nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Stagewise multidimensional visual discrimination by pigeons.

We trained six pigeons in a stagewise Multiple Necessary Cues (MNC) go/no-go task to document the dynamics of discrimination learning involving increasingly complex visual stimuli. The compound stimuli were composed from four dimensions, each of which could assume either of two extreme values or their intermediate value: Shape, Size, Line Orientation, and Brightness. Starting with a stimulus composed entirely from intermediate values, we replaced those values with each of the two extreme dimensional values in four successive stages, thereby increasing the stimulus set from 2 in Stage 1 to 16 in Stage 4. In each stage, only one combination of values signaled food (S+ ), whereas the remaining combinations did not (S- s). We calculated the rate of pecking during the first 15 s of each stimulus presentation and, in any given stage, training continued until the rate of responding to all of the S- s was less than 20% of the rate of responding to the S+ . All pigeons successfully acquired the final discrimination, suggesting that they attended to all of the dimensions relevant for the discrimination. We also replicated the key results of prior MNC studies: (1) the number of extreme dimensional values in each stage was positively related to the amount of training required for pigeons to acquire the discrimination; (2) attentional tradeoffs were most often observed when three or four dimensions were being trained; and (3) throughout training, the number of dimensional values in the S- s that differed from the S+ was positively related to their discriminability from S+ .

Field of study: Biology, Psychology
An Efficient Partial-Sum Network Architecture for Semi-Parallel Polar Codes Decoder Implementation

Polar codes have recently received a lot of attention because of their capacity-achieving performance and low encoding and decoding complexity. The performance of the successive cancellation decoder (SCD) of the polar codes highly depends on that of the partial-sum network (PSN) implementation. Hence, in this work, an efficient PSN architecture is proposed, based on the properties of polar codes. First, a new partial-sum updating algorithm and the corresponding PSN architecture are introduced which achieve a delay performance independent of the code length. Moreover, the area complexity is also reduced. Second, for a high-performance and area-efficient semi-parallel SCD implementation, a folded PSN architecture is presented to integrate seamlessly with the folded processing element architecture. This is achieved by using a novel folded decoding schedule. As a result, both the critical path delay and the area (excluding the memory for folding) of the semi-parallel SCD are approximately constant for a large range of code lengths. The proposed designs are implemented in both FPGA and ASIC and compared with the existing designs. Experimental result shows that for polar codes with large code length, the decoding throughput is improved by more than 1.05 times and the area is reduced by as much as 50.4%, compared with the state-of-the-art designs.

Field of study: Engineering
Measurement method of the refractive index of biotissue by total internal reflection.

A simple method based on total internal reflection is presented for measuring the refractive index of biological tissue. Anarrow laser beam and a semicylindrical lens in contact with a tissue specimen are used in the experimental apparatus. The dependence of the internal reflectivity on the angle of incidence is measured to determine the critical angle and therefore the refractive index of tissue. The experimental results for several tissue samples show that the method is reliable and useful for studying tissue optics. The principal advantages of the method are its elimination of scattering effects, suitability to a small in vitro sample, and excellent accuracy.

Field of study: Physics
Adsorptive fractionation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by carbon nanotubes.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) and carbon nanotubes are introduced into aquatic environments. Thus, it is important to elucidate whether their interaction affects DOM amount and composition. In this study, the composition of DOM, before and after interactions with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), was measured and the adsorption affinity of the individual structural fractions of DOM to SWCNTs was investigated. Adsorption of DOM to SWCNTs was dominated by the hydrophobic acid fraction, resulting in relative enhancement of the hydrophilic character of non-adsorbed DOM. The preferential adsorption of the HoA fraction was concentration-dependent, increasing with increasing concentration. Adsorption affinities of bulk DOM calculated as the normalized sum of affinities of the individual structural fractions were similar to the measured affinities, suggesting that the structural fractions of DOM act as independent adsorbates. The altered DOM composition may affect the nature and reactivity of DOM in aquatic environments polluted with carbon nanotubes.

