nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Correlation of east Australian Pleistocene shorelines with deep-sea core stages: A basis for a coastal chronology

A review of recent attempts to relate emerged shorelines to deep-sea core stages indicates that correlations based on radiometric ages must be treated carefully, for stratigraphic control is often lacking. Radiometric ages help field interpretation, but some authors question the geology before questioning the dates.

The view that oxygen-isotope values in deep-sea sediment cores reflect changes in ocean volume is used to interpret sequences of stranded shorelines in Gippsland (Victoria), southeast Queensland, New Zealand, South Carolina (United States), and Morocco. As a basis for study, it is accepted that all of the shorelines in the areas compared result from global changes of sea level superimposed on continuously emerging land masses that have been rising uniformly, but at different rates, in the different localities.

Five stands of the sea, ending at the last interglacial maximum, are recognized and correlated with dated deep-sea core stages as follows: G11 (Gippsland) = Woorim (Queensland) = Awatuna 1 (New Zealand) = Silver Bluff (South Carolina) = Ouljian (Morocco) = core substage 5e, 125,000 yr; G26 = Bribie (Qld) = Karoro (NZ) = Princess Anne = Harounian = core stage 7,220,000 yr; G37 = Poyungan (Qld) = Albion 113 (NZ) = Pamlico = Anfatian (G2) = stage 9,330,000 yr; G65 = Ungowa (Qld) = Albion 165 (NZ) = Bethera = stage 11, 430,000 yr; G70 = Albion 183 (NZ) = Talbot = Anfatian (Thomas quarry) = stage 13,480,000 yr. Implied rates of uplift are used to date and correlate six earlier shorelines: G125 = Penholoway = late Maarifian = 1.02 m.y.; G160 = Wicomico = Maarifian = 1.18 m.y.; G260 = Okefenokee = Haj Salah = 1.43 m.y.; G360 = Sunderland = Sidi Messaoud = 1.64 m.y.; G420 = Coharie = Bouchaib bel Kamel = 1.80 m.y.; A600 = Orange-burg = Fouaratian = 2.35 m.y.

Field of study: Geology
New biheterocyclic spiro system — Spiro-[1,4-benzodioxin-2 (3H),2′(3′H)-benzothiazole]

A convenient preparative method has been developed for obtaining 3′-methylspiro[1,4-benzodioxin-2 (3H),2′(3′H)-benzothiazole], the first representative of biheterocyclic spiro compounds of a new type.

Field of study: Chemistry
Diversity of carbofuran‐degrading soil bacteria and detection of plasmid‐encoded sequences homologous to the mcd gene

Fifty-five bacterial isolates, from English and French soils with different histories of carbofuran field treatment, which hydrolysed the N -methylcarbamate insecticide carbofuran to carbofuran 7-phenol were characterised phenotypically and genetically. The isolates were compared by using 125 physiological tests and morphological features, plasmid profiles and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of total DNA using the rRNA operon of Escherichia coli as a DNA probe. Cluster analysis of both phenotypic characters and RFLP patterns showed a high degree of diversity amongst the bacteria. Ten distinct plasmid profiles with 2–4 plasmids ranging in size from 84 to about 438 kb were visualised in 50 isolates. The majority of isolates had one of two types of plasmid profiles. Plasmid profiles and Eco RI restricted total DNA patterns were hybridised with an internal fragment of the carbofuran hydrolase ( mcd ) gene and 22 diverse soil isolates exhibited sequence homology with this gene probe. Our results indicate that sequences homologous to the mcd gene are located on a conserved Eco RI fragment (12 or 14 kb) of a plasmid (100, 105, 115 or 124 kb) found in diverse soil isolates from geographically distant areas. Thirty-three isolates did not exhibit detectable homology to the mcd gene probe and the hydrolase enzymes and genes in these isolates need further investigation.

