nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Has the robot caught up? National trends in utilization, perioperative outcomes, and cost for open, laparoscopic, and robotic pediatric pyeloplasty in the United States from 2003 to 2015.

Since 2010, there have been few new data comparing perioperative outcomes and cost between open (OP) and robotic pyeloplasty (RP). In a post-adoption era, the value of RP may be converging with that of OP.



To 1) characterize national trends in pyeloplasty utilization through 2015, 2) compare adjusted outcomes and median costs between OP and RP, and 3) determine the primary cost drivers for each procedure.



We performed a retrospective cohort study using the Premier database, which provides a nationally representative sample of U.S. hospitalizations between 2003 and 2015. ICD9 codes and itemized billing were used to abstract our cohorts. Trends in utilization and cost were calculated and then stratified by age. We used propensity scores to weight our cohorts and then applied regression models to measure differences in the probability of prolonged operative time (pOT), prolonged length of stay (pLOS), complications, and cost.



During the study period 11,899 pyeloplasties were performed: 75% open, 10% laparoscopic, and 15% robotic. The total number of pyeloplasty cases decreased by 7% annually; OP decreased by a rate of 10% while RP grew by 29% annually. In 2015, RP accounted for 40% of cases. The largest growth in RPs was among children and adolescents. The average annual rate of change in cost for RP and OP was near stagnant: -0.5% for open and -0.2% for robotic. The summary table provides results from our regression analyses. RP conferred an increased likelihood of pOT, but a reduced likelihood of pLOS. The odds of complications were equivalent. RP was associated with a significantly higher median cost, but the absolute difference per case was $1060.



Despite advantages in room and board costs for RP, we found that the cost of equipment and OR time continue to make it more expensive. Although the absolute difference may be nominal, we likely underestimate the true cost because we did not capture amortization, hidden or down-stream costs. In addition, we did not measure patient satisfaction and pain control, which may provide the non-monetary data needed for comparative value.



Despite an overall decline in pyeloplasties, RP utilization continues to increase. There has been little change in cost over time, and RP remains more expensive because of equipment and OR costs. The robotic approach confers a reduced likelihood of pLOS, but an increased likelihood of pOT. Complication rates are low and similar in each cohort.

Field of study: Medicine
Transforming maternity care: obstetric partnerships as a policy instrument for integration.

Increasing continuity in Dutch maternity care is considered pivotal to improve safety and client-centeredness. Closer collaboration between the historically relatively autonomous professionals and organizations in maternity care is deemed conditional to reach this goal, both by maternity care professionals and policy makers. Governmental policy therefore strives for organizational and financial integration. One of the policy measures has been to stimulate interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration through local obstetric partnerships. This study aimed to gain insight into whether this policy measure supported professionals in reaching the policy aim of increasing integration in the maternity care system. We therefore conducted 73 semistructured interviews with maternity care professionals in the region Northwest Netherlands, from 2014 to 2016. Respondents expressed much willingness to intensify interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration and experienced obstetric partnerships as contributing to this. As such, stimulating integration through obstetric partnerships can be considered a suitable policy measure. However, collaborating within the partnerships simultaneously highlighted deep-rooted dividing structures (organizational, educational, legal, financial) in the maternity care system, especially at the systemic level. These were experienced to hinder collaboration, but difficult for the professionals to influence, as they lacked knowledge, skills, resources and mandate. A lack of clear and timely guidance and support from policy, counterbalancing these barriers, limited partnerships' potential to unify professionals and integrate their services.

Field of study: Medicine, Political science
Product derivation in software product families: a case study

From our experience with several organizations that employ software product families, we have learned that, contrary to popular belief, deriving individual products from shared software assets is a time-consuming and expensive activity. In this paper we therefore present a study that investigated the source of those problems. We provide the reader with a framework of terminology and concepts regarding product derivation. In addition, we present several problems and issues we identified during a case study at two large industrial organizations that are relevant to other, for example, comparable or less mature organizations.

Field of study: Computer science, Engineering
Quantitative study of the influence of swimming therapy on osteoporosis rat models based on synchrotron radiation computed tomogaphy.

Osteoporosis is a bone disease with a variety of causes, leading to bone pain and fragility to fracture. Major treatment methods include nutrition therapy, exercise therapy, drug therapy and surgical treatment, among which exercise therapy, such as swimming, is the most effective. To investigate the optimal swimming therapy regime for postmenopausal women, the effects of eight weeks of different intensity swimming exercises were studied in rat models. After the swimming program, lumbar vertebrae were dissected from all the rats and scanned by synchrotron radiation computed tomography (SRCT). Histomorphometry analysis and finite-element analysis were carried out on the trabecular structure of the L4 lumbar based on the acquired SRCT slices. Histomorphometry analysis showed that swimming can alleviate the decrease in bone strength induced by estrogen deficiency, and moderate-intensity swimming was found to have the most significant effect.

