nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Item Statistics of Physics Achievement Test using Classical Test and Item Response Theory Frameworks

In this study, the author examined the comparability of item statistics generated from the frameworks of classical test theory (CTT) and 2-parameter model of item response theory (IRT). A 60-item Physics Achievement Test was developed and administered to 724 senior secondary school two students (Age 16-18 years), who were randomly selected from 16 senior secondary schools in Ibadan Educational Zone I, Oyo State, Nigeria. Results showed that item statistics obtained from both frameworks were quite comparable. However, item statistics obtained from IRT 2-parameter model appeared more stable than those from CTT. Moreover for item selection process, IRT 2-parameter model led to deletion of fewer items than CTT model. This result implies that test developers and public examining bodies should integrate IRT model into their test development processes. Through IRT model, test constructors would be able to generate more reliable items than in the CTT model being currently used and ultimately the test scores of examinees will be more reliably estimated.  Item statistics; Item analysis; Item response theory; Classical test theory; Physics Achievement Test.

Field of study: Education
Properties of isospin asymmetric matter derived from chiral effective field theory.

We present and discuss properties of isospin asymmetric matter whose equation of state is derived from recent high-quality chiral nucleon-nucleon potentials and chiral effective three-nucleon forces. After a brief review of the chiral few-nucleon forces which we adopt, we concentrate on the symmetry energy and its density derivatives. We also explore the correlation between the symmetry energy at saturation density and its slope parameter, L. We estimate the truncation error across three orders of the chiral expansion for both the symmetry energy as a function of density and the slope parameter. Through an energy-density functional inspired by the liquid drop model, we establish a simple connection to finite nuclei. Specifically, we address the symmetry energy coefficient, the so-called reference (or equivalent) density, as well as the neutron skin thickness for 208Pb and 48Ca.

Field of study: Physics
Serum antibody response and nasal lymphoid tissue (NALT) structure in the absence of IL-4 or IFN-gamma.

Immunization via the nasal route is effective for inducing not only mucosal immunity but also antibody (Ab) response in serum. Nasal lymphoid tissue (NALT) is important for induction of systemic immunity. It remains controversial which T effector cell response is important for serum Ab response after nasal immunization. We investigated serum Ab responses and NALT structures in interleukin (IL)-4 gene targeted (IL-4(-/-)) and interferon (IFN)-gamma gene targeted (IFN-gamma(-/-)) mice. Mice were immunized via nostrils with ovalbumin (OVA) and cholera toxin as adjuvant and serum Ab titers were measured 1 week after final antigen challenge. OVA-specific IgG titers in sera of IL-4(-/-) mice indicated a Th(1) type response, whereas titers in IFN-gamma(-/-) mice and wild-type mice indicated a Th(2) type response. Enhanced serum Ab responses were observed in IL-4(-/-) mice but not IFN-gamma(-/-) mice. OVA-specific Ab-forming cells were detected in the cervical draining lymph nodes but were rare or absent in and around the NALT of all strains of mice. Numbers of OVA-specific Ab-forming cells in cervical lymph nodes were significantly higher in IL-4(-/-) mice than in wild-type and IFN-gamma(-/-) mice. Germinal centers of lymphoid follicles were present in NALT of IL-4(-/-) and other mice. Immunohistochemistry for B and T cell markers revealed that NALT of all mice had approximately the same cellular compositions. Although the absence of IL-4 had no effect on NALT structure, IL-4 may suppress induction of serum Ab responses by nasal immunization.

Field of study: Medicine
FGFR4 Links Glucose Metabolism and Chemotherapy Resistance in Breast Cancer

Poor response to chemotherapy leads to the relapse and metastatic progression of tumors. Reprogrammed glucose metabolism is one of the important hallmarks of cancer that facilitates cancer cell survival, proliferation and chemoresistance. However, the precise fate of glucose metabolism and its role in therapy responsiveness in cancers remains largely unexplored.  The glycolytic phenotype of doxorubicin (ADR)-resistant breast cancer cells and their parental cells was assessed by measuring glucose uptake, lactate release, and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR). Protein expression was detected by Western blotting analysis and mRNA expression was detected using q-PCR. Cell survival ratio was determined by the cell counting kit 8 assay. The role of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) in glycolysis, chemoresistance, and the underlying mechanisms were studied by using gene expression microarray and short hairpin RNA-mediated gene knockdown.  We found that glycolytic flux are increased in two doxorubicin (ADR)-resistant breast cancer cell lines compared with their parental wild type cells, as demonstrated by increased glucose uptake, lactate release, and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR). By gene expression microarray, we identified FGFR4 as a critical modulator of ADR resistance and enhanced glucose metabolism. Genetic silencing of FGFR4 increased the chemosensitivity and suppressed the enhanced glycolytic flux in ADR-resistant cells. Mechanistically, activation of FGFR4 signaling in ADR-resistant cells led to the phosphorylation of FGF receptor substrate 2 (FRS2) and further activated the downstream MAPK/ERK signaling. Pharmacological inhibition of FGFR4-FRS2-ERK signaling pathway significantly blocked the chemoresistant and glycolytic phenotypes of ADR-resistant cells.  Our findings suggest that high levels of FGFR4 can increase glucose metabolism and lead to chemoresistance in breast cancer and reveal the mechanistic basis for targeting FGFR4 as a therapeutic opportunity for chemoresistant tumors.

