nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Radial vs. Cartesian Revisited: A Comparison of Space-Filling Visualizations

Radial visualization continues to be a popular design choice in information visualization systems, due perhaps in part to its aesthetic appeal. However, it is an open question whether radial visualizations are truly more effective than their Cartesian counterparts. In this paper, we describe an initial user trial from an ongoing empirical study of the SQiRL (Simple Query interface with a Radial Layout) visualization system, which supports both radial and Cartesian projections of stacked bar charts. Participants were shown 20 diagrams employing a mixture of radial and Cartesian layouts and were asked to perform basic analysis on each. The participants' speed and accuracy for both visualization types were recorded. Our initial findings suggest that, in spite of the widely perceived advantages of Cartesian visualization over radial visualization, both forms of layout are, in fact, equally usable. Moreover, radial visualization may have a slight advantage over Cartesian for certain tasks. In a follow-on study, we plan to test users' ability to create, as well as read and interpret, radial and Cartesian diagrams in SQiRL.
Design of Compensated Coupled-Stripline 3-dB Directional Couplers, Phase Shifters, and Magic-T's&#8212;Part II: Broadband Coupled-Line Circuits

The problem of discontinuities in broadband multisection coupled-stripline 3-dB directional couplers, phase shifters, high-pass tapered-line 3-dB directional couplers, and magic-T's, regarding the connections of coupled and terminating signal lines, is comprehensively investigated in this paper for the first time. The equivalent circuit of these discontinuities proposed in Part I has been used for accurate modeling of the broadband multisection and ultra-broadband high-pass coupled-stripline circuits. It has been shown that parasitic reactances, which result from the connections of signal and coupled lines, severely deteriorate the return losses and the isolation of such circuits and also-in case of tapered-line directional couplers-the coupling responses. Moreover, it has been proven theoretically and experimentally that these discontinuity effects can be substantially reduced by introducing compensating shunt capacitances in a number of cross sections of coupled and signal lines. Results of measurements carried out for various designed and manufactured coupled-line circuits have been very promising and have proven the efficiency of the proposed broadband compensation technique. The theoretical and measured data are given for the following coupled-stripline circuits: a decade-bandwidth asymmetric three-section 3-dB directional coupler, a decade-bandwidth three-section phase-shifter compensator, and a high-pass asymmetric tapered-line 3-dB coupler
Managing Secrets with Consensus Networks: Fairness, Ransomware and Access Control

In this work we investigate the problem of using public consensus networks – exemplified by systems like Ethereum and Bitcoin – to perform cryptographic functionalities that involve the manipulation of secret data, such as cryptographic access control. We consider a hybrid paradigm in which a secure client-side functionality manages cryptographic secrets, while an online consensus network performs public computation. Using this approach, we explore both the constructive and potentially destructive implications of such systems. We first show that this combination allows for the construction of stateful interactive functionalities (including general computation) from a stateless client-side functionality, which can be implemented using inexpensive trusted hardware or even purely cryptographic functionalities such as Witness Encryption. We then describe a number of practical applications that can be achieved today. These include rate limited mandatory logging; strong encrypted backups from weak passwords; enforcing fairness in multi-party computation; and destructive applications such as autonomous ransomware, which allows for payments without an online party.
Interconnections and Communications of Electric Vehicles and Smart Grids

Huge investigations have to be made by car and power companies to realize the electro-mobility and the corresponding infrastructure. One of the critical challenges with respect to the infrastructure is the setup and deployment of a future-proof common standard for smart grids. The charging process requires a smooth communication between electrical vehicles, the power supply equipment and the smart grid. In this regard, different kind of charging locations, the charging characteristic as well as several vehicle to grid stakeholders have to be considered. This paper discusses the vehicle to grid integration and gives an overview of the current ongoing working assumption in the international joint ISO/IEC standardization of the vehicle to grid communication interface (V2G CI). Furthermore, the paper shows an approach how this communication interface can be integrated into the smart grid communication. First project results are presented demonstrating the successful implementation of this approach.
PassPoints: Design and longitudinal evaluation of a graphical password system

Computer security depends largely on passwords to authenticate human users. However, users have difficulty remembering passwords over time if they choose a secure password, i.e. a password that is long and random. Therefore, they tend to choose short and insecure passwords. Graphical passwords, which consist of clicking on images rather than typing alphanumeric strings, may help to overcome the problem of creating secure and memorable passwords. In this paper we describe PassPoints, a new and more secure graphical password system. We report an empirical study comparing the use of PassPoints to alphanumeric passwords. Participants created and practiced either an alphanumeric or graphical password. The participants subsequently carried out three longitudinal trials to input their password over the course of 6 weeks. The results show that the graphical password users created a valid password with fewer difficulties than the alphanumeric users. However, the graphical users took longer and made more invalid password inputs than the alphanumeric users while practicing their passwords. In the longitudinal trials the two groups performed similarly on memory of their password, but the graphical group took more time to input a password.
t-DCF: a Detection Cost Function for the Tandem Assessment of Spoofing Countermeasures and Automatic Speaker Verification

