bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Open Knowledge Maps: Creating a Visual Interface to the World’s Scientific Knowledge Based on Natural Language Processing
Authors: Kraker Peter , Kittel Christopher , Enkhbayar Asura
Published: January 2021

The goal of Open Knowledge Maps is to create a visual interface to the world’s scientific knowledge. The base for this visual interface consists of so-called knowledge maps, which enable the exploration of existing knowledge and the discovery of new knowledge. Our open source knowledge mapping software applies a mixture of summarization techniques and similarity measures on article metadata, which are iteratively chained together. After processing, the representation is saved in a database for use in a web visualization. In the future, we want to create a space for collective knowledge mapping that brings together individuals and communities involved in exploration and discovery. We want to enable people to guide each other in their discovery by collaboratively annotating and modifying the automatically created maps.Das Ziel von Open Knowledge Map ist es, ein visuelles Interface zum wissenschaftlichen Wissen der Welt bereitzustellen. Die Basis für die dieses Interface sind sogenannte “knowledge maps”, zu deutsch Wissenslandkarten. Wissenslandkarten ermöglichen die Exploration bestehenden Wissens und die Entdeckung neuen Wissens. Unsere Open Source Software wendet für die Erstellung der Wissenslandkarten eine Reihe von Text Mining Verfahren iterativ auf die Metadaten wissenschaftlicher Artikel an. Die daraus resultierende Repräsentation wird in einer Datenbank für die Anzeige in einer Web-Visualisierung abgespeichert. In Zukunft wollen wir einen Raum für das kollektive Erstellen von Wissenslandkarten schaffen, der die Personen und Communities, welche sich mit der Exploration und Entdeckung wissenschaftlichen Wissens beschäftigen, zusammenbringt. Wir wollen es den NutzerInnen ermöglichen, einander in der Literatursuche durch kollaboratives Annotieren und Modifizieren von automatisch erstellten Wissenslandkarten zu unterstützen.
The legal implications of providing information services in PUL in Kenya
Authors: Waigumo Mathangani Salome , Otike Japheth
Published: January 2021

This is a research paper on Public University Libraries (PULs) which are charged with the responsibility of providing the university community with information for the parent institutions’ core activities of teaching, learning, study and research. In carrying out this responsibility, PULs have to address issues of law as these relate to the provision of information services. The purpose of this study was to investigate the legal implications of providing information services in public university libraries in Kenya. The study applied the qualitative methodology but also used a limited application of quantitative approach with issues of statistical significance. Basing on a sample of 77 librarians from public universities libraries, data was collected and analyzed using the narrative method. The study established the actual and potential implications of laws that support information (UDHR, CK, FOI, IFLA and WSIS declarations) and those that put limits to information (Copyright law, penal code, Official Secrets Act). Although librarians were knowledgeable and had skills regarding their work, evidence from the study showed that they needed to extend their knowledge and understanding in the area of laws that have implications on the provision of information as a way of enhancing their work. In conclusion the paper notes that there is scope for librarians, using their wealth of knowledge and expertise, to seek interaction with policy makers and make relevant and useful contribution on law and information. These findings are significant in that they give general direction with regard to law and the provision of information services. The research highlights the importance for librarians to create links with policy makers in order to set up a relationship with mutual benefits.
Umgang mit Sparprogrammen in öffentlichen Verwaltungen der Schweiz
Authors: Sutter Emilio
Published: January 2021

In öffentlichen Verwaltungen der Schweiz und ihren internen und angegliederten Betrieben werden hin und wieder Sparprogramme durchgeführt. Als Teil der öffentlichen Verwaltung Kanton Basel-Stadt wird exemplarisch für die Universitätsbibliothek Basel aufgezeigt, welche Optimierungsmethoden beim Umgang mit einem allfälligen Sparprogramm in Frage kommen könnten. Es sind Optimierungsmethoden, welche im Hinblick auf die Einführung des „Neuen Führungsmodells Bund 2017 (NFB 17)“ bei der Schulung von höheren Kadern der Bundesverwaltung von 2013 bis 2016 prioritär zu Grunde gelegt wurden.

In Swiss public administrations and their organizational units, savings programs may be implemented from time to time. As part of the public administration of Basel, the Basel University Library was chosen to show examples of which methods could be considered for a potential savings program. These methods were given priority with regard to the introduction of the “Neues Führungsmodell Bund 2017 (NFB 17)” in the training of senior cadres of the Federal Administration from 2013 to 2016.
Endstation Fitnessstudio? Die Situation der britischen Bibliotheken im Nachhall der Finanzkrise
Authors: Güntzel Lennart
Published: January 2021

Der Artikel beleuchtet die Sparmassnahmen in Grossbritannien seit Ausbruch der Finanzkrise 2008 und ihre Auswirkungen auf das Bibliothekswesen. Nach der Regierungsübernahme der Konservativen Partei 2010 wurde ein rigoroses Sparprogramm initiiert, das die verschiedenen Bibliothekstypen in unterschiedlichem Maße betraf: Für die kommunal finanzierten Public Libraries hatten sie verheerende, teils existenzielle Auswirkungen, die Nationalbibliotheken waren ebenfalls stark, wenn auch unterschiedlich betroffen. Die Universitätsbibliotheken hingegen kamen etwas besser durch die Krise, vor allem weil ihre Trägerorganisationen die fehlenden staatlichen Mittel durch die Erhöhung von Studiengebühren ausgleichen konnten.

