nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
The rheological properties of Mylopharyngodon piceus dough

Effects of dough components on the rheological properties of fish dough from Mylopharyngodon piceus were studied. Relationship between dough components and farinograph, tensile and textural indexes was explored through farinoraph, extensograph and textural analyzer. Results showed that addition of wheat flour raised toughness and ductility and then, viscoelasticity of dough reached a maximum when 400 grams of wheat flour was added in 2 kilograms of dough. Starch would strenthen dough gel network as well as its springiness, adhesiveness and ductility but reduce extension resistance and water absorption. Denatured Mylopharyngodon piceus surimi weakened tensile properties but surimi gel strenthened rheological properties of dough as soon as the addition of surimi was increased. Salt improved farinograph properties of dough when the addition was less than 40 grams.

Field of study: Agricultural and Food sciences
Unexpected impact of changes in out-of-pocket payments for health care on Czech household budgets.

The Czech Republic is one of the countries that has a relatively low level of private spending on health. As a part of the health care reform package in 2008, some additional out-of-pocket payments were introduced, called 'user (patient) fees'. Furthermore, the government intends to increase some user fees in the following years. There have been serious discussions between proponents and opponents because an increase in out of pocket payments for health care may create financial obstacles for some households and restrict the desirable consumption of health care. The objective of this paper is to determine the impact of changes in out-of-pocket payments on household budgets and provide solution for more just distribution of the burden. Data from the household budget survey regularly collected by the Czech Statistical Office is used. Results showed that the burden of households increased from 2.15% of their net income to 2.63% in 2008 and to 2.55% in 2009 after the implementation of user fees. We noted that the presence of pensioners and elderly in a household was the factor which increased the overall burden the most and led to catastrophic payments.

Field of study: Medicine, Political science
Approach of personnel location in roadway environment based on multi-sensor fusion and activity classification

For the demands of localization system in underground mines, accuracy and generalized ability are the key indicators to evaluate the performance of the location algorithm, which directly affect the reliability and perception performance of the safety monitoring system. Since the irregular tunnel environment is dusty, humid and noisy, the reliability and generalized ability of the localization wireless network is an urgent and challenging problem. In this paper, multiple kinds of sensors are used to collect the data and the fusion mechanism is designed to improve the robustness of the location method. Considering the prior knowledge of the environment, a reliable activity classification method based on the Random Forest (RF) along with wireless Round-trip Time of Flight (RToF) technology to calibrate the accumulative error is proposed, which confirms the special position by matching with the known map of the underground. The positioning strategy with multiple sensors fusion enables the localization system adapting to kinds of harsh tunnel environment. The activity recognition performance is evaluated and numerical results indicate that the accuracy can reach more than 97%. Additionally, according to the simulation and experimental results, the impact of outside interference on the proposed method is substantially mitigated. The results demonstrate that the proposed method for localization system is practically feasible.

Field of study: Computer science
Communicating with vegetative state patients: the role of neuroimaging in American disability law.

Patients in vegetative states appear to be awake but unconscious. If they have been in a vegetative state for more than one year, they have little chance of ever recovering. Additionally, no one can communicate with them, including physicians, loved ones, and families. However, new scientific evidence has challenged our understanding of this bleak reality. In particular, recent neuroscience research has shown that a substantial number of patients in vegetative states may actually be conscious and able to communicate through the use of brain-scanning technology. This exciting development poses many difficult questions, including the one analyzed here: now that we know neuroimaging may be the only way to communicate with these patients, will health care facilities be required to provide brain-scanning equipment under American disability law? This Note argues that lawsuits seeking neuroimaging technology from hospitals have a significant chance of success. The main challenge for plaintiffs will be convincing judges that existing scientific evidence actually shows that neuroimaging can facilitate communication with patients. Ultimately, if the appropriate legal framework develops, brain-scanning technology could permit patients in vegetative states to make decisions regarding their own medical care and allow families to communicate with their loved ones.