Field of study: Physics
Marketing Higher Education: Benefits and Risks for the American Academic System.

A new vocabulary is gaining respectability in academia. The terms have been appropriated from the field of Marketing and, although they still stick in many an academic throat, they are spreading rapidly through the system. Deans make references to "market research." "Market penetration," "positioning," and "market audits" spill from the lips of up-to-date admissions officers. Committees of various stripe ponder "strategies" appropriate to various "market segments." In the face of very real challenges, Marketing and Market Research have caught the fancy of academic administrators. There are both benefits to be realized and risks to be avoided in these developments. Movements in academic administration have come and gone in recent years. Sometimes they have become fads, sent to an early demise by the backlash that can follow an overzealous and insufficiently critical adoption by desperate administrators beset by the complex pressures of contemporary academic administration. As the waters of the Marketing Movement rise, a critical scouting of the territory may help both marketers and colleges find the higher ground on which they can benefit from the

Field of study: Education
[Genome amplification and sequence analysis of human bocavirus 2].

To obtain the genome sequence of human bocavirus 2 (HBoV2), different regions of HBoV2 genome were amplified through PCR in fecal specimens which had been identified as single-positive for HBoV2 in 2010. A genome sequence of HBoV2 (HBoV2-NC, 5444 bp) was obtained after sequence assembly. The phylogenetic analysis showed that HBoV2-NC had the closest evolutionary relationship with HBoV2 Lanzhou strain. The predication of inverted terminal repeats of HBoV2-NC by DINAMelt showed that inverted terminal repeats were contained in HBoV2-NC 5' terminal, which had the typical stem-loop structure in other parvoviruses. Finally, some flanking sequences of HBoV2-NC were amplified by linker-PCR.

Field of study: Biology
[Tolerance to 5-HT and its implication in electro-acupuncture tolerance and morphine tolerance].

Previously we reported that electro-acupuncture tolerance (AT) or morphine tolerance (MT) were partially reversed by intra-cerebroventricular injection (icv) of 5-hydroxy tryptophan (5-HTP), the precursor of 5-HT. In this study the development of tolerance to 5-HT during AT and MT was evaluated. 
 Overload of 5-HT receptors was achieved by ip 5-HTP 25 mg/kg/h×6 h and the response of CNS to 5-HT was monitored by icv 5-HT 12.5 μg. The hypothermic effect of 5-HT was markedly reduced in 5-HTP loaded rats (0.6±0.8℃), in AT rats (0.8±0.5℃) and in MT rats (0.8± 0.7℃) as compared to the control rats (1.9±0.4℃, ].5±0.3℃ and 1.5±0.5℃，respectively). On the other hand, there was a reduction in the effectiveness of electro-acupuncture analgesia in 5-HTP loaded rats. The increase of tail flick latency after electro-acupuncture was only 14±41% in 5-HTP loaded rats as compared to110±29% in the control rats. 
 The results suggest that tolerance to endogenous 5-HT may serve as one of the possible mechanisms underlying the development of AT and MT.

Field of study: Biology, Chemistry, Medicine
Cryptograph Index Technology Based on Strategy of Optimal Bucket Partitioning

People always made efforts on pursuing high-efficiency encryption method to adapt to database system during past decades.Although achievements have been made,there still are problems of long responding,expensive cost and low security of cryptograph index after encrypted that are not solved yet.In this paper,the judgment condition of view security,k-Anonymity was employed on the judgment for the security of cryptograph index.Two security of cryptograph index plan of constructing Hash functions and partitioning multi-sensitive attributes into buckets to establish cryptograph index were proposed aiming at the problem of information leaking by constructing cryptograph index.Finally,an optimal buckets partitioning strategy was proposed.The optimal query ratio can be gotten through buckets partitioning and cryptograph index creation under the condition of sub-interval number of buckets partitioning is limited which make the balance between security and efficiency of cryptograph index.

Field of study: Computer science
Preliminary Investigation on the Vegetation of Dabashan Nature Reserve and Its Characteristics

Dabashan Nature Reserve lies in the transitional region from north subtropical zone to temperature zone in Chongqing ,China. By investigation and analysis, the vegetation of Dabashan Nature Reserve is divided into 4 vegetation-type groups, 12 vegetation types and 36 formations. Both the main composition of the seed plant species and forest-vegetative formation and distribution of the vegetation of Dabashan Nature Reserve display characteristics of regional transition.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Optical properties of InAs quantum wells emitting between 0.9 mu m and 2.5 mu m

InAs/AlxGa0.48-xIn0.52As single and multiple quantum wells (QWS) grown in InP by modified solid source molecular beam epitaxy are investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. By adjusting the QW thickness between 2 and 16 monolayers (ML) and the barrier composition between Al0.48In0.52As and Ga0.47In0.53As, the PL emission can be tuned from 1.0 to 2.2 mu m. The excitonic nature of the low-temperature recombinations and the observations of luminescence at room temperature demonstrate the high quality of the samples and the potential of the InAs/AlxGa0.48-xIn0.52As system for optoelectronic device applications.