The ASVspoof challenge series was born to spearhead research in anti-spoofing for automatic speaker verification (ASV). The two challenge editions in 2015 and 2017 involved the assessment of spoofing countermeasures (CMs) in isolation from ASV using an equal error rate (EER) metric. While a strategic approach to assessment at the time, it has certain shortcomings. First, the CM EER is not necessarily a reliable predictor of performance when ASV and CMs are combined. Second, the EER operating point is ill-suited to user authentication applications, e.g. telephone banking, characterised by a high target user prior but a low spoofing attack prior. We aim to migrate from CMto ASV-centric assessment with the aid of a new tandem detection cost function (t-DCF) metric. It extends the conventional DCF used in ASV research to scenarios involving spoofing attacks. The t-DCF metric has 6 parameters: (i) false alarm and miss costs for both systems, and (ii) prior probabilities of target and spoof trials (with an implied third, nontarget prior). The study is intended to serve as a self-contained, tutorial-like presentation. We analyse with the t-DCF a selection of top-performing CM submissions to the 2015 and 2017 editions of ASVspoof, with a focus on the spoofing attack prior. Whereas there is little to choose between countermeasure systems for lower priors, system rankings derived with the EER and t-DCF show differences for higher priors. We observe some ranking changes. Findings support the adoption of the DCFbased metric into the roadmap for future ASVspoof challenges, and possibly for other biometric anti-spoofing evaluations.
3D geographic scenes visualization based on WebGL

With the fast development of the Internet, the lightweight 3-dimension (3D) geographic scenes visualization system is expected to play more important roles in web-based GIS. Finding an effective solution to render 3D geospatial data has great significance in Cartography and Geographic Information Systems. The emergence of HTML5, as well as WebGL (Web Graphics Library), provides a new approach for 3D WebGIS. WebGL is a JavaScript API for rendering 3D graphics within compatible web browsers. Other plugins are no longer required for displaying 3D objects. WebGL is regarded as a part of new generation web standards and is completely integrated into most popular browsers. It allows GPU accelerated usage of physics and image processing. WebGL elements can be mixed with other HTML elements and composited with other parts of the page or page background. This paper discusses the design and implementation of a digital city roaming system based on WebGL technology. Users can make cartographic analysis, destination query, data query and map mark with the system in browsers. All 3D models in the scene are converted to glTF (GL Transmission Format), and can be used to load 3D scenes and models. For the complex scenes, this system only downloads the scene data within the current view using visibility culling techniques, then joins these data into the rendering queues. At the same time, the data request task is managed in queue by the management layer using prefetching strategy. On the client-side, a method is proposed to deal with occlusion culling based on the parameters of current scene, geometry shape and positional relation. The client-side removes the occluded model data from memory, while the remaining visible data is passed to the GPU rendering pipeline. Then the client-side renders the scene in browser according to the parameters of these glTF files. The experiment result shows that this system can smoothly render the city 3D scene in the browser without any plugins. The city roaming system based on WebGL shows a good interactive experience of 3D visualization for users. The paper provides a very effective and promising method for establishing 3D WebGIS realization.
Reactivation of genital herpes simplex virus type 2 infection in asymptomatic seropositive persons.

Most persons who have serologic evidence of infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 (HSV-2) are asymptomatic. Historically, it has been assumed that these persons have less frequent viral reactivation than those with symptomatic infection.



We conducted a prospective study to investigate genital shedding of HSV among 53 subjects who had antibodies to HSV-2 but who reported having no history of genital herpes, and we compared their patterns of viral shedding with those in a similar cohort of 90 subjects with symptomatic HSV-2 infection. Genital secretions of the subjects in both groups were sampled daily and cultured for HSV for a median of 94 days.



HSV was isolated from the genital mucosa in 38 of the 53 HSV-2-seropositive subjects (72 percent) who reported no history of genital herpes, and HSV DNA was detected by the polymerase-chain-reaction assay in cultures prepared from genital mucosal swabs in 6 additional subjects. The rate of subclinical shedding of HSV in the subjects with no reported history of genital herpes was similar to that in the subjects with such a history (3.0 percent vs. 2.7 percent). Of the 53 subjects who had no reported history of genital herpes, 33 (62 percent) subsequently reported having typical herpetic lesions; the duration of their recurrences in these subjects was shorter (median, three days vs. five days; P<0.001) and the frequency lower (median, 3.0 per year vs. 8.2 per year; P<0.001) than in the 90 subjects with previously diagnosed symptomatic infection. Only 1 of these 53 subjects had no clinical or virologic evidence of HSV infection.