Field of study: Biology, Chemistry
Investigation of a High-Mach-Number Overexpanded Jet Using Large-Eddy Simulation

a n = relative contribution of azimuthal modes n c = local sound speed c1 = ambient field sound speed f = frequency fc = cutoff frequency fshock = central frequency of the broadband shockassociated noise fup = frequency of the upstream-propagating shockassociated noise LVS = first shock length from vortex sheet, 2 M j 1 rj= 1, 1 2:40483 L1 = first shock length measured on the jet axis Ma = acoustic Mach number Mc = convection Mach number Me = exit Mach number Mj = equivalent fully expanded exit Mach number, uj=c1 n = azimuthal mode pe = exit static pressure pj = equivalent fully expanded exit static pressure p0 = fluctuating static pressure hpi = mean static pressure Re = Reynolds number based on exit conditions re = nozzle radius rj = equivalent fully expanded nozzle radius Stc = cutoff Strouhal number Ste = Strouhal number based on exit conditions Stup = Strouhal number of the upstream-propagating shock-associated noise Te = exit temperature uaxis = centerline mean axial velocity uc = convection velocity ue = exit velocity uj = equivalent fully expanded exit velocity huzi = mean axial velocity hu02 z i = mean-square axial velocity fluctuations hu02 z in = mean-square axial velocity fluctuations due to mode n juz j Ste; n = two-dimensional power spectral densities z1 = first shock location on the jet axis = specific heat ratio r = mesh size in the radial direction z = mesh size in the axial direction = boundary-layer thickness in the pipe nozzle

Field of study: Physics
Drug discrimination: stimulus control during repeated testing in extinction.

Rats were trained, under a two-lever drug-discrimination procedure, to respond differentially depending upon whether lorazepam (1.0 mg/kg) or no injection had been administered before the session. Responses on the appropriate lever produced a food pellet under a modified fixed-ratio (FR) 10 schedule, in which the 10 responses had to be emitted consecutively. In reinforcement tests, completing an FR 10 on either lever produced a pellet. In extinction tests, stimulus changes paired with reinforcement occurred but no pellet was delivered. Training sessions were conducted between test sessions. Each of four extinction phases consisted of six tests preceded by one stimulus (e.g., lorazepam). Repeated exposures to extinction reduced response rates for all rats, but stimulus control, as inferred from either percentage of total responses or percentage of total FR 10s on the drug-appropriate lever, remained high. The percentage of total FR 10s measure was less subject to skewing under low-rate conditions than was the percentage of total responses measure and provided an evaluation of stimulus control in terms of meeting the consecutive response contingency. These results demonstrate a level of independence between response rate and stimulus control in drug discrimination, which has positive implications for the validity of interpreting discriminative effects of novel test conditions in well-trained animals, even when overall response rates are low.

Field of study: Biology, Psychology
Treatment of progressive or recurrent pediatric malignant supratentorial brain tumors with herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene vector-producer cells followed by intravenous ganciclovir administration.

OBJECT
The outcome for children with recurrent malignant brain tumors is poor. The majority of patients die of progressive disease within months of relapse, and other therapeutic options are needed. The goal of this Phase I study was to evaluate the safety of in vivo suicide gene therapy in 12 children with recurrent, malignant, supratentorial brain tumors.



After optimal repeated tumor resection, multiple injections of murine vector-producing cells shedding murine replication-defective retroviral vectors coding the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase type 1 (HSV-Tk1) gene were made into the rim of the resection cavity. Fourteen days after the vector-producing cells were injected, ganciclovir was administered for 14 days. The retroviral vector that was used only integrated and expressed HSV-Tk1 in proliferating cells, which are killed after a series of metabolic events lead to cell death. The median age of the patients was 11 years (range 2-15 years). Treated brain tumors included seven malignant gliomas, two ependyminomas, and three primitive neuroectodermal tumors. The patients were treated with one of three escalating dose concentrations of vector-producer cells. Four transient central nervous system adverse effects were considered possibly related to the vector-producing cells. In no child did permanent neurological worsening or ventricular irritation develop, and tests for replication-competent retroviruses yielded negative findings.



