nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Can Nonrandomized Experiments Yield Accurate Answers? A Randomized Experiment Comparing Random and Nonrandom Assignments

A key justification for using nonrandomized experiments is that, with proper adjustment, their results can well approximate results from randomized experiments. This hypothesis has not been consistently supported by empirical studies; however, previous methods used to study this hypothesis have confounded assignment method with other study features. To avoid these confounding factors, this study randomly assigned participants to be in a randomized experiment or a nonrandomized experiment. In the randomized experiment, participants were randomly assigned to mathematics or vocabulary training; in the nonrandomized experiment, participants chose their training. The study held all other features of the experiment constant; it carefully measured pretest variables that might predict the condition that participants chose, and all participants were measured on vocabulary and mathematics outcomes. Ordinary linear regression reduced bias in the nonrandomized experiment by 84–94% using covariate-adjusted randomized results as the benchmark. Propensity score stratification, weighting, and covariance adjustment reduced bias by about 58–96%, depending on the outcome measure and adjustment method. Propensity score adjustment performed poorly when the scores were constructed from predictors of convenience (sex, age, marital status, and ethnicity) rather than from a broader set of predictors that might include these. Please see the online supplements for a Letter to the Editor.

Field of study: Mathematics
Lower growth rate from recent redshift space distortion measurements than expected from Planck.

We perform a metastudy of recently published redshift space distortion (RSD) measurements of the cosmological growth rate, f(z)σ8(z). We analyze the latest results from the 6dFGS, BOSS, LRG, WiggleZ, and VIPERS galaxy redshift surveys, and compare the measurements to expectations from Planck. In this Letter we point out that the RSD measurements are consistently lower than the values expected from Planck, and the relative scatter between the RSD measurements is lower than expected. A full resolution of this issue may require a more robust treatment of nonlinear effects in RSD models, although the trend for a low σ8 agrees with recent constraints on σ8 and Ω(m) from Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster counts identified in Planck.

Field of study: Physics
Examining the Literacy Histories of Doctoral Students in an Educational Studies Program through Surveys and Interviews: A Mixed Methods Study.

The purpose of this mixed methods sequential explanatory study was to explain the relationship between literacy experiences over time and the literacy identities of the doctoral students in a teacher education and higher education program. The quantitative phase, surveying 36 participants, revealed a positive correlation between participant’s present and past literacy experiences, suggesting that past literacy experiences impacted their present perception of themselves as successful doctoral students. In the qualitative follow up multiple case study analysis, four major themes emerged from the interviews and participants’ visual representations: (1) past literacy experiences; (2) present literacy experiences; (3) support systems; and (4) social experiences. The findings suggest that early feelings of success in literacy contribute to strong literacy identities in higher education programs. Implications for the faculty of higher education will be discussed.

Field of study: Education
The oldest record of microbial-caddisfly bioherms from the Early Cretaceous Jinju Formation, Korea: occurrence and palaeoenvironmental implications

Fossil microbial-caddisfly bioherms have been recently discovered in the Early Cretaceous lacustrine deposits (Jinju Formation) at Jahyeri, Korea. The Jahyeri deposits consist of shallow to marginal lake deposits in which medium- to fine-grained sandstone beds and silty mudstone beds are alternated and small-scale wave ripples and polygonal desiccation cracks are common. The microbial-caddisfly bioherms occur on and within oolitic sandstone and are also covered by oolitic sandstone, suggesting that the bioherms formed in shallow and turbulent water. The depositional condition of Jahyeri caddisfly bioherms is thus correspondent with the wave-washed and well-oxygenated biotope of modern lentic Trichoptera. By comparing the habitat, size and shape of cases, the composition of case-building particles, and case construction way, it seems likely that the Jahyeri caddisfly cases were those of the family Leptoceridae. The Jahyeri microbial-caddisfly bioherms are all that have been discovered throughout the Jinju Formation, and the Jahyeri bioherms are very small compared with the tall growth of the Eocene Little Mesa bioherms. The limited growth and occurrence of microbial-caddisfly bioherms in the Jinju Formation might have resulted from the predominance of clastic deposition in the Jinju Lake. The occurrence of Jahyeri microbial-caddisfly bioherms may reflect the development of a drought stage which resulted in a limited supply of clastic sediments into the Jahyeri Lake. The Jahyeri microbial-caddisfly bioherms have common features with modern and Tertiary microbial-caddisfly bioherms in that the colonial caddis cases constructed bioherms in cooperation with a benthic microbial mat. The similarity between the Jahyeri microbial-caddisfly bioherms and those from the Tertiary and modern deposits suggests that the physical environments of microbial-caddisfly symbiosis has changed little throughout the geologic time and space, and thus indicates that the microbial-caddisfly bioherms can be used to interpret paleohydrological conditions. This finding is the first report of fossil microbial-caddisfly bioherms in Asia and represents the oldest occurrence of microbial-caddisfly bioherms in the geological records.

