nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Causal Interventions for Fairness

Most approaches in algorithmic fairness constrain machine learning methods so the resulting predictions satisfy one of several intuitive notions of fairness. While this may help private companies comply with non-discrimination laws or avoid negative publicity, we believe it is often too little, too late. By the time the training data is collected, individuals in disadvantaged groups have already suffered from discrimination and lost opportunities due to factors out of their control. In the present work we focus instead on interventions such as a new public policy, and in particular, how to maximize their positive effects while improving the fairness of the overall system. We use causal methods to model the effects of interventions, allowing for potential interference--each individual's outcome may depend on who else receives the intervention. We demonstrate this with an example of allocating a budget of teaching resources using a dataset of schools in New York City.

Field of study: Computer science
Confronting the Crisis of the Slave-Based Plantation System in Puerto Rico: Bureaucratic Proposals for Agricultural Modernisation, Diversification and Free Labour, c. 1846–1852

By the late 1820s, Puerto Rico and Cuba had become Spain's only remaining colonies in the Americas and its major source of colonial returns. A decade later, however, the slave-based plantation system in Puerto Rico was beginning to show signs of stagnation due to the convergence of a number of domestic and international forces. In the late 1840s the Iberian colonial bureaucracy initiated a series of proposals to stimulate Puerto Rico's transformation into an agriculturally modern, diversified, free-labour economy. This initiative failed due to an adverse economic environment, administrative confusion and rivalries, and the failure of officials on the island to enlist the support either of local planters or those at the lower levels of society. This paper explores the reasons for this failure in detail.

Field of study: Political science
Dopamine transporter: expression in Xenopus oocytes.

Xenopus oocytes can express biologically relevant transport activity after injection of mRNAs encoding several carrier molecules. mRNA from PC12 cells, as well as transcripts from a rat ventral midbrain library, can be expressed in these oocytes and allow them to display pharmacologically specific dopamine uptake. mRNA-injected oocytes incubated with tritiated dopamine contain tritiated dopamine and metabolites; lower amounts of radiolabeled dopamine and more radiolabeled metabolites are found in oocytes co-incubated with cocaine or in water-injected oocytes. Tritiated dopamine uptake into mRNA-injected oocytes is time, sodium, and temperature dependent. It is blocked by cocaine and mazindol, but not by haloperidol. It is not found after injection of mRNA from other brain regions. A size-selected rat midbrain library constructed in the plasma vector pCDM8 yields mRNA transcripts whose injection into oocytes causes cocaine-blockable [3H]dopamine uptake. These findings provide an assay for purification of the dopamine transporter cDNA by sib selection techniques.

Field of study: Biology
Quantification of uncertainties of water vapour column retrievals using future instruments

This study presents a quantification of uncertainties of total column water vapour retrievals based on simulated near-infrared measurements of upcoming instruments. The concepts of three scheduled spectrometers were taken into account: OLCI (Ocean and Land Color Instrument) on Sentinel-3, METimage on an EPS-SG (EUMETSAT Polar System – Second Generation) satellite and FCI (Flexible Combined Imager) on MTG (Meteosat Third Generation). Optimal estimation theory was used to estimate the error of a hypothetical total water vapour column retrieval for 27 different atmospheric cases. The errors range from 100% in very dry cases to 2% in humid cases with a very high surface albedo. Generally, the absolute uncertainties increase with higher water vapour column content due to H2O-saturation and decrease with a brighter surface albedo. Uncertainties increase with higher aerosol optical thickness, apart from very dark cases. Overall, the METimage channel setting enables the most accurate retrievals. The retrieval using the MTG-FCI build-up has the highest uncertainties apart from very bright cases. On the one hand, a retrieval using two absorption channels increases the accuracy, in some cases by one order of magnitude, in comparison to a retrieval using just one absorption channel. On the other hand, a retrieval using three absorption channels has no significant advantage over a two-absorption channel retrieval. Furthermore, the optimal position of the absorption channels was determined using the concept of the "information content". For a single channel retrieval, a channel at 900 or 915 nm has the highest mean information content over all cases. The second absorption channel is ideally weakly correlated with the first one, and therefore positioned at 935 nm, in a region with stronger water vapour absorption.

Field of study: Environmental science
Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic studies of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase from Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK) is a key enzyme involved in the regulation of gluconeogenesis. PCKs from higher animals require guanosine nucleotide for activity. PCK from Corynebacterium glutamicum is also GTP specific. X-ray diffraction data from a C. glutamicum PCK crystal were collected to 2.8 A resolution. The crystals were monoclinic, belonging to space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 71.7, b = 117.4, c = 161.3 A, beta = 92.9 degrees. The presence of two molecules in the crystallographic asymmetric unit gives a V(M) of 2.5 A(3) Da(-1) and a solvent content of 50.3%.