Seropositivity for HSV-2 is associated with viral shedding in the genital tract, even in subjects with no reported history of genital herpes.
Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in pharmacy education - a trend

Pharmacy education has undergone a radical change as it evolves towards becoming a more patient oriented profession. With a greater emphasis on problem based teaching and competency, the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), supported by its reliability and validity became the gold standard for the evaluation of clinical skills of undergraduate students of medicine and pharmacy worldwide. Core competency evaluation has become a mandatory and critical norm for accountability of educational objectives as the traditional testing tools cannot evaluate clinical competence. Interpersonal and communication skills, professional judgment, skills of resolution etc., may be best assessed through a well- structured OSCE in comparison to oral examinations, multiple choice tests and other methods of assessment. Though OSCEs as an objective method of evaluation offer several advantages to both students and teachers, it also has disadvantages and pitfalls in implementation. This article reviews the OSCE as a trend in pharmacy education.
Complexity , economics , and public policy

This article considers the implications of complex systems models for the study of economics and the evaluation of public policies. I argue that complexity can enhance current approaches to formal economic analysis, but does so in ways that complement current approaches. I further argue that while complexity can influence how public policy analysis is conducted, it does not delimit the use of consequentialist approaches to policy comparison to the degree initially suggested by Hayek and most recently defended by Gaus.
Design of a 5-W power receiver for 6.78 MHz resonant wireless power transfer system with power supply switching circuit

A 6.78 MHz resonant wireless power transfer (WPT) system with a 5 W fully integrated power receiver is presented. A conventional low-dropout (LDO) linear regulator supplies power for operating the circuit in the power receiver. However, as the required operating current increases, the power consumption of the LDO regulator increases, which degrades the power efficiency. In order to increase the power efficiency of the receiver, this work proposes a power supply switching circuit (PSSC). When operation starts, the PSSC changes the power source from the low-efficiency LDO regulator to the high-efficiency step-down DC–DC converter. The LDO regulator operates only for initialization. This chip has been fabricated using 0.18 μm high-voltage bipolar– CMOS–DMOS (double-diffused metal–oxide–semiconductor) (BCD) technology with a die area of 2.5 mm x 2.5 mm. A maximum power transfer efficiency of 81% is measured.
Near-Optimal Equalizer and Timing Adaptation for I/O Links Using a BER-Based Metric

A new adaptation strategy of I/O link equalizers is presented based on minimizing the bit error rate (BER) as the objective function to maximize the receiver voltage margin. The adaptation strategy is verified in a 90-nm test chip on both the transmitter finite-impulse response filter (Tx-FIR) and the receiver decision-feedback equalizer (Rx-DFE). The performance is compared with the commonly used sign-sign least mean square (SS-LMS) adaptation and demonstrates significant improvements especially in the case of the Tx-FIR. This paper also demonstrates that in a highly attenuating system that contains both a Tx-FIR and Rx-DFE, using a Tx-FIR subject to peak output power constraint to compensate pre-cursor ISI is worse than solely using an Rx-DFE. The adaptation strategy is further applied to adapt the sampling phase of the clock-and-data recovery loop (CDR). The technique enables near-optimal BER performance by substantially reducing the pre-cursor ISI and requires almost no additional hardware compared to SS-LMS adaptation.
Gut-liver axis at the frontier of host-microbial interactions.

Liver and intestine are tightly linked through the venous system of the portal circulation. Consequently, the liver is the primary recipient of gut-derived products, most prominently dietary nutrients and microbial components. It functions as a secondary "firewall" and protects the body from intestinal pathogens and other microbial products that have crossed the primary barrier of the intestinal tract. Disruption of the intestinal barrier enhances microbial exposure of the liver, which can have detrimental or beneficial effects in the organ depending on the specific circumstances. Conversely, the liver also exerts influence over intestinal microbial communities via secretion of bile acids and IgA antibodies. This mini-review highlights key findings and concepts in the area of host-microbial interactions as pertinent to the bilateral communication between liver and gut and highlights the concept of the gut-liver axis.
Gaze+Gesture: Expressive, Precise and Targeted Free-Space Interactions

Humans rely on eye gaze and hand manipulations extensively in their everyday activities. Most often, users gaze at an object to perceive it and then use their hands to manipulate it. We propose applying a multimodal, gaze plus free-space gesture approach to enable rapid, precise and expressive touch-free interactions. We show the input methods are highly complementary, mitigating issues of imprecision and limited expressivity in gaze-alone systems, and issues of targeting speed in gesture-alone systems. We extend an existing interaction taxonomy that naturally divides the gaze+gesture interaction space, which we then populate with a series of example interaction techniques to illustrate the character and utility of each method. We contextualize these interaction techniques in three example scenarios. In our user study, we pit our approach against five contemporary approaches; results show that gaze+gesture can outperform systems using gaze or gesture alone, and in general, approach the performance of "gold standard" input systems, such as the mouse and trackpad.
Histone H2A monoubiquitination promotes histone H3 methylation in Polycomb repression

