bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of Covid-19 on the elective surgery: an approach based on the case of the Italian Province of Bolzano
Authors: Bonetti Mirko , Melani Carla 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Background
As of February 2020, the rise of COVID-19 cases led to significant pressures in the Northern parts of Italy, including the province of Bolzano (a small territorial reality on the border between Italy and Austria), and left the Italian National Health System (NHS) unprepared for the initial wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Objective/Methods
By dividing the analyses into two phases, the study assesses the effect of COVID-19 for the years 2018–2019 and 2020–2021. The first phase highlights the hospitalization rates in the Province of Bolzano in comparison to other Italian regions. In the second step, the Systematic Component of Variation (SCV) has been applied to calculate the differences between the admission rates for the elective surgery (tonsillectomy, vein stripping, hip replacement, knee replacement, and arthroscopy) in the four health districts (HDs) of the Province of Bolzano.

Results
Overall, the findings demonstrate that the effect of COVID-19 cases has resulted in a 20% reduction in hospitalization rates. A variation of less than 30% for knee and hip replacements and up to 75% for vein stripping is seen for elective surgeries. According to the SCV values for each elective procedure, the results indicate comparable levels of variation across the two time periods, with tonsillectomy showing the lowest levels of variation, arthroscopy and vein stripping having the highest levels, hip replacement having a high level and knee replacement having a low-medium level.

Conclusions
The data show no significant changes in the variation between the four HDs in the province of Bolzano, suggesting that the COVID-19 cases have a proportionate impact on hospitalization rates.
Evaluation of an experiential training program in patient-centered outcomes and comparative effectiveness research for diverse researcher communities and health care organizations
Authors: Buchwald Dedra S. , Rogers Megan H. , Rose Barbara A. , Bresnahan Brian W. , Devine Beth , LeResche Linda , Nelson Lonnie A. , Patrick Donald L. , Lavallee Danielle C. , Garrison Michelle M. , White Andrew A. , Kessler Larry G. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract

Background/Objective:
The goal of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Partnership was to prepare health care professionals and researchers to conduct patient-centered outcomes and comparative effectiveness research (CER). Substantial evidence gaps, heterogeneous health care systems, and decision-making challenges in the USA underscore the need for evidence-based strategies.

Methods:
We engaged five community-based health care organizations that serve diverse and underrepresented patient populations from Hawai’i to Minnesota. Each partner nominated two in-house scholars to participate in the 2-year program. The program focused on seven competencies pertinent to patient-centered outcomes and CER. It combined in-person and experiential learning with asynchronous, online education, and created adaptive, pragmatic learning opportunities and a Summer Institute. Metrics included the Clinical Research Appraisal Inventory (CRAI), a tool designed to assess research self-efficacy and clinical research skills across 10 domains.

Results:
We trained 31 scholars in 3 cohorts. Mean scores in nine domains of the CRAI improved; greater improvement was observed from the beginning to the midpoint than from the midpoint to conclusion of the program. Across all three cohorts, mean scores on 52 items (100%) increased (p ≤ 0.01), and 91% of scholars reported the program improved their skills moderately/significantly. Satisfaction with the program was high (91%).

Conclusions:
Investigators that conduct patient-centered outcomes and CER must know how to collaborate with regional health care systems to identify priorities; pose questions; design, conduct, and disseminate observational and experimental research; and transform knowledge into practical clinical applications. Training programs such as ours can facilitate such collaborations.
Designing with biobased composites: understanding digital material perception through semiotic attributes
Authors: Thundathil Manu , Nazmi Ali Reza , Shahri Bahareh , Emerson Nick , Müssig Jörg , Huber Tim 
Published: March 2023

