports were higher age, more SU per week before pregnancy, reported alcohol use after pregnancy recognition (at T1), and depression after the pregnancy. A predictive factor for lower retrospective reporting was anxiety during, but not after, the pregnancy. Contrary to previous suggestions, anxiety concerning abnormality in the 6-month-old child was not a predictive factor.



Concurrently reported alcohol consumption during pregnancy is probably under-reported. Thus, concurrent reports appear to underestimate fetal exposure.

Field of study: Medicine
Bound states of light and heavy quarks in hot hadronic matter

AbstractThe correlators of currents
$$\bar q$$
Q,γvγ5Q,q andQ being correspondingly light and heavy quark fields, in hot hadronic matter are investigated by means of finite temperature QCD sum rules. AtT≳ 100 MeV the modification of the effective spectrum parameters takes place, similar to that found earlier in the correlators of light quark currents. AtT≳150 MeV the form of the spectrum is obtained, which indicates an appearance in hadronic matter of quasifree quarks with nonzero mass being fixed by the value of the quark condensate 〈
$$\bar q$$
q〉 (T).

Field of study: Physics
Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America (review)

Nevertheless, throughout the volume it would have been valuable to have a more thoughtful interrogation of the concept of democracy. For example, the January 21, 2000 coup that removed Jamil Mahuad from office in Ecuador is presented as undermining democratic institutions. Clearly, it was a break in the institutional and constitutional order and a threat to elite interests, but depending on one's interpretations it was not necessarily an "anti-democratic" movement. Similarly, the editors condemn Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez for his "creeping authoritarianism" (p. 273). This characterization, however, does not help explain deep support for his government from previously ignored and marginalized sectors, nor the country's attempts to move from a representative to a participatory and protagonistic model of democracy.

Field of study: History