nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
A functional model for monitoring equity and effectiveness in purchasing health insurance premiums for the poor: evidence from Cambodia and the Lao PDR.

To assess the impact on equity and effectiveness of introducing targeted subsidies for the poor into existing voluntary health insurance schemes in Low Income Countries with special reference to cross-subsidisation.



A functional model was constructed using routine collected financial data to analyse changes in financial flows and resulting shifts in cross-subsidization between poor and non-poor. Data were collected from two sites, in Cambodia at Kampot operational health district and in the Lao People's Democratic Republic at Nambak district.



Six key variables were identified as determining the financial flows between the subsidy and the insurance schemes and with health providers: population coverage, premium rate, facility contact rate, capitation rate, cost of treatment and changes in administration costs. Negative cross-subsidization was revealed where capitation was used as the payment mechanism and where utilisation rates of the poor were significantly below the non-poor. The same level of access for the poor could have been achieved with a lower Health Equity Fund subsidy if used as a direct reimbursement of user charges by the Health Equity Fund to the provider rather than through the Community Based Health Insurance scheme.



Purchasing premiums for the poor under these conditions is more costly than direct reimbursement to the provider for the same level of service delivery. Negative cross-subsidization is a serious risk that must be managed appropriately and the benefits of a larger risk pool (cross-subsidization of the poor) are not evident. Benefits from combined coverage may accrue in the longer term with an expanded base of voluntary payers or when those with subsidized premiums are lifted out of poverty.

Field of study: Medicine, Political science
Sol–Gel Synthesis of Silica-Based Materials with Different Percentages of PEG or PCL and High Chlorogenic Acid Content

Implanted biomedical devices can induce adverse responses in the human body, which can cause failure of the implant—referred to as implant failure. Early implant failure is induced numerous factors, most importantly, infection and inflammation. Natural products are, today, one of the main sources of new drug molecules due to the development of pathogenic bacterial strains that possess resistance to more antibiotics used currently in various diseases. The aim of this work is the sol–gel synthesis of antibacterial biomedical implants. In the silica matrix, different percentages (6, 12, 24, 50 wt %) of polyethylene glycol (PEG) or poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) were embedded. Subsequently, the ethanol solutions with high amounts of chlorogenic acid (CGA 20 wt %) were slowly added to SiO2/PEG and SiO2/PCL sol. The interactions among different organic and inorganic phases in the hybrid materials was studied by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Furthermore, the materials were soaked in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 21 days and the formation of a hydroxyapatite layer on their surface was evaluated by FTIR and XRD analysis. Finally, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were incubated with several hybrids, and the diameter of zone of inhibition was observed to assessment the potential antibacterial properties of the hybrids.

Field of study: Materials science
Detection of the Low Energy Recoil 3He in the Reaction 2H(8He,3He)7H

Investigation of the 7 H-system in the experiment conducted at the fragment separator ACCULINNA-2 in the 8 He( 2 H, 3 He) 7 H reaction requires to detect the recoil 3 He ions with energy down to 6 MeV. For this purpose two $$\Delta E{\text{—}}E$$ particle telescopes are used, with each telescope having in front a thin (20-μm) Si strip detector ( $$\Delta E{\text{—}}SSD$$ ). The maps of thickness heterogeneity of the thin detectors were determined by measuring the energy losses of the 226 Ra α-particles. The adopted thickness normalization method provides a good identification of the 3 He nuclei being recorded in the presence of a high 4 He background. Two approaches were used for calculating the energy losses of the identified 3 He and 4 He reaction ejectiles and reconstructing their energy values available at the exit from the deuterium target. The developed techniques were applied for the 7 H missing-mass reconstruction.

