nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Caracterização taxonômica e fisiológica de bactérias ácido-láticas isoladas de pescado marinho

Lactic acid bacteria constitute a diversified group associated with the production of food, including fermented fishes. Through fermentative processes, it is possible to obtain several healthy and tasty products. Those bacteria are also important in medicine due to their probiotic activities. In this context, nine lactic acid bacteria were isolated from sardine and leatherjacket fish. Among them, two lineages, and the reference strain Leuconostoc mesenteroides ATCC8293 were physiologically characterized. Lactobacillus homohiochii F3 grew optimally at 40 oC, differently from Lactobacillus intestinalis G1 and Leuconostoc mesenteroides ATCC8293 that grew optimally at 30 oC. With regard to NaCl tolerance, L. homohiochii F3 and L. mesenteroides ATCC8293 grew in media containing 5% NaCl. Lactobacillus intestinalis G1 grew in media containing 7.5% NaCl and can be considered more halotolerant than the other species. L. mesenteroides ATCC8293 can be considered slightly halophilic. In non-optimal NaCl concentrations, the addition of organic solutes to the culture media was effective in restoring the osmotic balance of the bacteria

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Dissecting the conditioned pecking response: an integrated system for the analysis of pecking response parameters.

The conventional pecking response key, although an excellent transducer of response rate, can provide minimal information on the topography, coordination, or localization of conditioned pecking. We describe the hardware and software components of a system that, in addition to recording response rates, permits simultaneous "on-line" monitoring of head acceleration, jaw movement, terminal peck location, and duration of pecking response. Head movements are monitored with a miniature accelerometer, jaw movements with a magnetosensitive transducer, and peck location with modified touch screen technology. Initial experiments with the system suggest that it will be useful in studies of response differentiation, acquisition and maintenance of complex discriminations, and interaction of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli in the control of pecking response probability and response topography.

Field of study: Biology, Psychology
Template-guided inspection of arbitrarily oriented targets

The performance of template-based inspection of randomly oriented targets relies on the effective operation of two procedures: image registration and change detection. Each procedure is characterised by its own challenges. Real-time applications require that image registration is performed in an acceptable time with accurate results, regardless of structural distortions. Change detection can be hindered by noise fluctuations and illumination variations. An additional challenge in template-guided change detection comes from the fact that the decision needs to be based on a comparison restricted to two frames. The operation principles of a template-guided change detector are analysed. Image registration is based on a wavelet-based method which employs mutual information. A block-based change detection algorithm, which separates content alterations from noise-level fluctuations, illumination variations and shadows, is also analysed. The principles presented are combined for the implementation of a sample template-guided undervehicle surveillance system. The architecture of the system and its experimental results are presented, and practical aspects and considerations regarding the system design are discussed.

Field of study: Computer science
Bias in participant ratings of psychotherapy process: An initial generalizability study

Rater bias has long been considered a source of error in observer ratings but has been ignored by process researchers using participant ratings. In particular, rater variance, or differences in generalized favorable or unfavorable perceptions of others, represents a neglected source of error in studies using participant ratings. The author presents an initial generalizability study of 2 commonly used psychotherapy process measures and discusses the implications for statistical power of studies using these measures and for interpretation of research findings. Results suggest that bias may be a substantial source of error in process ratings, accounting for 4 to 8 times as much variance in observed scores as intrarater error.

Field of study: Psychology
The thermal stability of ohmic contact to n-type InGaAs layer

The thermal stability of ohmic contact to n-type InGaAs layer is investigated. When Ni/Ge/Au is used as the contact metal, the characteristics of the ohmic contact are degraded after thermal treatment. The specific contact resistance of (Ni/Ge/Au)-InGaAs ohmic contact after annealing at 450°C is about 15 times larger than that of as-deposited sample. This is due to the decomposition of InGaAs and the interdiffusion of Ga and Au. A new phase of Au4ln appears after annealing at 300°C. While in the case of Ti/Pt/Au, Au does not penetrate into the InGaAs layer as revealed by secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The specific contact resistance of (Ti/Pt/Au)-InGaAs ohmic contact after annealing at 450°C is eight times larger than that of as-deposited sample. Therefore, the thermal stability of (Ti/Pt/Au)-InGaAs ohmic contact is better than that of (Ni/Ge/Au)InGaAs ohmic contact.