The article analyzes the impact of the Austerity Programme on the different types of libraries of the United Kingdom, initiated by the Conservative Party in 2010. For the Public Libraries it had severe consequences that resulted in closings in many cases. While the development of the National Libraries wasn’t totally equal, they suffered budget cuttings and staff reduction as well, while the University Libraries went through the crisis quite unharmed, mainly because their mother organizations managed to compensate cuttings of public funding by raising tuition fees.
Ein Modell für die Zeit nach Corona: Die Hybridisierung nicht nur von Kollektionen, sondern auch dem 3. Ort?
Authors: Seeliger Frank
Published: January 2021

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Editorial: Corona-Splitter
Authors: Tréfás David
Published: January 2021

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Applying an ecological framework to examine the multiple levels of influence affecting the utilisation of private sector adult asthma services in Khartoum, Sudan: a mixed methods study
Authors: Thomson Rachael , Noor Magde , Elsony Asma
Published: January 2021

Background: Asthma is the third most common cause of hospital visits in Sudan. Sudan has a pluralistic health care system, with a strong and varied private sector. While research examining public sector asthma services exists, very little is known about which asthma services are available in the private sector.  

Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed-method social ecological approach was used to examine influencing factors of asthma service utilisation in the private sector, considering five levels: policy, organisational, community, familial, individual environment. Quantitative research involved surveying private healthcare facilities to describe asthma services. Qualitative research involved in-depth interviews with asthma patients to explore facility decision-making. Nine private chest clinics, 44 pharmacies, and 21 private hospitals offering asthma services in Khartoum were studied - 46 female and 28 male health providers were surveyed; 7 male and 7 female asthma patients were interviewed.  

Results: At the health policy level, there is no current asthma management policy for the private sector. At the organisational and health systems level, the survey found low rates of diagnostic equipment available, little asthma-specific training, and little use of asthma treatment cards, guidelines, and registers. At the community level, high levels of stigma from the community were felt by most of the patients interviewed. At the familial level, asthma was often viewed as a hereditary condition, and, as a long-term condition, there were worries about marriage potential and impact on jobs/future activities. At the individual level, patients sought frequent, short-term care at private facilities for acute attacks. The severity of the disease and the major impact it had, particularly on younger adults’, was striking.  

Conclusions: Applying an ecological framework to examine asthma care management enables review of all levels of service provision: inclusive health policy, government commitment, high quality service delivery, uninterrupted affordable drug supply, community involvement, and patient empowerment.
Current management of adults receiving oral anti-cancer medications: A scoping review protocol
Authors: Richmond Janice , Kelly Mary Grace , Johnston Alison , Hynes Lisa , Murphy Patrick J. , Murphy Andrew W.
Published: January 2021

Oncology has been undergoing a profound transition in the last ten years or more with the increase in oral anti-cancer medications. Approximately 25% of all anti-cancer medication is now designed for oral use and this is likely to increase prospectively. These treatments are convenient for patients and are often preferred by them, yet there are similar safely and toxicity concerns as there are to intravenous treatment. Oral anti-cancer medications (OAMs) have the potential to alleviate capacity issues in cancer treating units as patients receive their treatment at home, however there remains a requirement for safe and efficient assessment and care. Consequently, the management of patients on oral anti-cancer is of paramount importance but as to the location of such patient assessment and monitoring and by which health care professional is subject to ongoing debate. 

This paper presents a protocol for a scoping review which aims to systematically and comprehensively map the available literature on the current management of adults receiving oral anti-cancer medications. The scoping review will follow the published guidance to direct the various steps involved. The report will be guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) framework to ensure methodological and reporting quality.  The review will be performed by two reviewers and checked by a third reviewer and will be iterative in the process.

This scoping review will provide a narrative synthesis and map the extent of available literature on the management of individuals receiving oral anti-cancer medication. This work is an appropriate initial stage in presenting the literature to inform the subsequent steps in a multi-phased research study which aims to establish and analyse the safety and efficacy of an integrated care model for the management of patients receiving OAM in the community by an advanced nurse.
A AUTORIDADE DA LEI E O ESPANTO (OU A FALTA DE) EM CONTOS DE MURILO RUBIÃO
Authors: Bastos Alcmeno
Published: January 2021

Resumo: Estudiosos dos contos de Murilo Rubião destacam o fato de que as personagens não se espantam com a natureza absurda dos acontecimentos nos quais estão envolvidas. Este artigo propõe que se considere mais importante o fato de as personagens, independentemente de se espantarem ou não, serem submetidas à vigência de uma “lei” implacável, que provém de uma autoridade desconhecida, para quem não importa se as pessoas são “culpadas” ou “inocentes”.
PELO DE HOMEM, PELE DE BICHO: MURILO RUBIÃO E A RE-CONFIGURAÇÃO DO FANTÁSTICO
Authors: Garcia Marília Westin O. , Zular Roberto
Published: January 2021

O presente artigo, baseado na dissertação “Corpos à deriva: literatura e animalidade em Murilo Rubião”, busca apresentar outras possibilidades de leitura do fantástico. No cruzamento entre literatura e antropologia, surge o questionamento das normatividades em jogo nos contos rubianos cujo personagem animal adquire papel de centralidade, abrindo espaço para a investigação das formas de humanidade acionadas pela animalidade, colocadas aqui em posição de centralidade, bem como das suas consequências políticas para o fazer literário.
MURILO RUBIÃO CONTEMPORANEIDADE E CONCLAVES DA IMAGINAÇÃO: UM OLHAR PARA MARINA A INTANGÍVEL
Authors: Cunha Maria Zilda da
Published: January 2021

Murilo Rubião (1916-1991), representante do fantástico no Brasil, sempre enfatizou que muitos dos elementos de fabulação presentes na sua ficção provêm das leituras realizadas na infância e juventude – obras como A Bíblia, As mil e uma noites, contos de fadas, a mitologia grega, o Velho Testamento e o romance Dom Quixote, e a obra do mestre Machado de Assis, e de Poe figuram em seus testemunhos. De fato, é possível divisar, nos escritos murilianos, índices muito potentes de uma rica constelação de narrativas e de imagens que dessas reverberam. A análise de seu acervo concede-nos o perfil do autor mineiro como um guardião zeloso de memórias de si e de pessoas que com ele partilharam sentimento e ideias. A obsessiva reescrita do autor mineiro é uma marca importante de sua produção. Assim como o é a economia, a sintaxe sem ruídos, o apuro gramatical e a aproximação com o absurdo – aspectos que ocorrem em conformidade com uma narrativa fraturante - que nos leva a vislumbrar, pelas frestas de uma escritura impecável, a obscuridade, a fragmentalidade, as relações afectais e as profanações do nosso contemporâneo. Com vistas ao exame desses diálogos e à semiose criativa que preside tal processo, busca-se perscrutar alguns eventos que sinalizam a tessitura ficcional do autor, pelo viés da Semiótica Peirceana e dos Estudos Comparados de Literatura, que nos facultam a correlação entre Literatura e outras artes, de certa forma, contemplada no curso deste artigo. Entre os 33 de seus contos publicados, selecionamos, aqui, para um olhar mais atento: Marina a Intangível.
Making bladder management a priority in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Thomas Sue
Published: January 2021

Multiple sclerosis can result in uro-neurological dysfunction, leading to a range of different urological problems that are distressing to the patient and costly for the NHS. Sue Thomas outlines the more common problems and assessment and management solutions that may alleviate both negative patient experience and the financial burden of urinary dysfunction.
Risk factors for relapse in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis
Authors: Hill James , Harrison Joanna , Palmer Karen
Published: January 2021

Relapsing remitting is the most common type of multiple sclerosis, affecting approximately 85% of all patients. Previous evidence has suggested that the risk factors for developing relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis is multifactorial. Similarly, it has been suggested that these factors also influence the risk of relapse. This article critically appraises and evaluates a systematic review that examined multiple factors associated with the risk of relapse for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.
The effects of a humeral head posterior gliding strategy on changes in muscle activities of the infraspinatus during external rotation of the shoulder
Authors: Yu II-Young , Kim Soo-Yong , Kang Min-Hyeok
Published: January 2021

Background/aims

It is important that shoulder rehabilitation programmes incorporate exercises that selectively activate the infraspinatus. In this study, changes in infraspinatus and posterior deltoid electromyography activity during a sitting external rotation exercise with and without the use of a humeral head posterior gliding strategy were investigated.

Methods

A total of 12 healthy men participated in this study. The activity of the infraspinatus and posterior deltoid was measured during the sitting external rotation exercise, performed with and without humeral head posterior gliding. Differences in the electromyography activity of the infraspinatus and posterior deltoid, with and without humeral head posterior gliding, were analysed using paired t-tests.

Results

Infraspinatus activity was significantly higher with humeral head posterior gliding than without it (P<0.001). Conversely, posterior deltoid activity was significantly lower with humeral head posterior gliding compared to without it (P<0.001).

Conclusions

Based on these results, humeral head posterior gliding is recommended for the selective activation of the infraspinatus when performing shoulder external rotation exercises, with the shoulder abducted at 90°.
Physiotherapy for neck pain in the horse
Authors: Tabor Gillian
Published: January 2021

This review presents the physiotherapy approach to assessment and treatment of neck pain in horses, supporting veterinary care as part of a multidisciplinary team. Horses with neck pain form a high percentage of veterinary physiotherapists' caseloads and physiotherapists are trained in specific assessment strategies to identify functional limitations in this region. After investigation and veterinary intervention, physiotherapy care can address factors such as pain, reduced range of motion and muscle weakness. Through the selection of appropriate manual therapy techniques and prescription of therapeutic exercises, a physiotherapist can assist restoring function and performance in the cervical region. Physiotherapy treatment of the neck should occur, along with consideration of the whole horse's musculoskeletal function, to support the veterinary medical or surgical intervention.
Modified Sauve-Kapandji Procedure for Management of Distal Radioulnar Joint Synostosis - A Case Report
Authors: Khanna Vikram
Published: January 2021

Case: An 18-year-old male patient came to us with restricted pronation and supination. He gave a history of fall 10 years back. The skin on the dorsal and solar aspect of the distal forearm had a secondarily healed contracture. On X-ray, distal radio-ulnar synostosis was seen. Ulnar bone excision was done in the diaphyseal region. Full pronation and supination were achieved after excision in the operation theatre.
Conclusion: The use of ulnar excision is a simple and effective way to achieve an adequate functional outcome with low risk of recurrence of the synostosis.
Musculoskeletal Pain in Students Under COVID-19 Conditions – A Translational Meta-Synthesis for Personalised Rehabilitation
Authors: Mastnak Wolfgang
Published: January 2021

Background and objective: During the era of COVID-19 narrative data have given evidence of musculoskeletal discomfort and pain in students and causal connections with modes of distance learning as well as psychosocial stress and despair are likely. This phenomenon appears underrepresented in medical research and efficient support is needed. The present article elucidates complex pathogenic factors and suggests self-regulation techniques for curative and rehabilitative purposes.
Methods: On the basis of empirical, psychophysiological and narrative data the present translational systemic meta-synthesis constructs a theoretical framework to elucidate musculoskeletal discomfort and pain in students under COVID-19 distance learning conditions.
Results: Remote learning in higher education entails two interconnected risk conditions. Excessive use of non-ergonomic notebook-based participation in classes goes hand in hand with ‘poor’ posture, neck tension and tight shoulders, muscle stiffness caused by immobility and eye strain headache. In addition to the adverse influence of excessive sedentary academic work on the students’ mood and emotional wellbeing, a complex cluster of negative psychosocial conditions affects the musculoskeletal system: COVID-19 related anxieties, mental stress, anger and feelings of helplessness as well as social isolation and loneliness. Taking these pathogenic factors and previous studies on sports-based self-regulation techniques to modulate musculoskeletal pain into account, a curative and rehabilitative model for affected and/or at-risk students is suggested.
Discussion: Mono-causal and inflexible study designs of evidence based medicine seem to be unable to adequately represent the complex COVID-19 phenomenon and advanced techniques of dynamic systemic simulation gain momentum. This requires a new awareness of epistemology in medical and public health areas alongside enhanced translational research. From a practical perspective universities should enhance heath promoting and rehabilitative support which is tailored to control prevalent pathogenic conditions in students. This also brings challenges of post-COVID-19 issues and future pandemics into play. Controversial political and medical views as well as conflicting arguments about the suitability of measures and multifarious ‘collateral damage’ call for ideology-free and science-based collaboration.
Vocational Students’ Ways of Handling the Academic/Vocational Divide
Authors: Ferm Lisa
Published: January 2021

Purpose: The focus of this article is on Swedish vocational students’ own thoughts about different types of knowledge and how these thoughts relate to the forming of their vocational identities. The article reports on a study which investigates how vocational students handle the division between theoretical and practical knowledge as they learn to become skilled industrial workers. Theoretical and practical knowledge are often presented as dichotomies in a hierarchy, where theoretical knowledge is more highly valued than practical knowledge. The division between theoretical and practical knowledge is known in research as "the academic/vocational divide". This divide is particularly relevant to vocational students, as they need to deal with both types of knowledge as they navigate between the contexts of school and work.Methods: This study is part of a research project on vocational students’ learning and identity formation. The empirical material is based on qualitative interviews with 44 students enrolled on the industrial programme at Swedish upper secondary schools.Findings: The study revealed three different ways in which vocational students handled the academic/vocational divide: Placing higher value on practical knowledge than on theoretical knowledge, reinforcing the separation between school and work, and selecting theoretical subjects as useful tools for the future. Conclusions: Two conclusions drawn from the study are that students are aware of the status differences and divisions between practical and theoretical knowledge, and that they handle the academic/vocational divide in an active manner. Students make choices that will help them form a vocational identity or that will give them opportunities for further education and alternative careers. This article challenges and contradicts the image of vocational students as unmotivated and unintellectual, instead portraying them as knowledgeable actors who make strategic choices for their future and are active in forming vocational identities within vocations that require deep and advanced knowledge.
Reimagining Narratives of Resistance: Memory Work in the London Tamil Diaspora
Authors: Seoighe Rachel
Published: January 2021

This article explores memory-making practice in a small section of the London Tamil diaspora, the shaping and reshaping of memories of state crime and resistance, and the potential and challenges of this memory work in the context of a globalized and criminalized justice struggle. The Tamil Information Centre's “Tamils of Lanka: a Timeless Heritage” exhibition is discussed as an intervention into Tamil memory practices in London as a necessary, enlivening and hopeful departure from an increasingly dispirited reliance on street protest, a supplement to protest, political lobbying and accountability efforts, and a new space for community-based mourning rituals. Mobilizing the concept of “memory knots” (Stern 2010), this article explores the radical shift in commemorative practice in 2019 pioneered by TIC volunteers, relying on interviews with exhibition organizers in their role as memory workers, and reflects on the potential of this public invitation to reimagine the past as one of resistance and resilience. The latter part of this article explores the contestations and contradictions that emerged in the exhibition organizing process; the damage wrought by prevailing terrorism discourses on community memory comes into view. I argue that the exhibition, as a process and an invitation, signals a new appetite for historical excavation and a reimagining of Tamil resistance.
Perceptions of Blameworthiness and Punitiveness Towards Government Officials and Business Executives in State-Corporate Crime Cases
Authors: Michel Cedric
Published: January 2021

The concept of state-corporate crime is conspicuously missing from recent state-funded surveys of public attitudes towards white-collar and corporate crime. While these studies have reported increased condemnation of upper-class offenders, the scenarios used to elicit subjects' reactions did not specifically describe collusion between political and economic institutions. As a result, little is known about how the polity's role in encouraging or assisting corporate malfeasance may influence popular sentiments such as blame attribution and perceptions of just deserts. The present study asked 231 Facebook users to read two scenarios inspired by actual state-corporate crime cases, one in which the government initiated the offence, and another in which it merely facilitated the company's actions. After reading both scenarios, the respondents were asked to rate the blameworthiness of companies and government agencies and choose adequate punishments for key decision-makers. Results of statistical analyses suggest that the subjects were sensitive to variation in the role played by the state. The government was considered more blameworthy and deserving of tougher punishments when it initiated corporate wrongdoing, although a majority of participants felt that political and economic forces in both cases were equally to blame. These findings suggest that public opinion research should be used to engage the citizenry in evidence-informed policymaking by identifying commonly agreed upon solutions to state-corporate crime.
Longitudinal and transverse optical scattering asymmetry parameters for a dielectric cylinder in light-sheets of arbitrary wavefronts and polarization
Authors: Mitri F. G.
Published: January 2021

The asymmetry parameter is an important quantity used in radiative transfer modeling and scattering. This parameter specifies the amount of energy scattered by the particle along the direction of the incident illuminating field. However, a rigorous and complete analysis of the energetic scattering requires determining the energy scattered in the lateral direction as well. As such, the present work introduces generalized expressions for the scattering asymmetry parameters for a dielectric cylinder in arbitrary-shaped light-sheets, both along and perpendicular to the direction of the incident radiation. Both longitudinal and transverse scattering asymmetry parameters are defined, and their generalized expressions are obtained based on the (spatial) average cosine and sine of the scattering angle

θ

and the expression of the scattering cross section (or energy efficiency). The partial-wave series expansion method in cylindrical coordinates is used, and the resulting mathematical expressions depend on the beam-shaped coefficients and the scattering coefficients of the dielectric cylinder. Numerical results for arbitrary-shaped light-sheets illuminating a dielectric cylinder cross section located arbitrarily in space are presented and discussed. The longitudinal and transverse scattering asymmetry parameters defined here offer additional quantitative (quadratic) observables for the analysis of the energetic scattering in applications in electromagnetic scattering, optical light-sheet tweezers, radiative transfer computations, and remote sensing, to name a few examples.
High-resolution, broadly-tunable mid-IR spectroscopy using a continuous wave optical parametric oscillator
Authors: Foote David B. , Cich Matthew J. , Hurlbut Walter C. , Eismann Ulrich , Heiniger Adam T. , Haimberger Chris
Published: January 2021

We report on the design and automation of a mid-infrared, continuous wave, singly-resonant optical parametric oscillator. Hands-free controls and the implementation of a tuning algorithm allowed for hundreds of nanometers of continuous, effective-mode-hop-free tuning over the range of 2190-4000 nm. To demonstrate the applicability of this light source and algorithm to mid-IR spectroscopy, we performed a sample spectroscopy measurement in a C2H2 gas cell and compared the experimentally-measured absorption spectrum to HITRAN 2016 simulations. We found excellent agreement with simulation in both peak heights and peak centers; we also report a reduced uncertainty in peak centers compared to simulation.
Single-photon imaging over 200  km
Authors: Li Zheng-Ping , Ye Jun-Tian , Huang Xin , Jiang Peng-Yu , Cao Yuan , Hong Yu , Yu Chao , Zhang Jun , Zhang Qiang , Peng Cheng-Zhi , Xu Feihu , Pan Jian-Wei
Published: January 2021

Long-range active imaging has widespread applications in remote sensing and target recognition. Single-photon light detection and ranging (lidar) has been shown to have high sensitivity and temporal resolution. On the application front, however, the operating range of practical single-photon lidar systems is limited to about tens of kilometers over the Earth’s atmosphere, mainly due to the weak echo signal mixed with high background noise. Here, we present a compact coaxial single-photon lidar system capable of realizing 3D imaging at up to 201.5 km. It is achieved by using high-efficiency optical devices for collection and detection, and what we believe is a new noise-suppression technique that is efficient for long-range applications. We show that photon-efficient computational algorithms enable accurate 3D imaging over hundreds of kilometers with as few as 0.44 signal photons per pixel. The results represent a significant step toward practical, low-power lidar over extra-long ranges.
Nonlinear photonic crystals: from 2D to 3D
Authors: Zhang Yong , Sheng Yan , Zhu Shining , Xiao Min , Krolikowski Wieslaw
Published: January 2021

Nonlinear photonic crystals are microstructures with quadratic nonlinearity (

χ

(
2
)

) that have been extensively used for the generation and control of coherent light at new frequencies. Thanks to the recent invention of 3D

χ

(
2
)

-nonlinearity engineering techniques using femtosecond laser pulses, studies of intense light interaction with 3D nonlinear photonic crystals are now experimentally feasible. Here we review the latest research advances in nonlinear photonic crystals, focusing especially on the fabrication, characterization, and application of 3D structures. We also discuss the future development of 3D nonlinear photonic crystals with properties and functionalities that are either difficult or virtually impossible to achieve with lower dimensional structures.
The knowledge and practice towards COVID-19 pandemic prevention among residents of Ethiopia. An online cross-sectional study
Authors: Bekele Daniel , Tolossa Tadesse , Tsegaye Reta , Teshome Wondesen
Published: January 2021

Background

The disease from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been considered as an international concern and a pandemic starting from the declaration of the World Health Organization (WHO) as an outbreak disease.

Objective

The objective of this study is to assess the prevention of knowledge and practices towards the COVID-19 pandemic among the residents of Ethiopia.

Methods

An online cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of Ethiopian residents via social platforms of the author’s network with popular social media such as Facebook, Telegram, and email. The snowball sampling was employed to recruit participants. In doing so, we collected the responses of 341 participants successfully from April 15 to 22, 2020. The collected data were analyzed by STATA version 14 software and descriptive statistics were employed to summarize the knowledge and practices of the community towards the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

The majority of respondents 80.5% were male. About 91.2% of the participants heard about the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, out of 341 participants 90.0%, 93.8% of them knew that the COVID-19 pandemic was prevented by maintaining social distance and frequent handwashing, respectively. This shows that the prevention knowledge of the participants towards the COVID-19 by maintaining social distance and frequent handwashing was high. However, out of 341 participants only 61%,84% of them practiced social distance and frequent handwashing toward COVID-19, respectively.

Conclusions

The majority of the participants knew the ways to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), but there was a great problem of changing this prevention knowledge to practices. This shows that there is an action gap between having prevention knowledge of the COVID-19 and implementing it into practices to tackle the spread of the COVID-19 among communities. Therefore, the concerned body should be focused on providing awareness and education for the community regarding the implementation of prevention knowledge to practices.
High-dose corticosteroid pulse therapy increases the survival rate in COVID-19 patients at risk of hyper-inflammatory response
Authors: López Zúñiga Miguel Ángel , Moreno-Moral Aida , Ocaña-Granados Ana , Padilla-Moreno Francisco Andrés , Castillo-Fernández Alba María , Guillamón-Fernández Dionisio , Ramírez-Sánchez Carolina , Sanchez-Palop María , Martínez-Colmenero Justo , Pimentel-Villar María Amparo , Blázquez-Roselló Sara , Moreno-Sánchez José Juan , López-Vílchez María , Prior-Sánchez Inmaculada , Jódar-Moreno Rosario , López Ruz Miguel Ángel
Published: January 2021

Objective

Test whether high dose corticosteroid pulse therapy (HDCPT) with either methylprednisolone or dexamethasone is associated with increased survival in COVID-19 patients at risk of hyper-inflammatory response. Provide some initial diagnostic criteria using laboratory markers to stratify these patients.

Methods

This is a prospective observational study, 318 met the inclusion criteria. 64 patients (20.1%) were treated with HDCPT by using at least 1.5mg/kg/24h of methylprednisolone or dexamethasone equivalent. A multivariate Cox regression (controlling for co-morbidities and other therapies) was carried out to determine whether HDCPT (among other interventions) was associated with decreased mortality. We also carried out a 30-day time course analysis of laboratory markers between survivors and non-survivors, to identify potential markers for patient stratification.

Results

HDCPT showed a statistically significant decrease in mortality (HR = 0.087 [95% CI 0.021–0.36]; P < 0.001). 30-day time course analysis of laboratory marker tests showed marked differences in pro-inflammatory markers between survivors and non-survivors. As diagnostic criteria to define the patients at risk of developing a COVID-19 hyper-inflammatory response, we propose the following parameters (IL-6 > = 40 pg/ml, and/or two of the following: C-reactive protein > = 100 mg/L, D-dimer > = 1000 ng/ml, ferritin > = 500 ng/ml and lactate dehydrogenase > = 300 U/L).

Conclusions

HDCPT can be an effective intervention to increase COVID-19 survival rates in patients at risk of developing a COVID-19 hyper-inflammatory response, laboratory marker tests can be used to stratify these patients who should be given HDCPT. This study is not a randomized clinical trial (RCT). Future RCTs should be carried out to confirm the efficacy of HDCPT to increase the survival rates of COVID-19.
Determination of critical community size from an HIV/AIDS model
Authors: Das Sarmistha , Ghosh Pramit , Banerjee Sandip , Pyne Saumyadipta , Chattopadhyay Joydev , Mukhopadhyay Indranil
Published: January 2021

After an epidemic outbreak, the infection persists in a community long enough to engulf the entire susceptible population. Local extinction of the disease could be possible if the susceptible population gets depleted. In large communities, the tendency of eventual damp down of recurrent epidemics is balanced by random variability. But, in small communities, the infection would die out when the number of susceptible falls below a certain threshold. Critical community size (CCS) is considered to be the mentioned threshold, at which the infection is as likely as not to die out after a major epidemic for small communities unless reintroduced from outside. The determination of CCS could aid in devising systematic control strategies to eradicate the infectious disease from small communities. In this article, we have come up with a simplified computation based approach to deduce the CCS of HIV disease dynamics. We consider a deterministic HIV model proposed by Silva and Torres, and following Nåsell, introduce stochasticity in the model through time-varying population sizes of different compartments. Besides, Metcalf’s group observed that the relative risk of extinction of some infections on islands is almost double that in the mainlands i.e. infections cease to exist at a significantly higher rate in islands compared to the mainlands. They attributed this phenomenon to the greater recolonization in the mainlands. Interestingly, the application of our method on demographic facts and figures of countries in the AIDS belt of Africa led us to expect that existing control measures and isolated locations would assist in temporary eradication of HIV infection much faster. For example, our method suggests that through systematic control strategies, after 7.36 years HIV epidemics will temporarily be eradicated from different communes of island nation Madagascar, where the population size falls below its CCS value, unless the disease is reintroduced from outside.
Longitudinal study of meningococcal carriage rates in university entrants living in a dormitory in South Korea
Authors: Choi Heun , Lee Hyuk Min , Lee Woonji , Kim Jun Hyoung , Seong Hye , Kim Jung Ho , Ahn Jin Young , Jeong Su Jin , Ku Nam Su , Yeom Joon-Sup , Lee Kyungwon , Kim Hee Soo , Oster Philipp , Choi Jun Yong
Published: January 2021

University students, especially those living in dormitories, are known to have a high risk of invasive meningococcal disease. We performed a longitudinal study to investigate the change in Neisseria meningitidis carriage rates and identify the risk factors for carriage acquisition in university students in South Korea. We recruited university entrants who were admitted to a student dormitory. Pharyngeal swabs were taken from participants at baseline, 1 month, and 3 months, and the subjects completed a questionnaire. Culture and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for species-specific ctrA and sodC genes were performed. The cultured isolates or PCR-positive samples were further evaluated for epidemiologic characterization using serogrouping, PorA typing, FetA typing, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). At the first visit, we enrolled 332 participants who were predominantly male (64.2%) with a median age of 19 years. Meningococcal carriage rates increased from 2.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9–4.4%) at baseline to 6.3% (95% CI 3.4–9.0%) at 1 month and 11.8% (95% CI 7.8–15.6%) at 3 months. Nongroupable isolates accounted for 50.0% of all isolates, with serogroup B being the next most prevalent (24.1%). In the study population, male sex (OR 2.613, 95% CI 1.145–5.961, p = 0.022) and frequent pub or club visits (OR 3.701, 95% CI 1.536–8.919, p = 0.004) were significantly associated with meningococcal carriage. Based on serotype and MLST analyses, six carriers transmitted meningococci to other study participants. N. meningitidis carriage rates among new university entrants who lived in a dormitory significantly increased within the first 3 months of dormitory stay, probably owing to the transmission of identical genotype among students. Based on the risk of meningococcal disease, meningococcal vaccination should be considered for students before dormitory admission.
FOSTER—An R package for forest structure extrapolation
Authors: Queinnec Martin , Tompalski Piotr , Bolton Douglas K. , Coops Nicholas C.
Published: January 2021