Field of study: Materials science
Differential effects on gastrointestinal activity after intrathecal morphine, sufentanil and alfentanil in rats.

This paper reports on investigations of the effects on gastrointestinal (gi) transit of subcutaneous (sc) or intrathecal (i.t. ) administration of the opiates morphine, alfentanil and sufentanil. Prior sc of all 3 drugs produced a significant dose-dependent decrease in transit of a charcoal test meal. 
 Morphine i.t. to rats with catheters chronically implanted in the subarachnoid space did not decrease gi transit. This was in contrast to the effects of i.t. alfentanil and sufentanil, which caused marked dose-dependent slowing of the passage of the meal. Prior sc of the opiate antagonist nalaxone completely blocked the depression of gi transit caused by high doses of i.t. sufentanil. The different responses to i.t. morphine and sufentanil or alfentanil may be due to the different mu receptor affinities of the drugs to spinal receptors, or to the slower passage of morphine into the intravascular compartment and hence a slower effect on supraspinal structures. Alternatively the results may be interpreted as indicating the presence of multiple subtypes of mu receptors in spinal cord.

Field of study: Biology, Chemistry, Medicine
Design of a Complex Process Information Visualization: A Study of Eye Tracking and its Relationship to Cognitive Learning

Given the prevalence of visual instruction, it is important to ascertain how these visuals enable cognition particularly while having the complexity of information visualization that encompasses multiple concepts. This study was conducted with fifty female undergraduate students in a university in the central region of Saudi Arabia. It sought to understand what pattern and process a viewer’s eyes takes when viewing a complex design of instructional information visualization, and to ascertain if any correlation exists between eye movement, specifically frequent visits to an area of interest (AOI), and cognition. It builds on literature that identifies a link between patterns of viewing and thought to address whether, using new technology, evidence for such a link exists. It also builds on studies that emphasise the importance of eye tracking technology to test hypotheses concerning perceptual processing. The study employs quantitative analysis to answer the research question. The study reveals that no significant correlation exists between a participant’s eye movement and their degree of cognition associated with the material being observed. Recommendations for a further qualitative study are provided in order to clarify the relationship between eye movement, when focused on a complex design of information visualization, and cognitive uptake.  instructional design, visual instruction, eye tracking, complex instructional information visualization

Field of study: Education
Degradation of cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil by UV and simulated sunlight treatments: Assessment of the enhancement of the biodegradability and toxicity.

The presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment has triggered concern among the general population and received considerable attention from the scientific community in recent years. However, only a few publications have focused on anticancer drugs, a class of pharmaceuticals that can exhibit cytotoxic, genotoxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic and teratogenic effects. The present study investigated the photodegradation, biodegradation, bacterial toxicity, mutagenicity and genotoxicity of cyclophosphamide (CP) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The photodegradation experiments were performed at a neutral to slight pH range (7-7.8) using two different lamps (medium-pressure mercury lamp and a xenon lamp). The primary elimination of the parent compounds was monitored by means of liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-IT-MS/MS). NPOC (non-purgeable organic carbon) analyses were carried out in order to assess mineralization rates. The Closed Bottle Test (CBT) was used to assess ready biodegradability. A new method using Vibrio fischeri was adopted to evaluate toxicity. CP was not degraded by any lamp, whereas 5-FU was completely eliminated by irradiation with the mercury lamp but only partially by the Xe lamp. No mineralization was observed for the experiments performed with the Xe lamp, and a NPOC removal of only 18% was registered for 5-FU after 256 min using the UV lamp. Not one of the parent compounds was readily biodegradable in the CBT. Photo transformation products (PTPs) resulting from photolysis were neither better biodegradable nor less toxic than the parent compound 5-FU. In contrast, the results of the tests carried out with the UV lamp indicated that more biodegradable and non-toxic PTPs of 5-FU were generated. Three PTPs were formed during the photodegradation experiments and were identified. The results of the in silico QSAR predictions showed positive mutagenic and genotoxic alerts for 5-FU, whereas only one of the formed PTPs presented positive alerts for the genotoxicity endpoint.

Field of study: Environmental science
The nature of the coupling between segmental oscillators of the lamprey spinal generator for locomotion: A mathematical model

We present a theoretical model which is used to explain the intersegmental coordination of the neural networks responsible for generating locomotion in the isolated spinal cord of lamprey.A simplified mathematical model of a limit cycle oscillator is presented which consists of only a single dependent variable, the phase θ(t). By coupling N such oscillators together we are able to generate stable phase locked motions which correspond to traveling waves in the spinal cord, thus simulating “fictive swimming”. We are also able to generate irregular “drifting” motions which are compared to the experimental data obtained from cords with selective surgical lesions.