Field of study: Biology, Environmental science
A Bayesian approach for structure learning in oscillating regulatory networks

Oscillations lie at the core of many biological processes, from the cell cycle, to circadian oscillations and developmental processes. Time-keeping mechanisms are essential to enable organisms to adapt to varying conditions in environmental cycles, from day/night to seasonal. Transcriptional regulatory networks are one of the mechanisms behind these biological oscillations. However, while identifying cyclically expressed genes from time series measurements is relatively easy, determining the structure of the interaction network underpinning the oscillation is a far more challenging problem.  Here, we explicitly leverage the oscillatory nature of the transcriptional signals and present a method for reconstructing network interactions tailored to this special but important class of genetic circuits. Our method is based on projecting the signal onto a set of oscillatory basis functions using a Discrete Fourier Transform. We build a Bayesian Hierarchical model within a frequency domain linear model in order to enforce sparsity and incorporate prior knowledge about the network structure. Experiments on real and simulated data show that the method can lead to substantial improvements over competing approaches if the oscillatory assumption is met, and remains competitive also in cases it is not.  DSS, experiment scripts and data are available at http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/gsanguin/DSS.zip. Contact: d.trejo-banos@sms.ed.ac.uk Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Field of study: Computer science
Dynamic Load-Balancing Research based on Parallel Computation

Load-balancing problems arise in many applications, they play a special role in the operation of parallel and distributed computing systems. Network Computing Environment exemplified by Cluster of workstations on Network is one of the most important fields in current research of parallel and distributed computing systems. Dynamic load balancing is a critical issue of networking parallel computing. This paper analyzes load balancing in parallel computing and proposes some methods.

Field of study: Computer science
Multiplier family of harmonic univalent functions

The aim of this paper is to study a multiplier family of harmonic univalent functions using the sequences {c"n} and {d"n} of positive real numbers. By specializing {c"n} and {d"n}, the generalized Bernardi-Libera-Livingston integral operator is modified for such functions and the closure of the multiplier family under the modified integral operator is determined. Also, convolution products, closure properties, distortion theorems, convex combinations and neighborhoods for such functions are given.

Field of study: Mathematics
DNA Computing and Its Applications and Implementation

The aim of this manuscript is to illustrate the current state of the art of DNA computing achievements, especially of new approaches or methods contributing to solve either theoretical or application problems. Starting with the NP-problem that Adleman solved by means of wet DNA experiment in 1994, DNA becomes one of appropriate alternatives to overcome the silicon computer limitation. Today, many researchers all over the world concentrate on subjects either to improve available methods used in DNA computing or to suggest a new way to solve engineering or application problems with a DNA computing approach. This paper gives an overview of research achievements in DNA computing and touches on the achievements of improved methods employed in DNA computing as well as in solving application problems. At the end of discussion we address several challenges that DNA computing faces in the society.

Field of study: Engineering
The effect of ionization threshold softness on the temperature dependence of the impact ionization coefficient

The effect of the ionization threshold softness on the temperature variation of impact ionization coefficients is examined theoretically. It is found that increasing the softness reduces the temperature dependence of ionization, because temperature induced heating or cooling of the carrier distribution results in a smaller change in the ionization scattering rate sampled. This may explain the wide variation in the temperature dependence of breakdown voltage reported in the literature and the difficulty in modelling accurately the temperature dependence of the ionization process.

Field of study: Materials science
Los nobles ante la muerte en Mexico: Actitudes, ceremonias y memorias (1750-1850) (review)

tions with external spheres played a strong role in its economic development as it entered the nineteenth century, and it is therefore important to reach beyond the region’s boundaries in assessing its economic situation. The discussion is supported by more than one hundred tables of data and a number of maps, some of which are nearly impossible to interpret. As Ruggiero Romano points out in the preface, readers may doubt the wisdom of applying modern statistical and accounting methods to this particular set of historical data. Indeed, on some important points Ibarra disagrees with Eric Van Young, Ramón María Serrera Contreras, and other highly respected historians. However, he gives the regional historical specialist food for thought and a creative methodology that should provoke future discussion of scale of analysis, quantitative techniques, and the use of historical data.