Field of study: Chemistry
Iraqi Learners’ Problems in Learning Speech Act of Request in EFL Classroom

Presently, the control to master the English language has become prominent in academia, research and commercial attention. Therefore, many non-English speaking countries, including Arab countries such as Iraq, are striving to develop their education systems in teaching pragmatic aspects as speech act of request in classroom, and speech act of request is an essential aspect to boost English communication among Arab learners. Furthermore, in Arab countries as in Iraq, there is a lack of usage of speech act of request among students of English as a foreign language which affects the learning process of students. As such, teaching pragmatic aspect, particularly teaching speech act of requests, are emerging as the best way to create enthusiasm in learning new languages. Therefore, the paper was presented by a public syllabus lead that prioritizes the need for English learners to improve their ability to utilize speech act of request positively in social and cultural communications. Moreover, Many English learners fail to present pragmatic ability on how to understand speech act of request by relating utterances to their meanings, knowing the intention of language users, and how speech act of request is utilized in definite contexts. There is growing material of researches on usage of speech act of request for EFL schoolroom teaching. However, researchers have pointed to concentrate on the traditional approaches rather than how English learners require or understand how make speech act of request for developing the students' production of request in the EFL schoolroom. The usage of speech act of request and methods of teaching English to these Iraqi learners have been discussed in details of the current paper.  Usage of Speech Act of Request, Iraqi Learners’ Problems.

Field of study: Education
Elastic Energy Losses and Orientation Effects during Interaction between Atomic Particles

Patterns of energy transfer and accumulation in elastic interactions between Nb+ ions (E0 = 0.1–3 keV) and atoms of a Nb single crystal are studied by means of molecular dynamics. Spatial distributions of the recoil energy in the bulk of the crystal are calculated. It is shown that recoil energy is accumulated in the region of the densest packing of atoms, mainly in the outermost (N = 1–3) monolayers of the crystal. The effect the orientation of the target with respect to the beam has on the recoil energy and its spatial distributions is determined.

Field of study: Physics
Chemical characterization and bioactive compounds of an unconventional vegetable - Erechtites valerianifolia (Wolf) DC.

Native species may represent alternatives to human nutrition and insertion of new food sources in markets, since Brazilians eat less than half of the daily nutrient recommendations, and this consumption is lower among low-income families (Pereira et al., 2014). Ot is stressed that the consumption of these species may represent a new dietary option, mainly related to healthy eating (Friel et al., 2014).

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Molecular and electrophysiological characterizations of fGluR3 alpha, an ionotropic glutamate receptor subunit of a teleost fish.

Here we report the cloning and functional analysis of a cDNA encoding a functional glutamate receptor subunit of Oreochromis sp., a freshwater teleost fish. The deduced amino acid sequence of this cDNA clone, fGluR3 alpha, displays the highest sequence identity to that of the mammalian GluR3 subunit. Results of quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis indicated that the expression level of fGluR3 alpha in the cerebellum was much less than that in the telencephalon and optical lobe. Similar to its mammalian counterpart, variants of fGluR3 alpha were created by alternative splicing and RNA editing at the R/G site. The channel properties of homomeric fGluR3 alpha expressed in Xenopus oocytes were similar to those of the mammalian alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA)-preferring receptors. The rank order of agonist potency of the expressed fGluR3 alpha is AMPA > or = glutamate > or = quisqualate > domoate > or = kainate. This is the first functional glutamate receptor of teleost fish being demonstrated to be sensitive to AMPA. Furthermore, this study suggested a strong functional conservation of AMPA-preferring receptors in vertebrates.

Field of study: Biology
A comparison of hot-gas by-pass and suction modulation method for partial load control in refrigerated shipping containers

Simulation studies using a mathematical model are made to compare the performance of the hot-gas by-pass control and the suction modulation control in refrigerated shipping containers. Key factors such as compressor power draw, coefficient of performance and the sensible heat factor of evaporator coil against variations in container load, set-point and ambient temperatures are examined. Results show that the suction modulation control strategy is the more energy efficient of the two. The evaporator performance is found to be largely unaffected by either strategy. The analysis indicates the possibility of controlling relative humidity in the cargo space by variation of the superheat level.

Field of study: Engineering
Relationships between Irrational Beliefs and Self-Report Indices of Psychopathology

As part of a larger study of beliefs, psychopathology, and criminal behavior, the Irrational Beliefs Test and the MMPI were administered to 125 inmates at a federal correctional institution. An initial correlation analysis between the Irrational Beliefs Test and three indices of psychopathology scored from the research scales of the MMPI indicated that greater belief irrationality was associated with increased maladjustment. The results provide important evidence of the validity for the Irrational Beliefs Test and secondarily support Ellis' 1962 theory of psychopathology.