Field of study: Law
Continuous precipitation of lead iodide

Lead iodide was precipitated from aqueous solutions of 0.015 - 0.1 M Pb(NO3)2 and 0.03 - 0.2 M KI in the equimolar ratio using a laboratory model of a stirred continuous crystallizer at 22 °C. After reaching the steady state, the PbI2 crystal size distribution was measured sedimentometrically and the crystallization kinetics was evaluated based on the mean particle size. Both the linear crystal growth rate and the nucleation rate depend on the specific output of the crystallizer. The system crystallization constant either points to a significant effect of secondary nucleation by the mechanism of contact of the crystals with the stirrer blade, or depends on the concentrations of the components added due to the micromixing mechanism.

Field of study: Chemistry
Canada and new ‘global’ strategic alliances: Prospects for human security at the start of the twenty‐first century

Social development is no longer a concern for governments alone. Increasingly, business communities and civil society are getting involved. Many examples from all over Europe already suggest that public-private partnerships can be a turning point in fighting unemployment and social exclusion.1 ‘Global society’ at the start of the new millennium is not as integrated or as pacific as anticipated. Rather, a set of ‘new’ security issues confronts and divides both international and Canadian communities. In turn, governance institutions are no longer just state or inter-state actors but now include myriad non-state organizations, from companies to civil societies (Wolfson and Smith 2000). This paper examines the range of Canadian actors, in a series of new security issues, at the start of the new century. With a focus on the contrasting but increasingly interrelated strategic and basic needs/health sectors, it analyses non-state as well as state institutions and their interor trans-national alliances or networks. More specifically, we argue that in this new environment, where individuals may be supplanting the state as the main security referent and connections between development and security are increasingly acknowledged and identified, human security/development cannot be advanced by states alone. Rather, complex and changeable coalitions of heterogeneous actors have emerged to identify and treat novel global issues, from gender and land-mines to bio-diversity and ozonedepletion, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and tuberculosis. Canadian-based organizations have been amongst the pioneers in such agendaand norm-setting, the Ottawa Process for the banning of land-mines and the Montreal Protocol on eliminating ozone-depleting substances being examples of the ‘new multilateralism’ or what the UN Secretary General characterizes as a “global compact” (Tomlin 1998; Boutwell and Klare 1999).

Field of study: Political science
Optical anisotropy of coals as an indicator of tectonic deformation, Broad Top Coal Field, Pennsylvania

The anisotropic “reflectance fabric” of coal is used as a finite strain marker in the structural analysis of deformed strata in the Broad Top Coal Field of central Pennsylvania. Oriented blocks of coal were collected at various field locations. The reflectances of three orthogonal surfaces were used to estimate the magnitudes and orientations of the three principal reflectance axes. Broad Top coals are shown to have three principal reflectance values, in contrast with most bituminous coals, which have only two. Reflectance values can be represented by a biaxial indicatrix that may be either prolate or oblate. The oblate indicatrices, showing flattening in the bedding plane, are associated with gently deformed strata. The prolate indicatrices, elongated parallel to the fold axes (N32°E), are associated with more intensely folded strata and show the influence of strong lateral compression superimposed upon gravitational loading. The reflectance indicatrices maintain a constant spatial orientation, regardless of the inclination of the enveloping bedding. The minimum principal reflectance axis plunges steeply toward the west, indicating that during deformation the direction of maximum compression was plunging toward the northwest. These results suggest that in the Broad Top field maximum coalification and, therefore, maximum burial were penecontemporaneous with the later stages of deformation, postdating most of the folding.

Field of study: Geology
News from the Adriatico Research Conference on "Superconductivity, Andreev Reflection, and Proximity Effect in Mesoscopic Structures"

The Adriatico Research Conference on Superconductivity, Andreev Reflection, and Proximity Effect in Mesoscopic Structures took place at the International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, July 8-11, 1997. The organizers were Elias Burstein, Leonid Glazman, Teun Klapwijk, and Subodh R. Shenoy. We describe some of the central issues discussed at the conference, along with more personal reflections prompted by new developments.

