nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Identification of microplastic in effluents of waste water treatment plants using focal plane array based micro Fourier transform infrared imaging.
Venue: Water research
Year: 2017

The global presence of microplastic (MP) in aquatic ecosystems has been shown by various studies. However, neither MP concentrations nor their sources or sinks are completely known. Waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered as significant point sources discharging MP to the environment. This study investigated MP in the effluents of 12 WWTPs in Lower Saxony, Germany. Samples were purified by a plastic preserving enzymatic oxidative procedure and subsequent density separation using a zinc chloride solution. For analysis, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR FT IR) and focal plane array (FPA) based transmission micro FT IR imaging were applied. This allowed the identification of polymers of all MP down to a size of 20 mm. In all effluents MP was found with quantities ranging from 0 to 5 x 101 m 3 MP 500 mm and 1 x 101 to 9 x 103 m 3 MP 500 mm. By far, polyethylene was the most frequent polymer type in both size classes. Quantities of synthetic fibres ranged from 9 x 101 to 1 x 103 m 3 and were predominantly made of polyester. Considering the annual effluxes of tested WWTPs, total discharges of 9 x 107 to 4 x 109 MP particles and fibres per WWTP could be expected. Interestingly, one tertiary WWTP had an additionally installed post filtration that reduced the total MP discharge by 97% Furthermore, the sewage sludge of six WWTPs was examined and the existence of MP, predominantly polyethylene, revealed. Our findings suggest that WWTPs could be a sink but also a source of MP and thus can be considered to play an important role for environmental MP pollution.
Prevalence and Severity of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Early Versus Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease
Venue: American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias
Year: 2019

The study aimed to compare neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in people with early onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) and late onset AD (LOAD)  Fifty six participants with LOAD and 24 participants with EOAD having mild dementia were assessed for NPS for their frequency, severity, and caregiver distress as measured by Neuropsychiatry Inventory (NPI) along with assessments of cognition and functional dependence.  Participants with EOAD and LOAD were not significantly different for total NPI score (P .057) Early onset Alzheimer disease had greater prevalence of all the NPS except apathy. Participants with EOAD were significantly worse on anxiety (P .03) irritability (P .01) and sleep (P .01) subscales and their carers significantly more distressed by their irritability (P .002) and sleeping patterns (P .005) Regression analysis showed that higher NPI score was associated with longer duration of illness in EOAD and higher functional dependence in LOAD.  The NPS severity was similar between EOAD and LOAD although EOAD had higher symptom prevalence and carer distress.
Learning Temporal Dependencies in Data Using a DBN BLSTM
Venue: ArXiv
Year: 2014

Since the advent of deep learning, it has been used to solve various problems using many different architectures. The application of such deep architectures to auditory data is also not uncommon. However, these architectures do not always adequately consider the temporal dependencies in data. We thus propose a new generic architecture called the Deep Belief Network Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory (DBN BLSTM) network that models sequences by keeping track of the temporal information while enabling deep representations in the data. We demonstrate this new architecture by applying it to the task of music generation and obtain state of the art results.
A note on the complex symmetric weighted composition operators over Hardy space.
Year: 2018

This paper provides a class of complex symmetric weighted composition operators on $H^2(\mathbb{D} to includes the unitary subclass, the Hermitian subclass and the normal subclass obtained by Bourdon and Noor. A characterization of algebraic weighted composition operator with degree no more than two is provided to illustrate that the weight function of a complex symmetric weighted composition operator is not necessarily linear fractional.
Towards a unified paradigm for sequence based identification of fungi
Venue: Molecular ecology
Year: 2013

The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region is the formal fungal barcode and in most cases the marker of choice for the exploration of fungal diversity in environmental samples. Two problems are particularly acute in the pursuit of satisfactory taxonomic assignment of newly generated ITS sequences: (i) the lack of an inclusive, reliable public reference data set and (ii) the lack of means to refer to fungal species, for which no Latin name is available in a standardized stable way. Here, we report on progress in these regards through further development of the UNITE database  for molecular identification of fungi. All fungal species represented by at least two ITS sequences in the international nucleotide sequence databases are now given a unique, stable name of the accession number type (e.g. Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus|GU586904|SH133781.05FU) and their taxonomic and ecological annotations were corrected as far as possible through a distributed, third party annotation effort. We introduce the term 'species hypothesis' (SH) for the taxa discovered in clustering on different similarity thresholds (97 99% An automatically or manually designated sequence is chosen to represent each such SH. These reference sequences are released (http:/unite.ut.ee/repository.php) for use by the scientific community in, for example, local sequence similarity searches and in the QIIME pipeline. The system and the data will be updated automatically as the number of public fungal ITS sequences grows. We invite everybody in the position to improve the annotation or metadata associated with their particular fungal lineages of expertise to do so through the new Web based sequence management system in UNITE.
Self microemulsifying drug delivery system of lurasidone hydrochloride for enhanced oral bioavailability by lymphatic targeting: In vitro, Caco 2 cell line and in vivo evaluation.
Venue: European journal of pharmaceutical sciences official journal of the European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences
Year: 2019