AbstractBiobased composites, which are considered a sustainable alternative to plastics, are yet to create a significant influence on product design and manufacturing. A key reason for this is perceptual handicaps associated with biobased composites and this study was aimed at understanding the mechanisms behind biocomposite perception, in the context of digital visuals. This study of digital biocomposite visuals demonstrated that material perception is influenced by the visual characteristics of the material. Data analysis of the perceptual attributes of the materials pointed towards clear ‘clustering’ of the materials against these attributes. Analysis shows that visual features like fibres and surface appearance may impact aesthetic and functional evaluation and there is no effect on age, gender or polymer type. We also propose a reference framework to categorise biobased composites based on visual order.
High-efficiency bismuth borate-based optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier with approximately 2.1 mJ, 38 fs output pulses at approximately 2150 nm
Authors: Petrulėnas Augustinas , Mackonis Paulius , Rodin Aleksej M. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
We present a compact and cost-effective mJ-level femtosecond laser system operating at a center wavelength of approximately 2.15 μm. An affordable two-stage ytterbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Yb:YAG) chirped pulse amplifier provides more than 10 mJ, approximately 1.2 ps pulses at 1030 nm to pump a three-stage optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) based on bismuth borate crystals and to drive the supercontinuum seed in the YAG crystal. The energy of the amplified pulses in the wavelength range of 1.95–2.4 μm reached 2.25 mJ with a pump-to-signal conversion efficiency of approximately 25% in the last OPCPA stage. These pulses were compressed to 38 fs in a pair of Suprasil 300 glass prisms.
Silurian inverted Barrovian-type metamorphism in the Western Sierras Pampeanas (Argentina): a case of top to bottom heating?
Authors: Verdecchia Sebastián O. , Casquet Cesar , Baldo Edgardo G. , Larrovere Mariano A. , Lembo Wuest Carlos I. , Benítez Manuela E. , Ramacciotti Carlos D. , Murra Juan A. , Pankhurst Robert J. 
Published: March 2023

AbstractThis paper focuses on one orogenic belt that formed during the Rinconada phase on the final stage of the Famatinian orogeny, between 445 and 410 Ma, which is well exposed at Sierra de Ramaditas and neighbouring ranges in western Argentina. The Ramaditas Complex is formed by metasedimentary and meta-ultrabasic rocks and amphibolites. This complex forms the upper nappe of a thrust stack resulting from westward thrusting. Deformation consists of an early high-temperature S1 foliation (stromatic migmatites), coeval with thrusting and metamorphism. Metamorphism attained peak P–T conditions of 6.0–6.9 kbar and 795–810 °C, at c. 440 Ma, i.e. coincident with the Rinconada orogenic phase. The lower unit and intermediate nappes crop out in the nearby sierras of Maz and Espinal and underwent low- to medium-grade Silurian metamorphism, respectively, together with the upper nappe, defining an inverted Barrovian-type metamorphism with T decreasing and P increasing downwards across the thrust stack (i.e. westward). We argue that the Rinconada orogenic phase developed near the continental margin of SW Gondwana, during a magmatic lull following accretion of the Precordillera terrane to the continental margin at c. 470 Ma. The active margin jumped to the west after accretion, and flat-slab subduction resumed in the early Silurian, provoking thrusting and imbrication of nappe stack under the still hot root (800–900 °C) of the older Famatinian magmatic arc. This ‘hot-iron’ process explains both the inverted Barrovian-type metamorphism and the missing overburden of 21 to 24 km implied by the P estimate.
Condition-invariant and compact visual place description by convolutional autoencoder
Authors: Ye Hanjing , Chen Weinan , Yu Jingwen , He Li , Guan Yisheng , Zhang Hong 
Published: March 2023

AbstractVisual place recognition (VPR) in condition-varying environments is still an open problem. Popular solutions are convolutional neural network (CNN)-based image descriptors, which have been shown to outperform traditional image descriptors based on hand-crafted visual features. However, there are two drawbacks of current CNN-based descriptors: (a) their high dimension and (b) lack of generalization, leading to low efficiency and poor performance in real robotic applications. In this paper, we propose to use a convolutional autoencoder (CAE) to tackle this problem. We employ a high-level layer of a pre-trained CNN to generate features and train a CAE to map the features to a low-dimensional space to improve the condition invariance property of the descriptor and reduce its dimension at the same time. We verify our method in four challenging real-world datasets involving significant illumination changes, and our method is shown to be superior to the state-of-the-art. The code of our work is publicly available at https://github.com/MedlarTea/CAE-VPR.
Care Scales:DibaoAllowances, State and Family in China
Authors: Lammer Christof 
Published: March 2023

AbstractExamining the “world's largest cash-based social policy” through the lens of care reveals widely shared scalar imaginaries and the productivity of care in constituting scale. In standardizing the minimum livelihood guarantee (dibao), officials, applicants and researchers in rural Sichuan cited both “too much” and “not enough” care at the scale of the family in recommending or rejecting state assistance. Different levels of organization (scale1) were not stable bases with specific sizes and qualities (scale2) that enabled or limited care.Dibao-related practices were evaluated as an appropriate (“filial piety”), insufficient (“individualism”) or excessive (“corruption”) amount of family care. Care became an indicator of kinship measurements and a marker of state boundaries. Thus, scale (in both meanings) was enacted in China, as elsewhere, through negotiations of needs and responsibilities, through evaluations of care practices and their outcomes. In this sense, care scales.
Household food insecurity is prevalent in a cohort of postpartum women who registered in the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program in Toronto
Authors: Mildon Alison , Francis Jane , Stewart Stacia , Underhill Bronwyn , Ng Yi Man , Rousseau Christina , Tarasuk Valerie , Di Ruggiero Erica , Dennis Cindy-Lee , O’Connor Deborah L , Sellen Daniel W 
Published: March 2023

AbstractObjective:To assess the prevalence, severity and socio-demographic predictors of household food insecurity among vulnerable women accessing the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) and to examine associations between household food insecurity and breastfeeding practices to 6 months.Design:Cohort investigation pooling data from two studies which administered the 18-item Household Food Security Survey Module at 6 months postpartum and collected prospective infant feeding data at 2 weeks and 2, 4 and 6 months. Household food insecurity was classified as none, marginal, moderate or severe. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess predictors of household food insecurity and associations between household food security (any and severity) and continued and exclusive breastfeeding.Setting:Three Toronto sites of the CPNP, a federal initiative targeting socially and/or economically vulnerable women.Participants:316 birth mothers registered prenatally in the CPNP from 2017 to 2020.Results:Household food insecurity at 6 months postpartum was highly prevalent (44 %), including 11 % in the severe category. Risk of household food insecurity varied by CPNP site (P< 0·001) and was higher among multiparous participants (OR 2·08; 95 % CI 1·28, 3·39). There was no association between the prevalence or severity of food insecurity and continued or exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months postpartum in the adjusted analyses.Conclusions:Household food insecurity affected nearly half of this cohort of women accessing the CPNP. Further research is needed on household food insecurity across the national CPNP and other similar programmes, with consideration of the implications for programme design, service delivery and policy responses.
Genistein supplementation has no effects on vitamin D levels in healthy Spanish postmenopausal women
Authors: Pérez-Alonso María , Calero-Paniagua Ismael , Usategui-Martin Ricardo , Briongos Laisa-Socorro , Ruiz-Mambrilla Marta , Olmos José-Manuel , González-Sagrado Manuel , De Luis Daniel , Dueñas-Laita Antonio , Pérez-Castrillón José-Luis 
Published: March 2023