Field of study: Physics
MULTIPLE FACTOR ANALYSIS ON MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE OF OUTER-SHELL CONNECTION

Based on a quasi-static experiment of outer-shell connection(OSC), the finite element model is put forward.Compared with test data, the validity of the model is testified.Then multiple factor analysis of OSC, including the thickness of outer shell, flange plate and web plate of T-shaped members, with or without ribbed stiffeners, is carried out.And the effects of these factors on the mechanical performance of OSC are analyzed and summarized.Through multiple factor analysis, some conclusions are drawn that can provide some references for engineering practices.

Field of study: Engineering
Crystallizable Polyisoprene under Strain Obtained by Nd-based Catalyst

The conventional Ziegler-Natta catalyst composed of neodymium versatate (Nd(vers)3), alkylaluminum (Al(i-Bu)2H or Al(i-Bu)3) and diisobutylaluminum chloride (Al(i-Bu)2Cl) was examined in isoprene polymerization. The polymer with narrow molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn < 3) can be obtained by controlling Al(i-Bu)2H amounts and component addition order. While, polyisoprene with high cis-1,4 content (> 96%), high molecular weight (> 100×104) and narrow molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn < 2.2) is synthesized by using Al(i-Bu)3 as cocatalyst. In the meantime, the obtained polymer has crystallization behavior under strain.

Field of study: Materials science
Tortoise and Hares Consensus: the Meshcash Framework for Incentive-Compatible, Scalable Cryptocurrencies

We propose Meshcash, a new framework for cryptocurrency protocols that combines a novel, proof-of-work based, permissionless byzantine consensus protocol (the tortoise) that guarantees eventual consensus and irreversibility, with a possibly-faulty but quick consensus protocol (the hare). The construction is modular, allowing any suitable “hare” protocol to be plugged in. The combined protocol enjoys best of both worlds properties: consensus is quick if the hare protocol succeeds, but guaranteed even if it is faulty. Unlike most existing proofof-work based consensus protocols, our tortoise protocol does not rely on leader-election (e.g., the single miner who managed to extend the longest chain). Rather, we use ideas from asynchronous byzantine agreement protocols to gradually converge to a consensus. Meshcash, is designed to be race-free: there is no “race” to generate the next block, hence honestly-generated blocks are always rewarded. This property, which we define formally as a game-theoretic notion, turns out to be useful in analyzing rational miners’ behavior: we prove (using a generalization of the blockchain mining games of Kiayias et al.) that race-free blockchain protocols are incentive-compatible and satisfy linearity of rewards (i.e., a party receives rewards proportional to its computational power). Because Meshcash can tolerate a high block rate regardless of network propagation delays (which will only affect latency), it allows us to lower both the variance and the expected time between blocks for honest miners; together with linearity of rewards, this makes pooled mining far less attractive. Moreover, race-free protocols scale more easily (in terms of transaction rate). This is because the race-free property implies that the network propagation delays are not a factor in terms of rewards, which removes the main impediment to accommodating a larger volume of transactions. We formally prove that all of our guarantees hold in the asynchronous communication model of Pass, Seeman and shelat, and against a constant fraction of byzantine (malicious) miners; not just rational ones.

Field of study: Computer science, Mathematics
Effectiveness of biofeedback for dysfunctional elimination syndrome in pediatrics: a systematic review.

Dysfunctional elimination syndrome is associated with an inability to effectively empty the bladder and may present with UTI, incontinence, intestinal constipation or other voiding symptoms. Biofeedback has emerged as one potentially effective and non-invasive treatment. We sought to analyze if biofeedback is an effective method to treat children less than 18 years of age.



A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Database, AUA, CUA, AAP and ESPU abstracts. Copies of all relevant articles were retrieved for quality assessment and data abstraction by two independent reviewers. Primary outcomes were UTIs and daytime incontinence.