Field of study: Physics
Performance comparison of four compact room-temperature detectors-two cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) semiconductor detectors, a LaCl/sub 3/(Ce) scintillator, and an NaI(Tl) scintillator

The performance characteristics of four compact, room-temperature detectors-two scintillators and two semiconductor detectors-were studied. All are commercially available detectors. The two scintillators were a o13 mm/spl times/13 mm lanthanum chloride [LaCl/sub 3/(Ce)] detector and a o25 mm/spl times/25 mm sodium iodide [NaI(Tl)] detector. The two semiconductor detectors were a 10/spl times/10/spl times/3 mm/sup 3/ cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector with a coplanar gridded anode and a 5/spl times/5/spl times/5 mm/sup 3/ CZT detector with an extended cathode. The efficiency, resolution, and peak shape of these devices are compared. Since LaCl/sub 3/(Ce) is a relatively new commercial scintillator material, additional information on the performance of this detector is presented. Specifically, the impact of naturally occurring radioactive /sup 138/La and additional contamination from alpha-emitting radionuclides on the background measured with this detector are discussed.

Field of study: Physics
The lean gap: A review of lean approaches to large-scale software systems development

Lean approaches to product development (LPD) have had a strong influence on many industries and in recent years there have been many proponents for lean in software development as it can support the increasing industry need of scaling agile software development. With it's roots in industrial manufacturing and, later, industrial product development, it would seem natural that LPD would adapt well to large-scale development projects of increasingly software-intensive products, such as in the automotive industry. However, it is not clear what kind of experience and results have been reported on the actual use of lean principles and practices in software development for such large-scale industrial contexts. This was the motivation for this study as the context was an ongoing industry process improvement project at Volvo Car Corporation and Volvo Truck Corporation. The objectives of this study are to identify and classify state of the art in large-scale software development influenced by LPD approaches and use this established knowledge to support industrial partners in decisions on a software process improvement (SPI) project, and to reveal research gaps and proposed extensions to LPD in relation to its well-known principles and practices. For locating relevant state of the art we conducted a systematic mapping study, and the industrial applicability and relevance of results and said extensions to LPD were further analyzed in the context of an actual, industrial case. A total of 10,230 papers were found in database searches, of which 38 papers were found relevant. Of these, only 42 percent clearly addressed large-scale development. Furthermore, a majority of papers (76 percent) were non-empirical and many lacked information about study design, context and/or limitations. Most of the identified results focused on eliminating waste and creating flow in the software development process, but there was a lack of results for other LPD principles and practices. Overall, it can be concluded that research in the much hyped field of lean software development is in its nascent state when it comes to large scale development. There is very little support available for practitioners who want to apply lean approaches for improving large-scale software development, especially when it comes to inter-departmental interactions during development. This paper explicitly maps the area, qualifies available research, and identifies gaps, as well as suggests extensions to lean principles relevant for large scale development of software intensive systems.

Field of study: Computer science, Engineering
Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic evidence for developing an oral formulation of octreotide against gastric mucosal injury

Among the somatostatin analogues, octreotide (OCT) is the most commonly used in clinic via intravenous or subcutaneous injection to treat various diseases caused by increased secretion of growth hormone, gastrin or insulin. In order to assesse the feasibility of developing oral formulations of OCT, we conducted systematical pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analyses of OCT in several animal models. The pharmacokinetic studies in rats showed that intragastric administration of OCT had extremely low bioavailability (<0.5%), but it could specifically distribute to the gastric mucosa due to the high expression of somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) in the rat stomach. The pharmacodynamic studies revealed that intragastric administration of OCT dose-dependently protected against gastric mucosal injury (GMI) in mice with WIRS-induced mouse gastric ulcers, which were comparable to those achieved by intravenous injection of OCT, and this effect was markedly attenuated by co-administration of CYN-154806, an antagonist of SSTR2. In pyloric ligation-induced ulcer mice, we further demonstrated that OCT significantly reduced the secretion of gastric acid via down-regulating the level of gastrin, which was responsible for the protective effect of OCT against GMI. Overall, we have provided pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic evidence for the feasibility of developing an oral formulation of OCT. Most importantly, the influence of SSTR2 on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of OCT suggested that an oral formulation of OCT might be applicable for other clinical indications, including neuroendocrine neoplasms and pituitary adenoma due to the overexpression of SSTR2 on these tumor cells.

