bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Eyetracking-enhanced VEP for nystagmus
Authors: Dunn Matt J. , Carter Perry , Self Jay , Lee Helena , Shawkat Fatima 
Published: December 2023

AbstractVisual evoked potentials (VEPs) are an important prognostic indicator of visual ability in patients with nystagmus. However, VEP testing requires stable fixation, which is impossible with nystagmus. Fixation instability reduces VEP amplitude, and VEP reliability is therefore low in this important patient group. We investigated whether VEP amplitude can be increased using an eye tracker by triggering acquisition only during slow periods of the waveform. Data were collected from 10 individuals with early-onset nystagmus. VEP was obtained under continuous (standard) acquisition, or triggered during periods of low eye velocity, as detected by an eye tracker. VEP amplitude was compared using Bonferroni corrected paired samples t-tests. VEP amplitude is significantly increased when triggered during low eye velocity (95% CI 1.42–6.83 µV, t(15) = 3.25, p = 0.0053). This study provides proof-of-concept that VEP amplitude (and therefore prognostic reliability) can be increased in patients with early onset nystagmus by connecting an eye tracker and triggering acquisition during periods of lower eye velocity.
Weather whiplash events in Europe and North Atlantic assessed as continental-scale atmospheric regime shifts
Authors: Francis Jennifer A. , Skific Natasa , Zobel Zachary 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThe term “weather whiplash” describes abrupt transitions from one persistent weather regime to another substantially different one, such as from a frigid cold spell to anomalous warmth. Weather whiplash events (WWEs) are often highly disruptive to agriculture, ecosystems, infrastructure, and human activities. While no consistent definition exists, we identify WWEs based on substantial shifts in the continental-scale, upper-atmosphere circulation. As first demonstrated in our earlier study focused on the NE Pacific/North American region, a WWE is detected when one persistent, large-scale pattern in 500 hPa height anomalies shifts to another distinctly different one. Patterns are identified using self-organizing maps (SOMs), which create a matrix of representative patterns in the data. In the present study, we apply this approach to identify WWEs in the North Atlantic/European sector. We analyze the occurrence of WWEs originating with long-duration events (four or more days) in each pattern. A WWE is detected when the pattern two days following a long-duration event is substantially different, measured with distance thresholds internal to the matrix. Changes in WWE frequency, past and future, are assessed objectively based on reanalysis output and climate model simulations. We find that future changes under RCP 8.5 forcing exhibit distinct trends, especially in summer months, while those based on reanalysis are less clear. Patterns featuring positive height anomalies in high latitudes are projected to produce more WWEs in the future, while patterns exhibiting negative anomalies produce fewer. Shifts in temperature and precipitation extremes associated with these WWEs are diagnosed.
Perceptions of the seriousness of major public health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic in seven middle-income countries
Authors: Carson Richard T. , Hanemann Michael , Köhlin Gunnar , Adamowicz Wiktor , Sterner Thomas , Amuakwa-Mensah Franklin , Alpizar Francisco , Khossravi Emily A. , Jeuland Marc , Bonilla Jorge A. , Tan-Soo Jie-Sheng , Nam Pham Khanh , Ndiritu Simon Wagura , Wadehra Shivani , Chegere Martin Julius , Visser Martine , Chukwuone Nnaemeka Andegbe , Whittington Dale 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Introduction
Public perception of the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to six other major public health problems (alcoholism and drug use, HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, lung cancer and respiratory diseases caused by air pollution and smoking, and water-borne diseases like diarrhea) is unclear. We designed a survey to examine this issue using YouGov’s internet panels in seven middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America in early 2022.

Methods
Respondents rank ordered the seriousness of the seven health problems using a repeated best-worst question format. Rank-ordered logit models allow comparisons within and across countries and assessment of covariates.

Results
In six of the seven countries, respondents perceived other respiratory illnesses to be a more serious problem than COVID-19. Only in Vietnam was COVID-19 ranked above other respiratory illnesses. Alcoholism and drug use was ranked the second most serious problem in the African countries. HIV/AIDS ranked relatively high in all countries. Covariates, particularly a COVID-19 knowledge scale, explained differences within countries; statistics about the pandemic were highly correlated with differences in COVID-19’s perceived seriousness.