27 studies were included (1 RCT and 26 case-series). The pooled estimate showed 83% (95% CI: 79%-86%) and 80% (95% CI: 76%-85%) improvement in UTI and daytime incontinence respectively. I(2) statistic showed "Low" (7%) and "High" (77%) heterogeneity across studies results for UTI and daytime incontinence. The only included RCT favored biofeedback over standard therapy (RR 1.4, 95% CI: 0.98-2.00) but this was not statistically significant. On analysis of all included studies there was also improvement in constipation (18%-100%), frequency (67%-100%), urgency (71%-88%) and VUR (21%-100%). PVR improvement ranged from 26 ml to 99 ml and Q(max) improvement was from 3.1 ml/s-4.7 ml/s.



Based on this review, biofeedback is an effective, non-invasive method of treating dysfunctional elimination syndrome, and approximately 80% of children benefited from this treatment. However, most reports were of low level of evidence and studies of more solid design such as RCT should be conducted.

Field of study: Medicine
Involvement of 4‐1BB (CD137)−4‐1BBligand interaction in the modulation of CD4+ T cell‐mediated inflammatory colitis

4‐1BB ligand (4‐1BBL) expressed on antigen‐presenting cells interacts with 4‐1BB on activated T cells (especially CD8+ cells) and co‐stimulates the latter to secrete cytokines and to proliferate. The role of 4‐1BB−4‐1BBL interaction was studied here in a model of colitis based on naive CD4+ T cell transfer to SCID mice, a disease model in which CD8 cells do not take part. We found that CD4+ T cells from 4‐1BB‐deficient mice, after transfer in SCID mice, proliferated more rapidly compared to wild‐type CD4+ T cells. Mice reconstituted with naive CD4+ T cells from 4‐1BB‐deficient mice developed colitis, however, with a mixed Th1/Th2 response, in contrast to the Th1‐type response in mice reconstituted with wild‐type naive CD4+ T cells. Importantly, this altered cytokine response did not temper colitis severity. Although it has been reported previously that 4‐1BB co‐stimulation may contribute to regulatory T cell functioning, we found that CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells from 4‐1BB‐deficient mice were perfectly able to prevent naive CD4+ T cell‐induced colitis. In conclusion, our data provide evidence that 4‐1BB−4‐1BBL interaction modulates the effector CD4+ T cell‐driven immune response and cytokine production in experimental colitis without affecting regulatory T cell function.

Field of study: Biology, Medicine
Calibration in measurement of ICF target material areal density using β-ray

ICF target material areal density and its distribution can be measured by counting beta particles passing through the material.It is necessary to calibrate the areal density measuring device using a series of standard materials with known areal densities and the same components with the materials to be analyzed.For the density measurement of a kind of ICF target material the calibrating method is proposed.This calibrating method uses the approximate,materials with composition of the ICF target material as the standard material.The transmissivity of beta particles possessing different energy can be simulated and computed by Monte-Carlo method when they pass different materials.The corresponding error to the measuring result is also obtained.The error is only several percent using paper sheet as the standard material to measure CH foam materials and can be revised by means of Monte-Carlo method.

Field of study: Physics
Zur statistischen Analyse geologischer Diagramme

ZusammenfassungDie in geologischen Diagrammen, z. B. Karten, Mikroaufnahmen u. dgl., zusammengefaßte Richtungsverteilung gewisser linearer Elemente läßt sich mit Hilfe statistischer Verfahren einer mathematischen Analyse unterwerfen. Diese Methode wurde auf die Analyse zweier typischer Entwässerungssysteme angewandt.