This Phase I study demonstrates that in vivo gene therapy in which a replication-defective retroviral vector in murine vector-producing cells is delivered by brain injections can be performed with satisfactory safety in a select group of children with localized supratentorial brain tumors.

Field of study: Medicine
Texture Synthesis Based on Structural Information

A simple and efficient algorithm of the texture synthesis based on structural information was presented. Existing texture synthesis algorithm, color difference between the corresponding pixels of the two texture patch is only considered, However, the most similar texture patch with the result patch was not found from the sample texture image, resulting in unsatisfactory results. The novel algorithm considered the color difference and the structural information. In addition, the structural similarity is viewed as the important measure. The method produce a new feature mapping based on structural information to improve the extent of the continuity, and get satisfactory results.

Field of study: Computer science
Social, geomorphic, and climatic factors driving U.S. coastal city vulnerability to storm surge flooding

Coastal cities are increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters because of climate change. For many, this includes storm surge flooding fueled by tropical storms and hurricanes. A complex mesh of social, geomorphic, and climatic factors are driving this increase in vulnerability, such as population growth, irresponsible urban development, a decrease in essential service provision, shoreline erosion, sea level rise, and changing storm regimes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the interrelationships between these factors, highlighting the many ways in which they contribute to somewhat unexpected vulnerabilities for coastal settlements. This includes a discussion and several examples of how short-term strategic planning, which dominates political action and economic decision-making, can exacerbate coastal vulnerability.

Field of study: Environmental science
Comparison between cultural quality education and general education

In nature,education is a cultural undertaking.And the cultural quality education undertaken in China embodies this trait.We have analyzed the basic traits of cultural quality education in higher education institutes in China and the history and nature of general education and compared these two schools of education.Our analysis and comparison reveals that general eduation is an innovation accomodated to American higher education while cultural quality eduation is such one in China.Although we should attach importance to and lear from general education while undertaking cultural quality education,we should realize that cultural quality education is an important component of quality education in China's colleges and universities.In comparison with general education,cultural quality education is more round,richer,and enjoys more profound insights,so it fits the development of China's highr education better.

Field of study: Education
Discretionary Subjects: Decision and Participation in William Gibson’s Fiction

This comparison of protagonists in William Gibson’s “Johnny Mnemonic” and Pattern Recognition tests whether plot-driven fiction can produce only one type of literary subjectivity, or whether the subject can be successfully reimagined without abandoning the familiar narrative form. Contextualizing Gibson’s fiction with Alan Turing’s work on mathematical decidability, this essay explores the possibility of affecting radical change in understandings of identity while still appealing to a typical audience. Negotiating between the anti-sentimental modernist critique of personality and the democratic reach of conventional realism, Gibson’s work culls out a positive direction for thought about the potential of posthuman ethics.

Field of study: Art
[The social "losses" of aging in relation to the problem of decompensation-compensation and the prevention of mental disorders in old age].

320 aged patients with psychogenic onset of mental disorders were examined. The authors analysed the different social stress-factors which induced psychic decompensation. On the basis of these data the proposal is made concerning the changes of gerontopsychiatric, psychologic and social services in the direction of widening outpatient clinics (in the form of the special consulting rooms in the psychiatric and general polyclinics).

Field of study: Medicine, Psychology
Reduced basis technique for collapse analysis of shells

A hybrid finite-element Rayleigh-Ritz technique is used to predict the collapse behavior of shells. In this hybrid technique, the modeling versatility of the finite-element method is preserved, and a significant reduction in the number of degrees of freedom is achieved by expressing the nodal displacement vector as a linear combination of a small number of basis vectors. A Rayleigh-Ritz technique is used to approximate the finite-element equations of the discretized shell by a reduced system of nonlinear algebraic equations. A scalar function is introduced to measure the degree of nonlinearity of the structure for the case of loading applied by means of axial end shortening. Also, a quantitative measure for the error of the reduced system of equations is proposed. Some insight is given as to why and when the reduced basis technique works, and the effectiveness of the technique for predicting the collapse behavior of shells is demonstrated by means of a numerical example of elastic collapse of an axially compressed pear-shaped cylinder.