Field of study: Environmental science, Geography
High reliability: the patient role and perspective. Using the patient experience as a catalyst for change

Using personal and family experience of health care, issues that need to be addressed and the core values that need to be present when striving to achieve excellence in public service delivery are identified. Robust systems, adherence to guidance and protocols together with meaningful engagement with the end user are essential ingredients to deliver on the public’s expectation that care be safe and quality assured. Organizational credibility is measured by the degree to which certain, non-negotiable attributes are demonstrated and clearly visible. These attributes include acceptance of organizational and individual responsibility and accountability. It is necessary that core values centre on the exercise of professionalism in a culture that facilitates transparency, open communication and demonstration of integrity, especially in the aftermath of adverse events. A style of leadership that engages with patients and insists that error is acknowledged in a way that facilitates learning and prevention of recurrence will not only advance healing for those involved but will also boost public confidence and enhance the reputation of individuals and the organization.

Field of study: Computer science, Engineering
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS: Pulse-periodic SPER laser utilizing transitions in Cd atoms

Pulse-periodic operation was achieved for the first time in a segmented plasma excitation and recombination (SPER) laser utilizing transitions in Cd I atoms (λ = 1.43 and 3.955 μm) in a metal vapor. The average laser radiation power was 36 and 20 mW at the wavelengths λ = 1.43 and 3.955 μm, respectively when the repetition frequency of the pump pulses was 2 kHz. Mechanisms setting the upper limit to the repetition frequency of the pump pulses were considered. Experimental estimates were obtained of the maximum frequency of a pulse-periodic laser and ways of increasing its output energy characteristics were considered.

Field of study: Engineering, Physics
The Development of Mechanical Apple Harvesting Technology: A Review

Harvest is one of the most challenging production tasks in apple production. It is a labor-intensive operation, and mechanization has been slow in development for a myriad of reasons. With increasing labor costs and decreasing availability of harvest employees, researchers have been focusing on mechanical apple harvest technologies. Studies on semi-automatic harvesters, harvest robots, and harvest-assist platforms target development of mechanical apple harvesting. Semi-automatic harvesters for fresh market apples have not been commercialized due to unacceptably high incidence of apple bruising. Harvest robots have not been commercialized due to their high costs and low efficiency. Apple harvest-assist platforms are a technology that has the potential to be more widely commercialized based on the current research.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Enhancing reflection and self-determination in a real-life community mesh network

This article discusses the Network Characterization Daemon (NCD), a piece of software that provides users of Community Mesh Networks (CMNs) with an interactive tool to monitor, evaluate and fine-tune their network nodes.First, CMNs are introduced as a particular case of Community Networks (CNs), and their participation challenges are analysed. The NCD is then discussed as a novel solution that provides CMN end users with mechanisms to assess network performance and improve their quality of experience by modifying their devices' network configuration. The relation of the NCD with Quick Mesh Project (qMp) and the BatMan-eXperimental version 6 (BMX6) routing protocol is detailed as part of the social and technological context.The NCD also provides an experimentation framework to evaluate network performance in real-life CMNs. The latter part of this article covers the experiments performed using the NCD to assess network performance (in terms of path selection, Round-Trip Time (RTT), etc.) when different BMX6 routing policies are applied. The results show how, under different traffic conditions (e.g. distinct packet sizes), using specific routing policies leads to an improvement in network performance.Finally, the integration of the NCD in qMp is discussed, in order to ensure its long-term sustainability.

Field of study: Computer science
Event-related potentials in alcoholic men, their high-risk male relatives, and low-risk male controls.

A total of 217 adult male subjects were evaluated utilizing event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited with two different auditory tasks (Counting and Choice Reaction). Ninety-eight alcoholics from high-density, multigenerational families were evaluated along with 39 first-degree nonalcoholic relatives from the same high-density families. Eighty controls, selected for low density of alcoholism in their extended families, were also studied. Using both conventional and topographic analyses, no significant differences in the amplitude of the P300 component could be found with either of the auditory tasks. No significant differences in amplitude of N250 were seen. The latency of N250 increased with increasing conditional probabilities (0.33, 0.67, and 1.00), a trend that was amplified in the Counting task as compared with the Choice Reaction task. This prolongation in a task not requiring a reaction response (button press) tended to increase the latency more for alcoholics than controls or high-risk nonalcoholic subjects. Age, lifetime, and recent drinking were treated as covariates in all analyses. The absence of P300 amplitude differences between adult high- and low-risk subjects is discussed in the context of the much more reliable differences seen between high- and low-risk children from the same high- and low-density families, when evaluated with the same auditory tasks.