Field of study: Materials science
Classification of complementary and alternative medical practices: Family physicians' ratings of effectiveness.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVETo develop a classification of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices widely available in Canada based on physicians' effectiveness ratings of the therapies.DESIGNA self-administered postal questionnaire asking family physicians to rate their "belief in the degree of therapeutic effectiveness" of 15 CAM therapies.SETTINGProvince of Alberta.PARTICIPANTSA total of 875 family physicians.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURESDescriptive statistics of physicians' awareness of and effectiveness ratings for each of the therapies; factor analysis was applied to the ratings of the 15 therapies in order to explore whether or not the data support the proposed classification of CAM practices into categories of accepted and rejected.RESULTSPhysicians believed that acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic care, relaxation therapy, biofeedback, and spiritual or religious healing were effective when used in conjunction with biomedicine to treat chronic or psychosomatic indications. Physicians attributed little effectiveness to homeopathy or naturopathy, Feldenkrais or Alexander technique, Rolfing, herbal medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and reflexology. The factor analysis revealed an underlying dimensionality to physicians' effectiveness ratings of the CAM therapies that supports the classification of these practices as either accepted or rejected.CONCLUSIONThis study provides Canadian family physicians with information concerning which CAM therapies are generally accepted by their peers as effective and which are not.

Field of study: Medicine
In situ MTBE biodegradation supported by diffusive oxygen release.

Microcosm studies with sediments from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, suggest that native aerobic methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE)-degrading microorganisms can be stimulated to degrade MTBE. In a series of field experiments, dissolved oxygen has been released into the anaerobic MTBE plume by diffusion through the walls of oxygen-pressurized polymeric tubing placed in contact with the flowing groundwater. MTBE concentrations were decreased from several hundred to less than 10 microg/L during passage through the induced aerobic zone, due apparently to in situ biodegradation: abiotic MTBE loss mechanisms were insignificant. Lag time for initiation of degradation was less than 2 months, and the apparent pseudo-first-order degradation rate was 5.3 day(-1). Additional MTBE was added in steps to raise the influent concentration to a maximum of 2.1 mg/L. With each step, MTBE was degraded within the preestablished aerobic treatment zone at rates ranging from 4.4 to 8.6 day(-1). Excess dissolved oxygen suggested that even higher MTBE concentrations could have been treated. Continued flow through the treatment zone was repeatedly confirmed through tracer and other tests. These and others' results suggest that it is possible to create permeable in situ treatment zones solely by releasing oxygen to support native microbial degradation of MTBE.

Field of study: Environmental science
Harmonic analysis on a local field towards addition theorems for multivariate Krawtchouk polynomials

We aim addition theorems for multivariate Krawtchouk polynomials, following Dunkl(1976) for 1-variate case. We work on harmonic analysis on a non-Archimedean local field, that is a group theoretic situation where these polynomials play roles of the zonal spherical functions. Unlike Dunkl's case, we use decompositions of spherical representations as not necessarily irreducible. We examine translations of zonal spherical functions, and have a kind of addition theorem for multivariate Krawtchouk polynomials.

Field of study: Mathematics
Williams–Beuren Syndrome as a Potential Risk Factor for Burkitt Lymphoma

Williams–Beuren syndrome (WBS) is a multisystemic neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a hemizygous deletion on chromosome 7q11.23. Though at present there is a limited number of reports on WBS patients with tumors, most cases are related to blood cancer in children with WBS. We describe a case of Burkitt lymphoma in a 21-year-old man with WBS. In addition to providing a summary of published reports describing tumors observed in patients with WBS, we present a hypothesis about a possible mechanism of oncogenesis. In particular, we identified some significantly dysregulated cancer-related genes using blood samples from this patient at the age of 19 years (who have not yet developed Burkitt lymphoma). Our findings may provide a new perspective on the relation between WBS and Burkitt lymphoma.

Field of study: Biology
The Impact of the NHS Reforms on Queues and Surgical Outcomes in England: Evidence From Hip Fracture Patients

National Health Service (NHS) reform introduced incentives for efficiency and cost effectiveness, yet little is known about their effectiveness in reducing waiting times for surgery or improving postsurgical outcomes. This paper finds that waiting times for hip fracture surgery declined after the NHS reforms and patients were more likely to be discharged to another provider. However, hospitals have not simply shifted the burden of care to other providers, since lengths of stay ending in a discharge to home fell. The effect of wait time on surgical outcomes is small in magnitude and cannot explain the postreform improvements in outcomes.

Field of study: Economics
Mathematical Data Mining

The term data mining is used to describe a large range of techniques used to extract information from biological data. The dictionary definition defines data mining as ‘methods to look for trends or anomalies in data without knowledge of the meaning of the data’, and this type of analysis is heavily exploited within the retail and financial world. This article presents a discovery-driven data mining technique used on protein structure data to highlight features of interest that would be difficult find using hypothesis-based analysis.

Field of study: Materials science
CO-CRACKING OF NATURAL GAS AND COAL FOR SYNTHESIS OF C_2H_2 AND C_2H_4 BY THERMAL PLASMA

The co-cracking of natural gas and coal by a 15kW nitrogen(N_2 flux:2m~3·h~(-1)) thermal plasma jet was investigated experimentally.For comparing with the cracking natural gas or coal separately, the experiments were arranged as following: (1)Cracking of natural gas;(2)Cracking of coal;(3)Co-cracking of natural gas and coal.Under the same experimental conditions, especially the same power, the experiments show that co-cracking can lead to more output of acetylene and ethylene, even more than the sum of that from(1)and(2).The analysis shows that,during the co-cracking process, the natural gas and the coal both acquire the effect of cracking separately; the surplus output may probably be resulted from the interaction of hydrogen and carbon. Here, the hydrogen is resulted from cracking of natural gas and the carbon——from cracking of coal.

Field of study: Chemistry, Environmental science
Neutral and ionic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in atmospheric and dry deposition samples over a source region (Tianjin, China).

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were detected in the atmosphere of a source region in Tianjin, China. Fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) were the dominant neutral PFASs in the atmosphere with total concentrations of 93.6-131 pg/m(3) and 8:2 FTOH contributing the most, whereas perfluorooctane sulfonamide derivatives (PFOSAs) were two magnitudes lower or undetected. In comparison, ionic PFASs (perfluoroalkyl carboxyl acids (PFCAs)) in the atmosphere were detected at similar or even higher levels. At wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), the air over influent was found with higher levels of FTOHs than over aeration tank and effluent; whereas in the air over the aeration tank, the concentrations of PFOSAs and nonvolatile ionic PFASs substantially increased, suggesting a possible direct release of ionic PFASs to the atmosphere besides the atmospheric conversion from volatile precursors. In the air phase, a low proportion (1-5%) of PFCAs was subjected to dry deposition in the source region. Interestingly, the dry-deposition-to-bulk-air ratios of PFCA analogues were the lowest at medium chain lengths (C8 and C9) and increased with either shorter or longer chain length. The extraordinary affinity of shorter-chain PFCAs (C6-C7) to particles was presumed to be due to their smaller molecular size favoring the interactions between the carboxyl head groups and specific sorption sites on particulate matter.

