nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Teacher Shortages, Teacher Contracts and Their Impact on Education in Africa

Primary school enrolment rates are very low in francophone Africa. In order to enhance education supply, manycountries have launched large teacher recruitment programmes in recent years, whereby teachers are no longer engaged on civil servant positions, but on the basis of (fixed-term) contracts typically implying considerably lower salaries and a sharply reduced duration of professional training. While this policy has led to a boost of primary enrolment, there is a concern about a loss in the quality of education. In this paper we analyse the impact on educational quality, by estimating nonparametrically the quantile treatment effects for Niger, Togo and Mali, based on very informative data, comparable across these countries. We find that contract teachers do relatively better for low ability children in low grades than for high ability children in higher grades. When positive treatment effects were found, they tended to be more positive at the low to medium quantiles; when negative effects were found they tended to be more pronounced at the high ability quantiles. Hence, overall it seems that contract teachers do a relatively better job for teaching students with learning difficulties than for teaching the ‘more advanced' children. This implies that contract teachers tend to reduce inequalities in student outcomes. At the same time, we also observe clear differences between the countries. We find that, overall, effects are positive in Mali, somewhat mixed in Togo (with positive effects in 2nd and negative effects in 5th grade) and negative in Niger. This ordering is consistent with theoretical expectations derived from a closer examination of the different ways of implementation of the contract teacher programme in the three countries. In Mali and, to some extent, in Togo, the contract teacher system works more through the local communities. This may have led to closer monitoring and more effective hiring of contract teachers. In Niger, the system was changed in a centralized way with all contract teachers being public employees, so that there is no reason to expect much impact on local monitoring. In addition, the extremely fast hiring of huge numbers of contract teachers may also have contributed to relatively poor performance in Niger. These results are expected to be relevant for other sub-Saharan African countries, too, as well as for the design of new contract teacher programmes in the future.

Field of study: Mathematics
Total Synthesis of Carbazole Alkaloids – Ekeberginine, Harmandianamine A, and Furanoclausamine B

The anionic [4 + 2] annulation of 3-substituted furoindolones with dimethyl maleate provides an expedient route for the synthesis of the title carbazole alkaloids. The employment of this strategy in combination with a Krapcho reaction/retro-Kolbe–Schmitt reaction has culminated in the first total synthesis of the lactonic carbazoles harmandianamine A and furanoclausamine B and a brief total synthesis of ekeberginine from a prenylated furoindolone. An unusual fragmentation of an ester function during the annulation is also reported.

Field of study: Chemistry
Economic valuation and conservation, restoration & management strategies of Saint Martin's coral island, Bangladesh

Tropical coral reefs render a large number of ecosystem services, although without sustainable use practices and conservation measures over the last couple of decades many tropical coral reef ecosystems have been damaged because of excessive use of reef resources. This study provides an estimation of economic benefits from both direct and indirect use of Saint Martin's Coral Island resources, one of the ecologically critical areas (ECAs) of Bangladesh. The coral reef and the associated habitats of St. Martin's Island contributes 33.6 million USD/year to the local economy from fishing, tourism, shoreline protection, seaweed culture, and gathering of intertidal shellfish. Tourism and fisheries are the major economic sectors, generating annual direct use values of 19.4 million USD and 13 million USD/year respectively. The indirect use value of shoreline protection is estimated to be about 180,000 USD/year. Economic benefits of around 1 million USD, could also be generated from an entrance fee collected from tourists visiting the island. The net present value (NPV) of benefits from all of the resources of Saint Martin's Island over a 25-year time frame, with a 6.5% discount rate, is about 545 million USD. A coupled socio-ecological-political, restoration and management framework is recommended. The government should come forward with a conservation, restoration and management plan so that the framework could be used for the management and restoration of a degraded coral reef ecosystem.

Field of study: Environmental science
Thermal conductivity measurement and correlation at saturation condition of HFO refrigerant trans-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluoro-2-butene (R1336mzz(E))

The trans-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluoro-2-butene (R1336mzz(E)) would be a novel working fluid in the heat pumps and organic Rankine cycles with low-GWP value, lower toxicity, and non-flammability. The transport property mainly thermal conductivity measurement is the main target of the paper for this HFO refrigerant for the liquid, vapor, and supercritical states, respectively. Simple correlations at saturated state are developed to estimate the thermal conductivity for industrial design and simulation. In this article, the thermal conductivity data were reported in the temperature from 313 to 393 K over the pressure until 4.0 MPa and temperature from 313 to 453 K at pressure up to 2.5 MPa both for liquid and vapor states, respectively. Also, the thermal conductivity in a supercritical region was recorded from temperature range 413 to 453 K and pressures at 3.0 to 4.0 MPa. The experimental liquid and vapor thermal conductivity data of R1336mzz(E) were compared with the data measured for cis-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluoro-2-butene (R1336mzz(Z)). Moreover, the correlations at the saturated state were developed by extrapolating the experimental data until the saturation conditions both for liquid and vapor states. The estimated combined uncertainties for the liquid, vapor and supercritical regions of thermal conductivity measurement were recorded to 1.94 %, 1.98 %, and 2.01 %, respectively.