The global aim of this research was to develop and evaluate self microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) to improve oral bioavailability of Lurasidone Hydrochloride (LH) A chylomicron flow blocking approach was used to evaluate lymphatic drug transport. The developed LH SMEDDS composed of Capmul MCM C8 (oil) Cremophor EL (surfactant) and Transcutol HP (co surfactant) Highest microemulsifying area was obtained at 3:1 ratio (surfactant:cosurfactant)and mean globule size was found to be 49.22 1.60 nm. More than 98% drug release was obtained with LH SMEDDS as that of LH suspension. Confocal microscopy and flow cytometry studies reveled higher fluorescence indicating deeper penetration across Caco 2 cells with coumarin 6 SMEDDS as compared to coumarin 6 solution. Mean Fluorescence Intensity (MFI) with coumarin 6 loaded SMEDDS was increased 25.57 times with respect to coumarin 6 solution. The permeability across Caco 2 cells was enhanced 3 times with LH SMEDDS as compared to LH suspension. Furthermore, Area under curve with LH SMEDDS was found to be 2.92 times higher than that of LH suspension indicating improved bioavailability after formulating SMEEDS. Lymphatic transport in oral absorption of LH SMEDDS was proved via lymphatic uptake study. All the findings suggest the effectiveness of lipid based formulation i.e. SMEDDS of LH to augment the oral bioavailability via intestinal lymphatic pathway.
Control system design and evaluation for robust autonomous rotorcraft guidance
Year: 2013

This paper describes the design and performance analysis of a control system for rotorcraft with an emphasis on the requirements called for by autonomous guidance. To be able to track trajectories, such as those generated by a guidance system, a path following controller is used in combination with a velocity control augmentation. The path following system is motivated by nonlinear stability analysis. The velocity control augmentation follows a loop shaping design for the inner loop attitude control and a dynamic inversion velocity control design for the outer loop. The identified model of the dynamics along with the uncertainties is used to determine the robustness and performance of the velocity control system. Finally, the paper presents a novel method to evaluate the overall performance of the control system in terms of the tracking error statistics. These results are then used to determine a tracking error model, which can be used to predict the tracking error for a given reference.
A Survey Study: The Students' Reticence in English Classroom at Senior High School in Pekanbaru
Year: 2019

The students are expected to be active in teaching and learning process. However, according to the preliminary study on Senior High in Pekanbaru. The students still have problem in learning English. They are reticent and passive in the classroom. They tend to be silent and quiet during the learning process. The class participation is far from the expectation of the learning objective from the curriculum. Therefore, this research was aimed to find out the factors that influenced students' reticence in English classroom and the dominant factor that caused students reticence at Senior High School in Pekanbaru. This research is descriptive quantitative research, which data were collected by a questionnaire. The sample was randomly selected for 102 students out of 289 students of population. the writer found the factors that influence of students' reticence in English classroom; First, they are the individual factors with 3.05 mean score by the percentage was 61.1% Second, psychological factors with 2.71 mean score by percentage 54.3% Third, affective factors with 2.65 mean score by percentage 53% Fourth, environment factors with 2.60 mean score by percentage 52.1% Finally, linguistic factors with 2.53 mean score by 50.6% Meanwhile, the dominant factor that caused the students' reticence in English classroom is individual factors that were the main indicator is underprepared with the percentage of 62.6% The students felt nervous and did not confident to speak English. Therefore, it is better for the teacher to know the factors contribute to that reticence and could minimize the dominant factors in order to pursue the teaching and learning process more efficiently and enjoyable in learning English.
Staged financing: a trade off theory of holdup and option value
Year: 2017

This paper investigates financial contract design in venture capital investments and shows that staged financing is the implementation of optimal contracts. In designing contracts, venture capitalists consider the value of real options and the costs of holdup. This consideration boils down to contract rigidity and flexibility: rigid contracts mitigate the holdup problem of entrepreneurs, but have little option values, whereas flexible contracts create real options for venture capitalists in corporate decision making, but yield weak bargaining power when ventures appear promising. In optimal contracts, venture capitalists choose flexibility by separating capital into stages and then strategically allocating control rights at each stage. This strategy creates option value in corporate governance, and can protect sunk investments in distress while capturing the potential benefits of good outcomes.
Rapid determination of organochlorine pesticides in fish using selective pressurized liquid extraction and gas chromatography mass spectrometry.
Venue: Food chemistry
Year: 2016