Field of study: Environmental science
SU‐GG‐T‐233: An Integration Calculation Method for Dose Verification of Arc‐Based Radiotherapy

Arc techniques can improve dose delivery efficiency and isodose distributions but can also introduce uncertainties in dose calculation particularly for tissue heterogeneity and irregular external contours within an arc. Available QA programs have failed to produce accurate MU calculation. Thus, we introduce a new QA algorithm for arc radiotherapy. Modified power law (MPL) and equivalent path‐length (EPL) with/without modified Clarkson integration (MCI) were used for MU verification in arc therapy for 21 patients with small lungtumors or brain lesions. Instead of treating each arc as multiple beams with 5‐degree gantry angle interval, we averaged the CT density over the arc with a given radius and then integrated over the radii to determine the effective density and the true heterogeneity‐corrected path‐length (TPL). Planned CT and arc data in DICOMRT format were parsed into a custom program and geometry between the dose point and a moving ray with fixed angle relative to the dose point in the beam‐eye‐view (BEV) were converted to a fixed beamlet relative to the point having its own effective density distribution along the path‐length. Then, concepts of MCI were used.  In cases with arc MU deviation of 5 to 18% using existing algorithms, application of the proposed algorithm of the true arc integration had significantly reduced the dose deviation to < 6% because the TPL corrected the EPL by up to 17 mm. The equivalent square of the field improved correction by another 2 to 5%.  A novel arc integration algorithm has been tested successfully for quantification of effects of tissue heterogeneity, irregular surface, and position devices in arcs. The arc‐integration and the concepts for converting arcs to fix beams provide a new dose calculation and QA tool for emerging arc techniques.

Field of study: Medicine, Physics
Advancing Polar Prediction Capabilities on Daily to Seasonal Time Scales

AbstractThe polar regions have been attracting more and more attention in recent years, fueled by the perceptible impacts of anthropogenic climate change. Polar climate change provides new opportunities, such as shorter shipping routes between Europe and East Asia, but also new risks such as the potential for industrial accidents or emergencies in ice-covered seas. Here, it is argued that environmental prediction systems for the polar regions are less developed than elsewhere. There are many reasons for this situation, including the polar regions being (historically) lower priority, with fewer in situ observations, and with numerous local physical processes that are less well represented by models. By contrasting the relative importance of different physical processes in polar and lower latitudes, the need for a dedicated polar prediction effort is illustrated. Research priorities are identified that will help to advance environmental polar prediction capabilities. Examples include an improvement of the p...

Field of study: Environmental science
Localization of PKA phosphorylation site, Ser(2030), in the three-dimensional structure of cardiac ryanodine receptor.

PKA (protein kinase A)-dependent phosphorylation of the cardiac Ca2+-release channel/RyR2 (type 2 ryanodine receptor)is believed to directly dissociate FKBP12.6 (12.6 kDa FK506-binding protein) from the channel, causing abnormal channel activation and Ca2+ release. To gain insight into the structural basis of the regulation of RyR2 by PKA, we determined the three-dimensional location of the PKA site Ser2030. GFP (green fluorescent protein) was inserted into RyR2-wt (wild-type RyR2)and RyR2 mutant, A4860G, after Thr2023. The resultant GFP-RyR2 fusion proteins, RyR2T2023-GFP and RyR2(A4860G)T2023-GFP, were expressed in HEK-293 (human embryonic kidney) cells and functionally characterized. Ca2+-release assays revealed that both GFP-RyR2 fusion proteins formed caffeine- and ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+-release channels. Further analyses using[3H]ryanodine binding demonstrated that the insertion of GFPinto RyR2-wt after Thr2023 reduced the sensitivity of the channelto activation by Ca2+ or caffeine. RyR2(A4860G)T2023-GFP was found to be structurally more stable than RyR2T2023-GFP and was subsequently used as a basis for three-dimensional reconstruction. Cryo-electronmicroscopy and single particle image processing of the purified RyR2(A4860G)T2023-GFP protein revealed the location of the inserted GFP, and hence the Ser2030 PKA site in domain 4,a region that may be involved in signal transduction between the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains. Like the Ser2808 PKA site reported previously, the Ser2030 site is not located close to the FKBP12.6-binding site mapped previously, indicating that neither of these PKA sites is directly involved in FKBP12.6 binding. On the basis of the three-dimensional localizations of a number of residues or regions, a model for the subunit organization in the structure of RyR2 is proposed.

Field of study: Biology, Computer science