Abstract: Background: In vitro studies have shown that genistein inhibits the CYP240 enzyme, which is involved in the degradation of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol and its precursor 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, and increases their plasma levels. However, no clinical studies have primarily assessed the synergistic effect of isoflavones on vitamin D levels. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible additive effect of genistein supplementation on vitamin D levels, calcium metabolism and bone remodeling markers in healthy postmenopausal women during the spring-summer months. Patients and methods: We made a prospective, double-blind study with 150 healthy postmenopausal women that were randomized to three groups. One received placebo, another received calcium (1000 mg/day) and vitamin D (cholecalciferol, 800 U/day) and the third received calcium (1000 mg/day), vitamin D (cholecalciferol, 800 U/day) and genistein (90 mg/day). The study period was from May to September (spring-summer). Vitamin D, PTH, CTX and P1NP were determined by electrochemiluminescence at baseline and after 12 weeks. Results: Vitamin D levels increased in all groups: placebo (23±9 ng/ml vs. 29±10 ng/ml, p<0.05), calcium+vitamin D (26±10 ng/ml vs. 33±8 ng/ml, p<0.05) and calcium+vitamin D+genistein (24±9 ng/ml vs. 31±8 ng/l, p<0.05) without between-group differences. At study end, the percentage of women with vitamin D <20 ng/ml (11%) and <30 ng/ml (39%) had fallen without between-group differences. The effects on calcium metabolism and bone remodeling markers were similar between groups: rises in vitamin D were significantly linked to reductions in PTH, CTX and P1NP. Conclusion: Adding genistein to supplementation with calcium and vitamin D provided not additional changes in vitamin D levels, calcium metabolism or bone remodeling markers in healthy Spanish postmenopausal women during the spring-summer months.
Dimensionality and Validation of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS) in a Dutch General Population Sample and Two Clinical Samples
Authors: De Gucht Véronique , Wilderjans Tom F. , Garcia Franshelis K. , Maes Stan 
Published: March 2023

Abstract: Previous studies on the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS) were primarily conducted in highly selective, mostly student populations. The objective of the present study was to examine the factor structure of the Dutch HSPS in the general population ( n = 998), prolonged fatigue ( n = 340), and chronic pain samples ( n = 283), and investigate its psychometric properties. The factorial structure of the HSPS was assessed by an exploratory factor analysis, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis. To this end, the overall sample consisting of 1,621 subjects was randomly split into two subsamples. The factor structure was subsequently confirmed in the general population, fatigue, and chronic pain samples separately. A bi-factor model, consisting of a general factor and three separate factors, provided the best fit to the data in each sample. The three separate factors, capturing different dimensions of sensory processing sensitivity, were labeled “Ease of Excitation” (11 items), “Sensory and Aesthetic Sensitivity” (5 items), and “Low Sensory Threshold” (5 items). Internal consistency was satisfactory. Distinct patterns of associations were found between these factors and (un)related personality constructs.
Influence of Grain‐Scale Properties on Localization Patterns and Slip Weakening Within Dense Granular Fault Gouges
Authors: Casas N. , Mollon G. , Daouadji A. 
Published: March 2023

AbstractFault zones are usually composed of a granular gouge, coming from the wear material of previous slips, which contributes to friction stability. When considering a mature enough fault zone that has already been sheared, different types of infill materials can be observed, from mineral cementation to matrix particles that can fill the remaining pore spaces between clasts and change the rheological and frictional behaviors of the gouge. We aim to understand and reproduce the influence of grain‐scale characteristics on slip mechanisms and gouge rheology (Riedel bands) by employing the discrete element method. A 2D‐direct shear model is considered with a dense assembly of small polygonal cells of matrix particles. A variation of gouge characteristics such as interparticle friction, gouge shear modulus or the number of particles within the gouge thickness leads to different Riedel shear band formation and orientation that has been identified as an indicator of a change in slip stability. Interpreting results with slip weakening theory, our simulated gouge materials with high interparticle friction or a high bulk shear modulus, increase the possible occurrence of dynamic slip instabilities (small nucleation length and high breakdown energy). They may give rise to faster earthquake ruptures.
The Occurrence of Near‐0°C Surface Air Temperatures in the Current and Pseudo‐Global Warming Future Over Southern Canada
Authors: Stewart R. E. , Liu Z. , Thériault J. M. , Ruman C. J. 
Published: March 2023