Field of study: Psychology
No (,) More Bolam Please: Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board

Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board concerned a negligent non-disclose of certain risks involved in natural birth. The Supreme Court departed from Sidaway v Bethlem Royal Hospital, which formerly governed negligent risk disclosure. A new test was adopted: risks that are material must be disclosed, the materiality of a risk to be decided by reference to a reasonable person in the patient's position, or where the medical professional should be reasonably aware a particular patient is likely to attach significance to that risk. The Court emphasised risk disclosure practices must focus on what the patient wants to know. Yet the Court's portrayal of this change as a development of Sidaway is questionable. The decision is problematic in its engagement with precedent, the new test's future implications and statements regarding therapeutic privilege. Despite rejecting Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee's relevance to risk disclosure, this case is likely to remain relevant.

Field of study: Law
Transport and depositional process of soil organic matter during wet and dry storms on the Têt inner shelf (NW Mediterranean)

ARTICLE I NFO River floods and storm waves are major processes for the dispersal and deposition of terrestrial organic matter (OM) in river-dominated coastal areas. A "wet storm" is connected to a flood with a high river discharge, while a "dry storm" is not associated with a flood. To better understand the sedimentation dynamics of terrestrial OM, especially soil OM, at the land-ocean interface during wet and dry storms, we studied sediment trap and core material collected on the Tet inner shelf (NW Mediterranean) using multiple organic proxies in combination with hydrodynamic parameters. The proportion of soil OM to the total OM in the trap material calculated based on the BIT (Branched and Isoprenoid Tetraether) index was higher during both wet (~40%) and dry (~30%) storms than during non-storm periods (~10%). However, only surface sediments (1-cm thick layers) recovered after December wet and moderate storms in 2003 showed enhanced soil OM percentages compared to the deeper sediments deposited during the last century. Given that the wet storm eroded 4-cm of seabed at the study site, flood-induced fresh soil OM was not deposited on the Tet inner shelf during the wet storm. However, the following moderate storm caused resuspension of flood- associated soil OM which was previously trapped nearshore. Accordingly soil OM was transported to the Tet inner shelf and stored there until the dry storm occurred.

Field of study: Environmental science, Geography
Identification of volatile compounds in thinning discards from plum trees (Prunus salicina Lindl.) cultivar Harry Pickstone Identificação de compostos voláteis de frutos de raleio de ameixeira (Prunus salicina Lindl.) cultivar Harry Pickstone

Plum (Prunus salicina Lindl. cv. Harry Pickstone), a China indigenous fruit, is widely produced and consumed in countries such as Japan and Brazil. The practice of thinning is common in horticulture and the fruits removed are discarded as waste. Like the great majority of vegetables, these thinning discards also contain essential oils which have not been investigated until the present time. The extraction of the plum thinning discards volatile oil, through the hydrodistillation method, produced a yield of 0.06% (m/m) and a total of 21 components were identified, with 11 of them being responsible for 72,9% of the total oil composition. The major compounds determined through GC and GC-MS were Z-α-bisabolene (13.7%), n-hexadecanoic acid (12.7%), phytol (12.7%), and β-caryophyllene (10.4%).

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
The ASPIRE-to-Excellence Initiative: Can We recognize Excellence in Student Engagement with the Curriculum?

Research has demonstrated clear benefits of student engagement both in terms of student performance and for academic institutions. Policy guidelines from a variety of sources have advocated for student engagement on a variety of levels. Academic Support Program Inspiring Renaissance Educators (ASPIRE)-to-Excellence initiative represents a means for medical schools to gain recognition of their achievements in this area. We continually see examples of positive initiatives through our work with AMEE, an international association for medical education and the Essential Skills in Medical Education course for students (ESME-Student). We hope to encourage further debate and sharing of experiences to promote student engagement.

Field of study: Medicine
Biogeographic characterization of Mediterranean and Black Seas faunal provinces using GIS procedures

To identify Mediterranean and Black Seas areas where similar marine faunal provinces occur, geographical distribution maps of 536 species of actual or potential interest to fisheries have been digitized, using GIS software, and three different ecological areas have been delimited by depth, separated by the 200 and 1000 m isobaths. Information on the species ranges was taken mainly from the maps and the texts of the FAO Species Identification Sheets covering the region, and complemented by other sources when necessary. All the distribution maps have then been overlaid by a grid of points at regular intervals every half degree of latitude and longitude. This allowed creation of a matrix of presence or absence of the species at each point from which species richness maps have been generated. The species richness in the Mediterranean proper shows the same negative gradient eastwards that has been observed for nutrients, while the low number of species in the Black Sea could be linked to the fragility and recent fast degradation of this ecosystem. Through the calculation of 65 dissimilarity indices from 50 contiguous points along the coastline and the species richness maps, the region has been divided into nine faunal provinces. These faunal provinces have then been compared with the ten Mediterranean and Black Seas divisions used by the GFCM for statistical purposes, revealing few differences between the two classifications. The definition of faunal provinces in a region when deciding upon Natural Management Areas, and the appropriate GIS approach to be followed, are discussed.