A key step in gene repression by Polycomb is trimethylation of histone H3 K27 by PCR2 to form H3K27me3. H3K27me3 provides a binding surface for PRC1. We show that monoubiquitination of histone H2A by PRC1-type complexes to form H2Aub creates a binding site for Jarid2–Aebp2–containing PRC2 and promotes H3K27 trimethylation on H2Aub nucleosomes. Jarid2, Aebp2 and H2Aub thus constitute components of a positive feedback loop establishing H3K27me3 chromatin domains.
Wide-band high-efficiency printed loop antenna design for wireless communication systems

A new wide-band high-efficiency coplanar waveguide-fed printed loop antenna is presented for wireless communication systems in this paper. By adjusting geometrical parameters, the proposed antenna can easily achieve a wide bandwidth. To optimize the antenna performances, a parametric study was conducted with the aid of a commercial software, and based on the optimized geometry, a prototype was designed, fabricated, and tested. The simulated and measured results confirmed that the proposed antenna can operate at (1.68-2.68 GHz) band and at (1.46-2.6 GHz) band with bandwidth of 1 and 1.14 GHz, respectively. Moreover, the antenna has a nearly omnidirectional radiation pattern with a reasonable gain and high efficiency. Due to the above characteristics, the proposed antenna is very suitable for applications in PCS and IMT2000 systems.
The impact of Synergy Model on nurses’ performance and the satisfaction of patients with acute coronary syndrome

Despite many progresses in the improvement of care status and the management of acute coronary syndrome, cares quality is far from the desirable conditions. Today, due to the great emphasis on resources management, costs control, the effectiveness of patient care, improving quality and responsibility, the good patient care is necessary. Two dimensions are referred for improving the quality: process (standard- based and safe services) and resultant (client satisfaction). The present study, aimed at determining the impact of Synergy Model on nurses' performance and the satisfaction of the patients with acute coronary syndrome.



In a quasi- experimental study in a two-group and two-step form, a sample of 22 nurses and 64 patients with acute coronary syndrome in cardiac intensive care units of some university hospitals in 2010-2011 were recruited. Synergy Model was explained and carried out for the studied groups in a workshop and its impact on nurses performance in different areas and patients' satisfaction was examined by using two checklists: examining the nurses' performance quality and examining the patients satisfaction.



Differences between the mean scores of the nurses in communicative, supportive, care and educational domains and total performance were statistically significant before and after the intervention (p < 0.001). However, in therapeutic domain, changes were not significant. There was a statistically significant difference between the average satisfaction score of the two groups (p < 0.001).



Applying Synergy Model as a basis for receiving nursing cares was effective in increasing patient satisfaction and in the performance of nurses of cardiac intensive care units.
Learning task-specific models for dexterous, in-hand manipulation with simple, adaptive robot hands

In this paper, we propose a hybrid methodology based on a combination of analytical, numerical and machine learning methods for performing dexterous, in-hand manipulation with simple, adaptive robot hands. A constrained optimization scheme utilizes analytical models that describe the kinematics of adaptive hands and classic conventions for modelling quasistatically the manipulation problem, providing intuition about the problem mechanics. A machine learning (ML) scheme is used in order to split the problem space, deriving task-specific models that account for difficult to model, dynamic phenomena (e.g., slipping). In this respect, the ML scheme: 1) employs the simulation module in order to explore the feasible manipulation paths for a specific hand-object system, 2) feeds the feasible paths to an experimental setup that collects manipulation data in an automated fashion, 3) uses clustering techniques in order to group together similar manipulation trajectories, 4) trains a set of task-specific manipulation models and 5) uses classification techniques in order to trigger a task-specific model based on the user provided task specifications. The efficacy of the proposed methodology is experimentally validated using various adaptive robot hands in 2D and 3D in-hand manipulation tasks.
Embedding Covert Channels into TCP/IP

It is commonly believed that steganography within TCP/IP is easily achieved by embedding data in header fields seemingly filled with “random” data, such as the IP identifier, TCP initial sequence number (ISN) or the least significant bit of the TCP timestamp. We show that this is not the case; these fields naturally exhibit sufficient structure and non-uniformity to be efficiently and reliably differentiated from unmodified ciphertext. Previous work on TCP/IP steganography does not take this into account and, by examining TCP/IP specifications and open source implementations, we have developed tests to detect the use of näıve embedding. Finally, we describe reversible transforms that map block cipher output onto TCP ISNs, indistinguishable from those generated by Linux and OpenBSD. The techniques used can be extended to other operating systems. A message can thus be hidden so that an attacker cannot demonstrate its existence without knowing a secret key.