Field of study: History
Model-consistent estimation of the basic reproduction number from the incidence of an emerging infection

AbstractWe investigate the merit of deriving an estimate of the basic reproduction number 
$$
\mathcal{R}_0 
$$
 early in an outbreak of an (emerging) infection from estimates of the incidence and generation interval only. We compare such estimates of 
$$
\mathcal{R}_0 
$$
 with estimates incorporating additional model assumptions, and determine the circumstances under which the different estimates are consistent. We show that one has to be careful when using observed exponential growth rates to derive an estimate of 
$$
\mathcal{R}_0 
$$

, and we quantify the discrepancies that arise.

Field of study: Biology, Mathematics
Intelligence, Birth Order, and Family Size

The analysis of the National Child Development Study in the United Kingdom (n = 17,419) replicates some earlier findings and shows that genuine within-family data are not necessary to make the apparent birth-order effect on intelligence disappear. Birth order is not associated with intelligence in between-family data once the number of siblings is statistically controlled. The analyses support the admixture hypothesis, which avers that the apparent birth-order effect on intelligence is an artifact of family size, and cast doubt on the confluence and resource dilution models, both of which claim that birth order has a causal influence on children’s cognitive development. The analyses suggest that birth order has no genuine causal effect on general intelligence.

Field of study: Psychology
Synthesis and NMR spectra of tetrahydrofuran-2-13C

An original method was developed for the synthesis of THF labeled selectively with the 13C isotope at the α-carbon atom. The effective reduction of symmetry brought about by the insertion of the isotopic label removes the excess degeneracy of the spin systems describing the multiplet structure of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra, making it possible to undertake a detailed analysis. Exact values for the 1H–1H spin-spin coupling constants through four bonds and also the 13C–1H and 13C–13C spin-spin coupling constants involving the α-carbon atom were determined for the first time. The isotopic chemical shifts of the protons and 13C nuclei caused by replacement of the 12C nucleus by 13C were determined. These data can be used to construct a quantitative model of the conformational behavior of THF as a molecular system in which pseudorotation in terms of vibrations with large amplitude is realized.

Field of study: Chemistry
New evidence supporting the interfacial model of electrically conductive polymer composites. 2. Indication of phase separation during ageing of polyaniline-poly(ethylene-co-vinylacetate) composites

Phase separation in conductive polyaniline-poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (PANI-EVA) composite films, resulting in formation of PANI enriched (lower side) and PANI deficient (upper side) layers was found during storage of these composites. A distinct difference in the conductivity of the two sides of the films reaching a half order of magnitude was detected. It was shown that phase separation and conductive pathways formation resulted from flocculation of PANI particles during ageing of the films. Subsequently, the total electrical conductivity of the composites of lower PANI content (up to 2.5 wt.%) was substantially enhanced (ca. five orders of magnitude). The observed conductivity jump and phase separation phenomena have been discussed using mathematical terms. Moreover, for the first time a mathematical interpretation of the evolution in percolation behaviour of PANI-EVA composites over time is presented. Coefficients of correlation (r xy ) between average conductivity, σ, (y) and PANI content (x) in the composites were calculated to be ca. 0.85 - 0.99. Besides, the shape of percolation curves (σ vs. PANI content) was found to change during storage of the films. The unstable conducting properties (both conductivity jump and phase separation phenomenal of PANI-EVA composites over time revealed their dissipative nature, and have to be regarded as evidence supporting the dynamic interfacial model of conductive polymer composites.

Field of study: Materials science
Bringing Multi-Criteria Decision Making into cell identification for Shoreline Management Planning in a coastal city of Southeast China

Recent shoreline management efforts have extended the scope of management plan to address multi-stakeholders’ conflicts over the use of coastal resources and their preservation. As cell identification is a critical step towards the development of Shoreline Management Plan (SMP), this paper provides the needed evidence to justify its rationality using Longhai city as a testing site. The coastal zone boundary of Longhai city was firstly defined taking into consideration the interface between land and sea. Seven cell units were identified with due consideration of existing plans. Subsequently, Multi-criteria Decision Making analysis coupled with GIS techniques was performed to verify the rationality of the cell identification. The results justified and supported the cell identification approach and outcomes with respect to dominant sectors within each unit, as well as the integrative and adaptive characteristics of the SMP in balancing environmental conservation and socioeconomic development. The quantitative approach further enables evaluating its adaptability in a changing environment.