Field of study: Environmental science
On Frobenius splitting of orbit closures of spherical subgroups in flag varieties

Let H denote a spherical subgroup within a semisimple algebraic group G. In this paper we study the closures of the finitely many H-orbits in the flag variety of G. Using the language of Frobenius splitting we provide a criterion for these closures to have nice geometric and cohomological properties. We then show how the criterion applies to the spherical subgroups of minimal rank studied by N. Ressayre. Finally, we also provide applications of the criterion to orbit closures which are not multiplicity-free in the sense defined by M. Brion.

Field of study: Mathematics
Superconductivity in a two-band system with low carrier density

The review of works about the study of the thermodynamic properties of the superconductors with energy bands overlapping on Fermi surface is done. The base of the review is Moscalenco's model1 with the formation of cooper pairs of electrons inside each energy band and their transition as a whole entity from one band to another. The model was generalized in order to consider the interband pairings of electrons in addition to the pairings that have been taken into account in Ref. 1. The main system of equations in this theory of superconductivity is derived for the two-band systems at arbitrary density of charge carriers (including the very low densities). The detailed studies of dependences of the temperature of superconducting transition TC, the jump of heat capacity (CS-CN), as well as the chemical potential μ on the density of charge carriers are made. Singularities in the behavior of the two-band superconductors at low densities of charge carriers (μ~TC) are revealed. There has been studies on the influence of the additional pairings of electrons that result in the formation of the cooper pairs of electrons from different energy bands on the thermodynamic properties of the system. Both phonon and non-phonon mechanisms of superconductivity in the BCS scenario of the formation of superconducting pairs (μ>0) have been taken into account. The theory of superconductivity in the mean-field approximation at T = 0 in the picture of Bose condensation of localized pairs (Schaffroth's scenario μ<0) is built. The technique of functional integration with regard to the two-band system is developed and the crossover from Fermi to Bose picture of elementary excitations at T≠0 with the two-particle bound state in the system has been shown. The temperature of Bose condensation TK is determined and the influence of the overlapping of energy bands on Fermi surface onto Bose condensation of localized pairs is studied.

Field of study: Physics
Calyceal diverticula in children: laparoscopic marsupialization is the optimal intervention.

Calyceal diverticula (CD) are abnormally dilated calyces caused by a narrowed infundibulum. Although rare, with incidence rates previously reported between 0.21% and 0.45%, CD pose diagnostic dilemmas in children as they mimic other cystic lesions of the kidney with different etiologies. Calyceal diverticula can become symptomatic if they become a locus for infections and stone formation, and the optimal treatment strategy is currently undefined.



The aim of the study is to present a large series of consecutive cases of pediatric CD and investigate the authors' hypothesis that CDs are more common than previously reported, size of the lesion drives intervention, and laparoscopic ablation is the most effective intervention.



The authors conducted an observational case-control survey by reviewing all cases of pediatric CD through a prospectively maintained database of renal cystic lesions at their institution between 2012 and 2018. They analyzed the clinical and radiological presentation and description of symptoms with particular emphasis on the outcomes of ureteroscopic or laparoscopic surgical interventions.



Of 757 renal cysts evaluated in the pediatric urology clinics at the authors' institution, there were 43 (5%) cases of CD confirmed by cross-sectional imaging or retrograde pyelogram. The median age was 12 years. There was a female preponderance (67%), and 14% were bilateral. Twenty-five of 43 children underwent surgery (58%). On multivariate analysis, the size/complexity of the cyst (odds ratio = 2.13, 1.02 to 4.4, P = 0.04) and the presence of pain (5.931, 1.36 to 25.87, P = 0.018) were found to correlate with the need for intervention. Ureteroscopic intervention (i.e., balloon dilatation, laser incision, or diathermy incision) was the most used index procedure (17/25), followed by laparoscopic ablation (6/25), with success rates of 40% and 100%, respectively (P = 0.01). Complications in either of the approaches were usually mild and similar (P = 0.63). The majority of ureteroscopic interventions required multiple sessions (11/17, 65%, median = 2 major procedures) to achieve resolution, whereas none in the laparoscopic group required a second procedure. There were a total of 30 ureteroscopic and 8 laparoscopic approaches.



The authors demonstrate that CD comprise at least 5% of cystic lesions and that CD size and pain at presentation predict intervention in 60% of children diagnosed at their institution. Laparoscopic ablation is the optimal treatment and has significantly higher success rates than the ureteroscopic approach.

Field of study: Medicine