Field of study: Biology, Chemistry, Medicine
Symbolische Interaktion in der Residenzstadt des Spätmittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit. Gerrit Deutschländer, Marc von der Höh, and Andreas Ranft, eds. Hallische Beiträge zur Geschichte des Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit 9. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2013. 296 pp. €97.80.


Field of study: History
Adolescent varicocele: Efficacy of indication-to-treat protocol and proposal of a grading system for postoperative hydroceles.

Varicocele is a common urologic anomaly in adolescent males; however, evidence-based treatment guidelines do not exist. Hydroceles are known to be a common complication after surgical therapy, with a wide variation in the reported incidence between 1 and 40%.



This study aimed to introduce a standardized indication-to-treat protocol and prove its efficacy by analyzing the outcome of patients. Secondly, it aimed to better define postoperative hydroceles because the wide variation of reported incidence is attributed to a lack of definition.



Our standardized treatment protocol included an initial assessment with clinical grading of varicoceles, ultrasound evaluation of testicular volume, and calculation of the atrophy index. Indications for surgical treatment were testicular volume asymmetry >20%, discomfort and pain, or bilateral varicocele. The Palomo procedure (laparoscopically since 2005) was the standard procedure. Postoperative hydroceles were graded according to clinical findings and symptoms: Grade I, sonographic chance finding without clinical correlate; Grade II, palpable but clinically insignificant; Grade III, symptomatic. All patients treated according to the defined protocol were prospectively monitored between January 2001 and December 2015.



A total of 129 patients with left varicocele were referred to our institution; 70 fulfilled the indication criteria for surgical treatment. Twenty-eight of these patients were treated for volume asymmetry, 26 of these showed catch-up growth. Forty-two patients were treated for discomfort and pain; the symptoms subsided in all of them. Postoperative hydroceles were detected in 36 patients (51%). In 29 patients this was a sonographic chance finding (Grade I). Three patients showed a palpable but clinically insignificant postoperative hydrocele (Grade II) and four patients (5.7%) showed symptomatic hydrocele (Grade III) where treatment was recommended.



The treatment protocol allowed judicious indication for surgery and postoperative outcomes similar to previous reports. The high rate of catch-up growth in operated cases represents a proxy for successful treatment in cases where more precise parameters, like semen quality or paternity rate, were not yet detectable. The introduced grading system for postoperative hydroceles provs to be a valid and appropriate instrument, and promises to be a standardized method for comparing outcomes in future studies.



The indication-to-treat protocol proved to be easily applicable, highly efficient, and have outcomes comparable to international literature. The necessity for a standardized grading of postoperative hydroceles was underscored in the data.

Field of study: Medicine
Bounds on Conditional Moments of Weibull and other Monotone Failure Rate Families

Bounds are obtained for conditional moments of random variables X, such as E(X|X > a), and of order statistics from members of monotone failure rate families of distributions. Numerical bounds for Weibull and other families are calculated and compared. Results classifying some functions of random variables as having monotone failure rate distributions are obtained, as are characterizations of absolutely continuous distributions with cdf's of the form 1 – exp[–H(x)], x > 0.

Field of study: Mathematics
Polymorphism of Helicobacter pylori′s cagA gene and EPIYA motifs in Changchun area of China

To investigate the distribution of cytotoxin-associated gene A (cagA) of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) and the polymorphism of EPIYA motifs in patients with upper gastrointestinal diseases in Changchun area of China and to evaluate the association between EPYIA motifs patterns and gastrointestinal diseases. 
 
 
 
Hp strains were isolated from clinical samples. Their cagA gene was analyzed by PCR and sequencing analysis. Nucleotide sequence of cagA gene was translated into amino acid sequence by using DNAMAN software, and then the amino acid sequence was imported into software MEGA6.0 for multiple comparisons and construction of a phylogenetic tree. 
 