Field of study: Environmental science
Ontological Distances: Contemporary Art, African Masks, and Western Museums

This article explores two contemporary works (Kader Attia's Open Your Eyes [2010] and Neïl Beloufa's Kempinski [2011]), alongside Alain Resnais's and Chris Marker's 1953 classic short film Les statues meurent aussi (The Statues Also Die). The pieces belong to different contexts and periods. Resnais's and Marker's film coincided with the emergence of anticolonial culture and consciousness, which hinged on the African self-narrative and activist movements connected to the Parisian publishing house Présence Africaine. Attia's work situates us in an indefinite period between World War I and the present and investigates the power relations between Western and non-Western worlds. Beloufa's Kempinski overturns the idea of a globalized, materialistic future for everybody by filming dystopic yet realistic narratives. In this essay, the author examines how these three works are linked by a common investigation of ontological distances between Western and sub-Saharan societies and ways of exploring and conceptualizing these differences. Aesthetics and identity, heritage and museum-based practices, reappropriation and categorization are devices used to critically approach these pieces, which open a space for theorization and discussion on the concept of ontological distance. French anthropologist Philippe Descola's ideas on existing differences in ontological conceptualizations of the world share a wide view of the world and its cosmologies akin to the alternative ways of thinking about the world that Attia, Marker and Renais, and Beloufa propose and provide a framework from which to reflect on what Attia, Marker and Resnais, and Beloufa grapple with in their works.

Field of study: Art
CHIRALITY-DEPENDENT GEL FORMATION FROM SUGARS AND BORONIC-ACID-APPENDED CHIRAL AMPHIPHILES

Aqueous solutions containing a boronic-acid-appended amphiphile with a L-glutamate segment were gelatinized in the presence of certain saccharides. Examination of the gelation temperature, DSC, and the absorption spectra of a cyanine dye revealed that this is a novel system having two phase-transitions, viz., the sol-gel phase transition and the gel-liquid crystal phase transition.

Field of study: Chemistry
Network Geometry of Veins in Polycrystalline Ice

Polycrystalline ice contains a three-dimensional network of water filled veins, whose size is a function of temperature among other parameters. In order to study heat transfer to and from these veins, a model of their arrangement around a crystal is necessary. The geometrical constraints of this arrangement are discussed and a model is proposed. This is compared to various other models, including that used by Frank (1968) for convection in the earth's mantle.

Field of study: Environmental science
Side-channel-free quantum key distribution.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) offers the promise of absolutely secure communications. However, proofs of absolute security often assume perfect implementation from theory to experiment. Thus, existing systems may be prone to insidious side-channel attacks that rely on flaws in experimental implementation. Here we replace all real channels with virtual channels in a QKD protocol, making the relevant detectors and settings inside private spaces inaccessible while simultaneously acting as a Hilbert space filter to eliminate side-channel attacks. By using a quantum memory we find that we are able to bound the secret-key rate below by the entanglement-distillation rate computed over the distributed states.

Field of study: Physics
多重耐药鲍曼不动杆菌的分子流行病学及耐药机制研究

近年来,随着广谱抗菌药物的广泛应用,多重耐药鲍曼不动杆菌(multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii,MDRAB)的分离率日益增加.该菌在于燥物体表面生存时间可长达25 d以上,极易造成医院内播散流行.由于该菌具有很强的获得外源性耐药基因的能力,表现为对常用抗菌药物的耐药率逐年升高,给临床抗感染治疗带来很大困难,也对医院内感染的控制提出了新的要求[1].本研究分析了宁波大学医学院附属医院30株MDRAB的耐药情况、克隆相关性以及主要耐药基因的分布情况,为鲍曼不动杆菌医院内感染的控制及指导临床合理用药提供理论基础。

Field of study: Biology
Assessment of serum levels of copeptin and corticotropin-releasing factor in children with monosymptomatic and non-monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis.