Field of study: Physics
When Communications Collide with Recipients' Actions: Effects of Post-Message Behavior on Intentions to Follow the Message Recommendation

Two experiments investigated the processes through which post-message behavior (e.g., noncompliance) influences resistance to the message. Participants in Experiment 1 read preventive, consumer-education messages that either opposed the consumption of an alcohol-like product or recommended moderation. Half of the participants then tried the product, whereas the remaining participants performed a filler task. In the absence of trial, the two messages had the same effect. However, recipients of the abstinence-promoting preventive message who tried the product had stronger intentions to use the product in the future than recipients of the moderation message. This finding suggests that assessments of message impact may be inadequate unless an opportunity for trial is also provided. Results are interpreted in terms of self-perception and cognitive dissonance and contrasted from psychological reactance.

Field of study: Psychology
“Bottom-up management approach to coastal marine protected areas in Portugal”

The classification and management of coastal marine protected areas is traditionally implemented without a strong public participation process in its early stage, resulting in conflicts. A bottom-up approach with public participation before defining regulations is an innovative, yet difficult process. The case study presented is a local experience of Avencas Biophysical Interest Zone in Cascais, Portugal. The objective of this paper is to evaluate a new approach, to assess the success of the management action applied in terms of the short-term response from users of the costal marine protected area. Public participation assemblies were conducted to welcome input from the fishing community regarding the new regulation; visual census and interviews directed at different users, were used to assess the short-term effectiveness of the implemented management actions. A new regulation is underway and user management actions have been implemented: visitors' pathways through the rocky platforms and information spots at the entrance to the beach. Positive results point to the success of this approach, as visitors either agreed or respected the various management actions implemented: 84% of them agree with information spots, and 76% agree with the pathways. Recreational fishers are now mostly located outside the protected area, though there are still some who choose to stay inside, which indicates the need to change some points in the regulation, to improve its compliance by the fishing community. The short-term evaluation methodology was effective in detecting changes in usage patterns from users when the bottom-up approach was applied.

Field of study: Environmental science
Reflection coefficients counterpart of Cardan-Viete formulas

Polynomials can be represented by their coefficients or by their zeros. The link between these two representations is the Cardan-Viete formulas that let us express the coefficients as elementary symmetric functions in the zeros. In this paper, as a consequence of Levinson recursion, we present a counterpart to the Cardan-Viete formulas that expresses the polynomial coefficients or the regression vector of an autoregressive filter, when a lattice representation is considered, in terms of its reflection coefficients.

Field of study: Engineering
Analysis of Annular Thermoelectric Couples 
with Nonuniform Temperature Distribution 
by Means of 3-D Multiphysics Simulation

Thermoelectric (TE) modules with annular geometry are very attractive for waste heat recovery within the automotive world, especially when integrated as stacks into tubular heat exchangers. The required temperature difference is built up between the coolant, which flows inside an inner tube, and the exhaust gas, which flows around an outer tube. The flow pattern of the exhaust gas can be axial or circumferential, which can lead to higher heat transfer coefficients on the outer surface of the tube. However, this multidimensional construction in combination with a complex flow pattern can lead to a nonuniform heat flux. Additionally, the system experiences a nonuniform temperature distribution which consequently leads to complex conditions regarding the electrical potential. The relevant effects are investigated using a three-dimensional (3-D) numerical model implemented in the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation environment Star-CCM+. The model supports temperature-dependent characteristics of the materials, contact resistances, and parasitic effects in the TE module. Furthermore, it involves techniques to quickly find the exact maximum power point of the TE module with the given boundary conditions. Using the validated model the influence of the nonuniform temperature distribution is investigated with emphasis on the electrical output and TE efficiency.

Field of study: Materials science
Deoxygenation-Induced Non-Electrolyte Pathway in Red Cells from Sickle Cell Patients

Red cells from patients with sickle cell disease contain HbS rather than the normal HbA (here termed HbS cells). On deoxygenation, HbS cells exhibit a distinctive solute permeability pathway, Psickle, activated stochastically, and partially inhibited by DIDS and dipyridamole. It is often referred to as a cation channel although its permeability characteristics remain vague and its molecular identity is unknown. We show that, in contrast to normal red cells, a proportion of HbS cells underwent haemolysis when deoxygenated in isosmotic non-electrolyte solutions. Haemolysis was stochastic: cells unlysed after an initial deoxygenation pulse showed lysis when harvested, reoxygenated and subsequently exposed to a second period of deoxygenation. O2 dependence of haemolysis was similar to that of Psickle activation. Haemolysis was accompanied by high rates of sucrose influx, and both haemolysis and sucrose influx were inhibited by DIDS and dipyridamole. Sucrose influx was only detected as ionic strength was reduced below 80 mM. These findings are consistent with the postulate that deoxygenation of HbS cells, under certain conditions, activates a novel non-electrolyte pathway. Their significance lies in understanding the nature of the deoxygenation-induced permeability in HbS cells, together with its relationship with novel pathways induced by a variety of manipulations in normal red cells.

Field of study: Biology, Chemistry