Field of study: Environmental science
High-confidence error estimates for learned value functions

Estimating the value function for a fixed policy is a fundamental problem in reinforcement learning. Policy evaluation algorithms---to estimate value functions---continue to be developed, to improve convergence rates, improve stability and handle variability, particularly for off-policy learning. To understand the properties of these algorithms, the experimenter needs high-confidence estimates of the accuracy of the learned value functions. For environments with small, finite state-spaces, like chains, the true value function can be easily computed, to compute accuracy. For large, or continuous state-spaces, however, this is no longer feasible. In this paper, we address the largely open problem of how to obtain these high-confidence estimates, for general state-spaces. We provide a high-confidence bound on an empirical estimate of the value error to the true value error. We use this bound to design an offline sampling algorithm, which stores the required quantities to repeatedly compute value error estimates for any learned value function. We provide experiments investigating the number of samples required by this offline algorithm in simple benchmark reinforcement learning domains, and highlight that there are still many open questions to be solved for this important problem.

Field of study: Computer science
The Right to Have Rights as the Right to Asylum

In The Origins of Totalitarianism Hannah Arendt offers a profound reflection on the refugee question. The hallmark of Arendt’s analysis has been believed to be her emphasis on the refugee’s loss of political status,1 captured by the core phrase of the ‘fundamental deprivation of a place in the world which makes opinions significant and actions effective. This allegedly features what Arendt famously coined as the right to have rights. Against the backdrop of the deprivation of ‘the right to action’ and ‘the right to opinion’3 it would seem as if the historic-political context of refugee displacement occasioned the right to have rights but that, ultimately, exclusion from politics provides the conceptual background thereto. Whereas Arendt explicitly targeted the dire predicament of refugees, contemporary readings of her work have tailored the right to have rights to various inclusion and exclusion dilemmas in the context of human equality. On the assumption that the right to have rights contains the nucleus of Arendt’s later reflections on the meaning of politics, it is believed to hinge on the always unstable public/ private divide that in many respects is central to her work. As a consequence, the right to have rights not only – or even no longer – covers the refugee’s plight but equally attaches to those subjects who are tormented in their speaking capacity and are pushed back to the margins of society where the light of the public realm simply does not reach. Cast as the lens through which different forms of life and marginalized identities might gain public visibility, the right to have rights is appropriated by a contestatory politics that seeks to vindicate fundamental rights for – in the words of Bonnie Honig – ‘minorities, the stateless, the powerless and the hapless’;4 principled on access to the public space it became a right to politics;5 acting out a rival ‘We’ this right is rallied to the call of what Benhabib

Field of study: Philosophy
Designing compliant substrates to regulate the motion of vesicles.

By integrating mesoscale models for hydrodynamics and micromechanics, we examine fluid-driven motion of vesicles on compliant surfaces. The vesicles, modeled as fluid-filled elastic shells, represent biological cells or polymeric microcapsules. Focusing on nonspecific interactions between these vesicles and synthetic substrates, we isolate mechanically and topographically patterned surfaces that transmit stop and go instructions, causing the vesicles to halt at specific locations, and with an increase in the flow velocity, to resume moving. For surfaces containing arrays of compliant posts, the substrates also affect the vesicles' gait, causing them to "crawl," "walk," or "jump." The latter behavior could promote the intermixing of reactants that are encapsulated within the microcapsules. Such control over vesicle dynamics can facilitate various biological assays and fabrication of arrays of mobile microreactors.

Field of study: Physics
Bisphenol A alternatives bisphenol S and bisphenol F interfere with thyroid hormone signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo.

The wide use of the alternatives to bisphenol A (BPA) has raised concerns about their potential toxicities. Considering the disrupting activity of BPA on thyroid hormone (TH) signaling, we investigated whether bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF), two leading alternatives, could interfere with TH signaling pathway using a series of assays in vitro and in vivo. In the fluorescence competitive binding assay, we found BPS and BPF, like BPA, bound to TH receptors (TRα and TRβ), with the binding potencies an order of magnitude lower than BPA (BPA > BPF > BPS). Molecular docking data also show their binding potencies to TRs. In the coactivator recruitment assay, BPS and BPF recruited coactivator to TRβ but not TRα, with weaker potencies than BPA. Correspondingly, agonistic actions of the three bisphenols in the absence or presence of T3 were observed in the TR-mediated reporter gene transcription assay. Also, all the three bisphenols induced TH-dependent GH3 cell proliferation, whereas BPA and BPF inhibited T3 induction in the presence of T3. As for in vivo assay, the three bisphenols like T3 induced TH-response gene transcription in Pelophylax nigromaculatus tadpoles, but in the presence of T3 altered T3-induced gene transcription in a biphasic concentration-response manner. These results for the first time demonstrate that BPS and BPF, like BPA, have potential to interfere with TH signaling pathway, i.e., they generally activate TH signaling in the absence of T3, but in the presence of TH, display agonistic or/and antagonistic actions under certain condition. Our study highlights the potential risks of BPS and BPF as BPA alternatives.

Field of study: Environmental science
Optimization Design of Riser for Heavy Hot Spot of Cylinder Block Iron Castings

This paper describes the common feeding riser(ear riser) or outlet riser(joint flash riser),which are currently used for heavy hot spot in sand cast iron cylinder block.These types of riser are prone to appear or difficult to overcome common casting defects,such as shrinkage,dispersed shrinkage(and leakage).The role and effect of kiss riser used in cast iron cylinder block castings are briefly introduced.More detailed describe is given on the design concepts and skills of necking riser which achieve a good technical and economic,especially for those innovative applcations in the "middle" section of heavy hot spot of cast iron cylinder block.

Field of study: Materials science
2-Aryl-4-azaindain-1,3-diones

Abstract2-Pheny1-4-azaindan-1,3-dione and 2-(p-dimethylaminophenyl)-4-azaindan-1,3-dione are synthesized by condensing 4-azaphthalide with benzaldehyde and p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde. 4-Azaphthalide reacts with p-nitrobenzaldehyde in hot acetic anhydride to give 3-(p-nitrobenzylidene)-4-azaphthalide, rearranged by sodium methoxide to 2-(p-nitrophenyl)-4-azaindan-1,3-dione. 2-Phenyl-and 2-(p-nitrophenyl)-4-azaindandiones are also obtained by sodium methoxide rearrangement of the products of reaction of quinolinic anhydride with phenylacetic and p-nitrophenylacetic acids. 2-Aryl-4-azaindandiones are deeply colored substances only slightly soluble, and without sharp melting points. They undergo methylation at the nitrogen atom, to give N-methylbetaines. The IR absorption spectra show that 2-ary]-4-azaindandiones exist in a strongly polarized enol form in the solid state.

Field of study: Chemistry
Good Faith and the Ubiquity of the ‘Relational’ Contract

The judgment of Leggatt J in Yam Seng Pte Ltd v International Trade Corporation Ltd shows the common belief that the English law of contract does not have a doctrine of good faith to be mistaken. That law does not have a general principle of good faith, but its doctrine of good faith, articulated through numerous specific duties, is more suitable for the interpretation of contracts according to the intentions of the parties than a general principle which invites the imposition of exogenous standards. That Yam Seng involved a relational contract does not mean that paternalistic exogenous standards should be imposed. It means that the good faith obligations essential even to a commercial contract of this sort must be implied in order to give efficacy to the fundamentally co-operative contractual relationship.

Field of study: Law
Memories Slipping Away: The Tenth Anniversary of 9/11

Historical memories are often weak, and must be kept alive by media, schools, and government. The disaster of 9/11 is one of those unusual and unsettling events that call for recognition. But memories are already fading in people's minds after just ten years. Unpleasant, contested events require commemoration but we tend to honor more upbeat history. Nevertheless, government and media, but especially teachers can implement a variety of creative strategies to keep 9/11 and other events a lively part of the theater of U.S. history.