Nocturnal enuresis is defined as bed-wetting in children from the age of five years that occurs during sleep; if untreated, the condition can result in social and psychological problems both for the children and their parents. Nocturnal enuresis is a complicated disease that includes multiple pathogenetic factors. Nocturnal enuresis is divided into two subgroups: monosymptomatic and non-monosymptomatic. The role of some biomarkers in patients with monosymptomatic enuresis has been reported in a small number of the studies.



The aim of this research was to evaluate the serum levels of copeptin and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in monosymptomatic and non-monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis cases. Although these markers were previously examined in children with monosymptomatic enuresis, there is no study that has evaluated these markers in non-monosymptomatic children.



One hundred nineteen children with nocturnal enuresis (5-16 years) and forty healthy children (5-17 years) were enrolled to the study. Of the nocturnal enuresis group, forty-nine were monosymptomatic and seventy were non-monosymptomatic. Copeptin and CRF were measured by a competitive inhibition method with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.



The serum copeptin levels were significantly lower in children with monosymptomatic and non-monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis than in the controls.(median, 34.7 [interquartile range (IQR): 34 pg/ml], 39.8 [IQR: 29 pg/ml] vs 52.1 [IQR: 14 pg/ml], respectively, P < 0.05). The serum CRF levels were significantly lower in children with monosymptomatic and non-monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis than in the controls (median, 35.1 [IQR: 19 pg/ml], 34.05 [IQR: 24 pg/ml] vs 78.3 [IQR: 39 pg/ml], respectively, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in copeptin and CRF levels between the children with monosymptomatic and non-monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis.



Copeptin is presumed to be a sensitive surrogate biomarker for arginine vasopressin release. To date, there are only two studies in the literature that assess the relationship between copeptin and monosymptomatic enuresis. The only study in the literature demonstrated significantly decreased levels of CRF in monosymptomatic enuretic children. It was demonstrated that the levels of copeptin and CRF differ in both children with monosymptomatic and non-monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis from the control groups. It was also demonstrated that copeptin and CRF levels were not different between the children in monosymptomatic and non-monosymptomatic groups.



Those changes in both copeptin and CRF which were shown in this study in monosymptomatic and non-monosymptomatic enuretic children may contribute to the pathogenesis of nocturnal enuresis. Further case-control studies can evaluate the copeptin and CRF levels before treatments in monosymptomatic and non-monosymptomatic patients to decide potential effectiveness of treatment.

Field of study: Medicine
The axial transsacral approach to interbody fusion at L5-S1.

Lumbosacral interbody fusion may be indicated to treat degenerative disc disease at L5-S1, instability or spondylolisthesis at that level, and severe neural foraminal stenosis resulting from loss of disc space height. In addition, L5-S1 interbody fusion may provide anterior support to a long posterior fusion construct and help offset the stresses experienced by the distal-most screws. There are 3 well-established techniques for L5-S1 interbody fusion: anterior lumbar interbody fusion, posterior lumbar interbody fusion, and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. Each of these has advantages and pitfalls. A more recently described axial transsacral technique, utilizing the presacral corridor, may represent a minimally invasive approach to obtaining lumbosacral interbody arthrodesis. Biomechanical studies demonstrate that the stiffness of the axial rod is comparable to existing fixation devices, suggesting that, biomechanically, it may be a good implant for obtaining lumbosacral interbody fusion. Clinical studies have demonstrated good early results with the use of the axial transsacral approach in obtaining lumbosacral interbody fusion for degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, and below long posterior fusion constructs. The technique is exacting and complications can be major, including rectal perforation and fistula, loss of correction, and pseudarthrosis.

Field of study: Medicine