 
 
A total of 60 Hp strains were isolated and identified from gastric mucosa specimens collected from 298 patients. Hp infection was not correlated with patient′s age or sex (P>0.05). The isolation rate of Hp in peptic ulcer disease (PUD) group was higher than that in non-peptic ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) group (P<0.05). Of the 60 Hp strains, 90% (54/60) carried cagA gene. Twenty-three out of 26 successfully sequenced strains (88.4%) were East Asian-type including 22 containing EPIYA-ABD motif and one containing EPIYA-ABBD motif. The other three strains (11.6%) were Western type including two carrying EPIYA-ABC motif and one carrying EPIYA-BC motif. Results of the phylogenetic tree showed that the sequences of cagA gene were clustered into two groups, East Asian-type and Western-type groups. East Asian-type strains caused no disease cluster of statistical significance. All Western-type Hp strains were isolated from patients with peptic ulcer disease (PUD). Four mutant Hp strains were detected in the PUD group and the amino acid mutations preferentially occurred in the EPIYA-B segment. 
 
 
 
The positive rate of Hp cagA gene is 90% in this region. Its distribution is not related to the type of gastrointestinal diseases. EPIYA-ABD (84.6%, 22/26) is the predominant EPIYA motif. The amino acid mutation of EPIYA-B segment is closely related to peptic ulcer disease. Neither significant change in the sequence of 3′ region of Hp cagA gene nor regional difference is observed in those Hp strains circulating in Changchun area of China. 
 
 
 
Helicobacter pylori; Virulence gene cagA; EPYIA motif

Field of study: Biology
Synthesis of Mesoporous Zn1−xMxAl2O4 Substituted by Co2+ and Ni2+ Ions and Application in the Photodegradation of Rhodamine B

A new mesoporous Zn1-xMxAl2O4 photocatalyst was prepared using the metal-chitosan complexation method with different degrees of Zn2+ cation substitution with cobalt and nickel ions (M = Co2+ and Ni2+). Characterization using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Infrared absorption spectrometry (FTIR), energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS), diffuse reflectance spectrometry (DRS), scanning electron miscoscopy (SEM), transmission electron miscroscopy (TEM), N2 adsorption- desorption isotherms using the Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) method, thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) confirmed the formation of the spinel phase and high purity for all samples. N2 adsorption/desorption and size pore distribution confirmed the high surface area. The photocatalytic activity of Zn1-xMxAl2O4 and the effect of replacing Zn2+ ions with Ni2+ and Co2+ on the degradation of rhodamine B under ultraviolet light were studied in detail. The sample containing 0.1 mol of cobalt had the highest removal rate reaching 83%, favored by surface area and material bandgap (109 m2 g−1 and 2.19 eV, respectively).

Field of study: Materials science
Intron Retention as a Mode for RNA-Seq Data Analysis

Intron retention (IR) is an alternative splicing mode whereby introns, rather than being spliced out as usual, are retained in mature mRNAs. It was previously considered a consequence of mis-splicing and received very limited attention. Only recently has IR become of interest for transcriptomic data analysis owing to its recognized roles in gene expression regulation and associations with complex diseases. In this article, we first review the function of IR in regulating gene expression in a number of biological processes, such as neuron differentiation and activation of CD4+ T cells. Next, we briefly review its association with diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and cancers. Then, we describe state-of-the-art methods for IR detection, including RNA-seq analysis tools IRFinder and iREAD, highlighting their underlying principles and discussing their advantages and limitations. Finally, we discuss the challenges for IR detection and potential ways in which IR detection methods could be improved.

Field of study: Biology
SU-E-J-209: Geometric Distortion at 3T in a Commercial 4D MRI-Compatible Phantom