Field of study: Medicine
Prepration of angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory peptide from sweet potato protein by optimization of pepsin hydrolyzation

Isolation of ACE inhibitory peptide from sweet potato protein was performed by pepsin.The effect of concentration of substrate,enzyme to substrate concentration ratio,pH value and temperature on the ACE inhibition ratio was studied by optimum design of quaternary quadratic rotation orthogonality experiment to get the best enzymatic hydrolysis condition.The regression models were established between the impact factors and the ACE inhibition ratio.Results indicate that the optimal processing conditions for preparing ACE inhibitory peptides with pepsin were as follows:concentration of substrate 2.3%,enzyme to substrate concentration ratio 3.7%,pH value 2.3,temperature 37 ℃,time 8 h.Under this optimizing enzymatic hydrolysis conditions,the ACE inhibition ratio of the hydrolyzates was 78.37%.ACE inhibitory peptides were obtained from the hydrolyzates of sweet potato protein,providing the theoretical basis for the development of functional foods in prevention and treatment of hypertension.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Preparing chitosan–polyaniline nanocomposite film and examining its mechanical, electrical, and antimicrobial properties

In recent years, development and progress in modern packaging resulting from degradable natural resources have grown remarkably. In this study, chitosan–polyaniline film was prepared with a combination of different concentrations of polyaniline and various synthesis times to produce antimicrobial and biodegradable packaging film. The physical, electrical, and mechanical properties of the films were investigated. The interaction between chitosan and polyaniline was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction patterns. The size and morphology of the synthesized particles were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The results indicated that the synthesized polyaniline particles had a spherical shape (45–100 nm). The antimicrobial and antifungal activity of the films against Aspergillus niger fungi (antifungal area: 61.47 mm2) and Escherichia coli bacteria (antimicrobial area: 187.27 mm2) increased with increasing the concentration of polyaniline. The results obtained from the study of the effect of polyaniline on the electrical conductivity of the chitosan film showed that increasing the polyaniline concentration and synthesis time resulted in decreased electrical resistance of the film, for which the film with the highest aniline concentration and the highest synthesize time had the lowest resistance. According to the mechanical property results, tensile strength (TS) and elastic modulus were increased due to the addition of the polyaniline to the polymer matrix. The chitosan blank film had a lower TS than nanocomposites. As the final results, the chitosan–polyaniline film has good electrical conductivity, indicating that the produced film could be used in intelligent food packaging.

Field of study: Materials science
Importance of Risks Analysis with Monte Carlo in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing promises to any company using information technology high availability, flexibility, increase efficiency, save money, etc .; but it raises questions about how best to protect your information and ensure compliance with the rules, considering a scenario of risk are involved where confidentiality and privacy to mention some of these aspects. However, despite the evolution of this new model not as storage and data management features, doubts about its safety remain a concern. cloud, security, risk, confidentiality, privacy, cloud computing, security, vulnerability, standard, infrastructure, internet, paradigm, services, applications.

Field of study: Engineering
Expression of IL-17A and IL-17F in lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury and the counteraction of anisodamine or methylprednisolone.

Th17 cytokines IL-17A and IL-17F as pro-inflammatory cytokines played an important role in triggering inflammatory responses. However, little was known about the expression of IL-17A and IL-17F in acute lung injury (ALI). Therefore, the present study investigated the expression of IL-17A and IL-17F in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI in rats and rat pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVEC) by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay or reverse transcription-polymerase chains reaction. Anisodamine and methylprednisolone were also investigated as anti-inflammatory strategy in the process of LPS-induced ALI. Lung injury was evaluated by histological changes, right lung wet weight:body weight (LW/BW) ratios, and protein education and total leukocyte count of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Our findings showed that LPS exposure elevated the levels of leukocyte number, protein education in BALF and the ratios of LW/BW, increased the expression of IL-17A and IL-17F in the lung tissues homogenate, BALF and serum of ALI rats. Up-regulation of IL-17F expression was also observed after LPS challenge in rat PMVEC. Treatment with anisodamine or methylprednisolone significantly inhibited the increases of parameters of ALI induced by LPS, and markedly reduced the expression of IL-17A and IL-17F in rats and the IL-17F expression in PMVEC. These data suggested that IL-17A and IL-17F maybe play an important role in LPS-induced ALI via autocrine and paracrine mechanisms, and anisodamine is similar in extent to methylprednisolone that contributes to relieve LPS-induced ALI.

Field of study: Medicine
Description of alpha-clustering of 8Be nucleus states in high-precision theoretical approach

Scrupulous theoretical study of 8Be nucleus states, both clustered and non-clustered, is performed over a wide range of excitation energies. The quantities that characterize the degree of the alpha-clustering of these states, i.e., spectroscopic factors, cluster form factors, and alpha-decay widths, are computed in the framework of the developed accurate ab initio approach. Other basic properties of the 8Be spectrum, including the binding and excitation energies and the mean values of the isospin, are calculated simultaneously. In the majority of instances, the results of the computation turn out to be in good agreement with the spectroscopic data. A number of predictions are made, and corresponding verification experiments are proposed. Prospects of the developed approach for nuclear spectroscopy are demonstrated.

Field of study: Physics
Degradation of proteins from thylakoid membranes in senescing wheat leaves at high temperature

This investigation determined whether thylakoid proteins would be degraded more rapidly or not in senescing wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell.) leaves concurrently exposed to high temperatures. Excised leaves were pulse-labelled with [35S]-methionine for a 12 h period, and then incubated at 22,32 or 42°C for 0, 1, 2, or 3 d, before extracting a thylakoid enriched membrane sample. After electrophoretic separation, two prominent [35S]-labelled protein bands were chosen for further analyses. Band A contained the D-1 thylakoid protein and band B contained thylakoid proteins of the light harvesting complex (LHCII) associated with photosystem II (PSII). Total protein, [35S]-labelled protein, band A protein, and band B protein within the thylakoid enriched membrane samples were measured. Unlabelled thylakoid enriched membrane samples, extracted from leaves given similar treatments, were used to measure uncoupled whole-chain and photosystem II (PSII) electron transport and chlorophyll fluorescence. Accentuated decline in whole-chain and PSII electron transport, increasing Fo values, and decreasing Fmax values were a result of high temperature injury in leaves treated at 42°C. None of the thylakoid enriched membrane protein fractions were degraded more rapidly in high-temperature treated leaves. Degradation of the total [35S]-labelled membrane proteins and band B was inhibited by the 42°C treatment. The results indicate that high temperature stress may disrupt some aspects of normal senescence.

Field of study: Environmental science
Multilinear Maps over the Integers Using Modulus Switching

After CLT13 of multilinear map over the integers was broken by Cheon, Han, Lee, Ryu and Stehle using zeroizing attack, a new variant CLT15 of CLT13 was proposed by Coron, Lepoint and Tibouchi by constructing new zero-testing parameter. Very recently, CLT15 was broken independently by Cheon, Lee and Ryu, and Minaud and Fouque using an extension of Cheon et al.’s attack. To immune CLT13 against zeroizing attack, we present a new construction of multilinear map over the integers using switching modulus technique. The security of our construction depends upon new hardness assumption.

Field of study: Computer science, Mathematics
Diffuseness parameter of even-even nuclei in the range of 58 ≤ A ≤ 250 and the coupled channel optical model

An interaction potential with a radial dependence in the Woods-Saxon form is used to describe low energy neutron data in the context of the coupled channel optical model. A single value of the diffuseness parameter was used for even-even nuclides over a wide range of A: a = 0.65 fm. Traditional and nontraditional magic and nonspherical nuclei were exceptions. The deviations can be used to find or verify the existence of nontraditional magic numbers.

Field of study: Physics
Teacher’s Attitude and Use of Instructional Resources in Early Childhood Education and Development Centres in Bungoma County, Kenya

This paper reports finding of a study that sought to establish the attitude of teachers and its influence on the selection and use of instructional resources in ECDE centres in Bungoma County, Kenya. The research was based on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development 1964. The study adopted the descriptive survey design and involved use of purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques to select a sample size of 81 respondents from the target population of educational officers, head teachers and teachers of the selected ECDE centers. Data was collected using questionnaire, observation and interview schedules. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequencies and percentages and the chi-square which was used to determine the relationship between the variables. The findings of the study showed that there are challenges related to attitude and resource utilization in the teaching and learning in early childhood education. These challenges are associated with the attitude towards the use of instructional resources, instruction methods and ECDE instruction. The study is envisaged to provide useful information for the education policy makers to produce relevant learning resources for the ECDE teachers.  Teacher attitude, Early childhood, instructional resources

Field of study: Education
Threat analysis of software systems: A systematic literature review

Architectural threat analysis has become an important cornerstone for organizations concerned with developing secure software. Due to the large number of existing techniques it is becoming more challenging for practitioners to select an appropriate threat analysis technique. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of the existing techniques for threat analysis. In our study we compare 26 methodologies for what concerns their applicability, characteristics of the required input for analysis, characteristics of analysis procedure, characteristics of analysis outcomes and ease of adoption. We also provide insight into the obstacles for adopting the existing approaches and discuss the current state of their adoption in software engineering trends (e.g. Agile, DevOps, etc.). As a summary of our findings we have observed that: the analysis procedure is not precisely defined, there is a lack of quality assurance of analysis outcomes and tool support and validation are limited.

Field of study: Computer science, Engineering