Field of study: Environmental science
On software verification for sensor nodes

We consider software written for networked, wireless sensor nodes, and specialize software verification techniques for standard C programs in order to locate programming errors in sensor applications before the software's deployment on motes. Ensuring the reliability of sensor applications is challenging: low-level, interrupt-driven code runs without memory protection in dynamic environments. The difficulties lie with (i) being able to automatically extract standard C models out of the particular flavours of embedded C used in sensor programming solutions, and (ii) decreasing the resulting program's state space to a degree that allows practical verification times. We contribute a platform-dependent, OS-independent software verification tool for OS-wide programs written in MSP430 embedded C with asynchronous hardware interrupts. Our tool automatically translates the program into standard C by modelling the MCU's memory map and direct memory access. To emulate the existence of hardware interrupts, calls to hardware interrupt handlers are added, and their occurrence is minimized with a double strategy: a partial-order reduction technique, and a supplementary reachability check to reduce overapproximation. This decreases the program's state space, while preserving program semantics. Safety specifications are written as C assertions embedded in the code. The resulting sequential program is then passed to CBMC, a bounded software verifier for sequential ANSI C. Besides standard errors (e.g., out-of-bounds arrays, null-pointer dereferences), this tool chain is able to verify application-specific assertions, including low-level assertions upon the state of the registers and peripherals. Verification for wireless sensor network applications is an emerging field of research; thus, as a final note, we survey current research on the topic.

Field of study: Computer science, Engineering
Third position repair for resolving troubles in understanding teacher instructions

Teachers’ instruction-giving practices in classrooms are largely recognized as the primary condition for the smooth progression of pedagogical activities. Following the formulation of the instruction by teachers, students are expected to perform preferred actions in the next relevant place in interaction. It is also likely that potential troubles in understanding teacher instructions might arise, which leads to delays of activity completion. Such troubles are made visible in interaction through two ways: (1) students’ explicit claims of non-understanding and (2) teachers’ identification of trouble in understanding without students’ explicit claims. Using multimodal conversation analysis for the examination of video-recorded higher education English as a foreign language classroom interactions (25h), this study mainly deals with the latter in response to gaps in the literature and sets out to describe a method in particular deployed by an L2 teacher for the identification and resolution of understanding troubles in instruction-giving sequences, namely third position repairs. The findings provide insights into L2 classroom discourse.

Field of study: Education, Linguistics
Clinical and Histological Features in Wegener Granulomatosis

Wegener Granulomatosis is a systemic ANCA-associated Vasculitis, affecting small-to-medium vessels. Clinical presentation with simultaneous involvement of kidney and upper and lower respiratory tract is unusual. There are few histological reports regarding lung biopsy in WG because clinical and radiologic features are diagnostic. Sometimes radiologic findings can be unusual. We detected an instructive case of WG, analyzing clinical course, laboratory and radiological features, kidney, lung and larynx histological pictures. Besides renal biopsy, nephrology team performed larynx and lung biopsies because of unusual clinical presentation, computed tomography chest examination and relevant malignancy risk regarding following immunosuppressant therapy. WG is a point of interest for clinical multidisciplinary activity. Diagnosis of WG is a combination of clinical, laboratory and pathologic features. Collaboration between different specialities help to improve current diagnostic activity.

Field of study: Medicine
Quantum-chemical Study of the Structure of 1,2,2,3,4,4-Hexachloro-1,3-diphosphetane Isomers

We have used the RHF/6-31G* method to optimize the geometric parameters of three isomers of the (ClP–CCl2)2 molecule. We have established that the trans isomer is the most stable, and that it is energetically more favorable than the two cis isomers by 7.8 and 14.2 kJ/mole respectively.