There are very few commercial 4D phantoms that are marketed as MRI compatible. We are evaluating one such commercial phantom, made to be used with an MRI-Linear accelerator. The focus of this work is to characterize the geometric distortions produced in this phantom at 3T using 3 clinical MR pulse sequences.  The CIRS MRI-Linac Dynamic Phantom (CIRSTM) under investigation in this study consists of a softwaredriven moving tumour volume within a thorax phantom body and enables dose accumulation by placing a dosimeter within the tumour volume. Our initial investigation is to evaluate the phantom in static mode prior to examining its 4D capability. The water-filled thorax phantom was scanned using a wide-bore Philips 3T Achieva MRI scanner employing a Thoracic xl coil and clinical 2D T1W FFE, 2D T1W TSE and 3D T1W TFE pulse sequences. Each of the MR image sets was rigidly fused with a reference CT image of the phantom employing a rigid registration with 6 degrees of freedom. Geometric distortions between the MR and CT image sets were measured in 3 dimensions at selected points along the periphery of the distortion grid embedded within the phantom body (11.5, 7.5 and 3 cm laterally, ant/postmore » and sup/inf of magnetic isocenter respectively).  The maximal measured geometric distortions between the MR and reference CT points of interest were 0.9, 1.8 and 1.3 mm in the lateral, anteriorposterior and cranio-caudal directions, respectively. For all 3 spatial dimensions, the maximal distortions occurred for the FFE pulse sequence. Maximal distortions for the 2D FFE, 2D TSE and 3D TFE sequences were 1, 0.7 and 1.8 mm, respectively.  Our initial static investigation of this phantom shows minimal geometric distortions at 3T along the periphery of the embedded grid. CIRS has provided us with a phantom at no charge for evaluation at 3 Tesla.« less

Field of study: Medicine, Physics
Spiritual Currency in Northeast Brazil by Lindsey King (review)

For those fascinated by miraculous cures within the Catholic tradition, the pilgrimage sites that celebrate them, and the pilgrims who come there to testify to their miraculous experiences, this book will provide a very satisfying read. Lindsay King, an anthropologist with training as a folklorist, spent 15 years observing activities and interviewing pilgrims at the shrine of São Francisco das Chagas (St. Francis of the Wounds) in Canindé, a pilgrimage site in the impoverished rural backlands of the state of Ceara ́ in Northeast Brazil. She focuses on the votive offerings or ex-votos (known in Portuguese as milagres), artifacts brought by pilgrims as thanks for their miraculous cures. Drawing on Appadurai’s formulation of “the social life of things,” she uses these objects of material culture as a focal point for exploring the pilgrims’ stories, the sources of their ill health and suffering, the underlying belief system that supports their practices, and the aesthetics of this folk art.

Field of study: History
Nano CuO Catalyzed Cross Dehydrogenative Coupling (CDC) of Aldehydes to Anhydrides

An elegant synthesis of carboxylic acid anhydrides has been developed directly from arylaldehydes using CuO nanoparticles as the catalyst and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as the oxidant. During anhydride formation the reaction proceeds through a double sp2 C–H functionalization of aldehydes to generate two consecutive C–O bonds.

Field of study: Chemistry
Indium doping of HgCdTe grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition-direct alloy growth using triisopropylindium and diisopropyltellurium triisopropylindium adduct

A new indium source, triisopropylindium, was used to dope HgCdTe layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition n-type with carrier concentrations, nH, in the range between low 1015 and low 1017 cm−3 at 77K. The reproducibility of carrier concentration was found to be excellent for nH<3×1015 cm−3. High electron mobilities and minority carrier lifetime comparable to published values indicate that indium doping produces high quality n-type HgCdTe material. State-of the-art photodiodes were obtained by growing a p-type HgCdTe layer by liquid phase epitaxy on an indium doped layer. In addition, and adduct compound formed between diisopropyltellurium (DIPTe) and triisopropylindium (TIPIn): DIPTe·InTIP, was also found to be a viable n-type dopant for HgCdTe especially at concentrations in the low 1015 cm−3 or less.

Field of study: Materials science
The metabolic fate of N-isopropyl-N-phenyloxamic acid in the rat and the milk goat.

Rats excreted the 14C from a single oral dose of N-isopropyl-N-[14C]phenyloxamic acid [I, a soil metabolite from 2-chloro-N-isopropylacetanilide (propachlor)] in approximately equal quantities in the urine (49.2%) and feces (48.2%). A milking goat given daily oral doses of [14C]-I (1 mg of I three times daily) excreted more 14C in the feces (56.6%) than it excreted in the urine. From both species, I accounted for 97 to 100% of the urinary 14C, and all of the 14C that was extractable from the feces (73 to 75% of the 14C in feces was extractable with methanol). Goat milk samples collected 16 hr after the last dose contained no detectable 14C. Tissue residues of 14C were determined.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences