SelfCheck: Using LLMs to Zero-Shot Check Their Own Step-by-Step Reasoning

The recent progress in large language models (LLMs), especially the invention of chain-of-thoughts (CoT) prompting, makes it possible to solve reasoning problems. However, even the strongest LLMs are still struggling with more complicated problems that require non-linear thinking and multi-step reasoning. In this work, we explore whether LLMs have the ability to recognize their own errors, without resorting to external resources. In particular, we investigate whether they can be used to identify individual errors within a step-by-step reasoning. To this end, we propose a zero-shot verification scheme to recognize such errors. We then use this verification scheme to improve question-answering performance, by using it to perform weighted voting on different generated answers. We test the method on three math datasets-GSM8K, MathQA, and MATH-and find that it successfully recognizes errors and, in turn, increases final predictive performance

Relationship between nutrient pollutants and suspended sediments in upper reaches of Yangtze River

AbstractIn order to study the relationship between nutrient pollutants and suspended sediments (SS) in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and two tributaries, water samples were collected from September 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011 at the Zhutuo, Cuntang, Beibei, Wulong, Qingxichang, Wanxian, and Fengjie cross-sections. In the laboratory, the SS concentration and the concentration of SS whose particle size was smaller than 0.02 mm were measured. The phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), and permanganate index (CODMn) concentrations in the natural water sample, the settled water sample, and two types of filtered water samples obtained through filter membranes with pore sizes of 0.02 mm and 0.45 μm were monitored synchronously. The results show that there are strong relationships between the P and CODMn concentrations and the SS concentration. P mainly exists in particulate form, while N mainly exists in dissolved form. SS whose particle size is smaller than 0.02 mm accounts for a high proportion of sediments in the Yangtze River and has a strong effect on water quality. At the seven cross-sections, the amounts of P, N, and CODMn in particulate form in the wet season are higher than in the dry season and the adsorption amounts of P, N, and CODMn per unit mass of sediment are higher in the dry season than in the wet season

(S)-2-(1-Methyl­indolin-2-yl)-1,3-diphenyl­propan-2-ol

The five-membered ring in the the title mol­ecule, C24H25NO, fused with the phenyl­ene ring, is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.023 Å), with the methyl­ene C atom deviating most from this mean plane [0.031 (1) Å]. The tertiary N atom shows a flattened pyramidal configuration [Σ(angles at N) = 350.3 (6)°]