Field of study: Engineering
Cognitive Complexity and Categorization of Stimulus Objects Being Judged

Cognitive complexity and the categorization of stimulus objects being judged was examined. Previous research indicated that these stimulus objects could be analyzed in terms of two distinct subgroups with reference to social distance. The cognitive complexity scores assigned to 10 stimulus objects by 82 Ss were subjected to a principal factor analysis. Since the largest two factors extracted did not have appropriate content and left a large proportion of the total score variance unaccounted for, it was concluded that these role models could not be categorized into two distinct subgroups upon the basis of affective stimulus value. Future research should consider the significance of the individual stimulus objects being judged.

Field of study: Psychology
Two-dimensional arrays of superconducting and soft magnetic strips as dc magnetic metamaterials

We have theoretically investigated the magnetic response of two-dimensional (2D) arrays of superconducting and soft magnetic strips, which are regarded as models of dc magnetic metamaterials. The anisotropy of the macroscopic permeabilities depends on whether the applied magnetic field is parallel to the wide surface of the strips (μ∥) or perpendicular (μ⊥). For the 2D arrays of superconducting strips, 0   0.

Field of study: Physics
Magnetic Relaxation in the Peak Effect Region of CeRu$_2$

The different pinning strengths of the flux line lattice in the peak effect (PE) region of a polycrystalline sample of CeRu$_2$ with a superconducting transition temperature {$T_c = 6.1$ K} have been probed by means of magnetization measurements with a SQUID magnetometer as the temperature $T$ and the magnetic field $H$ are varied. Magnetic relaxation measurements were used to monitor the flux line dynamics in the PE region. For {$T < 4.5$ K} and $H < H_P$, where $H_P$ is the field where the magnetization reaches a maximum in the PE region, the relaxation rate was found to be significantly larger in the descending-field branch of the PE than it is in other sections of the PE region. For {$T \geq 4.5$ K}, the relaxation rate in the entire PE region is so large that the magnetization reached a stable (equilibrium) value within {$10^4$ s}. This experimentally determined stable state appears as an increase of the magnetization in the PE region and has a dome shape superimposed on a linear interpolation through the PE region. It was also found that the PE in CeRu$_2$ can be suppressed by rapid thermal cycling of the sample between {10 K} and {300 K} four times. The reversible magnetization after the PE has been suppressed coincides with the linear interpolation through the PE region, in contrast to the behavior of the equilibrium magnetization when the PE is present. 
PACS number: 74.25.Qt, 74.70.Ad

Field of study: Physics
Urology mythbusters: do we need to surgically correct vesicoureteral reflux in older girls to prevent problems in future pregnancy? (revision 1).

In this edition of Mythbusters we critically examine the premise that, because women with history of vesicoureteric reflux (VUR) are at higher risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) and other morbidity during pregnancy, persistent VUR in older girls should be considered an indication for surgical correction. The literature is very limited in that there are essentially no methodologically robust comparisons of pregnancy outcomes among women whose childhood VUR was or was not surgically repaired. Most of the case series and cohorts find relatively high incidence of UTI and pyelonephritis among pregnant women with a history of VUR, but there is very little to suggest that persistent VUR is itself a risk factor for infection during pregnancy. Indeed, some studies suggest that UTI risk is actually higher among women who previously underwent anti-reflux surgery compared to those who did not, although these data are compromised by significant selection bias. In contrast, there is relatively strong evidence that maternal and fetal morbidity is higher when the mother is known to have renal scarring; such women probably merit close surveillance during pregnancy for infection, hypertension and pre-eclampsia, and other problems. Overall, current evidence is insufficient to support routine anti-reflux surgery in girls with the sole purpose of decreasing complications during future pregnancy, particularly for girls with lower-grades of VUR and no renal scarring. The verdict for this urolegend: it contains a a "teeny, tiny nugget of truth."

Field of study: Medicine
Seasonal and Annual Impacts of Climate Change on Watershed Response Using an Ensemble of Global Climate Models

Climate change impacts watershed hydrology and contributes to alteration of hydrologic regimes in streams. However, global climate models (GCMs) operate at spatial and temporal scales that are too large to capture important watershed-scale hydrologic shifts. A method of disaggregating monthly ensemble GCM data into temperature and precipitation data series for daily, watershed-specific hydrologic simulations with SWAT was developed and assessed in the Soldier Creek watershed in northeast Kansas. A stochastic weather generator (WINDS) was employed to produce a baseline scenario (no changes from late 20th century conditions) and two scenarios based on ensemble means of 15 GCMs representing future conditions (A2 storyline) referred to as the 2050 and 2100 scenarios. Future hydrologic regimes exhibited non-linear annual and monthly responses in hydrologic budget components, such as surface runoff, baseflow, and soil moisture, to temperature and precipitation changes. For the 2050 scenario, the combination of higher temperatures along with decreased annual precipitation and increased spring precipitation resulted in higher surface runoff, baseflow, and streamflow in May and June with a longer drought season later in summer. The significant decrease in streamflow, runoff, and baseflow for the 2100 scenario reflected an increase in monthly and annual temperature rather than a direct result of precipitation decline. The 2100 scenario also produced a reduction in low-flow duration, an increase in the number of drought occurrences, and a decrease in flood frequency and duration. In retrospect, use of the stochastic weather generator to temporally downscale monthly GCM results while incorporating site-specific climate variability (such as occurs with convective storms often missed in coarse-resolution GCM data) produced more meaningful analysis of hydrological impacts, which is critical to predicting and understanding the impacts of climate change. Although this method allowed simulation of future-climate shifts based on GCM-simulated monthly shifts, it could not simulate potential shifts in climate patterns within a month, such as changes in transitional probabilities that govern the intensity and distribution of storms with months. In future work, translation of regional climate model responses into WINDS stochastic parameter adjustments will allow more accurate and efficient simulation. The severity of the increased drought and decreased flood responses simulated in this study would not be anticipated by review of precipitation trends alone nor by analysis of annual hydrologic responses alone. Similarly, many critical hydrologic responses reflected interactions between climate variables (e.g., precipitation and temperature) at sub-annual temporal scales, which highlights the need to consider climatic interactions in future studies of climate change impacts.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
MO-FG-BRB-02: Debater.

Building on the energy and excitement of Washington DC in a presidential election year, AAPM will host its own Presidential Debate to better understand the views of the AAPM membership! Past presidents of the AAPM, Drs. Bayouth, Hazle, Herman, and Seibert, will debate hot topics in medical physics including issues facing education, professional practice, and the advancement of science. The moderators, Drs. Brock and Stern, will also draw in topics from Point-Counterpoint articles from the Medical Physics Journals. Wrapping up the debate, the audience will have the opportunity to question the candidates in a town hall format. At the conclusion of this lively debate, the winner will be decided by the audience, so bring your Audience Response Units! Be part of Medical Physics - Decision 2016!



1. Understand AAPM members' views and opinions on issues facing medical physics education 2. Learn AAPM members' views and opinions on issues facing professional practice 3. Identify AAPM members' view and opinions on issues facing the advancement of science in medical physics J. Bayouth, Funding support from NCI;Scientific Advisory Board member - ViewRay.

Field of study: Medicine, Physics
“Rock Nacional” and Revolutionary Politics: The Making of a Youth Culture of Contestation in Argentina, 1966–1976

On March 30, 1973, three weeks after Hector Campora won the first presidential elections in which candidates on a Peronist ticket could run since 1955, rock producer Jorge Alvarez, himself a sympathizer of left-wing Peronism, carried out a peculiar celebration. Convinced that Campora's triumph had been propelled by young people's zeal—as expressed in their increasing affiliation with the Juventud Peronista (Peronist Youth, or JP), an organization linked to the Montoneros—he convened a rock festival, at which the most prominent bands and singers of what journalists had begun to dub rock nacional went onstage. Among them were La Pesada del Rock- 'n'Roll, the duo Sui Generis, and Luis Alberto Spinetta with Pescado Rabioso. In spite of the rain, 20,000 people attended the “Festival of Liberation,” mostly “muchachos from every working- and middle-class corner of Buenos Aires,” as one journalist depicted them, also noting that while the JP tried to raise chants from the audience, the “boys” acted as if they were “untouched by the political overtones of the festival.”

Field of study: History
Fuzzy c-Means Clustering for Uncertain Data Using Quadratic Penalty-Vector Regularization

Clustering – defined as an unsupervised data-analysis classification transforming real-space information into data in pattern space and analyzing it – may require that data be represented by a set, rather than points, due to data uncertainty, e.g., measurement error margin, data regarded as one point, or missing values. These data uncertainties have been represented as interval ranges for which many clustering algorithms are constructed, but the lack of guidelines in selecting available distances in individual cases has made selection difficult and raised the need for ways to calculate dissimilarity between uncertain data without introducing a nearest-neighbor or other distance. The tolerance concept we propose represents uncertain data as a point with a tolerance vector, not as an interval, while this is convenient for handling uncertain data, tolerance-vector constraints make mathematical development difficult. We attempt to remove the tolerance-vector constraints using quadratic penaltyvector regularization similar to the tolerance vector. We also propose clustering algorithms for uncertain data considering optimization and obtaining an optimal solution to handle uncertainty appropriately.