Conclusions
People in the seven middle-income countries perceived COVID-19 to be serious (on par with HIV/AIDS) but not as serious as other respiratory illnesses. In the African countries, respondents perceived alcoholism and drug use as more serious than COVID-19. Our survey-based approach can be used to quickly understand how the threat of a newly emergent disease, like COVID-19, fits into the larger context of public perceptions of the seriousness of health problems.
Short-Term Outcomes of COVID-19 Pandemic on Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Screening and Management
Authors: Orelaru Felix , Edwards Melanie , Raleigh Ruth , Abunayla Ali , Bush Rachel , Porter Shannon , Schumaker Kate , Albright Jeremy , Adams Kumari N. 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Background To assess the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) screening, staging, and management in a single health care system.
Materials and Methods From November 2015 to December 2020, a total of 1,547 NSCLC cases was reported at our institution including 1,329 cases pre-COVID-19 and 218 cases during COVID-19. Pre-COVID-19 was defined as November 2015 to February 2020, while during COVID-19 was March 2020 to December 2020. Data were collected from tumor registry and medical record review. Patients with mesothelioma, lymphoma, small cell, or mixed small cell cancer were excluded from the study.
Results Both pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19 cohorts had similar comorbidities including age (70 vs. 71 years), current smokers (35 vs. 32%), and chronic obstructive lung disease (32 vs. 28%). The number of low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening scans decreased by 25% during COVID-19 compared with pre-COVID-19 era. There were more cases of stage 1A NSCLC pre-COVID-19 (31 vs. 25%) and more stage 4 cancer during COVID-19 (42 vs. 33%); p = 0.01. The proportion of patients treated with radiotherapy was similar between pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19 (49 vs. 50%), but fewer patients underwent surgery during COVID-19 (17 vs. 27%; p = 0.004). The median time to radiotherapy (67 days) and surgery (29 days) was similar between the groups. The unadjusted overall 6-month mortality after lung cancer diagnoses was higher during COVID-19 compared with pre-COVID-19 (28 vs. 22%; p = 0.04).
Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in delayed lung cancer screening scans, and more patients had diagnosis of advanced NSCLC; however, short-term mortality was unchanged.
Heteroepitaxy of N-polar AlN on C-face 4H-SiC: Structural and optical properties
Authors: Hu Mingtao , Wang Ping , Wang Ding , Wu Yuanpeng , Mondal Shubham , Wang Danhao , Ahmadi Elaheh , Ma Tao , Mi Zetian 
Published: December 2023

To date, it has remained challenging to achieve N-polar AlN, which is of great importance for high power, high frequency, and high temperature electronics, acoustic resonators and filters, ultraviolet (UV) optoelectronics, and integrated photonics. Here, we performed a detailed study of the molecular beam epitaxy and characterization of N-polar AlN on C-face 4H-SiC substrates. The N-polar AlN films grown under optimized conditions exhibit an atomically smooth surface and strong excitonic emission in the deep UV with luminescence efficiency exceeding 50% at room temperature. Detailed scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) studies suggest that most dislocations are terminated/annihilated within ∼200 nm AlN grown directly on the SiC substrate due to the relatively small (1%) lattice mismatch between AlN and SiC. The strain distribution of AlN is further analyzed by STEM and micro-Raman spectroscopy, and its impact on the temperature-dependent deep UV emission is elucidated.
Comprehensive analysis revealed that titanium dioxide nanoparticles could strengthen the resistance of apple rootstock B9 to saline-alkali stress
Authors: Xian Xulin , Zhang Zhongxing , Li Cailong , Ding Liang , Guo Haichao , Zhai Jietao , Wang Yanxiu 
Published: December 2023

Apple growth and development can be adversely affected by saline–alkali stress, which has become a significant factor restricting the high yield of the apple industry. In recent years, nanomaterials have become a potential source for plant growth and development. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) play an important role in multiple plant development processes, including mitigating environmental stress. In this study, one-year-old apple rootstock B9 stem cuttings were used as research objects. Different concentrations of TiO2NPs were applied to the roots before saline–alkali treatment. Principal component analysis showed that 1 g kg−1 TiO2NPs treatment had the best effect in alleviating the stress for B9. It significantly reduced the damage to B9 under salt–alkali stress, increased the content of photosynthetic pigment, enhanced the performance of Photosystem II, and promoted photosynthesis. At the same time, the content of K+ was increased, and the ion toxicity was alleviated. In addition, TiO2NPs have also been shown to reduce B9 cell damage and lipid peroxidation, increase antioxidant enzyme activity, and regulate the accumulation of solutes. Overall, this study provides a theoretical basis for TiO2NPs to mitigate the adverse effects of plants under saline–alkali stress and provides useful insights for managing other plants affected by global salinity and alkalinity.
The Many Meanings of ‘One’: The Concept and Practice of the One Health Approach in Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes
Authors: Karimova Paulina G. , Lee Kuang-Chung 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
What does One Health mean for a complex socio-ecological system? How can this integrated approach be put into practice? Can it foster on-the-ground local management and national policy uptake? Our commentary explores these questions by looking at the concept of One Health in the context of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) and the use of resilience assessment in SEPLS as a tool for its operationalisation in Taiwan. We conclude that One Health has a high sustainability potential for holistic, dynamic and integrated solutions in complex systems at various scales.