A rapid automated extraction and cleanup method using selective pressurized liquid extraction was developed and validated for 14 organochlorine pesticides in fish. The lipid removal efficiencies achieved by adding alumina, Florisil, acid treated silica gel, and silica gel to the extraction cell were determined and optimized. In the optimized method, fish (2 3g) was placed above alumina (30 g) in the extraction cell, then the sample was extracted using a 7:3 mixture of hexane and dichloromethane. The method was validated using certified reference materials (NIST SRM 1946 and 1974c) spiked fish, and four lipid rich fish samples. The mean low and high concentration spike recoveries were 91% and 93% with RSD<20% respectively. Measured concentrations of target OCPs showed good agreement with the certified concentrations in certified reference materials. It suggests the good accuracy and precision of the SPLE method. The proposed method met the most important requirements of an extraction and cleanup procedure, including having a short preparation (cleanup and concentration) time and minimal sample contamination and being able to be automated.
A critical look at Chinese 'debt trap diplomacy' the rise of a meme
Year: 2019

In 2017, a meme was born in a think tank in northern India: Chinese 'debt trap diplomacy' This meme quickly spread through the media, intelligence circles and Western governments. Within 12 months it generated nearly 2 million search results on Google in 0.52 seconds and was beginning to solidify into a deep historical truth. Stories can contain truths and falsehoods. Human emotions, including negativity bias, prime us to think in certain ways. This paper retells a series of stories about China's international involvement, including in Angola, Djibouti, Sri Lanka and Venezuela, that challenge the media's spin. It concludes with some suggestions about the relationship between academia and the media and policy worlds, and the need for scholars to speak 'truth' to 'power'
experiment cigarettes results from a discrete choice Consumer preferences for electronic and
Year: 2016

E cigarettes present a formidable challenge to regulators given their variety and the rapidly evolving nicotine market. The current study sought to examine the influence of e cigarette product characteristics on consumer perceptions and trial intentions among Canadians.  An online discrete choice experiment was conducted with 915 Canadians aged 16 years and older in November 2013. An online commercial panel was used to sample 3 distinct subpopulations: (1) non smoking youth and young adults (n=279) (2) smoking youth and young adults (n=264) and (3) smoking adults (n=372) Participants completed a series of stated preference tasks, in which they viewed choice sets with e cigarette product images that featured different combinations of attributes: flavour, nicotine content, health warnings and price. For each choice set, participants were asked to select one of the products or indicate 'none of the above' with respect to the following outcomes: interest in trying, less harm and usefulness in quitting smoking. The attributes' impact on consumer choice for each outcome was analysed using multinomial logit regression.  Health warning was the most important attribute influencing participants' intentions to try e cigarettes (42% and perceived efficacy as a quit aid (39% Both flavour (36% and health warnings (35% significantly predicted perceptions of product harm.  The findings indicate that consumers make trade offs with respect to e cigarette product characteristics, and that these trade offs vary across different subpopulations. Given that health warnings and flavour were weighted most important by consumers in this study, these may represent good targets for e cigarette regulatory frameworks.
University students' difficulties in solving application problems in calculus: Student perspectives
Year: 2010

This paper reports on the results of an observational parallel study conducted simultaneously at 2 universities one each in New Zealand and Germany. It deals with university engineering students' difficulties in the formulation step of solving a typical application problem from a first year calculus course. Two groups of students (54 in New Zealand and 50 in Germany) completed a questionnaire about their difficulties in solving the problem which was set as part of a mid semester test. The research endeavoured to find reasons most of the students could not use their knowledge to construct a simple function in a familiar context. It was neither lack of mathematics knowledge nor an issue with the context. The students' difficulties are analysed and presented along with their suggestions on how to improve their skills in solving application problems.
The Cross Sensory Globe: Participatory Design of a 3D Audio Tactile Globe Prototype for Blind and Low Vision Users to Learn Geography
Venue: Conference on Designing Interactive Systems
Year: 2019

We present our participatively and iteratively designed 3D audio tactile globe that enables blind and low vision users to perceive geo spatial information. Blind and low vision users rely on learning aids such as 2D tactile graphics, braille maps and 3D models to learn about geography. We employed participatory design as an approach to prototyping and evaluating four different iterations of a cross sensory globe that uses 3D detachable continents to provide geo spatial haptic information in combination with audio labels. Informed by our participatory design and evaluation, we discuss cross sensory educational aids as an alternative to visually oriented globes. Our findings reveal affordances of 3D tactile models for conveying concrete features of the Earth (such as varying elevations of landforms) and audio labels for conveying abstract categories about the Earth (such as continent names) We highlight the advantages of longitudinal participatory design that includes the lived experiences and DIY innovations of blind and low vision users and makers.
Humanizing and conducive to learning: an adolescent students' perspective on the central attributes of positive relationships with teachers
Venue: European Journal of Psychology of Education
Year: 2019