Field of study: Chemistry
On Sensor Data Verification for Participatory Sensing Systems

In this paper we study the problem of sensor data verification in Participatory Sensing (PS) systems using an air quality/pollution monitoring application as a validation example. Data verification, in the context of PS, consists of the process of detecting and removing spatial outliers to properly reconstruct the variables of interest. We propose, implement, and test a hybrid neighborhood-aware algorithm for outlier detection that considers the uneven spatial density of the users, the number of malicious users, the level of conspiracy, and the lack of accuracy and malfunctioning sensors. The algorithm utilizes the Delaunay triangulation and Gaussian Mixture Models to build neighborhoods based on the spatial and non-spatial attributes of each location. This neighborhood definition allows us to demonstrate that it is not necessary to apply accurate but computationally expensive estimators to the entire dataset to obtain good results, as equally accurate but computationally cheaper methods can also be applied to part of the data and obtain good results as well. Our experimental results show that our hybrid algorithm performs as good as the best estimator while reducing the execution time considerably.

Field of study: Computer science
Ranking generalized exponential trapezoidal fuzzy numbers based on variance

In this paper, we calculate ranking of exponential trapezoidal fuzzy numbers based on variance. In this method, values are calculated by finding expected values using the probability density function corresponding to the membership functions of the given fuzzy number and provides the correct ordering of exponential trapezoidal fuzzy numbers and also this approach is very simple and easy to apply in the real life problems. For the validation, the results of the approach are compared with different existing approaches.

Field of study: Mathematics
Performance of a packed bed absorber for aqua ammonia absorption refrigeration system

A mathematical model of a packed bed absorber for aqua-ammonia absorption refrigeration system is presented. The model is used to predict the performance of the bed at various design and operating conditions. The governing equations and the boundary conditions are derived to predict the bed performance. A numerical integral method and an iteration scheme are used to solve the governing one dimensional, non-linear simultaneous differential equations which are subjected to three point boundary value problem. A computer program is prepared and carefully debugged to solve the governing equations with the help of some supporting equations to describe the properties of the working fluids and the heat and mass transfer coefficients in the bed. The analysis show that the absorption process is affected by the following parameters: the volumetric heat rejection model, bed height, vapor and solution flow rates to the bed and the inlet conditions; and packing material type. The effect of changing each of those parameters on the performance of the bed is studied after suggesting a model for the volumetric heat rejection from the bed. The results showed that changing the bed pressure and/or the vapor inlet temperature have negligible effect on the performance of the bed. Changing other parameters are found to affect the performance of the bed by different degrees. Also, the results show that within the present range of parameters, a bed height less than 0.7 m guarantees an absorption efficiency better than 91%.

Field of study: Engineering
Natural Attenuation of Nonionic Surfactants Used in Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids: Degradation Rates, Pathways, and Mechanisms.

Hydraulic fracturing fluids are injected into shales to extend fracture networks that enhance oil and natural gas production from unconventional reservoirs. Here we evaluated the biodegradability of three widely used nonionic polyglycol ether surfactants (alkyl ethoxylates (AEOs), nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEOs), and polypropylene glycols (PPGs)) that function as weatherizers, emulsifiers, wetting agents, and corrosion inhibitors in injected fluids. Under anaerobic conditions, we observed complete removal of AEOs and NPEOs from solution within 3 weeks regardless of whether surfactants were part of a chemical mixture or amended as individual additives. Microbial enzymatic chain shortening was responsible for a shift in ethoxymer molecular weight distributions and the accumulation of the metabolite acetate. PPGs bioattenuated the slowest, producing sizable concentrations of acetone, an isomer of propionaldehyde. Surfactant chain shortening was coupled to an increased abundance of the diol dehydratase gene cluster (pduCDE) in Firmicutes metagenomes predicted from the 16S rRNA gene. The pduCDE enzymes are responsible for cleaving ethoxylate chain units into aldehydes before their fermentation into alcohols and carboxylic acids. These data provide new mechanistic insight into the environmental fate of hydraulic fracturing surfactants after accidental release through chain shortening and biotransformation, emphasizing the importance of compound structure disclosure for predicting biodegradation products.

Field of study: Environmental science