Field of study: Sociology
Fiscal Expenditure Incentives, Spatial Correlation and Quality of Economic Growth: Evidence from a Chinese Province

This paper constructs an index system to evaluate economic growth quality. After taking into account the spatial correlation, the impact of public expenditure on economic growth quality is investigates by using panel data from a Chinese province during 2007 and 2014. In this analysis, different levels of economic growth quality and fiscal expenditure are considered. The results reveal that (1) Economic growth quality should be measured not only from scale but also from structure, performance and coordination. (2) There is agglomeration effect because local government fiscal expenditure greatly promotes local region economic growth, and this rule not only embodies in scale, but also in performance and coordination. (3) The spatial spillover effect of neighbouring government fiscal expenditure on local economic growth quality cannot be ignored, and different fiscal expenditure represents different results. There is complex spatial correlation among governments and corporation relationship among regions is very important. Finally, some policies about fiscal exnpenditure and economic development are proposed.

Field of study: Business
Multilevel mutation-selection systems and set-valued duals

A class of measure-valued processes which model multilevel multitype populations undergoing mutation, selection, genetic drift and spatial migration is considered. We investigate the qualitative behaviour of models with multilevel selection and the interaction between the different levels of selection. The basic tools in our analysis include the martingale problem formulation for measure-valued processes and a generalization of the function-valued and set-valued dual representations introduced in Dawson–Greven (Spatial Fleming–Viot models with selection and mutation. Lecture notes in mathematics, vol 2092. Springer, Cham, 2014). The dual is a powerful tool for the analysis of the long-time behaviour of these processes and the study of evolutionary systems which model phenomena including altruism, the emergence of cooperation and more complex interactions.

Field of study: Biology, Mathematics
Calyceal diverticulum of the kidney in pediatric patients - Is it as rare as you might think?

Calyceal diverticulum (CD) is rarely diagnosed in children. It mimics other cystic lesions of the kidney and may be very difficult to identify. Displaying the communication of these fluid-filled cavities with the collecting system of the kidney via imaging methods is the key diagnostic method. The purpose of this study is to determine the presence of calyceal diverticulum in pediatric patients followed up due to simple renal cyst and/or parapelvic cyst.



Patients who were newly diagnosed or being followed up with the ultrasonographic diagnosis of simple cyst(s) or parapelvic cyst(s) in the Department of Pediatric Nephrology of Izmir University of Health Sciences Tepecik Training and Research Hospital between December 2015 and July 2018 were included in the study. Age, gender, admission symptoms, recurrent urinary tract infections, stone disease, trauma history, accompanying urinary system and systemic anomalies, localization, and size of the cyst(s) at admission and during follow-up, treatment type and developing complications were noted. Contrast MR urography was applied to all patients.



A total of 43 patients [mean age:132 ± 54.9 (12-228) months] including 25 girls were enrolled in the study. The mean follow-up period was 36. 74 ± 19 (1-90) months. The cysts were located mostly in the right kidney and also in the upper pole of the kidney. The mean cyst size was 20.4 ± 11 (8-58) mm at admission, and comparably 20.3 ± 8.6 (10-45) mm at the end of the follow-up. In contrast MR urography, a total of 16 cases were observed at first glance to be associated with pelvicalyceal system. However, in the postcontrast images taken at the 5th minute it was determined that 9 of them were compatible with calyceal diverticulum.



Although it is thought that well-circumscribed solitary renal fluid collections may be thought to be a simple renal cyst at first glance, the differential diagnosis of calyceal diverticulum (CD) should be absolutely kept in mind. Contrast studies and late-phase postcontrast images are needed for the diagnosis of CD. Although the standard management of CDs in children is conservative, surgical intervention may be rarely required.

Field of study: Medicine
Enzymatic in situ saccharification of sugarcane bagasse pretreated with low loading of alkalic salts Na2SO3/Na3PO4 by autoclaving.

Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) is an abundant, renewable and inexpensive agricultural byproduct for the production of biofuel and other biobased products. To effectively saccharify SCB with cellulases, combination with dilute alkali salts Na2SO3/Na3PO4 (0.4% Na3PO4, 0.03% Na2SO3) at 7.5% sulfidity and hot water (DASHW) in "one-pot" pretreatment media by autoclaving at 110°C for 40min was attempted to pretreat SCB in this study. Furthermore, FT-IR, XRD and SEM were employed to characterize the changes in the cellulose structural characteristics (porosity, morphology, and crystallinity) of the pretreated Na2SO3/Na3PO4-SCB solid residue, which indicated that combination pretreatment could effectively remove lignin and hemicellulose for enhancing enzymatic saccharification. After 72h, the reducing sugars and glucose from the enzymatic in situ hydrolysis of 50g/L Na2SO3/Na3PO4-SCB in dilute Na2SO3/Na3PO4 (0.27% Na3PO4, 0.02% Na2SO3) media were obtained at 33.8 and 21.8g/L, respectively. Finally, the SCB-hydrolysates containing 20g/L glucose were used for ethanol fermentation in the presence of dilute alkali salts. After 48h, the ethanol yield was 0.42g ethanol/g glucose, which represents 82.1% of the theoretical yield. In conclusion, this study provided an effective pretreatment strategy for enhancing SCB's saccharification, which has potential application of other lignocellulosic materials.

Field of study: Biology, Engineering
Antibodies to gliadin, gluten and reticulin glycoprotein in rheumatic diseases: elevated levels in Sjögren's syndrome.

An enzyme immunoassay was used to measure circulating antibodies to gluten, gliadin and to 'reticulin glycoprotein' in 25 patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS), in 20 patients with rheumatoid arthritis without SS and in 19 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus without SS. Antibody levels to these three antigens were significantly higher in SS than in the other groups. In SS the level of antibodies to 'reticulin glycoprotein' correlated positively with the levels of antibodies to both gliadin and to gluten but not with the level of antibodies to SS-B antigen. Patients with primary SS had higher antibody levels to 'reticulin glycoprotein' than had patients with secondary SS, whereas no significant difference between primary and secondary SS was found in the levels of the antibodies to gliadin or to gluten. Circulating antibodies to gliadin, gluten and 'reticulin glycoprotein' have not been previously recognized in SS. Their occurrence suggests that small bowel injury may be a common finding in SS.

Field of study: Biology, Medicine
Structural and transport properties of Sr2VO3−δ FeAs superconductors with different oxygen deficiencies

Sr2VO3−δFeAs superconductors with different oxygen deficiencies have been successfully fabricated. It is found that the superconducting transition temperature drops down monotonically with the increase of nominal oxygen deficiency. The diminishing of superconductivity is accompanied by the enhancement of residual resistivity, indicating an anomalous scattering effect induced by the oxygen deficiency. The highest superconducting transition temperature at about 36 K is achieved near the stoichiometrical sample Sr2VO2.9FeAs. The Hall effect measurements reveal that the density of charge carriers (electron-like here) varies qualitatively with the increase of nominal oxygen deficiency. Magnetotransport measurements show that the superconducting transition changes from one-step-like shape at low fields to two-step-like one at high fields, indicating an enhanced vortex motion due to the high anisotropy.

Field of study: Physics
Observation of wavefront dislocation as bulk evidence of topological transition in a 1D microwave photonic insulator

From amphidromic points of tides to singular optics, wave phenomena commonly involve topology. In particular, the phase singularities of classical wave fields can lead to wavefront dislocations in the interference patterns. In quantum mechanics, the U(1) gauge invariance also enables manifestations of the wave function phase singularities in the context of topological phases of matter. If their topological properties are defined from the wave functions delocalised in the bulk, their main experimental manifestation is the existence of gapless excitations localised at the boundaries. Here we show wavefront dislocation as direct evidence of the phase singularity of the delocalised wave functions and observe it through standing-wave interference in a 1D microwave photonic insulator. By bridging the bulk topology of insulators to a ubiquitous wave phenomenon, we open a promising route to investigate the topological phases near topological defects in real-space interference.

Field of study: Physics