The aim of this qualitative study was to identify central attributes of positive relationships with teachers from the adolescent students' perspectives that could help delineate the meaning of student teacher connectedness while exploring to what extent its main attributes were similar or different in England and Spain. As part of the EU funded project "Well being among European youth: The contribution of student teacher relationships in the secondary school population" we conducted focus groups in England and Spain with 42 students aged 11 to 18 years. Using a bottom up approach for thematic analysis, we identified two main attributes that were linked to positive relationships with teachers as seen by our participating students from England and Spain: humanizing relationships in which the students are acknowledged and respected as individuals and feel understood and supported by their teachers; and relationships conducive to learning encompassing aspects such as a perception of a genuine commitment with their learning on the part of the teachers, a positive classroom management, and teachers motivating students. This study contributes to the conceptualization of student teacher connectedness and provides useful insights for teachers and educational professionals. In addition, the study findings pointed to the importance of power and authority dynamics in student teacher relationships that foster or undermine connectedness, and they revealed some cross cultural differences in the role of emotions in the class, two important aspects which deserve further attention in future research.
Interpretable Personalized Knowledge Tracing and Next Learning Activity Recommendation
Venue: L@S
Year: 2020

Online learning systems that provide actionable and personalized guidance can help learners make better decisions during learning. Bayesian Knowledge Tracing (BKT) extensions and deep learning based approaches have demonstrated improved mastery prediction accuracy compared to the basic BKT model; however, neither set of models provides actionable guidance on learning activities beyond mastery prediction. We propose a novel framework for personalized knowledge tracing with attention mechanism. Our proposed framework incorporates auxiliary learner attributes into knowledge tracing and interprets mastery prediction with the learning attributes. The proposed approach can also provide personalized next best learning activity recommendations. We demonstrate that the accuracy of the proposed approach in mastery prediction is slightly higher compared to deep learning based approaches and that the proposed approach can provide personalized next best learning activity recommendation.
Electrodeposition pulsee d'une electrode de sulfure de cobalt pour application dans une cellule solaire a pigment photosensible
Year: 2017

La demande energetique a travers le monde est grandissante et il serait souhaitable de developper les energies vertes comme les cellules solaires pour combler cette demande. Les cellules solaires convertissent directement l'energie du soleil en energie electrique. Plusieurs types de cellules ont ete developpes au cours des annees, mais dans ce travail, ce sont principalement les cellules solaires a pigment photosensible qui seront abordees. Ces cellules sont constituees de quatre composantes majeures un colorant adsorbe sur un materiau semi conducteur mesoporeux, un milieu electrolytique contenant un mediateur redox et une contre electrode. Un tres grand interet est porte aux cellules solaires a pigment photosensible du a leur bon rendement de conversion d'energie, leur faible cout de fabrication, leur utilisation efficace en lumiere diffuse et leur facilite de production a grande echelle. Malgre ces avantages, le platine utilise comme contre electrode dans ces cellules est instable dans le milieu electrolytique a base d'iode typiquement employe, en plus d'etre dispendieux. Pour remplacer le platine, une electrode de sulfure de cobalt est developpee dans ce travail. Le sulfure de cobalt est un bon catalyseur pour la reduction de l'espece oxydee contenue dans l'electrolyte; de plus, il est peu dispendieux. La methode de deposition de ce materiau est l'electrodeposition pulsee. Cette methode d'electrodeposition, qui est optimisee dans ce travail, est differente des techniques potentiostatiques usuellement utilisees. Plusieurs parametres ont ete varies, tel que le pH de la solution de deposition, le temps de deposition, le temps de pulse et le temps de pause. L'electrodeposition pulsee des films de CoxSy (composition determinee par la spectroscopie Raman et la spectroscopie du photoelectron X) sur un verre conducteur est realisee dans une solution de chlorure de cobalt et de thiouree. Les films deposes a partir d'une solution a pH 9, pendant 900 cycles, avec 1 s de pulse et 3 s de pause, demontrent les meilleures performances electrochimiques par voltamperometrie cyclique. Des cellules solaires ont ete fabriquees avec des contre electrodes de sulfure de cobalt selectionnees, pour determiner leurs parametres electriques et photovoltaiques. Des bons rendements ont ete obtenus, ce qui ouvre la porte au developpement de ce type d'electrodes pour les cellules solaires. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS CLES DE L'AUTEUR Cellules solaires a pigment photosensible, contre electrode, sulfure de cobalt, electrodeposition pulsee.