Field of study: Biology, Mathematics
Opinions of Clergy and Guidance Counselors about the Desirability of Irrational Beliefs in Children

About one-third of 102 clergy and none of 118 female high school guidance counselors regarded Ellis's Beliefs 3, 8, 9, and 10 as desirable for young children. More than one-fifth of male high school counselors judged Beliefs 3 and 9 to be desirable.

Field of study: Psychology
Performance modeling and analysis of load balancing policies with priority queueing

In this article, we study an adaptive load-balancing algorithm in the homogeneous distributed systems in which only local status information is used. The parameters affecting the performance of the load-balancing algorithm are investigated. To analyze the effects of service disciplines on load balancing, we study two classes of service disciplines, impartial discipline and partial discipline. In impartial discipline, all tasks in the system are treated alike. Partial disciplines divide tasks into two classes, local tasks and remote tasks, and then assign different priorities to them. Five partial disciplines with different priority assignment rules are compared. The numerical results are presented and used to shed light on the characteristics of the load-balancing process.

Field of study: Computer science, Engineering
Pollen and non-pollen palynomorph analyses of Upper Holocene sediments from Dianshan, Yangtze coastal lowlands, China: Hydrology, vegetation history and human activity

The coastal deltaic plain of the Yangtze River between Taihu (Lake Tai) and Shanghai in eastern China has been the scene of human settlement and agriculture since the early Neolithic, becoming increasingly intensive in the Upper Holocene when delta accretion and the establishment of a stable hydrological regime of freshwater lakes and wetlands allowed the development of extensive agriculture and complex society in late prehistoric and dynastic times. During this period the area was significantly affected by changes in sea level, climate and vegetation, resulting in a dynamic and complex environmental history, however little research has concentrated on environmental change and human impacts during the last few millennia. This study focuses on this late period, presenting the results of integrated sedimentary, microfossil and radiocarbon analyses from a core near the eastern margin of Lake Dianshan, to the east of Taihu. After the withdrawal of intertidal conditions and the conversion to freshwater lake at the core site about 2600 cal. yr BP, pollen and algal spore data show that increased sedimentation gradually reduced freshwater depth until a surface peat formed ca. 1500 cal. yr BP. This also dates the start of a switch in woodlands from sub-tropical and warm temperate trees to a mainly cool temperate and coniferous tree flora, under climatic cooling and human impact. After this time water depths at the site increased greatly, partly due to climate change and flooding, but also because of the establishment of deepwater ‘paddy’ agriculture. Microcharcoal and pollen data show that a major episode of human impact using fire, with deforestation and rice cultivation, occurred between ca. 1500 and 1200 cal. yr BP. These dates suggest it is one of the latest examples of ‘flooded-field’ ‘paddy’ cultivation before more intensive agricultural techniques were adopted in the area after ca. 800 cal. yr BP.

Field of study: Environmental science, Geography
Three-dimensional laminar boundary layers with large cross-flow

The paper is concerned with the detailed formulation and evaluation of a previously proposed physical model and method of analysis for three-dimensional hypersonic laminar boundary layers. In this approach, the boundary layer is subdivided into two (inner and outer) regions characterized by widely different momentum fluxes per unit area. The subdivision leads to considerable simplifications in the statements of the inner and outer equations and in the determination of the associated solutions. An over-all description of the flow is obtained by matching the two solutions. The heuristic model and method of analysis are corroborated by comparing their predictions with those of "exact" numerical solutions of the complete boundary-layer equations. The family of self-preserving flows near a plane of symmetry is used as test problem. The two-layer model yields closed-form results for velocity and enthalpy profiles as well as for skin friction and wall heat transfer, in good agreement with the exact predictions. The application of the model to general three-dimensional flows is discussed in the context of this comparison and of the salient features of the analysis; interalia, the extension to moderate Mach number flows is indicated.

Field of study: Physics
SYNTHESES OF 4-ALKYLINDOLES FROM 2-METHYL-5-NITROISOQUINOLINIUM IODIDE

4-[N-Acetyl-N-methyl]aminomethylindole was prepared economically on a large scale from 2-methyl-5-nitroisoquinolinium iodide. Subsequent alkaline hydrolysis afforded 4-methyiaminomethylindole. Starting from these two compounds, various 3,4-di- and 4-substituted indoles were prepared including 4-formylindole, 4-[N,N-disubstituted]aminomethylindoles, 4-alkylindoles, and benz[cd]indoles. A novel nucleophilic substitution reaction of gramine derivatives by the catalysis of tri-n-butylphosphine was also reported.

Field of study: Chemistry