One Health impact statement
From a ‘scapes’ perspective, the One Health approach offers an opportunity to take a fresh look at the familiar socio-ecological components of a landscape or seascape – community, biodiversity and abiotic environment. In fact, in addition to the holistic and dynamic qualities of it as a concept, its implementation in a real-world setting allows to explore its many meanings of ‘One’. One Health stands for ‘oneness’ – as many inter-connected elements within one system, for being ‘the only one’ – as the most valuable and cherished thing, and for ‘one for all’ – as what is to be co-created and shared by all living beings.
Incorporation of recovered food and food scraps into poultry feed: A systematic review
Authors: Simmons Christopher W. , Duan Faye , Pitesky Maurice E. , Liu Yanhong , Tobar Zachary 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Food wastage represents the loss of both economic and resource investments. Incorporation of recovered food and food scraps, defined as the potentially edible organic matter left over from the preparation, sale, and consumption of food, into animal feed is a potential strategy to reduce food wastage and recover some of the embedded resources within the residual food material. There is a need to align recovered food and food scraps’ nutritional quality, chemical and biological safety with scalable and feasible processing requirements that dovetail with the nutritional requirements of food animals. This review examines the feasibility of incorporating treated post-consumer food scraps into poultry feed, which currently represent the most consumed animal protein on the planet. The review summarizes the broad nutritional composition of post-consumer food scraps, toxicological considerations associated with incorporating food scraps into poultry feed, food scrap pre-treatments related to feed applications and feeding studies that incorporated post-consumer food scraps into animal feed rations. Research appears to indicate that sterilization through heat treatment is sufficient to control pathogenic microorganism contamination in recovered food. Other contaminants such as mycotoxins, heavy metals, microplastics, biogenic amines, antinutritional factors cannot always be removed from recovered food and subsequently, infrastructure to survey levels of contamination in recovered food to be used in concert with developing technologies to better remove these contaminants is recommended. Subsequently, the review illustrates that pre-treatments in concert with surveillance of incoming recovered food and food scraps may be used to ensure the safety of incorporating such material into poultry feed. Studies show large variability in the nutritional composition of consumer food scraps, but on average, lipid and fiber levels are higher in recovered food scraps compared to maize and soybean meal, while protein levels are higher than in maize and lower than in soybean meal. Feeding studies suggest an incorporation level of up to approximately 20% is associated with positive or neutral impacts on growth performance indicators
Investigating hexagonal closed packed crystal lattice through QSPR modeling via linear regression analysis and Topsis
Authors: Aslam Adnan , Saeed Saadia , Kanwal Salma , Tchier Fairouz 
Published: December 2023

Abstracts
This research work covers three highly dominating reverse degree-based topological descriptors evaluated for the three-dimensional hexagonal close-packed (HCP) crystal structure lattice. HCP crystal lattice has a highly symmetrical and elegant crystal structure, and we have observed that results obtained from symmetrical structures draw symmetry in the numerical formulation obtained from topological descriptors. For this purpose, we will investigate whether the HCP lattice formed by an odd pair of unit cells is the best or an even pair of unit cells forming the lattice and how they behave in a dominating sense when investigated through the conclusions obtained from QSPR modeling. The QSPR model has been proposed to check the efficiency of each specified topological descriptor for five highly commendable physio-chemical properties: melting or boiling point, density, molar heat capacity, and enthalpy. Further, we have discovered the ideology to obtain the best possible structure when investigated and established on a statistically and mathematically strong proving and to what extent we can extract from QSPR to implement MCDM techniques, here considering TOPSIS that provide the best HCP structure lattice rankings. The obtained results may be helpful for researchers to better understand the structure and studying different physical/chemical properties of HCP crystal lattice.
Interferometry analysis with fringe normalization and matrix Abel inversion for plasma diagnostics
Authors: Lee S. , Nam I. , Cho M. , Jang D. , Kwon S. , Suk H. , Kim M. 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
In plasma diagnostics using interferometry, the phase shift caused by the plasma in the
fringes is extracted to determine the plasma density. The common method to extract the phase shift
from the fringes is the fast-Fourier-Transform (FFT), but this technique encounters challenges
when dealing with insufficient fringe numbers, spatially varying fringe frequencies, or extremely
sharp phase changes. These challenges result in errors and hinder the acquisition of precise phase
measurements. To tackle this issue, we introduced the fringe normalization (FN) method. The
simulations demonstrated that the FN method extracts accurate phase information, surpassing the
capabilities of the FFT method. As a result, this advancement enables more precise plasma
diagnostics by mitigating errors that arise during the phase data processing. Furthermore, we
improved the code for the inverse matrix Abel inversion to convert phase information into
density. The simulation employing this code showed that the developed code provides more accurate
values in the analysis of plasmas with a sharp density profile, assisting in electron beam
manipulation in laser-plasma acceleration.
A generic node identification and routing algorithm in a distributed data acquisition platform: D-Matrix
Authors: Sun Zhengyang , Yang Junfeng , Zhang Lei , Wang Tianxing , Liu Ruolin , Song Kezhu 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Data acquisition (DAQ) systems are vital components in
large-scale physics experiments. For communication, control and
tracking purposes, all system components must be unambiguously
identified. D-Matrix, as a generic distributed stream processing DAQ
platform, accommodates various device connection methods, including
networking, PCIe bus, point-to-point optical fiber links,
etc. Although there are mature node identification solutions for
each connection method individually, the uniform solution applicable
to all connection methods remains crucial in a generic DAQ
platform. D-Matrix abstracts a unified Multiple Point-to-Point
transmission model (MPP model), supporting various physical
connection methods and enabling multiple communication channels on a
single physical link. Referring to the tree universal address
system, a generic automatic node identification algorithm is
proposed based on the MPP model. With simple configuration, this
algorithm enables automatic node traversal, yielding a routing-based
identification result that supports clustering and hierarchical node
management requirements common in large-scale physics
experiments. This paper explains the details of the algorithm and
presents an example of the DAQ system based on the algorithm.
Measurement of PMT charge nonlinearity using the continuous light attenuation method
Authors: Wang Xiaoyu , Cui Shuwang 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
We use a continuous neutral density attenuator to
investigate the photomultiplier tube (PMT) charge nonlinearity which
exists in the PMT response to external signals to be measured. The
results show that this testing approach provides a reliable and
practical method for characterizing the PMT nonlinearity, enabling
optimization of the operation conditions and improving the
measurement accuracy of PMT by mitigating the nonlinearity. This
study helps to advance the research and measurements in the related
fields using a PMT.
Whitham approach to certain large fluctuation problems in statistical mechanics
Authors: Bettelheim Eldad 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
We show the relationship between the strongly non-linear limit (also termed the dispersionless or the Whitham limit) of the macroscopic fluctuation theory of certain statistical models and the inverse scattering method. We show that in the strongly non-linear limit the inverse scattering problem can be solved using the steepest descent method of the associated Riemann–Hilbert problem. The importance of establishing this connection, is that the equations in the strongly non-linear limit can often be solved exactly by simple means, the connection then provides a limit in which one can solve the inverse scattering problem, thus aiding potentially the exact solution of a particular large deviation problem.
An image processing approach to reconstruct wind using long-range wind lidars
Authors: Nafisifard M , Jakobsen J B , Snæbjörnsson J T , Ágústsson H , Grønsleth M S , Undheim O 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Lidar-based wind sensing technology, originally used in the wind energy sector, is now being utilized in wind engineering to monitor wind action for designing fjord-crossing infrastructure like long-span bridges. Accurate estimation of design wind loads is crucial for the design process of such bridges. This paper examines wind data from two pairs of long-range lidars positioned along one side of the Sulafjorden, Norway, in a measurement campaign initiated by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA). Two different scanning modes, the Plan Position Indicator (PPI) mode and the staring mode, with the fixed line-of-sight (LOS) orientation, are used to determine the line-of-sight wind speeds, the wind direction, and the related along wind speed. An image processing approach is used to compute along wind velocity information from all range gates based on the LOS wind speeds from two near-parallel lidar beams. The estimated along wind velocity is validated through wind data calculated at the intersection point of the two lidars, which provides velocity data with two horizontal components. The image-based reconstruction is found to produce reasonable wind speed estimates with a goodness-of-fit coefficient of R2 = 0.903. The mean wind direction estimate is smoothened but still comparable to the actual wind direction. The image processing approach shows promising potential to provide wind speed and direction information for all range gates for the lidar setup used, which can supplement traditional single-point wind velocity characterization by dual lidars.
Numerical study on the lifting operation of a gravity-type fish cage
Authors: Gjerde A , Wen X , Ong M C 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
The dynamic behaviours of the lifting operation of a gravity-type fish cage under calm sea conditions are investigated in this study using an extended position-based dynamics (XPBD) method to obtain the structural deformations of the aquaculture nets. The original XPBD is improved to accurately predict the tensions of the aquaculture nets by applying correction forces. The present XPBD is validated by comparing the experimental results of a flexible horizontal net. The time-step sensitivity is verified for the case of the lifting operation of the fish cage. Results show that the lifting force increases rapidly resulting from the weight of the sinkers at the bottom of the side net. The maximum tension of the net is located at the net ropes connected to the centre point of the bottom net. The structure of the bottom net should be enhanced for safety lifting operations.