The uptake of technologies such as airborne laser scanning (ALS) and more recently digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) enable the characterization of 3-dimensional (3D) forest structure. These forest structural attributes are widely applied in the development of modern enhanced forest inventories. As an alternative to extensive ALS or DAP based forest inventories, regional forest attribute maps can be built from relationships between ALS or DAP and wall-to-wall satellite data products. To date, a number of different approaches exist, with varying code implementations using different programming environments and tailored to specific needs. With the motivation for open, simple and modern software, we presentFOSTER(Forest Structure Extrapolation in R), a versatile and computationally efficient framework for modeling and imputation of 3D forest attributes.FOSTERderives spectral trends in remote sensing time series, implements a structurally guided sampling approach to sample these often spatially auto correlated datasets, to then allow a modelling approach (currently k-NN imputation) to extrapolate these 3D forest structure measures. The k-NN imputation approach thatFOSTERimplements has a number of benefits over conventional regression based approaches including lower bias and reduced over fitting. This paper provides an overview of the general framework followed by a demonstration of the performance and outputs ofFOSTER. Two ALS-derived variables, the 95thpercentile of first returns height (elev_p95) and canopy cover above mean height (cover), were imputed over a research forest in British Columbia, Canada with relative RMSE of 18.5% and 11.4% and relative bias of -0.6% and 1.4% respectively. The processing sequence developed withinFOSTERrepresents an innovative and versatile framework that should be useful to researchers and managers alike looking to make forest management decisions over entire forest estates.
Double dissociation in radial and rotational motion sensitivity
Authors: Matthews Nestor , Welch Leslie , Festa Elena K. , Bruno Anthony A.
Published: January 2021

Neurophysiological experiments have shown that a shared region of the primate visual system registers both radial and rotational motion. Radial and rotational motion also share computational features. Despite these neural and computational similarities, prior experiments have disrupted radial, but not rotational, motion sensitivity -a single dissociation. Here we report stimulus manipulations that extend the single dissociation to a double dissociation, thereby showing further separability between radial and rotational motion sensitivity. In Exp 1 bilateral plaid stimuli with or without phase-noise either radiated or rotated before changing direction. College students reported whether the direction changed first on the left or right–a temporal order judgment (TOJ). Phase noise generated significantly larger disruptions to rotational TOJs than to radial TOJs, thereby completing the double dissociation. In Exp 2 we conceptually replicated this double dissociation by switching the task from TOJs to simultaneity judgments (SJs). Phase noise generated significantly larger disruptions to rotational SJs than to radial SJs. This disruption pattern reversed after changing the plaids’ motion from same- to opposite-initial directions. The double dissociations reported here revealed distinct dependencies for radial and rotational motion sensitivity. Radial motion sensitivity depended strongly on information about global depth. Rotational motion sensitivity depended strongly on positional information about local luminance gradients. These distinct dependencies arose downstream from the neural mechanisms that detect local linear components within radial and rotational motion. Overall, the differential impairments generated by our psychophysical experiments demonstrate independence between radial and rotational motion sensitivity, despite their neural and computational similarities.
Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards rabies: A survey of the general population residing in the Harare Metropolitan Province of Zimbabwe
Authors: Spargo Reverend M. , Coetzer Andre , Makuvadze Francis T. , Chikerema Sylvester M. , Chiwerere Vaida , Bhara Esnath , Nel Louis H.
Published: January 2021

Background

Rabies remains endemic to the Harare Metropolitan Province of Zimbabwe, with a lack of public participations potentially contributing to the limited success in eliminating the disease. We hypothesized that rabies intervention campaigns were less successful than they could be as a result of poor understanding of the disease at the community level, and thus aimed to identify the knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards rabies in the province.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey, using a semi-structured questionnaire, was implemented between January 2017 and June 2018 across the province and data were collected from 798 respondents. Frequency distributions and logistic regressions were undertaken to determine the factors associated with the adequacy of the prevailing rabies knowledge, pet ownership characteristics and the existing preventative practices.

Results

The results of our study suggested that the majority of the respondents (92%) had heard of rabies. However, the level of rabies knowledge could be classified as “adequate” in only 36% of respondents. The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that pet ownership and type of occupation were statistically associated with a better understanding and knowledge of the disease. Off all the respondents, 49% owned at least one dog or cat and suburb density and occupation were statistically associated with owning a pet. Amongst the pet owners, 57% consulted an animal health practitioner at least once a year and 75% were aware of a rabies vaccine for their pets. The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that age, education and gender were statistically associated with pet owners taking their pet(s) to an animal clinic.

Conclusion

This study showed that the majority of the respondents lacked comprehensive knowledge about rabies, with the knowledge pertaining to health seeking behaviour and the importance of rabies vaccination being the most lacking. Additional public education relying on key messages, aimed at the different target audiences, is required in the province.