Field of study: Computer science
Epilepsy surgery in children and adolescents.

There has been a considerable increase in interest in the surgical management of intractable epilepsy in children. Better methods of diagnosis and improved knowledge of natural history and results of surgery have been major factors in this phenomenon. The results of surgery in 76 patients who were 19 years of age or younger are reported. Success rates, defined as no postoperative seizures with loss of consciousness (Engel Grades I and II) were 78% in 52 patients treated by temporal lobectomy, 75% in eight patients who had extratemporal resections, 80% in 10 children treated by hemispherectomy, and 33% in three patients treated by corpus callosotomy.

Field of study: Medicine
A Molecular Analysis of the Na+-Independent Cation Chloride Cotransporters

The homologous genes encoding the electroneutral solute carrier family 12A (SLC12A) were identified more than 20 years ago, however, over the last few years, it has become clear that each of the genes within this family potentially encode for more than one cation-chloride cotransporter (CCC). Even more surprising, despite more than 30 years of functional studies and a wealth of knowledge on the activators, inhibitors, ion affinities, and kinetics of these cotransporters, we still cannot sufficiently explain why some cells express only one CCC isoform, while others express two, three, or more CCC isoforms. In 2009, Drs. Alvarez-Leefmans and Di Fulvio published an extensive in silico molecular analysis of the potential splice variants of the Na+-dependent cation-chloride cotransporters. In this review, we will look at the exceptionally large variety of potential splice variants within the Na+-independent cation-chloride cotransporter (SLC12A4-SLC12A7) genes, their initial tissue identification, and their physiological relevance.

Field of study: Biology, Chemistry
Gasoline blending recipe optimization based on twoparticle swarms optimization

As an important procedure of the manufacturing process in refinery, oil blending could be abstracted as a complex non-linear optimization problem (NLP) with many constraints.It is difficult to obtain satisfying optimum solution by traditional methods.According to the oil blending and scheduling problem, a two particle swarms optimization algorithm with a mutation operator was presented.The proposed algorithm constructed two swarms of particles with different velocity restrictions, introduced a communication mechanism and a special mutation operator, and sequentially elevated the swarms to higher ability and velocity of global convergence.The new method was illustrated with a recipe optimization problem of gasoline blending, and the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm was experimentally confirmed by the simulation results.

Field of study: Chemistry, Environmental science
Allison scanner for high-current ion beam emittance measurements

A high-current ion beam emittance measurement unit Allison scanner was introduced.The scanner consists of two slits and a pair of electrical deflection plates driven by a ±1.2 kV bipolar power supply.When the scanner moves to a measurement position,the step-changed voltages are fed to the deflection plates.The divergence angle of the ions passing through the rear slit can be calculated from the voltages.The data of position,divergence angle and beam current are collected to the computer through an AD card.A program of measuring and data processing can handle the case of pulsed beam.In order to obtain correct emittance results,subtracting background and setting threshold value are important.The program can calculate the root-mean-square emittance,the beam size,the biggest positive and negative divergence angle and the boundary emittance.The root-mean-square emittance of a pulsed beam extracted from a 50 keV ECR proton source was measured,which took about 2.5 min.The average beam intensity was 4 mA with beam pulse of 1 ms at 166 Hz,and its normalized emittance was 0.27 πmm·mrad.

Field of study: Physics
Does January Effect Exist in Bangladesh

This paper examines existence of January effect in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) in Bangladesh. Regression model combined with dummy variables and monthly DSE All Share Price Index (DSI) from January 1987 to November 2012 has been used to test January effect in the stock return in DSE. It was empirically found that, although January anomaly doesn’t exist in DSE, there is significant positive return in June which raises question against efficient market hypothesis (EMH). Thus, there is an opportunity for investors to take advantage of this June anomaly.

Field of study: Business
Minimum-energy Broadcast Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Connected Dominating Sets

Broadcast is a fundamental and essential operation in the wireless sensor networks. The energy consumption of broadcast operation has an important influence on the network performance. In case that the transmission range of the sensors is a constant value and the broadcasting characteristic of wireless communication is considered,it is seen that the less nodes involved in the relay-and-forward process,the smaller total energy consumption resulted in the broadcast operation. The problem to find the minimum forwarding nodes for a given network is equivalent to find the minimum connected dominating set in graph theory,which is a NP-hard problem. In this paper,we have proposed an Effective heuristic algorithm to construct a Minimum Connected Dominating Set( EMCDS),and then proposed a Minimum-Energy Broadcast Algorithm( MEBA) for wireless sensor networks. The experimental results have shown that the EMCDS algorithm can find smaller connected dominating set and the MEBA algorithm can dynamically select the forwarding nodes according to the remained energy,and prolong the network lifetime efficiently accordingly by energy balance among the nodes.

Field of study: Computer science