AbstractTemperatures near 0°C represent a critical threshold for many environmental processes and socio‐economic activities. This study examines surface air temperatures (T) near 0°C (−2°C ≤ T ≤ 2°C) across much of southern Canada over a 13 year period (October 2000–September 2013). It utilized hourly data from 39 weather stations and from 4‐km resolution Weather Research and Forecasting model simulations that were both a retrospective simulation as well as a pseudo‐global warming simulation applicable near the end of the 21st century. Average annual occurrences of near‐0°C conditions increase by a relatively small amount of 5.1% from 985 hr in the current climate to 1,035 hr within the future one. Near‐0°C occurrences with precipitation vary from <5% to approximately 50% of these values. Near‐0°C occurrences are sometimes higher than values of neighboring temperatures. These near‐0°C peaks in temperature distributions can occur in both the current and future climate, in only one, or in neither. Only 4.3% of southern Canada is not associated with a near‐0°C peak and 65.8% is associated with a near‐0°C peak in both climates. It is inferred that latent heat exchanges from the melting and freezing of, for example, precipitation and the snowpack contribute significantly to some of these findings.
Improved Performance of CLM5.0 Model in Frozen Soil Simulation Over Tibetan Plateau by Implementing the Vegetation Emissivity and Gravel Hydrothermal Schemes
Authors: Luo Jiangxin , Huang Anning , Lyu Shihua , Lin Zhaohui , Gu Chunlei , Li Zhaoguo , Deng Mingshan , Zhao Wen , Liu Wanqing 
Published: March 2023

AbstractFrozen soil is widely distributed over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and has significant impacts on the regional climate and ecosystem. However, the Community Land Model version 5 (CLM5.0) produces evident cold bias in the frozen soil simulation over TP. In this study, an improved vegetation emissivity scheme and a gravel hydrothermal scheme have been implemented into CLM5.0 model, and their synergistic influences on the frozen soil simulation over TP have been systematically addressed and revealed. Results show that adopting the vegetation emissivity scheme, the gravel hydrothermal scheme, and both can remarkably reduce the cold bias in the frozen soil simulated by the original CLM5.0 model, and the column mean root‐mean‐square error (RMSE) can be reduced by 12.88%, 20.68%, and 31.11% at Arou site and 25.03%, 10.15%, and 36.87% at Maqu site, respectively. The reductions of column mean RMSE for the modeled soil temperature regionally averaged over TP induced by the adoption of vegetation emissivity scheme, the gravel hydrothermal scheme, and both are 32.34%, 6.75%, and 30.18%, respectively. The underlying physical mechanisms are related to the improved representation of the soil hydrothermal processes above or in the soil. The improved vegetation emissivity scheme improves the soil surface long‐wave radiation heat transfer process, while the gravel hydrothermal scheme improves the hydrothermal properties within the soil. Overall, improving the surface long‐wave radiation heat transfer and the internal soil hydrothermal properties can obviously enhance the performance of CLM5.0 model in simulating the soil freeze–thaw processes.
Metabolism Modeling in Rivers With Unsteady Flow Conditions and Transient Storage Zones
Authors: Pathak Devanshi , Demars Benoît O. L. 
Published: March 2023

AbstractWhole‐stream metabolism characterizes energy and carbon transformations, thus providing an estimate of the food base and CO2 emission sources from streams and rivers. Metabolism models are generally implemented with a steady flow assumption that does not hold true for many systems with sub‐daily flow variation, such as river sections downstream of dams. The steady flow assumption has confined metabolism estimation to a limited range of river environments, thus limiting our understanding about the influence of hydrology on biological production in rivers. Therefore, we couple a flow routing model with the two‐station stream metabolism model to estimate metabolism under unsteady flow conditions in rivers. The model's applicability is further extended by including advection‐dispersion processes to facilitate metabolism estimation in transient storage zones. Metabolism is estimated using two approaches: (a) an accounting approach similar to the conventional two‐station method and (b) an inverse approach that estimates metabolism parameters using least squares minimization method. Both approaches are complementary since we use outputs of the accounting approach to constrain the inverse model parameters. The model application is demonstrated using a case study of an 11 km long stretch downstream of a hydropower plant in the River Otra in southern Norway. We present and test different formulations of the model to show that users can make an appropriate selection that best represents hydrology and solute transport mechanism in the river system of interest. The inclusion of unsteady flows and transient storage zones in the model unlocks new possibilities for studying metabolism controls in altered river ecosystems.